Hosanna Restoration Church

The gospel is for people at every level. There are people who do not know at all, and there are people who should know. There are people who do not know any better, and there are people who should know better. There are also people who do know better but just do not do anything about it. Fortunately, everyone can know. This is why Jesus came and why He calls us, so that all can know. Hang with me, this will make sense!

Remember, we spoke about the reflection of our perception of God’s Word and how it is influenced directly by our commitment to what we perceive. When Jesus met Martha she was on to something. She knew that Lazarus would not have died if Jesus had gotten there earlier. She was even so bold as to declare that God would still do whatever Jesus asked. Jesus agreed with her and told her that her brother would rise again. This would have been a great place for Martha to just say “okay let’s go do it!” But such was not the case. Martha stepped back into safer territory again declaring the resurrection and heaven. To be honest, you can’t blame her. We have all at one time or another had a burst of understanding, but then came back down to natural reality just like Martha. I am not sure why, but for some reason it is always easier to hold on to the sweet by and by rather than the here and now.

After this Martha agreed that Jesus was the Christ and slipped away to get Mary. After all, Mary was His favorite. She was the one who Jesus said was doing the best thing when Martha was working her fingers to bone while Mary sat around and listened to Jesus. Unfortunately, Martha did not bother to tell Mary that Jesus said Lazarus would rise again. Consequently, Mary came and said the same thing to Jesus that Martha did. This caused Jesus to groan. Do you suppose he was expecting Martha to share her perception of Jesus revelation and that perhaps Mary would come with the understanding the Jesus was going to raise their brother up right now?

What if Martha had gone to Mary and told her that she believed God would raise Lazarus right now if Mary would ask? What if Mary had gone to Jesus and told Him they knew He would come and raise Lazarus from the dead? We may have heard Jesus declare what great faith they had. We might have heard Jesus say, “That’s what I am talking about!” But instead, we get to hear a groan and a “Where have you laid him?”

Sometimes people who do not know any better just take Jesus at His Word and believe what He said. But then people who think they know don’t know any better than to take that child like faith away from them. Jesus is teaching us something here. He was prepared to do a miracle and bring glory to God. He is prepared to do them now if we will hear what the Spirit of the Lord is teaching us. I know that there is a lot more to learn and I know better than to think I know everything or cling to what I know now if it will keep me from what Jesus wants me to know. What do you know?