Life Above Reproach Testimony

By:  Cornell Hicks Jr.

In the Gospels, we read about many miraculous healings that Jesus performed and each one revealing how God works in our lives.  The one healing that stands out in the Gospel of John is when Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead.  We have all read this story.  Lazarus is in the tomb dead.  Then Jesus calls Lazarus out; and praise the Lord, we have our beloved miracle story.

Still, how can we relate to this story on a personal level?  Or which one of us has had a loved one raised from the dead?  Well, let’s start by looking at the story from Martha’s and Mary’s perspective.  Here is their brother Lazarus who comes down with a simple cold.  No problem.  Martha and Mary must think they’ll make him some chicken soup, or whatever the home remedy was two thousand years ago, but their dear brother’s condition gets worse.  Now, they are worried and they call the local physician.  However, nothing he does seems to work as Lazarus’ illness worsens.  The sisters are just out of answers.

Now let’s just pause right here for a moment to try and relate to Martha and Mary.  Are you currently going through a trial of some kind in the form of one of life’s adversities?  If not, you might have a loved one who has to be tested for cancer, or maybe your mortgage bill is overdue, or your child is struggling with addiction, or you’re praying for a parole date.  Whatever you may be facing, you have tried everything in your strength to fix the problem just like Martha and Mary, and it only gets worse.  That, I can relate to!

Let’s go back to these sisters.  As all hope is lost, they remember that Jesus has been healing everyone with every kind of sickness with just a touch and a word.  So, they send for Him in desperation as Lazarus is getting pale and weak.  Don’t we do the same by remembering that we have a God in heaven who loves us?  And we cry out to Him in our hour of desperate need, having nowhere else to go?  Can you relate to that?  I know I can.  Well the messenger, after traveling anxiously, finds Jesus (Jn. 11:4) and gives Him the message.  Finally, our frantic messenger is relieved; Jesus will surely heal Lazarus’ sickness.  Just as we too pray to God and He hears our prayers, message received!

But what does Jesus do?  Does He get up to hurry to Martha and Mary?  No, Jesus doesn’t move after hearing their petition, but rather stays right there for two more days.  The two long days which we imagine seemed like forever as the sisters were watching Lazarus slowly dying and waiting for Jesus to walk through the door.  Don’t we also wait on the answer to our prayers, but the test comes back positive for cancer; the money doesn’t come and the bank foreclosed; our child overdoses and is in the hospital; or we get a five-year denial from the parole board; and finally, Lazarus dies.

Then Jesus gets up to go to Martha and Mary.  He first finds Martha and she immediately says, “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died” (Jn. 11:21).  After that, Jesus meets Mary and she says the same thing in (Jn. 11:32).  Now for all you bible scholars, those words are Aramaic for “God you are too late!”  With your own problem, did the appointed time for rescue come and pass causing you to cry out in grief, “God, you are too late?”  How many of us forget that the Lord is never late, nor is His arm too short to reach our problems? (Is. 59:1).

At this point Martha and Mary are overcome with grief, so much that the people with them are mourning; and Jesus, empathizing with their grief weeps (Jn. 11:36).  Then Jesus gathers Himself and says to Martha, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe, you would see the glory of God”? (Jn. 11:40).

Here we have Martha and Mary asking a small thing from Jesus, a simple healing of sickness, something He has done many times before.  Just like when we pray knowing He is able to answer our prayer.  But what if Jesus thought to do something bigger than just heal the sick, and instead wanted to reveal the awesome power of God in Lazarus’ situation? (Jn. 11:41).  What if our Lord has a solution to your problem bigger than any of you could ask or think? (Eph. 3:20).  He may give us a powerful testimony for others grieved by the same trials, just as many believed in Jesus when He raised Lazarus from the dead.

We see then that this story is not just about a healing miracle, but has a deeper message about waiting on the Lord.  When Jesus said to Martha in verse in John 11:40, “…that if you would believe you would see the glory of God,” that word ‘believe’ requires trusting God to the very end and then some.  Waiting in that belief for His glory to be revealed in our momentary affliction (2 Cor. 6:17) in that trial that you are in may get worse before you see His glory; but if we hold fast, He will bless us with His comforting glory.  In the same manner, Jesus crowned Lazarus’ head with His glory.  We too will be crowned with the glory of God if we remain trusting, steadfast, and waiting on our Lord.  Then, we will place our crowns at His feet (Rev 4:10), knowing He did it all, and all the praise is due to Him!  Hold-fast, He is coming!

By:  Cornell Hicks Jr.