The Lord Knows Everything

(John 11:1-4)

Does any person seriously believe that they can hide anything from God? I know many think they can but who are they really fooling? Only themselves.

Our God has been described as omniscient and omnipotent, that is, all seeing, all knowing and all powerful. Anybody who thinks they can hide from such a God is a fool. Everything you do and all that you will do in the future is known to him for our lives are in His hands.

Any evidence we need of this can be seen in this scripture where Jesus is advised that Lazarus is ill.

Lazarus' Illness

This section of scripture reads as follows.

1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill.
3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”
4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

Lazarus, along with his sisters Mary and Martha were greatly loved by Jesus. They were good friends and sincere and devoted followers of The Lord.

At this time we hear that Lazarus was very ill and it was clear that they thought he would die for they called The Lord to come and see him in the hope Jesus would take away the illness and heal him. After all they would certainly have witnessed other miraculous healings He had performed and so they felt certain Jesus could do the same for His beloved friend and the brother of these two favored women.

Jesus' Response

Now Jesus responded in an unusual way to the messenger who brought the news of Lazarus' illness. There were a number of ways He could have acted but he simply stated that this illness would not lead to death but rather to the glory of God.

We saw in another situation where a centurion had a slave who was ill and dying that Jesus simply said the word without visiting the sick man, and he was healed. (See Matthew 8:5-13) Jesus could have done likewise and simply said the word and Lazarus would have been healed.

But that was not His purpose. His response to the messengers reflected something else was going on that needed to be down and seen in person. Whatever it was that Jesus planned on doing it was going to be great and as He stated, it would be to glorify God the Father and to glorify Jesus in the eyes of all who saw and heard the matter.

Jesus knew beforehand exactly what was going on and exactly what needed to be done to bring this matter to a conclusion. He knew and understood what had to happen for He could see and know all things. We know that Lazarus did die, but we learn more about what the true death is from this teaching and how we should think about death, and will look at that in more detail in the next few posts. But for now we need only know that it was the pre-determined plan of God for Lazarus to become ill, die and be raised so that the purpose of The Lord would be established and plain to all. That indeed Jesus was and is “The resurrection and the Life.”

Gods Plan for You

Do you ever wonder what the plan of The Lord is for you and your life? If you are a Christian I am sure you have wondered about it. I am sure that you have wondered sometimes about the paths that The Lord has led you down as you walk with Jesus. There are times when The Lord is leading you in a direction and you feel like saying, “Are you sure Lord?”

Every path He leads you down is taking you to a conclusion. Everything you experience is teaching you something. Every experience you have is for a pre-planned and perfect purpose that He has determined for you and your life. Nothing happens to any of His people without His knowledge and His purpose being established. Remember we'll what he says in the following scripture fromMatthew 10:26-33.

26 “So have no fear of them, for nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known.
27 What I tell you in the dark, say in the light, and what you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops.
28 And do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.
29 Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? And not one of them will fall to the ground apart from your Father.
30 But even the hairs of your head are all numbered.
31 Fear not, therefore; you are of more value than many sparrows.
32 So everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven,
33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven.

As that old song goes that says “his eye is on the sparrow” His eyes are even more so on His people. The Lord knows everything and He has a plan for His people. And that plan is for us to have the victory and to stand in the presence of the Father. Ever since the beginning of the Creation, His plan was set in motion and it is moving to a completion. It will not deviate until all is completed according to the will of God.

It is the same with the plan for you. Jesus showed us in the teaching about Lazarus that even death was subject to His will. He showed that He would have and already did have the victory over death and that anyone who loves The Lord would not die but would come to life in Him at His word.

He showed it with Lazarus, He did it himself and He is working with you so that you too will not suffer death as the rest of the world suffers. We do not need to fear he death of the body when our spirit is separated from our flesh. That is the worst that evil men and even the devil himself can do to us. Instead understand that the one to fear is He who can can destroy both body and soul. And even then, if we are walking on His side we need not fear for He will guide us to life for that is His desire, His plan and His will.