What a great story this is! The written account of the greatest and last of the miracles that are recorded for us in the Gospel of John, prior to Jesus' own death and resurrection, starting with ch. 18.
Beginning with ch. 5 we see the increasing hatred of the Jews toward the Lamb of God and the Shepard of the Sheep, and the eventual witness from His own mouth, of the fact that He is no other than God in the Flesh (10.30). That, after all, has been His eternal purpose, and who could prevent its fulfillment?! Man's anger toward the Son of God only serves to reveal who we really are, and to reveal Who He really is. As we see from His statement in 12.23, "The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified!"
Just imagine the tireless grace of God in contrast to the tiresome disobedience of man! Dead in trespasses and sins, disregarding the Light and the life-giving Truth of the Word of God, and the Jews' very refusal of the One sent by the Father for their redemption! As we read in 15.24, they had hated both Him and His Father, and the miracles that he performed only served to drive the wedge deeper between them and Him. It just goes to show...the darker the night, the brighter the Light! And so it was, that the Lord saved His greatest and last miracle for the end of His ministry. Previously we had seen Him turning the water into wine (ch. 2), healing the nobleman's son (ch. 4), restoring the impotent man (ch. 5), multiplying the loaves and fishes (ch. 6) and giving sight to the blind man (ch. 9).
Now, Jesus had raised the dead before...Jairus' daughter in Mk. 5, and the widow's son, of Nain in Luke 7, but in the case of Lazarus we very nearly have a forerunner of Jesus' own resurrection, in that he had been dead and buried four days, and corruption of the body had already begun. But what was that to God?! In this case, Holy Spirit had been careful to identify Lazarus, as being Lazarus of the Town of Bethany, being the home of Mary and her sister, Martha. And although this is the first time these two sisters had been mentioned in the Gospel of John, they had been spoken-of in Luke 10. There, we're told that, Martha had "received Jesus into her house". Now let me tell you, Martha and Mary and Lazarus must have been true followers of the Lord, because not many homes were open to Him. In fact, not only had men "hid, as it were, their faces from Him" and "esteemed Him not", but He was also "despised and rejected of men" (Is. 53). Of Mary, it is said in Luke 10.39, that she had "sat at Jesus' feet", and heard His word", just as we read of her in Jn. 11.2, apparently having a deeper appreciation for Jesus' teaching. Perhaps she had greater spiritual discernment, but in any case, we're told in Luke 10.40 that Martha was "cumbered with much serving", so that she said to Jesus, "Lord, dost Thou not care that my sister has left me to serve me alone? Ask her, that she help me!" You know, there are well-meaning Christians today who are "burdened with their much serving". I guess that's due to the emphasis that's been placed on Christian service, a lot of which is of the flesh; that is, for the sake of self-approval, rather than for the love of God and the love of others and the love of the Gospel. And that seems to have been the concern of Jesus for Martha, as we read in Luke 10.41.
This is very solemn. Notice that the Lord didn't commend Martha for her "much serving". Instead, He tells her that she is distracted and worried from giving her attention to too many things. She was trying to do more than what God had called her to do. So if you, dear brother or sister, feel like that, then maybe you are very simply "running to where you haven't been sent". It is obvious from vs. 42 that, "Mary had chosen the good part", which is, first and foremost, to receive from Jesus. At this point, Jesus was ministering to her, and later on, we see where Mary ministered to Him. The point is, that we have to be prepared by God to minister to others. Our own vessels need to get filled first, and that's our Lord's own teaching!
Well, let's get back to John 11.3...
This is a real appeal to the heart of our Lord. Remember, Jesus knew this family intimately; He had a relationship with them, and they had real confidence in Him as a result of that relationship, that many Christians lack today. They didn't even call Him to their home, or ask Him to provide a healing. They just gave their burden to Jesus and left it up to Him to do what He deemed best. (What a lesson!). But there's something else in these verses. Notice that their appeal was that, "He whom Thou lovest is sick", not "He who loves Thee...". It's all a matter of Jesus' love for us, not our feeble love for Him, that draws His attention to us. Those sisters knew that if a person doesn't respond to a need out of love, he need not respond at all; not out of a sense of duty, or obligation or some half-hearted necessity or some formal relationship, either one.
Do you believe today that God is your Refuge and your Strength, a very present Help in time of trouble"? You know, Jesus is not "...a High Priest who is not touched by the feeling of our infirmities". We have quite an example of this very thing in Jn. 20, when our resurrected Lord met Mary on that very morning, at first light, and He asked her, "Woman, why weepest thou?" He knew full well why she was weeping but He wanted her to tell Him, herself. He wanted her to cast her burden on Him, just as she and Martha had done, here in our passage.
Take a look at vs. 4...what a strange thing for Jesus to say, knowing full well that Lazarus was going to die! But those sisters had no idea what Jesus' plan was for Lazarus, or for them, but His desire was that they simply trust Him in faith. Learn from God on this point. He has a connection with every detail of our lives, even in death, because He loves us, just as clearly as it is stated in vs. 5, that, "He loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus".
And then, to us, Jesus does what seems to be another strange thing...vs. 6. Was Jesus being cold, or ignorant, or neglectful? You know, it really is true that, sometimes God allows us to come to the end of ourselves...emotional and spiritual bankruptcy. remember the question of the disciples, aboard their sinking ship, "Master, carest Thou not that we perish?!" Pretty foolish when you think of it! We should hang our heads in shame, when our happiness is dependent on our happenings; when our faith falters with our fears! And why did Jesus linger for two days? remember, He came down, to lift God up!
How differently Jesus acted than you and I might have, when called to the bedside of a dying friend. In fact, note what He is recorded as saying, there in vs. 7, "Let us go into Judea again". Not, "Let's go to Bethany", or "Let's go to Lazarus", as you might expect. In fact, it's obvious to the disciples that Jesus' reference to Judea could mean only one thing...that, since the Jews were plotting for His life (10.31), the Lord should have more sense that to place Himself at further risk, not to mention the fact that they may be at risk, themselves!
You know, I'm sure that there were probably times when those disciples questioned their own wisdom, in following Jesus. We don't often think of that, because we often feel the same way they did...puzzled and perplexed about the Lord and His work and His will and His ways. After all, God's ways are not our ways, are they? And we can obviously see, from the response there in vss. 9,10. That one had them perplexed, and it has me perplexed too! The only thing that I can think of, is that Lazarus' day had not yet come, just as Jesus' Own day had not yet come. Our time is measured, just as the hours of the day, and even Jesus wasn't about to upset the balance. A work had been given Him by the Father, and He had every intention of seeing it through to the end (17.4). Lazarus' life was not in the balance...it had been assured from eternity past; and Jesus' life was not in the balance, either. He was walking in the light of God's will, wherein was no way He could stumble!
What a lesson for those disciples, and for us, too. If we refuse Jesus, and choose instead, to walk in darkness, stumbling is inevitable. What an invitation from Jesus to His disciples in every age!
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