This is Part 5 of a 6-Part Series on Illness, Healing, and Death
Jesus tells the disciples to remove the stone from the tomb, and Martha protests, "Lord, it's gonna stink; it's been 4 days!" (My paraphrase).
Scripture is clear that the women (well, at least Martha, but I believe Mary as well) believed that Jesus was who He said He was, that He could have miraculously healed Lazarus if He had chosen to, that, even now, Jesus was capable of anything - even raising Lazarus from the dead, and that, even if Lazarus physically died, he would have eternal life in heaven. (See John 11:21-27)
I think Martha's concern for the stench was not a lack of faith, but, rather, I think they assumed Jesus had chosen the last option - eternal life in heaven. So much time had passed without His intervention ... and He, Himself, had just been weeping at the tomb. Certainly, all external indicators were that the last option was the direction Jesus was going. And one of the things I love about this story was the women's faith and trust in Jesus - regardless of the outcome. Even though things had not gone the way they would have wanted them to, they were surrendered to God's will; they trusted Jesus implicitly. He was still their Lord and Savior - whether His will lined up with their will or not.
"Then Jesus said, 'Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?'" - John 11:40
Now, I'm sure you've all heard the story ... I'm sure you probably already know the ending. Jesus physically and literally raised Lazarus from the dead. It's hard to do this justice, but I want you to seriously contemplate that for a moment. We are not talking about swooping in at the last minute and healing him. We're not talking about clinically dead for 40 minutes, but lived to tell about it. We're not even talking clinically dead for 4 hours and was raised from the dead. We're talking about physically dead and buried in the tomb for four days - funeral's over, luncheon cleaned up; time to wrap up the casseroles and head home.
To say that witnessing that firsthand would be nothing short of shocking would be a gross understatement. Life-changing for sure. Because they believed, Mary and Martha got a front row seat to one of the most amazing miracles of all time. Hallelujah! Praise the Lord! I can't even imagine what that must have felt like!
Now, bear with me here: Does God reward faith and belief? YES, absolutely! (see Hebrews 11:6 among countless others) Does this mean that all we have to do is believe and we will never experience illness, pain, suffering, or physical death? No, I don't believe it does.
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus experienced all of those things, and I hate to be the bearer of what some may consider "bad" news here, but Lazarus is not still walking around among us today. At some point in time, he did physically die ... although I am quite certain he is living eternally with his Lord and Savior in heaven. And while we have a tendency to desperately pray and ask God to prevent that - for ourselves or for our loved ones - it's actually the best, and the most loving, of all of the options.
For some reason, I have recently been led to read several accounts of people who have had a near-death experience; "Heaven is for Real" by Todd Burpo, "To Heaven and Back" by Dr. Mary C. Neal, and "Miracles from Heaven" by Christy Beam. I loved all 3 books; however, as with most books which are made into movies, the movies can't compare. There are positives and negatives that are unique to each medium, but the books are worth the read even if you have seen the movies and didn't care for them.
I realize there are some Christians who may react negatively to accounts of near-death experiences, and do not get me wrong, I am not saying they are all real, accurate, or reliable ... and I certainly wouldn't give them the same weight as I do God's Word. However, I do believe some of them (including these three) seem to be very honest and sincere testimonies. If you are a Christian and you don't believe God is still at work all around us and working miracles today, and you aren't at least somewhat willing to be open-minded to hearing about them, then you may have a religious stronghold you may need to pray about.
For me, the thing I appreciate about all of these accounts is that they are much easier for me to "wrap my brain around" than the scriptural descriptions of heaven. As much as I know from biblical descriptions of heaven and how amazing and wonderful it is, it almost seems so surreal that I can't really identify with it. The one thing all of these accounts have in common is how glorious heaven is - beyond anything we can imagine. I don't get the sense that anyone who has experienced it is overly anxious to come back here to earth - no matter how great a life they may have had.
The other thing they all have in common is that there is no illness, pain, death, or suffering (and that totally lines up with scripture).
Jesus said to Martha, "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"
He didn't say, "Did I not tell you that if you believe, I will always provide physical healing here on earth."
He didn't say, "Did I not tell you that if you believe, I will always prevent physical death."
He didn't say, "Did I not tell you that if you believe, I will always physically raise you or the ones you love from the dead."
He said, "Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"
I personally know people who have, without any medical intervention, received physical healing and witnessed the glory of God.
I personally know of people who have, through medical intervention, received physical healing in a way that can only be attributed to God's hand, and witnessed the glory of God.
Although I do not personally know of any, I have read about people who appear to have experienced a physical raising of the dead and have witnessed the glory of God.
And I know many, many solid believers who are experiencing the most glorious healing of all - permanent healing and eternal life in heaven with Jesus.
One thing the bible is crystal clear about - God's desire is that no man should perish, but that all would have eternal life in heaven with Jesus.
And all you have to do is believe.
© I Lift My Voice, 2015.