The Here and Now

12.21.11

John 11. 32-37 32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied.

 35 Jesus wept.

 36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” NIV

I am pretty much convinced that Jesus wept not because of Lazarus’ death but because of the presence of unbelief. And not just unbelief in the future but unbelief right then and there. First, Mary’ accusation: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” The depth of Mary’s belief was shallow: she’d been a close disciple of the Lord’s; she poured perfume on His feet and wiped them with her hair. Mary had dlose conversations with Jesus about spiritual things. And now her accusation: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died – it’s all your fault!” You can just see the body language of those around listening: it’s true! It’s true!

But then their accusation: “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” Unbelief. Lord, You can do anything if You can open the eyes of the blind! “I can’t make you believe, you have to get their on your own…” Unbelief is a powerful power.

I struggle with unbelief all the time. Every day when I go out to work, I struggle with unbelief: will I really find the people I need to find today? Will I really find them and convince them that what I’m offering they need? Since August 22 of this year, I have not ceased to find them; God is faithful so what is my problem; do I really believe!?

What do you need to believe God for today? A friend of mine is believing God for the resolution of her husband’s illness. Some days, she might have her doubts. Jesus is asking her: just believe in Me! I’m the resurrection and the life! And I am those things not just in the future, but right now! Yes, it’s true that the final resurrection is yet to come, but the present resurrection is here now! Believe in Me now because the resurrection from unbelief is here now!

The tears of the Lord are for our inability, outside of Him, to get it… we need to get it! When doubt and fears assail, and tempt us to give up, it’s a tearful moment because the majesty of the Lord’s presence is occluded by fear; and fear is the bully that holds us back from the glorious freedom that is ours in belief! Jesus knew exactly what was going to happen that day at Lazarus’ tomb – and He wept because it did!

Today, the choice is mine. Today, I have the opportunity to believe for the here and now… or to walk in the misty hope of the there and then. Both are true and both are valid. The there and then is just tomorrow’s here and now; and because tomorrow always remains tomorrow and the here and now is all I have today, I will believe Jesus today for the here and now and leave the there and then to Him who holds that for the day when it will become the here and now.