What a beautiful name it is – what a wonderful name it is, what a powerful name it is – the name of Jesus. In quiet contemplation I consider these as I meet with the Father through him.
Yes my Name wraps up all that I am. That is why I am known by so many names as they describe different aspects of my character and my interaction with you and the rest of creation. Wrapped up in that name Jesus – which means “The one who came to save” – is my full glory and my name reflects the main purpose of my mission to you– to save – to save in an absolutely unique way – to make it possible for you to be turned back from rushing to a lost eternity. But there is so much more in that name – so keep contemplating it, keep loving it but remember you are not loving just a name you are loving me the one who carries that name and who came to save you.
So we come today to the last part of the story of Lazarus. John 11:45-57. This section also brings to an end the first section of John’s gospel where he is introducing us to Jesus and showing that he is the Messiah. There is a key vs in this section which reflects what the rest of the gospel is going to be about. Read through the passage and see if you can pick that up.
So way back in 3:16 Jesus already revealed His mission. He had come, motivated by the Father’s love, to die for the whole world to save us from perishing and instead receive life. So in 11:50 from the mouth of the high priest Caiaphas this prophecy is picked up again in vs 50: “You do not realise that it is better for you that one man die for the people”. So from here on Jesus’s death becomes the main theme of the rest of the gospel.
The miracle of the raising of Lazarus has more than one layer. It is the greatest miracle which are described as signs in the gospel because they point to Jesus’s identity. It also is a window which gives us insight to Jesus’s amazing compassion. There is however a further significance, I wonder if you can see it.
It is a subtle reminder that the sacrifice of Jesus on the cross is not the end of the story. Without His resurrection the story of Jesus would have ended there in Palestine. So here is a sweet way in which John puts the two main threads together to introduce us to the last 11 chapters of his gospel story. Jesus is to die, a significant death achieving the ultimate salvation act and this is verified by the Father to have been sufficient and real by His resurrection.
Reading this gospel and especially this section has given me a renewed sense of the wonder of God’s love which He has expressed through this amazing act of His in sending Jesus on this mission. What a wonderful sense of security we can have as Paul puts it in Romans 8:32 He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all – how much more will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things. This story of Jesus’s absolute compassion is strategically placed here to set a background to his attitude as he goes the whole way to the cross. It was not a cold act of obedience but the greatest act of love imaginable.
So as we follow Him we are also called to take up our crosses, not in a cold determined way gritting our teeth as it were, but in a complete surrender of ourselves in an act of the warmest love, emulating our Master’s attitude of love towards us.
God bless you all then. Till next week.
The story of Lazarus ‘ resurrection shows us our our Holy Lord’s power in Christ. The Resurrection of Christ is without doubt the most powerful event in the history of mankind. I have comprehended that the power which raised Christ from the dead is the same power to.help me through whatever I am experiencing im my life. This truth gives me unspeakable comfort and courage . ” If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you , He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you ” Romans 8..11. ALL glory, power, authority and dominion be to our Holy Lord Jesus Christ forever and ever 🙏 Amen