Lazarus, Come Out

Over the past year-and-a-half, ISI, like much of the world, had been impacted by the pandemic.  Today, like everyone else, we wait with bated breath as college and university campuses start to reopen, as life returns to some level of normalcy.  As I prepare for our ISI National Conference at the end of June, the story of Jesus’ raising of Lazarus in John 11:1-44 is very much on my mind.  There are 4 things I draw from that story that seem especially pertinent to our Ministry.
 
Jesus Waits
 
In v. 5 of John 11, we learn that Jesus deliberately waited where He was for 2 days despite hearing of his good friend’s illness, and he only arrived in Bethany 4 days after Lazarus had passed (v. 39).  In hindsight, we understand Jesus planned to raise his friend back to life and had purposely delayed his visit to perform this miracle (v. 11).  But Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, did not know of the divine plan and as a result, they suffered in their grief and anguish, not understanding why Jesus delayed at their brother’s expense.  “Lord,” they cry to Jesus in their grief, “if You had been here, our brother would not have died” (vv. 21, 32). 
 
Are we not like Mary and Martha, wondering why God did not act to end the pandemic sooner?  Lord, if You’d only showed up earlier and stopped the pandemic like you stilled the storm, perhaps we would not have lost so many lives, not suffer depression and economic hardship, avoided dividing the nation over things like masks and vaccines?  Or was there, is there, a divine purpose to all this?
 
Jesus Weeps
 
In v. 35, reportedly the shortest verse in Holy Writ, we learn that Jesus, deeply moved in spirit and troubled, wept when He saw Mary and her friends weeping in their grief over Lazarus’ passing.  The fact that the King of the Universe strategically “engineered” the circumstances for a display of His glory did not at all preclude His experience with and participation in the grief of His friends.  Jesus felt their pain; He willingly entered their sorrow. 
 
While God feels sorrow and anger (Gen. 6:6; Psa. 78:40; Isa. 65:2-3; Jer. 8:19), while He feels compassion for His creation (Psa. 103:8; Joel 2:13), the only place in Scripture where He actually sheds tears and weeps is as the Incarnate Christ.  He literally came to earth to weep with us…among other things.  When we cried over loved ones lost to or hurt by the pandemic, the King of the Universe was there with us, weeping with us. 
 
Jesus Reveals
 
In v. 25, an amazing revelation is given: Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life!  Only He who is resurrection and life itself can resurrect life.  This revelation came amid a situation defined by the exact opposite: death and destruction.  If Lazarus had not died, would we have been blessed by this revelation?  Well, there would probably have been other circumstances—other “Lazaruses,” if you like—to facilitate just such a purpose. 
 
My point?  God uses circumstances to reveal His character and essence.  What has He revealed to you in the past year-and-a-half?  For ISI, the Lord showed Himself faithful and true as our Way Maker, who, in the most trying circumstances of the pandemic, made a way in the wilderness and carved streams in the wasteland (Isa. 43:19).  He led us by ways we had not known, He guided us along unfamiliar paths, He turned darkness into light before us, He made the rough places smooth—He did not forsake us (Isa. 42:16).  He provided for our needs, He strengthened our weak limbs, He preserved our lives.  He revealed Himself as our Almighty God!
 
Jesus Calls
 
Finally, in v. 43, the Giver of life did His thing: He raised Lazarus from the dead by calling him out from the tomb!  I don’t know if the pandemic is on its last legs (I very much doubt so), but what I do know is that the King is calling us out from this painfully protracted season where, like Lazarus, we’ve been trapped within a tomb of sorts.  “Seng, come out!” the Lord calls. 
 
Do you hear the Savior calling you, by name, to come out of your shell?  For ISI, I hear the Lord calling,
 
“Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you.  See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and his glory appears over you.  Nations will come to your light, and kings to the brightness of your dawn” (Isa. 60:1-3).
 
It’s time to rise from the dank and gloom of this long season and get out into the sunlight—the “Son’s light,” the glory of Christ that appears over us.  The nations and their kings and queens await us to show them the salvation of God, the brightness of our dawn.