(John 11:32-42)
Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
Jesus Christ came to raise Lazarus from the dead after four days since his death. Jesus knew that He was supposed to raise Lazarus from the dead while Lazarus was still among the Living. Look at the below scriptures:
(John 11:1-4)
Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
By the above scriptures, did Jesus mean that Lazarus was not going to die because of his sickness? Of course not. Jesus meant that Lazarus's sickness would cause him to die in order to be raised from the dead. Look at the below verses which Jesus privately told the disciples as soon as Lazarus was dead.
(John 11:11-15)
These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.
The above scriptures clearly prove the fact that Jesus Christ did not purposely go to see Lazarus when He heard that He was sick. When Lazarus died, Jesus knew about it too even without anybody bringing Him the news.
But why did Jesus cry when He came to raise Lazarus from the dead???
Of course, Jesus again had to find so called 'FAITH' to release the power of healing (or power of raising dead) to bring Lazarus from the dead. Martha being the sister of Lazarus, was expected to manifest this faith for Jesus to perform the miracle. However, when Jesus came to Martha's house, Martha had already given up her hopes that her brother could be raised from dead by Jesus Christ. Hence, she never bothered to make a request (by which faith could be manifested) to Jesus Christ to raise Lazarus from the dead.
When Jesus saw Martha weeping instead of asking Jesus to raise Lazarus from the dead, Jesus was troubled because He knew that He could not raise Lazarus from the dead as per the law of healing without her cooperation in manifesting FAITH. The weeping of the crowd (Jews) also contributed to make Jesus troubled as Jesus knew he would not get 'FAITH' at least from the crowd. Jesus was so troubled that Jesus thought He would not be able to perform the miracle for the glory of His Father God. At this point, Jesus wept.
However, Jesus could commune with Father, God by groaning in the Spirit and finally God caused the people (Martha & the Jews) to manifest 'FAITH' for Jesus to perform the miracle.
How did Martha and the Jews manifest 'FAITH'?
Well, when Jesus told the crowd to take away the stone, Martha finally agreed. Her agreement manifested her faith. When the Jews were willing to take away the stone and finally taking away the stone, they too manifested their faith in action. Nevertheless, this faith truly did not come out of them, but God caused them to manifest it. That is why as soon as they took away the stone, Jesus looked up and said that Father has heard him. Look at the below scripture again.
(John 11:41)
Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
Jesus thanked Father as soon as the people took away the stone because it was Father who caused the people to take away the stone. When Jesus was thanking Father, Lazarus was among the dead. But Jesus was thanking Father because He knew that He could release the power in Him through the faith manifested by the people in taking away the stone. Amazing!!! Isn't it?
How could Jesus get Father to cause the crowd to manifest faith?
Well, He did it through GROANING IN THE SPIRIT (I have already sent a message about GROANING IN THE SPIRIT). Groaning in the Spirit is a good option in a place where faith is impossible to be manifested in order to heal a sick person. Under such situations, there is a very high possibility that God would move and cause people to manifest faith for your sake. However, the result would depend on each situation.
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