... 3 Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.
4 When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the aglory of God, that the Son of God might be bglorified thereby.
6 When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.
We talked about this a lot. Why did Jesus wait? Why did He just let his friend die?
The
first principle of the gospel is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Faith
means trust--trust in God's will, trust in His way of doing things, and
trust in His timetable. We should not try to impose our timetable on
His. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell has said:
'The issue for us is
trusting God enough to trust also His timing. if we can truly believe He
has our welfare at heart, may we not let His plans unfold as He thinks
best?' . . .
"Indeed, we cannot have true faith in the Lord
without also having complete trust in the Lord's will and in the Lord's
timing" -Dallin H. Oaks
... 11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may aawake him out of sleep.
12 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall ado well.
13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
... 17 Then when Jesus came, ahe found that he had lain in the grave four days already.
18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen afurlongs off:
20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.
22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will agive it thee.
25 Jesus said unto her, I am the aresurrection, and the blife: he that cbelieveth in me, though he were ddead, yet shall he elive:
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never adie. Believest thou this?
Frequently death comes as an intruder. It is an enemy that suddenly
appears in the midst of life’s feast, putting out its lights and gaiety.
Death lays its heavy hand upon those dear to us and at times leaves us
baffled and wondering. In certain situations, as in great suffering and
illness, death comes as an angel of mercy. But for the most part, we
think of it as the enemy of human happiness.The darkness of death can ever be dispelled by the light of revealed truth. “I am the resurrection, and the life,” spoke the Master. “He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” 2
This reassurance—yes, even holy confirmation—of life beyond the grave could well provide the peace promised by the Savior when He assured His disciples: “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” -Monson
Jesus needed an example, an "object lesson" to teach about His resurrection; and Lazarus was the lucky guy to get the job.
27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the aSon of God, which should come into the world.
28 And
when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister
secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.
31 The
Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when
they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her,
saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.
32 Then
when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his
feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not
died.
33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,
36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he aloved him!
37 And
some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the
blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?
38 Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a astone lay upon it.
39 Jesus
said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead,
saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the aglory of God?
41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I athank thee that thou hast heard me.
42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast asent me.
43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, aLazarus, come forth.
44 And he that was adead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a bnapkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
According to the tradition of the Jews, a body's spirit is still in the body after death for 3 days. Jesus waited, and raised Lazarus after 4 days. Lazarus was even smelly! But that didn't matter, Jesus was still able to resurrect him.
"No question as to the actual death of Lazarus could be raised, for his demise had been witnessed, his body had been prepared and buried in the usual way, and he had lain in the grave four days. At the tomb, when he [Lazarus] was called forth, there were many witnesses, some of them prominent Jews, many of whom would have readily denied the miracle had they been able. God was glorified and the divinity of the Son of Man was vindicated in the result" -Talmage.
Yesterday, my mom read a story from the Book of Virtues:
Once upon a time, there were 2 boys who'd
never been out of the city, and then one day they decide to go to the
country. They see a farmer plowing, and ask each other "why is he
tearing up that beautiful meadow?" They come back later, and he's sowing
wheat. "Why is he throwing all of that good wheat in the ground?" One
of them says 'He's crazy, I'm going back to the city, where people have
more sense.' But the other one stays, and watchs the wheat as it starts
to grow. He calls his brother back, and they both marvel at the miracle
of growing plants.
Then, in summer, the wheat is nice and golden, so the farmer comes and
harvests it, as the brothers watch. The 2nd one says 'What? Now what is
he doing? He's worked hard all summer to grow that wheat, and now he's
just cutting it down?! He's a mad man after all. I'm going back to the
city.' But the other brother stays, and watches the farmer sift the
grain, and store it. He realizes that by planting a bag of wheat the
farmer was able to harvest a field. He also realizes that that is what
God can do with us, if we are patient, and stick it out until the end.
Final thought from the Prophet:
Those who have felt the touch of
the Master’s hand somehow cannot explain the change which comes into
their lives. There is a desire to live better, to serve faithfully, to
walk humbly, and to be more like the Savior. Having received their
spiritual eyesight and glimpsed the promises of eternity, they echo the
words of the blind man to whom Jesus restored sight: “One thing I know,
that, whereas I was blind, now I see.”7[ John 9:25.]
How can we account for these miracles? Why the upsurge of activity in
men long dormant? The poet, speaking of death, wrote, “God … touch’d
him, and he slept.”8[Alfred, Lord Tennyson, In Memoriam A. H. H., section 85, stanza 5, line 4.] I say, speaking of this new birth, “God touched them, and they awakened.”Two fundamental reasons largely account for these changes of attitudes, of habits, of actions.
First, men have been shown their eternal possibilities and have made the decision to achieve them. They cannot really long rest content with mediocrity once excellence is within their reach.
Second, other men and women and, yes, young people have followed the admonition of the Savior and have loved their neighbors as themselves and helped to bring their neighbors’ dreams to fulfillment and their ambitions to realization.
The catalyst in this process has been the principle of love.
The passage of time has not altered the capacity of the Redeemer to change men’s lives. As He said to the dead Lazarus, so He says to you and to me, “Come forth.”9[ John 11:43.] I add: Come forth from the despair of doubt. Come forth from the sorrow of sin. Come forth from the death of disbelief. Come forth to a newness of life. -Thoms S Monson
Love it.
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