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Listen to John Chapter 11 
or read "Holes"
OR WATCH below a portion of the 2003 movie called The Gospel of John. This movie is based on the Good News Translation. This 7 minute portion of the movie starts with verse 21 of Chapter 11 and covers up through end of the chapter. Here are the first 20 verses of Chapter 11 to set the scene.
When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it." Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea."Martha and Mary didn't understand why Jesus didn't come as soon as he heard about Lazarus serious sickness. In fact Jesus deliberately delayed a couple days before he left for Bethany. They believed Jesus could heal their brother. But Jesus didn't come right away and by the time he got there Lazarus was dead and buried now for 4 days. They did not understand. Why the delay? Why God? Why?
...So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."
...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."
How many times have I prayed for something and God does nothing or so it appears? Many times my view is more temporary while God's view is more eternal. As a human I am very limited in my perspective. I can't relate to the eternal, but I know God is all about forever.
In this account Jesus is concerned more about the eternal. Mary and Martha were naturally focused on Lazarus being healed from his sickness. They believed Jesus could heal him. Jesus was focused on resurrecting Lazarus from the dead. The result of this miracle was that many believed in Jesus and Mary, Martha, and the disciples' faith was strengthened.
As humans we are limited by the world we live in. We are limited by time and space. We are limited by our own failings. As a result we often put our own human limitations on God. Perhaps not deliberately or consciously, but because we live in a box with limited views, we tend to pull God down into that box and relate to him like he is trapped in our box. Yes we have a few holes here and there that we can look through to get glimpses of eternity. God is not in the box. God is not confined by time and space and can see the past, present, and future all at once. God is not limited by this world.
More and more my prayer is that I will look through the lens of eternity as much as is possible from my box. God's eternity. The eternity he has spoken about in his words to me. The Word. God's eternity that is shown in Christ. Not my temporary little holes.
1 comments:
Thanks for the beautiful perspective of eternity. It's the only way to truly live. God's ways are so above ours, that they often do not make sense. The more we can bow in humble submission to His will, the more in line with eternity we will be. But that does not mean that bowing to His Will will not be without pain, tears, and suffering. He weeps with us, and when the time is right, He intervenes.
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