Fifty fourth Page: Lazarus, come forth!

 

 

John 11: 43 tells us that Jesus said this in a loud voice. Now was that necessary?

Let us see.

Consider the magnificent act of creation in the book of Genesis.  In chapter 1 and verse 3, it simply says “And God said, Let there be light: and there was light.” Our scientifically trained mind is accustomed to thinking in terms of source and sink. If there is brightness for example, we ‘know’ that there must be a source of light somewhere – a light bulb or a reflector of light. So, it is difficult for us to comprehend that God made the two great lights – sun the source and moon the reflector – only on the fourth day of creation. But guess what? There was light before that event.

For, the very first words recorded of God in the book of Genesis when the whole earth was enveloped in darkness were these: “Let there be light” and the verse goes on to say without fanfare that ” and there was light”! If you are looking for a source on the first day, sorry you won’t find any: for there wasn’t any!!

God is the source!

What is more, this great act is presented in the “passive”: Let there be light. There was no imperative, no command.

But Light obeyed. Just as did Wind in Jonah’s story. Remember Jonah 1:4. Read it in Tamil for full effect:

1. கர்த்தர்  சமுத்திரத்தின்மேல் பெருங்காற்றை வரவிட்டார். 

There was no mention of His acting in indignation or anger at Jonah’s rebellion; it is almost like he “allowed, permitted”. That was His Will, and that is enough.

One would have thought that such a stupendous, incredible act as creation requires some drama, some high-pitched screaming voice to put some high-octane fuel to energize Light into a jump start. Ah, but drama suggests the presence of an audience. But there wasn’t any, barring the angels.

Now, the angels were kind of used to God’s magnificence. Check out Psalms 103:20 – Bless the LORD, ye his angels, that excel in strength, that do his commandments, hearkening unto the voice of his word.

An everyday occurrence for the heavenly creatures!

 

 

Angels are God’s ministers and as such nothing that God does takes them by surprise – with one exception: the love of God towards mankind that resulted in His sending His own Son Jesus Christ to die on the cross in atonement for the sins of the whole world.

So, in the act of creation, it wasn’t at all necessary for God to be heard. Simply because there was nobody to hear! And God, certainly was not looking for applause.

But the raising of Lazarus was different. There was a throng of mourners, all of them – including Martha and Mary – of the view that death is final, until the (collective) resurrection on the last day.

For all their belief that Jesus was indeed Messiah, they could not fathom the fact that He transcended both life and death; they could not comprehend His words that “I am the resurrection and the life, he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live“(John 11:25).

They were present, there was an impending miracle and they needed to hear.

And the time was ripe for a visible demonstration of the truth of the above verse. To what end? 

So that the people may believe.

Therefore, it was indeed necessary for Jesus to speak at a level of volume so that the whole crowd could hear.

 

 

Surely, he wasn’t doing it for Lazarus to hear. If you blow the Trumpet Fanfare into his ears, it wouldn’t excite him. Nor was he likely to tap his feet rhythmically for Colonel Bogey’s March.

 

For

Lazarus was quite dead.

Nor was He doing it so that His Father in heaven could hear. For Jesus Himself says in John 11:41&42:

“Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.”

Father God has already heard. Mark that well. Psalm 139:4

“For there is not a word in my tongue, but, lo, O LORD, thou knowest it altogether.”

Obviously, that is not the case with non-gods. Remember the story of Elijah in mount Carmel? Read 1 Kings 18:

Then they called on the name of Baal from morning till noon. “Baal, answer us!” they shouted. But there was no response; no one answered. And they danced around the altar they had made.

²⁷ At noon Elijah began to taunt them. “Shout louder!” he said. “Surely he is a god! Perhaps he is deep in thought, or busy, or traveling. Maybe he is sleeping and must be awakened.” ²⁸ So they shouted louder and slashed themselves with swords and spears, as was their custom, until their blood flowed. ²⁹ Midday passed, and they continued their frantic prophesying until the time for the evening sacrifice. But there was no response, no one answered, no one paid attention.

 

 

So much for Baal and the like.

And what about Elijah?

³⁶ At the time of sacrifice, the prophet Elijah stepped forward and prayed: “Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, let it be known today that you are God in Israel and that I am your servant and have done all these things at your command. ³⁷ Answer me, Lord, answer me, so these people will know that you, Lord, are God, and that you are turning their hearts back again.”

He didn’t shout, he didn’t dance, he didn’t go ballistic nor apoplectic; he simply stepped forward and prayed. Normal like. 

Note well. Again, a passive prayer full of faith and confidence” let it be known today that you are God”

What happens?

“³⁸ Then the fire of the Lord fell and burned up the sacrifice, the wood, the stones and the soil, and also licked up the water in the trench.³⁹ When all the people saw this, they fell prostrate and cried, “The Lord—he is God! The Lord—he is God!”

What do we learn? If our relationship with God is right, if our faith is on firm foundations, there is no need at all to do a song and dance to invoke God.

Oh, if you care for a Tamil proverb, that captures the essence, take this:

And do check out these verses from the Scriptures:

 

Isaiah 30:15 “In quietness and confidence is your strength”.

Ex.14:13 “Stand still, and see the salvation of the Lord”

Psalm46:10 “Be still, and know that I am God”

Hab.2:20 “The LORD is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him.”

The idols of the nations are silver and gold,
The work of men’s hands.
¹⁶ They have mouths, but they do not speak;
Eyes they have, but they do not see;
¹⁷ They have ears, but they do not hear;
Nor is there any breath in their mouths.
¹⁸ Those who make them are like them;
So is everyone who trusts in them.

But God has given us ears to hear. It is a shame that when Eve could readily hear what the serpent had to say in Genesis 3, Adam seems to have had some problem when God called out to him later. 

Is sin interfering with our ability to hear? 

It is not for nothing that Jesus kept repeating this phrase while imparting Truth:

He who has ears, let him hear!

______________________________________________________________