Some more on the Gospel of John

Once again the Gospel of John came alive on the screen for us at our last cell group meeting. While watching I became aware of things that were in the gospel but did not notice before. This DVD is a powerful medium. What caught me was it took Jesus 4 days to walk a days walk.

I did this colours scorecard thingy the other day, and my personality was Mary. This got me thinking of Mary's response "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Lord if only you were here, you could have prevented it? That sounds too close to home. How many times have I cried out to God from the bottom of the pit only to hear no response from God?
Four days late. Now if someone you love is dieing, how quickly would you walk or even drive the few kilometres to see him/her? Four days? I am not being fair, Jesus did not wait for Lazarus to die, he was already dead so why rush. The messenger was sent to fetch Jesus on the first day. Jesus waits for two days before arriving in Bethany on the forth day. So if Lazarus had been dead for four days, he had died on the very day the messenger left and was already dead when the message reached Jesus. Jesus knew this when he said " This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it" There you have in a nut shell. For the glory of God.

Lazarus was already dead why wait four days, couldn't Jesus go and comfort Mary and Martha. He could have raised Lazarus up on the second day, but he waited two more days. Sandy answered this by telling us about a Jewish belief that a soul of a deceased person hovers around a tomb for four days, looking for an opportunity to re-enter the body. After four days the body was truly dead and decomposition has long started. So Lazarus had been dead for four days, it was too late even for Jesus to do something or so they thought. "It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it"

Have you ever felt like Mary or Martha must have felt? Have you ever felt like questioning God, yet at the same time having faith that God can still do something? Even though Martha knew that it was too late she still said to Jesus " But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you."

It is these words of Martha, I hold onto when things are not going according to my plan. When my world seems to be crumbling around me and God is not answering my prayers. I know that God, my God loves me and knows exactly where I am. I used to have this nightmare as a child of having to pick up these all these balls or else I would get punished. Now there were so many balls that the more I picked up, the more fell out of my hands. With tears and hopelessness I would cry out and I wake up. How many times have I weep at Jesus' feet? Yes I know that no matter where I am on this path, I know that Jesus is my Lord and Master. I will serve Him knowing that whatever I ask in His name, will be given to me not in my timing but His.

That's enough of what struck me about about the Gospel of John movie. Something else which also came through strongly was how Mary Magdalena was depicted many scenes that we didn't expect. It was very thought provoking.

Psalm 118
Give thanks to Yahweh, for he is good, his love is everlasting!
Let the House of Israel say it, 'His love is everlasting!'
Let the House of Aaron say it, 'His love is everlasting!'
Let those who fear Yahweh say it, 'His love is everlasting!'

Let us in South Africa say it, 'His love is everlasting!'

Lazarus been raised from the dead must have had a great effect on the local people of Bethany because today the town is known as El-Azariya, meaning "Place of Lazarus" (Lazarium) in Arabic