1/12/17
The earliest Christians followed a Jewish tradition of pausing to pray, preferably together, first thing in the morning, about mid morning, at noon, about mid afternoon, and in the evening. “Just a Note” posts are brief observations made from Scripture readings not related to a lectionary. If I have one to post, it normally appears about 9:00 in the morning, at “the hour of prayer.”
In John 11:45-46, immediately after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, John tells us that many believed on him. The death of Lazarus was publicly known. There were many people who had gathered around the family to bring comfort. When they came face to face with the living Lazarus and with Jesus who had raised him from the dead, they really didn’t have any choice but to believe.
What do we do with good news? We tell it to others. The people who were persuaded that Jesus must be worthy of belief did just that. Some told the Pharisees around Jerusalem of the events. After all, Jerusalem was just a brief walk from Bethany. It was quite easy to get there. And the leaders of the Jews would certainly want to know that Jesus was the real deal!
This set off a chain of events which resulted finally in Jesus’ crucifixion. It also resulted in hardship for Lazarus, who was persecuted by the Pharisees. His crime? Jesus’ show of mercy and grace to him.
It seems that our earthly reason goes against all sanity sometimes. We try to suppress that which is good. We seek the death of the one who could bring life. We have to think about whether we wish to tell about God’s mercy or not.
Let God be merciful and let me be a witness to his mercy. He will care for the rest.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
The earliest Christians followed a Jewish tradition of pausing to pray, preferably together, first thing in the morning, about mid morning, at noon, about mid afternoon, and in the evening. “Just a Note” posts are brief observations made from Scripture readings not related to a lectionary. If I have one to post, it normally appears about 9:00 in the morning, at “the hour of prayer.”
In John 11:45-46, immediately after Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, John tells us that many believed on him. The death of Lazarus was publicly known. There were many people who had gathered around the family to bring comfort. When they came face to face with the living Lazarus and with Jesus who had raised him from the dead, they really didn’t have any choice but to believe.
What do we do with good news? We tell it to others. The people who were persuaded that Jesus must be worthy of belief did just that. Some told the Pharisees around Jerusalem of the events. After all, Jerusalem was just a brief walk from Bethany. It was quite easy to get there. And the leaders of the Jews would certainly want to know that Jesus was the real deal!
This set off a chain of events which resulted finally in Jesus’ crucifixion. It also resulted in hardship for Lazarus, who was persecuted by the Pharisees. His crime? Jesus’ show of mercy and grace to him.
It seems that our earthly reason goes against all sanity sometimes. We try to suppress that which is good. We seek the death of the one who could bring life. We have to think about whether we wish to tell about God’s mercy or not.
Let God be merciful and let me be a witness to his mercy. He will care for the rest.
If this brief meditation was helpful to you, I hope you will check out the other materials on our website at www.WittenbergCoMo.com and consider supporting us.
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