Day #25: Greater Miracles: Part 2
Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”
Continuing the subject addressed in the devotional from Day #24, perhaps and even more incredible miracle occurred in the New Testament account of Jesus raising his friend Lazarus from the dead.
From the account in the Gospel of John, we know the following:
1. Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha, sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was sick before he died.
So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
2. Jesus waited two days before making journey from Jerusalem to Bethany
So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days
3. When Jesus left for Bethany, He was aware that Lazarus had already died
After 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.”
4. When Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had been entombed for 4 days.
On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.
5. Jesus loved Lazarus and his sisters so much so that “Jesus wept.”
Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
6. Mary and Martha had faith that Jesus could heal Lazarus.
“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
7. Some people doubted Jesus because they believed that the miracle should have come sooner.
But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
That is when Jesus performed a greater miracle. He first asked the people gathered to remove the stone that sealed the tomb. At this point, even Martha protested, saying, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Undeterred, Jesus waited for the stone to be removed and then “called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’” And Lazarus did.
Like the account of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, Jesus delayed a miracle. As a result, “many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.” These were people who already knew that Jesus had healed a blind man, but for some reason, this particular miracle convinced those who did not believe to believe in Him.
Even Jesus’ disciples doubted, but God wanted to reveal more of himself to them. In speaking of the delay, “he told them plainly, ‘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.’”
Even before Jesus arrived in Bethany to raise Lazarus from the dead, He acknowledged that His own purpose was to use the event to bring glory to God, saying, “No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”
Here, the delayed miracle resulted in the salvation of many people and an increased faith in His disciples.
We do not always understand the ways of God. Indeed, His ways are higher than our own (Isaiah 55), but it is comforting to know that God can take the pain, heartache, and trouble we experience and use it for a higher purpose.
The next devotional will address the very hard reality that God sometimes does not intervene in our life circumstances in the way we hope.
For Additional Study & Discussion
1. Looking back to the previous devotional on Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, what are the similarities and differences? What does each account say about the character of God?
2. Do you find comfort in knowing that God can use your troubles to achieve something great? Why or why not?
3. Can you think of other scriptures or examples in the Bible of God using hardship and troubles to accomplish His higher purposes?