GodReflection: Come and See—God Saved the Best for Now
“Come and see,” said Philip (John 1:46). “Everyone brings out the choice wine first and then the cheaper wine after the guests have had too much to drink; but you have saved the best till now” (John 2: 10).
I’ve attended a rather long list of services for the dead throughout my life and experience the finality of the casket lowered into the grave. Never once have I heard a corps asks for rescue from the bottom of a six-foot hole before the casket disappears under shovels of dirt. Never once have I heard the call to resurrection.
I’ll get back to burials in a moment. But first, John the author of the Fourth Gospel, wants me to come and see a house. It’s that house that perhaps we’ve experienced in reality or at times in the deepest desires of our heart. It’s the house where we feel at home.
In the Gospels it was the home Jesus seemed to enjoy after he left his hometown Nazareth.
Just a short walk from Jerusalem was the house of Martha, Lazarus and Mary where he could always find rest, friendship and home baked meals.
Our look at this home is rewarded not only by what is recorded in John and the other Gospels but also by all that jumps out between the lines through conversation with the two sisters. Jesus loved these three siblings.
About halfway through the narrative the apostle John is ready to illustrate future reality. Jesus’ love for Lazarus and his sisters will make a perfect picture of God’s desire for His creation. It will be a living illustration of God’s grace. The sign will take place, “for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (11:4).
John wants me to see an eternal reality in Jesus so here comes another sign that Jesus is God.
The scene is set. Lazarus identified as “He whom you love” (11:3) died. Instead of a quick departure Jesus waits for two days after receipt of the message. I suspect he wants all to know Lazarus is indeed dead. He leaves time for reality to set in, doubts to appear and faith to grow.
Jesus leaves for Judea and the little town of Bethany. As he approaches, Martha learns he is near and goes to meet him. Four days ago, Lazarus was wrapped with strips of cloth and sealed in a tomb. For finality a stone closed the entrance.
After the greeting their conversation reveals her growing faith: “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God . . .” (11:27).
Then follows the encounter of Mary and Jesus which is one of the most moving dialogues 
in all of Scripture:
. . . she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.
He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” (11:32-36)
It’s time to go to the grave site to see the dead man raised.
Jesus, once more deeply moved came to the tomb . . . “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone (11:38-41).
Jesus looks upward and speaks in a loud voice directly to God so that the crowd could see the connection.
“Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.”
When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go” (11:41-44).
What can I learn from this Lazarus who is raised from the dead but does not speak a word in my Bible? This is a great illustration of the phrase, “a picture is worth a thousand words.”
Here is what I think.
My two big take-a-ways are first, to see how Jesus is affected by the death experience. He is deeply saddened—moved to tears—to see the pain it causes to people he loves.
Second, the Holy has a commitment to make death obsolete. The glory of Father and Son unite to give a preview of their power over death.
I would love to hear your insights as to why this is a come and see event for John and why it illustrates for you that God has saved the best for now.
In the next post I want to follow up with the celebration of the siblings.
Stay tuned.
Dr. Gary J. Sorrells
A GodReflection: Come and See a Dead Man Raised
Gary@Godreflection.org www.GodReflection.org
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