“Jesus said: Take away the stone. Then they took away the stone” (Jonh 11:39a, 41a).
The big stone was slowly being pushed to the side. The whole stone was chiseled so it would cover the opening of the tomb perfectly. In Jesus time, the above average and the rich were buried in tombs that were carved out of the side of mountains. But why did the people have to push the stone away? Didn’t they know that in the tomb there was a body that was buried four days ago already?
Jesus knew perfectly well that the body was decomposing, sending out really bad odors. That was exactly what He wanted to show the people, by delaying His coming to the grave site. He postponed His coming to their rescue to show that Lazarus was really dead. He did not want to raise a person who was only unconscious. He wanted to raise a decaying body from the dead! Jesus stood in front of the tomb and ordered the men around Him to “Roll away the stone!” and they followed His directions. They worried that a rancid smell would be coming out of the tomb, but their hands still pushed the stone aside. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, but the hands of the men helped in this special task, when they pushed the stone, that separated the living and the dead.
God always shows the miracles and His powers, by working together with those who possess faith. The earthly church was called to spread the gospel even though He could definitely have used His angels to preach. God calls each one of us to put our hands together with His to carry out His work. By working together with Him, we can perform the miracles of changing people’s hearts, and of reviving those who have died spiritually. Let us put our hands on the stones and push away the ties that bind people’s lives. Let us drive back the barriers that prevent human beings from seeking their Savior. This is our calling in life, our purposeful work. Let us not leave Christ to do His work alone. He needs us to cooperate with Him to make this world a better place. Miracles may not be occurring today, simply because the church members are not fervent in putting their hands together to work with God. God does not want to perform miracles by Himself. He always wants our collaboration.
Pastor Thoai Duong
