John 11 -- A Lot To Take In For Lazarus AND Us

This chapter covers Jesus' raising Lazarus from the dead.  Thee were so many wonderful points in my commentary that I can only list part of them!

"Death is man's last enemy, but Jesus Christ has defeated this horrible enemy totally and permanently ... [citing the timing in this chapter] Lazarus had died the very day the messenger left to contact Jesus!  ... Jesus was urging them [through the message He'd sent back] to believe His word no matter how discouraging the circumstances might appear ... God's love for His own is not a pampering love; it is a perfecting love ... we must never think that love and suffering are incompatible.  Certainly they unite in Jesus Christ ... Nobody ever died in the presence of Jesus ... Jesus brought the Jewish doctrine of resurrection out of the shadows and into the light ... Jesus clearly taught the resurrection of the human body.  He has declared once and for all that death is real, that there is life after death, and that the body will one day be raised by the power of God.  He transformed this doctrine ... He took it out of a book and put it into a person, Himself.  'I am the resurrection and the life' ... We are saved by the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, and not by a doctrine written in a book ... When you face your last enemy, death, you want the Savior and not a doctrine written in a book ... He moved the doctrine of resurrection out of the future and into the present ... wherever He is, God's resurrection power is available now ..."

"Jesus wept ... revealing the humanity of the Savior.  He has entered into all of our experiences and knows how we feel.  In fact, being the perfect God-Man, Jesus experienced these things in a deeper way than we do.  His tears also assure us of His sympathy ... All believers are seated with Christ in heavenly places enjoying spiritual food and fellowship (Eph 2:6) ... Perhaps Jesus was weeping for Lazarus, as well as with the sisters, because He knew He was calling His friend from heaven and back into a wicked world where he would one day have to die again.  Jesus had come down from heaven; He knew what Lazarus was leaving behind."

Wow, Father!  So much to absorb.  Help my heart and my mind to take it all in.

 

Your Brother In Christ,
Gary Ford