Before you start this devotional, take some time to quiet yourself. Breathe. Slow down. Relax. Prepare to meditate and learn from the Word and hear from God. Don’t rush this process because you want this time to be fully dedicated to God.
Once you’ve ready, read John 11:1-44. Go through it once without stopping. Then go back over the passage again, looking for things that stick out to you. Make a note of these things, and write down anything else you might want to remember during this devotional.
If you’ve ever talked to an atheist or seen atheist posts online or something, one of the most common questions they ask is, “if God loves the world, then why do so many bad things happen?” That’s a good question. Why is there starvation across the world? Why do babies die before they’re born? Why are people left paralyzed after car accidents? Why do people die from cancer? For many, it is hard to believe in God because he allows these things to happen. No one knows exactly why God allows these things to happen, but verses 4 and 15 give us an answer to this difficult question. Jesus tells Mary and Martha that Lazarus’ illness is not so that he’ll die, but so that the Son of God may be glorified through him and so that people will believe. I know for me and many other believes, when things are going well, we forget how good God is and how much he has done for us. It is in the difficult times that our faith grows the most, we see God at work the most, and we see how awesome he really is. If our lives were always easy, we wouldn’t see our need for God, and we wouldn't grow. For non-believers, lives without difficulty don’t need a god. Why should they believe in a good, loving, perfect God who blesses us if there’s nothing wrong with their life? As Jesus tells us in verse 15, he uses the trials so that people will see how awesome he is and believe in him. Our prayer shouldn’t be that the hard times never come, but that during the hard times we grow in our faith, deepen our understanding of God, give thanks, and glorify him.
Once Jesus gets to Bethany (where Lazarus is), Martha tells him that Lazarus was already dead for 4 days. During their exchange, Jesus says in verse 25, “I am the resurrection and the life” (ESV). Many people know that Jesus gives us eternal life, but many forget the second part of what Jesus says. He saves us from hell and gives us eternal life and a renewed life, but Jesus also IS the new life. Our new lives as believers should be all about Jesus: growing roots into him, learning more about him, experiencing more of him, talking to him through prayer, and spreading the good news he brings. Jesus is not only God and our savior, but he is our new way of life.
Just before Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, he says in verses 41 and 42, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” Right before Jesus performs this miracle, he thanks God, and he gives him the glory. Jesus wants the people to know that this is God at work and that God is using Jesus to do his work. God uses believers everywhere to do his work, but do we remember who our work is for or why we do it? I often get caught up in pride when doing God’s work and I think higher of myself than I should. Jesus sets a perfect example for us; he serves these people by raising Lazarus from the dead so that God can be glorified and so that others will believe. The work that we do should be the same: pointing to God, glorifying God, and compelling others to believe in God.
As you wrap up this devotional, end your time in prayer. Ask God what he wants you to learn from this passage. Pray that God will remind you of this message through the week, helping it stick with you and helping you apply it. Thank God for this time, for how good he is, and for how much he has done in your life. Spend time talking to the ultimate, all-loving, all-powerful, only God of the universe.
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