Hopeless | Dan Deeble
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...
John 11:1-6
We also live in the tension between:
Verse 5: Now...Jesus loved
Verse 6: So...Jesus stayed
If we dwell on His love but can’t face the reality of our circumstances, we are living in spiritual denial.
If we dwell on our painful circumstances and refuse to believe that God loves us, we are living in spiritual despair.
The Lazarus story in itself is not the point of this story because:
Lazarus ultimately died again.
Jesus did not heal everyone.
I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?
John 11:25-26
Death is not the worst thing. Hopelessness in death is.
Jesus is the great and resurrected I AM, and this should change two things about what it means to live between verse 5 and verse 6:
How We Pray
How We Stand
Because Jesus is the great and resurrected I AM, we can live with “a hope within hopelessness”. How can you practice that hope today?
Going Deeper Questions:
Read John 11:5-6. Jesus waited two days before going to Bethany. What do you wish He had done instead? What could this say about you and about Jesus?
How are you personally living between verse 5 and verse 6 right now? What’s the most difficult part about that for you?
In the tension between knowing that Jesus loves you and wanting Him to show up differently in your life, which way do you naturally lean-- towards His love (as a potential form of denial) or towards His “absence” (as a potential form of despair)? Can you see how this tendency impacts your closest relationships?
Throughout this passage, Jesus shows a profound affection and grief over his friend Lazarus. In fact, 3 times He is overcome with emotion (see John 11:3, 33-38). Do you believe that He loves you and weeps over you just as much?
Because of Jesus’ resurrection, how can you literally practice a “hope within hopelessness” and invite God’s Spirit to help you pray and live differently?
God is the great regenerator and reverser of hopeless moments. Can you think of a time in your life when things were hopeless until God showed up?