38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 "Take away the stone," he said.
"But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days."
Oddly, these verses make me wonder about what sin each of us may harbor in which we have staunchly and protectively placed a stone in front of, refusing to let it be taken away so that Jesus can heal the inside. His desire is for us to remove the stone in order to bring the dead to life. Here, Jesus’ almighty power certainly does not negate man’s responsibility as He asks them to take the stone away. Like Martha, we might protest of a bad odor once the stone is removed – we all know sin stinks and that it has made the world of mankind into a perfect dunghill - yet our obedience to the Lord’s command is necessary for Jesus’ purposes and plans to be realized in our lives. What boulder does He desire for us to budge? Could it be bitterness, resentment or anger? How about deceit, selfishness or slander? What about gossip, filthy language, self-pity or lust? The list is as varied and unique as each eye that is reading this. Jesus desires for us to get rid of the putrid dead in our lives in order for us to truly live. His desire is for us to “take hold of the life that is truly life”. We are to take off the old and put on the new. Paul tells us in Colossians:
5 Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. 6 Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. 7 You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived. 8 But now you must rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips. 9 Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices 10 and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator. Col 3:5-10 (NIV)
In Surprised By Joy, C.S. Lewis paints a vivid description of what he found when he examined his own heart: “A zoo of lusts, a bedlam of ambitions, a nursery of fears and a harem of fondled hatreds.”
Jesus desires for us to be as He – “the firstborn among many brothers”. He is our ultimate Example. It matters very much how we choose to live. Yet our Lord never forces obedience for forced obedience is nothing more than cheap and slavish legalism. It is His desire for obedience to be motivated by our trust in Him and our love for Him – even when, like Martha, we clearly do not understand the circumstances. Martha could not discern any use whatsoever in opening the cave where her brother laid; he had been dead for four days. Martha’s vision remained partially obscured. She gives up the case as helpless and hopeless. Yet her distrustful words only served to make the miracle all the more illustrious. Her limited vision limited her faith – we don’t want to go there. Just as Paul writes:
12 Now we see but a poor reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face. Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known. 1 Cor 13:12 (NIV)
How often, like Martha, our faith tends to break down in the time of trial – when our vision is cloudy and our prayers seem to be hitting the ceiling. It is easy to talk faith when we are sassy and satisfied but let our health fail or our finances plunder or our children stray and all of a sudden the dire darkness overtakes the light of faith. We can be assured that our partial knowledge will one day be displaced with perfect knowledge of God and His ways. There is always a plan and quite frankly, our fretting regarding our circumstance is nothing more than wickedness.
“Our Lord never worried and was never anxious, because His purpose was never to accomplish His own plans but to fulfill God’s plans. Fretting is wickedness for a child of God.” Oswald Chambers
We are not to be drowning in our circumstances but are called by faith, like Peter, to walk upon the waters. We are to relinquish our doubts, knowing that He carries and sustains us by His achieving power. We are called to be believing not fearful. As we relinquish all to Him, he replaces anxiousness and fearfulness with peace – and that’s a wonderful trade off! Paul tells us in Philippians:
6 Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. Phil 4:6-7 (NIV)
“The weapon of repentance, through rejection of false beliefs and affirmation of godly truth, has changed thousands of lives. Repentance can liberate the mind and destroy speculations and every lofty thing raised up against the knowledge of God (2 Cor. 10:5). And it can help us discover the wondrous significance we have in Jesus Christ: We are deeply loved, completely forgiven, fully pleasing, totally acceptable, and complete in Him. Our journey is a joyous and challenging adventure with Christ. Robert McGee