by David Gibson<\/p>\n
Only Matthew tells us that “an angel of the Lord descended from heaven and came and rolled away the stone and sat upon it<\/em>” (Matthew 28:2 NASB).<\/p>\n But when Jesus came to Lazarus’ tomb, He said, “Remove the stone<\/em>” (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.<\/p>\n 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.<\/em>” Jesus replied, “Did I not say to you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?<\/em>” “So they removed the stone<\/em>” (John 11:39-41).<\/p>\nEvidently, Jesus was testing Martha’s faith and the faith of others present on that occasion. 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).<\/p>\n 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.”<\/p>\n To Martha’s credit, she yielded to Jesus’ order, “Remove the stone<\/em>.”<\/p>\n 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.<\/p>\n And so will we.<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 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…<\/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,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[49,182,188],"class_list":["post-84006","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-faith","tag-suffering","tag-trials"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":9359,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-the-gospels-contradict-each-other-regarding-jesus-empty-tomb\/","url_meta":{"origin":84006,"position":0},"title":"Do the gospels contradict each other regarding Jesus’ empty tomb?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I am a Christian but my friend has pointed out several contradictions in the Bible I when the women went to the tomb of Jesus I was hoping you could help me to resolve: Matthew - Earthquake with an angel sitting outside on the recently moved stone; Mark -\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":25195,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-does-god-delay\/","url_meta":{"origin":84006,"position":1},"title":"Why Does God Delay?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 24, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"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\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/stopwatch-300x200.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":46404,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-does-john-mention-that-jesus-wept\/","url_meta":{"origin":84006,"position":2},"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":17189,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-resurrection-of-jesus\/","url_meta":{"origin":84006,"position":3},"title":"The Resurrection of Jesus (Hamilton)","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 31, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Acts 13:16-41 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Central to every Christian\u2019s belief in his salvation is the resurrection of Jesus - I Corinthians 15:12-19 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0If Jesus was not raised, . . . \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Then every preacher has been teaching falsehoods \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a02.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our faith in the Bible would be useless \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a03.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Our hope\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":56856,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/god-with-us\/","url_meta":{"origin":84006,"position":4},"title":"God with Us","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"December 14, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"by Doy Moyer The coming of Jesus into this world, with all it entails, is more important than any or all events in this world combined. The light has come into a world of darkness, and darkness could not comprehend it. God is with us. Consider that Joseph was told\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":27656,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/does-psalms-11822-24-refer-to-jesus-and-his-resurrection\/","url_meta":{"origin":84006,"position":5},"title":"Does Psalms 118:22-24 refer to Jesus and his resurrection?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 16, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear Sir, May the peace of God be with you all.\u00a0I would be grateful if you could help me with the understanding of Psalms 118:22-24. Is the verse(s) referring to Jesus and his resurrection? Thank you, God bless you. 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\nJesus 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.\n