The story of Lazarus and the rich man is a powerful parable told by Jesus in the Bible, found in the Gospel of Luke, chapter 16, verses 19-31. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." ( John 11:38-44) I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. "Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. Jesus chose Lazarus to demonstrate His power as he foreshadowed what would happen to Himself on Easter. Then after Jesus grieved, He went to the tomb and called to his dead friend, “Lazarus, come out.” Immediately Lazarus appeared out of the tomb. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?" ( John 11:33-37, emphasis added) And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept. When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. Can you imagine a friendship so true that the Son of God would stand at your grave with tears running down His face? Lazarus must have been a great man. Jesus, even knowing the good outcome, wept for his friend. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world." ( John 11:23-27) Lazarus was who “Jesus Wept” For Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." ( John 11:17-22) Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. "Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Was He waiting so that those around Lazarus would have no doubt that their friend was gone? Very possibly. Jesus took his time before leaving for Bethany, knowing that the Jewish culture deemed a person dead after three days. To our human minds this delay might have been seen as uncaring, but remember Jesus was God incarnate and knew Lazarus’s life span. So, instead of racing to his friend’s bedside, he stayed two more days where He was before deciding to go to Bethany and awaken His friend. And it may have been because of that very closeness that Jesus decided to use his relationship with Lazarus to showcase his power.
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