John Chapter 11 Devotional
It seems I am reminded of my humanness daily. There’s no shortage of situations in my life that call to my attention the fact that even though I am created in His image, I am most definitely a flawed and imperfect human in need of a Savior. Isn’t it an awesome thing that when we look at Jesus, we see all the beautiful aspects of humanity? We see the way we were meant to be.
One of the hardest things for our human minds to grasp is how Jesus could have been both fully God and fully human. I love the miraculous stories of how Jesus showed His divine powers: Healing lepers, causing a man who was blind from birth to see, casting out demons, and causing the lame to walk. One of the most amazing examples of His divine power on earth is found in John chapter 11, when He raised Lazarus from the dead.
“Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” -John 11:38-44
God’s Word is filled with accounts of events that leave us with no doubt as to what John was plainly proclaiming throughout his gospel….Jesus is God. But equally as amazing and beautiful to me are the stories where Jesus showed His humanity. His compassion and sadness for His friends in John 11 was stated simply but profoundly:
“Jesus wept.” -John 11:35
Typically when we think of someone weeping, we don’t think of a quiet tear rolling down their cheek. We think of an anguish that starts deep in the soul, an uncontrollable outward display of very deep emotion. Jesus was overwhelmed with sorrow for his friends.
…..but why? I’ve often wondered why Jesus became so upset when knowing, by His divine wisdom, that Lazarus was going to be okay.
“So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” -John 11:14-15
Being both fully God and fully human, He knew that He had the power to raise Lazarus back to life and He knew the joy that lay ahead for Lazarus and his friends and family…..but He wept anyway. The sadness that he saw in the people that He loved overwhelmed Him.
Isn’t that true for us as well? We know the end result, that no matter what we face in this life, or what we see those we love going through, the outcome is in our favor. Through the work that Jesus did on the cross for us, we can rest assured that joy lies ahead.
In the ultimate display of humanity, Jesus' love for us was so great that He laid down His life for us. In the ultimate display of God, He took it up again.
Life is hard. And we still weep. We weep for our friends who are suffering. We weep for ourselves as we face trials of all kinds. And we weep for a world that is broken and lost.
But we too, along with those we love and all who believe, will be raised from the dead and given eternal life with Him! Until then, we press on and strive to be the kind of humans He would have us to be. I don’t know about you, but I am looking very forward to the day that He makes me complete!
“.....being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.” -Philippians 1:6