John 11:32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” 37 And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”Jesus did not cause Lazarus to die. Lazarus was his friend! Mary knew that Jesus could have prevented his death if he had only been there. She questioned Jesus as did the others. Jesus cried because he was deeply troubled. The question here is, why was Jesus troubled? Was it because Lazarus was dead, or because of all the sorrow of those he loved?
The Jews knew that Jesus loved Lazarus: "See how he loved him!" Jesus did, for God so loved the world. It turns out that Jesus did love Lazarus - enough to die for him, but he also loved those who lost Lazarus as well.
Let's get this straight: God despises death. It is the consequence of sin. Death came into the world with the first sin as Adam and Eve went from immortal to mortal. That may seem an extremely harsh punishment, but because God so loved the world, he provided reprieve:
John 3:16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.Again, why did Jesus cry? Because mankind had chosen sin over him. It had been so easy - they only had to love me, and Lazarus would not have died! As a demonstration of his love, he did bring Lazarus back to life! Why did he do that? So that we would all have hope.
God did punish our forebears for sin. They ignored God, and did as they pleased. Ever since, all men have sinned and disappointed God.
Romans 5:12 Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned—We ask, "Why did God do this?" He didn't. Adam brought sin into the world, and it is still here because all men sin. We all are responsible for death! Adam was responsible for the first sin, but we are for all those thereafter. Jesus is innocent of any sin. He had no part in the death of Lazarus and no part in the rampage which happened in Las Vegas. People died there because of evil. Steven Paddock played God they other day but the loss of life is more than playing.
Many of those who died are right now in heaven. I wish I could say that all are. In heaven they again will have immortality. People hurt because they all will be missed. All groan because their loved one meant so much to them. God does as well. He hurts for all of us who remain!
I believe Lazarus was a righteous man or Jesus would not have saved him. That's right, Lazarus was snatched from the evil one, and was saved because Jesus saved him. Lazarus was not perfect, but one need not be perfect to be saved or else we would all die forever. But Lazarus loved Jesus and Jesus loved him. Jesus will save his friends who died in Vegas, and he will comfort those who remain if they believe in the resurrection.
Let me introduce something totally out of the picture, although it too is death-centered. I don't have the source handy but it came from his contemporaries: When Lincoln's first son died, he expressed doubt that he would see him in heaven. It appears that Lincoln didn't believe in the general resurrection when all those in Christ will be raised from the dead and join Jesus in the sky.
Salvation means mankind is saved from something! What is it that we're saved from? Eternal death. In order to be saved from eternal death, God, because He so loved the world, provided eternal life for those who trust Him. Lincoln failed to trust God for eternal life. He had no hope that he would live forever. We all know Lincoln was melancholic; perhaps this is the reason!
As the world looks on at the evil done in Vegas, let's look to God for his grace. All men are destined to die whether a person believes in God or not. We never want to go, or see others go, but that's going to happen. Whether we live one minute or one-hundred years, it always pains others to wave good-bye to those who depart. Unlike Lincoln, we have the hope of seeing them again - even in much better conditions! Because Lazarus was raised from the dead gives me hope that I will be as well. Because Jesus so loved Lazarus, that he still lives, he so loved mine that they can live as well.
Right now, Jesus cries with us. He has our emotions, or truly, we have His. He groans in the spirit and is troubled just as we are. Jesus cries right now, not because of who died, but because of our pain. He is empathetic with us. That's the purpose of Jesus: God came to feel what we feel. He knows temptation, he knows joy, but he also knows pain. My God, my God. Why hast thou forsaken me? He questioned his own Father - he questioned Himself. He felt the pain that many of those in the world are feeling right now for those who died in Las Vegas.
With all these deaths due to Satan, why will people go on obeying Satan even right now? Satan is a brutal master, but the masses continue to follow him to their deaths. Perhaps the positive that could come out of this mass sacrifice, is that rather than blaming God for Satan's deeds, the world will turn to God who so loves them!
I feel a reprieve from hatred as most empathize with the dead and those who lost loved ones. While we are mourning, hating others is far from the minds of most sane people. This is the time to topple the law of Sin - not to worry about harmless idols, and love one another. Perhaps all these lives won't be lost for naught, but that we will be more in accord. Satan is working hard to divide the nation - even the world, but his needless killing defies him. If we quit blaming guns and even dogmas, and unite under God, Satan's awful attempt to divide us will turn us to unity.
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