{"id":4141,"date":"2020-08-13T00:16:29","date_gmt":"2020-08-13T00:16:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/takingeverythoughtcaptivetoobeychrist.wordpress.com\/?p=4141"},"modified":"2020-08-13T00:16:29","modified_gmt":"2020-08-13T00:16:29","slug":"christs-strange-ways-of-glory-in-human-sickness-john-111-6","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/christs-strange-ways-of-glory-in-human-sickness-john-111-6\/","title":{"rendered":"Christ’s Strange Ways of Glory in Human Sickness; John 11:1-6"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 <\/sup>It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 <\/sup>So the sisters sent to him, saying, \u201cLord, he whom you love is ill.\u201d 4 <\/sup>But when Jesus heard it he said, \u201cThis illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5 <\/sup>Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 <\/sup>So, when he heard that Lazarus[a<\/a>]<\/sup> was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead is a hallmark Biblical passage in the gospel story, and is amazing in itself. And as we move into this story in John 11 we find that there is a lot of really good stuff before Jesus ever calls Lazarus to come forth from the grave. So it will be a few weeks before we get to that climactic moment, and quite beneficial I believe you will find it. We will find in the first 6 verses today that there is some theological groundwork laid for the miracle to occur upon. So it is important that we understand these foundations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We structure our text today under three main headings: Christ\u2019s Love, Christ\u2019s Glory, and Christ\u2019s Ways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ\u2019s Love<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the things that stands out about this passage is the emphasis upon Jesus\u2019 love specifically for this family from the village of Bethany. In verse three, the sisters Mary and Martha send to Jesus to tell Him that \u201che whom you love is ill.\u201d At the very least, Jesus\u2019 love for Lazarus and this family was well known by those involved here, that they would call Lazarus, \u201che whom you love.\u201d Then in verse 5, it is stated by the narrator, the gospel writer John Himself, that \u201cJesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.\u201d So again, at the very least, His love for this family was known among the disciples. And as we read this passage, His love for them stands out to us as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cHe whom you love is ill.\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is so much in this one phrase, \u201che whom you love is ill.\u201d Quite simply, sickness does not mean that Jesus doesn\u2019t love you. Now this is something that people in our circles don\u2019t typically struggle with believing in terms of what we confess to be true. Nevertheless is it a precious reminder that is of great use and encouragement to us. There have been some of us and there is some of us who struggle with chronic or enduring physical maladies of various kinds. Not an illness per say, but some of the ladies may have had prolonged times of difficult recovery from giving birth. Such times can be difficult and searching times, wondering why and what God could be doing with us in such times. So let this reminder be ever near to our hearts: that in the midst of our illnesses and frailties, we are then, in our darkest moments, loved by Christ.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I love what A. W. Pink says here, \u201c…sickness in a believer is by no means incompatible with the Lord\u2019s love for such an one\u2026 How utterly incompetent then are we to estimate God\u2019s love for us by our temporal condition or circumstances!\u201d That\u2019s what we are so often tempted to do, isn\u2019t it? We are tempted to look around at our circumstances, at the things going in our life, at the trials that endure, and evaluate God\u2019s love, goodness, or wisdom, based upon what we see with our eyes of flesh. We look around and see nothing but sickness, or trouble, or sin and its effects and think that God can\u2019t be up to something good, or that God doesn\u2019t know what He\u2019s doing, or that somehow He must not really love us. How foolish, faithless, and fleshly such thinking is. People who Jesus love get sick, they suffer, and they die. Frowning providences are not equal to disapproval from God.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Naturally our initial reaction to difficulties that are sent our way is often \u201cbut why God?\u201d When if you are a Christian it really should be, \u201cGod must really love me.\u201d Because if you are a Christian, Jesus doesn\u2019t just love you despite your sickness or through your troubles, but it is true that as His Children, God sends us trials to improve us in sanctification, to conform us more and more to the image of His Son, and strengthen our faith. Indeed discipline from our heavenly Father is received from loving hands. \u201cThe Lord disciplines those whom He loves.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You see, this gives great purpose, significance, and importance to our sicknesses. They matter and they have a purpose grounded in things of eternal life. How maddening sickness must be for the unbeliever, to face their mortality and not know the God of Heaven who governs all things by His good and wise will. Why do you think the world is going crazy right now over a virus? It\u2019s because they don\u2019t know God. They aren\u2019t able to rest in the assurances of Christ. But we know that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. Not sickness, not death. His love is stronger than a virus and more enduring than death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ultimately we can rest in this, because if it is true at the cross, than it is true in our lesser suffering. John 3:35 tells us that \u201cThe Father loves the Son and has given all things into his hand.\u201d So the Father loved the Son, and among all things, put His elect into the Son\u2019s hands, for which He must and would go to the greatest suffering on the cross in order to redeem those people the Father gave to him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ\u2019s Glory<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

So we can rest assured in Christ\u2019s love for us, but not only that, also we can rest assured in His glory. Jesus tells us in verse 4 that this \u201cillness is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.\u201d We know this is prominently the case with the story of Lazarus as the Son of God was glorified and brought glory to God when He raised Lazarus from the dead a few days later. While there are direct implications to the case of Lazarus here, the principle remains true for all of us in Christ. Our illnesses, yes, even our deaths, are for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God is glorified in Jesus\u2019 glorification<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is much theological significance in what Jesus says here that it is for the glory of God that the Son of God may be glorified through it. This goes back to the relationship between the Father and Son that Jesus has repeatedly emphasized over and over again, that the He and the Father are one, and He does only that which the Father sent Him to do; such that, when the Son is glorified, the Father is glorified and when the Father is glorified it is through the Son\u2019s glorification. A glimpse of the display of God\u2019s worth is going to be shown in a glimpse of the display of the Son\u2019s worth and value. When the Son does such glorious works as raising the dead, the Father is glorified through Him since Jesus is simply doing the works that the Father gave Him to do.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

See your sickness as a privilege and honor that Jesus would glorify Himself in you.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ is preeminent in all things and all things work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to His purpose. This includes our sickness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Don\u2019t be bitter that He\u2019s chosen to glorify Himself in your sickness, be glad He\u2019s chosen to glorify Himself in you at all.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When struggle with such a thought that God would be pleased to glorify Himself through His Son in our suffering and sickness, we would do well to turn our eyes to Jesus Christ lifted up upon the cross where sick sinners are healed and see that there also, in Christ’s greatest hour of suffering and pain, God was intensely glorified in His Son.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Christ\u2019s Ways<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jesus loved them, so He stayed away longer. This is not what we would do if we were in such a situation. But we are not the divine Son enfleshed. Christ’s ways are higher than our ways, His thoughts higher than our thoughts. We are but creatures made to trust, He is creator and predestinator, worthy of our trust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is a delay in healing (resurrection) out of love. This we must remember and keep near to our hearts. It was not a petty, silly, or arbitrary thing; it was a thing of love. No one loves us with infinite wisdom like Jesus does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Savior does not seem to be near because He finds reason to delay in coming to us, let us, by faith, wait upon the Lord. Let us wait for the Lord in prayer, and lift our eyes to the hills from where our help comes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

God\u2019s timing is better than ours. His timing comes from an omniscient and all-sovereign plan from before time began from His goodness for His namesake. Our timing comes from our feelings and temporal eyes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We don\u2019t understand all His ways, and we\u2019re not supposed to; we couldn\u2019t handle it. I am sure that if any of us were god, we would do things a lot different. It is a good thing that none of us is god.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strange ways of God work to maximize His glory and strengthen our faith the most. With God, things are not always as they look. This is why we need eyes of faith and hopefulness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

This illness didn\u2019t lead to death, even though he died, because it ultimately lead to resurrection, like the death of Christ, and ours in Christ. This illness did not lead to death, it lead to the glory of God in His Son Jesus Christ. One day, all our illnesses and our death will lead, not to death, but to the glory of God in Christ the Son when we rise in obedience out of our graves, back from the dead.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So let us confess our distrust in His love, glory, and ways. Let us confess where we have worried instead of trusted. And let us know that Christ stands ready to forgive us, and to strengthen our faith to trust anew.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If we want to be faithful and hopeful Christians in times of major sickness if and when they come, then it begins with confessing our very normal and mundane sins right now. The Biblical principle is that we must be entrusted with little before we can be entrusted with much. So begin by confessing the sin right in front you, the one that just came out of your mouth, or the one rattling around in your cranium. Then let us trade that sin for trust in Jesus Christ. He is ready to forgive.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, \u201cLord, he whom you love is ill.\u201d 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, \u201cThis illness […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":685,"featured_media":4144,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22,25,32],"tags":[144,205,274,275,381,483,551,557,562,619,641,678,679,687,699,731,765,796,1009,1105,1137,1161,1193,1327],"class_list":{"0":"post-4141","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-commentary","8":"category-faith","9":"category-theology","10":"tag-apostle","11":"tag-bible","12":"tag-christ","13":"tag-christs","14":"tag-disciple","15":"tag-father","16":"tag-glory","17":"tag-god","18":"tag-gospel","19":"tag-hope","20":"tag-illness","21":"tag-jenkins","22":"tag-jesus","23":"tag-john","24":"tag-joshua","25":"tag-lazarus","26":"tag-lord","27":"tag-martha","28":"tag-purpose","29":"tag-scripture","30":"tag-sickness","31":"tag-son","32":"tag-strange","33":"tag-ways","34":"entry"},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/37\/2020\/08\/fell-in-love-with-the-swedish-nature-5825b90bb0d5c__880.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":4159,"url":"https:\/\/themajestysmen.com\/joshuajenkins\/back-from-the-dead-john-11\/","url_meta":{"origin":4141,"position":0},"title":"Back from the Dead; John 11","author":"Joshua Jenkins","date":"August 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"We live in a world where dead people have come back to life. 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