The next morning mom baked pies, and she made a special "saucersized" pie just for her son. The boy was so excited for blueberry pie was his favorite! His mother could bake pies so well. She made little hearts in the crust and the pie mixture oozed out the holes. His mouth watered as he thought about eating that delicious pie.

It finally cooled enough for him to have some. He plunged his fork into flaky crust, but something wasn't right. Instead of a fork full of flaky crust and hot blueberry pie mix, he discovered the mixture was mostly moss! Moral: Most people want to experience the glory of God in their lives, but they are unwilling to work at glorifying Him.

The text's story is about Lazarus's death. His sisters, the disciples, and the mourning crowds all have something to say about poor Lazarus's death, but Jesus helps them to understand that God's glory will be poured out despite the situation.

I. God's Glory Will Occur Regardless of Our Problems (vv. 1-16)

Lazarus' close friendship with Jesus is evident from the words that his two sisters, Mary and Martha, communicate to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick" (v.3). This ailment was not inconsequential, but critical, even to the point of death.

Lazarus had a problem! His sisters had a problem! One would think that Jesus would rush to the aid of one of His closest friends, but that was not the case. The scripture tells us rather than hurrying to Bethany Jesus, "stayed where He was two more days" (v. 6). What a surprising, aggravating, and disillusioning response it must have been for Mary and Martha. The same for us when Jesus "fails" to do as we "think He should at the appropriate moment."

The Bible describes Jesus' delayed response; "... it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it" (v. 4). There are times that my problems seem insurmountable to me ... almost to the point that I feel like I'm dying. I cannot see any benefit for the precarious predicament I find myself in, and I tell God so. However, often at these times my predicament is the vehicle through which God will perform a miracle and glorify His Son!

II. God's Glory Will Occur through Our Compassion, (vv. 17-37)

It's about a thirty-five minute walk from the outer border of Jerusalem to the little town of Bethany. The family trio of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus had made many friends over the years. When a friend dies the natural compassionate outer expression is to come along side the one(s) that are left. In this case Mary and Martha were the center of attention as a great group of their Jewish friends gather at their home to give comfort and support in their time of grieving (vv 18-19).

Their closest friend, Jesus, arrived on the scene to bring a deeper sense of comfort and compassion to the sisters. There was a sense of relief, a bit of aggravation and at the same time a grasping faith permeating Martha's response to Jesus' visit in verses 21-22. The sense that Jesus had let both Mary and Martha down was a bit more intense in Mary's response in verse 32, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." She was saying, "Jesus, if You really had cared about Lazarus as much as You say You did, You would have been here when we sent for You."