A Miracle No One Could Ignore

In Bethany, Martha is the first one to meet Jesus, saying: "Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died."  Mary and those who had come to their house follow.  All are weeping.  "Where have you laid him?"  Jesus asks.  They answer:  "Lord, come and see." When they arrive at the memorial tomb-a cave with a stone lying at against its opening-Jesus declares: "Take the stone away."  Not understanding what Jesus intends to do, Martha objects: "Lord, my now he must smell, for its four days."  But Jesus asks:  "Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" -John 11:17-40.

As the stone covering the entrance of Lazarus' tomb is removed, Jesus prays out loud so that the people will know that  what he is about to accomplished through the power of God.  Then he cries out with a loud voice:  "Lazarus, come on out!" Lazarus comes out with his feet and hands bound with burial wrappings and his face covered with a cloth. "Loose him and let him go," says Jesus. -John 11:41-44.

On seeing this miracle, many of the Jews who had come to comfort  Martha and Mary put faith in Jesus.  Others go off to tell the Pharisees what has occurred.  Their reaction? Immediately, they and the chief priests call in an emergency meeting of the Sanhedrin.  In panic, they lament:  "What are we to do, because this man performs signs? If we let him alone this way, they will all put faith in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place  and our nation." But High Priest Caiaphas  says to them:  "You do not reason out that it is to your benefit for one man to die in behalf of the people and not for the whole nation to be destroyed."  Therefore, from that day on they take counsel to kill Jesus. -John 11:45-53. 

So it is that by delaying his arrival in Bethany, Jesus is able to perform  a miracle that no one can ignore. Empowered by God, Jesus resurrects a man who has been dead for four days. Even the prestigious Sanhedrin is forced  to take note and pass a death sentence upon the Miracle Worker!  the miracle thus serves as a prelude to an important turning point in Jesus'  ministry-a shift from the period when "his hour had not yet come" to the time when "the hour has come." 

Next time: "THE HOUR HAS COME!" 

From the Watchtower magazine, 2000