Raising Lazarus
John 11:43-48
New International Version (NIV)
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
The Plot to Kill Jesus
45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”
The story of Lazarus, a friend of Jesus, was just one of the many miracles that Jesus performed and was recorded by witnesses. Those witnesses did the right thing, they wrote it down, they told their families, they told their friends and 2,000 years later, we still can read about it.
But, not everyone was happy about this miracle. The Pharisees wanted to do anything they could to stop the people from hearing about this miracle. They discredited people, they plotted and planned, and those plans included killing Jesus (they did not know it would fulfill prophetic scriptures) and they plotted to kill Lazarus (John 12:10-11). They were willing to murder to hide the fact that Jesus is who He said He was.
It’s still happening today. God is performing miracles each minute that goes by. I believe that there are trillions of miracles that have been performed by God. Correction, there’s been an infinite amount of miracles performed by God. More miracles than the amount of dollars America is in debt. We all have stories, testimonies, and eye witness accounts of lives saved, addictions defeated, changed lives, and stories of people coming to Jesus.
But, like the Pharisees, the world still tries to stop the people from finding out about miracles. World governments, the media, atheists, agnostics, Muslims, Hindus, and other religions do everything they can to stop the spreading of the truth about miracles. Why? Because when people hear about the great things that God has done, is doing and will be doing in the future, it changes lives.
Our job is to plant seeds. The Holy Spirit saves lives and souls. How do we plant seeds? One way is for us to spread the word about God and the miracles He has performed. It’s important that we tell people our personal testimonies of what God has done in our lives, our families lives and our friends lives. Why? Because nothing is more powerful that our own personal experiences with God. People can relate to our testimonies, because there are others out there that have had similar experiences.
So, don’t be afraid to stand tall on a mountain and shout out what God has done for you. Let the people know, it’s what Jesus asked of us in Mark 5:19 and in Luke 8:39.
Prayer
Father God, I praise your Name, above all names. You perform miracles every minute of every day because you love us and don’t want any to perish (John 3:16). Please give us strength, courage, and hope to tell the world what you have done for us. In Jesus name, Amen.