John 11:35, then in John 11:15, that sentence sounds almost impossible until the whole scene is finished, Jesus is not glad that his friends are grieving, he is glad that his absence will become the place where his disciples see something about him they have not yet understood. Jesus knows Lazarus has died, he knows he is going to Bethany, he knows faith will be formed in the middle of devastation and he knows death will not get to write the final sentence, that makes his tears harder to explain, not easier. If Jesus were helpless, the tears would mean one thing, if he were surprised, they would mean another.
If Lazarus had died before Jesus could act, if the situation had outrun him, if death had arrived faster than Christ, then the verse would be simple, but John will not let you read it that way. Jesus knows before he goes, so when he weeps later, the tears are not the tears of a Savior who has lost control, they are the tears of a Savior who has chosen to come near and then John makes the story even more difficult, Jesus does not leave immediately, John 11:5-6, that sentence is almost uncomfortable. John does not say, although Jesus loved them, he stayed, John frames the delay by love. Jesus loved them and then he stayed, from Bethany’s side, that delay must have felt like silence.
Imagine the house after the messenger leaves, Martha is practical, she may be watching the room, the food, the visitors, the cloths, the fever, the breathing. Mary is the one who had once sat at Jesus’ feet listening to his word, now she is waiting for those same feet to appear on the road. Every sound outside could be the messenger returning, every movement near the doorway could be someone saying, he is coming, but Jesus does not come on the first day, he does not come before the breathing changes, he does not come before the room grows quiet, he does not come before Lazarus dies and when the burial begins, the sentence that will later come out of both sisters is already being formed in the wound, Lord, if you had been here.
Many people misunderstand divine delay right there, they assume love always means immediate intervention. If Jesus loves, he must arrive before the funeral, if Jesus cares, he must stop the stone from being rolled into place, if Jesus is near, he must prevent the moment that breaks the family. John 11:5-6 does not give you a formula for every unanswered prayer, scripture does not promise that every grief will be followed by the same visible miracle Lazarus received. But in this revealed story, John is clear about one thing, Jesus’ delay is not loveless, the delay wounds their expectations, but it does not expose a lack of love in him.
If Lazarus had died before Jesus could act, if the situation had outrun him, if death had arrived faster than Christ, then the verse would be simple, but John will not let you read it that way. Jesus knows before he goes, so when he weeps later, the tears are not the tears of a Savior who has lost control, they are the tears of a Savior who has chosen to come near and then John makes the story even more difficult, Jesus does not leave immediately, John 11:5-6, that sentence is almost uncomfortable. John does not say, although Jesus loved them, he stayed, John frames the delay by love. Jesus loved them and then he stayed, from Bethany’s side, that delay must have felt like silence.
Imagine the house after the messenger leaves, Martha is practical, she may be watching the room, the food, the visitors, the cloths, the fever, the breathing. Mary is the one who had once sat at Jesus’ feet listening to his word, now she is waiting for those same feet to appear on the road. Every sound outside could be the messenger returning, every movement near the doorway could be someone saying, he is coming, but Jesus does not come on the first day, he does not come before the breathing changes, he does not come before the room grows quiet, he does not come before Lazarus dies and when the burial begins, the sentence that will later come out of both sisters is already being formed in the wound, Lord, if you had been here.
Many people misunderstand divine delay right there, they assume love always means immediate intervention. If Jesus loves, he must arrive before the funeral, if Jesus cares, he must stop the stone from being rolled into place, if Jesus is near, he must prevent the moment that breaks the family. John 11:5-6 does not give you a formula for every unanswered prayer, scripture does not promise that every grief will be followed by the same visible miracle Lazarus received. But in this revealed story, John is clear about one thing, Jesus’ delay is not loveless, the delay wounds their expectations, but it does not expose a lack of love in him.