Death is not the End

DEVOTION

THE GOSPEL OF JOHN

DEATH IS NOT THE END

John 11:1-16

11:1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick." 4 When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it."  5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. 7 Then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea."  8 "But Rabbi," they said, "a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?" 9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light. 10 It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light."  11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up."  12 His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."  16 Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."

NIV

We begin one of the most interesting accounts of Jesus and his demonstration of his power over death. These three, Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived in the little town of Bethany. It is just on the other side of the mount of olives not more than a couple of miles from Jerusalem. This is why his disciples were a bit confused that he wanted to go to Bethany because of its close proximity to Jerusalem and there had already been several attempts to capture or kill him. We are also told that Jesus loved these three, he has some special attachment to them. Although we are told this is the Mary who poured perfume of the feet of Jesus, she had not yet done that for it is recorded after this incident of raising her brother from the dead. Luke records a time Jesus was on his way and came to a town, which we know is Bethany, and Martha opened her home to him. This is early on in Luke’s account and it is the time which we are told how Martha was upset because her sister Mary was just sitting at the feet of Jesus, listening to him. So this was before the incident of Mary pouring the perfume. What all this means is Jesus had spent other times with them and was familiar with their home and with them. This most likely is not the only time he spent with them, but whenever he was in the area, he would see them. We are going through this exercise so we can understand this love Jesus has for his friends. Of course, that is very interesting that we have been called friends. We also know the God does not show favoritism, although this narrative would suggest Jesus favors these three. Yet in the big picture, we know God so loved the whole world that he gave his only beloved Son so that whosoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. This whole narrative is showing us that Jesus does, in fact, have power over death, and his love for his people move him more than his own life. This trip to Judea wasn’t going to be his last, soon he would return and this time for the purpose of going to the cross. Before getting into the details of this narrative and seeing what other truths are within it, at this point we are satisfied to know the love of Jesus overshadows all else and this raising Lazarus from the dead, reveals how we too will be called forth from the grave. Because we too are friends of Jesus, our sickness, our sin, will not end in death, for death is not the end.