Jesus Raises Lazarus

As a family, read John 11 together. Afterwards, share the following discussion.

What happened?

This is a very emotional and dramatic story about grief and hope. One of Jesus’ closest friends, Lazarus, was seriously ill. Mary and Martha, his sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” It seemed that they had one chance to make things better. All of their hope was riding on Jesus!

But Jesus stayed where He was for a couple of days, knowing full well what would happen. When He finally arrived, Lazarus was already dead. His sisters believed that Lazarus wouldn’t have died if Jesus had come sooner. They were completely overwhelmed with grief. Then, when it seemed that all hope was gone, Jesus chose to act!

Jesus went to see the tomb where Lazarus had been buried and called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” Lazarus walked out of his tomb, wrapped in the clothes he was buried in! As you can imagine, this miracle had a great impact on those who were there. People talked about it everywhere – Jesus of Nazareth had brought a dead man back to life!

Why is this important to us today?

Mary and Martha had been right to put all of their hope in Jesus, but He didn’t do things exactly in the way they thought He would.  Jesus’ friends knew He could do miracles, but when the miracle required the impossible, they began to have doubts. Jesus is all-knowing and all-powerful. He never does anything without a purpose. Jesus chose to delay this trip in order to display His power when He raised Lazarus from the dead. There was no room for doubt; only someone with the power of God could have done this.

Do you sometimes wonder if God can really help with your particular problems? Jesus has not changed; there are no limits on what He knows or what He can do. But keep in mind that God does not work on your timeline. It would be nice to say, “God, I need this or that NOW,” and then – 3, 2, 1…POOF! – it happens. This passage teaches us to trust God, even when we have to wait for Him. He knows the ultimate plan – the one that is best for you and that brings Him glory.

Spend a few minutes talking about what you just read by answering these questions together:

1. Can you name one or more things we learned about Jesus in this chapter?

2. What did you learn about people?

3. As a family, talk about a time when you found it tough to trust God. How does the story of Lazarus help you see that situation differently?

How can we better follow God this week?

God’s plan is always better than ours, but it can be difficult to wait on Him when things get tough. The more you know about Jesus, the more you’ll trust Him. The best way to learn more about the character of God is by reading His Word every day. God never changes, so everything we read about Him in the Bible is still true today.

In what situations are you each waiting on God to act? What did you learn about Jesus today that builds your faith in Him? Will you decide to trust the Lord, no matter how bad things might look?