part0045

When His good friend, Lazarus, became sick unto death, Jesus was probably about one day's journey from Lazarus' town of Bethany. John 11:6 says that He stayed where He was for two more days, and John 11:17 says that Lazarus was buried four days before Jesus arrived. The likely scenario is that the messenger, that had been sent to tell Jesus the news about His friend, had taken one day to get to Him. Jesus probably received the message on the same day or the day before that Lazarus was being buried, and despite the urgency, He waited two more days before He left for Bethany. By the time that He arrived, it was already too late for Him to do any human good because Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. In John 11:21, Martha told Jesus that her brother would have lived if only He had come sooner. But John 11:8-11 says that He had originally left Judea to avoid being stoned to death and that it was primarily for the sake of His friends that He was even willing to return.

In John 11:16, the Apostle Thomas, called Didymus, was willing to go to Lazarus' side and possibly even die with Jesus. Didymus meant twin, and in that instance, he had enough love in his heart to possibly die with Jesus but not enough faith to understand what Jesus was about to do. In John 11:20-24, Martha had put a lot of confidence in Jesus, the man. So, when He spoke to her about Lazarus living again, she believed that He only meant in the resurrection. In John 11:32, Mary also told Jesus that her brother would not have died if He had been there, and in John 11:35, the Apostle John wrote that Jesus wept. Why did Jesus weep? He probably wept because of the sisters' sorrow, because the Jews still did not believe on Him, because His disciples were still ignorant about Him, and because of the indecision of those that still would not accept Him. Jesus wants all people to believe on Him and to grow in their faith. He is the Lord and the Son of God. He holds the keys to life and death, and for lots of reasons, people can trust in Him with confidence.