We all know that Satan has continually fought against the plans of God. From the very beginning (Gen 3:1-6), Satan was there in the garden tempting Adam and Eve, “… you’ll be like God.” Even though he was thrown from Heaven, he continues to fight and fail at every turn.
Faith is an important part of a Christian’s belief system. It encompasses much that greatly benefits us, the believers. So, of course, Satan is there to work his sly craftsmanship with spins, twists and outlandish “doctrines”.
To cover all of faith would be impossible for lack of space. But, let’s return to Martha, Mary and Jesus regarding Lazarus’ death and burial. John 11:1-44 gives us the whole of the story, but we will go, for now, only to verse 39.
A quick summary: Martha, by stern cultural training, was an in-charge personality. Mary’s interest was softer, wanting to hear Jesus’ every word, making closeness with Him vitally important. Both responded to the “late” arrival of Jesus differently. Martha, from the Greek, quietly chiding Him (“to point out directly”) while Mary fell prostrate in reverent worship while expressing her utter confusion.
We are very much like that. When the Lord seems late and unconcerned, we can get angry and tell Him such in no uncertain terms. Or, we can spiritually fall at His feet in confusion and despair but still know that His plans are far greater than ours.
Mary, and the many Jews that followed, loudly wept before Jesus. There is much that is overlooked here in our English translation. When Jesus “saw” all of them weeping and wailing, that word meant that He “fully knew from within” what was really happening. Their grief had swallowed up their faith that He was still in control. In short, there was no hope or belief that He could do anything, that His miracles had limits.
To grieve over a loss is gut-wrenchingly painful, but not necessarily accusative or judgmental. But, such grief can take a horrible turn. With this grief walling off their faith in Him, they forgot such scriptures that said otherwise. Psalm 135:6a says, “The Lord does whatever pleases Him throughout all heaven and earth …” And, in Isaiah 55:9 it is recorded, “For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways and My thoughts higher than your thoughts.” Lastly, Hebrews 11:6a says, ”Without faith in God, it is impossible to please Him …”
We presume we are in control of our lives, with our daily choices, but when things go wrong, we seem to turn to God as a last resort, even alarmed that He didn’t do things our way. The Lord is not sleeping, lost in thought, or distracted; He’s still Almighty God.
Verse 33 is an unbelievable eye-popper that many sincere people miss. Jesus observed Mary and the crowd weeping, meaning they were “in great pain with grief, bewailing loudly.” They felt utterly without hope, that God had somehow failed them. It further mentioned that the sight of such moved Jesus (“to snort with anger, murmur, groan, be indignant”), greatly troubling him (“agitated, losing calmness”).
The Lord deeply hurts when we are grieving. But, when our pain completely swallows up the greatness of God, even pointing raging fingers at Him, such a sight can bring forth displeasure, even righteous anger. But, it’s certainly not directed at us, rather that faith in Him is destroyed, His children having lost their sight of Him. The Lord doesn’t want that to befall His people.
Jesus, having already said to His disciples that He would raise Lazarus from the dead, sprang into action to benefit all that were in such faithless anguish. Jesus asked them to take Him to the grave, that Lazarus was going to rise. Still, Jesus’ heart was frustrated. They had, in various ways, blamed Him for Lazarus’ death, that Jesus did nothing in that situation.
In verse 35 it is understood by many that Jesus wept, wailing aloud like all the others. But, such isn’t accurate in the Greek. The word wept, throughout the New Testament (“klaio”), is always recorded as “deep pain, grief, bewailing.” But, when referring to Jesus, a totally different word is used (“dakryo”) meaning “to weep,” but its root word (“dakru”) illuminates the meaning further “to shed a tear.” Have you even been so frustrated or torn apart that a tear welled up in your eye?
Yet, many of the Jews, taking note of Jesus, mistook His heart for mere friendship while others spoke critically, that He opened the eyes of a blind man but didn’t do anything for Lazarus.
This didn’t bode well with Jesus, for verse 38a records that He again was moved in His spirit, once again being “to snort with anger, murmur, groan, be indignant.” Or, as the Amplified Bible literally says, “Jesus, again being deeply moved within (to the point of anger) …” In our vernacular, Jesus was not a “happy camper” at such firm unbelief that He was incapable of doing anything. Imagine, the Son of God actually being doubted by all, His presence utterly hopeless. Martha, in verse 39, reinforces such hopelessness by pointing out (“to advise directly”) that her brother was dead for four days. In short, she’s telling Jesus that His being at the tomb is a waste of time.
We, in our fallen nature, reach a breaking point with some ugly and urgent tragedies in life. We sought the Lord in earnest prayer thinking He would “jump to it” and rescue us. Time passes and nothing has happened. Our heart and hope reaches disparity: God won’t help or He’s unable to.
In our final segment we will see if the Lord is almighty or limited in what He can do in such hopeless circumstances — stay tuned for the answer.
This column may include both fiction and nonfiction, and views expressed do not necessarily represent those of The SUN. Submissions can be sent to editor@pagosasun.com.
