Is It Too Late?
19. And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
20. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him: but Mary sat still in the house.
21. Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
22. “But I know, that even now, whatever You will ask of God, God will give it to You.”
23. Jesus said to her, “your brother shall rise again.”
24. Martha said to Him, “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25. Jesus said to her, “I Am the Resurrection, and the Life, he that believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:”
26. “And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” “Do you believe this?”
27. She said to Him, “Yes, Lord: I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.”
28. And when she had said this, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, “The Master has come and is calling for you.”
Dealing with Devastation
One of the problems that arises when dealing with a crisis is that it festers doubt, worry, and fear that things will not work out as planned. In such circumstances, the believer will not only find themselves battling with the trouble without but will also have to deal with the struggle of inner conflict. It is one thing to doubt whether others will come through for you, but quite another thing when you doubt yourself and even doubt that God will come through for you. This is the battle that many face daily. You ask yourself, when will this nightmare of misery end? When will I wake up and not have to dance with bad circumstances that come to steal my joy and peace? Is it too late for good to come?
That old hymn Never Alone comes to mind. The lyrics come from someone called anonymous, but the words are truly synonymous with all who struggle. In other words, this could be anybody’s song, and at times we have all sung the hymn in some form or other. I’ve seen the lightning flashing and heard the thunder roll. I’ve felt sin breakers dashing, which tried to conquer my soul. I’ve heard the Voice of My Savior, He bids me still fight on, He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone. The second verse is also profound, The world’s fierce winds are blowing; temptations sharp and keen. But I have a peace in knowing, my Savior stands between. He stands to shield me from danger, when all my friends are gone. He promised never to leave me, never to leave me alone. Yet, as soon as we have sung that hymn, doubt attacks and we feel that God also has abandoned us. In those moments we ask, is it too late?
Mary and Martha felt alone as they struggled with the death of Lazarus. They had sent word for Jesus to come, but He did not come in the appointed time. Now, Lazarus was gone, and their faith was shaken as they tried desperately to deal with their loss. They still loved Jesus. They still believed in His teaching. They were still His Disciples. But now they felt there was nothing else that Jesus could do. Death had come; it was too late. Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Can You Live with Divine Delays?
For Martha, she felt that the grief was preventable if only the Lord had come four days earlier. If only Jesus had been there to lay His powerful hands on Lazarus, the outcome would have been, could have been, should have been different. The Lord’s delay had given occasion for death to invade their family circle. Now their hopes were shattered as they dealt with the devastation of death. In their minds, it was too late.
This points to three problems that believers face as they encounter difficulties and devastations in life. First, we have a tremendous fear that death is final. Like Martha, we seek to avoid death by the presence of Jesus. We join Martha in saying, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” The truth is, Jesus will not deliver us from dying but will show Grace and Mercy despite of death. Faith is not an exemption from death, but the acknowledgment of God in spite of death. (Ps. 23:4) It’s not too late.
Not only do we feel that death is final, but we also seek to control God’s time and if possible, avoid God’s delays. It has gotten into the Church culture that the saints of God should never suffer. If they do suffer, it should only be brief and then followed by Jesus grand entrance to deliver His people. We have somehow exploited the meaning of Psalm 30:5, weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. Many believers rarely quote the first part of the verse that refers to God’s discipline. For His anger endures but a moment; in His favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy comes in the morning. The verse application is not directed at the problems of life, but rather God’s discipline of His children. God loves us and will not retain His anger but for a little while as He corrects in love. So how should we deal with God’s delays? As believer’s we should be patient and wait on the Lord while we worship and reflect on His promises. It is through our tearful prayers and patience that we learn to trust God in terrible times. We deal with God’s delays by waiting and worshipping as we reflect on God’s promises. No, it’s not too late.
The third problem, and perhaps the most critical problem we face is limiting God to time. Thus, the question, “is it too late?” Jesus was not only going to demonstrate to Martha and Mary, His supremacy over death, but also over time. Clearly their thinking was that Jesus had to arrive at a certain time or it would be too late for Him to act. Even at the gravesite, Martha said to Jesus, “Lord by this time he stinks: for he has been dead four days.” This was the same Martha who earlier responded, “Yes, Lord: I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. Before we rush to condemn Martha, we should look in the mirror at our own ‘calendar oriented’ faith. We too, have tried to maintain God’s appointment schedule. We wanted to control when God would work in our lives, when God would move in our children’s lives. We wanted to tell God when to give us blessing. The list goes on.
Perhaps we need to take some advice from the old saints: He may not come when you want Him to, but He is always on time. If we read this passage and we only see the miracle of Lazarus’ resurrection, we will miss some important lessons about who Jesus is and why He delayed coming Martha and Mary. Jesus said in John 4:4, this sickness is not unto death, but for the Glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
With Jesus – It’s Never Too Late
As you and I struggle with those same three problems: the threat of death, God’s delays, and limiting God, we need to think about the Glory of God. What does it mean to experience God’s Glory? How do we see beyond the sting of death and the stench of our own narrow minded thinking about God? We do that by seeking the Glory of God and not just the fix for our problem. It’s not about us – but all about God. Here is the good news, if you seek the Glory of God, the problem gets fixed anyway.
Here are the three things that Jesus’ Glory reveals. Remember what Jesus promised to the Disciples, the Son of God will be glorified. They did not know what that meant, and neither will we until we see things from Heaven’s viewpoint.
It is never too late for Jesus because even when He delays His answers, His Word always prevails. Jesus said, whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. When the child of God believes God’s Word, death has no more dominion. It is never too late because the Word of God abides forever. There is no more death threat. Even if earthly events continue to unfold with problems, difficulties, and even failures, our faith in God’s Word has conquered every situation and circumstance. We are victors and Christ is Glorified because His Word abides forever. It’s never too late because God’s Word prevails.
Not only was Jesus glorified through the Word of His Power, but Jesus was glorified through His authority in granting eternal life. The question arises, was Lazarus raised to eternal life? No, because Jesus was not yet glorified by His own Resurrection from the dead. Christ was the first Resurrection, then all others followed Him. Lazarus was raised back to life to demonstrate that death was no longer in authority. The Author of Eternal Life demonstrated His Power by raising Lazarus from the dead. Jesus said to her, “your brother shall rise again.” Can you imagine the look on everyone’s faces when Lazarus came out of that tomb, when they unwound the bandages, and when he looked into their eyes? Jesus was glorified and proved without a shadow of doubt, its never too late for God.
Finally, its never too late for Jesus because His glory demonstrates that God’s plan never fails. While many of us know that truth, we have failed to live that truth in our earthly experiences. Romans 8:28 says, and we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to His purpose. God demonstrates His Glory not through the absence of problems, but rather in the presence of problems including death. It all works out for God and God is glorified. For that reason, it is never too late for God. God is always on time. Look at Moses, Daniel, and even a poor widow. God is never too late, but always on time.