90 Days with Jesus, Day 53: John 11:11-16: Going with Jesus

August 22, 2007 in Jesus, John's Gospel, Resurrection, hope
Tags: following Jesus, Lazarus

John 11:11-16

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.”

Being a disciple is not always all that it is cracked up to be. Well, maybe I should say, being one of those original disciples was not always all it was cracked up to be. Our lives are lived in relative obscurity. No one is writing Scripture that records our foibles and follies for others to learn from. My personal story of faith is not included in the Gospel of Matthew or the book of Judges for others to learn from. Open books we may be, living in history we may be, but example of faith or not throughout the entire history of Christendom we are not. We can read about Peter, James, and John; Judas, Thomas, and Matthias. But it is highly unlikely that a 100 years from now a preacher will be sitting around preparing a sermon and have to comment on the some grave mistake in understanding that you or I have made. At least not in the way it was so for Peter, James, and John.

Still, for all their mistakes, we admire the disciples. Their jobs were not uncomplicated and without trial. (Ours are too!) And there were times when they wore a very pronounced dunce cap. (I’m sure we would have too as it is only too evident that we are currently wearing one in several areas of churchianity.) Too bad for the disciples in John 11 that they missed Jesus’ words and the true meaning behind them. But let’s notice a couple of aspects of these verses.

First, I noticed that the disciples did seemingly everything they could to avoid going back to Judea. In the first place, they wearned Jesus that this Judea was the place where the ‘Jews’ had tried to take his life previously. It was there, the disciples said, that they tried to stone Jesus. In the second place, they said, ‘Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.’ So they thought for certain that sleep was a good thing and that Jesus didn’t really know what he was talking about. I wonder if perhaps they did have an inkling that Lazarus was dead? So then their comments might be something of an attempt to shield Jesus from the death of his friend. I doubt it, but I suppose it is possible that they were thoroughly misunderstood about Jesus’ power and person.

Second, there is Thomas. For all that we do not know of Thomas, this one sentence he uttered speaks volumes about his character: “Let’s also go, that we may die with him.” In one sense then I think the disciples had a very deep understanding of what they were getting into: they knew that Jesus’ life was under constant threat from his opponents. In another sense, however, they were really unaware that Jesus was working towards that goal on purpose. It is also ironic that here they, or at least Thomas, were willing to go with Jesus and face death but later on, in the same Gospel, everyone flees, and after His death everyone is hiding behind locked doors ‘for fear of the Jews.’ Still, we can say this much: Whatever his understanding and motives, Thomas was at least willing to go with Jesus and face whatever Jesus faced. There is something to be said about his level of loyalty at this point.

Third, there are Jesus’ words: “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Sometimes we miss the rather obvious, and it has to be made rather obvious to us. It’s that whole ‘forest through all the trees’ thing. Jesus wanted to go back for reasons that he thought were rather evident, rather obvious, rather clear as the man who walks by day. He wanted his disciples to understand this, but he had to help them over their fear of what lay ahead. Jesus understood that in order for death to be defeated he had to go to a place where death reigned—even if it meant that he had to face the prospect of his own death to do it. This is no small decision he made, but make it he did, and into the fire he went.

I wonder how many times we stand in the way of Jesus going some place? I wonder how often we try to block his path when all along he wants to bless us even more than we can imagine? Oh, not like that. I’m not talking about money or riches or wealth or fame. I’m talking about Resurrection, life, hope, salvation. Remember, Jesus purposely waited two more days before going to Lazarus. He deliberately sat around for 48 more hours before going. Why? “…for your sake…so that you may believe.” Strangely, this miracle had very little to do with Lazarus and everything to do with those who would witness it: especially the Twelve. Jesus intended something even greater and they tried to stop him. He intended for them to see this sign and believe. Imagine: Jesus was glad that he had not prevented Lazarus’ death! Have you ever said something of that sort or believed it? Can you say, “I am glad that God did not prevent such-and-such from happening in my life so that so-and-so might believe in Him?”

I don’t know if I have that sort of resolve. The spirit is willing; the flesh is weak. Jesus is here making explicit that which has only been implicit to this point: He is going to do something that the disciples wouldn’t believe until they saw it done, but I think we need to get out of the way.

So we learn from these disciples a couple of things. First, we learn not to misunderstand that Jesus is doing. I confess that there are plenty of times when the thing he means to do is often the thing that we think is most dangerous, most ridiculous, most backward. Then we protest: No Lord, you don’t seem to understand, if he is sleeping this is good. Jesus responds that it is not good for Lazarus to sleep (‘die’). Death must be overcome and Jesus meant to do it. We must not misunderstand Jesus intentions.

Second, we learn that Jesus is willing to do what it takes to provoke belief. “I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.” Well, believe what? That question is not fully answered until the end of the Gospel, John 20:30-31, however, all through the Gospel it has been belief in Jesus as the One God sent. But what Jesus did here that was so risky was not that he let Lazarus die, but rather that He brought Lazarus back. It is not death that provokes belief; it is Jesus’ mastery over death that provokes belief.

Third, we learn that following Jesus is often a difficult and misunderstood road to travel. Thomas really didn’t know what he was getting into when he said what he said, and went where he went. There is, however, an element of sincerity and trust in Thomas’ words. Would that we too had such confidence to go with Jesus even when we have very little idea what His complete plans are or what he means to accomplish. Into the den of lions, into the midst of people who had resolved to kill him. There we follow Jesus, I think, because in some way we want to believe. We want to see. Not because we want to die, but because we want to live.

Soli Deo Gloria!