Lazarus Saturday
Hebrews 12:28-13:8; John 11:1-45
Read John 11:1-45
Glory to Jesus Christ! Glory forever!
“The He told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead.’” This is the stark language that Our Lord uses in speaking with the disciples about the reality of the death of His friend. Our scriptures are full of metaphor and other literary imagery, and these are essential for good story telling and in revealing the deep and full context of the eternal truths of our faith. However, sometimes it is essential to share the truth with a literal and sometimes difficult factual statement. Lazarus is not asleep, he has died. Christ has died and He is Risen. Jesus Himself not a metaphor. He is a factual, historical person.
One of the startling, and sometimes overlooked facts of this passage is that Jesus had friends. Jesus wept for Lazarus and for the pain his death caused to his sisters. Jesus is both fully God and fully man, and with that comes His earthly human encounters and context etc.
Only when we accept Christ as He is- fully God and fully man can we accept the truth of the gospel- death has been put to death, Jesus is risen, and He is willing and able to raise us up as well on the last day!