Devotional:

“1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 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.” 16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” 17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” 28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” 38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” — John 11:1-44

This is the seventh and final sign in the Gospel of John. Every sign John gave us points to the evidence of Jesus being the Messiah, the Savior and the Son of God. He wrote these signs specifically so that people would come to know Jesus and have eternal life. The account of Lazarus being raised to life was to show that Jesus had authority over death through the power of resurrection. We have repeatedly seen that God had a specific purpose and plan for everything Jesus did during His ministry. The timing was perfect, the signs were perfect and the significance of every single step Jesus took pointed to Jesus, the Messiah.

Lazarus being dead for four days was very significant. A common belief among some Pharisaic Jews was that after a man died, his soul would hover around his body for three days hoping it would return to life. They believed in the possibility of a natural resuscitation during those three days. If not, on the fourth day, the soul would finally depart to the afterlife. Now, verse six makes a little more sense why Jesus waited two extra days before going to see Lazarus. He knew there was significance to the fourth day of death to many of these religious leaders.

Jesus waited until the fourth day because it left no other explanation. Lazarus was resurrected from death, a miracle that only God had the power to do through Jesus, the Son of God. Jesus knew this final sign would display God’s glory even more powerfully than any of the miracles He had done. It would create quite a scandal in Jerusalem when word got out. Resurrecting a man four days after death was something the Pharisees could not ignore or write off as a trick or a lie. Jesus also needed the disciples and everyone around Him to see the foreshadowing of His own death and resurrection and to see that He had the power and authority over life and death.

Although Mary and Martha both loved Jesus and believed He was the Son of God, they were still upset that Jesus waited as long as He did to come and heal Lazarus. They were hoping Jesus would heal their brother before he died. They never imagined Jesus would wait two days after finding out Lazarus was sick to come to see him, but they still believed, even when they didn’t understand why. Jesus assured them that his death was not the end. Jesus saw beyond his earthly death because time on earth is so short compared to eternity.

Even when it did not seem like it, Jesus’s timing was perfect for displaying God’s glory and the authority Jesus had as Messiah and God. It was not ideal for Mary or Martha’s finite knowledge of time, but that did not stop them from believing Jesus was still who He said He was and had the power to bring Lazarus back.

So many times, we ask God for things and we want answers within our finite and impatient timeline. When we don’t get them right when we expect them, we think He has abandoned or ignored our prayers. The reality is that God still knows all things and uses all things to point to His glory, not ours. We are not the reason for the answer to our prayers, He is.

“Therefore the LORD waits to be gracious to you,
and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you.
For the LORD is a God of justice;
blessed are all those who wait for him.” — Isaiah 30:18

God’s help, His answer to our prayers, His blessings and even His breaking are all for His glory and His name’s sake. “Blessed are all those who wait for him.” I need to repeat that phrase over and over in my head when I feel like I’ve been begging God for something for so long and haven’t seen any answers.

When you don’t see the answers you hoped for, remember that God is working on His time and His time is perfect. Sometimes the answer won’t be what we ask for and sometimes, it will. That is when our faith in God’s sovereignty pulls us through. It is when our obedience to do His will, whatever that looks like, draws us closer to Him. And it is when our trust in a Savior who loves us and knows the end of our story must prevail over any doubt or fear of the unknown.

Heavenly Father, thank you for answering our prayers even when we don’t understand Your timing or Your answer. Help us to have faith to walk in obedience even when it hurts and even when we don’t understand. Let everything we ask and everything we do point to Your kingdom, glory and power. Amen