New Life

John 11:1-6 New International Version (NIV)

The Death of Lazarus

11 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (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.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

4 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.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days,

Read the Bible passage and then the devotion.

Monday - March 30 - Read John 11:1-6

This story made me think of the Covid-19 pandemic. Hundreds of thousands

of people are getting sick and tens of thousands are dying around the world and it seems that Jesus is just waiting. But with Jesus there is always more going on than what

we see. We all know that physical healing only prolongs the inevitability of

death. Please don’t misunderstand me! Wash your hands. Go to the doctor.

Take your medicine! This mortal life is good and precious. But Jesus came to

lead us into a new, eternal life where illness and death will never be able to

touch us again. This new life leads through the cross and the grave. In this

passage Jesus waits to give a glimpse of what HE is going to do on Easter

Sunday! Lazarus is just a foretaste of the victory to come. No matter what

happens in this life death will not have the final word.