John

Check out all the previous John readings here.

John Reading Plan | Week 7, Day 3

Prayer

Pause for a moment of quiet and stillness. To center yourself fully, take a deep breath in and exhale slowly. Repeat this process three times. Ask God to open your eyes to the amazing truths in His word today.

Bible Reading: John 11:1-16

Read these verses three times slowly.

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”

Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.”Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Reflection & Questions

The last two days we have been reflecting on the healing of the man born blind. Jesus told his disciples then, “this [blindness] happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

Today’s reading, we fast forward to chapter 11, where there’s a strikingly similar statement made by Jesus. On hearing of Lazarus’ grave illness, Jesus says, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Jesus is constantly looking to bring God glory “so that you may believe.”

Lazarus does die, though. However, while we consider death the end, the story is not over. Jesus says the story “will not end in death.” And in Jesus’ mind, this is as simple as waking him from a nap. “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” Amazing.

We can easily think that death “is the end.” We create bucket lists to be completed before we die. For the believer in Jesus, death is a transition to a new life, we go to sleep here and wake up in a wonderful new reality. We don’t need bucket lists because our lives don’t “end in death.”

1. How do you view death? How does today’s reading encourage you?
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Prayer

Talk to God in response to today’s reading.

Worship Song

You might use this song today to worship Jesus today:

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Questions?