Where Have You Laid Him? - John 11:34

The apostle John wrote how Martha the sister of Lazarus left Jesus and, “went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calls for you. As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him. Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him. The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goes unto the grave to weep there. Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, ...”, and in chapter eleven and verse thirty-four of his book John shared how Jesus asked, “where have you laid him? where we read:

And said, Where have you laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.

The verse reads, “And said, Where have you laid him?” John began with the words, “and said” which means “and uttered, declared, proclaimed and asked”, “where have you laid him” or “in what place or location have you, Mary and the people with her, set, put and placed Lazarus”? John shared how Jesus asked Mary and the others with her “where” they buried Lazarus.

The verse goes on to say, “They said unto him, Lord, come and see.” John continued with the words, “the said unto him which means “Mary and the people with her uttered, declared and proclaimed to Jesus”, “Lord” or “One to whom a person or thing belongs, about which he has power of deciding; master, and the title given to God the Messiah”, “come and see” which means “follow us and behold, observe and notice”. John shared how Mary and the people with her recognized Jesus as the “Lord” and instructed Him to follow them and observe the place where they buried “Lazarus”.

When we consider John's words in this verse, we learn how Jesus responded after “groaning in his spirit” over this situation. He desired to know where Martha, Mary and the others buried Lazarus because He was going to do a mighty miracle there. Jesus was sent to the earth by His Father God, and He was deliberate in His desire to “save” people from the penalty of sins which is death. Lazarus' grave would serve as a place to demonstrate His power over death, hell and the grave, but those leading Jesus had no idea what was about to happen. God wants a personal relationship with every person through His Son Jesus, and those who surrender to Him will find Him willing to forgive their sins and grant them everlasting life that goes beyond their earthly grave. Those who are wise will study this story carefully and realize, Jesus has the power to grant eternal life to everyone who believes.

Next time John shares how, “Jesus wept”, so read ahead, and we shall join together then.

Until tomorrow…there is more…

Look for the daily devotional book “Equipped for Battle – From Generation to Generation”, the marriage book “So, You Want to Be Married”, “One Year in the Sermon on the Mount” and the new poetry book "Random Mushrooms Volumes I and II" and the new novel "Elizabeth County" in all major bookstore sites, http://www.amazon.com ; http://www.barnesandnobles.com ; download to e-books, and find it locally at www.mrzlc.com/bookstore. All references are from "Strongs Concordance".