Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, ”Lord, the one you love is sick.”
When he heard this, Jesus said, ”This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”
This is the story of the man, Lazarus, whom Jesus raised from the dead. John begins by giving us a proper introduction to Lazarus; where he lives, who his relations are, and that he is well known to Jesus. Then John tells us that Lazarus is sick.
You and I know what it is like to have a cold or stomach flu. People in Jesus’ day probably suffered from similar ailments. This sickness was different. Lazarus was ill enough that his sisters thought his life was in danger. Why else would they have taken the trouble to send a messenger to Jesus? In short, Lazarus was dying.
In a sense, Lazarus has the same problem we all suffer from. Every single one of us is dying. I remember as a curious young boy asking our family doctor, “When do people start to die?” His answer has stuck with me my whole life. He said, “When they are born.”
In reality, that is true. I have heard it said that all of the cells in our bodies are replaced about once every seven years. I have no idea if that is true or not, but if it is, it fits with what the doctor told me years ago. The difference then, between living and dying, is which one is winning: the living or the dying? In the end, physical death is inevitable.
There are two things in this passage that I find encouraging. Like Lazarus, we, too, are the one He loves. Jesus loves each of us immensely. Also like Lazarus, our dying does not end in death, rather God’s Son, Jesus, is glorified through it. You can be sure that when we wake up on the other side of death, we will be praising God and glorifying our savior, Jesus.
Let’s Discuss: Is death something we should talk about or do you think it is best to avoid it?
I think we need to talk about death, we need to be honest with the reality of the situation we all are born into. Eventually this reality will smack us in the face – a loved one will die of sickness, a friend will die in a car crash, and another will commit suicide. Growing up I remember when I had to first face these things when it was personal. Death is a harsh reality in our world – fortunately Jesus conquered death and brought eternal life. We need to appropriately recognize the horror of death (especially spiritual, but also physical) to see the value of eternal life. The reason we shouldn’t fear death is only because we have eternal life and victory in Jesus.
Yes, Absolutely we should be talking about it. We need to be honest about our mortality. David asked the Lord to teach him that his days are numbered. Ours are too. In fact, ministry is largely about preparing people for eternity. An eternal perspective comes with an honest evaluation of our mortality and can get us looking forward to an eternity with the Lord.
Thank you for your thoughts today! I agree, it is a necessary, if somewhat awkward topic. My dad gave the topic a lot of forethought and when he went he was well prepared. His house was in order. I need to do more of the same as well as being spiritually prepared.