Reflecting God - The Church of the Nazarene's Foundry Publishing House in Kansas City, Missouri, United States "Here And Now" by Sean Carr - John 11:1-16

Reflecting God - The Church of the Nazarene's Foundry Publishing House in Kansas City, Missouri, United States "Here And Now" by Sean Carr - John 11:1-16John 11:1 There was a man who had fallen sick. His name was El‘azar, and he came from Beit-Anyah, the village where Miryam and her sister Marta lived. 2 (This Miryam, whose brother El‘azar had become sick, is the one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent a message to Yeshua, “Lord, the man you love is sick.” 4 On hearing it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may receive glory through it.”
5 Yeshua loved Marta and her sister and El‘azar; 6 so when he heard he was sick, first he stayed where he was two more days; 7 then, after this, he said to the talmidim, “Let’s go back to Y’hudah.” 8 The talmidim replied, “Rabbi! Just a short while ago the Judeans were out to stone you — and you want to go back there?” 9 Yeshua answered, “Aren’t there twelve hours of daylight? If a person walks during daylight, he doesn’t stumble; because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if a person walks at night, he does stumble; because he has no light with him.”
11 Yeshua said these things, and afterwards he said to the talmidim, “Our friend El‘azar has gone to sleep; but I am going in order to wake him up.” 12 The talmidim said to him, “Lord, if he has gone to sleep, he will get better.” 13 Now Yeshua had used the phrase to speak about El‘azar’s death, but they thought he had been talking literally about sleep. 14 So Yeshua told them in plain language, “El‘azar has died. 15 And for your sakes, I am glad that I wasn’t there, so that you may come to trust. But let’s go to him.” 16 Then T’oma (the name means “twin”) said to his fellow talmidim, “Yes, we should go, so that we can die with him!” (Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)

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“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die” (John 11:25). In this simple, yet world altering pronouncement, Jesus begins to turn Martha’s world upside-down. She believed in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, and she seemed to have worked out a good understanding of how that would change her afterlife. However Jesus wanted her to understand how His being the resurrection and the life, made a very real difference in her present life as well. Death may lay claim to our dreams, relationships, and immediate future, but the Son of God has brought to every person the chance to experience resurrection, both in the future and in the here-and-now.
We may face emotional or physical death, but there is hope in following the One who is resurrection and life. Because He has been through it, defeated it, and we now live on through Him, the fear of death as a monster or terror is done away. Live this day in relationship with the resurrection and life.
Hymn for Today: "Does Jesus Care" by Frank E. Graeff.
1. Does Jesus care when my heart is pained
Too deeply for mirth or song,
As the burdens press, and the cares distress,
And the way grows weary and long?
Refrain: Oh, yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.
2. Does Jesus care when my way is dark
With a nameless dread and fear?
As the daylight fades into deep night shades,
Does He care enough to be near?

Refrain: Oh, yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.
3. Does Jesus care when I’ve tried and failed
To resist some temptation strong;
When for my deep grief there is no relief,
Though my tears flow all the night long?Refrain: Oh, yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.
4. Does Jesus care when I’ve said “goodbye”
To the dearest on earth to me,
And my sad heart aches till it nearly breaks—
Is it aught to Him? Does He see?

Refrain: Oh, yes, He cares, I know He cares,
His heart is touched with my grief;
When the days are weary, the long nights dreary,
I know my Savior cares.

Thought for Today:But you, Adonai,
are a merciful, compassionate God,
slow to anger
and rich in grace and truth.(Complete Jewish Bible)(Psalm 86:15).

Please pray: For the development of Christian leaders in Papua New Guinea.
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