Title: The miracle-working water/John 11:38-44
Content - The miracle-working water - (John 11:38-44)
From the moment you are born, difficult and difficult days begin.
Nowadays, there is a trend of receiving tutoring from infants. Children who are just starting out learn English, physical education, yoga, essay writing, and philosophy.
When you enter elementary school, the real ordeal begins. When you reach secondary school, the intensity gets even worse.
You have to go through the tunnel of hell for entrance exams for 6 years. Somehow, when you enter a university, four years go by in a flash, and the problem of finding a job is hampered at the same time you graduate.
Getting a job at a large company is a blessing in the sky. 151,150 people applied for the recruitment of 932 civil servants in Seoul on the 3rd.
The number of unemployed young people who cannot find a job even after graduating from university is on the verge of an explosion.
They marry, start a family, and become the head of the family.
The stressful lives of heads of households need no further discussion.
Men who have worked for their families all their lives turn to wet fallen leaves on their heels from the moment they retire.
In addition, as aging progresses rapidly, the problem of the elderly has reached a serious level.
Dementia, livelihood pressure, and loneliness prevent the elderly from gaining control, and they are fighting the last desperate struggle of their lives.
And the twilight divorce is counting far more than the newlywed divorce.
Indeed, from the cradle to the grave, all classes are struggling to live their lives in a difficult and desperate way.
It is natural for resentment and complaints to arise. What attitude should people of faith have in the face of this reality?
Lazarus is seriously ill and is struggling with the disease.
Lazarus was not merely a brother to his brothers Martha and Mary. He was like his father.
Therefore, they did everything they could, and on the other hand, they sent someone to Jesus to ask him to heal him.
But not long after, my brother unfortunately passed away.
A great question arose in their minds as they went through this incident. “Where was Jesus then?” As this question grew bigger and bigger, it escalated into resentment and complaint.
Why did Jesus let his brother die? I cried out and cried like that, but why didn't you come?
They couldn't hide their disappointment. The Lord does not reveal the reason to those who are grieving with resentment and complaints.
Instead, he answers with his whole body. “He was troubled in spirit, and he was troubled” (verse 33). “And Jesus, again troubled in himself, went to the tomb” (verse 38). The word 'appreciated' is a very rare word here.
The King James Version (KJV) translates this word as 'He is grieving,' and the Phillips translation translates it as 'He is very sorry and visibly sad', but it is insufficient in its original meaning. William Barclay quotes the Rieu translation after mentioning that this is a very unusual word. 'The Lord was engulfed in sorrow so deep that his body trembled.' Therefore, the word 'feeling grieved' can be said to mean 'Instinctively, he vomited out a sigh as if he was squeezing it out of the depths of his heart'.
It doesn't stop there. “Jesus wept” (verse 35). The Lord wept.
This verse is the shortest verse in the entire Bible. Only two words 'jesus wept' Jesus wept.
This means weeping out loud. The Lord, who was trying to hold back tears until the end, wept at the scene where so many people were watching.
You didn't hide your emotions, you just showed them. He wept to the extent that the people around him said, 'Look how did you love him?' (36).
Are you sad and suffering right now? Open your eyes and take a look. That's where the Lord is.
The Lord not only knows my pain, problems, and pain, but also shares in the pain and weeps with the same pain as mine.
But if you look closely, the Lord was not alone with them in their sorrow.
Many people were comforting me.(31) Many of them were weeping together.(33)
Then, what is the difference between the Lord's comfort and weeping and their comfort and weeping?
The Lord did not always sit down in a state of sorrow and despair like them.
The Lord tells us to go to the grave. And he takes impressive action in front of it.
“When the stone was removed, Jesus lifted up his eyes and looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me” (John 11:41).
Those who have been to Lazarus' tomb have their eyes fixed on the rotting tomb.
However, there is not a single person who does not keep an eye on the grave in front of them. You were the Lord.
The eyes of the Lord were looking up to the sky. What is faith?
First, look to the sky. Faith is seeing the scene of my desperate life and looking to the sky instead of suffering.
Abraham's actions reveal what faith is.
When he was in despair because he could not have a son, what did God do?
"He took him outside and said, "Look up to heaven, and count the stars, if you can." And he said to him, "So shall your descendants be. Abram believed the LORD, and the LORD counted it to him as righteousness" (Genesis 15:5-6).
To look to the sky means to look to God and depend on Him.
Instead of fixing my eyes on the problem in front of me, I look to God, believing that God who can solve the problem will be glorified through this problem.
Second, declaring 'that you have heard me' is faith.
Lazarus has not yet risen. God has not yet heard Jesus' prayer.
But the Lord says 'what you have heard'. No, I declare. This is true faith.
It has not yet appeared as a reality in front of our eyes, and even if there is no change, the person of faith does not just cry.
We do not sit still while looking at the desperate reality. Looking up to the sky, I proclaim.
Third, you should decorate the finale with thanks. Faith does not end with a confession of the lips. It should be expressed in gratitude.
It has not been accomplished, but nothing happens in front of my eyes, but I believe and be thankful that it has happened.
Gratitude works miracles. The murmuring Jonah went into the belly of the fish.
It has become a situation where no hope or dream can be had. Because God disciplined him and threw him into the deep sea of the Mediterranean Sea, into the belly of a fish.
But in his belly, Jonah offered a sacrifice of thanks to God.
“I will offer sacrifices to you with a voice of thanksgiving, and pay my vows to you.
Salvation comes from the LORD.” (Jon 2:9) Then a miracle occurred.
There is a 'prime water' in our church choir.
Priming water is water that is poured to draw up well water with a pump.
If you don't pour that water first, no matter how much you pump, the water won't come up.
However, when you pour a few drops of priming water and pump it, a huge amount of water comes out.
God is waiting for a pick-up right now. However, not one gourd, but three priming is required.
(1) Looking up to heaven (2) Hearing from me (3) Thank you. Isn't history showing up in your life? Because it doesn't priming.
Try priming once. It is never wasted.
It is supposed to come back to fill by pressing and shaking.
Even if my reality is difficult and difficult, don't cry and believe that the Lord is with me now.
Look at the sky. And proclaim in faith. And thank you. You will experience the miracle of Lazarus coming back to life.