Have you ever thought about why Jesus stayed back two more days after He was made to know that the one who He loved was sick?
Have you ever thought about why Jesus allowed Lazarus to die when He had the power to make him not to die?
Some Jews even said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?” (John 11:37 )
The reason Mary and Martha sent a message that Lazarus is sick was so that Jesus would come and heal Lazarus because ... moreBy Etinosa Osayi
Have you ever thought about why Jesus stayed back two more days after He was made to know that the one who He loved was sick?
Have you ever thought about why Jesus allowed Lazarus to die when He had the power to make him not to die?
Some Jews even said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?” (John 11:37 )
The reason Mary and Martha sent a message that Lazarus is sick was so that Jesus would come and heal Lazarus because He alone had the power to heal him.
They knew that as long as Lazarus was still alive there was hope of him getting well because Jesus would lay hands on him but if he dies, all hope is lost, so they had to quickly send for Jesus with the hope that He will come immediately to heal their brother but Jesus delayed.
The sickness of Lazarus was not getting any better but was only getting worse and by the time Jesus came, Lazarus was already dead and had been buried for over four days.
Martha went to Jesus and said, Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died.
Indirectly she was saying if Jesus had come the very moment they sent for Him, Lazarus would have survived. (John.11:21&32)
Jesus would have gone immediately when He was made to know that Lazarus was sick but He decided to wait till Lazarus died and He did it for a reason and I believe this was the reason -
There were certain things the disciples of Jesus and the Jews were yet to know about Jesus and they still had doubts about who He was.
They only knew Jesus as one who heals the sick and not as one who raises the dead and it was made obvious through the kind of response that Martha gave when Jesus told them to roll away the stone from the tomb of Lazarus.
Martha said, Lord by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.
Martha knew so little about who Jesus was. She knew Jesus as a healer but not as resurrection and life.
Mary and Martha knew Jesus as a healer and that's the reason they sent a message to Him when Lazarus fell sick, but they didn't know Jesus as the Resurrection and Life, and that's the reason they buried Lazarus before He arrived.
What you know about God will show in how you respond to circumstances and situation.
Jesus wanted to use the death of Lazarus as an occasion to make known what his disciples and the Jews were yet to know about Him.
God allows certain things to happen because He wants to make known to us and to our world what we are yet to know about Him.
He uses the circumstances and situations that we experience as an occasion to reveal to us who He is and what He can do.
Have you at any time thought about why the man in John 9 was born blind?
The disciples of Jesus thought that the man was born blind because of sin (John.9:2).
Jesus made his disciples to know that the reason the man was born blind was not because of sin but that the works of God may be made manifest in him. (John 9:3; KJV)
Works speaks of the things you do or can do. Manifest means to show or reveal.
When Jesus said that the man was born blind that the works of God may be made manifest in him, He was actually saying that the man was born blind so that the things God does or can do may be revealed in him for all to see.
You may want to ask, what is the thing that God does or can do that was revealed in the life of this blind man?
“God Heals”.
If not that this man was born blind, how that God can heal and restore one's sight would not have been revealed.
The blind man even said something after he was healed and was been questioned by the Pharisees, in verses 32 of John 9,
"Since the beginning of time it has never been heard that anyone opened the eyes of a person born blind."
Through this man that was born blind, what had never been heard or known about God since the beginning of time, was revealed.
When you see certain things happen to you or to people, be careful what you think, feel or say about it because God may have allowed those things to happen because of what He wants to reveal about Himself.
Except God allows some circumstances and situation, you may never grow in the knowledge of who He is.
Many Jews who still had doubt about who Jesus was, believed in Jesus from the very moment that Lazarus was raised to life.
Many came to know Jesus as one who not only heals the sick but as one who also raises the dead to life.
If Jesus had gone immediately to Lazarus when He was made to know that he was sick, Lazarus would not have died and many would not have known that Jesus is the resurrection and the life.
Today we know God to be One who heals, saves, blesses, provides, protects, sustains, transforms and delivers because of the situation or circumstances that the people in the Bible experienced.
God used what the people in the bible went through as an occasion to make known who He is and what He can do. "God wants to do same through me and you".
God wants to make known to you what you are yet to know about Him and the way He would do it might not appear good but at the end you will have a testimony to testify about which will bring about the salvation and encouragement of many.
Whatever situation that you are in presently, let this be your prayer and expectation –
Heavenly Father, use this my present situation or circumstances to reveal to me and to all people, who you are and what you can do. Use my weakness to reveal how that you are a strengthener; use my sickness to reveal how that you are a healer; use my needs to reveal how that you are a provider; use my addictions to reveal how that you are a deliverer; use the crisis in my marriage to reveal how that you are a restorer; use my prodigal husband, wife, kids, parents, family members or friends to reveal how that you are merciful and a savior in Jesus Name, Amen.
