Death And Disappointment

"Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
(Jn 11:21)

Have you ever felt like God has let you down? Mary and Martha certainly did when their brother got sick and died. They could not understand why Jesus had let it happen. They had sent word to Him that Lazarus was sick and to come quickly. But He didn’t, and Lazarus died.

True knowledge of God comes experiencelly. We cannot have a theological relationship with God. We can know about Him theologically, but our relationship with Him must be personal, vibrant, and life changing.

God wanted to expand the understanding of Mary, Martha, the disciples, and the mourners.

Lets imagine a conversation between Jesus and Martha:

Jesus: Martha, I AM the Resurrection and the Life.
Martha: I know You are Lord.
Jesus: No Martha, I really Am the Resurrection and the Life
Martha: I know you really are Lord.
Jesus: No Martha, I Am the Resurrection and the Life right now
Martha: I know that Lord and that on the last day You are going to raise the dead.
Jesus: Martha, I am the Resurrection and the Life, I Am always the Resurrection and the Life, not just on a certain day, but all the time.

But Martha, focusing on Jesus as Healer, couldn’t seem to grasp the reality of Him also as the Resurrection and the Life in her right now everyday world. She knew He could have healed her brother if he had gotten there sooner, but the tomb was beyond her relational knowledge of and experience with Jesus.

The tomb of disappointment can become a womb of expanded understanding.

Sometimes we think the Lord has let us down, when in reality He is simply taking us to a larger place.

From my distress I called upon the LORD; The LORD answered me and set me in a large place. (Ps 118:5)