Dr H Reflections

Help for the helpless ∙∙

Lazarus, come forth. – John 11:43

John 11:1-45

1 A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha.
3 So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
4 But when Jesus heard about it, he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.”
5 So, although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus,
6 he stayed where he was for the next two days.

17 When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days.

21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”

25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies.
26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”

39 “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”
40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?”
41 So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me.

42 You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.”

43 Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”

44 And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”
45 Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen.

A Revolutionary Invention

In 1959, Bernard Lown revolutionized emergency medicine by designing the modern monophasic defibrillator. This device was created for moments when life hung by a thread, to treat patients in critical cardiac situations, whether their hearts had stopped or fallen into an erratic rhythm. Today, the sight of defibrillator paddles being pressed to a patient’s chest is a staple of medical dramas, where the seemingly lifeless are brought back to the brink with a sudden jolt of electricity. What once felt miraculous is now routine. However, its effectiveness hinges on a single factor: time. Defibrillation works only if applied within the first thirty minutes, proving that timing is everything.

When Time Seems Critical

This truth about timing extends beyond the realm of medicine to the more profound matters of life and faith. When loved ones are in crisis, our natural instinct is to run to their side, drop everything, and be with them before it’s too late. This makes the story of Lazarus all the more striking. The Lord Jesus Christ had a deep love for Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. Lazarus wasn’t just a follower; he was Jesus’s dear friend. Yet, when Jesus heard of Lazarus’s illness, He didn’t respond as we might expect. He lingered. For two whole days, He stayed where He was. Why would someone who claims to love so deeply delay when time appeared to be running out?

A Divine Delay

The Lord Jesus Christ’s delay was not indifference or disregard; it was intentional. Something extraordinary was unfolding, far beyond human comprehension. Jesus was not planning an ordinary healing. He was preparing for something far more astounding. When Jesus finally arrived, Lazarus was no longer clinging to life. He had been dead for four days.

To those mourning, it seemed like Jesus had arrived too late. The grief of Mary and Martha was palpable, and they, along with the gathered crowd, all believed the same thing: if only He had come sooner, Lazarus could have been healed.

Mary and Martha voiced what everyone believed. Indeed, if Jesus had arrived earlier, He could have saved Lazarus. His reputation for healing was widely known, celebrated, and even feared by His enemies. Yet, the Lord’s purpose was never about meeting human expectations or the seeming urgency of the moment.

A Greater Purpose Revealed

While many saw Him as a healer, a teacher, and even a miracle worker, the Lord Jesus Christ was not concerned with living up to the world’s standards or impressing a crowd. He lived solely to fulfill the divine plan of the Father, and this plan went far beyond curing illness. Jesus’s deliberate delay set the stage for a revelation of God’s glory that transcended the ordinary.

When He raised Lazarus from the dead, it wasn’t simply another miracle. It was a declaration of His true identity as the resurrection and the life. The moment showcased a level of power and glory that went beyond physical healing. He demonstrated that even death itself was not insurmountable in the hands of God.

Trusting in His Timing

The story of Lazarus holds a powerful lesson for us. God’s timing is often beyond our understanding, but it is always purposeful. What we perceive as heartbreaking delays or setbacks are often part of a larger, divine plan that transcends human comprehension. Whether it’s the lifesaving jolt of a defibrillator bringing sudden restoration or the deliberate silent stillness of a Savior intentionally lingering, we are reminded that timing is crucial and that God’s timing is always perfect. Trusting His plan, even when we don’t understand it, allows us to experience the fullness of His glory.

REFLECT & PRAY

The Father’s great purposes and life lessons are often embedded in everyday struggles and events.

Father, thank You for being able to bring life where there is death and provide help to the helpless.

INSIGHT

The Name Lazarus

The name Lazarus provides a great deal of irony to the story. It essentially means “helpless.” It is a shortened form of the Hebrew name Eleazar, which means “God is my help.” Dead people are helpless and hopeless. After a few days, there is nothing anyone can do to reverse the effects of death. Yet, this helplessness is precisely the required stage for the Father God and Lord Jesus Christ to demonstrate their boundless power. Time or physical deterioration is no obstacle for the Creator.

An Appeal Based on Love

When Lazarus fell gravely ill, his sisters, Mary and Martha, sent word to Jesus. Their message wasn’t focused on their brother’s condition but instead on Jesus’s deep love for him.

John 11:3: “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”

It was a simple, heartfelt appeal. Their assumption was clear: if you love someone who is dying, your natural response is to do everything possible to save them. They expected Jesus to act quickly, as anyone else would in their situation. But their perspective, though understandable, was human and limited to earthly constraints. The limitation is time itself.

The Divine Perspective

While Mary and Martha assumed speed was of the essence. They expected that the Lord Jesus would drop everything and rush to the deathbed of his terminally ill friend, Lazarus. But the Father’s perspective was entirely different. God, who created time, operates outside of its boundaries. He knows everything that will happen before it occurs. He sees the bigger picture and isn’t confined by urgency like we are. Jesus’s decision to delay His visit wasn’t negligence; it was purposeful.

Jewish culture placed great emphasis on mourning death, making the scene at Lazarus’s home one of intense grief. It was highly emotionally charged. Lazarus, being a respected man of wealth and faith, had attracted a large crowd of prominent individuals. They had each decided to come and do the right thing, the expected thing. These influential mourners came to pay their respects, creating a backdrop for a miracle unlike anything anyone had imagined.

They knew the message had been sent to the Lord Jesus Christ. Everyone was thinking, Jesus is coming, Jesus is coming. Indeed, this miracle worker will heal His very best friend outside the disciples. But He did not make it in time. Lazarus was dead. And everyone was weeping and mourning the loss.

Jesus Was Deeply Moved

When Jesus finally arrived, Lazarus had been dead for four days. The sorrow was overwhelming, with Mary, Martha, and the gathered mourners weeping openly. Seeing their grief, Jesus Himself was overcome with emotion. His heart was deeply sorrowed. He was caught up in the moment. He, too, was deeply moved and troubled.

John 11:33: “When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled.”

The Greek term translated as “moved” is embrimaoma. “It originally meant the sound a horse made when it snorted or bellowed.” Embrimaoma describes a feeling so intense that it produces a physical reaction, like a loud snort of a horse. The Lord Jesus was seized with such tremendous and deep emotion that it could not be restrained; an intense, involuntary, heartfelt, deafening groan burst out.

John 11:35: “Jesus wept.”

These two words are among the most moving in all scripture. They show the depth of Jesus’s compassion and His capacity to enter into the pain of humanity. His tears were not for show. The Lord Jesus was overcome by emotion. His grief was spontaneous, giving way to intense weeping. Williams’s translation reads: “Jesus burst into tears.”

A Moment of Miraculous Power

But the story does not end there. It is reminiscent of the movie “E.T.” E.T. dies to save his friend Elliott. But E.T. had phoned home, and help was on the way. He was revived and brought back to vibrant health.

And so it was with Lazarus. The unlimited creative power of God reversed the process of death and corruption and brought his corpse back to life. The effect was startling.

The Lord Jesus Christ had only to speak three words. Approaching the tomb, Jesus commanded with authority.

John 11:43: “Lazarus, come forth.”

And just like that, the impossible happened. Out of the tomb came Lazarus, wrapped in graveclothes, alive and whole. The power of God had reversed death and decay, showing that even the darkest moments are subject to His will.

The Final Miracle in John’s Gospel

This miracle was no ordinary act of healing. It was intended to demonstrate, beyond any reasonable doubt, that He was the Resurrection and the Life.

John 11 is the zenith, the culmination of the miracles of the Lord Jesus Christ.
The resurrection of Lazarus is a resounding demonstration of His true identity as the Son of God, the Messiah.

What had been a scene of death and sadness was now transformed into spontaneous joy and amazement. It was a major Public Relations event. The two-day delay, which Mary, Martha, and the mourners initially struggled to understand, now made perfect sense. And as a result, many who were present believed in Jesus.

John 11:45: “Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what He did, believed in Him.”

Trusting the Father’s Timing

The story of Lazarus holds a timeless lesson for us. God doesn’t always answer our prayers in the way or timeframe we expect. While we tend to see delays as obstacles, God uses them to weave a greater purpose. Just as Lazarus’s resurrection defied all expectations, God’s timing in our lives can bring about outcomes we never dreamed possible. Trust in His process, for even when all seems lost; His glory will shine through.

The power of eternal life triumphs over death, despair, and hopelessness, reminding us that nothing and no one is too far gone for our God.

God is never in a hurry but is always on time!

¯_(ツ)_/¯8-26-2

© Dr. H 2025