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by Sandy Shaw
We come to this concluding section of John Chapter 11, from verse 45 onwards.
We have been reading of this situation in which Lazarus, the brother of Martha and Mary, the friend of Jesus Christ, dies, and Jesus comes and raises Lazarus from the dead.
Now, we come to the repercussions following the raising of Lazarus. There are always consequences.
The raising of Lazarus was a crisis point in the ministry of Jesus Christ. It was a turning point. The raising of Lazarus led to the final plot to kill Christ.
Jesus gave Lazarus life, only to have to face death himself. We never know when we too come to a turning point. Any moment can be a turning point – any service can be very meaningful and significant – it all depends upon how we react and respond.
Verse 45 – Many believed, but some went and informed. Some went running with tales.
These are two responses. We come to believe, or believe in a deeper way, or run with tales or whatever the equivalent might be.
Having been around Jesus, some went to the wrong group and did the wrong thing.
There are informers and rumour spreaders in every age, and those in the persecuted church certainly know that today. There are some who run and tell, knowing all the time that what they are saying is wrong and will accomplish no real good.
It was this that made the Jews plan to kill Jesus Christ, our Saviour.
When Jesus brought Lazarus back to life, it sealed his own death.
Unredeemed man – unconverted man – can take the loveliest of acts and spoil it all.
Unsaved man can take the works of Jesus Christ and in his sin can seek to contaminate the moving of the living God.
Here we see how perverse human nature is – and how unreasonable it is.
In these verses, envy, fear, and greed emerge, and amazing wickedness is revealed as men appear to dedicate themselves to evil.
Men do that at times and perhaps many more times than we sometimes realise. They take what is wonderful and beautiful and trample on it.
Our Professor of Christian Dogmatics and Systematic Theology at Edinburgh University used to teach us in great detail that “the unassumed is the unredeemed”! If Jesus Christ, the Son of God and God the Son, did not assume our flesh and nature totally, then that part which He did not assume is unredeemed, but ‘Praise God’ that Jesus took our sinful flesh, and our sinful nature, and our sin, and paid the price and the price was high. He bought back what that rascal stole in the Garden.
Men did dreadful things to Jesus Christ. In these verses we do not see the women folks doing anything as horrid as the men get up to. The women gave Jesus meals, and anointed him. They were the last to leave the cross and they were first to be there at the tomb.
Alexander 'Sandy' Shaw is pastor of Nairn Christian Fellowship in Nairn, Scotland. Nairn is 17 miles east of Inverness - on the Moray Firth Coast - not far from the Loch Ness Monster!
Gifted as a Biblical teacher, Sandy is firmly committed to making sure that his teachings are firmly grounded in the Word.
Sandy has a weekly radio talk which can be heard via the Internet on Saturday at 11:40am, New Orleans time, at wsho.com.
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