"1 Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.

2 (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)

3 Therefore his sisters sent unto Him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick.

4 When Jesus heard that, He said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.

5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.

6 When He had heard therefore that he was sick, He abode two days still in the same place where He was.

7 Then after that saith He to His disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.

8 His disciples say unto Him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone Thee; and goest Thou thither again?

9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.

10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.

11 These things said He: and after that He saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.

12 Then said His disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.

13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that He had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.

14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him. 16 Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellowdisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with Him."

Introduction: As I begin this message, I want to give this disclaimer. This message is not about our own Bethany Sue Thomas, even though at times she does bewilder us. The Bethany of our text is a town, not a teenager. We did name our Bethany after this town because it was a special place in the life of our Savior. This chapter centers upon a special home in the town of Bethany in Palestine. The name "Bethany" means house of dates. (That could have dangerous implications when pertaining to a teenage girl.) This was a special place and home for several reasons. It was special because Mary, Martha and Lazarus lived there. These were two sisters and a brother who knew and loved the Lord Jesus Christ. Their hearts were open to Jesus and so was their home. Since there was no Motel 6 to leave the light on in that day, travelers depended upon the hospitality of the local people to receive them into their homes and help them along the way. This home was always open to Jesus and He would often stop and rest here.

This home was special because it was filled with the love of God. Jesus was always welcome here. This was a place of rest and refuge for the Savior during His earthly pilgrimage. In verse 2, John mentions one example as evidence of love in that home. He says, "(It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)"

In verse 1, we read that news came to Jesus and His disciples informing them that Lazarus was sick. The disciples were all too aware of the attachment Jesus had with this home and especially Lazarus. Upon receiving the news, the disciples began to anticipate the Savior's response. In verse 3 it says, "Therefore his sisters sent unto Him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick." Mary and Martha did not give instruction for Jesus to come to their aid, that would be unnecessary. Surely He would come and with haste, after all, Jesus loved Lazarus. Jesus would rush right over to Bethany and render aid to His friend Lazarus, or so everyone thought.

It is at this juncture that the story takes a turn. Jesus did not do what His disciples and loved ones anticipated Him to do. As a mater of fact, they were bewildered by His response. The actions and attitude of the Savior wasn't what they had anticipated. If we were honest, we would admit that there are times in our lives when we are bewildered by God, perplexed by what He is doing or not doing in our lives and the lives of others. Indeed, one of the most difficult things we have to handle as Christians, is what to do when God does not do what we have been taught to expect Him to do, or what we want Him to do. Here in this passage we see three areas that often leave us BEWILDERED BY BETHANY.

FIRST, SOMETIMES WE ARE BEWILDERED BY WHAT GOD WILL ALLOW IN OUR LIVES

At first, we hear that Lazarus was sick. Obviously Lazarus was in some sort of trouble. Mary and Martha would not have sent word of their brother's condition if it wasn't perceived as life threatening. The name "Lazarus" means whom God helps. This was the personal friend of Jesus. Verse 5 says, "Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus." Surely Jesus would not allow the life of a friend to be in jeopardy. Lazarus was a good man. He loved Jesus and Jesus loved him! Why is Lazarus, of all people sick?

There are those who teach and believe that all sickness can be attributed to some sin in our lives. If you are sick, then you have messed up. If your illness is serious, then you have messed up big time.

I am reminded of the parrot that had a bad habit of using profanity. He was sold to a preacher who warned the bird not to use profanity in his house. Just one foul word (pun intended) and he would find himself spending five minutes in the kitchen freezer! Will it happened. The parrot slipped and into the freezer he went. Upon entering the freezer he saw a turkey that had been purchased by the preacher's wife all plucked naked and packaged, frozen solid as a rock. When the parrot eyed the bird, he asked, "Wow! What did he do?"

The friends of Job ascribed to this school of theology. They sat before Job and urged him to fess up. The truth was however, Job's streak of bad luck and illness had nothing to do with sin. God had allowed the Devil to touch him so to prove his love and devotion to his God! Indeed, trials are ordained by God for our good, to prove us, and supply in our lives and our faith that which is lacking. Job said in Job 23:10, " But He knoweth the way that I take: when He hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold." Peter said much the same thing in 1 Peter 1:7. He says, "That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:"

Notice the response of Jesus in verse 4. "When Jesus heard that, He said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." The Lord had a purpose in this illness and it wasn't intended to the end of Lazarus' permanent departure. Lazarus would die, and God would allow it so to accomplish His purpose. Jesus said this was all happening for the "glory of God." The death of Lazarus would set the stage for the last and greatest of miracles performed by Jesus before His passion. Jesus would arrive in Bethany in His own time and raise His friend from the dead in a spectacular display of His power. At the raising of Lazarus from the dead, many would believe, trusting in Jesus as Lord and Savior.

Jesus said that the sickness and death of His friend would not only bring "glory to God," but "that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." The miracles of Jesus always had a two fold impact. Witnessing the miracles some believed in Him, and others hated Him all the more!

The hour of glory for Jesus was a Roman cross. This last miracle preformed by Jesus before His passion, would be the one that pushed His enemies over the edge, moving them to nail Him to a cross.

Would Jesus allow His own friend Lazarus to fall sick and die? Would Jesus deliberately delay and refuse to help His friend so to achieve a greater objective and purpose? Was Lazarus expendable? The obvious answer is "Yes," and eventually God Himself would "not spare His own Son but deliver Him up for us all."

Sometimes we are bewildered at what God will allow in our lives and the lives of others. The Scriptures tell us that "God is no respecter of persons," but that applies to both salvation and suffering. The truth is, we are all expendable! If God would allow Job to be severely tested and tried by the devil to prove his faith and devotion to God, then why not us? If God would tell Abraham to sacrifice his son, expect him to be willing to give him up, then why not us? If God would allow a faithful servant like Stephen to be sacrificed, to die as a martyr, for the gospel he preached, then why not us?

SECOND, SOMETIMES WE ARE BEWILDERED BY GOD'S TIMING IN OUR LIVES

Notice verses 5-6. "Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When He had heard therefore that he was sick, He abode two days still in the same place where He was." When Jesus heard that His friend Lazarus was sick, He immediately said to His disciples, "Let's rush over and see him before he dies!" No, it does not say that. Instead, Jesus deliberately stayed put for two more days! This seems so incredible to us. It is a tough thing to believe that Jesus deliberately waited. We are so used to critical illness being a signal for immediate action, howling sirens, flashing red lights, a rush to the hospital. It seems incredible that Jesus, knowing that His dear friend was ill, or in this case dead, would stay right where He was for two more days.

Somebody may well say, "If Jesus knew Lazarus was dead, why would He hurry? There was nothing He could do anyway." There was something He could do. Mary and Martha's hearts were breaking. This was their dearly loved brother, a younger brother evidently, and his death as a young man was a grievous loss to them. Jesus' presence with them would have been a tremendous comfort, even if He never did a thing about raising Lazarus from the dead. Yet, knowing that they needed Him there to comfort them, knowing that they longed to have Him there to the point that they sent a messenger to let Him know the situation, He deliberately remained two days longer right where He was.

The remarkable thing about that is, if you carefully check out the timing of this event, Lazarus was already dead when the message reached Jesus. It took two days for the messenger to get to the Jordan, so when Jesus returned to Bethany, Lazarus had been dead four days. It is difficult for us to believe that Jesus would have such a bad sense of timing. How insensitive!

Why would Jesus do such a thing?

Well, we ought to believe what John tells us. In verse 5, John says, "Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus." There's the answer! Because He loved them, Jesus stayed two days longer where He was. This is a tough thing to understand and a tough thing to handle. When you have gone to God for help which you feel you desperately need, your heart is breaking over something and you need God to intervene, but nothing happens, the heavens are silent, there is no word at all, that is tough. Has that ever happened to you? It has happened to us all, perhaps several times. When God's timing is not our timing, we are tempted to interpret God's delays as God's denials. We say, "He didn't answer my prayer. Prayer doesn't work. God doesn't care. What's the use?" We must admit with shameful hearts, that we have reacted this way. But what this is telling us is that God's timing, His intentional delay in our lives is not a sign of His indifference or His failure to hear us. It is a sign of His love. The delay is orchestrated by God to help us, not hurt us. It will make us stronger. Jesus deliberately delayed because He loved them and knew this would strengthen their faith as they learned the ultimate outcome when God would work.

This is a hard lesson to learn. No one likes to wait. We want what we want from God when we want it. However, it is in our times of loneliness, loss, pain, and sorrow, that we are driven to the very heart of God. God's timing, not ours, is designed to increase our capacity for Him, to sharpen our sensitivities and understanding, to temper our spiritual lives, so that we may become channels of His grace and mercy to others.

THIRD, SOMETIMES WE ARE BEWILDERED BY GOD'S PERSPECTIVE OF OUR LIVES

Have you noticed the many times in the gospels when Jesus confounds His disciples? They do not understand His actions. These are those hard moments when God does things we do not understand. We cannot figure them out. They are beyond us. They baffle us and even discourage us at times. Yet what they reveal is how little we understand. God is very different from us. God puts it this way in Isaiah 55:8-9. "For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the LORD. For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."

In verses, 7-16 of our text, we learn that Jesus does not always perceive things as we do. Here we see a deliberate contrast drawn between two views of first, danger, and then, death. God does not view these as we do.

We must remember that at this point in time, Jesus was a wanted man in more ways than one. They had just left Judea, probably a week or so before, driven out, in their eyes, because of the fear that the Jews were about to put Jesus to death. They must have felt a sense of relief to get out of the city, because of the perceived threat and danger. Then Jesus says in verse 7, "Let us go into Judaea again." This had to have totally blown them away. How could Jesus be so stupid? The look on the faces of the disciples must have revealed their bewilderment. In response, Jesus then says in verses 9-10, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him."

What does Jesus mean when he says, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?" He is referring again to the appointed time of God. There are indeed twelve hours in the day. Our clock has only twelve numbers on it, not that there are only twelve hours in the day; we know there are twenty-four, but every clock records only twelve hours. Why? Because that is all the time we have to be awake and do our work; the rest we usually spend sleeping or resting. Jesus says there are twelve hours of light appointed for activity.

This last Fall as I was walking down my street about 10 pm, I saw a strange thing. This man was mowing his yard! He had set up these bright lights so he could see to mow! That guy was working against God's appointed time! He had his twelve hours mixed up.

This wonderful symbol employed by our Lord applies to every one of us. God has appointed a time for each of us, and if we are walking in the light, in the place of His appointment, doing what He sent us to do, there is nothing that can shorten it or nothing we do can lengthen it. It is an appointed time. In Psalms 31:15 the psalmist says, "My times are in Thy hand: deliver me from the hand of mine enemies, and from them that persecute me." Listen, the safest place to be is in the will of God. When Jesus says, "There are twelve hours in the day," He is saying, "That is true of me. I am walking in God's appointed time. I have nothing to fear." The only danger we have is to walk out of the light: "He that walks in the darkness stumbles."

In verses 7-15, we have the view of Jesus and the contrasting views of the disciples, on death. Notice the text. "These things said He: and after that He saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said His disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that He had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him." Notice what Jesus is saying here. When we stand beside a loved one's grave and our heart cries out, "Why?," heaven's answer is, "What? What is death?" According to Jesus, from His perspective, death is merely a form of sleep. There is nothing final, nothing tragic, about it. Death is no more than a door way to a greater life, a greater existence than ever for our loved one. We are the ones who are tempted to view death as a final farewell, a leap into mystery, darkness, and silence. But Jesus says, "No, it is a sleep."

To all of this, we read the response of Thomas in verse 16, "Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellowdisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with Him." From this response, it is obvious to us that Thomas didn't get it. He is still bewildered. He is confused yet committed. By the end of this chapter, Thomas would have a better understanding of Jesus and His actions, but for now, the best he can do is just trust His word.

Thomas was also called "Didymus," which means twin. Who was his twin? We are his twin. Like Thomas, we are often BEWILDERED BY BETHANY. We can be confused by what God allows in our lives, at His timing. God perceptions, His view of things, are not our own. But everywhere, the Scriptures drive us back to this one imperative: believe His word. Trust His word. It will not fail. It will not leave us in the lurch at last. We cannot understand the delays, but we must never question God's ways or lose faith in His word. Are you BEWILDERED BY BETHANY? Are you struggling with God and His ways? Proverbs 3:5-6 says, "Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge Him, and He shall direct thy paths."