Delayed By Love Part 1

In John 11:1-16, Jesus’ disciples couldn’t understand why Jesus didn’t go to Lazarus the minute that he heard that his good friend was ill.  They couldn’t even imagine what Jesus had planned.  A plan that was, until this miracle, yet unseen, but as Jesus said, was for their sakes—so they would believe in Him. 

Then Jesus waited until Lazarus had been dead four full days before going to him.  This was done so that God would get the glory, and to refute the superstitions believed by the Jews that a deceased person’s spirit would hover over their dead body for up to three days, hoping for resuscitation so the spirit could re-enter the body. But, by the 4th day, due to decay, it would give up hope and depart.

Sometimes, we experience delays in answers to prayer that we simply can’t understand.  But, maybe our delay is because Jesus has a better plan—a plan that for our sakes, will increase our hope and establish our faith in Him so that God will get the glory.