Death Gets a Beating!

            It was Sunday afternoon.  Jesus and His disciples were walking to Bethany.  They were walking to the home of a friend.  This beloved friend, Lazarus, had been dead since Thursday.  Today, Jesus would show the Jews who He was. The Author of Life will pull aside the veil to give a hint concerning what will happen during the next week!  When Jesus arrived in Bethany, many Jews were there.  Bethany was only 2 miles from Jerusalem.  Friend and foe knew how much Jesus loved Lazarus, so they gathered as much to comfort Lazarus' family as they did to see what Jesus would do.

            Jesus was first met by Martha, Lazarus' sister.  In response to her questions, Jesus said that her brother would rise again.  Bolstered by Jesus' words, Martha ran and brought her sister to Jesus.  The Jews, seeing Mary leave, followed her.  Mary, coming to Jesus, fell at His feet and wept.  Soon, Jesus was surrounded by a sea of tears.  Certainly, there were professional mourners in the crowd, and their job was to cry and put on a good show.  But Jesus was able to see the hopelessness in the hearts of the rest.  His heart had been touched by the simple faith that Mary, Martha, and surely others had shown in Him when they said, "Lord, if you had been here, he would not have died." In response to this, Scripture says of Jesus, "He was deeply moved in spirit.”

            The phrase "deeply moved in spirit" was an unusual one.  Its common use was to describe the snorting of horses; when used of men, it denoted strong anger.  Why was Jesus angry?  One might as well ask why a shepherd fights with such ferocity when a wolf has attacked one of his sheep.  Why is a shepherd angry when his flock is attacked?  He loves his sheep!  Jesus' heart broke as it had on many occasions before.  The Father of mankind had been waiting for this week in history when He would show His children that death is not final!  With firm resolve, Jesus asked, "Where have you laid him?"  Mary and Martha then took Jesus to Lazarus' tomb.  The people would see what they never dared to dream was possible.  Though Lazarus' body now stunk because of 4 days of decomposition, they obeyed Jesus’ command to roll the stone away from the tomb entrance.  Here begins a week that all history hinges upon.  Here mankind finally begins to see that death's armor has chinks.  Here Satan shudders as Jesus shows that He can and will claim the keys to the halls of hell!  Here life confronts death and wins!  Here Jesus calls in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"  And Lazarus came out.

            Those three words, "Lazarus, come out," remind us of Jesus' final three words:  "It is finished."  As Christians, we are overcomers!  We need to remember who now holds the keys to hell.  To quote Max Lucado, "Hell is the chosen place of the person who loves self more than God, who loves this world more than God's world.”   We all have a choice to make about where our lives are headed.  Let us choose wisely because on Judgment Day God will look at the rebellious person and say, "Your choice will be honored."  Keep looking up!