Daily Scripture: John 11:17 On arrival, Yeshua found that El‘azar had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Beit-Anyah was about two miles from Yerushalayim, 19 and many of the Judeans had come to Marta and Miryam in order to comfort them at the loss of their brother. 20 So when Marta heard that Yeshua was coming, she went out to meet him; but Miryam continued sitting shiv‘ah in the house.
21 Marta said to Yeshua, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” 23 Yeshua said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Marta said, “I know that he will rise again at the Resurrection on the Last Day.” 25 Yeshua said to her, “I AM the Resurrection and the Life! Whoever puts his trust in me will live, even if he dies; 26 and everyone living and trusting in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” Reflection Questions:
Jesus' friend Lazarus fell ill. However, Jesus did not arrive in Lazarus’ home town of Bethany until four days after his friend’s death. The man’s sisters, Martha and Mary, were pained and grieving, as we’d expect. Jesus shared their sadness (cf. John 11:35), but he also pledged to Lazarus’ grieving sister: “Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die.” He was confident that his resurrected life was the pledge that we, too, would share in his life everlasting (cf. John 14:19).
- Martha greeted Jesus with the words, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.” No doubt she, along with many of Jesus' other followers, had seen him heal sick people. Now she feared things had gone too far, that her brother lay beyond Jesus' power. Have you had times when you felt that a problem you were facing was too hard or too complicated for Jesus' presence to be able to help you? Did you find any kind of help or strength, perhaps in an unexpected way?
- Scholar Alister McGrath wrote, “The word hope is ambiguous. ‘I hope it won’t rain’ means ‘I have a sinking feeling it will.’ That is hope in its weak sense….But hope in its full-blooded sense means ‘a sure and confident expectation.’” In what ways did Martha move from weak hope to sure and confident hope in Jesus' presence? In what ways have you been able to make the same movement to confident hope?
Today’s Prayer:
Lord Jesus, sometimes my “faith” seems no more than a kind of hoping against hope. Keep growing in me the kind of sure and confident expectation that can see me through life’s toughest times. Amen.
Insights from Brandon Gregory
Brandon Gregory is a volunteer for the worship and missions teams at Church of the Resurrection. He helps lead worship at the Vibe, West, and Downtown services, and is involved with the Malawi missions team at home.
Jesus’s words to Martha in today’s passage (John 11:17-27) weren’t merely to comfort her in the face of her brother Lazarus’s death. Verses 25 and 26 are especially important. Jesus doesn’t just tell her about the resurrection–he asks if she already believes in it. This is not a one-time occurrence in the Scriptures. Jesus asks countless times some variation of the question: “Do you believe?”
Why is this? Isn’t it obvious that, after seeing a miracle, people will believe? Why ask beforehand?
Let me tell you a little story about a girl named Lindsey. Lindsey was a passionate girl, even at a young age, and had an affinity for art—specifically, music and dance. She wanted violin lessons and dance lessons, but she came from a family that couldn’t afford both. She ended up choosing violin lessons.
But Lindsey never gave up on dance. She continued to learn and practice just as hard without the lessons. Eventually, her parents were so impressed with her passion and tenacity that they gave her the dance lessons.
Lindsey eventually put the two together and began to incorporate dance in her violin performances. She put some videos up on YouTube and got a few likes. But she didn’t stop there. She was a contestant on America’s Got Talent and got eliminated in the final rounds. But she didn’t stop there. She recorded and released an indie album of violin over techno music. But she didn’t stop there. Lindsey Stirling is now an international touring musician and entertainer with millions of fans.
Lindsey’s passion and faith carried her to greatness. Lindsey’s parents saw those characteristics in her, even as a child, so they fostered that. They saw a fire in her, and they knew that that fire would lead her to do great things. Once they saw how passionate and serious she was about her art, they did whatever they could to feed that.
(And if you’re wondering, Lindsey is a woman of faith and regularly uses her fame to give glory back to God. She also acknowledges that she would not be where she is without the support of her heavenly Father.)
The moral of the story is that God asks us if we believe because He wants to know that we have that same spark. Do we pray for the poor believing that God can do amazing things through us to help them? Do we pray for the sick believing that they will do great things with God supporting them? Do we pray for success with the drive to use that success to give generously and help others? If we ask for something without believing, we’d be like the child that half-heartedly asks for guitar lessons without giving any indication that he’d do what it took to carry through to greatness.
When we pray, we should pray expecting greatness, and we should be prepared to carry through and make great things happen. We should pray with that spark that shows that we will persevere, whether that means giving of ourselves to make something happen, or just telling the story of how it did happen.
Brandon Gregory is a volunteer for the worship and missions teams at Church of the Resurrection. He helps lead worship at the Vibe, West, and Downtown services, and is involved with the Malawi missions team at home.
Jesus’s words to Martha in today’s passage (John 11:17-27) weren’t merely to comfort her in the face of her brother Lazarus’s death. Verses 25 and 26 are especially important. Jesus doesn’t just tell her about the resurrection–he asks if she already believes in it. This is not a one-time occurrence in the Scriptures. Jesus asks countless times some variation of the question: “Do you believe?”
Why is this? Isn’t it obvious that, after seeing a miracle, people will believe? Why ask beforehand?
Let me tell you a little story about a girl named Lindsey. Lindsey was a passionate girl, even at a young age, and had an affinity for art—specifically, music and dance. She wanted violin lessons and dance lessons, but she came from a family that couldn’t afford both. She ended up choosing violin lessons.
But Lindsey never gave up on dance. She continued to learn and practice just as hard without the lessons. Eventually, her parents were so impressed with her passion and tenacity that they gave her the dance lessons.
Lindsey eventually put the two together and began to incorporate dance in her violin performances. She put some videos up on YouTube and got a few likes. But she didn’t stop there. She was a contestant on America’s Got Talent and got eliminated in the final rounds. But she didn’t stop there. She recorded and released an indie album of violin over techno music. But she didn’t stop there. Lindsey Stirling is now an international touring musician and entertainer with millions of fans.
Lindsey’s passion and faith carried her to greatness. Lindsey’s parents saw those characteristics in her, even as a child, so they fostered that. They saw a fire in her, and they knew that that fire would lead her to do great things. Once they saw how passionate and serious she was about her art, they did whatever they could to feed that.
(And if you’re wondering, Lindsey is a woman of faith and regularly uses her fame to give glory back to God. She also acknowledges that she would not be where she is without the support of her heavenly Father.)
The moral of the story is that God asks us if we believe because He wants to know that we have that same spark. Do we pray for the poor believing that God can do amazing things through us to help them? Do we pray for the sick believing that they will do great things with God supporting them? Do we pray for success with the drive to use that success to give generously and help others? If we ask for something without believing, we’d be like the child that half-heartedly asks for guitar lessons without giving any indication that he’d do what it took to carry through to greatness.
When we pray, we should pray expecting greatness, and we should be prepared to carry through and make great things happen. We should pray with that spark that shows that we will persevere, whether that means giving of ourselves to make something happen, or just telling the story of how it did happen.
Download the GPS App
The United Methodist Church of the Resurrection
13720 Roe Avenue
Leawood, Kansas 66224, United States
913.897.0120
____________________________
No comments:
Post a Comment