Living Stones – Monday, December 11, 2017
Sleep or death
John 11:4
When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
The King James Version (KJV) of the Holy Bible will forever be considered a masterpiece of English Literature. That is accepted by everyone who understands how written works shape language over time, even if they do not believe a word that the Bible says. I don’t really use the KJV, and I hope that I don’t lose you as a reader because of this, but I go back to the KJV whenever I want to use a certain kind of language. Today, for example, I am going back to Psalm 13:3, in the KJV, “Consider and hear me, O Lord my God; lighten mine eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death;”
The idea of death being a kind of sleep has been around for a long time, for some it has roots in particular religious doctrine, others just accept the idea and move on. Many just say SIP when we traditionally used RIP.
In John chapter 11 the well-known and dramatic story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is recorded. As we will see, the story has some of the typical features of encounters with Jesus and there is no shortage of drama, and in some cases, tension and excitement, not to mention the grief and sorrow of sudden loss. In this context, Jesus uses sleep to refer to death, although He had something different in mind when he used it, “He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”” John 11:11.
Let’s summarise the basic facts of the story. Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha and the three were all friends of Jesus. Jesus seemed to have had a particular affection for these siblings, and we know that He was a visitor to their home. Lazarus had taken terminally ill and so the sisters, knowing that Jesus was a healer, sent word to him where he was. We know that Jesus reacted to the news almost indifferently and strangely. He neither rushed off to Lazarus’ bedside, nor did he speak a word of healing as He was known to have done for others.
Digressing, this decision by Jesus, to not dart off to Lazarus’ sick bed in Bethany had two consequences. The first consequence is that Lazarus died. But the decision also had a devastating effect on the living. The sisters were heartbroken that, as their brother lay fighting for his life, Jesus their friend who had the power to heal didn’t show up. Their mixed feelings of grief and disappointment were also shared by those who mourned with them. Later on, as they still mourned, the friends and neighbours were heard remarking, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?” John 11:37.
Returning to our story summary, we have another seemingly bizarre decision by Jesus. He didn’t budge from what He was doing as Lazarus was losing his grip on life. But when news came that Lazarus had died He decided immediately that the trip had to be made and headed back to Bethany, telling his disciples that He was going to wake Lazarus up.
There are clear patterns in Jesus’ statements and actions. When He was asked about the man born blind Jesus said the man was born blind “that the works of God should be revealed in him.” Now, in the case of Lazarus, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Jesus also never seemed to be in a hurry when there was an emergency. Jesus is confident that He could fix the problem, so He never exhibits the rush that people want to see. The man’s sisters wanted Jesus there in a hurry, the disciples thought that He should leave in a hurry, but Jesus was about to teach a larger lesson than healing sickness, so He addressed other matters while Lazarus died. That gave Him an opportunity to demonstrate that He is the resurrection and the life.
Lazarus who was now in a grave rotting for four days was declared by Jesus to be merely asleep and He just needed to wake him. People needed to be careful about getting Jesus too near to a funeral. He disrupted every funeral we know He attended by bringing the dead back to life – Jarius’ daughter (Matthew 9:18-26; Mark 5:21-43; Luke 8:40-56) and there is the son of the widow at a place called Nain (Luke 7:11-16)
Every person that Jesus raised from the dead was already pronounced dead before His arrival. But, that which often seems dead for us is merely asleep for Him, not the sleep of death, rather a sleep from which He could bring it back to life.
For those of us who have suffered real loss and have had to grieve this may seem like just wishful thinking, but for those who have seen dead things come to life, this is the real result of faith in God.
The Psalmist, in Psalm 13, had it right, God’s presence, and power, is the difference between mere sleep and the sleep of death. His eyes were already closing, he sensed the presence of death all around him and pleads with God to deliver him before he dies. God did.
Think on these things:
- Did you lose anyone close to you recently, if so how did your faith help in the grieving process?
- Was there any person or situation in your life where death was certain, but you prayed and saw God intervene to bring things back to life?
- Is there a situation that is looking hopeless right now that you need to ask God to bring back to life?
Prayer focus:
Let us pray today that God would bring life to dying situations in our life or in the life of someone we love.
In His Grace
Pastor Alex