Waiting on Jesus
Because God is an eternal being who lives outside of time and space, we cannot believe in God without believing he is capable of supernatural activity. It is tempting to explain away the stories found in the Bible by pointing to potential scientific explanations of supernatural events, but the key events of human history cannot be explained with scientifically verifiable phenomenon.
The eternal narrative of Scripture may seem unrealistic, but so do a lot of the supernatural acts of God. Enlightenment rationality is valuable, but its value is limited. It cannot give us access to the truth we need for a meaningful life. Biblical truth is not comfortable in the modern materialistic narrative because the Bible is full of unexplainable events. Scripture is too comprehensive to fit neatly into the power schemes and scientific theories of the world. It doesn’t fit into the world’s narrative because Biblical truth is the only true meta narrative. If it’s not, it is simply a lie. Because the Bible claims to be the Word of the eternal God, it cannot simply be a book of wisdom or history lessons.
The eleventh chapter of Luke contains a story about the most surprising and unexplainable form of miracle, a resurrection. A resurrection creates life where there was only death. Science is completely incapable of creating conscious life, but that’s God’s signature move. Only God can create life from non-life. He has done it throughout history, and he can do it in your life.
Have you ever felt completely hopeless? Have you ever felt like God was forcing you to wait for something? What do you do when your questions go unanswered, when you feel God could intervene but doesn’t? What do you do when God doesn’t do what you think he should? Is it really true that God offers hope for hurting people? Is there purpose in our pain?
If we were honest, we would all admit that there has been a time or two in our lives when we question if the One who is running this universe is asleep at the wheel. In these times, we say to God, “Where were you when I needed you?”
Let me tell you about a family in the Bible who had to wrestle with these same emotions. They felt that Jesus had failed to help when he could have. These were close friends of Jesus, and he seems to have been a frequent guest at their home. This family consisted of at least three siblings: Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
Lazarus, who lived in Bethany, became very sick. Unfortunately, Jesus and his disciples were nowhere near Bethany at the time. So, Jesus got a frantic message from Lazarus’ sisters asking him to return to help their brother. They were calling in a favor to their good friend Jesus. They were probably thinking, “Jesus, you’re always healing strangers; now your best friend is dying. Come help!”
The story is found in John chapter 11.
But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days.
There are two unique statements in that passage: one made by Jesus and one by John. Jesus chose his words carefully when he said, “This sickness won’t end in death.” Jesus was inviting his followers to trust him. Then, John pointed out something he wanted the reader to remember throughout the story. He told us that Jesus loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
When Jesus heard the message about his good friend’s illness, you would think that he would have immediately grabbed his backpack and run to Bethany shouting, “My guy needs me!” But that’s not what happened. Instead, he took his time.
What is going on here? Why is Jesus pausing? Let’s divide the story into four phases. The first phase is “waiting.”
1. Waiting
When Jesus and the disciples finally start walking to Bethany, the sisters are very angry. They’re waiting, but Jesus isn’t coming. By the time Jesus arrives in Bethany, Lazarus has been dead for four days.
How do you respond when God makes you wait? Maybe you’ve been trying to buy a house, but the market has skyrocketed. So, you wait. Maybe you’ve wanted grandchildren, but your adult children seem more interested in climbing the ladder at work than making you a grandma. Maybe you keep waiting for a promotion at work, but your boss keeps putting off his retirement. So, you wait.
Waiting can be very discouraging! Even though we spend so much of our lives waiting, most of us aren’t particularly good at it, and we would definitely never choose it. No one walks into a store, gets their stuff, then sizes up the cashiers to pick the slowest line.
In our minds, “wait” means “late” and late is never a good thing. So, we ask God to intervene, “Lord, please hurry.” We say, “Fix our marriage, heal my sickness, help me make the team, transfer my boss!” But God might be up to something, and while you’re waiting, he’s working. A waiting season is never a wasted season. Sometimes God wants to do something in you before he does something through you.
Waiting is even harder when we don’t have all the information. Sometimes we don’t even know what we are waiting for. So, the second phase of the story is “wondering.”
2. Wondering
Jesus explained to his disciples that Lazarus was sleeping, but they didn’t understand.
So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.”
Jesus was preparing for what would happen a few days later, but the disciples had no idea what was going to unfold. This is foreshadowing. Jesus waited so they would believe.
At this point, there are more questions than answers. In some situations, that’s how it will be until we are in Heaven, but eventually we will understand. Eventually, our eyes will be opened to the full reality of our lives, and all of the pain and frustration will make more sense. Maybe you’re in a season where the pain is so potent that you’re just trying to survive. Here’s the good news: God is on the throne. He has a plan.
Before Heaven, there’s a lot of the third phase of the story, which is “hurting.”
3. Hurting
Christ’s waiting hurt Lazarus’ sisters Mary and Martha. His failure to drop what he was doing and return immediately was too painful for them to swallow. So they ran out to Jesus to express their displeasure.
Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.
They were angry. They were in pain because they thought that Jesus was too late. This brings us to the fourth phase of the story. After Jesus wept with the sisters, he asked them to take him to Lazarus’ grave and instructed them to roll away the stone that covered the tomb.
We will read the next part of the story in the King James translation because it’s much more entertaining.
Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
Jesus waited four days to prove that Lazarus was dead. When they rolled away the stone, there was no one left wondering if Lazarus was actually dead. If there had been any doubters, the stink would have convinced them. That’s when Jesus chose to resurrect Lazarus.
Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”
Everyone was “waiting.” The disciples were “wondering.” The sisters were “hurting,” but God was “working.”
4. Working
Jesus wanted the people to realize he was the Messiah. The delay was motivated by love. Jesus loves us, and that is why he demonstrates his deity to us. He wants us to know he is the Messiah, because knowing him is greater than physical health.
The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think. No, he is being patient for your sake. He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.
We can trust God’s timing.
So let’s not get tired of doing what is good. At just the right time we will reap a harvest of blessing if we don’t give up.
Our harvest might come in this life or the next. Either way, a physical death is not the worst thing that can happen to us. The worst thing that can happen to us is to die without a relationship with Jesus Christ. Sometimes, because God knows everything, his answer to our request might be “no,” but don’t get tired of doing what is good. Don’t give up, because at just the right time, we will reap a harvest of blessing.
