“Loose Him and Let Him Go” |
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| Preacher Pastor John H. West Date Scripture Text
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Loose him... untie him... unfetter him... and let him go!In our scripture text, Jesus is about to perform His last miracle in the Gospel according to John. Jesus is on His way to the cross. Before He gets to Cavalry, He is confronted with the news that His dear friend Lazarus was sick. Had He hurried, He could have reached Lazarus' sick bed in one day. However, in John 11:6, Jesus took His time and stayed where He was for two additional days. God does not necessarily move on our time schedules. Mary and Martha expected Jesus to come running at the news about Lazarus' sickness. After all, Jesus loved them and they had always taken care of Jesus.
God does not act according to our time schedules.When we go to God, we want our blessing right now. We pray...
We want instant blessings, but God has His own time schedule. We need to learn what the prophet Isaiah said: We need to wait upon the Lord! God does not move when we want Him to move... but He is always right on time.
Even the beloved people of God have to sufferMary, Martha and Lazarus loved Jesus and Jesus loved them. That did not change the fact that Lazarus still died. John 11:17 tells us that when Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had been dead for four days. Don't think that bad things never happen to God's people. It is true that we are covered by the Blood of Jesus and that God's love is over us. It is also true that nothing can separate us from God's love (see Romans 8:35). Mary and Martha felt this way (see John 11:21, 32). If Jesus had only been there, Lazarus would not have died. These women believed that the love of Jesus would shield them from the reality of pain and death. Nevertheless, Lazarus still died. Jesus loved Lazarus, but Lazarus still died. Some of us are waiting for God to shield us from suffering, but Jesus never promised that we would never have burdens. He only promised that we would not have to bear them by ourselves. We can go through surgery, marital difficulties, crime infested neighborhoods, hospital stays, and dead-end jobs because Jesus is in front of you, beside you, behind you, above you and beneath you. Lazarus was dead and buried. The deed was done. Rigor mortis had set in. The death pallor had come. The tears had been shed. Regardless, Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Whosoever believes in Jesus... though he were dead, yet shall he live.
Remember that, God is still in the resurrection business. God is able to raise you up. Lazarus was dead, but when they took Jesus to the grave, Jesus said out loud, "Lazarus, come forth!" You may have designer clothing and a fine car, but you are dead spiritually. However, you can leave here alive and on fire for Jesus. You may have come in emotionally dead but you can have joy. You may have come with no faith but you can leave believing God.
Saved, but not yet deliveredIn John 11:44, Jesus said, "loose him and let him go." Lazarus came back to life... but he had not yet obtained his freedom.
Some of us are saved, yet we are bound up. We have no joy, no victory, no zeal, no fire of commitment. We have our seat in the church, but we don't have our soul in heaven (see Ephesians 2:5-6). Like Lazarus, we are saved from eternal death, but we are still bound and need to be delivered. "Delivered" is a Biblical word. God has more than just salvation for you. We need to receive His deliverance from:
Jesus wants us free and alive to open our mouths, lift up our hands, praise, and dance in honor of our King. If the Son make you free, you shall be free indeed (cf. John 8:36).
It is not the preacher's job... it is your jobThe command to loose him was not given to the disciples. It was given to the believers. Jesus did His work, it was their job to untie the man and set him free.
If we don't disciple them, if we don't show them the way to the Lord, they will never find it. Christ does His part... we need to do our part.
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