In John 12, Jesus had just finished raising Lazarus from the dead. Obviously, this boosted Jesus’ popularity for a time, and everyone was buzzing about him. The Pharisees and Jewish leaders, though, made plans to kill Jesus because of this. (Jn. 11:53)
The part I always forget is that when Jesus goes back to Mary and Martha’s house after this, Lazarus is there, too. He’s also become somewhat of a celebrity. In our day, the paparazzi probably would’ve been all over their house. But not everyone was happy Lazarus was still around:
When the large crowd of Jesus learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. (Jn. 12:9-11, ESV)That never ceases to amaze me. They wanted Lazarus dead! He was guilty of receiving Jesus’ gift of life, and they wanted him dead because of it.
I suppose this shouldn’t surprise me. Jesus himself told us that this is how our lives as Christians would be. He said, “All men will hate you because of me, but he who stands firm to the end will be saved.” (Mk. 13:13) We Christians can expect the hatred of the unbelieving world. Does it mean people will seek to kill us? We pray that won’t happen, but we should expect there to be difficulties and troubles in our lives because of our faith.
That’s what Jesus was talking about when he said, “If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Mk. 16:24) This is the biblical teaching of the Christian cross. Following Jesus means trouble, it means difficulties for us in this world. But take heart; Jesus has overcome the world! (Jn. 16:33) We stand firm to the end not by our own strength but by his. That’s why we continue in his Word, because that is where the Holy Spirit strengthens our faith for the troubles of our life.
I’m surprised thinking of Lazarus being a target because Jesus gave him life. Well, we’re a target, too. But thankfully, Jesus has given us life, too! (Jn. 10:28)
Posts
Looking at these events from a historical perspective can make it seem tame. I can't help but wonder what the response would have been, if Jesus raised Lazerus during the internet age. Would skeptics immediately try to prove it a hoax? Would it spread viraly on Friendfeed and Twitter. If Jesus had a blog would he have hit the front page of the paper every time he posted another chapter? Hard to say how it would have been received, but interesting to think of how buzz spread in 1 AD compared to 2000 years later.
ReplyDeleteIt's definitely interesting to think about that. It also comforts me to know that God sent his Son into the world at the exact time he wanted. "When the time had full come, God sent his Son." (Gal. 4:4) So it was no accident. Of course, it's also neat how many ways there are to spread the message now!
ReplyDelete