APRIL 21st
LIFE OR DEATH
CONDITIONS FOR A DEATH-DENYING MIRACLE (Continued)

Reading:  John 31-34
11:31 The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there.
11:32 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.
11:33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,
11:34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.

      There is no mention of anyone following Martha when she went to Jesus.  However, the people followed Mary.  It is time for every ministry to acknowledge whether or not it is taking people to Jesus on His terms.  There is a huge difference in teaching Adam, the fallen man, to be successful in the things of this world, and leading the Jews (spiritual Israel) to our Lord. 

      When Mary approached Jesus, the first thing she did was worship Him.  What a contrast to Martha.  Prayerfully, we can see the power of approaching God in the correct manner.  Mary’s actions are akin to Jairus’ when he sought Jesus’ help on behalf of his daughter.  It is fine to make our requests known but only after we have approached Him properly in worship.  Once Mary worshipped Jesus, then she made her request known, which, if you observed carefully in reading, was verbatim to Martha’s statement.  It requires ministry full of faith that praises and worships the Lord to move Him into the situation of need.  The condition for the miracle is coming into clear view now.

      When Jesus saw Mary and the Jews weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.  Weeping speaks to true repentance.  Repentance tells God that He is right and we are wrong.  Repentance proceeds from a pure heart.  Heaven takes notice.   Ministry as represented by Mary touched Jesus to the point of moving Him from that place directly to Lazarus’ grave.  Apart from Christ, man’s body of earth is a grave, because it contains a dead man.  True ministry brings resurrection life to the situation.

Continued