S T O N E S
What Stone Will You Let Jesus Roll Away Today?
May 29th, 2023
DEATH: Just One More Day
Luke 24:2, ‘But they found the stone rolled away from the tomb.’ (NKJV)
“I love the imagery of the stone that covered Jesus’ tomb rolling away when He defeated death. The reality is, we all have stones in our lives…but the good news is: Jesus Christ rolls stones away!” (Christine Caine)
John 11:41-44, ‘So they rolled away the heavy stone. Jesus gazed into heaven and said, “Father, thank You that You have heard my prayer, for You listen to every word I speak. Now, so that these who stand here with Me who believe that You have sent Me to the earth to be Your messenger, I will use the power You have given Me.” Then with a loud voice, Jesus shouted out with authority: “Lazarus! Come out of the tomb!” Then in front of everyone, Lazarus, who had died four days earlier, slowly hobbled out—he still had grave clothes tightly wrapped around his hands and feet and covering his face! Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him loose.” (TPT)
It is painful to lose someone you love.
Many of us know the story of Lazarus, best friend of Jesus. His sisters were dearly loved friends of Jesus too. They trusted and counted on Jesus, and when their brother grew ill, they immediately knew precisely who to call, who to summon, who to count on. But a problem occurred that many of us can relate to. We are beloved friends of Jesus too, and when someone we love becomes sick and is dying, we immediately cry out to Jesus, telling Him to come quick and fix our failing loved one.
Jesus does not always come to heal when we call. We have the benefit of Scripture so we can read the account of what happened with Mary, Martha and Lazarus, and we know and understand why Jesus delayed—for the saving of many—but can you imagine the grief and indignation—how disillusioned and abandoned—the sisters must have felt?! And even Lazarus! I wonder what was swimming in his head in the final moments of his life while he waited for Jesus to arrive to make him well. I imagine it is quite similar to our own emotions. Why, we called on You, Jesus, and You didn’t come! I expected that You would heal my beloved and You let him or her die. You didn’t show up at all.
That’s what we hear Martha, then Mary, rail to Jesus about. They are upset. They are devastated. They sob angrily, ‘We called you. We counted on you. You failed us in our time of need. If you had come, our brother would have lived, but you didn’t come; therefore, he has died. It is all your fault.’ Their best friend, their trusted friend, Jesus, the one they trusted to fix their brother, had let them down. In fact, it is interesting, because they trusted Jesus enough to heal Lazarus, to keep him from dying, but they did not trust Him enough to resurrect him and bring him back to life, to use their story to save many, to do something unimaginable. They were willing to walk away, shrug their shoulders, accept the loss, leaving their brother in the tomb—that is that—and walk away, defeat and desertion clouding the beliefs they once placed in their beloved Jesus.
Isn’t that also just like us? I think there are many people, that if you were to ask what was it that caused them to walk away from their faith, who would admit, ‘I expected Jesus to answer, to fix it, I counted on Him for healing, and it didn’t happen. I was told that He heals people, He saves people, but He didn’t heal me; He didn’t save my loved one. He didn’t keep His promise to me.’ Essentially, ‘He let me down. Maybe He saves some, but He didn’t save who I asked Him to, so He must not love me or my loved one that much. I must not be enough.’
Jesus promises healing. Full and complete healing. But it may not look like we thought it would look. Healing does not always happen this side of heaven. It may be unbeknownst to us why the Lord chooses to heal some, and sometimes, He chooses not to, and a loved one passes—or we find ourselves terrifyingly staring down death in the face with no relief in sight. But a Holy God promises there is a time for everything, and there is healing, and there is life even after death.
I wasn’t prepared for my own daddy to die. He was failing, more ill month by month. But I was not prepared for him to leave this earth on the evening that he did. I had so many questions, like had I taken him to the emergency room or called the paramedics sooner, maybe he would have rallied and still be alive. Did he know how very much I adored him, and if only I had one more day to make sure he knew, to prepare, to make better plans, to just simply enjoy each other’s company. It was then that I realized, Jesus had chosen not to call him out of the tomb he was entering; He had not rolled away that heavy stone deposited in our lives by death. And it was then and there, in that moment, my dad experienced perfect healing, perfect forgiveness, perfect release, perfect eternity. Who was I to cost him one moment of that, to wish him back here to me to endure this miserable life and all its trappings?!
It is no doubt Jesus loved Lazarus, and He could have healed him prior to his passing. He can do that for our loved ones also. He can—but will He? Will He choose to? Sometimes, a healing we are hoping for might actually be a detriment instead. Perhaps, in the moments when someone we love hovers between death and life, it might just be then, in that moment, when it is most timely to utter those little words with such a huge meaning, ‘Your will, Lord, not thine will be done.’ And whisper, loudly, and with conviction, ‘I trust You.’
“IT IS FINISHED!”
