Scripture Scribbles: March 17, 2024

the Gospel

John 11:1-45

Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, 
the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil 
and dried his feet with her hair; 
it was her brother Lazarus who was ill.
So the sisters sent word to him 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 when he heard that he was ill, 
he remained for two days in the place where he was.
Then after this he said to his disciples, 
“Let us go back to Judea.”
The disciples said to him, 
“Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, 
and you want to go back there?”
Jesus answered,
“Are there not twelve hours in a day?
If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, 
because he sees the light of this world.
But if one walks at night, he stumbles, 
because the light is not in him.” 
He said this, and then told them,
“Our friend Lazarus is asleep,
but I am going to awaken him.”
So the disciples said to him,
“Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.”
But Jesus was talking about his death, 
while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. 
So then Jesus said to them clearly,
“Lazarus has died.
And I am glad for you that I was not there,
that you may believe. 
Let us go to him.”
So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, 
“Let us also go to die with him.”

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus 
had already been in the tomb for four days.
Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away.
And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary 
to comfort them about their brother.
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming,
she went to meet him;
but Mary sat at home.
Martha said to Jesus, 
“Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.
But even now I know that whatever you ask of God,
God will give you.”
Jesus said to her,
“Your brother will rise.”
Martha said to him,
“I know he will rise,
in the resurrection on the last day.”
Jesus told 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.”

When she had said this, 
she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, 
“The teacher is here and is asking for you.”
As soon as she heard this,
she rose quickly and went to him.
For Jesus had not yet come into the village, 
but was still where Martha had met him.
So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her 
saw Mary get up quickly and go out,
they followed her, 
presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, 
she fell at his feet and said to him, 
“Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, 
he 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 that 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 to him, 
“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 had 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.

the devotion

Have you ever watched a loved one suffer? Have you ever worried about a loved one and thought, where are you God? 

Lazarus' loved ones were sad. They were worried about him and they wanted Jesus to do something about it.

His answer to them was “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.”

Ever since I’ve come to a greater understanding about our faith, it’s easy as a mom to remind our kids that their gifts and their talents are from God.  They can glorify Him by working hard and honing their skills, studying and getting good grades,  doing well in sports, creating beautiful art, being a good friend, all these things can glorify God…… but what about their suffering?  Do I  remind them that their suffering has the ability to glorify  God? When I suffer, am I suffering well? For the glory of God? Does my brain even go there in the midst of suffering?  What about when I watch a family member struggle? Do I dare to say that they’re struggle may just be to glorify God?

I don’t. 

I feel like this is something we recognize when we read stories about the Saints. The Saints seem to understand this, that their suffering was to glorify God,  some of them,  even most of them did it happily. I believe the reason they could do this was because they had a relationship with God before their suffering began. I think they knew HIM! I think the Saints knew Jesus, they believed Jesus had conquered death and that their suffering would not end in death but in eternal life.  That’s true Trust! True Surrender!  But that is what God wants from us. Our Trust. Our Surrender.  Imagine if we were able to give this to Him, hand it all over,  our lives,  all of it, and completely surrender to him. What would that look like?  Would we look more peaceful? Act less anxious? 

Could we maybe,  in the middle of our suffering, still be looking to make our lives a gift to others?  Could our witness of suffering well, look like our Trust in God? 

One of my favorite “mom” Bible verses is Philippians 4:6

“have no anxiety about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your request be made known to God”

There it is, make your request known to God! 

Not anxiously, but with Thanksgiving. 

I like clear instructions, and I'm finding the Bible can be quite clear.  (Have you ever heard BIBLE: Basic Instructions Before Leaving Earth?) 

I just never thought to sit and think about these “instructions” I just thought they were something someone would read during my weekly “obligatory” trip to Mass. I would sit and listen, or try to grab the child crawling under the pew and place them back on my lap,  I would leave, forgetting pretty much all of it. My Sunday Mass looks different now, no more crawling, crying babies. There is time to sit, time to listen, really listen, time to ponder…. what is this message? This message that is meant for me in the here and now? There is a message for each and every one of us. It’s personal, HE knows you. HE knows your struggle, your worries and HE loves you beyond any of our comprehension. Let’s see what He wants to use in our lives to glorify HIM. I hope you move through your day differently, considering glorifying Him with your joys and with your struggles. And while you're at it have a happy Saint Patrick’s Day!

May the road rise to meet you.

May the wind  always be at your back. 

May the SON shine warm upon your face.

The rains fall soft upon your fields,  until we meet again may God hold you in the palm of his hand.

Today’s devotion is written by Beth Brennan