“Now a man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. … So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, ‘Lord, he whom You love is sick.’ When Jesus heard this, He said, ‘This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it.’ Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. So when He heard that he was sick, He remained where He was two more days.” John 11:1,3-6 (Read John 10:1-7)

Lazarus from Bethany (just outside of Jerusalem), the brother of Mary and Martha, was very sick, and his sisters sent word to Jesus to seek His help and aid. The Scriptures clearly tell us of Jesus’ love for Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha. Yet, when Jesus received word that Lazarus was sick, He remained in the place where He was for two more days before traveling to Bethany to aid His friend.

Jesus said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” God had a reason for allowing Lazarus to be sick. It was that Jesus would be glorified by raising Lazarus from the dead, providing further witness to the fact that Jesus was and is the Son of God in human flesh who came into this world to atone for our sins and give us new life in communion with God through faith in Him.

And Jesus promised to raise the dead and give eternal life to all who believe in Him. His raising of Lazarus from the grave after being dead for four days is evidence that He can raise us up from the grave on the Last Day, as He promised, and give eternal life to all who have trusted in Him. Thus, Lazarus’ death was for the glory of Jesus, the Son of God and the Savior of lost mankind.

This raises important questions for us to consider. What if we or a loved one becomes seriously ill and faces death, and our prayers for healing and recovery seem to go unanswered? If God delays or even allows death to come, has he failed to answer our prayers? Not at all. He has a reason, often unknown to us, but for our good and for His glory.

We trust “that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose” (Rom. 8:28). If God wills that our lives in this world end, that is better for us and our loved ones than continuing to live on in this world, even though we are unable to see and understand His divine reasoning now.

And when we do become ill, face death, or even die, do we bring glory to God through it? Do we accept God’s will and die in the faith that Jesus paid in full for our sins when He died on the cross as our atoning sacrifice? Do we die with the assurance that, through faith in Jesus, we are pardoned and forgiven and will not be condemned in the final judgment? Do we die in the confidence that Jesus, who raised Lazarus from the dead and who Himself rose from the dead on the third day after His crucifixion, will also raise us up as He has promised and give unto us and all believers eternal life with Him in His kingdom?

Let your life and your death be to the glory of Christ Jesus by trusting in Him and His cross for pardon, forgiveness, and the eternal joys of heaven!

O precious Jesus, our resurrection and our life, grant that we trust You in all things and glorify Your name while we live and when we die. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version, Copyright © 2024, 2017, 2014 by United Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House. All rights reserved.]

“Again, the Jews took up stones to stone Him. Jesus answered them, ‘I have shown you many good works from My Father. For which of those works do you stone Me?’ The Jews answered Him, ‘We are not stoning You for a good work, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, claim to be God.’ Jesus answered them, ‘Is it not written in your law, “I said, ‘You are gods’ “? If He called them “gods,” to whom the word of God came, and the Scripture cannot be broken, do you say of Him, whom the Father has sanctified and sent into the world, “You blaspheme,” because I said, “I am the Son of God”? If I am not doing the works of My Father, do not believe Me. But if I do them, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him.’ Again they tried to seize Him, but He escaped from their hands. Then He went away again beyond the Jordan into the place where John was baptizing at first, and He remained there. Many came to Him and said, ‘John did no sign. But everything that John said about this Man was true.’ And many believed in Him there.” John 10:31-42

So often, the truth’s worst persecutors come from within the outward, visible church — from those who should accept and embrace the truth but do not because it calls into question the validity of established beliefs and traditions.

It happened to Jesus because He claimed to be the Messiah and the Son of God — a claim His teaching and many mighty miracles verified. But the truth He revealed challenged the religious beliefs and traditions of His day — that one could be acceptable to God by living according to traditions and a strict interpretation of God’s law passed down by the rabbis and elders revered in Jesus’ day. Instead of studying the Scriptures and accepting the truth, they rejected the truth and sought to kill Jesus.

Does this still happen today? Let a minister or church member challenge established church dogma or tradition with the clear words of Scripture and see what happens! It almost always results in a rejection of the truth in order to preserve long-held doctrines and traditions, even when such are clearly contrary to the Bible’s teaching. Instead of honest examination and comparison of church dogma and traditions with the Bible, it almost always ends in expulsions, ex-communications, and character assassinations.

Notice where Jesus went — beyond the Jordan where John was baptizing early in his ministry (cf. John 1:28). Jesus and His doctrine were not accepted in Jerusalem, the center and headquarters (so to speak) of Jewish worship in Jesus’ day. His claims and teaching were rejected and condemned by the “seminaries” and mainline “churches” of His day, so Jesus crossed over to the east side of the Jordan.

And what happened there? The seed of truth planted by John the Baptist took root. John testified of Jesus, saying He was the Son of God and the sacrificial Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. He said Jesus was before him, greater than him, and that he wasn’t even worthy to stoop down and unloose Jesus’ sandals. He called upon all his hearers to repent of their sinful ways and believe in Jesus, the promised Messiah and Savior of the world (cf. Mark 1:4-8; Matt. 3:1-12; Luke 3:1-20; John 1:14-36). And when those who had heard the preaching of John now heard the preaching of Jesus and witnessed His miracles, many believed in Him there.

So also today. It is not always the religious rulers and church officials who come to know and trust in Jesus — many times, they reject Him and the truth He proclaims and hold to their own religious traditions and teachings — but it is those who humbly hear God’s Word and see in Jesus the fulfillment of all that God has promised who are brought to believe.

Jesus is the Seed of the woman in Genesis 3, the Seed of Abraham in Genesis 12, the substitute sacrifice of Genesis 22, the virgin-born Immanuel of Isaiah 7, the Mighty God of Isaiah 9, the sin-bearing Servant of Isaiah 53 and Psalm 22, the only-begotten Son of God in Psalms 2 and 110, the one who provides abundant redemption in Psalm 130, the only-begotten Son of God and the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world in John 1.

The true Jesus, the Jesus of the Bible, may challenge your beliefs and traditions. He might even be rejected by your church or religious leaders in favor of another idea of Jesus imagined in men’s hearts. However, it is only the true Jesus revealed to us in the Bible who gives life. He is God the Son in human flesh. He is the one who fulfilled all that God said of Him in the ancient prophesies and promises of Scripture. He paid the penalty for your sins when He suffered and died on the cross as a perfect sacrifice for the sins of all. He rose again and will be your Judge on the Last Day. Those who trust in Him have pardon, peace, and the promise of the eternal joys of heaven. Those who reject him have no forgiveness, no peace, and will be condemned to the eternal torments of hell. (Cf. John 3:16-18,36; 1 John 5:11-12.)

Look at what God’s prophets (including John the Baptist) say of Jesus in God’s Word. Look at Jesus’ teaching and works. Look at the teaching of Jesus’ apostles recorded for us in the Bible. Place your faith, your hope, your confidence in Jesus, the Son of God and Your Savior!

O gracious and merciful God, grant that I not let my own views and traditions keep me from believing Your Word and placing my faith in Jesus, Your Son, and my Savior. In His name, I pray. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version, Copyright © 2024, 2017, 2014 by United Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House. All rights reserved.]

“The Feast of the Dedication was at Jerusalem, and it was winter. Jesus walked in the temple in Solomon’s Porch. Then the Jews surrounded Him, saying, ‘How long will You keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly.’ Jesus answered them, ‘I told you, and you did not believe. The works that I do in My Father’s name bear witness of Me. But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life. They shall never perish, nor shall anyone snatch them from My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them from My Father’s hand. My Father and I are one.’ Again the Jews took up stones to stone Him.” John 10:22-31 (Read John 10:22-42)

Is Jesus the long-promised Messiah and Savior? That’s what the Jews demanded that Jesus tell them. Still, it did no good because the people did not believe Jesus’ claims to be the Messiah, nor did they believe in Him because of the many mighty miracles he performed — works which no one could do unless God were with him and working through him. The Jews recognized what Jesus was claiming but did not believe. Instead, they sought to kill Him.

The situation is no different today. The Bible records Jesus’ words and claims for all to read and hear. It contains record after record of His miracles — even the account of His resurrection from the dead, witnessed by more than 500 people at once (1 Cor. 15:3-8). And Jesus clearly claimed to be the very Son of God, who came into this world as a man to redeem us and give to all who trust in Him pardon and everlasting life. Jesus’ miracles — healing the sick, opening the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf, making the lame whole, casting out demons, feeding thousands, calming the sea, turning water into wine, and even raising the dead on multiple occasions — clearly testify to the truthfulness of His claims to be the only-begotten Son of God and the Messiah and Savior of the world. But most do not believe and place their faith in Him for life and salvation!

Why? Jesus answered that question when He said, “But you do not believe because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you. My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me. I give them eternal life. They shall never perish, nor shall anyone snatch them from My hand.” While this is hard for us to grasp, only those chosen by God to follow Jesus as their Good Shepherd and trust in Him hear and believe Jesus’ words.

Jesus explained this on another occasion in John 6:37 and 44: “All whom the Father gives Me will come to Me, and he who comes to Me I will never cast out. … No one can come to Me unless the Father who has sent Me draws him. And I will raise him up on the last day.”

What does this mean? Consider the words of John 1:10-13: “He was in the world, and the world was created through Him, yet the world did not know Him. He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. Yet to all who received Him, He gave the power to become sons of God, to those who believed in His name, who were born not of blood, nor of the will of the flesh, nor of the will of man, but of God.”

Jesus tells us that we cannot, by our own reason or choosing, come to Jesus and trust in Him as God’s Son and our Savior. We would all reject Him and fail to believe. Apart from God’s gracious choosing and drawing, no one can come to know Jesus for who He is or trust in Him and His cross for forgiveness and life. Apart from God’s gracious choosing and the Holy Spirit’s enlightening work, the Bible, including Jesus’ words and teachings, would remain a closed book to us. We would be unable to understand what these words are really saying and rightly apply them to our lives.

But God, in His grace and mercy, has chosen those who believe and called them to come to Jesus and trust in Him for forgiveness and eternal life. It is by God’s gracious choosing and drawing that those who hear and believe have come to Jesus and recognize Him for who He is, trusting in Him and His cross for eternal life.

And, as Jesus said of those who come to Him and believe, “They shall never perish, nor shall anyone snatch them from My hand. My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all. No one is able to snatch them from My Father’s hand. My Father and I are one.”

Not only is it by the grace and mercy of God that believers hear God’s Word and come to trust in Jesus; it is by the grace and mercy of God that He, through His Word, keeps and preserves them in the true faith unto everlasting life.

The Bible tells us in Philippians 1:6: “He who began a good work in you will complete it until the day of Jesus Christ.”

O gracious heavenly Father, through Your Word, draw me to Jesus and grant me faith to trust in Him and His cross for the forgiveness of all my sins and for life everlasting. In Jesus’ name, I pray. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version, Copyright © 2024, 2017, 2014 by United Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House. All rights reserved.]

“Jesus cried out, ‘He who believes in Me believes not only in Me but in Him who sent Me. He who sees Me sees Him who sent Me. I have come as a light into the world, that whoever believes in Me should not remain in darkness.’” John 12:44-46

Do you want to know God? Know Jesus, for Jesus is God the Son, sent into the world by the Father to reveal the true God to us and provide salvation for us by making atonement for our sins! That is what Jesus essentially said in His conversation with His Jewish audience at Jerusalem.

Therefore, those who believe in Jesus as the Son of God and their Savior from sin trust not only in Jesus and His words but also in the Father who sent Jesus into the world for our salvation. Those who see Jesus see God Himself in human flesh who came into this world to be our Savior.

The reverse is also true. Those who do not trust in Jesus as the Son of God and the Savior from sin do not trust in God the Father. Jesus said, in John 14:6: “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.” In John 5:23, Jesus said that “all men should honor the Son, just as they honor the Father. He who does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent Him.”

And, of course, no one can see God apart from Jesus, for Jesus is God in the flesh, and He came into the world to make known to us the Father. In John 1:18, the Scripture says, “No one has seen God at any time. The only begotten Son, who is at the Father’s side, has made Him known.”

Jesus came into the world as a light shining in a dark place so that we would not remain in the darkness of sin and unbelief. Through His teaching, He reveals our utter sinfulness and guilt before God and God’s judgment upon our sin.

But Jesus also reveals God’s love and mercy toward us in sending His holy and sinless Son into the world to suffer and die in our stead and bear on the cross our just punishment so that we might look to Him in faith and be pardoned and forgiven and restored to life in communion with God the Father, forever!

Jesus shines upon you and your life, revealing your sinfulness and guilt but also offering you pardon and forgiveness through faith in His atoning sacrifice on the cross for the sins of the world. Do you walk in that light, confessing your sins and looking to Jesus and His blood shed on the cross for pardon and forgiveness? Or do you flee from that light or try to extinguish it in an attempt to cover up your sins, thereby remaining impenitent and under God’s wrath and condemnation? Cf. John 3:16-19.

Dear Lord Jesus, Son of God and Son of Man, by the Holy Spirit’s working through Your Word, let me see You and know You for who You are and what You have done for me that I might also see and know the Father’s love and mercy toward me and walk in fellowship and communion with You, the Father, and the Holy Spirit forever and ever. Amen.

[Scripture is quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version, Copyright © 2024, 2017, 2014 by United Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House. All rights reserved.]

“I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down His life for the sheep. But he who is a hired hand, and not a shepherd, who does not own the sheep, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and runs away. So the wolf catches the sheep and scatters them. The hired hand runs away because he is a hired hand, and does not care about the sheep. I am the good shepherd. I know My sheep and am known by My own. Even as the Father knows Me, so I know the Father. And I lay down My life for the sheep. I have other sheep who are not of this fold. I must also bring them, and they will hear My voice. There will be one flock and one shepherd.” John 10:11-16

What do these words of our Lord Jesus say to us today?

To pastors, it is a stern warning to shepherd God’s sheep with God’s Word. It is a warning not to abuse or neglect God’s flock but to preach and teach the whole truth revealed in the Bible and to faithfully apply God’s Word to recover the straying, to admonish the indifferent, to comfort and bind up the weak and injured, and to gather the lambs to their Savior. Those who don’t fulfill their duties will be held responsible for their failures to shepherd God’s sheep, but those who do the work entrusted to them will receive a reward (cf. 1 Cor. 4:1-2; Ezek. 34; Isa. 40:10-11; Jer. 23:1-4).

Peter writes in 1 Peter 5:2-4: “Shepherd the flock of God that is among you, take care of them, not by constraint, but willingly, not for dishonest gain, but eagerly. Do not lord over those in your charge, but be examples to the flock. And when the Chief Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of glory that will not fade away.”

St. Paul exhorted the pastors in Ephesus (Acts 20:28): “Therefore take heed to yourselves and to the entire flock, over which the Holy Spirit has made you overseers, to shepherd the church of God which He purchased with His own blood.”

To the sheep, it is a reminder that Jesus, the Good Shepherd, continues to watch over our souls. He feeds and nourishes us with His Word, which reveals to us our sinfulness but also comforts us with the good news of forgiveness and life through faith in Jesus Christ and His atoning sacrifice on the cross.

And, indeed, He gave His life for the sheep! Isaiah 53:6 tells us: “All of us like sheep have gone astray; each of us has turned to his own way, but the Lord has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”

Jesus gave His life for us to redeem us from sin and condemnation; and with His Word, He admonishes us when we go astray, comforts us when we repent and look to Him for pardon and peace, and encourages and comforts us when we are weighed down with guilt and overwhelmed by the troubles of this life.

His Word tells us in 1 John 1:7 — 2:2: “But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say that we have not sinned, we make Him a liar and His word is not in us. My little children, I am writing these things to you, so that you do not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the Righteous One. He is the atoning sacrifice for our sins, and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.”

When His called ministers are faithfully doing their duty, God commands us in Hebrews 13:17: “Remember those who rule over you, who have proclaimed to you the word of God. Follow their faith, considering the results it has produced in their lives.”

And, of course, the ultimate goal is that we, God’s sheep, dwell with the Lord Jesus forever. The goal is that which is expressed in Psalm 23:6: “Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life; and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever” (cf. Ps. 23:1-6).

And we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever when, by the gracious working of the Holy Spirit through God’s Word, we are preserved in the true and saving faith and trust in Christ and His cross alone for pardon and life everlasting!

“Savior, like a shepherd, lead us; much we need Your tender care. In Your pleasant pastures feed us, for our use your fold prepare. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, You have bought us; we are Yours. Blessed Jesus, blessed Jesus, You have bought us; we are Yours.” Amen. (Lutheran Service Book, Hymn No. 711, Verse 1.)

[Scripture is quoted from The Holy Bible, Modern English Version, Copyright © 2024, 2017, 2014 by United Bible Association. Published and distributed by Charisma House. All rights reserved.]