May 17, 2018
I AM PERSUADED THAT HE IS ABLE:
TO BE RIGHT ON TIME
JOHN 11:21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
32 Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
It is very easy at a time of grief to think of a lot of “if only” scenarios. If I had only spent more time. If I had only argued with them less. If we had only found a better doctor. You get the picture. Mary and Martha had gotten word to Jesus that Lazarus was sick. Apparently, they expected Jesus to come immediately to heal him. After all, they had seen Jesus heal many people that Jesus did not even know well, and we are close with Jesus. Jesus had spent a lot of time with them and Lazarus. So, Jesus did not do what they felt He should do. Doesn’t that sound familiar.
We all need to come to grip with the fact that Jesus does not always do what we think He should do. We know from the passage that Jesus had a reason and a purpose for doing what He did. They, however, did not know that. Jesus does not owe it to us to tell us the why, how, and when for everything. He has the right to do whatever He chooses. He is sovereign. We forget our place sometimes. Our problem is that we think Jesus does not love us if He does not do what we think He should. Surely, if He loved us, Jesus would not have done that. Surely, if He loved me, He would have come immediately when I called.
Jesus certainly knows that we are that way. In fact, look at this verse in the early part of this chapter:
* 5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.
6 When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.
It is as if Jesus knew that they would probably doubt His love, and Jesus knew that you and I would question it when we read it. I admit it. There have been times I have allowed my mind to question this story.
– Why would Jesus not come right away?
– They had always been there for Jesus, why wasn’t He there for them?
– Jesus should not have made them go through those days of struggle.
– Why would Jesus put them through that emotionally?
– If Jesus was going to raise Lazarus up anyway, why didn’t He just go ahead and do it from the start?
Have you ever questioned Jesus? Has He ever not been right on time?