So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days. John 11:5-6
Love Waits…
If you have ever read the account of Lazarus in John 11, you know that it has a rough beginning but ends well. Lazarus’ sisters, Mary and Martha, sent for Jesus because he was very ill. They were convinced that Jesus could heal him. And yet what actually happened is unimaginable, and even though I have read it many times, I still get a little choked up to think Jesus didn’t just drop everything and run the moment He got news that the friend He loved was sick.
The fact that Jesus waited begs the question: Why? At first glance, it can appear casual and contrary to everything we think love is and how it behaves. We have been taught to believe that true love responds, rescues, and shows up for the people we care about; it shows up for us.
And yet, Jesus waited.
Paul tells us that “Love is large and incredibly patient.” Those words are certainly inspirational and make a good T-shirt. (We all need and want patience extended to us.) Yet if we are honest, waiting is hard and seems contrary to “large” demonstrative love. Love just feels wrong if it isn’t quick, “at first sight”, decisive, and ready to ride in like a knight in shining armor.
But love isn’t a cure-all, a fix-all, a magical intangible. Instead, it is a choice rooted in something far deeper than a temporary good time or happy feeling. Love sees beyond the now into the future. This perspective is what shapes its actions and brings all its attributes (gentleness, selflessness, truth, and endurance) into the equation. So Jesus wasn’t afraid to wait. He demonstrated a love more concerned with a greater outcome than with momentary approval from his friends and disciples.
Sometimes love acts. And sometimes love waits.
Love does not demonstrate its power through dominance or quick solutions. Our prayer for God to “take control” will always go unanswered, not because He is incapable or because His sovereignty has limits, but because He created us for a relationship rooted in choice. We may believe we are surrendering by asking Him to sweep in and “fix things,” when instead we’re looking for an escape from the pressure. Love isn’t an arbitrary framework God operates from, and we can’t measure “love” by how well we believe He fulfills our expectations and timetable.
So back to Lazarus…
The wait from the message about Lazarus’ illness to the miracle wasn’t a commentary on whether Jesus loved him; it was a picture of what true love looks like. Love goes beyond the immediate because it sees the whole story. Jesus waited because He knew the endgame, God’s plan. Lazarus’s awakening was not the pinnacle of the encounter. This life event was less about raising Lazarus from the dead and more about instilling faith and trust in His disciples. It was about the conversation with Martha to make sure she knew He heard her concerns and to help her process the disappointment. It was the emotional moments He shared with Mary as they cried over her loss. These encounters are what changed them forever.
We can get so fixated on the immediate and temporal that we can miss the intangibles that matter most to God: relationship and connection. These are the paradigms through which God sees and responds to us. When we believe love only looks like fixing our problems, we become shortsighted and shallow. He is looking for something deeper, something that changes our belief about who He is and reveals His true value for us. God hasn’t changed since Lazarus’s time. He is never absent; He is always present, no matter what things look like. Love does show up, but we can miss it if we are looking for the wrong evidence in the middle of our crisis.
Love never stops loving
So, embrace the One who loves you, and enjoy the grace flowing from His heart toward you. You can trust His motives and believe His promises. He is with you now, and is diligently working to steward your future. Your life brings Him glory, and that is the fruit of a love that waits.
“So this is my command: Love each other deeply, as much as I have loved you. For the greatest love of all is a love that sacrifices all. And this great love is demonstrated when a person sacrifices his life for his friends.” John 15:13