Tag: christ’s ministry

“I Have Set You an Example” (John 13:1-17)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Jesus Washes Peter’s Feet

Now before the festival of the Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart from this world and go to the Father. Having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end. The devil had already decided that Judas son of Simon Iscariot would betray Jesus. And during supper Jesus, knowing that the Father had given all things into his hands and that he had come from God and was going to God, got up from supper, took off his outer robe, and tied a towel around himself. Then he poured water into a basin and began to wash the disciples’ feet and to wipe them with the towel that was tied around him. 

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?” Jesus answered, “You do not know now what I am doing, but later you will understand.” Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.” Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no share with me.” Simon Peter said to him, “Lord, not my feet only but also my hands and my head!” Jesus said to him, “One who has bathed does not need to wash, except for the feet, but is entirely clean. And you are clean, though not all of you.” For he knew who was to betray him; for this reason he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

After he had washed their feet, had put on his robe, and had reclined again, he said to them, “Do you know what I have done to you? You call me Teacher and Lord, and you are right, for that is what I am. So if I, your Lord and Teacher, have washed your feet, you also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have set you an example, that you also should do as I have done to you. Very truly, I tell you, slaves are not greater than their master, nor are messengers greater than the one who sent them. If you know these things, you are blessed if you do them. (New Revised Standard Version)

One of the reasons I like Jesus so much is that he loves me as I am, and not merely as I should be. Jesus loves me even with my dirty stinky feet, my herky-jerky commitment to him, and my pre-meditated sin.

In fact, Jesus loved even Judas and washed his feet. Jesus serves people because they need his love, and not so that they will love him back.

I recently read about a man who lived in Paris. His wife had Alzheimer’s. He was an important businessman and his life was filled with busyness. Yet, he said when his wife fell sick:

“I just couldn’t put her into an institution, so I kept her. I fed her. I bathed her. Through the experience of serving my wife every day, I have changed. I have become more human. The other night, in the middle of the night, my wife woke me up. She came out of the fog for a moment, and she said, ‘Darling, I just want to say thank you for all you are doing for me.’ Then she fell back into the fog. I wept for hours to know this grace.” A Severe Mercy, by Sheldon Vanauken

Sometimes Christ calls me to love people who either cannot or will not love me in return. They live in the fog of some sort of disability, depression, poverty, or common spiritual blindness. As I serve them, I may only receive brief glimpses of gratitude. Just as Jesus loves me within my own spiritual confusion, so I desire to continue loving others as they walk through whatever fog they are in.

Lord willing, my life will be useful through my words and my witness. If God desires, my life will bear fruit through my prayers, my service, and my love. Yet, the usefulness of my life is God’s concern, not mine; it would be indecent of me to worry about that. I simply desire to follow my Lord’s example.

Ethiopian Orthodox Church icon of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet

Neither many Christians nor churches wash feet anymore. So, the following is today’s Gospel lesson put in a slightly different contemporary context:

It was just before the biggest and most important feast of the year. Jesus knew that it was finally the time for him to face the cross and die for the world’s sins. Having spent the past three years loving his followers, he now wanted to leave them with a clear demonstration of his love that they would never forget.

The evening meal was being served, and the devil had already gotten a hold of Judas Iscariot to betray Jesus to those who wanted him dead and gone. But it was all according to plan. Jesus knew that his heavenly Father had given him all authority because he was his Son, and he was ready to do what needed to be done to secure salvation and return to his rightful place at his Father’s right hand. 

So, Jesus got up from the meal, rolled up his sleeves, put an apron on, and ran a sink full of hot water. Jesus told the servants to take the night off, and he began taking the dishes from the dinner table and started washing them, taking care to do all that waiters and dishwashers would do.

When Jesus came to take care of Simon Peter’s dishes and serve him dessert and coffee, Peter said to him, “Lord, are you going to serve me?” Jesus replied, “I know you do not understand why I am doing this since it seems like something that is beneath me to do, but later you will look back on this night and understand completely what I am doing.”

“No,” said Peter, “this is not right – you are the Master, and this is not what a well-respected rabbi does – you are only disrespecting yourself and making us all look foolish. You are not going to take my dishes and wash them.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash these dishes and serve you, you are not going to be able to follow me anymore, and you will have no part of what I am doing in this world.”

“Well, then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “if that is the way it really is, then don’t just wash the dishes – come on over to my place and clean out the fridge and scrub the kitchen floor!”

Jesus answered, “A person who has had a decent meal needs only to wash the dishes so that he can enjoy the freedom of hospitable relationships with me and those around him. And all of you here have had a decent meal, though not every one of you.” For Jesus knew that Judas was only picking at his food in anticipation of betraying him.

When Jesus was all done washing the dishes and serving his disciples, he took his apron off, rolled his sleeves back down, and returned to the table. He looked them all squarely in the eye and said, “Do you understand what I just did for you? 

You call me ‘Teacher’ and ‘Master,’ and rightly so, for that is exactly what I am. So, now that I, your Master, and your Teacher have washed your dishes, you also should wash one another’s dishes. I have set you an example that you should do as I have done for you. I am telling you the plain truth that no follower is greater than the one he follows, nor is a preacher greater than the one he preaches about. 

Now that you know it is your task in this life to provide humble loving service, you will have God’s stamp of approval on your life if you quit thinking about how to possess and use power for your own purposes, and start thinking about how to use the authority I am giving you to love other people into the kingdom of God.

Loving Lord Jesus, how shocking it was for your disciples to be served by you in such a humble manner. But I cannot be spiritually cleansed unless I allow you to love me in an almost embarrassing fashion. Help me not to be so proud that I neither refuse your humble loving service toward me, nor neglect to offer that same kind of service to others. May love be the word, the idea, and the action that governs my every motivation and movement in your most gracious Name, I pray. Amen.

A Lot of Hurting, Touching, and Healing (Luke 6:12-19)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Jesus calls his twelve disciples, by Sadao Watanabe

One of those days Jesus went out to a mountainside to pray, and spent the night praying to God. When morning came, he called his disciples to him and chose twelve of them, whom he also designated apostles: Simon (whom he named Peter), his brother Andrew, James, John, Philip, Bartholomew, Matthew, Thomas, James son of Alphaeus, Simon who was called the Zealot, Judas son of James, and Judas Iscariot, who became a traitor.

He went down with them and stood on a level place. A large crowd of his disciples was there and a great number of people from all over Judea, from Jerusalem, and from the coastal region around Tyre and Sidon, who had come to hear him and to be healed of their diseases. Those troubled by impure spirits were cured, and the people all tried to touch him, because power was coming from him and healing them all. (New International Version)

Pain is a lot

Touch is important. Humanity needs touch. It’s also one of those things that we likely take for granted. 

Philip Yancey and Dr. Paul Brand co-authored a book, originally published in 1982, entitled “Pain: The Gift Nobody Wants.” It’s largely a biography of Dr. Brand, who pioneered both the diagnosis and prognosis of leprosy. 

He discovered that leprosy occurs because of a lack of feeling – an inability to sense touch. The delicate nerve endings we all have in our fingers and toes are numb to the leper. The lack of sensing pain in the extremities leads to small cuts or injuries, which would be immediately treated by someone who feels pain, becoming gangrene with the losing of fingers and toes.

The ability to feel, to reach out and touch another person, is vitally important to our spiritual and emotional lives. Without touch, the calloused heart and unfeeling soul does not realize the damage that is being done to it.           

One of the gifts we have as people is the ability to feel guilt, sorrow, disappointment, and pain – to be touched mentally, emotionally, and spiritually – as well as physically. And in our ability to feel pain, it brings about attention to prayer and addressing the situation.

Many people are troubled in either mind or spirit, or experience chronic ailments of the body, day in and day out. They just want relief, to be at peace in both body and soul.

Jesus prays… a lot

In today’s Gospel lesson, Luke puts together two stories: one of Jesus choosing and calling his twelve disciples; and then one of Jesus being among the people and healing them of their diseases and their troubles. Let’s observe the relationship between them.

Jesus often withdrew to lonely, isolated places in order to pray (Luke 5:16). On this particular occasion, he went out and spent the entire night in prayer to God. When morning came, we discover the reason for the all-night prayer meeting: Christ chose the people who would be closest to him in his earthly ministry. He called the twelve to follow him and be his disciples.

I find it highly instructive that Jesus spent so much time in prayer before making such big decisions about his ministry. If anyone could size up somebody as a potential follower, it seems to me it would be Jesus. And yet, there was a lot of deliberation and interaction with the Father. Since the Lord Jesus found it necessary to pray with an extending time, and consult with the heavenly Father, I would say that our own prayer life and reaching out to consult and collaborate could probably use an upgrade.

Jesus heals… a lot of people

Then, Jesus and his disciples, together enter the fray of the crowd. And the disciples get their first lesson in following Jesus: Christ-centered ministry is about healing – it’s about restoring people to physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual health.

Healing is at the heart of all real Christian ministry. And healing is really what everyone is to be about, whether they identify as Christian, or not. To be healed is to experience a holistic restoration of body, mind, emotions, and spirit.

Touch is a big part of healing. Physical touch is important, and it’s powerful. Sometimes, bodily healing is needed because a person has been physically abused, or experienced some sort of physical trauma. And it can be very difficult to have others touch them, after such experiences. Yet, part of the healing will be in experiencing redemptive touch – either by surgeons, family, friends, or trusted others. The answer to bad touch and bad pain is to experience good touch and the good pain of healing.

Non-physical touch is no less important. And, I believe, Jesus understood this perhaps more than most. He routinely “touched” people in ways that changed their lives. Christ sought to not only bring physical healing, but also to heal the mental, emotional, and spiritual wounds.

Jesus touches… a lot of lives

Jesus touched a lot of lives through his healing ministry:

  • In healing lepers of their disease, Christ made sure that they were no longer ostracized from the community but were restored to full function in society.
  • In curing persons demonized and tormented by evil spirits, Jesus was concerned to restore them to their right mind and ensure they were included as members of society, as well as restored to their families.
  • In bringing salvation from guilt and shame, Jesus brought reconciliation and restoration between God and sinners.
  • In all his relational interactions, Jesus was intentional about making connections to the lonely and the lost, to those who were emotionally cut off from the mass of society.

So, whenever we feel pain – whether in body, mind, emotion, or spirit – this experience lets us know that we need to pay attention to something. As we do that, it can drive us to the source of healing, wholeness, and restoration. We go to prayer – not out of duty – but because we are convinced that there are divine resources only God can provide.

And we can come, again and again, finding the grace to help us in our time of need. For God’s mercy is inexhaustible; the grace of God will never run out or run dry.

Therefore, let followers of Jesus everywhere be aqueducts of grace, angels of mercy, and agents of healing in a world which so desperately needs the love, care, and attention we can give them.

May God the Father bless you; God the Son heal you; and God the Holy Spirit give you strength. May God the holy and undivided Trinity guard your body, save your soul, protect your mind, and bring you safely to his heavenly country; where he lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

A Life of Compassion (Matthew 9:35-10:23)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
Wheat Stacks with Reaper, by Vincent Van Gogh, 1888

Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, “The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field.”

Jesus called his twelve disciples to him and gave them authority to drive out impure spirits and to heal every disease and sickness.

These are the names of the twelve apostles: first, Simon (who is called Peter) and his brother Andrew; James son of Zebedee, and his brother John; Philip and Bartholomew; Thomas and Matthew the tax collector; James son of Alphaeus, and Thaddaeus; Simon the Zealot and Judas Iscariot, who betrayed him.

These twelve Jesus sent out with the following instructions: “Do not go among the Gentiles or enter any town of the Samaritans. Go rather to the lost sheep of Israel. As you go, proclaim this message: ‘The kingdom of heaven has come near.’ Heal the sick, raise the dead, cleanse those who have leprosy, drive out demons. Freely you have received; freely give.

“Do not get any gold or silver or copper to take with you in your belts—no bag for the journey or extra shirt or sandals or a staff, for the worker is worth his keep. Whatever town or village you enter, search there for some worthy person and stay at their house until you leave. As you enter the home, give it your greeting. If the home is deserving, let your peace rest on it; if it is not, let your peace return to you. If anyone will not welcome you or listen to your words, leave that home or town and shake the dust off your feet. Truly I tell you, it will be more bearable for Sodom and Gomorrah on the day of judgment than for that town.

“I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves. Be on your guard; you will be handed over to the local councils and be flogged in the synagogues. On my account you will be brought before governors and kings as witnesses to them and to the Gentiles. But when they arrest you, do not worry about what to say or how to say it. At that time you will be given what to say, for it will not be you speaking, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.

“Brother will betray brother to death, and a father his child; children will rebel against their parents and have them put to death. You will be hated by everyone because of me, but the one who stands firm to the end will be saved. When you are persecuted in one place, flee to another. Truly I tell you, you will not finish going through the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes. (New International Version)

Use your voice for kindness, your ears for compassion, your hands for charity, your mind for truth, and your heart for love.

We need compassion; humanity cannot survive without it.

Compassion is…

  • a concern for the well-being of others
  • the basis for altruism and the most virtuous motive one can possess
  • activated within the human heart when witnessing another person’s suffering
  • helping other people feel seen, heard, and known
  • the bridge that connects us with another in need
  • life

While on this earth, I believe Jesus was the very embodiment of compassion. To reflect on Christ’s compassion helps us to raise our own compassion quotient, and thus, avoid succumbing to the whims of indifference concerning human need.

Compassion responds to human need

In his earthly ministry of preaching, teaching, and healing, Jesus went through all the towns and villages. He neither waited for people to come to him nor wanted anyone to fall through the cracks. Doing this compassionate work, Jesus was moved by the depth of people’s needs.

The word for “compassion” in the Bible means “to be moved in the pit of your gut.” It is to be filled with pity and heartbroken over the unmet needs of people.

So, what moves and stirs compassion deep down in your gut?

Jesus went into towns and was broken-hearted over people who were harassed and helpless, locked into patterns of life that were harmful and damaging. 

Jesus came to this earth to seek and save people, offering forgiveness and a new life. Jesus willingly brought compassion – and his motivation for doing so was neither from duty nor guilt. Compassion is the proper motivation for all things.

Just as Jesus went out and ministered, then was moved by what he saw, so our compassion is aroused whenever we go out and enter people’s lives, seeing first-hand the depth of human need.

Compassion results in prayer

Christ saw the masses of people and told his disciples to ask God to send workers because the harvest is plentiful. Jesus knows there are large numbers of people waiting to hear good news. So, he said to pray earnestly and compassionately.

Compassion brings us to prayer and impels us to pray that workers be sent to people who are ripe for hearing good news. We must not listen to the hellish lie: That certain people don’t really want the good news of the kingdom of God; that my neighbor, or co-worker, or family member is not spiritual and doesn’t care about forgiveness or grace – that there is nothing within them to respond to compassion.

The devil does not want us to have merciful compassion for them, to be moved to intercede for them in prayer, nor to become a harvester in the field of people. Jesus said the harvest is plentiful; and it is through compassionate prayer that the work will be done.

Compassion sends us out

The call to prayer is central, but it’s not everything. As faith without works is dead, so prayer without mission is empty.

The people Jesus authorized for ministry were a collection of twelve motley disciples who thought differently about a great many things. Yet, the compassion of Jesus changes lives and brings people together from diverse backgrounds and viewpoints.

The disciples were told, in their initial mission as followers of Jesus, to go only to the house of Israel. Israel’s house needed to be put in order first before they could ever think of going to Gentiles. We begin by reaching out to people in our own backyard.

“You will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Jesus (Acts 1:8, NIV)

Jesus told the disciples to do exactly what he had been doing: preaching and healing, proclaiming the message that “the kingdom of God is near.” 

The kingdom is not only something in the future; the kingdom of God has already broken into the present time, and the evidence of it is the transformation of people’s lives now. The blessings and promises of kingdom life are presently available.

Jesus sent the disciples out and told them not to take anything with them. They were to leave all their baggage behind. The disciples were to be stripped of everything so that they had the ability to see people and their needs and be moved with compassion as Jesus was.

The kingdom of God was near to them, so they did not need to add anything for the mission. Jesus did not want his disciples assuming they already knew what people needed. Instead, they must be present to people and discover their needs without bias. As compassion is freely received, it is to be freely given.

Cultivating Compassion

Compassion is the appropriate response to human need. Yet, we do not always react with compassion. The following are a few approaches which prevent us from becoming compassionate, along with some ways of cultivating a compassionate life:

  1. A defeating and discouraging environment. Contempt, anger, hatred, and abuse drives out compassion. The environment around us makes a difference. If we find we must check our hearts at the door and avoid compassion to just make it, then we need a change of environment. Life is too short, and the world too compassion-starved, to maintain a situation that drags us down and hinders the kingdom of God within us.
  2. An unhealthy pace of life.  A person cannot have a compassionate heart if they are running too fast to see other people’s needs. When spare moments are used to try and figure out how to keep all the balls in the air and all the plates spinning, there’s no way to dole out compassion to others. So, slow down. No one comes to the end of life and wishes they had logged more hours of work at their job. Develop a plan on how to slow down enough to tune into the needs of others and have emotional energy for them.
  3. Excessive caregiving. Compassion fatigue is a real thing. Resentment can build toward the very people we care for because of constant giving without receiving. When the emotional gas tank is empty, it is possible to become cold-hearted. Yet, some keep going anyway – and ruin their engine. Caring for others must be meticulously balanced with caring for self. There is a time for everything, including rest and recuperation. Jesus regularly practiced the disciplines of solitude and silence. If he needed those restorative practices, so do we.
  4. Objectifying people. Whenever we put adjectives in front of people, compassion is lacking. Referring to “those” people, “lesbian” neighbors, “black” folks at work, my “obnoxious” relative, or, the “poor” family down the street, are all examples of objectifying people and putting them at a distance from ourselves. Your neighbors are your neighbors, your family is your family, and the people in your life are just people, period. Compassion arises as we look for what is common among us, not different. Compassion brings solidarity with others, not separation and division.

May you allow God the time to form a compassionate heart within through being with Jesus. May compassion toward others be the defining characteristic of your life.

What Does God Want? (John 11:1-45)

On By Tim EhrhardtIn Christian Spirituality Blog, Daily Bible Reading Blog, Year ALeave a comment
The Raising of Lazarus, by Rembrandt, c.1632

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”

Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

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

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

Jesus wept.

Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 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.”

Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. (New International Version)

The Raising of Lazarus, by Vincent Van Gogh, 1890

Here’s a Captain Obvious observation:

what God wants, and what we want, is not always the same thing. 

Today’s Gospel story centers around a man named Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha. The disciples were familiar with them since they were committed followers of Jesus. 

Their friend Lazarus became deathly ill. Christ and the disciples caught wind of it. Everyone believed Jesus could do something about this. But Jesus stayed put. He didn’t make a move to go to his sick friend. 

After a few days, Lazarus died. It was only then, that Jesus made his move.

The religious authorities in Jerusalem had it out for Jesus. But Jesus decided to go to Bethany and Jerusalem anyway. This made no sense to the disciples. Lazarus was lying dead in Bethany. Going there would put everyone at risk – which is why Thomas uttered the defeatist and dramatic statement, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Yet, they all went. And once they arrived, Christ and his disciples found the grieving sisters. Mary and Martha believed that Jesus was the promised Messiah who would come and save the people. They didn’t understand why Jesus stayed away and didn’t come sooner. 

If Jesus had been there, he could have healed Lazarus. He healed other people, so why not a friend and a brother?

The death of Lazarus seemed to be the end. No one was happy with how things shook-out. Lazarus died. The disciples’ plans were dead. Mary and Martha’s expectations died…

but death is exactly what it takes in to have resurrection.

There’s no such thing as a painless miracle. Death isn’t a pleasant affair. I have been with countless people at the end of life, and I will tell you that, although it’s possible for a death to be peaceful, it’s still ugly business. 

It’s also painful to watch carefully laid and prayed over plans die. It hurts to see a long sought after dream just go up in smoke and die. To see anything or anyone we deeply care about die is gut-wrenching. Yet, in order for a resurrection to occur, there must first be a death.

There cannot be a new life unless there’s an old one. 

Jesus did the impossible by raising Lazarus from death and giving him new life. And the resurrection of Lazarus pointed to an even greater truth: Christ’s own death and resurrection was coming, and it will change everything.

Whenever what we want dies, then we are in a position to ask: So, what does God want? 

God wanted something better than what everybody else wanted. By allowing ourselves to be consumed with what God wants, it turns out to be the very best thing for us, even if it does not quite jive with what I want.

Everyone’s expectations needed to die, along with Lazarus, for the resurrection to become reality. Only then did Jesus act by rising Lazarus from death.

Jesus pointed to himself as the one able to bring life to all that is dead among us. Sometimes:

  • dreams must die so that Jesus can resurrect them to new life, with outcomes far more glorious than you and I could ever imagine
  • plans have to be dead and buried before Jesus will breathe new life into them, making those plans so much more than they could ever have been in our hands.
  • ministries, even churches, need to be dead as a doorknob so that Jesus can resurrect them and give them new life, invigorated with spiritual resurrection power.

If we desire to see the miracle of resurrection, we must die to ourselves – take up our crosses and follow Jesus into the grave so that he can transform our lowly expectations into a glorious new existence. Death does not have the last word because Christ’s resurrection makes it possible for us to have new life. Again, I ask:

What does God want? God wants to raise the dead to life.

Do you believe this? Yes, I believe. Help me in my unbelief.

Follow the path of what God wants and watch what the Lord will do for you.