"Now a certain man was ill," (John 11:3 ESV)
Everyone is someone in the Savior. There are no nameless faces to Jesus. He alone can look across a crowd and see a thousand or more souls He is intimately acquainted with.
This is why our every human interaction is ripe with potential. Our Savior is totally aware of the very page they are on in their story, along with every paragraph leading up to this moment. He is also aware of what comes next. When we walk in the Spirit, we walk with Him into our neighbor’s most current condition. What an opportunity!
When we rightly respond to Jesus invitation to relationship, we move forward in friendship. Friendship with God has many benefits, but avoiding suffering altogether is not one of them. Lazarus, though he loved Jesus and was loved by Jesus, still suffered grave illness and even died. The Savior was just down the road, and still, Lazarus experienced agony and death.
Lazarus, dear friend and adamant follower of Jesus, got sick, called on heaven for help, and died before Jesus made it on scene. What do we do with that? Maybe even more upsetting, why didn’t Jesus hurry toward His hurting friend? Why does He seem to take His sweet time getting to Bethany?
I suspect it is because Jesus is teaching His original audience and His readers about something bigger than death: resurrection. He allowed Lazarus to suffer illness and even demise to educate about what comes next.
We get so hung up on this life: the challenges, the trinkets, the achievements. We want to look and feel young, beating back the reality of expiration as long as possible. We hate to suffer so we avoid, medicate and buy our way out of as much pain as we possibly can. But Jesus reminds us, there is something after all of this. There’s an existence that is much bigger and brighter on the other side of death.
Lazarus, to some extent, experienced it. He at least dipped a big toe in eternity before Jesus spoke into his tomb and pulled him back from the brink. What was that like? What stories did he tell? What confidence did he possess in his second go round with living and breathing? I’d imagine Lazarus walked the earth on his bonus round nearly invincible – not because his flesh was any less susceptibly but because his heart was now overflowing with heaven! The fear of death no longer had a hold on him.
In the midst of this head-scratching narrative, Jesus says something that at first blush, feels false. “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God wicked receive glory from this.” (John 11:4 NLT)
Lazarus did die, but death didn’t get the last word. Jesus said this about His dear friend that day, but it’s also true for the friends of God. Death will not have the final word. Resurrection is on our docket, also. And Jesus still gets the glory because He paid the price to make our resurrection possible. Lazarus is a living, dying and resurrected type for all those who trust in Christ. (Hallelujah!)
So how do we apply all this? First of all, we remember that everyone is someone in the Savior. Secondly, we acknowledge that illness, injury and death are a reality of being human. We should not be shocked when suffering steal into our story. We can receive theses challenges in faith and even ask for healing. Lazarus certainly did. We do well to acknowledge Jesus’ agency – He is sovereign and makes His own decisions about healing. We hope for healing in this life and expect it in the next. Even if Jesus visits amidst our agony and sets us free from it, we will still expire. Every person Jesus has ever healed has eventually died. And it’s ok, because death is the only path to resurrection.
Rob and I talked about it before we fell asleep last night; as believers, we must promote heaven more. Folks need to understand, heave isn’t an imaginary vacation destination or a consolation prize for death. It is our reward for choosing Christ. It is dwelling with Him in unbroken fellowship. It is healthy relationships, emotional wholeness, vocational satisfaction and existential joy! Everything that is ‘off’ here will be righted there. And when we can understand that, we can begin to truly anticipate. Death is reduced to an inconvenient doorway. Our real life begins when we cross the threshold like Lazarus, only we’ll never long to be called back.
"Jesus told her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in Me will live, even after dying." (John 11:25 NLT)
Friend, we must look at life with a longer lens. There is much beyond these frail frames and limited lives. When we begin to rightly appreciate what comes after this, the frustrations and headaches of today lose a good deal of their strength. Eternity begins to pull on our soul as a strong magnet, enticing us toward forever with our Friend and Savior.
Lord, help us. Our human sight is so limited, our imagination so finite. Cultivate our hope for heaven. Help us comprehend the end of life You are calling us to. Turn down our fear of discomfort and death enough to wholeheartedly follow You in the flesh, fully convinced of what comes next. Amen.