The Theatre of God's Glory by Brandi J. W. Ray

 The Theatre of God's Glory

When John 11 opens up, we learn that Lazarus, brother of Mary and Martha, was sick. Mary, most notable for anointing the Lord with perfume and wiping his feet with her hair, alongside her sister, were great friends of Jesus. His friendship with the women seems revolutionary in a time where women appeared subordinate to men. Yet, He sincerely acknowledged and befriended the siblings. Verse 4 shares, "When Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness will not end in death; but [on the contrary it is] for the glory and honor of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it." The next verse states that when Jesus learned of Lazarus' sickness, he was deeply concerned. Yet, he stayed in His place for two more days. 

By this point in the text, we have seen miracles fulfilled by Jesus. He's fed thousands with very little, cast out spirits, healed the blind, deaf and sick, and raised people from the dead. So, it would seem that Jesus would rush to Lazarus with urgency. Yet, He did not. When Jesus finally decided to make His way to the siblings, the disciples were taken aback. The people were already plotting to kill Jesus, and therefore, they looked at his departure as a death sentence. However, in verses 9-10, Jesus gives a little more insight into His divinity.

The Light

Jesus responds to the disciples' fear in verses 9-10, saying, "Are there not twelve hours [of light] in the day? Anyone who walks in the daytime does not stumble because he sees [by] the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because there is no light in him." Surely, what does Jesus mean? 

If you recall 3 chapters earlier, in John 8, Jesus refers to Himself as the light of the world and that whoever follows Him will never walk in darkness but will have the light of life. One could then conclude that Jesus wasn't referring to our traditional time and solar systems – night and day, morning and evening. Instead, Jesus was referring to Himself. Anyone who would walk in the light or, preferably, in Jesus would not stumble, and only those who walked in the darkness would because there was no light (Jesus) in them. 

Referring back to John 8, Jesus follows up His reference of being the light by saying to the skeptical Pharisees, "You judge by human standards." Our misconceptions of Jesus, our misinterpretation of John 11:9-10 is based on our human standards – what we think, believe, and surmise. In John 8:19, Jesus extends the reference by saying, "You do not know me or my father, if you knew me, you would know my Father also." If we understood Jesus to be the light, we would understand Jesus' divinity and the Father's purpose and plans. Yet, we place these limitations on God – because of our human standards.

If you're not following me yet – you will soon. 

In John 11, Jesus tells the disciples, Lazarus has fallen asleep, but he will recover. The disciples, still having humanity's limitations, thought that Jesus meant that Lazarus had simply taken a nap. So, sensing this, in verse 14, Jesus tells the disciples, "No, Lazarus is dead." In the 15th verse, Jesus continues by saying, "And for your sake, I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe." Why would Jesus be glad that Lazarus was dead?

No Delay 

When Jesus arrived, He learned that Lazarus was dead and had been in the tomb for four days. As usual, when we are in a period of mourning and grieving, loved ones come to comfort us as we see with Mary and Martha. When Martha learned of Jesus' arrival, she goes to meet Him. Upon seeing Him, she says, in verse 21, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." As to say, "Had you come when I asked you to, I wouldn't be grieving my brother." The audacity. One can look at Martha's statement in a variety of ways. First, as I've already suggested, "Lord, if you didn't delay, my brother's life would have been spared." Two, as Martha continued in verse 22, she was aware of Jesus' divinity – that despite anything else, God's glory would still prevail. 

In this exchange, from verses 20-27, we see Martha remain faithful to Jesus and His sovereignty. When Jesus responded to Martha's initial statements, He tells her, "Your brother will rise [from the dead]." A student of His teachings, Martha retorts back that she's well aware that Lazarus would one day rise – "of course," she says. Martha knew the teachings of Jesus and knew that all those who believed would have a chance at new and eternal life. 

But, I want to pause here. 

Again, limited in her human understanding, Martha missed the encouragement and affirmation that Jesus was sharing with her. In her knowledge of Jesus' teachings, it almost appears that she was complacent in this knowledge. She makes apparent that she knows that one day we will all see the glory of God but her interaction with Him seems more like an afterthought than the confident hope and expectation that Jesus would deliver His promises now. 

You see, the foundations of Christianity teach us that we will have eternal life in Jesus. Many of us have settled and gotten complacent that we won't necessarily see His glory until the day of His return. But, Jesus' reply to Martha wasn't speaking in a futuristic tense – He was speaking in the now. You can witness God's glory even when something seems dead, final, and impossible. Martha had already settled on the idea that Jesus couldn't possibly do anything more or else to save Lazarus because he was already dead. On the other hand, Jesus was telling Martha – that I can defeat all things, including death. His response to her in verse 25 is that He is the resurrection and the life wasn't one to look forward to. Instead, it was a command and a charge to believe in, embody and live up to right now. 

One of our most significant limitations as Christians is that when things don't go our way when our answer isn't provided in the right now, we deem it as impossible to reconcile or, rather, delayed. Yet, there is no delay in Christ. This was foreshadowed in verse 15 when Jesus told the disciples, "And for your sake, I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe." 

Conditional or performative belief is the claim that we know God, and as I have already argued in the past, James 2 tells us that is simply not enough. Faith requires action. And Jesus, directly, was charging Mary and Martha to this level of obedience. 

After their exchange, Martha runs and tells her sister, Mary, that Jesus was summoning her. As Mary ran to Jesus, her comforters ran with her. Like Martha, as soon as Mary saw Jesus, she said the same thing, "Lord, had you been here, my brother would not have died." Yet, His exchange with Mary was significantly different than Martha's. Verse 33 says, when He saw Mary sobbing, that He was deeply moved in spirit – to the point of anger at the sorrow of death and was troubled. Here, we see the shortest and most powerful sentence of the Bible – Jesus wept. 

Whereas earlier, we saw Jesus' divinity, we now see Jesus' humanity. If there ever was a time where you wondered if Jesus can fully understand your sorrow, this short sentence answers that. When Jesus came into the flesh, He didn't walk alongside men idly – He embraced all that humanity came to offer including, our sorrow. Whether Jesus was deeply moved at the weeping of Mary and Martha or the frustration that they still did not believe in His sovereignty – He cried, and He cried with them. Yet, the spectators around Him still had the audacity to question His authority. In verse 37, some said, "Could not this Man, who opened the blind man's eye's, have kept this man from dying?"

Remove the Stone

The Bible says that upon hearing this, Jesus was again moved to anger. Thus, Jesus turned to them and said, "Take away the stone." Ironically, Martha responds, "Lord, by this time, there will be an offensive odor." If you've been following me, one should question, "Why does Martha attempt to resist?" Yet, again, her resistance is confirmation of the difference between belief and obedience. When God tells you to move, or listen or do – why must we wrestle with His command? If you call Him Sovereign, if you know Him to be a redeemer, if you call Him teacher – why debate His instruction when given as if, He doesn't know what He's talking about?

As such, Jesus responds to Martha's resistance in verse 40 by saying, "Did I not say to you that if you believe [in Me], you will see the glory of God [the expression of His excellence]?" You see, this exchange emphasizes our relationship with God. Not following me yet? Let me go deeper. When we ask God for something, and when we don't see it happening on our timetable, we deem it useless and impossible. Despite knowing that God is a way-maker and that all things will go according to His plan – there's still some form of hesitancy and doubt because we place these limitations on God. If we refer back to Matthew 13:14-15, Jesus, Himself, called us out on it – You will hear and see but will never understand and perceive. Your heart has grown dull, and your eyes have been closed yet, should we believe with our hearts, in turn, He will heal. 

One can look at Jesus' words in verse 39, "Take away the stone," as not just the stone from Lazarus' grave but the stone from our hearts. Do not only believe in God with your mind but believe in God with your heart so that whenever He asks and commands of you, you aren't resistant to His instruction. 

What's more interesting is that in verses 41-42, we don't see Jesus petition God to raise Lazarus. Instead, Jesus thanks God for raising Lazarus. Jesus already claimed the blessing and the miracle to be completed. What does that show us? Simple. In Romans 10:9, that if we declare with our mouths and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved. Jesus gave the perfect blueprint for what and how to pray – with the confidence that all we ask, in Him, will be granted. 

Verse 43 says that Jesus shouted with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" And there came the dead man, still wrapped yet, now living. The story closes with Jesus telling the people to unwrap and release him and that all those who saw this miracle believed.

The Theatre of God's Glory

There is someone who is still wrapped and bounded by the belief that what we deem is impossible is also impossible for God. So, remove the stone from your heart, unwrap yourself from the bondage, and release yourself from the limitations you've placed on God to turn any of your situations around. 

God hasn't forsaken you – God is waiting for you to release yourself from the idea that confessing is enough. God wants you to believe with your heart. And sometimes, arriving at the exact moment when we call won't be enough for us to be moved deeply within. Instead, sometimes it takes death – our own internal death to a dream or a situation to be in the audience or the theatre of God's glory. We see this with Martha and Mary, who already knew Jesus' capabilities but needed to be challenged just a little more to understand His true divinity and power. 

As you cry, Jesus mourns with you. As you question Him, Jesus is already working out the miracle on your behalf. As you remove the stones from your heart, He's confirming that you will see the expression of His excellence.

Sometimes, we've just fallen asleep in our faith, and like, Jesus tells the disciples in verse 11 – He has to go there and wake you. 

Be kind to yourselves.