"Jesus is more than just my homeboy"

Philippians 1:12

Lazarus was Jesus friend. We do not know how close they were but the Word makes it clear that Jesus loved Lazarus as well his sisters Martha and Mary (John 11:5). Lazarus seemed to live a good life and his relationship with Jesus did not cause a stir among the Jews. The Pharisees seemed to have no quarrel with Lazarus. Because if they did, the professional mourners would not have shown up for the funereal. Instead the mockers would have attended and celebrated Lazarus' death with laughter.

Jesus loved Lazarus so much that He let Lazarus die....wait what? Jesus let His friend, who He loved die. And not only did He let Him die but He took His sweet precious time to go help (John 11:6). And His only reason was "It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it (John 11:4)". Is this how Jesus treats His friends? Yep, He uses His friends to bring God glory even if it costs them their lives.

But what was the purpose of the death and resurrection of Lazarus? It caused a division in the community. It also revealed everyone's heart. Some of the Jews became believers (John 11:45) while others saw it as a threat to their control over the people and resolved to kill Jesus (John 11:48,53).

It does not end there, more and more people began to believe on the account of Lazarus. And this lead to a plot to kill Lazarus (John 12:9-11).

This story is a parallel to the lives of disciples of Christ. When we are a friend of the Lord we are truly an enemy of the world. They consider us their enemy only because our lives help bring others to Christ and that is in direct opposition to the plan of the enemy. The enemy is here only to steal, kill, and destroy but we are here being used by God to lead the lost to Christ that they may live an abundant life in Jesus (John 10:10). The devil is so opposed to the message of the Gospel that he desires to take our life because he is a murder, he desires to spread lies to unbelievers because he is a liar and wants to suppress the truth (John 8:44, 2 Corinthians 4:3-4). But the message of the Gospel is so important that God is willing to let us die so others may believe, Lazarus is the perfect example.

We all need to understand that the goal of persecution is our death. But the Goal of God is for the lost to accept Him and believe in Him even if it means our death. But we rejoice because if we live die it is to our gain (we will be in Heaven) but if we live we have more opportunity to share the Gospel (Philippians 1:12,21). Regardless of the outcome we know that God will take care of those He loves and He is willing to let us experience loss of life it means that others will see it and come to know Him. Stay focused, you can do this.

Read The Word, Share The Gospel, Stay Accountable.

"In His JOY!"