…and then he said to his disciples, ”Let us go back to Judea.”
”But Rabbi,” they said, ”a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”
If I close my eyes and picture myself sitting among the disciples with Jesus, I imagine that we are camped near the bank of the Jordan River, near where John the Baptist appeared out of the wilderness and started preaching. In my mind’s eye, it is morning. The sun is peeking over the eastern horizon and some of the disciples have been up since very early. A fire is going in the middle of the camp and as the few disciples who are still asleep wake-up, they gather around the fire where a breakfast of small fish is cooking. Someone passes around a rough-hewn wood plate with dates on it and I take one to eat and pass the plate on.
Jesus is sitting apart off to one side, facing the rising sun. For all I know he may have been sitting there all night, it is hard to tell with him. The other disciples talk quietly among themselves of simple things; sharing fishing stories and last night’s dreams. Jesus moves where he is sitting and within a blink everyone is quiet. Jesus stands, turns and says quietly, “Let us go back to Judea.”
There is a stunned silence. I can’t know what the disciples are thinking, but I would be surprised. When we left Judea it was a relief. The people there were hostile and angry. Jesus had nearly been stoned. When word came that Lazarus was sick, Jesus simply said, “This sickness will not end in death.” We thought that meant he didn’t need to go back. Lazarus would be okay on his own.
Why would Jesus go back now?
Let’s Discuss: We know how this story ends but there is still a lot to learn from it. If you were a disciple looking back on this moment after Lazarus had been raised from the dead, what would you be thinking?
I would be thinking I made a great decision to follow Jesus.
I would be chuckling to myself about how much of what Jesus said that I didn’t understand at the time.
I probably would be in sort of a daze still trying to figure out what had been done and who are we really dealing with.
Isn’t it a marvel how Jesus is always looking at things from the perspective of Heaven?
I would be thinking, I sure wish we were allowed to eat bacon once in awhile instead of fish every morning.
BTW beautiful picture Jeff, helped me imagine the scene as I read.
Ha didn’t intend to be anonymous just forgot to add my name. Just finished cooking a load of bacon this evening so I had the wonderful smell of bacon on my mind while reading your post.
I hear that bacon does that to people! 🙂
Thanks for your comment, Randy! Glad you could join us!!