As early as 390 AD, there is historical evidence that believers were worshipping at the tomb of Lazarus. The first mention of a church dedicated to Saint Lazarus is by the church father Jerome. Worshipping at a church where Jesus had raised someone from the dead must have been quite encouraging to people's faith. I'm sure it made up for the occasional bad sermon.
This past week, we took a look into the story of Jesus and Lazarus. There is so much to this story of death and life. John's gospel tells us that Lazarus, a friend of Jesus was sick (11:1) and eventually passed form this life because of his sickness. When Jesus showed up Mary and Martha felt he was late, but Jesus had come to Bethany that day to do something completely unimaginable--Jesus would raise Lazarus from the dead. Here's some important truths that comes from this story of resurrection life . . .
1) Sickness . . . we all face it. With all of our doctors and hospitals (and PTL for them), we still face sickness and disease everyday. The causes of premature death are really not that uncommon. On any given Sunday, there are people present at New Life who are struggling with heart conditions, breathing problems, cancers, and the common cold. the commonality of sickness is perhaps the reasons we still find the ministry of Jesus so compelling to us today. Jesus was a miracle worker and a healer. Luke records the focus of Jesus' ministry with these words, ""The Spirit of the Lord is on me, because he has anointed me to proclaim good news to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim freedom for the prisoners and recovery of sight for the blind, to set the oppressed free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor." (Luke 4:18-19).
2) Friendship . . . we all need it. Even Jesus had friends and he was a good friend to others. John 11 reveals that Jesus was quite close to the family of Lazarus. When Lazarus died, Jesus cried (11:35). Other portions of the gospels tell us that he was often in Bethany at their home eating, teaching, or just relaxing. Jesus relationship with Lazarus reminds us that we have been offered a similar relationship with God in Christ Jesus. The popular song, "I am a friend of God" is actually biblical! Have you have put your faith and trust in Christ, you can consider the God of the universe your friend. Wow!
3) Faith . . . we all want it! I often feel like the man who said to Jesus, "I believe, help my unbelief." (Mark 9:24) If you are a follower of Jesus, you believe and you want your faith to grow so that you completely trust God. The story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead highlights how important your faith really is--not just for answers to prayer, but how important it really is to God. Jesus even prayers before he raises Lazarus. He prays not because he need a pep-rally with the Father (11:41-42). He prays so that his followers would be encouraged to have faith in God and to pray!
4) Supernatural power . . . we can't live without it. In today's world, we are pretty self-sufficient. If we get sick, we pop a pill. If we face some really big challenge, we seek the help of an expert. Lazarus's tory reminds us that oftentimes there is no human help available for the struggles and set backs we face in life. Only God can save us! That's the ultimate lesson of Lazarus' resurrection. Only Jesus could help a dead man. Without him, there was no hope! When Jesus came mourning turned to laughter and death to life!
Lazarus' story encourages me to trust God no matter what and to thank him for friendship and supernatural power. We all face struggles and sickness, but when Jesus shows up anything is possible. I'm praying he will show up in my life and my church! I hope you will too!
