The gospel of John chapter 11, John chapter 11. John chapter 11. Tonight, we're going to look at an introduction to the account in this chapter about Lazarus, a man who became sick and died and was resuscitated or rose from the dead. This is last week. We looked at Lazarus, but it was a totally different person. Just so happens that chronologically this event happened soon after. So we're going to look at John chapter 11 and verse let's begin in verse one. Now a certain man was sick named Lazarus of Bethany the town of Mary and her sister Martha. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you, Heavenly Father, for the time that we have to open the scriptures together and, Lord, help each of us to glean truth that we can apply to our own lives. Teach us of yourself, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen. Only John records this miracle, this stupendous miracle, really, and a miracle designed to bring glory to himself. And it was at a point in the Lord's ministry when he was about to die and be raised again from the dead. He had announced that a few times right around this time frame in his earthly ministry, and He had just been in Jerusalem and they were already plotting his death. That's why he left. And he went into the region of Perea. And now. nearing the end of his ministry after Israel has rejected him, Israel has rejected the offer of the kingdom, and now they're planning his death. And so the Lord is going to give the nation of Israel a spectacular object lesson about what was soon to come to pass in Jerusalem. So this story begins in verse 1. And here we're simply told that a certain man named Lazarus was sick. We're not told in this verse, but his sickness proves to be deadly, by the way. He died. All sickness and all death ultimately can be traced back to Adam, to the original sin. By one man, sin entered into the world, and death by sin. And we also know that God is not willing that any should perish, that any should die. Death wasn't God's invention. In fact, God sent his son to die in the place of sinful men so that we might not die, that we might have life. And in fact, that's the reason why John wrote his gospel, that reading the account of the Lord Jesus and the miracles that he did, that he might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing he might have life through his name. But. He that believeth not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of God abideth upon him. And now the Lord Jesus is going to use the sickness and death of Lazarus to teach Mary and her sister and readers all throughout the church age an important lesson about life and death and resurrection and his connection to it all. He is the life and the resurrection. So we're told right off the beginning here in the setting of this story that Lazarus was from the town of Bethany. That's where he lived with his two sisters, Mary and Martha. And he adds another detail. If you look in verse 2, it says, it was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Now, there were several Marys in the New Testament. And so John adds this detail to note who this particular Mary was. She's mentioned in John chapter 12, the anointing of the feet of the Lord Jesus. And this woman wiped them, his feet, with her hair. And also in Luke chapter 10, the Lord Jesus was invited to their house. So he was a house guest on at least one occasion. He was a special friend. of Mary and Martha and Lazarus. And if you look in verse five, it says, now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. He had a got a love for them, a deep sacrificial kind of love that even loves the unlovely expecting nothing in return. That's real love. And we read in verse three, therefore, because Lazarus was sick. Therefore, his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. So we're told twice here in a few verses that Jesus loved this man. Jesus loved his whole family. He was a special friend to that family. And we see in verse 3 that his sisters sent unto Jesus. Now, he had already crossed. He's away from Jerusalem. Bethany's right on the he's a suburb of Jerusalem, just a couple of miles away. But the Lord is a full day's journey away in Beth Arbor on the other side of the Jordan River, about a day's worth of traveling. I suppose a marathon runner could get there in a few hours. But this was considered a pretty full day's journey to go 20 miles, not driving by the way. So the sisters of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha sent a message. They sent a messenger. They had somebody. They wrote down a little note. And they sent this man with a message to tell Jesus that his friend, Lazarus, was sick. Now, when they sent this message to Jesus, it wasn't just to inform him that Lazarus was sick. by telling him that Lazarus was sick, they really expected that he was going to come and do something about it. They were close friends. He was going to rush over there. You know, when you go to the doctor and you tell him your foot hurts, you're not just informing him. You say, oh, that's too bad. See you later. No, you expect him to do something about it. And that was the purpose of this letter sent to the Lord Jesus. So the statement Lazarus is sick was really a question. Please come now and help. They were asking the Lord to drop whatever he was doing and in rush back to their house to take care of Lazarus. Jesus loved Lazarus, too. And certainly the Lord would have wanted to have been there to heal him. In his heart. Jesus loved him, and he uses the term for loving, Mary and Martha, phileo love. That warm, brotherly kind of friendly, family kind of love. Now, God loves a whole world full of sinners. He has agape love for the whole world of sinners, but this phileo love is reserved for his own. It's a tender, family kind of love. Mary and Martha knew that Jesus had healed multitudes of people that he didn't even know. I mean, as God, obviously he knows all things, but he certainly when he healed multitudes, he wasn't acquainted with each and every one of them. They were coming to him from other cities and other regions, and he had never met them on earth physically before as a man. And yet he healed all these total strangers. So Mary and Martha thought surely when they tell Jesus that Lazarus is sick, that he's going to rush to his friend and heal him right away. And the Lord's response was a little unusual. Let's begin in verse four. When Jesus heard that, he said, this sickness is not unto death. but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. So just think about this. Lazarus was sick, really sick, and his sister sent a messenger 20 miles, a full day's journey or so, over to Bethabara, where Jesus was. And by the time this messenger got there, a whole day had passed. And now Jesus is going to send back a message. When Jesus heard that, he said, and this was his message to the messenger to bring back to Mary and Martha, this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. He loved them. And he sent a message back. which certainly would have been interpreted if you were in the shoes of Mary and Martha and Jesus said his sickness is not unto death and you got that message. I think the normal way to interpret that would mean Jesus is saying that Lazarus isn't going to die. Now that's not what he meant. He meant it wasn't going to be the ultimate cause of his death. But by the time the messenger returned to Bethany, Lazarus was already dead. So now Mary and Martha are receiving this message back from the messenger. This is a day's journey out there and a day's journey back. Two days have gone by, and Lazarus is dead, buried, and they get a message from Jesus saying, this sickness is not unto death. Don't worry. It sure didn't seem to be true to them. They assumed that that message meant he wasn't going to die. And so this was certainly a test of the faith and the love of Mary and Martha. The circumstances on the ground didn't seem to match up with the word of the Lord. And that was problematic for them. Here they got a message from the Lord Jesus himself saying this is not unto death and Lazarus was dead. He was buried already. didn't seem to be true. And it must have been difficult for these sisters grieving over the loss of their brother to read these words. They probably almost sounded harsh to them because he was already dead. And also the fact that Jesus didn't come. He sent a messenger back. He didn't even come for his own friend. He sent a messenger back that took a whole other day away. They were expecting that when Jesus got the message, he was going to rush there right away and take care of their brother Lazarus so that he wouldn't die. But Jesus didn't come. He stayed in place and he sent the messenger back and said, this sickness is not unto death. Now, try to put yourself in the shoes of these two women, what would they think about Jesus? Did he not care for them? Did he not really love Lazarus? Was he not his friend? Was he too busy to come? Was he mistaken about the seriousness of Lazarus' sickness? Because he did die. Sure looked like this was a sickness unto death. But he told Mary and Martha that the purpose of this sickness was that the son of God might be glorified. And in the Gospels and all throughout the Bible, there was nothing more important than that the son of God be glorified. And that's a truth that every one of us has to get drilled into our heads and hearts until it becomes just a normal, natural thought that nothing in life is more important than that God be glorified through his son. And the miracle that Jesus was about to perform was going to bring glory to himself. It would be a clear indication as to who Jesus was, that he is the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. That's why John wrote the gospel, that you might know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. In fact, the fact that Jesus was the Son of God was the final straw in his court case was his cause of death because he claimed to be the son of God, a claim of deity. You know, anybody here tonight, you could claim to be God. I could claim anybody couldn't claim to be God, but nobody can prove it. It's one thing to say words. There have been a lot of crazy people that claim to have been Messiah, but Jesus Paul tells us that the Lord Jesus claimed to be the Christ, the Son of God. And in his resurrection, his resurrection declared publicly that he was the Son of God. He didn't make him the Son of God. It just proved that he was all along the Son of God. Resurrection proves who Jesus really is. Now, in this chapter, Jesus is going to raise Lazarus from the dead. in a very public way, so that the Son of God would be glorified. You know, the miracles of Jesus always declared who he was. The first miracle way back in the at the wedding in Cana. The purpose of it was to manifest his glory. And then in Matthew chapter 11, when John the Baptist was having second thoughts and he was questioning and he sent a messenger to Jesus, are thou the one that should come? Are you he? And Jesus sent back. Well, the blind received their sight and the lame walk and the leopards are cleansed and the dead here. Those were all signs that Isaiah said Messiah would perform, miracles that Messiah would perform. And that's what Jesus did throughout his earthly ministry. His miracles proved who he was. His miracles declared that he was divine, the Christ, the Son of God. And the raising of Lazarus from the dead was going to be a spectacular demonstration of the divine power of Jesus, the Son of God. Now look in verse 6. Here's the hardest verse in the chapter. When he had heard, therefore, that he was sick, when Jesus heard that his friend Lazarus was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. And when you put the time frame together, Lazarus died shortly after the messenger left the first time. As soon as he got that message and he was on his way, one day went by and Lazarus died that early that day before the messenger ever got there. And then Jesus got the message that Lazarus was sick. And here are poor Mary and Martha. They're back home. They're crying. They're at their wits end. Their brother was dead. They at first they sent this message. Obviously, it wasn't just a cold, they thought that this sickness was really going to kill him. They wouldn't have they wouldn't have sent a message to Jesus to come because he had a cold or a sniffle. They knew this was serious. And when they sent the messenger, they expected Jesus to come right away, but he didn't come. He sent the messenger back with another message. And he said this sickness is not unto death. And that came, the two sisters read that while their brother was in the grave already. And that messenger came back alone. Jesus didn't even come with him. He stayed two more days in Bethabara, 20 miles away. Now, of course, the Lord Jesus knew that Lazarus had died. And in spite of the fact that he knew that Lazarus died and Mary and Martha were grieving over the loss of their brother, he waited two full days so that Lazarus would be good and dead. And there would be no question about it by the time he got there. In fact, his body would have been in the grave four days, and it would have already begun the process of decomposition, and it stank. It was rotting, a rotting corpse. So by the time Jesus got there, four days had gone by. Remember, there was one day that took to get the message to Bethabara. Then Jesus got the message. He waited there another day, the second day, and the second day the messenger came back. And so Jesus waited another day in Bethabara. That's the third day. And then he took another day to come to Bethany. So four days had gone by since Lazarus died. And remember, the purpose of this was for the glory of God, that Jesus Christ would be magnified in the sight of the people. But all through that time frame, four days, four horrible days for Mary and Martha, what must they have been thinking about their friend Jesus? You know, we have a song in our hymnal, Does Jesus care? You know, this song was written because it's a common question. It's not just. A few people, many believers have thought this from time to time, it shouldn't be a common question, but it is even the disciples. When there was a storm at sea and the Lord Jesus was sleeping, they came to him and said, carest thou not that we perish? Don't you care for us? Here was Jesus who was able to save, able to deliver, able to heal, able to calm the storm, able to heal Lazarus. And he waited and he did nothing. And automatically, it's our response. God doesn't love me. God doesn't care. God doesn't care about all the things that I'm going through. That's the way our natural man thinks. It's not right, but it's common. And I'm sure we've all questioned this at one point or another, especially in times of struggle and distress. We pray, we have a burden on our heart, we bring the burden to the Lord, and we're expecting that because this is so serious, this is so devastating, that God is going to arise and do something quickly. And we wait, and we wait, and we wait, and nothing happens. It's a test of our faith. And during that time, when nothing seems to be happening, questions can arise in our mind about God, and what he's like, and whether he cares for us or not. Doubts can arise whether he even answers prayer or not. Our faith can be really strained and tested. And Paul says, be anxious for nothing. But in everything, by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known unto God. And then the good part and the peace of God that passes all understanding shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. That's a hard lesson to learn when God seems to be doing nothing. And that's the lesson that God wanted Mary and Martha to learn. And it's something we need to learn and keep on learning. Because it sure didn't seem it from their perspective, it didn't seem like Jesus really cared or he would have come. It would have come right away. He wouldn't have sent the messenger. And it's perplexing when Jesus says in verse 6, when he waited, he abode two more days in the same place. He didn't move a finger. And Mary and Martha thought that his waiting meant he didn't love them. He didn't care. But let's look at what the text says. Look in verse five. Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. He loved them. And when he heard, therefore, that he was sick, he abode two days in the same place. The text says, now notice the word therefore. The text says that Jesus loved them and therefore he waited. They were thinking that because he waited and he didn't do anything, he didn't come right away, he doesn't love us. But the Bible says that the reason that he waited was because he loved them. And he was testing their faith. It would be difficult if you were in Mary Amatha's shoes to believe that Jesus really did love you with an undying love, an unchangeable love, because the circumstances seem to be shouting out just the opposite. He sent a messenger when his so-called best good friend was dying. And sometimes circumstances in our lives seem to be saying the opposite. Sometimes it seems like God doesn't care about us. He doesn't answer our prayers. He doesn't help in times of need. He isn't responding to the burdens on our hearts that we lay before him. And time goes by and nothing happens. And it's just natural to think he doesn't care. But here we're told that his love for them was the reason why he abode two days still in the same place. He loved them, therefore he waited. The Lord allowed these two sisters to go through agony, weeping and mourning over the loss of their brother. But it was his love that caused him to wait. It was his love that allowed them to suffer and mourn and grieve the deepest kind of grief and sorrow. Elizabeth Prentiss wrote the words to the song, More Love to Thee. She wrote, once earthly joy I craved, sought peace and rest. That's all I want. I want to be happy. I want peace. Now, thee alone I seek. Give what is best. What is best is not always happiness and peace. Then the next line says, let sorrow do its work, send grief or pain. Sweet are thy messengers, sweet their refrain. When they can sing with me, more love to Christ, more love, O Christ, to thee. She understood that God sends grief and pain, and that they have a good, beneficial purpose in our lives. God knows what's best for us. And this grief, this sorrow, the songwriter said, let. She was allowing. She had submitted to it. She allowed the sorrow to do its work in her heart. She wanted God to send whatever it took to get her to the place where she would love Christ more and more. until they could both sing the same song, More Love to Thee. This was the lesson that the Lord wanted to teach his friends, Mary and Martha, and us. God wanted them to learn to trust in the Lord, to believe in his infinite, unchangeable love for them, no matter what their feelings told them, no matter what circumstances seemed to be saying, no matter what sight said. no matter how much pain they were enduring. God's love is much deeper than our love. Our love is weak and emotional. It's a coddling kind of a love, often a situational kind of love. It's the kind of love that would cause us to rush, to prevent anybody from experiencing any kind of pain at all. But God's love is much deeper than that. His love has our best spiritual and eternal interests in mind. Agape love allows for suffering and grief because he knows it's best. In fact, God allowed his own beloved son to die on the cross when he certainly had the power to rescue him from that because it was best. And so here, Mary and Martha were put through a very severe test. But also, so were the disciples that were with Jesus. There were disciples with Christ in Bethabara. They left the Jerusalem area, crossed Jordan and followed the Lord Jesus. Now, these disciples probably had some questions themselves. Why did Jesus allow Lazarus to get sick and die? Jesus easily could have healed him without even going to Bethany. There were other occasions when Jesus healed men. Remember the nobleman's son? He said, come and heal my son, he's dying. And Jesus didn't even have to travel to heal. He can just speak a word and heal. And why would he tell his sisters, this is the disciples, why would he tell his sisters that this sickness was not unto death when, in fact, Lazarus was dead and buried? And why did he wait two days after hearing how sick he was? They must have been wondering about the love that Jesus had for them. My guess is that none of the disciples would have behaved that way if they knew their friend was sick and dying. and they were able to help. They'd be there instantly to prevent that sorrow, that grief, that death from occurring if they could. That's the way man's love is. We want to do something, we want to do anything so that this person, this individual, so that no suffering, no sorrow, no grief takes place. We want everybody to be happy and enjoy us all the time. And so the Lord's response was puzzling to everybody, to the disciples, to Mary, to Martha. Turn to Isaiah chapter 55. Isaiah chapter 55. In Isaiah chapter 55 and verse 8, here's a passage that we all need to come back to often, where the Lord says, for my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts. As far away as heaven is from earth, That's how much higher God's thoughts and His ways are from ours. Remember the ultimate purpose in this sickness? Jesus said right from the beginning, it's so that the Son of God might be glorified. And if that's our goal in life as believers, if it's truly our goal, that our goal in life is to bring glory and honor to Jesus Christ no matter what, Then remember, the Lord told his disciples, you need to be willing to pick up a cross and suffer and maybe even die if you're going to follow me. If you're going to be a true disciple, a true learner, you're going to learn my ways which are higher than yours. The Lord loved Mary and Martha and allowed their suffering to continue, even though he could have stopped it. If he loved them, and if they loved him, they would continue to love him even through the sorrow and grief. And what the Lord allowed them to go through wouldn't diminish their love for him at all. And that's the kind of love God wants for every one of us. Love that endures through grief. Love that endures through trials and distress. And you know, it never ceases to amaze me how different believers respond differently to the same kind of a trial, whether it's a financial trial or physical trial or family trial, whatever it might be. We all face them, but we don't all as believers face them in the same way. We don't all respond to suffering in the same way. Some believers face trials and distress, and they manifest that sweet fragrance of Christ. Others face the very same thing. They get mad, angry, and bitter. And so that trial really doesn't tell us anything about God's love. The trial tells us about the condition of our heart. And that was the purpose of it, that we might get right with God. God wants to reveal to us what our hearts are like, so that we might repent and open our hearts up and be willing to do the will of the Lord, no matter what it is, even if it causes suffering and grief and sorrow, so that our hearts are opened unto the Lord, so that God can soften that heart and change it. Now look in verse 7. Jesus exhorts his disciples to follow him back to Jerusalem. Verse seven. Then after that, he sayeth, after he waited two full days. So it took a day for the message to get there. Lazarus died shortly after the messenger left. One full day. He waited there two days. And then now he's encouraging his disciples to follow him back to Jerusalem with a stop in Bethany along the way. That's the fourth day. Verse seven. Then after that, he sayeth to his disciples, let us go into Judea again. Judea was very dangerous territory for them. That's why they left. That's why they they left Jerusalem, because the religious leaders were plotting to kill him. They tried to stone him to death. in Jerusalem. That's why he crossed over Jordan and went into Perea, where he was well-received and a great ministry was taking place there in Perea. But now, because he loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus, he was sacrificing his life. He was going into an area where he knew people were planning to put him to death. And here Mary and Martha were thinking, oh, he doesn't love us. He would have come right away. No, he waited to test their faith. And now when it was the right time to come, he's heading back to Jerusalem. Bethany is just a couple of miles. It's a suburb of Jerusalem. And he's heading back to minister to his friends, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. And he's willing to lay down his life for his friends. And there's no greater love than when a man lays down his life for his friends. And that's what Jesus was doing to Mary and Martha, putting his life in jeopardy by crossing Jordan again and going back to Jerusalem, where people were plotting to put him to death. He loved them. And then he tells his disciples, In verse 9, Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him. Disciples were probably wondering whether this was a sensible time to go back to Jerusalem in light of the fact that they just left there wasn't long before this. They just left because the religious leaders tried to stone Jesus to death and he escaped. And now Jesus says, let's go back. And he's letting his disciples know in these two verses that. This was the time to walk. in the light. This was according to his father's schedule. And here he's saying that he knew that as long as he walked in the light, as long as he followed the will of his father, as long as he followed his father's schedule, then he wouldn't stumble. He was as safe as can be. He says, if a man walks in darkness and the darkness of light, that man's going to stumble. If you walk away from God and you're not in his will, then problems will arise, no doubt. And so here Jesus was using a figurative way of expressing to his disciples that even in a very dangerous place. He was safe and he would not. And he could not die until the Father's appointed time and place and means arose. So the Lord knew that he was safe until that appointment came. So he wasn't worried about dying. Jesus was going back to Jerusalem. Yes, it was dangerous. But he wasn't worrying about dying prematurely. Nobody has ever died prematurely. There's no such thing. It's appointed unto man once to die. And we see this in John, chapter seven, says they sought to take him. They thought to grab Jesus and arrest him and execute him. But it says, but no man laid hands on him because his hour was not yet come. Somehow, God arranged the circumstances such that they weren't able to get Jesus and he escaped because it wasn't his father's time. And, you know, this would be helpful for all of us to consider. Maybe you have a daughter that's driving down busy Route 93 and she has to drive back at night sometimes for her work. And you might be, as a mother, scared to death that she's going to get in an awful automobile accident. Or maybe you have a son that's gone off into the military and he's in a dangerous place. But you know, if we believe God that death is appointed, then we can rest in that. And that son in the military is perfectly safe in God's will, walking in the lightness, doing the will of God until God's appointed time. And that's true for us, too. Just keep walking and serving the Lord with the light that we have today and trust God for safety. And we don't have to worry about whether we're going to be killed or whether we're going to die. That was the attitude of the Lord Jesus. But the disciples were somewhat still in the dark as to what he was saying. Look in verse 11. These things said he, and after that he sayeth to them, our friend Lazarus sleepeth. But I go to Bethany that I may awake him out of sleep. So here he told the disciples that Lazarus was sleeping and he was going to wake up his friends. And his friends said the disciples in verse 12 then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleeps, he must be getting better. He must be doing well. Maybe the sickness is going away. It's good. Let him get his rest. How be it, Jesus spake. Of his death, but they thought that he had spoken of taking rest in sleep. They misunderstood the words of the Lord Jesus. They thought that Lazarus was just taking a nap, and the Lord now told them he knew that Lazarus was already dead, and he told them. You know, we look at this, and how could the disciples not know this? Well, because they were with Jesus in Bethabara, it's very likely that they heard Jesus say to the messenger that his sickness was not unto death. So when Jesus said, he's sleeping, they wouldn't automatically assume this was a euphemism for death. They're going to think that, well, he's not sick unto death, so this is good that he's getting rest. But they were wrong. And in verse 14, then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I'm glad, now this is a harsh verse as well, Lazarus is dead and I'm glad for your sakes that I wasn't there so I could heal him. To the intent that ye may believe, nevertheless let us go unto him. So here the Lord tells the disciples that he was glad that he didn't go and heal Lazarus before he died. He was glad that Lazarus was sick and that he experienced death. And he waited two days more just to be sure that his body would already be in the early stages of decomposition. Now, he wasn't glad because he was heartless. Rather, he was glad because the miracle would result in the fact that they would believe. And their believing hearts was much more important to the Lord Jesus than the well-being of people that he loved, even Lazarus. And there were many other signs truly that Jesus did in the presence of his disciples, which were not written in this book. But these are written that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing you might have life through his name. And nothing is more important to the Lord than that men might believe and have life. And if it means that his friend Lazarus was going to have to experience a horrible sickness and experience death, it was worth it if many others in that area might come to know that Jesus is the Christ and believe on Him. And that should be our hard attitude for us as well. It's a hard pill to swallow. But we should be willing to submit to God's Choice. What God allows us to go through, the grief, the sorrow, the trials, the distress, the struggles, the awful, miserable portions of our life that we would never have chosen for ourselves, God allows those things because He has a higher and nobler purpose that somehow Christ might be seen through our lives and others would see Him believe and be saved. And if our real purpose is for the glory, we can all write it on paper. It's easy to say, I believe that the main purpose in my life is to glorify God. That's when it counts. That's when it counts. So Jesus said, nevertheless, in spite of the danger, let us go unto him. And doubting Thomas, He gets a bad rap, but look what we read about him in verse 16. Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, let us go. Let us also go, that we may die with him. So yes, he would later on express doubts and fears, but in this particular case, Thomas demonstrated a Devout dedication and courageous attitude, he was willing to follow Jesus and even suffer death if necessary, that the son might be glorified. Thomas got it on that day. And next time, we'll look at their arrival in Bethany. And when they meet up with Mary and Martha, and the Lord Jesus Christ demonstrates to them who he really is, and they believe, is the resurrection and the life. Let's pray. Father, we thank you for your word. We thank you, Heavenly Father, for this account of Lazarus. And Lord, the practical lessons that we can learn for our own lives. Help us, Lord, to be willing to accept and submit to the struggles that you allow in our lives. Lord, help us to believe that you love us in the midst of it, that you mean them for our spiritual best, and that you can be glorified through the way that we deal with these times of grief and sorrow in our own lives. Help us, Lord, to have that same kind of submissive spirit, we pray in Jesus' name. Amen.