In Our Place: Lenten DevotionsSample

You will live too! We all love stability in our lives. We all like to assume that everything will stay the same, stay manageable. We fear disruptive change--getting laid off or fired, suffering injuries in a car accident, being hospitalized with some disease. Worse--we fear having to live in a nursing home, being moved to a hospice. Martha’s nightmare came true--Jesus the Healer arrived in Bethany too late to save her sick brother, Lazarus. “‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ . . . Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again’” (John 11:21-23). Martha's words were just empty talk coming from one dying mortal to another. In contrast to words that come from Jesus, Lord, and Master of sin, sickness, death, and hell. Jesus' resurrection gives him the power and authority to undo death. He also demonstrated that power at Lazarus’ mausoleum by commanding the dead man to come forth and live. That dead man restored is a demo version of what Jesus will do on a grand scale at the end of time. The resurrection of Jesus Christ calms our deepest fears. The resurrection of Jesus Christ guarantees the forgiveness of your sins. There is no condemnation for those who believe in Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus Christ guarantees yours. He lives. You will too.