![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/stopwatch-300x200.jpg\")
Photo by Ag\u00ea Barros on Unsplash<\/p><\/div>\n
When we are wrestling with this problem, it\u2019s useful to consider the story of the resurrection of Lazarus in John 11. All of us remember the triumphant conclusion, but it\u2019s easy to overlook the less-than-triumphant beginning. In John 11:4, Jesus receives a message from Mary and Martha about Lazarus\u2019 illness, but rather than leaving immediately for Bethany, John 11:6 tells us that He stayed two days later where He was. As a result, when He arrives in Bethany in John 11:17, Lazarus already has been in the tomb for four days.<\/p>\n
Unquestionably, Jesus could have acted immediately to heal Lazarus from a distance. Failing that, at least He could have left immediately, showing proper sympathy for Lazarus\u2019 family. Instead, He kicks around for 48 hours, which results in great suffering for people He loves. When He does show up, Mary and Martha are not best pleased with Him.<\/p>\n
However, careful consideration of Jesus\u2019 actions here reveals not laziness but rather pursuit of a greater goal. The resurrection of Lazarus is the miracle that finally pushes the leaders of the Jewish nation over the edge. John 11:45-53 reports that after it takes place, the chief priests and Sanhedrin become so afraid of Jesus\u2019 popularity that they decide He has to die. If they don\u2019t reach that conclusion, Jesus isn\u2019t killed on the next Passover as the Lamb of God.<\/p>\n
Thus, at that point in His ministry, Jesus is compelled to work a miracle that will force His enemies\u2019 hand so that His death follows the divine timetable. Healing a live Lazarus wouldn\u2019t have been remarkable enough to make them act. Jesus healed lots of people.<\/p>\n
For that matter, raising a Lazarus only two days dead (as He could have done if He had left immediately) wouldn\u2019t have done the trick either. The Jews would have been aware, as we are, of the Rule of Three. Generally, humans can survive for 30 days without food, three days without water, and three minutes without air.<\/p>\n
Thus, if Lazarus had been in the tomb for only two days, the Jewish leaders plausibly could have argued that he wasn\u2019t truly dead. Given that Lazarus was one of Jesus\u2019 disciples, collusion was a reasonable possibility. In our own time, faith healers have tried similar stunts!<\/p>\n
Raising Lazarus after four days in the tomb, though, made for an irrefutable miracle. After so long, the Jews wouldn\u2019t merely have known that Lazarus was dead. Because the tomb was not hermetically sealed, they would have been able to smell that Lazarus was dead. When Martha objects to removing the stone in John 11:39 because of the stench it would raise, she has reasons for so doing!<\/p>\n
Conversely, when Jesus restores life to the decomposing corpse, nobody can deny what just has happened.<\/p>\n
Today, we cannot speculate on the reasons why God might delay or deny the answer we seek in our prayers. However, we must remember that from His perspective, things look very different than they do from ours.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Matthew W. Bassford At some point in their lives, all Christians have to deal with the disappointment and frustration of God not answering their prayers on their timetable. They want something that is godly and good, they pray for it, and. . . nothing. When we are wrestling with this problem, it\u2019s useful to…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27],"tags":[1510],"class_list":["post-25195","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-prayers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":46404,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-does-john-mention-that-jesus-wept\/","url_meta":{"origin":25195,"position":0},"title":"Why Does John Mention that Jesus Wept?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 16, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: John 11:17-44 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Ask someone even slightly familiar with the Bible what the shortest verse is and they can tell you: \u201cJesus wept.\u201d - John 11:35 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I was reading an article by Phil Gardner and he asked an interesting question, \u201cWhy does John show us\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26132,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/to-the-glory-of-god\/","url_meta":{"origin":25195,"position":1},"title":"To the Glory of God","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 20, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Dealing with John 11 by Alan Feaster","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":84006,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/who-moved-the-stones\/","url_meta":{"origin":25195,"position":2},"title":"Who Moved the Stones?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":88786,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/believe\/","url_meta":{"origin":25195,"position":3},"title":"Believe!","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"July 19, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by David Gibson \"Believe\" is the main keyword of the Gospel of John. From the 12th chapter of John, let's see what we can learn about what it means to believe: Many believed (John 12:10-11). A large number of those who witnessed Lazarus' resurrection came to believe in Jesus (John\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29487,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-god-always-hear-our-prayers\/","url_meta":{"origin":25195,"position":4},"title":"Does God always hear our prayers?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 11, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In John 11:42 it says God always hears you, but in the verse, you showed me in \"Should we pray for Satan's salvation?\" it says that God said that if people were to pray for the extreme idolaters then He would not hear their cries out to him? Answer:\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":91881,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-growth-of-the-church\/","url_meta":{"origin":25195,"position":5},"title":"The Growth of the Church","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 6, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Hugh DeLong It is difficult for us to read the events in John 12 and feel the same excitement that gripped the people in Jesus' day. The city is filling up with people who have come to celebrate and observe the Passover. \"Now the Passover of the Jews was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25195","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25195"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25195\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25195"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25195"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25195"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}