True Love

"Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was." John 11:5-6

What an interesting set of verses to explain the love of God. What a warped view of the love of God we have. This is the story of the death of Lazarus and Jesus raising him from the dead. While reading this passage this morning these two verses leaped off the page at me. They seem so paradoxical. Could it be that perhaps this was just a mistake in writing by John? (If you believe that then we must have an entirely different discussion) Absolutely not! We know that every word of Scripture is inspired by God. It is put together exactly as He desires and in this passage He is showing us how His love works. We have become so accustomed to this new definition of love that our culture has thrown on us that we can scarcely see the truth about love. We believe love to be an attempt at making another person happy. That is, we believe that we must say or do whatever we must to make someone feel good about themselves and us, even at the expense of the truth. We have dilemmas over whether to tell someone the truth at the expense of their feelings. Or to put it another way, we wonder whether it is better to tell someone a painful truth or let them continue in ignorant happiness. This is not love. This is not the love of God that is found in Scripture. God never withholds the truth from us or pain from us so that we may feel good. God allows such events in our life that we may see Him and find Him all satisfying. That is the case here with Lazarus. Jesus knew full well that Lazarus would die. He knew that Mary and Martha would grieve tremendously for four days before Jesus arrived. He knew that they believed all to be lost and would even be angry with Him for His delay. Yet "he stayed two days longer in the place where He was. Why? "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus." So how is this love made manifest? Mary and Martha are weeping in anguish and Lazarus is dead. How is that loving? How can Jesus possible show His love from this? How could His delay possibly be loving? the answer is found in Jesus' reply to Mary and Martha one verse prior to verse 5. "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son may be glorified through it." What was Jesus' objective in this situation? It was their overflowing joy in the glory of God not their temporary happiness in seemingly "perfecting" their circumstances. What Mary and Martha wanted most was to be with their brother. The wanted him to have relief from His physical ailments. What God wanted most was to be wanted most. He wanted them to be able to say "though he slay me yet will I trust Him" He wanted them to see Him for who He is and find their ultimate satisfaction in Him. If took the death of Lazarus to do it, then so be it. If it took temporary pain to make eternal joy then so be it. We must not be so short sighted in our suffering but rather understand the truth of God's love. It always leads us to be satisfied in Him ALONE! Though there may be pain, there will be great reward because we will see the glory of the only begotten in whom the fullness of God is pleased to dwell. That my friends is love. God's revelation of Himself at the expense of temporary happiness. May we find Him more satisfying than anything this world offers, for that is what it means to be a believer in Jesus Christ.
DAW