THE MAN LAZARUS

LAZARUS JOHH 11:1-44

A man named Lazarus, who lived in Bethany, was ill.  Bethany was the town where Mary and her sister Martha lived. (This Mary was the one who poured the perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair: it was her brother Lazarus who was ill.) The sisters sent Jesus a message. “Lord, your dear friend is ill.”

When Jesus heard it, he said, “The final result of this illness will not be the death of Lazarus, this has happened in order to bring glory to God, and it will be the means by which the Son of God will receive glory.”

Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he received the news that Lazarus was ill, he stayed where he was for two more days. Then he said to the disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

“Teacher,”  the disciples answered, “just a short time ago the people there wanted to stone you, and are you planning to go back?”

Jesus said, “A day has twelve hours, hasn’t it? So whoever walks in broad daylight does not stumble, for they see the light of this world. But if they walk during the night they stumble, because they have no light. Jesus said this and then added, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I will go and wake him up.”

The disciples answered, “If he is asleep, Lord, he will get well.”  Jesus meant that Lazarus had died, but they thought he meant natural sleep. So Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, but for your sake I am glad that I was not with him, so that you will believe, Let us go to him.”

Thomas (called the Twin) said to his fellow disciples, “Let us go with the Teacher, so that we may die with him!”

Holy Spirit thank you for your guidance, I no longer have to rely on my effort. Through your guide and teaching I will understand the Father's will. I will understand Christ teaching. Through your power I will a life that pleases God.