{"id":72523,"date":"2025-07-29T00:01:00","date_gmt":"2025-07-29T04:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/?p=72523"},"modified":"2025-08-01T10:14:34","modified_gmt":"2025-08-01T14:14:34","slug":"lazarus-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/lazarus-2\/","title":{"rendered":"Lazarus"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\u201cMarley was dead: to begin with.\u201d This is how Charles Dickens begins A Christmas Carol<\/em>, and the story of Lazarus in John 11 began similarly. It could be read \u201cLazarus was sick: to begin with.\u201d Like Scrooge\u2019s business partner Marley, Lazarus\u2019s sickness and death take place out of view of the reader, so that by the time Jesus arrived at his tomb, there is no doubt that Lazarus was dead. And as Dickens would continue, \u201cThis must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Marley and Lazarus were both dead, the similarity ends there. Marley\u2019s ghost had lines in the opening chapter of A Christmas Carol<\/em>; Lazarus does not speak in the Gospel of John. Lazarus\u2019s personality is not given to the reader. We don\u2019t get a chance to reflect on his actions and consider whether there is something we might learn from them. We can only relate to him in two ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first is that, even if we are confident we are loved by Jesus, we can still suffer. Lazarus\u2019s sisters sent a message to Jesus that calls Lazarus \u201cthe one you love.\u201d The most important thing about him is that he is among those that Jesus loves. Mary and Martha expected that Jesus\u2019s love for Lazarus would prompt Him to come and heal Lazarus, as He had done for so many others. But this did not happen. Scripture doesn\u2019t say if He sent a message in return. His response was, as far as we know, silence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What must it have been like for Lazarus to know that Jesus loved him and yet allowed him to die? Did Mary and Martha have moments of doubt during the delay? If Jesus really loved Lazarus, why didn\u2019t He come? Like them, Jesus can sometimes seem to be absent from the crisis moments of our lives. They are crises in part because of this absence we feel. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And yet, when Jesus did arrive, Mary and Martha learned that Jesus never stopped loving Lazarus, even when he was in the tomb. He had allowed Lazarus to suffer death, but His love prompted Him to reverse all that Lazarus had suffered. The tears shed at Lazarus\u2019s death, including Jesus\u2019s own, were wiped away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The second way we can relate to Lazarus is that we also are in need of resurrection. We \u201cwere dead in…trespasses and sins\u201d (Ephesians 2:1). This story is an assurance of God’s love and power to rescue us from death. And it is also a call to faith\u2014Jesus is not just the one who raises others from the dead. He is<\/em> the resurrection from the dead. In Him, we, too, are made alive.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Are you lying in the grave today, waiting for the enlivening word of the One who loves you? Remember that you exist because you are loved into being and sustained by the love of Jesus, and His \u201clove is as strong as death\u201d (Song of Songs 8:6).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Written by Elliot Ritzema<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u201cMarley was dead: to begin with.\u201d This is how Charles Dickens begins A Christmas Carol, and the story of Lazarus in John 11 began similarly. It could be read \u201cLazarus was sick: to begin with.\u201d Like Scrooge\u2019s business partner Marley, Lazarus\u2019s sickness and death take place out of view of the reader, so that by […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":14,"featured_media":72345,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[302],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-72523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-pitnt"],"acf":{"hero_background_image":false,"related_plans":[72485],"weekly_truth":false,"grace_day":false,"share_text":"#SheReadsTruth","devotional_text":"LAZARUS<\/b>

\r\nby Elliot Ritzema<\/i>

\r\n

\u201cMarley was dead: to begin with.\u201d This is how Charles Dickens begins A Christmas Carol<\/em>, and the story of Lazarus in John 11 began similarly. It could be read \u201cLazarus was sick: to begin with.\u201d Like Scrooge\u2019s business partner Marley, Lazarus\u2019s sickness and death take place out of view of the reader, so that by the time Jesus arrived at his tomb, there is no doubt that Lazarus was dead. And as Dickens would continue, \u201cThis must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.\u201d<\/p>
\r\n

While Marley and Lazarus were both dead, the similarity ends there. Marley\u2019s ghost had lines in the opening chapter of A Christmas Carol<\/em>; Lazarus does not speak in the Gospel of John. Lazarus\u2019s personality is not given to the reader. We don\u2019t get a chance to reflect on his actions and consider whether there is something we might learn from them. We can only relate to him in two ways.<\/p>
\r\n

The first is that, even if we are confident we are loved by Jesus, we can still suffer. Lazarus\u2019s sisters sent a message to Jesus that calls Lazarus \u201cthe one you love.\u201d The most important thing about him is that he is among those that Jesus loves. Mary and Martha expected that Jesus\u2019s love for Lazarus would prompt Him to come and heal Lazarus, as He had done for so many others. But this did not happen. Scripture doesn\u2019t say if He sent a message in return. His response was, as far as we know, silence.<\/p>
\r\n

What must it have been like for Lazarus to know that Jesus loved him and yet allowed him to die? Did Mary and Martha have moments of doubt during the delay? If Jesus really loved Lazarus, why didn\u2019t He come? Like them, Jesus can sometimes seem to be absent from the crisis moments of our lives. They are crises in part because of this absence we feel.<\/p>
\r\n

And yet, when Jesus did arrive, Mary and Martha learned that Jesus never stopped loving Lazarus, even when he was in the tomb. He had allowed Lazarus to suffer death, but His love prompted Him to reverse all that Lazarus had suffered. The tears shed at Lazarus\u2019s death, including Jesus\u2019s own, were wiped away.<\/p>
\r\n

The second way we can relate to Lazarus is that we also are in need of resurrection. We \u201cwere dead in...trespasses and sins\u201d (Ephesians 2:1). This story is an assurance of God's love and power to rescue us from death. And it is also a call to faith\u2014Jesus is not just the one who raises others from the dead. He is<\/em> the resurrection from the dead. In Him, we, too, are made alive.<\/p>
\r\n

Are you lying in the grave today, waiting for the enlivening word of the One who loves you? Remember that you exist because you are loved into being and sustained by the love of Jesus, and His \u201clove is as strong as death\u201d (Song of Songs 8:6).<\/p>","share_image_height":"640","day_number":"16","scripture":"John 11:1-18, John 11:28-44, John 12:9-11","available":true,"ad_banner_name":"","ad_banner_image":false,"ad_banner_url":"","songs":"","key_verse":"","key_verse_reference":"","background_image":false,"background_color":"#FBF7F3","scripture_references":false,"share_image":false,"author_name":"","author_bio":"","guest_social_media":false,"show_ad":true,"ad_override":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/14"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=72523"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/72523\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/72345"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=72523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=72523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shereadstruth.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=72523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}