“Then when Jesus came, He found that he had lain in the grave four days already. Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off: and many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him: but Mary sat still in the house.
Then said Martha unto Jesus, ‘Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee.’ Jesus saith unto her,
‘Thy brother shall rise again.’
Martha saith unto Him, ‘I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’ Jesus said unto her,
‘I am the Resurrection, and the Life: he that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?’
She saith unto Him, ‘Yea, Lord: I believe that Thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.’ ” John 11:17-27 (KJB)
Lazarus
Lazarus Came Forth
“When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, and said, ‘Where have ye laid him?’ They said unto Him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, ‘Behold how He loved him!’ And some of them said, ‘Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?’ Jesus therefore again groaning in Himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, ‘Take ye away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto Him, ‘Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.’ Jesus saith unto her, ‘Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?’ Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, ‘Father, I thank Thee that Thou hast heard Me. And I knew that thou hearest Me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that Thou hast sent Me.’ And when He thus had spoken, He cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth.’ And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, ‘Loose him, and let him go.’” John 11:33-44
The Son of God Glorified
“Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) Therefore his sisters sent unto Him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, He said, ‘This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.’ Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When He had heard therefore that he was sick, He abode two days still in the same place where He was. Then after that saith He to His disciples, ‘Let us go into Judaea again.’ His disciples say unto Him, ‘Master, the Jews of late sought to stone Thee; and goest thou thither again?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.’ These things said He: and after that He saith unto them, ‘Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.’ Then said His disciples, ‘Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.’ Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that He had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.’ Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellowdisciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with Him.'” John 11:1-16
Elijah; Man of God
Those of us who have been involved in church and Christianity; and even some other religions know the term “Man of God”. The basic idea behind the phrase is that a man is faithful to believing God, His Word and living it in His life.
We have seen where the “Man of God” confronted the king Ahab and told him of an absence of rainfall until he [Elijah] calls for it. We know from the book of James that it was 3.5 years. That is a drought. We have read also where God provided for the prophet, the man of God, by sending him to a brook off the Jordon River, and God supplied him bread and meat until the brook dried up; and then he sent him to a widow woman with a young son; and he asked her to give him her last portion of food. Because of the woman’s faith, she fed Elijah, and her barrel of meal never ran out; as the King James says, “Wasted not”, neither did her container of oil run dry.
While the man of God is present in the home of the widow and her son; the son dies; and the woman is very distraught. She is like many of us. Since the man of God is in the house and home, then, “How can such an evil and bad thing happen to us?” Now before someone goes off on a tangent fit let me first explain that it does seem implied by the reading of 17:18;
“And she said unto Elijah, ‘What have I to do with thee, O thou man of God? art thou come unto me to call my sin to remembrance, and to slay my son?'” (KJV)
Remember in John 11 Lazarus a close friend of Jesus was on his death bed; Mary and Martha (Lazarus’s sisters) sent for Jesus, but he lingered where he was. Jesus said,
“This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.” John 11:4
To read the rest of the event we find that Lazarus died, was buried, and had been dead four days; and Jesus calls his name and Lazarus comes out of that tomb alive. God receives the greater glory by the resurrection of Lazarus, then by healing him of a sickness.
The resurrection of the widows son, helped the woman see more clearly that Elijah was the man of God. She announces in the final verse of chapter 17,
“Now by this I know that thou art a man of God, and that the word of the LORD in thy mouth is truth.” 1Kings 17:24 (KJV)
The man of God in today’s world may not raise anyone to life after being dead; at least in the physical sense. However, the man of God will be able to clearly present the way to knowing God, having fellowship with Him, and how God declares one to be righteous. That is by way of the cross of Jesus Christ; His death, burial and bodily resurrection. Believe the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will experience resurrection.
-Tim A. Blankenship
Day 72 – The Son of Man and The Scriptures
In reading the gospels, especially Matthew, one cannot help but notice the importance the writers place on showing that the Scriptures are fulfilled. One cannot help but notice, also how much Jesus Himself refers to the Scriptures, the prophets, and in Luke 24 Jesus even mentions the Psalms. I am going to post a few of those verses concerning the Scriptures today, pray you will look them up and read the context of their writings.
This first excerpt of Scripture is from the story of the rich man and Lazarus,
“Abraham saith unto him, ‘They have Moses and the prophets; let them hear them.’ And he said, ‘Nay, father Abraham: but if one went unto them from the dead, they will repent.’ And he said unto him, ‘If they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.'” Luke 16:29-31 (KJV)
The next quite obviously is of Jesus’s coming crucifixion,
“Then He took unto Him the twelve, and said unto them, ‘Behold, we go up to Jerusalem, and all things that are written by the prophets concerning the Son of Man shall be accomplished. For He shall be delivered unto the Gentiles, and shall be mocked, and spitefully entreated, and spitted on: and they shall scourge Him, and put Him to death: and the third day He shall rise again.” Luke 18:31-33
The next excerpt is as Jesus appears to the two on the road to Emmaus and explains the Scripture to them;
“Then He said unto them, ‘O fools, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken: ought not Christ to have suffered these things, and to enter into His glory?’ And beginning at Moses and all the prophets, He expounded unto them in all the scriptures the things concerning Himself.” Luke 24:25-27
The final one in Luke is when Jesus has appeared to all the disciples together in one place, and it is here that He mentions the Psalms;
“And He said unto them, ‘These are the words which I spake unto you, while I was yet with you, that all things must be fulfilled, which were written in the law of Moses, and in the prophets, and in the psalms, concerning Me. Then opened He their understanding, that they might understand the scriptures, and said unto them, ‘Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, and to rise from the dead the third day: and that repentance and remission of sins should be preached in His name among all nations, beginning at Jerusalem. And ye are witnesses of these things. And, behold, I send the promise of My Father upon you: but tarry ye in the city of Jerusalem, until ye be endued with power from on high.” Luke 24:44-49
We need to ask ourselves, “Do I put enough relevance upon Scripture?” After all the Scriptures are they which testify of Jesus.
-Tim A. Blankenship
The Fire and Hammer 