Living Large

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

LIVING LARGE

John 12:9-11

9 Meanwhile a large crowd of Jews found out that Jesus was there and came, not only because of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well, 11 for on account of him many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.

NIV

So the chiefs priests were so ingrained in their own self-interest they would actually kill a man just to keep things so they could have the power. When we think about that it is really pathetic. It is sad that men, who are supposed to be the religious leaders of the people, were plotting to kill someone in order to stay the religious leaders of the people. It also seems a little odd they had not wanted to kill all the other people Jesus had healed but only thought Lazarus was a threat to their position that is besides Jesus. It seems it was just because Lazarus was raised from the dead that many people started putting their faith in Jesus. What can we learn from this? Maybe if no one is threatened by our faith they will not want to kill us, but maybe if they are threatened by our faith they will want to kill us too. Sure, people do not actually kill us because we are Christians, but because we live our faith out loud, they sure do stand off from us. It seems when we live out our faith openly some people do not want to be around us. Even other Christians make comments about us, negative comments, how we are either a “know it all” or a trouble maker. They talk behind our backs but never to our face. Maybe we are like that about other Christians. Maybe we have hard feelings toward a believer who is living out their faith out loud. We have to be aware of such behaviors and make sure we are not guilty of being like, in any way, those who wanted to get rid of Lazarus because their position was threatened. Still, the Spirit has given the gift of discernment so we are not entrapped by people who desire power more than being a shepherd of the people.  We need to learn the attitude of our hearts, change if needed, as well as be aware of the attitude of others hearts. It is sort of a live and let live situation. But at the same time we cannot put Lazarus back in the grave. We cannot put back the faith we have. We cannot stop being a clear voice for Jesus just because someone might get upset with us and want to get rid of us, even to the point of death. We need to live in such a manner that people know we love Jesus, as Lazarus did. Surely he knew the religious leadership was not happy about Jesus, and maybe he even knew they wanted to get rid of Jesus, being such a close friend, yet he still stayed close to Jesus, sat at the table dined with him. We can learn that lesson as well. Staying close to Jesus no matter the cost and if Jesus has done something for us, live like it, don’t hide in the grave. We need to live out loud. Live large.