Thursday, January 2 This sickness is not meant to end in death, but is for the glory of God.​—John 11:4.

[Áine]

Thursday, January 2

This sickness is not meant to end in death, but is for the glory of God.—John 11:4.

 

Even though Jesus knows that his friend Lazarus has just died, he remains where he is for two more days and then he makes the trip to Bethany. So by the time Jesus arrives, Lazarus has been dead for four days. Jesus intends to do something that will benefit his friends and glorify God. (John 11:6, 11, 17) We learn a lesson about friendship from this account. Consider: When Mary and Martha sent the message to Jesus, they did not ask him to come to Bethany. They simply said that his dear friend was sick. (John 11:3) When Lazarus died, Jesus could have resurrected him from a distance. Yet, Jesus chose to go to Bethany to be with his friends Mary and Martha. Do you have a friend who will come to your aid without being asked? Then you know that you can count on him for help in “times of distress.” (Prov. 17:17) Like Jesus, may we be such a friend to others! w23.04 10 ¶10-11

[Amygdala]

7 hours ago, Áine said:

Do you have a friend who will come to your aid without being asked?

 

If we have been the recipient of such, “pay it forward“ as the saying goes. 😉 

[wingslikeeagles]

Just a comment on the study note for John 11:17...

 

 By waiting for two days and then traveling for two days, he arrived at the tomb four days after Lazarus’ death. Jesus had already performed at least two resurrections—one right after the death of the person and the other likely sometime later on the day of death. (Lu 7:11-17; 8:49-55; compare Mt 11:5.) But he had not yet raised up someone who had been dead for four days and whose body had already begun to decompose. (Joh 11:39) There was an erroneous belief among the Jews that the soul remained with a dead body for three days, and then it left. Even those holding such a belief would be convinced that Jesus had performed an exceptional miracle in the case of Lazarus

 

 

Why did some Jews believe in the immortality of the soul? - Basically Alexander the Great is to blame. He arrived at Jerusalem and was basically given the city. He was welcomed and celebrated. And this started the influx of Hellenistic (Greek) culture .

 

Sadly along with that culture came philosophers (specifically Plato) who preached the immortality of the soul.

So by enthusiastically welcoming a worldly culture the Jews welcomed Satanic teachings. (Satan told Eve that she wouldn't die Gen 3:4)

 

So there is a good lesson for us today in how we react to worldly culture around us.

Of course there is much good entertainment and art and the like that we can enjoy, but if just accept everything without thinking we could quickly be celebrating things that Jehovah hates - immorality, homosexuality, spiritism, violence etc...

 

How wonderful, that despite his intense feelings for Lazarus, Jesus was still looking for ways to uphold Jehovahs standards and help the Jewish people.