Quest 22
“I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.” – Jesus (John 10:10)
LIFE IS TO BE SHARED.
Jesus shared his life in the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.
Jesus described his transient lifestyle during his public ministry (Luke 9:58) - “Foxes have holes, and birds of the air have nests, but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” In the home of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, Jesus found rest, peace, and love (Luke 10:38) - Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house.
1. On earth there is time to share life but not unlimited time.
John 11:9-10 - Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
Share life before night comes (John 9:4) - We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work.
Time management is a spiritual issue (Ephesians 5: 15-16; Colossians 4:5) - Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. . . Walk in wisdom toward outsiders, making the best use of the time.
Share life like each day will be your last (James 4:13-15) - Come now, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go into such and such a town and spend a year there and trade and make a profit”— yet you do not know what tomorrow will bring. What is your life? For you are a mist that appears for a little time and then vanishes. Instead you ought to say, “If the Lord wills, we will live and do this or that.”
2. In the sharing of life, Jesus knows what we need.
Martha said (John 11:21), “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Mary said the exact same thing (John 11:32), “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
With Martha he discusses resurrection (John 11:23-26) - 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. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
But with Mary, he wept with her (John 11:33-35) - 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. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.
3. Every crisis offers an opportunity to deepen our sharing of his life.
John 11:25-27 - Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. 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.”
Testing causes us to share in his life even more (James 1:2-3) - Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
4. Jesus shares life by locking away Death and Hades.
John 11:43-44 - 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. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
He has the keys of Death and Hades (Revelation 1:17-18) - “Fear not, I am the first and the last, and the living one. I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.”
You don’t wait until you die to share in his life – it begins when he is your life (John 5:24) - Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
