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If you were to ask me to name some of my favorite books – other than the Bible – My Utmost For His Highest by Oswald Chambers would be at the top of my list. God has used that book more times than i can count to reinforce His truth in my life over the years.
Such was the case this morning. Chambers asks the question, “Can you trust Jesus Christ where your common sense cannot trust Him?”(1) What am i to do when everything around me points to doing one thing, but i know God has told me to do another? OR, what am i to do if i find myself in the midst of a hopeless situation, but Jesus has told me to trust Him?
Chambers concluded this morning’s writing with this statement: “Faith is absolute trust in God — trust that could never imagine that He would forsake us.”(2)
It begs the question, do i trust Him that absolutely? The text for Chamber’s writing comes from His response to His friend Martha, whose dead brother had been lying in a tomb for four days. “Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?’”(3)
If there was ever a situation where common sense was screaming one thing, while Jesus was saying something else entirely, it was that one. i don’t know about you, but i find myself needing to be reminded of that truth. It is a truth on which i need to stand fast.
Allow me, if you will, to recount what happened, as told by a fictional servant boy, who represents the many servants and friends who witnessed the events of that day.
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My name is Asher and I am fourteen years old. I live with my parents in Bethany, a city about two miles from the Mount of Olives in Judea.
My dad, whose name is Amari, takes care of a large vineyard located just outside of the city. The vineyard is owned by a man named Simon, but you probably know him as Lazarus. My dad and Mr. Simon grew up together and are good friends.
This vineyard is the largest in our region, so Mr. Simon and his sisters, Miss Martha and Miss Miriam, are very rich and live in a big house. Though we live in a smaller house near the vineyard, it is still much nicer than many of the other homes in our city.
My mom often helps Miss Martha in the big house with chores and cooking. Mr. Simon and his sisters aren’t married, so there aren’t any kids at their house for me to play with. A few of the families that work in the vineyard have children, but most of them are much younger than I am, so I don’t have many friends. Most of the time, I help my parents with their work. My dad often tells me to pay close attention, because one day when I’m older I could take over his job, just like he did from his dad.
One night five years ago, I was helping my mom in the big house. Mr. Simon and his sisters had invited the chief priest of our city, whose name is Phinehas, for dinner. He and Mr. Simon are good friends, so he often eats at their house. After dinner, Mr. Simon called his two sisters and all of the servants into the big room. He even asked my dad to come. Mr. Simon then told us that he was sick with a disease called leprosy.
I had heard of leprosy, but until that moment I had never known anyone who had it. I knew that people who had leprosy were called lepers. It is a bad disease that starts with sores on their skin that will not go away. Then their hands and feet can lose feeling. Eventually their arms and legs can become twisted.
No one is allowed to be around lepers. They have to leave their homes and live out in the desert by themselves or with other lepers. No one knows how to make lepers well again. Sadly, most of them die.
Miss Martha and Miss Miriam were crying very loudly as Mr. Simon told us his news. Everyone else, including my mom and dad, were also very upset. Mr. Simon left that night and we didn’t know if we would ever see him again.
One afternoon about two years later, my dad received a message that Mr. Simon was waiting to see him just outside the vineyard. My dad was surprised that Mr. Simon had come back. He knew that lepers weren’t allowed to return to their homes. I wanted to go with my dad to see what was going on, but he told me it wasn’t safe for me to come and I needed to wait at home.
When my dad returned home, he was so excited. “Simon has been healed!” he said. “He no longer has leprosy! He has been healed by Jesus of Nazareth! And Jesus has given him a new name. He now will be called ‘Lazarus’ because God has helped him and healed him!”
The next week, Mr. Lazarus’s sisters held a big party to celebrate the return of their brother. Most everyone in town came to the party, including the servants.
Soon after that, Jesus came for a visit. Though Mr. Lazarus and his sisters always treated me like I was a part of their family, I was used to other important people not paying any attention to me. Usually those people would talk to me only if they wanted me to do something for them.
But Jesus was different! I already knew He was the most important person in the world – He had healed Mr. Lazarus! And when I first saw Him, He looked right at me and smiled. He told me to come sit with Him. I was surprised He knew my name. But I found out later that He knows everyone’s name, and He knows everything about us. Then He asked everyone else to sit with Him, too.
Jesus began to teach us. He told us He knew that we made our living from the grapes in the vineyard. He said He knew we worked very hard to grow and harvest the grapes. But then He said, “I am the true Vine; My Father is the Gardener, and you are the branches. If a person remains in Me and I remain in him, then he produces much fruit. But without Me he can do nothing. Remain in Me and follow My teachings.”
Later, I talked to my dad about what Jesus had said. He told me that just like we were servants of Mr. Lazarus, we all – including Mr. Lazarus – were servants of Jesus. He was the special One that God had promised to send. God created us to produce fruit. That fruit is good works that honor God. But we can’t do those good things on our own.
Grapes will only become good fruit if they are attached to the vine. If they are not on the vine they will wither and die. The same is true of us … and Jesus is our Vine. We remain in Him by trusting Him, and following Him … and following His teachings.
“I want to remain in Jesus,” I said to my dad.
“So do I,” he replied.
After that day, Jesus often came to see us, and we were always happy when He came. It didn’t matter what else was going on – we would stop what we were doing so we could visit with Him. Even though He had more followers with Him each time He came, Miss Martha would cook a big meal for everyone to honor Him. Miss Miriam usually sat at His feet. Mr. Lazarus always treated Jesus as his most honored guest. We always hated when it was time for our Friend to leave.
A few months ago, Mr. Lazarus became very sick and fell to the ground in the vineyard. I helped my dad and two other servants carry him to his home. The nurse came to treat him, but nothing she did made him any better. Miss Martha decided they needed to send word to ask Jesus to come. He was staying in a nearby village, but it would take a whole day before someone could get there to tell Him. My dad told me he was afraid Mr. Lazarus would die before Jesus could come.
My dad was right. Later that same day, Mr. Lazarus died. Miss Martha and Miss Miriam cried and cried. It was like the day they learned that their brother had leprosy. But this time, no one could make them feel any better. My mom and dad reminded them that Jesus would be here the next day. His visits had always brought joy. Perhaps this time He would at least bring them comfort.
We all waited for Jesus the next day – but He never came. The person who had taken the message to Jesus returned just before sunset and said Jesus had decided not to return with him. We all believed that Jesus would come the next day – but He did not. Miss Martha kept herself busy cooking meals and making sure all of the guests were cared for. Miss Miriam, however, continued to cry without stopping.
By the fourth day, I wasn’t sure how much of Miss Miriam’s crying was because of the death of Mr. Lazarus and how much was because Jesus hadn’t come. But that afternoon, Jesus arrived. Miss Martha went out to greet Him, but Miss Miriam refused to go. After a little while, Miss Martha came back into the house and told Miss Miriam, “The Teacher is here, and He is asking for you.”
Miss Martha asked me to walk out with Miss Miriam because she was not yet very steady on her feet. When we got to where Jesus was waiting, she fell at His feet and said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” As the last word came out of her mouth, she started to cry again.
A crowd was now gathering around us. Those who had been in the house had followed Miss Miriam thinking she was going to visit the tomb where Mr. Lazarus’s body was buried. They were also crying loudly. Jesus interrupted them all by asking, “Where did you bury him?”
Someone in the crowd said, “Come and see, Lord.” At that moment, Jesus began to cry, and He reached down and helped Miss Miriam to her feet so they could walk together to the tomb. I didn’t know what I was supposed to do, so I just followed behind them. As we walked, I realized that I had never seen Jesus cry before. At the time, I thought it was because He was sad about Mr. Lazarus’s death. But I later learned that He was crying for a different reason.
When we arrived at the tomb, He told someone in the crowd, “Move the stone that is covering the entrance away.” By then, Miss Martha had also joined us at the tomb, so she spoke up, “But, Lord, it has been four days since he died. There will be a bad smell.”
Jesus turned to Miss Martha and said, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” I realized then that Jesus had cried because the people hadn’t believed in Him and what He can do – even those who knew Him best, like Miss Miriam and Miss Martha.
As they moved the stone away, Jesus looked up and said in a loud voice, “Father, I thank You that You heard Me. I know that You always hear Me. But I said it out loud because of the people here around Me. I want them to believe that You sent Me.”
Then He shouted, “Lazarus, come out!”
The entire crowd became silent. We all were shocked that Jesus would say those words. Everyone was looking at the opening to the tomb. It seemed like time stood still, but suddenly something or someone came hopping out. His hands and feet were wrapped in cloth, so he was unable to walk. All he could do was hop. Jesus said, “Take the cloth off of him and let him go!”
My dad stepped forward and began to unwrap the cloth. Then I stepped forward to help him. In a few minutes, we had removed all the cloth. There standing in front of us was Mr. Lazarus!
Everyone was shocked! Jesus had just brought Mr. Lazarus back to life. Everyone began to turn toward Jesus and kneel before Him … including Miss Miriam, Miss Martha, and Mr. Lazarus.
At that moment I remembered what Jesus had once said to all of us: “If a person remains in Me and I remain in him, then he produces much fruit. But without Me he can do nothing.” Jesus, the Vine, had produced fruit that day through His branch – Mr. Lazarus. Nothing can separate us from the Vine – not even death!
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Imagine what it would have been like to be standing in the midst of that scene that day. Now hold that thought and in your mind’s eye turn your gaze toward the One who is the same today as He was on that day. Remember what He has told you, and trust the One who is able to do infinitely more than you could hope or ask.(4) He is able to overcome whatever you are facing today. Trust Him! He will never forsake us!
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By the way, as i mentioned at the beginning of the story, Asher is not in the Bible and his parents aren’t, either. But we do read about a leper whom Jesus healed. We also read about how Jesus had dinner with a leper by the name of Simon who is called Lazarus elsewhere in the Gospels, together with his sisters, and how Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. Some teachers believe Simon and Lazarus are the same person. Also, some of you may know his sister Miriam by her Aramaic name “Mary.” “Miriam” is her Hebrew name.
You can read about all three parts of this account in the Bible in Luke 5:12-16, Matthew 26:6-13 and John 11:1-44.
The story is taken from my book, The Little Ones Who Came. For more information about the book, click here.
(1) My Utmost For His Highest, by Oswald Chambers, published by Dodd, Mead & Co., writing for August 29
(2) My Utmost For His Highest, by Oswald Chambers, published by Dodd, Mead & Co., writing for August 29
(3) John 11:40 (NLT)
Copyright © 2023 Kenneth A. Winter All rights reserved.
Photo by LUMO-The Gospels for the visual age on Lightstock