John 11 - Christ in All

Jesus came to Lazarus' tomb, asked for the stone to be taken away, and then he prayed.

“Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”” - ‭‭John‬ ‭11:41-42‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Lazarus, four days dead, then responded to Jesus’s calling, and he awoke and came out. 

“The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”” - ‭‭John‬ ‭11:44‬ ‭NIV‬‬

I am trying to get a visual in my mind of what this might of looked like, or how everyone would have responded. It was mentioned in the text earlier, but Lazarus would have stunk, and my guess is his grave clothes would have been pretty nasty. But he arose, he walked, Lazarus was alive! And because of this radical healing and transformation, we read this. 

“Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.” - ‭‭John‬ ‭11:45‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Because of this life transformation, many Jews now believed in Jesus. Powerful. This takes us back to v4 when Jesus responded pretty strangely at the moment.

“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.”” - ‭‭John‬ ‭11:4‬ ‭NIV‬‬

Lazarus healing and transformation was for Jesus to be glorified and to draw people to Him. A powerful thought, and as I process this thoroughly this morning, I am taken to the place that this is quite possibly the ultimate Will of our Father...that in all things, Jesus Christ is glorified, and people come to Him. 

Christ is in all things, He is before all things, and He holds all things together. Reflecting on Paul’s words here in Colossians;

“He is before all things, and in him all things hold together.” -‭‭Colossians‬ ‭1:17‬ ‭NIV‬‬

“In this new life, it doesn’t matter if you are a Jew or a Gentile, circumcised or uncircumcised, barbaric, uncivilized, slave, or free. Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us.” - ‭‭Colossians‬ ‭3:11‬ ‭NLT‬‬

As Paul said, Christ is all that matters, and he lives in all of us. I pray that as we walk into our day, that we recognize that our transformation, Christ in us, is a way for people to be drawn to Jesus and for Him to be glorified. May our lives be a witness to the beauty of Christ today.