“耶稣就明明地告诉他们说：‘拉撒路死了。我没有在那里就欢喜，这是为你们的缘故，好叫你们相信。’” - 约 11:14-15

　　耶稣知道祂的朋友拉撒路危在旦夕。祂也知道那无人能做到的事：神将会使拉撒路从坟墓中复活。尽管拉撒路的姐姐们请求耶稣去医治她们的弟弟，可耶稣还是等到拉撒路死了。为什么呢？乃是要显明神胜过死亡的大能。

　　拉撒路可能很不喜欢耶稣这样的迟延。当自己奄奄一息快要断气时，可能他想：“耶稣究竟在哪？祂为什么不来救我呢？”然而耶稣的大工，不因任何人而改变,即便是自己的好友，完全是神自己的时间，而神所定的时间是最完美的。就像现在，耶稣刻意要等到人人都肯定拉撒路已经死了，祂才彰显祂起死回生的大工。

　　请注意，耶稣刻意的迟延并不代表祂是冷漠的。事实上，祂“心里悲伤，又甚忧愁，”而且，祂哭了。虽然无论是当时或今天，许多人都以为耶稣的哭泣是因为拉撒路死了，但真实的原因要比这深入得多。耶稣的哭，是因为死亡仍是我们的敌人。祂远不是对死亡不敏感，相反，祂要来替我们承受这死亡的咒诅。祂做这一切乃是为了神的荣耀，好使我们可以相信神和祂的大能。透过耶稣，神要除去我们的罪，赐给祂与我们同在的、永远的新生命——死亡不再是我们的敌人了！

　　你相信这位救主吗？

祷告

主耶稣，我们知道祢多么爱我们，因为祢为了我们的缘故死了，使死亡不能再我们的敌人。为着祢所应许的永生，我们感谢祢！奉祢的名祷告，阿们。

 

约翰福音 11:1-16, 32-37

1有一个患病的人，名叫拉撒路，住在伯大尼，就是马利亚和她姊姊马大的村庄。
2这马利亚就是那用香膏抹主，又用头发擦他脚的；患病的拉撒路是她的兄弟。
3她姊妹两个就打发人去见耶稣，说：“主啊，你所爱的人病了。”
4耶稣听见，就说：“这病不至于死，乃是为神的荣耀，叫神的儿子因此得荣耀。”
5耶稣素来爱马大和她妹子并拉撒路。
6听见拉撒路病了，就在所居之地仍住了两天。
32马利亚到了耶稣那里，看见他，就俯伏在他脚前，说：“主啊，你若早在这里，我兄弟必不死。”
33耶稣看见她哭，并看见与她同来的犹太人也哭，就心里悲叹，又甚忧愁，
34便说：“你们把他安放在哪里？”他们回答说：“请主来看。”
35耶稣哭了。
36犹太人就说：“你看他爱这人是何等恳切。”
37其中有人说：“他既然开了瞎子的眼睛，岂不能叫这人不死吗？”

"Lazarus Is Dead"

"He told them plainly, 'Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.'" — John 11:14-15

英语音频 English Audio

Jesus knew his friend Lazarus was deathly ill. Jesus also knew what no one else did: God would raise Lazarus from his grave. Still, Lazarus's sisters were pleading with Jesus to come and heal their brother. Instead, he waited till Lazarus died. Why? To show God's power over death.

Lazarus probably didn't appreciate Jesus' delayed arrival. With his life slipping away, Lazarus may have wondered, "Where is Jesus? Why doesn't he come?" But Jesus' mission was not about his friends' timeline. It was about God's. The Lord's timing is always right. And here, to demonstrate his dominance over death, Jesus waited till everyone could be absolutely sure that Lazarus was dead.

Now, Jesus' intentional delay does not mean he was insensitive to grief. He too "was deeply moved in spirit and troubled," and he wept. While people then and now may reason that he wept because of Lazarus, it was surely even deeper than that. Jesus wept because death is still our enemy. Far from being insensitive about death, Jesus came to take on the curse of death for us. And his purpose in all of this was God's glory, so that we might believe in God and in his power, through Jesus, to cancel our sin and give us new life forever in his presence.

Do you believe in this Savior?

Prayer

诵读: 楚云
片头: 张妙阳