Who Moved the Stones?
by David Gibson
Only Matthew tells us that “an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it” (Matthew 28:2 NASB).
But when Jesus came to Lazarus’ tomb, He said, “Remove the stone” (John 11:39). It would have been easy for Jesus to move the stone miraculously as the angel would soon do at Jesus’ own grave, but He didn’t.
When Jesus said, “Remove the stone,” Lazarus’ sister Martha objected, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus replied, “Did I not say to you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” “So they removed the stone” (John 11:39-41).
Evidently, Jesus was testing Martha’s faith and the faith of others present on that occasion.
Jesus was in no hurry to arrive after receiving Mary and Martha’s urgent message that their brother was sick. Raising a man dead for four days would have a far more powerful impact than healing him.
Jesus’ goal in raising Lazarus was to bring many to faith (John 11:4, 15, 41-42), which worked! (11:45; 12:9-11, 17-18). The impact of this one miracle was so strong that Jesus’ enemies despaired because of its positive influence on so many (John 11:45-48; 12:9-11, 17-19).
Yes, letting Lazarus die caused great grief to his sisters as well as others. But as Guy N. Woods so wisely observed, “Not infrequently, when our petitions are not granted, it is because the Lord is withholding the less in order to bestow the greater blessing.”
To Martha’s credit, she yielded to Jesus’ order, “Remove the stone.”
Obedience to Christ, even when we are in great distress and cannot understand the ways of God, will bring us the greatest blessings -- as Martha soon discovered.
And so will we.