PLUNGING
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Opening Prayer
Father, I come to your Word seeking wisdom and hope, looking for greater faith. Thank you that in it I find the answer for everything I need.
Read JOHN 11:17–31
For additional translations of the passage, use this link to Bible Gateway.
Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles[a] from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
Footnotes
- John 11:18 Or about 3 kilometers
New International Version (NIV)Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Reflect
‘I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!’1 Come to Jesus as you are.
When someone you love dies, you are all over the place. Disbelief, exhaustion, regret, numbness, anger, disorientation, anguish, and more all jostle amid the busyness and emptiness of the days that follow. Funeral rituals may provide some structure and a focus for the comforting gathering of family and friends, but the thoughts of ‘if only’ and ‘I wish’ lurk beneath the surface, sometimes tumbling out. Grief comes to you; you cannot determine how it will be. The presence of Jesus, or what seems like his absence, is achingly significant. You may be unable to greet him, stuck sitting with people trying to be helpful, staring into a vacant future. Or you may go to him, pouring out your thoughts of ‘if only’, of rebuke or regret. At the same time, your faith can surprise you: perhaps declared with gritted-teeth conviction or maybe with an assurance that surfaces unbidden.
This story of intimacy and grief unveils a space for you to enter. Here, close to the Mount of Olives, the prophets Joel2 and Zechariah3 envisaged a place of judgment and hope as God arrives at the end of time. Many were buried there, to be first at the end-times scene. Here, Jesus comes to be with Martha, to listen to her. He invites her to plunge deeper, past her vague belief in the resurrection of the dead on a last day, to grasp that resurrection and life are found in him now. While so much is still beyond her, her theology becomes personal, focused on Jesus: who he is and why he has come. Even as Lazarus is still dead, her heart encounters a revelation of the Son of God who has arrived at the Mount of Olives, ushering in new life and hope. She accepts the challenge to trust in him amid all the painful unknowns.
Apply
Is there someone bereaved—whether recently or longer term—to whom you can reach out? Bring them to Jesus in prayer.
Closing prayer
Where death brings painful and even devastating separation, Jesus, thank you that with you comes life eternal—yours is the final victory— hallelujah!
1 Mark 9:24 2 Joel 2:32 3 Zech 14:4
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