Liz’s Morning Devotional: Scripture selected from Upper Room
September 14, 2022
Read: John 11:25-36
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die. 26 Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She replied, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, God’s Son, the one who is coming into the world.” 28 After she said this, she went and spoke privately to her sister Mary, “The teacher is here and he’s calling for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to Jesus. 30 He hadn’t entered the village but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who were comforting Mary in the house saw her get up quickly and leave, they followed her. They assumed she was going to mourn at the tomb. 32 When Mary arrived where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her crying and the Jews who had come with her crying also, he was deeply disturbed and troubled. 34 He asked, “Where have you laid him?” They replied, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus began to cry. 36 The Jews said, “See how much he loved him!”
Good morning! Jesus is the resurrection and the light!
As humans, we have a wide-range of emotions through which we react to life as it happens around us. Some people are said to wear their emotions on their sleeve, while others are very stoic. Our physical reactions to our emotions can crossover and cause confusion to someone who is observing. For example, we cry tears of joy and tears of pain or grief. Sometimes laughter happens when we’re happy, but also it can happen when something is absurd. When major events happen, some people get very loud (whatever their response) while others become very quiet.
Grief is a difficult emotion and each of us manage grief differently: tears, anger, withdrawal, quiet/numb, or even energetic. Sometimes our best medicine is to get busy doing something, anything that allows us to focus on our task at hand. In this passage, we read of crying, but also some anger towards Jesus when Mary says that Lazarus would not have died if he had been there.
When called regarding Lazarus, Jesus did not go to him immediately. In fact, he and the disciples knew that going to Judea would be risky because of the attempt to stone Jesus on his last time there. Jesus knew that his time on earth was quickly coming to an end and that he needed for his followers to understand and believe that he was the Messiah.
When Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been dead and in the tomb for four days. As Mary wept, Jesus wept. He asked and was taken to where Lazarus had been laid. Despite Mary’s warning of the smell, he asked for the stone to be taken away.
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
Mary’s tears of grief were turned to tears of joy. For those who believe will be blessed in all things. Jesus promises to be with us always: on good days and on days filled with desperation. As we work through our grief, Jesus is there to comfort us by listening to us as we declare our anger, crying with us as we acknowledge our grief, working by our side as we take the steps to move forward, and loving us unconditionally in all things. Step by step he leads us towards our eternal glory.
Gracious God, Thank You for loving us. Thank you for our blessings. Because you are by my side, I can face all challenges in my life. Thank you. In Jesus’ name, we pray. Amen
Thought for the day: God is with me every step of my way.
Jesus is always with us! Pastor Liz