John 11:11-15 -- After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
Thank You Lord for friends and for giving a clear definition and example through Jesus of what a real friend is. Thank You Lord for being my rock and foundation in this ever-shifting world. In Jesus name I pray. Amen.
After diving deeply into what a friend is yesterday (John 11:11), we continue to follow Jesus as He prepares to leave for Bethany.
Right out of the gate something interesting jumped out in verse eleven. Jesus tells the disciples, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.". He uses a metaphor to describe Lazarus dying.
Okay, why is that important?
If you read the Gospels, you find Jesus teaches in parables a lot. A parable is a short story that illustrates something, usually a moral principle. On the surface it'd be easy to say He taught this way because most people were uneducated, and the religious authorities were the only ones fully trained and taught the scriptures. Remember back in John chapter seven the Pharisees even question Jesus' education.
John 7:15 -- The Jews (religious authorities) then were astonished, saying, “How has this man become learned, not having been educated?”
So, all this to say Jesus taught in parables often and most people just accepted it on the surface. At least we don't see the crowds genuinely asking for deeper explanations and details. However, there is a group that consistently got a deeper understanding out of Jesus…
The disciples.
Now it'd be easy to say, well they were His disciples, so of course they got a deeper understanding. However, read the Gospels and you'll find more times than not the disciples asked Him questions. They interacted with Him and desired to know more to the point they spoke up.
In verse twelve today, the disciples say to Him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.". They wanted to understand what Jesus was saying. To clarify. To go deeper than the surface and wrap their minds around what He had said.
I mean, why travel to Bethany, an hour away from murderous pharisees, if Lazarus' sickness doesn't lead to death, if he's just asleep?
The disciples had a real, live, everyday relationship with Jesus. They walked with Him, ate with Him, bled, sweat, and lived their lives with Him. They weren't afraid to speak up, to ask Him questions, to dig deeper. To the disciples, Jesus' teachings and words weren't just religious ramblings, steps to success, or feel-good quotes. They were the words of the Son of God, the Messiah, the words of life. It wasn't enough for them to just hear it on the surface. His words filtered through having a real everyday relationship with Him moved the disciples to speak up, to connect with, to reach to Him without hesitation or fear. They knew Jesus and they knew that Jesus knew them. Yes, you read that right. LOL.
Christian, do you desire to go deeper with the Lord in His Word, in prayer? If not, then why? Have you ever really thought about what it is that stops you from going deeper with Him? Most professed Christians today consider going to church, reading a devotional app, and listening to praise music enough. Today the four walls of church buildings contain most of, if not all, of people's "relationship" with God.
Beloved, is that enough for you? Go to church, go home. Punch in on the church clock for Jesus, then punch out so you can go back to your life when it's done? Is it enough "relationship" to have another person summarize God up, then you can move on knowing you got your Vitamin J for the week?
I realize this is confrontational but it's where the Lord led me today. Us Christians need some confrontation to wake us up and sharpen us to His truth.
I will close out with the verses I was led to this morning, where the disciples, once again, because they wanted to know more, ask Jesus why He uses parables. Now we hear directly from Jesus why he taught this way often.
Matthew 13:10-17
10 Then the disciples came to Him and asked, “Why do You speak to the crowds in parables?” 11 Jesus replied to them, “To you it has been granted to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been granted. 12 For whoever has [spiritual wisdom because he is receptive to God’s word], to him more will be given, and he will be richly and abundantly supplied; but whoever does not have [spiritual wisdom because he has devalued God’s word], even what he has will be taken away from him. 13 This is the reason I speak to the crowds in parables: because while [having the power of] seeing they do not see, and while [having the power of] hearing they do not hear, nor do they understand and grasp [spiritual things]. 14 In them the prophecy of Isaiah is being fulfilled, which says,
‘You will hear and keep on hearing, but never understand;
And you will look and keep on looking, but never comprehend;
15 For this nation’s [people's] heart has grown hard,
And with their ears they hardly hear,
And they have [tightly] closed their eyes,
Otherwise they would see with their eyes,
And hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart, and turn [to Me]
And I would heal them [spiritually].’
16 But blessed [spiritually aware, and favored by God] are your eyes, because they see; and your ears, because they hear. 17 I assure you and most solemnly say to you, many prophets and righteous men [who were honorable and in right standing with God] longed to see what you see, and did not see it, and to hear what you hear, and did not hear it.
If that doesn't open your eyes and stir you up thinking about the modern-day crowds that fill buildings called churches, I don't know what will. It breaks my heart but fills me with fire to pray and to keep pointing to Him and His Word over and over.
I pray you will not take my word on any of this. Be the Berean, hear joyfully, hear it confrontationally, hear it however, but let is ALWAYS drive you to get into the Bible, to read God's Word directly for yourself. I'm just a man, who recaps my time in prayer and in the Word each morning, please go verify, confirm, soak in God's Word directly!
You are loved. You are prayed over. You are not alone.
コメント