![]() ![]() He raised Lazarus to show the glory of God. He did not raise Lazarus to make his friends happy. He knew that it was the will of the Father that Lazarus would die and that his raising up from the dead would show God’s glory (verse 40). That would have meant his friends would not have had to be sad. Jesus could have raised Lazarus from a distance or even prevented his death. Even though he knew that Lazarus would be raised, he also knew Mary and Martha were disappointed he hadn’t come before Lazarus died. Jesus empathised and shared this moment of sorrow with his friends. This in contrast to the word used for a quieter shedding of tears when Jesus “wept” in verse 35. Mary’s “weeping” in verse 33 means loud wailing. It was Jewish custom to have three days of very heavy mourning then four of heavy mourning, followed by lighter mourning for the remainder of 30 days. It was usual for friends and family to visit and offer comfort at a time like this. The tombs had a small entrance that was closed by rolling a big stone against it. There might be a number of niches in the tomb where the bodies of family members were placed. Months after today’s story, Jesus’ body would be prepared in this same way ( John 19:39-40 and 20:3-7). The linen strips were then wrapped around the body over the clothing. They placed a cloth over the head and wrapped the hands and feet separately in strips of linen. The body was washed and anointed with spices. It was customary for a person to be buried on the same day as they died. This was the amount of time that Lazarus was dead before Jesus came to him. Add the travelling time of the messengers and Jesus together with the two days and you come up with four days. Jesus waited two days to go to Lazarus because he knew that this sickness would not end in death (verse 4). Lazarus must have died just after Mary and Martha sent messengers to tell Jesus of his sickness. It was a small settlement at the edge of the Judean desert on the slope of the Mount of Olives.Īt the time Lazarus got sick, Jesus was preaching on the eastern side of the Jordan near the place where John the Baptist had baptised him. This is not the woman in Luke 7:36-50.īethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem. ![]() ![]() John identifies Mary as the one who anointed Jesus’ feet with oil and wiped them with her hair ( John 12:1-8). Lazarus’ two sisters, Mary and Martha, are mentioned in Luke 10:38-42. It is another Lazarus in Jesus’ story in Luke 16:19-31. In fact, despite the fact that Jesus was very good friends with him, we only read about Lazarus in John chapters 11-12. I imagine that he passed by Lazarus so many times that he eventually got to the point that he didn't see him at all.This story is only recorded in the gospel of John. But every day the rich man passed by Lazarus without even giving him a thought. He was hoping that the rich man might have pity on him and that he might be able to satisfy his hunger with the leftovers from the rich man's table. Lazarus was hungry and his body was covered with sores. A beggar named Lazarus lay outside the rich man's gate. Jesus told a story about a rich man who wore the finest clothes and lived in luxury. That is what happened in our Bible story today. When they finally wake up, they find out that it is too late. The second problem is that if you keep hitting the snooze button, you may get so used to the sound of the alarm that you don’t even hear it at all and you will sleep right through the alarm.ĭid you know that God sometimes sounds a "wake up" alarm in our lives? He speaks to our heart and says, "It is time to wake up and follow Me." Some people hit the snooze button and say, "Not now Lord, call me again - a little bit later." Some people hit that "snooze button" so many times that they get to where they don’t even hear God’s voice. The first is that if you keep on hitting the snooze button, you may be late or miss out on something completely. Maybe it is nice to get that extra sleep, but there are two problems with snooze buttons. You can just keep on doing this and go right on sleeping. ![]() In about 10 minutes, the alarm will go off again. (Show snooze button.) When your alarm goes off, you can hit that button and go back to sleep. Children's Sermon: The Rich Man and Lazarus (Luke 16:19-31)ĭo you use an alarm clock to wake you up in the morning? A lot of alarm clocks have a button on them called a snooze button. ![]()
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