Lazarus And The Timing Of God

His delay was purposeful, not neglectful. Scripture says, "So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was" (John 11:6, NKJV). Jesus had already declared the outcome: "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God" (John 11:4). The Reformed doctrine of providence holds that God's timing serves His glory and His people's good, even when it differs from ours.

No. The text states plainly, "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus" (John 11:5, NKJV), and immediately notes that He stayed. His love and His delay are placed side by side. A greater good was intended, namely the strengthening of faith and the display of His power over death. God's love is not measured by the speed of relief but by the wisdom and goodness of His purpose.

He claimed to be the very source of life, not merely its agent. "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live'" (John 11:25, NKJV). Resurrection is not only a future event but a Person. This is one of the great "I AM" sayings of John's Gospel, asserting Christ's full deity and His authority over the grave itself.

Yes. The Confession teaches that Christ, as Mediator, was given "all power and judgment" by the Father (WCF 8.1) and that He purchased "an everlasting inheritance in the kingdom of heaven" for the elect (WCF 8.5). His command at the tomb displays that authority. The raising of Lazarus is a foretaste of the resurrection Christ guarantees to all who are united to Him by faith.

It reveals the true humanity of Christ. "Jesus wept" (John 11:35, NKJV) is the shortest verse in Scripture, yet it shows the incarnate Son entering real human grief. The Westminster Confession affirms that the Son took "the whole nature of man, with all the essential properties" (WCF 8.2). He is no distant deity but a sympathetic High Priest who genuinely feels the sorrow of His people.

Foreknowledge does not cancel real compassion. Twice the text says He "groaned in the spirit" and "was troubled" (John 11:33, NKJV). His tears were not feigned. Hebrews says we have a High Priest who can "sympathize with our weaknesses" (Hebrews 4:15, NKJV). Christ grieved the wreckage that sin and death bring into the world He made, even as He prepared to overturn it.

Lazarus was restored to mortal life and would die again. He came out "bound hand and foot with graveclothes" (John 11:44, NKJV) and still needing to be loosed. Christ's resurrection was to glorified, deathless life, leaving the graveclothes behind. Lazarus is a sign that points beyond himself to the greater resurrection that Christ alone secures for His people.

It teaches grief held together with hope. Martha confessed, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day" (John 11:24, NKJV), and Jesus pointed her to Himself as that hope. Paul calls death "the last enemy that will be destroyed" (1 Corinthians 15:26, NKJV). Christians may weep at the grave, yet not "as others who have no hope," because Christ has conquered death.

He prayed for the benefit of the watching crowd. "Because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me" (John 11:42, NKJV). The miracle was a public sign confirming His identity as the Son sent by the Father. The whole event was ordered toward faith, just as Jesus had said: "that you may believe" (John 11:15).

It calls us to rest in God's wisdom when His timing confuses us. The same Lord who waited also wept and then conquered the grave. "We know that all things work together for good to those who love God" (Romans 8:28, NKJV). Delay is not denial. The God who is never late is working all things, even our hardest waiting, for His glory and our good.