“There they made him a supper; and
Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.”
–John 12:2
It is the unfortunate human condition that we seemingly have the
inability to place the same amount of emphasis on more than one thing. I mean, how great would it be to be able to
give all your attention to your spouse and you kids at the same time? Or the kids and the dishes? More often than not, something is left out or
overlooked, not because it is less, but because we can only emphasize so much
at once. The titanic events of the day
can dominate the solemnity of a supper table.
The greater moments of conversion overshadow the importance of consistency.
The man Lazarus is known across the world
because of Christ. Lazarus died, they
wrapped his body, and laid it in a grave.
There he lay, four days before Jesus came along and raised him from the
dead. Sometime afterword, they all sat
down to eat at Martha’s house and there sat Lazarus at the table; eating with
them. The scripture doesn’t out right say
it, but in my opinion (with the exception of Christ’s own resurrection); no
miracle marked Jesus’s ministry like the resurrection of Lazarus. The fame of the miracle spread so fast and
the news so board that people were actually coming with the express purpose to
see Lazarus. Physical evidence that this
man, Jesus Christ, has the power to give life to the dead, and here sits proof
of that. Now, thousands of years later
we understand through the reading of the Word of God that the resurrection of
Lazarus is an allegory to what Christ can do for you in a spiritual sense. He can take a man or women who is dead in
their sins and make them alive. He can
give life. This cannot be overstated and
will likely be consistently under appreciated.
On the heels of this truth, and perhaps a minor point when a breast to
the life giving power of Jesus; let us also consider that Lazarus sat a
supper. From this short little sentence
we can infer a truth that unfortunately, is often overlooked and certainly
understated. That truth is that there is
life after LIFE. Jesus Christ will give
you new life, he will raise you from the dead works of sin, but just because
that happens; it doesn’t mean that all your troubles will vanish. If you’re broke before you come to God, then
it’s likely you will be broke after you come to him. Your circumstances don’t
always change, but what does change is YOU.
You view your circumstances different than before, and you believe that
God is in control of your circumstances (this brings peace). We cannot come to God expecting him to change
our circumstances. We must come
expecting and needing him to change us.
In addition to our circumstances, there is day to day life after LIFE. You get up, go to work, come home, eat,
sleep, and do it all over again the next day.
True, Jesus brings a glorious salvation.
It is a monumental event in your life, but at some point, you are going
to come down from the spiritual high and sit at the table again. At some point, the honeymoon is over and you
have a marriage to live out. It is in
the mundane we can lose Christ, and in the mundane we can draw nearer to
him. If we are not careful, we can
become complacent and get “stuck in a rut.” If we are vigilant, we will find
that Christ can bring an ever present peace that passes all understand and we
will realize that even in the most commonplace Jesus can bring joy and
blessings.
Lazarus had a life after LIFE, and he lived that life but not as
he was before. He was changed forever,
and so was his influence. Granted, we
may never be a national sensation because of our salvation through Christ, but
you can influence those around you. Day
in and day out you can live a life after LIFE that testifies of the Christ that
raised you from the dead. Even at the
supper table, we can testify to His power and holiness.
