"The Glory of God Revealed"

Jesus became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Sir, come and see." And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him." But some of them said. "Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so this man would not have died?" So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the dead man's sister, said, "Lord by now there will be a stench; He has been dead for four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me." And when he said this, he cried out in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, "Untie him and let him go." Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him. 

Consideration: "Lazarus, come out!" And behold..."The Glory of God Revealed"

The Glory of God / Part 1

The sisters of Lazarus sent a word to Jesus, saying, "Master the one you love is ill." When Jesus heard this he said, "This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister, and Lazarus. So that when he heard that he was ill, he remained two days in the place where he was. Then after this he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea." When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know whatever you ask of God, God will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise," Martha said, "I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world."

Jesus declares his love for, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. He proclaims that Lazarus will rise again, and that everyone who dies, or lives, and believes in him, will never die.

"This is the Christ"

Some in the crowd who heard these words of Jesus said, "This is truly the Prophet." Others said, "This is the Christ." But others said, "The Christ will not come from Galilee, will he? Does not the Scripture say that the Christ will be of David's family and come from Bethlehem, the village where David lived?" So a division occurred in the crowd because of him. Some of them even wanted to arrest him, but no one laid hands on him. So the guards went to the chief priests and Pharisees, who asked them, "Why did you not bring him?" The guards answered, "Never before has anyone spoken like this man." So the Pharisees answered them, "Have you also been deceived? Have any of the authorities or the Pharisees believed in him." But this crowd, which does not know the law, is accursed." Nicodemus, one of their members who had come to him earlier, said to them, "Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?" They answered and said to him, "You are not from Galilee also, are you? Look and see that no prophet arises from Galilee," Then each went to his own house.

Consideration: The Guards: "Never before has anyone spoken like this man." Nicodemus: "Does our law condemn a man before it first hears him and finds out what he is doing?" The Crowd: "This is truly the Prophet." Others said, "This is the Christ." Amen.

Jesus Affirms

Jesus moved about within Galilee; he did not wish to travel in Judea, because the Jews were trying to kill him. But the Jewish feast of Tabernacles was near. But when his brothers had gone up to the feast, he himself also went up, not openly but as it were in secret.

Some of the inhabitants of Jerusalem said, "Is he not the one they are trying to kill? And look, he is speaking openly and they say nothing to him. Could the authorities have realized that he is the Christ? But we know where he is from. When the Christ comes, no one will know where he is from." So Jesus cried out in the temple area as he was teaching and said, "You know me and also know where I am from. Yet I did not come on my own, but the one who sent me, whom you do not know, is true. I know him, because I am from him, and he sent me." So they tried to arrest him, but no one laid a hand on him, because his hour had not yet come.

Consideration: Jesus affirms who he is and who sent him. For this reason, the Jews wanted to kill him. But his hour had not yet come, so they did not lay a hand on him.

They do not Believe

Jesus said to the Jews: "The works that the Father gave me to accomplish, these works that I perform testify on my behalf that the Father has sent me. Moreover, the Father who has sent me has testified on my behalf. But you have never heard his voice nor seen his form, and you do not have his word remaining in you, because you do not believe in the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures, because you think you have eternal life through them; even they testify on my behalf. But you do not want to come to me to have life.I do not accept human praise; moreover, I know that you do not have the love of God in you. I came in the name of my Father, but you do not accept me; yet if another comes in his own name, you will accept him. How can you believe, when you accept praise from one another and do not seek the praise that comes from only God? Do you think that I will accurse you before the Father: the one who will accuse you is Moses, in whom you have placed your hope. For if you had believed Moses, you would have believed me, because he wrote about me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words?"

Consideration: Jesus tells the Jews that the works he performs testifies on his behalf that the Father has sent him. Yet, the Jews do not accept that he was sent by the Father. They search the Scriptures, believing eternal life is found through them. But they refuse to accept Jesus as the Son of the Father and refuse his words of eternal life. Even Moses wrote about him in his writings; yet they do not believe.

A New Beginning

Air raid warnings sound across the land, people scatter for shelter

Precision munitions, loss of life in the ancient land, people in fear

Many say this is the beginning of the end, Bible quotes tell us so

It may or may not be, this hell and misery, but God only knows

A mastermind conceived an evil plan, destruction through division

God's creation of man must be destroyed, and the earth we live in

Angel of Light to demon of darkness, cast from the heavenly realm

To the fiery pit for he and his minions, the pain and agony of hell 

The signs of the times seem to be as predicted are all around us

As heaven and earth are crying out with misery, groans and pains

People of God's light are persevering through all of this madness

Faith, hope, and trust will lead us through just as those before us

Be not afraid, the words that have stood the persecutions of time

God did not create us to destroy us, but to grant us eternal life

Though the bombs may fall and destruction at a glance winning

God will lead us to a springtime of eternity and a new beginning

Love of the Father for the Son

Jesus answered the Jews: "My Father is at work until now, so I am at work." For this reason, they tried all the more to kill him, because he not only broke the sabbath, but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God. Jesus answered and said to them, "Amen, amen, I say to you, the Son cannot do anything on his own, but only what he sees the Father doing, for what he does, the Son will do also. For the Father loves the Son and shows him everything that he himself does, and he will show him greater works than these, so that you may be amazed. For just as the Father raises the dead and gives life, so also does the Son give life to whomever he wishes. Nor does the Father judge anyone, but he has given all judgment to the Son, so that he may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Whoever does not honor the Son does not honor the Father who sent him. Amen, amen, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes in the one who sent me has eternal life and will not come to condemnation, but has passed from death to life. Amen, amen, I say to you, the hour is coming and is now here when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, so also he gave to the Son the possession of life in himself. And he gave him power to exercise judgment, because he is the Son of Man. Do not be amazed at this, because the hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and will come out, those who have done good deeds to the resurrection of life, but those who have done wicked deeds to the resurrection of condemnation.

"I cannot do anything on my own; I judge as I hear, and my judgement is just, because I do not seek my own will but the will of the one who sent me."