Whiteboard Therapy: Wherein together we create an online Bible study in the comments section. All are welcome, no comment or question is too simple or too complex or even too out there. We can work out our faith together as a community, with permission to change your mind, erase and start over like a whiteboard.

"Lord, your dear friend is very sick."
I'm having trouble finishing up the Lazarus series. I've sat with the first sixteen verses for months now and I still have questions whose answers aren't revealing themselves. Help me put myself into this story and apply it to my own healing situations. Let's do part of it this week and finish up next week:

A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.”

But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days. Finally, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”

- John 11:1-7

Background Information:
I think the settings of the Lazarus story are important to understanding what happened. I'm not great with Bible geography, so if I get any of this wrong, please feel free to correct me in the comments.

At the beginning of John 12, Jesus has fled from Jerusalem and Bethany where the Pharisees tried to capture him again. These were places where Jesus has been putting His life in danger to announce the Kingdom. They flee to a place in Perea, probably Aenon, where Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. This is a place of refuge for Jesus, for the whole town loves Him and John, and Jesus and His disciples get a chance to have a reprieve from the dangers they encountered elsewhere.

But Lazarus and his sisters are from Bethany, the scene of the Olivet Discourse (the Beatitudes, etc), a village two miles from Jerusalem. It is Jesus' final stop before entering Jerusalem, in the province of Judea, ultimately the scene of His Crucifixion. And from what I can tell its the last place Jesus was before fleeing to Perea.

Questions to get us started:
Why did Jesus choose to stay and let Lazarus die?
Or, the same question a different way: Why didn't Jesus choose to go and heal Lazarus immediately?
Is there something unique about this situation that makes it for God's glory to be revealed, or could it apply to many/most sicknesses, even today?
Since Jesus ultimately responds to the sisters' call, is Jesus refusing to work on someone else's timetable, and taking the time He and His disciples need to recharge instead of rushing to help? Does Jesus need to recharge? How does all of this tie into the life Jesus invites us into?
Where are we in this story?
What does the story tell us about Jesus?
Does anything in this story relate to our physical or emotional healing?
After Lazarus rose from the dead, he ate, or 'reclined' with Jesus. How do you think he felt about the whole situation? Depending on your answer, how does that reflect how you feel about the situation?

I'm sure you all have great answers and even better questions. I'll post any questions you ask up here, and the comments are open to anyone, anonymous or not.

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Labels: Jesus