There will be times in the future when God doesn’t do what we expect or think He should do. No, he didn’t do what we expected (heal Lazarus) - He did something better. He used Lazarus’ case to bring the utmost glory to His father. When Lazarus died, Jesus was just getting started. Jesus knew God would be glorified in the situation at hand. Jesus had declared that Lazarus’ sickness was for the glory of God. When God seems to be doing nothing, He may be doing more than you could ever imagine. The raising of Lazarus teaches us another lesson, though. Usually, God allows our problems to go from bad to worse because He’s planning to do something powerful and wonderful He has a purpose that will bring even greater glory to God. We often wait for the Lord amid a terrible situation and wonder why he doesn’t respond more quickly. Jesus waited to travel to Bethany because he knew already that Lazarus would be dead and that he would perform a fantastic miracle there for the glory of God. Like Martha and Mary, we can be transparent with God because he cares for us. He was not timid to show emotion, and we should not be ashamed to express our true feelings to God. Even though he knew that Lazarus would live, he was still moved to weep with the ones he loved. Jesus revealed his compassion for people through a genuine display of emotion. It is essential to our faith as Christians that we believe in the resurrection of the dead. Through it, Jesus showed the disciples, and the world, that He had power over death.

In the story of Lazarus, Jesus speaks one of the most powerful messages ever: “Whoever believes in Jesus Christ receives spiritual life that even physical death can never take away.” As a result of this incredible miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, many people believed that Jesus was the Son of God and put their faith in Christ. But they couldn’t stop the truth from spreading. The enemies of Christ couldn’t deny the blessing the next best thing, in their view, was to destroy the evidence-in this case, the evidence was a living, breathing person. Jesus looked up to heaven and prayed to his Father, closing with these words: “Lazarus, come out!” When Lazarus came out of the tomb, Jesus told the people to remove his grave clothes.Īfter Lazarus was raised from the dead, the chief priests and Pharisees plotted to kill him because so many witnesses to the miracle believed in Jesus (John 12:9–11). He asked them to remove the stone that covered the hillside burial place. Jesus then went to the tomb of Lazarus with Mary, Martha, and the rest of the mourners. Deeply moved by their grief, Jesus wept with them. The Jews with her were also weeping and mourning. When Mary met Jesus, she was grieving with strong emotion over her brother’s death. The town of Bethany was not far from Jerusalem, where the Jewish leaders were plotting against Jesus. Jesus had not yet entered the village, most likely to avoid stirring up the crowd and calling attention to himself. Martha then went and told Mary that Jesus wanted to see her. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” Then Jesus said these crucial words: “I am the resurrection and the life. Jesus told Martha, “Your brother will rise again.” But Martha thought he was talking about the final resurrection of the dead. “Lord,” she said, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Martha discovered that Jesus was on his way, she went out to meet him. When Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had already been dead and in the tomb for four days. Jesus knew that he would do a great miracle for God’s glory and, therefore, he was not in a hurry.

When Lazarus fell ill, his sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” When Jesus heard the news, he waited two more days before going to Lazarus’ hometown of Bethany. Lazarus was one of Jesus Christ’s closest friends, so close that we’re told Jesus loved him.

The story takes place in John, chapter 11. Through this story of Lazarus, the Bible delivers a powerful message to the world: Jesus Christ has power over death, and those who believe in him receive resurrection life. Jesus ordered that the gravestone be rolled away and raised Lazarus from the dead. When Jesus finally arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had been dead and in his tomb for four days. Instead of hurrying to see Lazarus, Jesus remained where he was for two more days. When their brother fell ill, the sisters sent a messenger to Jesus to tell him Lazarus was sick. Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha, were dear friends of Jesus.

Bible story of lazarus