Lazarus part 2 - John 11:7-16

Despite what I’m sure was overwhelming pressure to leave immediate and go to heal Lazarus, Jesus stays in Perea another two days. In the book “The Kingdom and the Crown”, which I recognize is not scripture, many in Jesus’ group started to doubt his love of Lazarus and his family because He apparently lacked a sense of urgency in the matter. We talked yesterday about what this pattern of thinking could indicate as a gauge of the people’s understanding of Jesus’ power and purpose on earth. But I also think that there are a couple of other points that we can take out of Jesus waiting two days in Perea before going to Lazarus.

The first point is that God loves everyone equally. Jesus personally loved Lazarus and they were good friends, but what about the people in Perea who hadn’t had the opportunity to get to know and befriend Jesus personally? Must they have their visit with the Savior cut short because another person is esteemed more important and worthy of God’s time then them? Jesus stayed in Perea and I assume that while he was there he taught the gospel and healed the sick, because that’s what he did everywhere. If Jesus were to leave the instant that the message came there is a good chance that many of the teachings the people received during the two days that He tarried would have been unavailable to the people. It can also be assumed that any of the people that Jesus healed during two days in question would have remained in their infirmities. Jesus regarded the people of Perea of importance and worthy of the attention he would give to others, regardless of their ability to personally befriend Him.

The second point is that God’s will is not interrupted for personal favor. Lazarus’ illness was surely not a punishment because of iniquity, but most likely was a consequence of living in the fallen and mortal world that we have here. Jesus had been commanded to preach the gospel in Perea and that didn’t change when a personal tragedy struck. I think it’s an interesting commentary on how we handle loss and misfortune. For instance, when I filed for divorce I told myself, “I’ve done it God’s way and look what it got me. I’m going to do it my way now.” It was a complete disaster and I have regretted that attitude ever since. I think it’s really easy to take a trial, especially if it’s something awful, and use it as a catalyst for leaving the gospel. That might be why so many people leave the church after something happens, or they blame God for letting it happen, or decide that they don’t want to deal with it anymore. I can totally understand this sentiment, I’ve done it myself a couple of times, but every time it’s been awful and I come back.

When Jesus says that Lazarus’ sickness if “for the glory of God” it could have meant any number of things. We have 2,000 years of perspective and we know how the story ends, but at the time, the people hearing these words out of Jesus’ mouth could have assumed that Jesus meant that Lazarus would not die, but then imagine their shock when Lazarus did die. It’s human nature to assume the meaning of things and then be disappointed and confused when the outcome isn’t what we thought it would be. When I was 21 my husband and I decided to try and have a baby. It worked right away and then when I was 3 months along I found out that the baby had died several weeks earlier. I was devastated but felt an overwhelming sense of peace, I just knew that “everything is going to be ok.” I assumed that this meant that somehow the doctors were wrong and I would have my baby and everything would be great. But that’s not what happened, the baby didn’t miraculously come back to life, I did end up miscarrying and became very ill, and I was so confused. Why would Jesus tell me that everything would be ok when my baby still died? How is that ok?

I have a friend whose mother died when she was very young. When the mother was 25 she was diagnosed with a serious illness. When the father prayed for guidance, the answer that came to him was “She lives!” He took this as assurance that she would survive, but she didn’t, and he was devastated and felt betrayed. How could his answer be “She lives” and yet she still died? It took him many years to realize that she does still live, just not in the way that he expected. Imagine the response of the people who heard Jesus says that Lazarus’ illness was “not unto death,” and then he died anyway. Did they question Jesus’ authenticity? Did it drive a wedge between Him and them because they did not understand?

It took me many years to understand why I was given a feeling of peace right after my baby had died. I finally learned that everything would be ok, in the eternal perspective. With that perspective we can look at all trials as “for the glory of God” as difficult and counter-intuitive as that sentiment might be. We can view it in the eternal perspective, we can view it through the law of compensation, and we can view it through the atonement. Jesus Christ has felt every twinge of heart ache that we have ever experienced. There is no hardship so small as to escape our Savior’s notice and there is no heart break large enough to break His bond with us. This is a difficult principle to keep in mind when we are suffering. The IM quotes Elder Dallin H. Oaks as teaching, “the first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith means trust- trust in God’s will, trust in His way of doing things, and trust in His timetable. We should not try to impose our timetable on His. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell has said: ‘The issue for us is trusting God enough to trust also His timing. If we can truly believe He has our welfare at heart, may we not let His plans unfold as He thinks best?’… Indeed, we cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord’s will and in the Lord’s timing.”

These were all thoughts that would have been justified going through the heads of those who followed Jesus during this time. After two more days in Perea, Jesus tells his disciples that he will now “go into Judea again.” The disciples were concerned saying, “Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?” The Jewish leadership wants to kill Jesus and understandably, his disciples are concerned. They still don’t understand the power He has over life and death, especially His own, even though they’ve seen his miraculously escape certain death many times. Jesus gives them an answer about there being twelve hours in a day that I don’t understand at all, but the IM gives an excellent expounding by quoting Elder Bruce R. McConkie as saying, “Certainly Jesus would go to Judea in spite of the threats of death that faced him there. ‘Though it be the eleventh hour of my life, yet there are twelve hours in the day, and during that designated period, I shall do the work appointed me without stumbling or faltering. This is the time given me to do my work. I cannot wait for the night when perchance the opposition will die down. He that shirks his responsibilities and puts off his labors until the night shall stumble in the darkness and fail in his work.’”

Jesus continues by telling his disciples, “Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.” If the disciples took Jesus’ words literally, which it appears they might have, they clearly did not understand what Jesus had meant or planned. Another interpretation that I’ve heard is that they thought Jesus meant that Lazarus was sleeping in death, and their response indicated that they were encouraged that he would find peace in his spirit. Jesus sets them straight plainly saying, “Lazarus is dead.” So this begs the question, how did Jesus know? This has to be a question on at least someone’s mind in the group. Jesus had to be provided a message of Lazarus’ illness, he didn’t foretell of that, when the message was dispatched Lazarus was still alive, but he waited 2 more days before leaving and now he lets his disciples know that the time to heal him has passed because Lazarus is dead. There were no new messengers that we are told of, but Jesus continues, “and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.”

It’s probably my own personality flaw that reads everything Jesus says in a condescending and belittling way because I read this as if Jesus were shaking his finger in the face of the disciples saying, “and you’re lucky that I wasn’t there.” Honestly, I have to reread verses, often several times, to take out the maliciousness that I perceive in there that I know is not because Jesus is not petty or harsh. Jesus’ last statement might have served as some sort of explanation for why they had hung out in Perea another couple of days while Lazarus languished. He has already stated that Lazarus sickness was “for the glory of God” and now he’s reassuring them that he wasn’t there when he died on purpose because he’s about to do something “to the intent ye may believe.” He’s going to give them something that can strengthen their testimonies, if they will allow it.

The disciples weren’t only concerned with Jesus’ safety but also their own, they could be guilty by association and weren’t interested in being tried and punished, best to avoid the situation all together. Seeing that Jesus was determined to go to Bethany, despite the danger that awaited him in Jerusalem, the disciples had a decision to make, do they go with him and take on the risk themselves, or do they sit this one out? Exceptionally, it’s the disciples Thomas, “which is called Didymus” who says “unto his fellowdisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.” This Thomas is known as doubting Thomas, because he would not believe the testimony of his fellow apostles of the risen Lord, but this man here is ready to die a martyr’s death with the Savior, and it’s a shame that he isn’t remembered that way instead of as a doubter. The IM says, “when the Savior decided to return to Judea despite the dangers there, Thomas said that he would go with Jesus even if it meant dying with Him. This response shows that Thomas was not an inherent doubter or coward.” And with that, the group heads to Bethany.