03/28/2004: "Thoughts on today's Gospel reading"

There is so much in today's Gospel reading that it is hard to try to take in all of it. The story of Lazarus rising from the dead is full of so many conflicts, decisions and relevations of God that one could spend a lifetime on it.

I want to focus on the small section I've quoted for today's Quote of the Day. Throughout this story Jesus is seen as upset mostly in a sad way. But what is he upset about? Commonly we think it is about Lazarus being dead, but I'm not so sure that is the case. Could he possibly be upset because of the lack of faith his followers had? Mary, Martha and the others, while recognizing Christ's divinity, seem to doubt what Christ was doing. They didn't doubt that he could have done something, in fact they mentioned it often. They seemed to question Christ's will. "Why didn't you come earlier? Now everything is messed up!"

Looking particularly at the quoted section, they question his desire to have the stone rolled away. This again seems to question whether Jesus knows what he is doing.

How often are we guilty of this? We always ask for so much from God, but we often forget that what we want isn't always what is best. To quote the old country song, "Sometimes I thank God, for unanswered prayers." (Quick note, I don't like country music, so don't try to harass me about it!)

Not only do we need to turn to God, we also need to put faith in God's will. His will is not our will and I think we often forget that. His plan for us and for everyone is so much bigger than we could ever understand. We must learn to trust in him and have our prayers and our lives, reflect that trust.

The good example in today's Gospel reading is their obedience. Once Jesus reminds them of His divinity, all of the people in the story bow to His will. So maybe it isn't so bad that we question His will, as long as we, in good time, humbly respond to his requests with 'Thy will be done'.