๐ช๐๐ฅ๐ ๐จ๐ฃ
โข What was the longest time you had to wait for something? What did you do while you were waiting?
โข Have you ever lost an item you really liked? What did you do when you lost it?
โข What is something youโve always wanted to do since you were a kid? Tell us about it.
๐ช๐ข๐ฅ๐
๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, โ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ, ๐บ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ . . .โย ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ญ๐ญ:๐ฎ๐ฑย ย
(Read also ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ญ๐ญ.)
Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is one of the many miracles He did. It deals with one of lifeโs most devastating eventsโdeath. The pain and hopelessness brought by death is a problem that everyone faces. Death causes fear and pain, and it is something we do not have control over. In this passage, Jesus does the impossible by raising someone back to life. In the story of Lazarus, we see how Jesus overcomes death and brings hope.ย
๐ญ. ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐๐ฎ๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ๐ญ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ, โ๐๐ข๐ป๐ข๐ณ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ด ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ. . . .โ ๐๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐๐ข๐ป๐ข๐ณ๐ถ๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ข๐ญ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐บ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฃ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ ๐ฅ๐ข๐บ๐ด. ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ญ๐ญ:๐ญ๐ฐ, ๐ญ๐ณ
Lazarus had already died before Jesus went to their place. But when Mary sought Jesus, He did not bring Lazarus back to life right awayโHe wanted to be with the people first. When He saw Mary, and the Jews who were with her weeping, Jesus was ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ด๐ฑ๐ช๐ณ๐ช๐ต ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ต๐ญ๐บ ๐ต๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ฅ (John 11:33). The pain of losing a loved one was real, but Jesusโ comfort was just as genuine. How did Jesus show His compassion while the people were mourning (John 11:35)?
๐ฎ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต๐ ๐๐ฎ๐๐ฎ๐ฟ๐๐ ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐๐ผ ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ.
๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด, ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ค๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฅ ๐ท๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ, โ๐๐ข๐ป๐ข๐ณ๐ถ๐ด, ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต.โ ๐๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฎ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ฉ๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฅ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต, ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ฆ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ฏ ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฑ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ง๐ข๐ค๐ฆ ๐ธ๐ณ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ข ๐ค๐ญ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฉ. ๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฎ, โ๐๐ฏ๐ฃ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ฉ๐ช๐ฎ ๐จ๐ฐ.โย ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ญ๐ญ:๐ฐ๐ฏโ๐ฐ๐ฐ
Jesus did not just raise Lazarus back to life as soon as he had been pronounced dead. He waited four days to do this. The Jews believed that it was impossible to raise someone back to life after four days of being in the tomb. However, Jesus was able to do the impossibleโHe brought Lazarus back to life. By a word from Jesus, โ๐๐ข๐ป๐ข๐ณ๐ถ๐ด, ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต,โ Lazarus was resurrected. Jesus unbound Lazarus from the tomb and gave him life. In this passage, we see Godโs gloryโHis victory over hopelessness and deathโdisplayed. Why do you think Jesus brought Lazarus back to life this way?
๐ฏ. ๐๐ฒ๐๐๐ ๐ถ๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐น๐ถ๐ณ๐ฒ.ย
๐๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ด ๐ด๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ, โ๐ ๐ข๐ฎ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ง๐ฆ. ๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ช๐ฆ๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฎ๐ฆ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฆ, ๐บ๐ฆ๐ต ๐ด๐ฉ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ . . .โย ย ๐๐ข๐๐ก ๐ญ๐ญ:๐ฎ๐ฑ
When Lazarus was resurrected from the dead, the people who saw him were amazed. Through this miracle, the truth was revealed: eternal life is found in Jesus alone. Though everyone faces the reality of physical death, through faith in Jesus, we do not need to fear death. Those who have put their faith in Christ will be resurrected and will live forever in Godโs presence. It is also through this miracle that Jesus brings hope, no matter how difficult or impossible the situation. Only He is able and has the authority to speak life to the areas of our lives that have run dry and may even be dead. How does the truth of the resurrection affect how you live and trust God?
In the seventh sign, Jesus reveals Himself as the only living hope amidst fear, pain, and death. The promise of eternal life and hope brought by Jesus remains true for us today. Together, even as we face the reality of death, letโs trust Jesus to give us life for all eternity. Let us also believe that God can resurrect the areas in our lives that have run dry.
๐๐ฃ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ง๐๐ข๐ก
โข Even if we will eventually die, we can experience Godโs peace and power over death if we believe in Him. How do you think the truth of the resurrection should affect your life today?
โข Are there situations in your life that seem hopeless or dead? Ask God to do the impossible and give you new life that only comes from Him.
โข Think of someone who has yet to receive the life that is found in Jesus. How can you be a witness of Jesusโ hope and light to him or her this week?
๐ฃ๐ฅ๐๐ฌ๐๐ฅ
โข Thank God that nothing is impossible with Jesus. Pray that God gives you an expectant heart despite difficult or seemingly impossible situations.
โข Ask God for grace to live in light of the hope Jesus brings. Pray that He would give you peace and joy amidst uncertainty and fear.
โข Ask God for opportunities to share the life of Jesus with others. Pray for the boldness to speak life to those who need encouragement this week.