Jesus Put Others In Harm's Way (Which Just Happened To Be The Path To Glory)

What Did Jesus Do?


So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well,
because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
John 12.10-11

You know how the Surgeon General has those little warnings on packs of cigarettes (Not that anyone pays any attention to them), well Jesus gave a similar warning to those who were thinking of becoming his disciples (see Matthew 16.21-28; Mark 8.31-9.1; Luke 9.23-27). Dietrich Bonhoeffer put it this way, “When Jesus calls a man, he bids him come and die.” In other words, following Jesus could get you killed! On the other hand, not following Jesus will most certainly lead to death, and then eternal suffering. While those who die in, with, and for Christ take the path to glory and eternal life.

The Bible doesn't give us a lot of detail about the life of Lazarus after Jesus called him out from the tomb. We know that Lazarus and his sisters threw a party to thank Jesus (John 12.1-7). And we know, from the verses we are looking at today, that Lazarus became a “wanted man,” so to speak, making it to #2 on the chief priests' “Public Enemies” list, right after Jesus. This should not at all surprise us, given what we pointed out in the first paragraph.

We do not know from Scripture if the chief priests ever got their hands on Lazarus. I imagine that, whatever happened, Lazarus didn't “take it on the lam” (become a fugitive), but probably lived more boldly than anyone else has before or since. After all, Lazarus had experienced death itself, and lived to tell the tale, if you will. Can't you just see the friends of Lazarus expressing the same kind of concern for him as Christ's disciples had for the Lord (see John 11.8)? I can almost hear Lazarus replying to those worried about his safety, “The chief priests! What can they do to me, kill me? Been there and done that. Death doesn't frighten me, because Jesus has called me to life, now and forevermore!”


Nevertheless, deciding to follow Jesus is not to be taken lightly. If we follow Christ we will earn the world's enmity (Matthew 10.22), even as the chief priests determined to put Lazarus to death. But this is only to be expected since the world had no use for the Lord himself (John 15.18). The Good News is, the world has already done its worst to Jesus, and he has overcome, and we therefore have nothing to fear even though we should have to endure tribulation (John 16.33). You see, as it turns out, harm's way is the very path to glory, while “playing it safe” and trying to cling to one's life is, well, a dead end.

I don't know about you, but I am looking forward to meeting Lazarus, and hearing him tell of his latter days. I'm sure they were far more interesting than his former days. We know they were fruitful, because many believed in Jesus because of him (John 12.11). May it be that some day the same will be said about us.

S.D.G.

Jim
www.jimwilkenministries.org
Marion, NC
PS 37.4