Four Days Too Late

The Story

Lazarus and his sisters, Mary and Martha, were some of Jesus’ closest friends. When Lazarus became seriously ill, the sisters sent Jesus a message: “Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.”

The Bible says Jesus loved them. And then it says something surprising: when He heard Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days.

By the time Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had been dead and buried for four days. Martha ran out to meet Him. “Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” Mary said the very same words when she saw Him, and she fell at His feet weeping.

When Jesus saw her crying, and the friends who were crying with her, He was deeply moved. And then come the two shortest words in the Bible: “Jesus wept.”

He asked to be taken to the tomb, a cave with a stone across it. “Take ye away the stone,” He said. Martha protested. After four days, there would be a terrible smell. Jesus answered, “Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?”

They rolled the stone away. Jesus prayed, and then He shouted, “Lazarus, come forth.”

And the dead man walked out, still wrapped in grave clothes. “Loose him,” Jesus said, “and let him go.”

Reflection