The Trouble with Jesus
by Constance Hastings
Sure, with God in my pocket, I should get all I want.
Sure, with God in my pocket, I should get all I want. Jesus said, “Follow me.” Shouldn’t that mean he will take care of me, keep the bad stuff away and bring on the good life? What’s a God for if not to take care of my problems?
People treat God like a vending machine—press a button, get what you want.
When God Waits
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were good friends with Jesus. Both sisters had hosted Jesus and his disciples in their home. Mary had sat at his feet when he taught and had anointed him with perfume to show her devotion. When their brother Lazarus fell ill, they sent for Jesus. Why not? They knew his power, they believed in his miracles, they knew he loved his friend Lazarus. Healing him should’ve been light work. Certainly, they would call upon him to heal. But for reasons not understood even to the disciples, he waits two days.
When he finally decides to go, the disciples ask with good reason if it’s a good idea now. Not too long ago some religious leaders were ready to kill him. Jesus hits them with one of those deep, cryptic lines about walking in daylight versus stumbling in the dark. Classic Jesus: answering the question behind the question, not the one you asked.
When’s an answer not an answer? When Jesus’ mind runs ahead of the question…
Jesus assures them Lazarus is only sleeping, and “his sickness will not end in death.” All right, all the more reason not to make the trip. Yet, let’s note here that no less than five times the point is made that Lazarus is sick. When something gets repeated that much, it’s a big neon sign. PAY ATTENTION. This is important. Lazarus is not just sick, he’s really sick.
No, Jesus says, it’s for the glory of God. I, the Son of God, will receive glory from this…This will give you another opportunity to believe in me.
See, this is where God stands on a sacred slippery slope. Maybe we’re not supposed to ask this, but it sure looks like poor Laz is being knocked out so Jesus gets the good press. Narcissistic at the expense of another’s life? It’s uncomfortable, messy.
Therein is the tension. While it will be a sign of his divinity, it will be dearly misunderstood.
Grief Matters, Hits Hard
By the time Jesus shows up, Lazarus has been dead four days. Four. Mary and Martha both hit him with the same line: “Lord, if you had been here, he wouldn’t have died.” That’s grief talking, but also low‑key blame.
Martha even adds, “God will give you whatever you ask.” Why do you treat us like this, let these things happen?”
Is this faith, a confidence in who Jesus is despite what she can or cannot see at the moment? Or is it manipulation? Is she trying to push Jesus into doing what she wants?
“Thy will be done,” is not implied when she says, “Lord, if you had been here…” It sounded more like, “Lord, here’s the problem, and here’s what you need to do.” Apparently, her belief causes her to think God is best served in an advisory capacity.
Yeah, people love giving God instructions.
Jesus consoles her telling her to rely on her faith, “Your brother will rise again.” But her pain will not be moved. “When everyone else rises,” she responds, heartache mixed with pained derision.
Give the poor girl a break. Dumping a deep theological discourse on her at this time is not helpful. She’s hurting. She wants her brother back.
Jesus won’t let up. “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again.” Assuring her of eternal life and how believers never perish may be holy words when pulled out later but face it. Beautiful words don’t erase the empty chair at the table, that her brother is dead, gone from her. In short, belief doesn’t necessarily change what we live, what will be next to slam into our lives.
Martha clings to the one thing she can still believe: Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah, the one sent from God. Whatever that means in the days ahead, she cannot express. But she holds on anyway.
Martha does what she can. She runs to get her sister Mary saying Jesus wants to see her, though the text never says he did. Maybe it can be assumed he did ask for Mary. But this was a big event, Lazarus’ death, and there were people close to Jesus, listening to his every word. Is Martha putting words in Jesus’ mouth? Is she pulling in her sister for backup and triangulating with the sister who sat at his feet listening to him teach? Implied is, “Sister, you talk to him.”
For Crying Out Loud
Mary shows up, falls apart, repeats the same line, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Seeing her sobbing, the mourners’ cries, he breaks. “Jesus wept.”
Known as the shortest verse in the Bible, people read that as grief. Two sisters are lost due to their brother’s death. All three of them very were close to Jesus. It is a nice picture of Jesus crying over his friend’s death. Why? Because it makes Jesus like the rest of humanity. If Jesus cries over a good friend dying, then he’ll sympathize with human grief. When you see his humanity on a level like ours, God seems to understand our lives better.
However, a more accurate translation of the original Greek language says he was angry, frustrated, deeply upset, maybe indignant. Sometimes tears come from heartbreak.
Sometimes they come from being so mad you can’t even talk. Was he mad at how everyone only wants miracles when it benefits them? The Son of God knew the full range of emotions just as any human.
Wait! Grief we get. We’ve been there. Some say anger is a stage of grief. What’s going on here? Was Jesus upset at himself because he waited all that time, didn’t get there to heal his friend as he had healed so many others?
The sisters, disciples, and the crowd all had the same thought: if he could heal so many people (Matthew 4:23), then why didn’t he keep Lazarus from dying in the first place?
Why did Jesus wait two more days until Lazarus was dead? Remember: in Jewish tradition the soul hangs around the body for three days. By day four, Lazarus wasn’t “mostly dead.” He was dead dead, his soul having departed this world. Jesus didn’t just miss the window—he blew past it. He had plenty of reason to cry.
Still, the story ends well. Jesus calls Lazarus out of the grave; call it new birth or new life, and all is good. The big miracle happens. Now we don’t have to cry. Right?
Or is it? To understand this miracle is to understand what was being asked of Jesus and to understand why he raised Lazarus from the dead. Why Jesus was so upset was how people want answers to prayers and miracles to fix their problems that make them feel good, do the sensational and satisfy the spectators looking for a show. Miracles aren’t magic tricks. They’re signs pointing to who Jesus is.
“Let him go.” Having called out loud and having released Lazarus not just from grave clothes, Jesus called out that Lazarus now was free to live a new kind of life, one which was purposed beyond itself, its needs and desires. It’s bigger than survival, comfort, or getting your way. It’s a glory revealing who Jesus was as Son of God. It is a new and eternal kind of life.
And notice: Jesus didn’t roll the stone away. He didn’t unwrap Lazarus. People do.
New life always involves community.
The Aftermath
A lot of people believed after this major miracle of Jesus, major not only for Lazarus and his sisters, but also in how it foreshadowed what Jesus would accomplish by his own life. From now on though, the Jewish religious leaders began to plot Jesus’ death. (John 11:53) https://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=John+11%3A53&version=NIV
Raising Lazarus wasn’t just about Lazarus. Jesus stared into his own grave, knowing what was coming.
Jesus wept.
Named 2024 Notable Book Award by Southern Christian Writers Conference!
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