Now trouble came into the family of Mary, Martha and Lazarus, and Jesus was not there to help them. He had been there a few days previously, but He had gone away, telling them where he was going. While He was gone Lazarus took sick, and the sickness was serious enough for the sisters to send for Jesus. The messenger who bore the report told Jesus, “Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.” There is a lesson at this point, and we should acknowledge it before we go further.
Happy is the Christian who has learned to turn to Jesus first in time of sorrow. Unfortunately, Christians often turn to other things and miss the comfort that is rightfully theirs as God’s children.
Some turn in upon themselves. Something happens in their lives—a death, suffering, or disappointment—and they withdraw into a private shell of mourning and contemplation. As a result, there is no victory.
Some turn to other people. Now there is a degree to which other people can help us in times of trouble, and their comfort is valuable. God has made men and women mutually dependent, and we do need to lean on others and learn from others. That is one reason why believers are placed together in a church and are given work by God to do jointly. But there is a limit to what other people can do for us, particularly in times of sorrow. And there is a sense in which people will always disappoint us. The Christian who is spiritually mature, who has lived long with the Lord and known Him and known what He desires of His children, will turn to Jesus Himself and will find in Him one who is truly a friend to the friendless and a father to the fatherless. He is the one who said, “Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” (Matt. 11:28).
Now this is what these two women did. They turned to Jesus. They sent for Him, and they waited for Him to come. As they waited, Lazarus’ condition grew worse. Expectation turned to eagerness, eagerness to anxiety, and anxiety to blank despair as their brother Lazarus died. And all this time the source of their hope was absent. They did not know that He had received the news of the sickness, had reacted calmly, and had foretold that it would not lead to permanent death but would be an occasion by which the power of God would be known. They knew only that He had delayed in coming.
John says that after Jesus had received the message of Lazarus’ sickness, He stayed where He was for two days. Many people have misunderstood the Bible at this point. It has been said on the basis of this text that Jesus delayed His return from the Jordan Valley to Bethany in order to let Lazarus die, believing that a resuscitation of a dead man would be a greater sign than the healing of a man who was only sick. But this is not the way it actually happened. When Jesus returned to Bethany after the delay of two days He was told that Lazarus had been dead four days. This could only have been possible if Lazarus had already died by the time the message of his sickness first reached Jesus. And this means that Jesus knew of His death from the beginning and delayed His return for an entirely different purpose.
