Commentary on John 11 (3)
Next, take a look at Mary’s confession.
“Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.” (John 11:27)
This is the stereotypical belief that Martha and Mary knew of Jesus, the Son of Man.
Clearly, that person is the Lord and Christ, the Son of God.
There is no doubt about it, right?
But before that, in John 11:25-26, did Jesus Christ say?
"I am your Lord and Christ, I am the Son of God, believe in me."
No.
He said, I am the resurrection and the life: he who believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Believes you this?
Because Lazarus died, the remedy must be resurrection and life.
Even now, it seems that many people have a firm belief that ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.’
Every street is filled with faith like this.
However, the important thing is that when the Lord comes into us, he is ‘the Lord and the Son of God,’ but sometimes he appears as comfort, sometimes as light, and sometimes as the power of resurrection and life.
Therefore, do not just confess one unchanging thing, You are the Christ, the Son of the living God,’ but go further and confess, the Lord is my comfort, the Lord is my light, life, power, wisdom and hope.
However, many people's confession of faith remains the same from beginning to end. Like Martha and Mary...
If the Lord says, ‘I have come to comfort you,’ Amen, the Lord is my comfort. This means confessing like this.
The Lord, who is who, becomes what to us in his name.
If he says, ‘I have come to be your strength,’ then confess, ‘Amen, the Lord is my strength.’
When you are suffering under a curse and the Lord says, ‘I am your blessing,’ shout out, ‘Yes, the Lord is my blessing.’
This means that repeating it as if it were memorized exactly as it was written, like Martha and Mary did, is not a correct confession of faith.
Even though the Lord clearly presented His power by saying, “I am the resurrection and the life,” these women make a listless confession, saying, “Amen, you are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”
That faith will only embarrass the Lord and will not solve their problems.
Then let me ask you.
Is it true that the word of the Lord sometimes has power?
Is it true that sometimes it's our love?
Is it sometimes comforting?
Does it sometimes bring you joy?
Then, what I am saying is that I must confess whatever I need right now and ask for it in the name of the Lord.
Instead of always saying, ‘You are the Christ, the Son of the living God, that is why I believe,’ when your soul is hungry, confess, ‘The Lord is the bread for my soul.’
If the Lord says, “I am resurrection and life,” we must say “Amen,” but Martha and Mary have not changed their beliefs that have been stereotyped.
If we are not careful, the confessions of believers these days may end up like that.
When they feel frustrated, they end up saying, “I believe in God the Father, Almighty, Creator of heaven and earth,” and pray, “Lord, help me and sustain me.”
However, if you feel frustrated, say, ‘Lord, you are a bright light in the darkness.’
When we feel frustrated, all you have to do is shine the light.
When we feel dark and frustrated, there is no need to attend the Almighty God, who made heaven and earth.
However, we need to know how to confess, ‘Lord, my heart is dark and frustrated, so please shine on me,’ but many people’s confessions of faith are uniform.
What if I commit a sin and need forgiveness for my sins, but what if I say ‘Holy God’?
If I call on a holy God while I'm sinning, won't I be ruined?
When only God's holy light is visible, sinners become delirious, faint, and die.
When I feel frustrated because I have sinned, I should say, ‘The Lord is the one who has forgiven our sins. I know very well that my sins have been forgiven in the name of the merciful Lord.’
If you just uniformly chant ‘Almighty God, Holy God’, your current heart’s desire and the heart of the Lord do not match, so sending and receiving prayers will not be possible.
Because the code for praying and asking is not correct, we are unable to receive the Lord’s grace and blessings.
Currently, there are conflicting perspectives between the attributes the Lord wants to show to them and Martha and Mary's faith.
The Lord wants God to be glorified by raising Lazarus from the dead through resurrection and life, but these people keep their usual confession of faith.
The Bible says that God goes out of his way to persuade these ignorant people to believe.
Written by Ptr. Yohan Kim.
Translated by Nancy Chung
COME AND SEE WORLD MISSION
To God be the glory.