Reflections on the Scandal – Chapter 4: A Miracle Full of Surprises

Chapter 4 of Carson’s ‘Scandalous’ is entitled A Miracle Full of Surprises. This is no understatement; the miracle in question is surprisingly surprising. After reading Carson unpack it, I realised how limited my understanding had been.

As a side note, I would encourage people to never merely skim read the Gospels on the assumption that they know it all; the truth is that as Caroline said in her review, there’s always so much more.

So, the chapter is built around the miracle that Jesus performed in bringing Lazarus back from the dead after four days. There are four suprising things that Carson unfolds about this miracle:

1) Jesus receives a desperate plea for help and demonstrates his love by delay.

2) Jesus comes up against devastating loss and consoles grief by directing attention to Himself.

3) Jesus confronts implacable death and displays his sovereignty over it in tears and outrage.

4) Jesus comes up against moral and spiritual death and gives life by dying himself.

There so much in all 4 to talk about however the first 2 really struck me today.

1) Many times in my life I’ve heard the quote “The Lord works in mysterious ways” spoken all too often as a platitude. However, there is truth in this. Mary and Martha come to Jesus with news that Lazarus has fallen ill, an illness that in the end would most certainly kill him. Carson puts emphasises Jesus’ deep love for Mary, Martha and Lazarus whilst pointing to the surprising statement that it is because of this love he doesn’t do anything for two days. Carson asks the question “Still why the delay? He waited 2 days…”.

How many times do we question Jesus on His timing? In fact Carson will say we are like “little children” who want things “NOW! NOW! NOW!”. I am arguably the most impatient person on the planet; I need things now! I expect God to do things on my terms and I’m sure something like this was going through the minds of Mary and Martha. Yet Jesus stays right where He is, knowing that Mary and Martha need to learn to trust Him. Carson then quotes Romans 5:3-5 to illustrate the fact we must endure such times in order to receive what God has for us and what is best for us.

2) So Jesus came to Mary and Martha four days after hearing about the death of Lazarus, and it’s no surprise that he finds them lamenting and mourning His death. The ‘suprising’ thing of which Jesus speaks should be, I believe, not at all  suprising. Carson shows Jesus pointing to Himself. Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life”. He says this in response to Martha’s declaration that there will be a resurrection on the last day. Carson points to the amazing fact that Jesus wants her to know more than that; That it is He who is the resurrection! I could spend a lot of time just re-writing what Carson put, but i couldn’t live up to that! – have a read yourself!

The thing that hit me was that when suffering comes our way as Christians, when we lose a loved one, or a loved one becomes sick, or we ourselves become sick or even just suffer in general. Remembering who Jesus actually is should be the most remarkable relief known to the believer. Knowing that He Himself IS our resurrection and life.

Carson says,

“In our deepest loss, we need more than friendship and a listening ear, though they are wonderfull. We need more than mere arguments – though in some cases good arguments stabilise us. We need the reality of God himself. God as He has spectacularly and definitively disclosed himself to us in the person of his Son. He will require of us that we focus our attention on Him, both for this life and the one to come.”

Its important we find our comfort in Him and comfort people with Him.

Andy

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In this chapter, Carson deals with the resurrection of Lazarus by focusing on the four key points that Andy has mentioned above.

In the first point, Carson expounds upon Jesus’ decision to wait two days before setting off to see Lazarus, after Mary and Martha came to him with the news that their brother was ill.

Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” John 11:14-15

Carson says, “In short, by his delay, Jesus demonstrates his love by guaranteeing that when he arrives there, not only is Lazarus dead (which he would have been even if Jesus had set out immediately), but he has been dead such a long time that when he performs the miracle, it is deeply significant”.

In his second point, Carson tells of when Martha comes to meet Jesus on the road as he is on his way to Lazarus.

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” John 11:21-22

Jesus replies to this by directing the attention to Himself, “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

Carson says “in short, he asks her if she can trust him as the resurrection and the life. He diverts attention from her grief to his own transcendent claims. If she answers positively, then the raising of Lazarus itself becomes a kind of acted parable of the life-giving power of Jesus”.

One of the main things that stuck out to me whilst reading this chapter was the delay that Jesus took in going to see Lazarus. That it was for a particular reason that other people didn’t fully understand at the time. A lot of the time, when we pray for something but nothing seems to happen for a while, we can get really frustrated and start wondering why God isn’t doing anything. In this story, we see that although Jesus took His time in going, He knew exactly what He was doing and why He was staying there for another two days. I think this really shows that we often don’t know or understand why God does things the way he does, but we should trust Him because He knows best, not us.

Ria.

**This post is part of a series of posts that will take place this week, recording various Firwood members’ reflections upon each chapter of Carson’s book ‘Scandalous- The Cross and Resurrection of Jesus’. For more information, click here**