John 11:5-6 – Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
He loved them so he stayed? This miracle worker who has healed the sick with his touch was given a warning by Lazarus’ sisters that he was dying and because he loved him he stayed? How is this love?
This is the statement that Jesus made by his choice to stay:
This is the statement that Jesus made by his choice to stay:
Lazarus, Mary and Martha. I love you. And because I love you Lazarus, I'm not going to save you from death right away. Mary and Martha, because I love you, I’m not going to spare you from the heartache of losing your brother. In fact, I'm going to arrange for you to experience his death twice, for a much greater purpose then you have the capacity to understand right now…And the purpose is, LOVE.By his actions, Jesus is saying that even though you don’t understand it now (in this situation) I love you and because I love you I want to teach you something very important. Jesus was trying to say that revealing his glory (God's glory) to Mary and Martha was more loving then saving their brother from death or them from the heartache of that death. In their minds, they have only only one understanding of how Jesus could show his love in this situation; by saving Lazarus from death. But what they soon discovered is that it is more loving for Jesus to show the eternal blessing of God’s glory then it is to spare anyone the momentary pain and suffering of death.
An application for our own lives:
With suffering, God says to us, I love you, and since I love you I will let really 'hard' things happen to you in your life, because through them you will see more of me and my glory then if I spared you from these hard things. Therefore love is the display of God's glory, not the escape from harm, pain, suffering or even death.
If you want to test God's love for you in a biblical way, don't ask the question, "Is he keeping me out of harms way", but instead ask the questions:
- Am I able to see more of His sustaining grace?
- Am I (like Paul) being weaned off my reliance upon myself or this world?
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