“But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.” John 12:10–11, NKJV
Lazarus had already been dead once.
Jesus called him out.
The community removed the grave clothes.
He was alive.
And now the religious leaders wanted to kill him again.
Not because Lazarus had done anything wrong. Not because he had preached against them. Not because he had organized a rebellion. He was dangerous simply because he was evidence.
Every time Lazarus sat at the table, walked through the village, or appeared in public, his existence testified that Jesus had done something no system could explain or control. That is the danger of a genuine move of God.
Sometimes established religion knows how to recognize what fits its expectations, but struggles with what God does outside of them. The chief priests could not deny that Lazarus was standing there. So instead of allowing the evidence to change them, they considered eliminating the evidence.
That is frightening.
It is possible to become so committed to protecting a system, a position, a tradition, or an understanding of God that we begin resisting the very work of God we once claimed to be waiting for.
Lazarus did not need an argument. He was the argument. He had been buried. He had been bound. He had been mourned.
And now he was alive.
Sometimes the strongest testimony is not what you say. It is that you survived what should have buried you. It is that you are walking after people watched you go into the tomb.
It is that the grave clothes are gone.
And there will always be people who are more comfortable with the version of you that was buried than the version Jesus called out.
The same people who could tolerate a dead Lazarus became threatened by a living one. Death did not challenge their system. Resurrection did. That is why we must be careful.
We can become so accustomed to the way God moved yesterday that we fail to recognize the way He is moving today. We can defend tradition while resisting transformation.
We can protect the structure while opposing the Spirit. We can become more concerned with preserving what we understand than celebrating what only God could have done.
The question is not simply whether we believe God can move. The question is whether we will recognize His movement when it disrupts what we expected.
Lazarus was living proof that God had moved. And religion had a decision to make. Celebrate the resurrection. Or try to bury it again.
Let’s pray:
Heavenly Father, keep my heart tender enough to recognize Your work even when it does not happen the way I expected. Do not let me become so attached to my traditions, assumptions, or position that I resist what You are doing. Give me the humility to celebrate every place where You bring life out of death. In Jesus’ name, amen.
