Ready for a NEW NORMAL
Ready for a New Normal
John 11:1
The story of Lazarus has really captured my heart over the past couple months. I keep replaying the story over and over again, fascinated with Lazarus prospective. We don’t know much about his side of the story which interests me. We know his sisters’ feelings, we read about his disciples’ (men who followed Jesus) doubts and worries, and we know Jesus is very involved in the story. We even hear the perspective of the town’s people, a group that has no title other than “the spectators."
But the perspective that grabs my attention belongs to the leading character, and yet his perspective isn’t mentioned: Lazarus. He’s the man on his death bed, the one who lays in a tomb for four days, and the same man who WALKS OUT of the tomb.
If you’re not familiar with the story, let me give you a quick overview: The opening line to the chapter begins with “Now a man named Lazarus was sick,” (John 11:1-4). Lazarus was a man who was close to Jesus. He and his sisters were family-friends of Jesus. Yes, Jesus was their Savior and King, but they were also CLOSE, true friends (which is revealing about Jesus’ desire and ability to be a true friend with you and I).
The bible doesn’t give us any details about how long Lazarus was sick or what condition brought him to his death bed. The next thing we see in the story is word being sent to Jesus that his friend was very sick and would die soon if He didn’t come quickly.
Jesus hears this news and yet informs his team he would wait two more days. It’s important to know that Jesus was under great persecution from the religious leaders and if he went to the wrong place at the wrong time his ministry would end. At first someone might easily ask, “Jesus, why did you wait so long?” or “Why didn’t you go sooner when it was the most urgent?” I ask God these questions all of the time. Lord, why are you waiting so darn long? Don’t you see what I’m facing? But, despite our efforts to prove to Jesus that our timing his better, he kindly gives us time to remember that his timing is perfect.
Lazarus was dead for four days when Jesus comes to see him. This is where I want to trail back to Lazarus’ perspective.
First, how long was Lazarus sick? What was going through his mind?? Did he worry? Did he doubt that God would come? Did he see all his dreams for his life and his family slipping away? Or, was he at his bed worshiping and praying? What did the end of his life look like? If it was me and I was on my deathbed, I wouldn’t have waited around for the Creator of the heaven and earth to come do his thing.
Lazarus loved Jesus, but how did they get so close? The bible doesn’t tell us, but I bet they had some amazing conversations about life and ministry. I wonder if they laughed over each others’ names, or the made jokes about their families. And, when it came down to the final moments, I wonder if Lazarus questioned if Jesus was who he said he was? Or, did he have peace because he knew Jesus was already with him?
I remember like it was yesterday watching my aunt pass away from cancer. We had almost five more years than the doctors thought, but the end still came. I was at Bethany University sitting at my friends house, and my dad called me and told me it was time to come. My sister and I drove two hours to Brentwood, California, and walked up the stairs to my aunt’s room. My dad was holding her hand and whispering in her ear. My uncle was on her other side. This thirty-six year-old baby girl was surrounded by family, while her own three sweet babies slept in the nearby rooms, and she was slowly stepping into the arms of her father.
My aunt knew Jesus even before she got sick. But, in those five years I saw her draw closer to him in such an intimate way. Laying in her bed at the end, she worshiped. Until her last breath, she was talking with Jesus.
I never have known the presence of God in such a tangible way until that moment. I don’t even have enough words to articulate what we experienced in those final breaths. I felt as if we all stepped into a corner of heaven. A fountain of peace filled the room, surpassing all understanding, a joy unspeakable, a freedom that made us soar, a light that filled the darkest parts of our hearts, and then she was gone.
I don’t know what Lazarus felt or saw, but I would submit that he had a similar experience. He knew he wasn’t alone. Even if he new he would die, he wasn’t afraid. He trusted the Lord.
The bible tells us that four days after he breathed his last, Jesus arrives. He mourns and cries with the people, experiencing the same pain they all felt. And, then dramatically, Jesus walks to the mouth of the tomb and calls out to his friend, “Lazarus, come out of the tomb!” And, after four days of death, a living Lazarus walks out of the tomb wrapped in his burial rags.
Put yourself in their shoes for a minute: can you imagine the silence that gripped the air? Everyone holding their breath wondering if they were seeing the truth? Waiting to see if a living man could walk out of a tomb that they had placed his body in? Imagine Lazarus walking out of a dark tomb, bright sunlight in his eyes, looking into the faces of the ones who sat by his bed as he stepped into an endless sleep, looking at his sisters and the wide-eyed wonder in their faces, and seeing Jesus his friend, king, and Savior.
Lazarus walks out of a tomb and his rags start falling off! What a life changing experience to see a man raised from dead! If I was there I am pretty sure y’all would see a white girl passed out in the dirt. And, Lazarus’ story is only a glimpse of a greater story: of a man who would rised from the dead, promising new life, new hope, and freedom to all who trust in him.
The bible doesn’t tell us what happened to Lazarus after this moment, but I would imagine that he was never the same. He was a new creation with new life, new hope, and new freedom. The old was gone and the new was compelling him forward. I can imagine he didn’t even look the same: healed from sickness, full, content, unafraid of death, redeemed. Imagine his spirit and all the things that he went to sleep with four days ago were gone.
What if the death of our circumstances was the opportunity for the Lord to resurrect a new creation in us? What if the Lord is wanting to resurrect something new in you but he is waiting for you to give him the old things?
Lazarus was new and walking in healing! He knew that even that the suffering and earthly death still to come could never hold him forever. He experienced a taste of Jesus’ power over death, and it set him free. Jesus wants you walking in healing, walking victory, walking out of the tomb of self-righteousness and into the liberating righteousness of God’s Divine Spirit. He wants you walking with grit and testimony, walking with a story to tell that will change the trajectory of lives around you. He wants you walking in power and truth.
How??
Jesus.
Lazarus didn’t get himself out of the tomb. His sisters didn’t carry him out. Y’all, too often we lean on our own strength to get ourselves through life, or we become co-dependent on others.
Let me help take the pressure off: y’all aren’t strong enough! There is only one power that can free a man from death. Have y’all ever tried walking with a weighted vest on? A weighted vest will get heavy after awhile, but if you wear it long enough you might build up some calluses and get used to the extra weight. Some of y’all have been walking around with the weight of your situation for so long that you have gotten use to it, and you are afraid to take it off.
When you put a seed into the ground, the seed scientifically has to die before it can grow, blossom, and bear fruit. God is in the business of taking our hardest moments, our past and future, and making them into new things that will take us beyond what we can imagine.
When you're facing some kind of death in your life, remember Lazarus. At the moment of your last breath, hope is still not lost. Whether it's immediate, or you have to wait four days in a tomb, Jesus is still coming and he will resurrect all that is lost. When you put your hope in him, you can rest in the waiting instead of being afraid. When you put your hope in him, someday you will see the glory of new life.