This is just conjecture, but ...
Although Jesus raised at least a couple of other people from the dead, this instance seems to be the only one where he knew the people well - the gospel says he loved them. Maybe he'd known them even before he came out of the "spiritual closet" and started his public ministry. Mary seems to have accepted Jesus as the messiah, but did Martha and Lazarus? Perhaps it was particularly important to Jesus to prove to those he loved that he was more than just as a healer?
This is making Jesus out to be very human but there are other places in scripture where he lets his feelings out (like the cleansing of the temple). I guess "God only knows" why he waited ... my old spiritual director would have said ... "Just ask him!" :-)
4 comments:
my old spiritual director would have said ... "Just ask him!"
Surrounded by Quakers and their "experiential religion" and its a Roman Catholic who suggests we resolve our concerns by asking God for the answer!
Way to go Crystal.
Crystel: I have some ideas about why Jesus would hesitate about raising Lazarus.
Blake said every death here is an improvement in the state of the departed.
Jesus knew that, I think. He knew that Lazarus was better off where he was. He also knew that his sisters would be devastated.
He went to see them and saw how devastated they were. He decided for their sake to raise Lazarus.
He wept at that point because he realized he was not doing Lazarus any favor.
Well there it is. None of us knows the mind of Christ, but Paul said "you have the mind of Christ" (lst Corinthians 2:16).
Hallelujah!
Heh :-) ... "Just ask him" was my director's most common response to all my questions about Jesus. The hard thing isn't asking him, for me the hard thing is respecting the process and the answer.
the hard thing is respecting the process and the answer
Well said Friend. Have you thought of becoming a spiritual director?
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