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Friday 23 January 2009

John 11:7-16

It was not that long since Jesus had left Judea, where the Jews had tried to stone Him, hence the disciples' reaction.

Jesus' response seems to mean that since they have Jesus they are walking in the light and can see what is happening. In short, they can trust Him. This has an important lesson for us. There was an obvious danger. Sometimes God may seem to lead us along dangerous paths, but we can always be confident in His leadership. It is those who do not live by His light who will stumble.

Jesus them announces that Lazarus has "fallen asleep". The disciples take this as a good sign, not realising what Jesus really means. Jesus then puts the matter bluntly, Lazarus is dead. We see hear how in control of the situation Jesus was. The disciples thought they knew the real danger (namely the religious leaders), but Jesus knew that the real problem was that Lazarus was dead. He also knew what he was going to do about the situation, namely raise Lazarus from the dead. We need to learn to have a much greater trust in Jesus.

Thomas' remark could be taken as a cynical comment about them all being doomed, or as a sign of commitment to Jesus, being prepared to dies with Him.

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