What If God Says No? | The Gospels | John 11:17–37
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What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Welcome to 10 Minute Bible Talks, where we connect the Bible to your life in the time it takes to get to work.
I'm Patrick Miller.
How does John Thomas’s story introduce the problem of unanswered prayers?
John Thomas was a brilliant medical student from Edinburgh. He could have used his talents virtually anywhere, but he felt a calling from God to go overseas and serve as a medical missionary in India. But a few days before his departure, he took a tragic turn, rapid onset pulmonary tuberculosis. And so instead of boarding the ship to India, he was confined to a convalescent home. And because of his medical training, he knew what was happening to his body. And so he prayed fervently for a miracle. He dedicated his life to God, and while he knew that didn't mean that God owed him a miracle, he hoped that God would heal him so he could pursue that mission. But despite his prayers and the prayers of his family, his condition only worsened.
God wasn't answering his prayers a yes. Instead, his condition became so dire that there was no hope of recovery. John Thomas died at the age of 25 of tuberculosis. His story is relived time and again by Christians around the world. The young and the old, the rich and the poor, all of us face pain, disease, cancer, failing bodies. And when it hits us, we all pray for a miracle. We all pray for healing, slow or fast. Sometimes God answers those prayers, yes. Sometimes he answers them, no.
Why did Jesus delay coming to Lazarus and what question does that raise?
But it's always devastating when he says no to bright souls like John Thomas, young people with so much good in their hearts and life ahead of them. So it's no surprise that when things like this happen, well, they leave people's friends and family members wondering, where is God? Why has he done nothing? In John 11, Jesus visits Bethany where three of his closest friends, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus lived. In yesterday's reading, we learned that Jesus heard about Lazarus' declining health before Lazarus' death. But rather than rushing to heal him, he stayed where he was. And as a result, Lazarus died. So can you imagine how Mary and Martha felt? They knew that Jesus loved them. They knew that Jesus could heal Lazarus.
So when Lazarus got sick, they were scared, but perhaps hopeful. Surely Jesus would come and rescue them after all their years of friendship. but Jesus doesn't do it. Let's pick up in John 11, 17. We'll read the whole story. On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Mary and Martha to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed behind.
How do Mary and Martha respond differently when Jesus arrives at Bethany?
Martha answered, I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even though they die, and whoever lives by believing me will never die. Do you believe this? Yes, Lord, she replied. I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who has come to the world. After she said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. The teacher is here, she said, and is asking for you. When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went out to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews, who had been with Mary in the house comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her.
supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. "'Where have you laid him?' he asked. "'Come and see, Lord,' they replied." Jesus wept.
What does Jesus mean when he says, 'I am the resurrection and the life'?
Then the Jews said, "'See how he loved him?' But some of them said, "'Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man "'have kept this man from dying?' Few stories in the gospel ring with the absolute humanity of this story.
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Chapters
6 chapters
1
What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
0:05–0:13
2
How does John Thomas’s story introduce the problem of unanswered prayers?
0:13–1:27
3
Why did Jesus delay coming to Lazarus and what question does that raise?
1:27–2:43
4
How do Mary and Martha respond differently when Jesus arrives at Bethany?
2:43–4:10
5
What does Jesus mean when he says, 'I am the resurrection and the life'?
4:10–6:12
6
Why does Jesus weep and how does the crowd react to his grief?
6:12–7:08
Speakers
1 identifiedMore from Ten Minute Bible Talks Devotional Bible Study
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