Tuesday, February 6, 2007
John 11:1-7
11:1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
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. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” (ESV)
by Paula Reynolds
In reading the story of Lazarus like Mary and Martha I sometimes why wonder why Jesus waited two days before he went to see them. We know that Jesus had a special place in his heart for them (verse 5) and yet he did not rush off immediately to save his friend. Just like today we wonder why God doesn’t answer our prayers for healing, deliverance or freedom from our trials as soon as we pray. However, in verse 4 Jesus himself shares the answer with us: to bring glory to God. We cannot help but glorify God when we realize that he is the only one who could help us.
Copyright Information
Daily Bible Meditations are taken from The Helping Hand,a Sabbath School student quarterly for youth and adults. Copyright © 2008, Seventh Day Baptist Board of Christian Education, Inc.
Scripture quotations marked "ESV" are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. Copyright ©2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Text provided by the Crossway Bibles Web Service .
