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Title: Why did Lazarus Have to Die?: A Test of Faith, Part 1

Scripture: John 11:1-16

1Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. 3So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

4When 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.” 5Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.

7Then 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?”

9Jesus 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. 10It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light.”

11After 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.”

12His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

14So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

16Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

1. What experiences can we look back upon to affirm our faith?
John 11:2- 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.

Our study begins and ends with two people that we know had times of great faith and not-so-great faith. Mary, as we will find out next week, fails the faith test when she condemns Jesus for not being there in time to save her brother Lazarus from death. Yet, as referenced in John 11:2, we come to know that Mary lavished expensive perfumed oil on Jesus’ feet to the dismay of Judas and others in the room.

Mary has a chance to be a little lackluster in her faith, yet through her experience with Jesus in John 11 we can understand why her faith stands out so strongly in John 12 when she is rebuked by Judas, yet praised by Jesus. We must reflect on times when we relied on our faith and God honored that by seeing us through the difficult time and made us stronger by having gone through the trial.

2. Is it faith if we demand it to be on our timing and not wait on God’s timing?
John 11:6- Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.

Imagine if you asked God to answer a prayer, yet didn’t see any response. Would you give up? Would get angry? Here we see Jesus explicitly stating that he knew Lazarus was sick, yet he did not go to visit him for two more days. God works on his timing and we are not in a position to try and bring him down to our level. We must be patient and trust in the Lord as his might and his power can only be glorified when he works within the heavenly realms, and not our earthly ways.

3. When God calls upon our faith, how do we respond?
John 11:12-13- His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

How many times have we heard God’s voice, yet responded in an incorrect or inappropriate manner? In John 11 Jesus is making his way to Jerusalem (through Bethany, which is just 2 miles away) for the Passover and his death on the cross. Therefore by this time the disciples had walked with Jesus for 3 years, yet when he says Lazarus is asleep, they don’t realize he meant Lazarus was dead. They question Jesus and wonder why he would want to wake up Lazarus when sleep may do him so good. When God calls us to respond in faith, do we act in faith or do we hear what we want to hear and then question his motives?

4. Everyone has experienced doubts sometimes
John 11:16- Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Here Thomas shows a strong faith in Jesus exclaiming that all the disciples should go to Bethany and die with Lazarus so that they may have new life and that God may be glorified. However, most of us know the disciple Thomas as Doubting Thomas. This is the same Thomas that couldn’t believe Jesus had risen from the grave and now walked amongst his followers. His faith was very low at the time and he even challenged Jesus by saying the only way he would believe was if he could put his finger into the hole where the Roman soldier had pierced his side on the cross. Have you ever been so bold as to challenge Jesus when he called upon you? Has it made you feel guilty or ashamed? Jesus knows us and knows that we will have times when we doubt his call or fail to follow his voice. We are placed in this world and do our best to be godly in all things, yet we are incapable of perfection. God knows this and therefore doesn’t give us such experiences of stumbling in our faith so that he can make us feel guilty. He wants us to learn from the experience and help be able to better discern his voice and to respond without fear as we grow and mature in our relationship with God.

You are not alone when you doubt and it doesn’t make you any less of a Christian when you do. Remember, it’s not necessarily about the choices we make, but it’s how we handle them that mark who we are in Christ.