John - Lazarus

This week we continue in John 11, sitting with the hard truth that Jesus does not operate on our timeframe and can be deeply moved by our pain without moving the way we want. We watch Mary and Martha grieve a brother Jesus loved yet allowed to die, and we hear Him declare that He is the resurrection and the life, the great I Am who calls us to present faith over perfect faith. We close at the tomb, where rolling away the stone means exposing what “stinketh” in our lives so the Lord can heal it, and where the community unwraps the grave clothes so we are no longer identified by who we used to be.