JESUS WEPT

It was customary in ancient Israel to bury someone on the day of death. After death, the Talmud prescribed seven days of deep mourning and thirty days of light mourning. So [after Lazarus died] Jesus shows up right in the middle of their deepest sorrow and grieves with them. John 11:35 simply says, “Jesus wept.”

It’s one of the shortest verses in the Bible, but it speaks volumes. And I’m not sure the English translation does it justice. The force of the Greek verb tense suggests that Jesus bursts into tears. This was not a measured response. Jesus literally lost it. It reveals how much Jesus loved Lazarus. It also reveals a God who sheds tears! And He doesn’t just cry over us, He collects our tears in a bottle (see Psalm 56:8).

Your tears are precious to God. Whether they are tears of joy, tears of sorrow, or tears of pain -- not one teardrop is lost on God.

If you’ve endured the type of loss Mary and Martha experienced [in losing their brother], you know that sometimes you need a shoulder to cry on. I’m grateful for those friends who seem to show up when everybody else disappears. Jesus is a friend who sticks closer than a brother (see Proverbs 18:24), and His broad shoulders can bear any burden. 

-- Mark Batterson in “The Grave Robber: How Jesus Can Make Your Impossible Possible”

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RESURRECTION FAITH

“On His arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days… ‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if You had been here, my brother would not have died.  But I know that even now God will give You whatever you ask.’”  (John 11:17, 21 NIV)

This one statement reveals two types of faith.

The first is what I call preventative faith… Preventative faith believes God can keep things from happening. So we pray for traveling mercies or a hedge of protection around our children. And while there is nothing wrong with that, there is a second dimension of faith that believes God can actually undo what’s been done. I call it resurrection faith. It’s a faith that refuses to put periods at the end of disappointments because God can make your impossible possible. Even when the application is denied or the adoption falls through or the business goes bankrupt, don’t put a period there…

What needs to die in your life so that it can be resurrected? So that God can reveal more of His power? So that God gets all the glory? You need to bury it. Then if it’s resurrected, you know God did it.

It takes courage to end an unhealthy dating relationship, but you won’t find Mr. Right as long as you are dating Mr. Wrong. It takes courage to quit a job, but it might be the difference between making a living and making a life. It takes courage to change majors, but it’s better to fail at something you love than succeed at something you hate. Maybe you need to bury the relationship, bury the job, or bury the major. Then you need to wait for Jesus to show up.

“Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ 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.’”  (John 11:43-44 NIV)

-- Mark Batterson in “The Grave Robber: How Jesus Can Make Your Impossible Possible”

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JESUS IS CALLING YOU OUT OF YOUR TOMB

“Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb [of Lazarus]. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ‘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.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone… Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ 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.’”  (Excerpts from John 11:38-44 NIV)

This miracle doesn’t just foreshadow Jesus’ own resurrection. It foreshadows yours! It’s not just something Jesus did for Lazarus. It’s a snapshot of what Jesus wants to do in your life right here, right now. When we sin, it’s like the enemy of our soul wraps us up in graveclothes. Sin buries us alive and makes a mummy out of us. We become shadows of the person we were meant to be. And if you keep on sinning, it’ll weight you down like a hundred pounds of graveclothes. But Jesus is calling you out of your tomb.

I’ve found that one of the best ways to personalize the promises of Scripture is to take out the original name and insert your own. And I think it’s okay to do that. After all, every promise God has made is yes in Christ. So take out Lazarus’s name and insert your own: Mark, come out!

Can you hear Him call your name? He’s calling you out of sin. He’s calling you out of death. He’s calling you out of your tomb. 

-- Mark Batterson in “The Grave Robber: How Jesus Can Make Your Impossible Possible” 

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OPENING SHUT DOORS

Myth: “Some doors are so closed, not even God can do anything about them.”

Actually, locked doors are kind of God’s specialty… If God can open the heavy door of a sealed tomb, no circumstantial door is too closed to Him. Consider what happened after the Resurrection:

“When it was evening… and the doors of the house where the disciples had met were locked… Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’… A week later His disciples were again in the house, and Thomas was with them. Although the doors were shut, Jesus came and stood among them and said, ‘Peace be with you.’” (John 20:19,26 NRSV)

The doors of our lives are not closed to God. He has the power to enter into our circumstance and grace us with His presence.

-- John Ortberg in “All the Places to Go… How Will You Know?”


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