Giving Honor and Praise

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

GIVING HONOR AND PRAISE

John 11:36-47

36 Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" 37 But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?" 38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 "Take away the stone," he said. "But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days." 40 Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"  41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."  43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"  44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."  45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

NIV

Who else could raise a person from the dead other than God? We know from the accounts of the Exodus there is dark or black magic as some of the signs Moses performed in the presence of Pharaoh, his sorcerers and magicians did the same, like turning a staff into a snake, although Moses’s snake ate theirs. Nevertheless, there has always been and still is black magic which comes from the evil one who has always attempted to mimic the power of God, but he has not and cannot raise someone from the dead. Jesus has the power, his words are the power of God. Lazarus had been dead four days which proves that he was actually dead, dead. Because the Jews did not embalm as the Egyptians did, after four days in the grave, the body would already be in a state of decay, or at least rigor mortis would have begun its stages. Martha’s statement gives proof the body was already decaying and had a bad odor. The man, without a doubt, dead. But Jesus prayed, just to the people would know God sent him, and he had the power of God within him. Jesus was not talking the glory, but saying this so that the Father would get the Glory. This is the bigger lesson, they Lazarus coming back to life from the dead. We cannot raise people from the dead, but all we do can be for the glory of our Father. It is so easy to take credit for what we do. In fact, most people what recognition for their achievements. It makes us feel good to be praised for something we did right. The problem is when recognition is our motivation for our actions. Some employers have big boards with pictures of employees, such as the employee of the month, or highest sales, or most of something. They know other employees will try harder to win the spot, want to be recognized. It is a ploy to create completion so everyone will work harder, to do their very best. Even in the Body of Christ, there seems to be this concept of competition. Who knows more about the bible, we teach our children that with the bible quiz teams, or who is the best talent, with those regional, state, and national talent competitions. Why do we applaud the choir or the musicians? Are we really giving God praise of are we actually applauding their performance? Then what about those big named preachers, who write book and book, or have television broadcasts or videos for sale of their most famous sermons or teachings?  We say how wonderful they are, how insightful, how good their books or video series are. We get caught up in someone’s intellectual prowess, even quoting their words. Why? Should not everything we do be about bringing praise to God, giving glory to God for all we are, all we do, and all we say? Everything should be about giving our Father all the honor and praise.