Gods Sabbath

T HE R ESURRECTION OF L AZARUS

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Christ’s Unexpected Reaction

Under the Father’s personal direction, Christ deliberately re mained away from the sickroom, thereby certifying that Lazar us would die. “Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.” John 11:6. The disciples well knew Christ’s strong affection for the fami ly at Bethany. When the message was delivered “Lord, the one you love is sick.” ( John 11:3), they expected their Master to rush immediately to the side of His sick friend. His long delay was a mystery to them. They imagined that His presence would have been a real comfort to the afflicted family and could not account for His delay. Indeed it would have been very simple for Christ to have made the journey to Bethany in time to save Lazarus from death, which could tempt us to think that this was the only right course to pursue. Why do we think this way? The idea is fixed in our minds that the first consideration is to save a human life from physical death if at all possible. In fact, to fail to put forth the utmost effort to prevent death, is regard ed as a criminal act attracting a court case and heavy penalties. Because we tend to form our expectations of God’s behavior in the light of how we would respond in the same circumstances, we require God to make deliverance from sickness and death His hi ghest priority too. When He, who is the possessor of almighty power, does not use that awesome might in the way we think He should, we are tempted to question the righteousness of His char acter and entertain doubts about His love for us. Because of such false beliefs, even devout followers of Christ deprive themselves of the deep privilege of being partakers with Christ in His suffering.

AHigher Level of Faith

When the whole drama was over, and Lazarus and his sisters saw what had been accomplished by his sickness, death, and resurrection, they rejoiced. They had been privileged to share