John 11:32-44 (NRSV)
Read John 11:32-44 on biblegateway.com
Verse 32When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
Verse 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. Verse 34He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Verse 35Jesus began to weep. Verse 36So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" Verse 37But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?" Verse 38Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Verse 39Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." Verse 40Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" Verse 41So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. Verse 42I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." Verse 43When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" Verse 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
Devotion
Sometimes the preview of the future that we imagine God performing does end up getting answered according to the desires of our hearts. Mary was in tears with grief and disappointment when she said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Her vision of Lazarus being healed by Jesus in the same way Jesus had healed the sick, the blind, the lame and the deaf had ended, rather, in tragedy. Lazarus was dead.
Yet Mary had great faith that Jesus had both the compassion and the power to make her dream a reality. God did not cure Lazarus. Instead, Jesus stood with Mary, deeply moved by her loss. Jesus, too, had tears of grief. God stays with us in the times of sorrow when life goes wrong. Don't be surprised if the Savior has a different scene to show in God's future.
Prayer
Ever-loving God, I am grateful for the many times you stay close when I am feeling loss and despair. With your presence, I can begin again to see your provision and mercy. Forgive my doubts. Keep me always in the comfort of your Holy Spirit. Amen.