John 11:37

“But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?’” (John‬ ‭11‬:‭37‬)

I love John 11 because it challenges the way we think about how Jesus (God) should behave. For example, the story of Lazarus’ resurrection opens with Jesus being informed that Lazarus is very sick. The natural assumption is that he would hurry to Lazarus, which is exactly what Martha thought (10:21). However, Jesus waited two days after hearing the news before heading toward Bethany.

Our verse follows the same type of thinking that suggests if God could do something, he surely would do that thing. But just as we saw that Jesus could have left for Bethany sooner, but didn’t, we also see that Jesus could have kept Lazarus from dying, but he didn’t. So often, skeptics will reason that if God is all-powerful, he would do X. Therefore, because God didn’t do X, he is not all-powerful. However, the story of Lazarus ‘ resurrection undermines this type of reasoning.

Verse 4, helps us understand why Jesus/God doesn’t necessarily behave in the way we might reason that He should: “But when Jesus heard it he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’” (11‬:‭4‬, emphasis added) Notice the bolded part. Jesus allowed Lazarus to die so that the Son of God might be glorified through it.

This is similar to the story of the blind man in John 9. Very few of us, including me, would want to be born blind or have our brother die. However, after seeing these two stories in John, we could not reason that a good God would not allow either to happen, even if He chose not to heal our blindness or resurrect our brother in our timeframe.

When things that we would not choose happen, we must be patient and seek God’s glory in that circumstance. In fact, the way we endure that hardship may be where we and others see God’s glory.

Father, help me never demand that you behave in any certain way. Please help me seek to glorify you when I face circumstances that I would not have chosen. Amen.