Lazarus Revisited

Imagine for a moment that people hate you and want you dead.

When the great crowd of the Jews learned that he was there, they came not only because of Jesus but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus. - John 12:9-11

I am sure John did not intend his Gospel to be amusing, but the situation here can hardly be described any other way.

Lazarus was dead.  He had lived his life and died without major fanfare.  The world paid him little attention, and then, he comes back.

Now everyone knows about him and people come from miles around to see him.  And the irony of ironies is there are some who want him killed.

I can imagine Lazarus saying, "Jesus, what did you do to me?"

It was on Lazarus' account that many were turning toward Jesus, so in a very real sense, Lazarus was called by God to evangelize.

It proves that there are no obstacles when it comes to a call by God, not even death.

Of course, most of us may not expect to literally come back from the dead and be given a new ministry,

But I guess you could say that in a figurative sense, that is what happens when we make our way to Christ and accept a new purpose in our lives.  We die to the old self and rise anew.

So, maybe Lazarus knew this was the challenge he was given when he walked out of the tomb.  We will never know, but we can rest assured that there can come a time when we are called back to life and given a new assignment.

God works in mysterious ways.

More to come...