John 11:28-45
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.
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “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.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 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.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 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.”
There is so much that can be said from this passage. However for today I want to focus on Mary and how her actions moved Jesus and produced a miracle.
Earlier in chapter 11, John mentions that this is Mary, the same Mary poured perfume on Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair (John 11:2).
When Mary hears that Jesus has come, she gets up quickly and goes to Him. It also said that others noticed how quickly she got up. This is Mary, whose desire was to be close to Jesus. When He visited her house, her sister Martha was busy with the housework while Mary was at Jesus feet (anointing Him with perfume and wiping his feet with her hair). She valued and desired to spend time with Jesus. Here again her, and I was going to say “knee-jerk” reaction but I should really say her Holy Spirit prompted reaction, was to be with Jesus.
She then intercedes on behalf of her brother Lazerus. She doesn’t do so with a bold command or prayer, but through her compassion. Just as she had showed compassion to Jesus earlier, she, through her desire to be with Jesus and her compassion for Lazerus, moved Jesus to act.
Then comes the shortest verse in the Bible and the easiest to memorize, “Jesus wept.” (v.35).
Following Jesus’ tears and His own compassion, Jesus calls Lazerus by name and Lazerus is raised from the dead back to life.
I have several take-aways from this passage for our 21 Days of Prayer, here on Day 8:
1. We should, like Mary, desire to be with Jesus. We should follow our Holy Spirit prompting to spend time with Him, that is, to be in close proximity and fellowship with Jesus.
2. We should worship our Lord, praise His name (as Mary earlier anointed Him, recognizing who He was and is) in our time with Him.
3. We should then with compassion, intercede on behalf of others knowing Jesus is the one they need and the only one who can fill those needs.
4. Our intimacy with Jesus will produce a type of what I might call “compassionate boldness” as we bring others before Jesus that Jesus might call out their name for whatever need they have of Him.
