最大的神迹
约翰福音十一1至7节
1有一个患病的人，名叫拉撒路，住在伯大尼，就是马利亚和她姐姐马大的村庄。
2这马利亚就是那用香膏抹主，又用头发擦他脚的，患病的拉撒路是她的兄弟。
3她姊妹两个就打发人去见耶稣说：“主啊，你所爱的人病了。”
4耶稣听见就说：“这病不至于死，乃是为神的荣耀，叫神的儿子因此得荣耀。”
5耶稣素来爱马大和她妹子并拉撒路，
6听见拉撒路病了，就在所居之地仍住了两天。
7然后对门徒说：“我们再往犹太去吧！”
信息分享
她们姊妹俩相信，只要一个简单的口信说明需要，耶稣就会立即前来，耶稣深爱这个家庭。但这次，祂要为他们和他们的信心做一件以前从没有过的事，使他们将荣耀颂赞归给神。许多时候，神也是基于同一个理由而延迟应允我们的祈求。
耶稣一直等候，直至拉撒路死去──他甚至可能在传信的人到达之前已死去了。对这两姊妹来说，这一定是一个非常悲痛的葬礼。她们不住地说：「如果耶稣早些在这里……」可是，耶稣怎么形容拉撒路的死呢？祂说他睡了（11节）。有些人便根据这句话得出一个名为「灵睡」的教义。然而，基督并不是这个意思。对信徒来说，死后，灵魂便与基督同在。新约的教导是：「离开身体，与主同在」。
基督终于对门徒说：「我们回到犹大，再到伯大尼。我要你们知道，神要在适当的时间作工，如今时候到了。我们会安然在神的手中。」
我们往往认为门徒中的多马，总是多疑。但请留意这里，却是他对其他门徒说出「我们和祂一同回到耶路撒冷，我们也去和他同死吧」这样的豪言壮语。多马后来成为一位伟大的福音宣教士，足迹远至亚洲，特别是印度。拉撒路复活的事，也许在他的生命中留下不可磨灭的回忆。显然，整个故事还充分教导我们认识基督的大能和神的时间。
CHRIST’S GREATEST MIRACLE
John 11: 1-7
1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
4 When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.
7 Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”
Message
The two sisters believed that a simple statement of the need would bring Christ to their home immediately. Christ loved this family but now, He wanted to do something for them and for their faith which would make them praise and glorify God as never before. It is often for the same reason that answers to our prayers are delayed today.
Jesus waited and Lazarus died, possibly even before the messenger reached Christ. It would have been a sad funeral for the two sisters. Over and over again they said to each other, “If only Jesus had been here...” But what did Jesus say about death (v.11)? He called it “sleep”. Some groups have made a doctrine out of this called “soul sleep”. But that is not what Christ meant. For the believer, the soul goes into the presence of Christ. “Absent from the body, present with the Lord” is what the New Testament says.
Christ finally said to the disciples, “Let’s go back into Judea and to Bethany. I want you to understand that there is a right time for God to work and that time has come. We will be safe in God’s hands.”
We often think of Thomas, one of the disciples who always doubted. But did you notice here that he was the one who said to the other disciples, “Let’s go with Him back to Jerusalem even if we have to die with Him.” These are brave words and in his later life Thomas became a great missionary for the Gospel, reaching out to Asia and particularly India. It could be that the whole story of Lazarus left an indelible mark on his life. Certainly the story has much to teach us about the power and timing of Christ.