Love and Illness
John 11:1 – Now a certain man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village where Mary and her sister Martha lived. 2 – (Now it was Mary who anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and wiped his feet dry with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) 3 – So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, look, the one you love is sick.”
All of our sick people are loved by Jesus. The story of Lazarus shows us how personal this love is. Think of your loved one who is in pain right now and pray the same prayer of Mary and Martha – “Lord, look, the one you love is sick.” When we read this entire story we’ll find out that Mary and Martha’s expectations were not exactly what Jesus delivered. Jesus delivered so much more! They discovered how much Jesus truly loved their precious brother Lazarus and how much He loved them as well. Jesus has the same kind of love for you and for me.
Surprisingly enough, the story progresses with Jesus not making it on time to save Lazarus from dying. A level of loss we can relate to but made all the greater because they had Jesus in the flesh. The power of the words of Jesus is no less available to us today as it was back then regardless of whether our loved ones recover and live or succumb and die. Let’s pay attention to His words in verse 4 – When Jesus heard this, he said, “This sickness will not lead to death, but to God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Knowing that Jesus loves us means that there is no sickness that can lead to the second death. Jesus will be glorified through our illnesses. May our faith in Jesus never waver. Let’s hold on to the words with which He encouraged Martha in verse 25 – Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies, 26 – and the one who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
Do you believe this? Do I? I pray our answer is “Yes, I believe!”
Where two are gathered 