Advent Devotional for Dec. 23
Tuesday, December 23 John 11
Jesus brings healing even where it seems impossible.
The story of Lazarus is justly one of the most famous in Scripture. Jesus has just left Judea where people had been trying to arrest him, but now he wants to go back to visit his friend Lazarus, who is gravely ill. The disciples protest but Jesus insists, prompting a resigned Thomas to shrug, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” They do not arrive until Lazarus has been dead for three days. Jesus, though, tells Lazarus’s sister Martha, “Your brother will rise again.” She says, “I know, I know that there will be a day when the dead will be raised.” Jesus says, “No, I mean now…I am the resurrection.” He has them pull the stone away, despite the stench of death that should be present after three days of decomposition. He calls, “Lazarus, come forth!” and Lazarus does, alive again. He is embraced by his family and welcomed back.
There are times in our lives when our prospects for recovery seem, well, dead. We look at our situation in life and do not see any hope of recovery. Family relationships seem broken beyond repair. Addictions are too powerful, too strong to break. Marriages are too broken, suffering from years of neglect or misbehavior. The economic situation has simply laid us too low to ever be hopeful again.
Remember, in the midst of all this, that the One we worship is the One who raised Lazarus. He is the One who looked at a three-day-old corpse and saw not horrific stench but unrealized potential. He is the One who told his disciples and friends and anyone else who would listen that he has this power and is willing to use it on behalf of his followers. And he is the One who calls his followers to go to uncomfortable places (like Judea) and do uncomfortable things (like roll stones away) so that they can know his healing, and (amazing thought!) become healers themselves. Before you declare any situation in your life beyond redemption, remember that this is the God you worship.
Jesus brings healing even where it seems impossible.
The story of Lazarus is justly one of the most famous in Scripture. Jesus has just left Judea where people had been trying to arrest him, but now he wants to go back to visit his friend Lazarus, who is gravely ill. The disciples protest but Jesus insists, prompting a resigned Thomas to shrug, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” They do not arrive until Lazarus has been dead for three days. Jesus, though, tells Lazarus’s sister Martha, “Your brother will rise again.” She says, “I know, I know that there will be a day when the dead will be raised.” Jesus says, “No, I mean now…I am the resurrection.” He has them pull the stone away, despite the stench of death that should be present after three days of decomposition. He calls, “Lazarus, come forth!” and Lazarus does, alive again. He is embraced by his family and welcomed back.
There are times in our lives when our prospects for recovery seem, well, dead. We look at our situation in life and do not see any hope of recovery. Family relationships seem broken beyond repair. Addictions are too powerful, too strong to break. Marriages are too broken, suffering from years of neglect or misbehavior. The economic situation has simply laid us too low to ever be hopeful again.
Remember, in the midst of all this, that the One we worship is the One who raised Lazarus. He is the One who looked at a three-day-old corpse and saw not horrific stench but unrealized potential. He is the One who told his disciples and friends and anyone else who would listen that he has this power and is willing to use it on behalf of his followers. And he is the One who calls his followers to go to uncomfortable places (like Judea) and do uncomfortable things (like roll stones away) so that they can know his healing, and (amazing thought!) become healers themselves. Before you declare any situation in your life beyond redemption, remember that this is the God you worship.
posted by Michael Jordan at 6:00 AM
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