As I walk in the mornings and pray, I begin to think on things. The Holy Spirit usually gives me one “thing” to think on. Today, it is the stone outside the tomb of Lazarus. I’m processing it as I write, so you’re privy to my thought processes. (If that’s scary to you, imagine living in my head ..)
What about this … why didn’t Jesus just roll that stone away? If He could restore life to Lazarus inside, we know He had the power to move a stone. He created stones. One word from Jesus would have moved it, crushed it, turned it into powder..
Jesus walked the earth as a man, although He was fully God. He limited Himself to the things humans do, except those things humans do in faith. Each person, even in the presence of Jesus, had to do their own believing. Believing didn’t have to be perfect, but it had to be present in some form. In this instance, it was in the form of humans rolling away the stone when Jesus spoke.
What was the purpose of the stone in front of the tomb? Several. To separate the dead from the living, to barricade those who walked past the dead from encountering the sights and smells of decay. To keep animals from destroying and stealing the body. Probably lots of other reasons as well.
And likely some of those men who moved the stone were thinking, “This I have to see” or just wanted to be a part of the group. We don’t know, but we know human nature so it’s possible some weren’t expecting, but they obeyed in spite of what they felt. They responded to the command of Jesus.
And then Jesus spoke, and he who had been dead four days, who, even his sister said, “Lord, he stinks”, walked to the opening those men had made. The power and glory of God were revealed because men rolled away the stone.
The accomplishments of God, those supernatural acts of compassion and power that are evidence of God’s existence and God’s intention and involvement, then and now, start with our obedience. The power in those men’s obedience was a life giving opportunity for God to do what He always intended to do ..restore life. John 10:10 tells us that Jesus came “to give life and to give it more abundantly.”
Are there stones in our lives that are keeping dead things dead, standing between us and the life that God has for us, a life full and restored, so amazingly so, that in Lazarus’ case, religious leaders wanted to kill him again because his life testified of God’s power? Jesus hasn’t changed. His power hasn’t been diminished, only unseen, because we His people haven’t always followed the first step. “Roll away the stone”.
Don’t see the stone? Go where Jesus is and ask Him to point it out. Life more abundant is waiting behind the rock.
For His Glory 