“Now a large crowd of Judeans learned that Jesus was there, and so they came not only because of him but also to see Lazarus whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests planned to kill Lazarus too, for on account of him many of the Jewish people from Jerusalem were going away and believing in Jesus.”, John 12:9-11 NET
- The chief priests were going further and further down the rabbit hole. There is no way they had Scriptures to support them killing a man who was raised from the dead.
- By the way, Jesus has done for all of us who are Christians the same thing He did for Lazarus; rose us from the dead, spiritually. Even though this is true, sometimes as Christians, we need to be raised from the dead again and again as our lives unfold.
“Jesus, intensely moved again, came to the tomb. (Now it was a cave, and a stone was placed across it.) Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, replied, “Lord, by this time the body will have a bad smell, because he has been buried four days.” Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believe, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you that you have listened to me. I knew that you always listen to me, but I said this for the sake of the crowd standing around here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he shouted in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The one who had died came out, his feet and hands tied up with strips of cloth, and a cloth wrapped around his face. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.””, John 11:38-44 NET
- Sometimes as Christians, we need to be delivered from our sin as we were when we first became Christians. In those times, especially if our sin has gone on a while, can make us stink and negatively impact those around us. In those times, Jesus can still raise us from the death that our sin is pulling us towards, remove our stink, and give us fresh starts all over again.