Called Out
The Death of Lazarus
11 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.”… “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”…When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. 21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him…32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
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 believe, you will 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.”
Lent is a time where our Lord Jesus stands at our tombs and calls us out. We are in one way or another spiritually asleep and Jesus wishes to enter into this season and awaken us. As I allow myself to ‘enter in’ scripture, I see time and again moments where our Savior relives His earthly moments in my own life.
“Lord, if You were here…”
How often is this my prayer in times of difficulty? It may sound more like, “Where are you in this Lord?” or “Why didn’t You answer my prayer?” or “I just don’t understand God’s will for me right now.” Faith exists in those words, “If you were here…”, faith that we believe God can do anything. These words of faith can reveal a chasm in our knowing and understanding of our Savior.
"I am the way, the truth, and the life…do you believe this?”
Believing that Jesus is the way, truth, and life calls us to understand that His way is not always going to be my way.
For my ways are not your ways
Jesus does not conform to me, I must conform to Him. I must walk with Him day in and day out and allow Him to show me the Father’s glory. I am slowly learning to do this, slowly. Jesus, I trust in you. Jesus I trust that You are here with me now, that You are going to see me through to the other side of this. I trust that the reason I am not getting my way in this moment is so that You can be glorified even greater in Your way. “I believe that You are the Messiah, the Son of God.” Each Lent is an opportunity for me to spend time in that inner room with Jesus and look at my life: my wants, my dreams, my relationships, my struggles, my pain. Where in that list am I laying in the tomb of My Will? Where am I being called by Jesus to show me His Will and His Glory? Where is Jesus calling me out to be more fully alive? Jesus calls me time and time again; each time that I allow Him to, He has indeed shown me the glory of the love of His Father who always hears Him. We have two weeks left in lent. We may be thinking that it is too late, that there is too little time to really experience profound change. Let the words of our Savior encourage us to answer His call…
When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and asked, “Who then can be saved?” 26 Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.” (Mt 19:25-26)
