THINK TOGETHER.
Who is the most important person you’ve had in your home?
READ TOGETHER.
John 11:17-37. 17Now when Jesus came [to the town of Bethany], he found that [his friend] Lazarus had [died and had] already been in the tomb four days…20when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”…. 32Now 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.” 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35Jesus wept. 36So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”
This is one of the saddest stories in the whole Bible. It was sad because one of Jesus’ best friends, Lazarus, had died. Lazarus’ sisters, Martha and Mary, were, obviously, very upset. Not just because their brother had died, but because Jesus didn’t get there in time to heal him. And look at verses 33-35. Jesus too is very sad. It says that he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. So much so that he wept. Jesus cried for the loss of his friend, Lazarus, and the grief of Martha and Mary. But this will turn out to be one of the happiest stories in the whole Bible too.
John 11:38-44. 38Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb…39Jesus 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.” 40Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42I 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.” 43When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44The 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.”
Jesus wanted to show that he has power over everything bad, even death, so he raised Lazarus from the dead. What a happy day for Martha and Mary (and Lazarus?)! You see, Jesus will always turn everything sad into something happy. If not before we die, then definitely after we die and go to Heaven. When we have Jesus, we never have to fear anything bad or sad, even death, because Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. He will never leave us sad, he will always bring joy to our hearts.
Because of Jesus everything sad will be made happy again.
With Jesus we don’t have to fear anything sad, even death.
DO SOMETHING TOGETHER
Listen to the song, Rise Up (Lazarus) by Cain together.
PRAY TOGETHER
Father, help me to trust that you will make everything happy again one day. Amen.
TLICfamily 