The urgent message came to Jesus. His good friend Lazarus was very sick and needed Him ASAP. Surely Jesus, the One who would drop everything to go heal complete strangers, would come running to Lazarus’ town of Bethany to save the day, right? Wrong! When Jesus heard Lazarus was deathly ill, He purposely waited two more days before making the twenty mile journey to Bethany. By the time He finally arrived, Lazarus was stinking dead and in the tomb four days.
Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, both said the same thing when Jesus showed up, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21, 32).
Undoubtedly, they were wondering WHY He didn’t come in time. Undoubtedly, they were shell-shocked at the message He sent, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it” (John 11:4). What in the world could that possibly mean given the fact that Lazarus died the very day Jesus uttered those words? Is this some cruel joke?
