The Transition

2151/10000 The Practical to the Spiritual, The Natural to the Supernatural
Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
John 11 v 39

When Lazarus died, they tied his legs as it was customary. They placed him inside a cave as it was also customary and covered the mouth with a large boulder. Jesus asked the mourners to remove the stone. He did not move the boulder Himself. Likewise, the barriers and obstacles that we ourselves have place in our lives over the dead things and hopes in our lives have to be removed by us. The cords or ropes we have tied ourselves up with the things we affirm, speak and think should be cut by us and removed. Jesus did not remove the cords and sheets around the resurrected Lazarus. He asked the mourners to cut and remove these as the resurrected Lazarus rose from where his body lay.

Many of our blessings lie submerged or obstructed due to various factors in our lives. The large fish that the disciples caught on the direction of the resurrected Jesus were at the bottom of the lake unseen by their eyes and unknown to them but rose to the surface when He commanded the fish to do so. Likewise, many of our eternal and earthly blessings lie submerged and on the Lord’ s command will rise to the surface of reality. Our faith and our obedience of the Lord’s commands should be such that we take our life’s major decisions based on His wise counsel by the Holy Spirit.

We need to move from our acceptance of the absolution provided by the death of Jesus on the cross to the even more significant experience of His resurrection power. The resurrection power of Jesus can cause what would normally be dead, rotting or stinking in our lives to come alive, revived and renewed. That power of Jesus is the power of doing the impossible- to bring alive that which is dead. Jesus first gave in to the emotion of weeping at the grave of Lazarus. Then, He groaned in the spirit, gathered His spiritual faith and strength and asked the dead Lazarus to come forth. Jesus moved from the natural to the supernatural. In one moment, He was giving them practical instructions, the next He was invoking the supernatural power and authority He is vested with. Likewise, we need to set aside our initial reaction, remove the man-made barriers and restrictions and act with faith to speak to the dead situation we are in. As we do so, the power to accomplish the impossible is released by our faith and our words. We need to believe that Jesus even today can do all things. By means of our faith in Him, we can do all things too. Like Jesus, we need to constantly transit from the real and practical to the real and spiritual, from the natural to the supernatural and back to the natural.
Prateep V Philip