For the sake of the crowd standing here — Clementia Pae

Then Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. 42 I know that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” — John 11:41-42 ISV

Some of you, you have sought the Lord, you have listened to the Lord, you have heard the Lord, you have seen the Lord, you have walked with the Lord, you have obeyed the Lord, you have trusted the Lord, you have no doubt in Him, that He always does that which He said He will do.

But you are now faced with a situation where your prayer unto Him, is not for you anymore, but for the sake of those around you.

You are faced with a lifeless, hopeless, stinking, death and written-off situation but you know, that you know, that you know, that the Lord will move in this situation as well.

You have believed Him, and your weeping now is for the sake of those whose faith is little. It is for the sake of the fearful, the hurting, the hopeless, the spectators, the doubtful, and even those with questions.

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You are standing and saying it aloud, for their sake. Other Bible translations say: “for their benefit, on account of, because of, so that, they may see the glory of God, and they may believe”.

For the glory of God
In the book of John chapter 11:1-44, we see Jesus faced with a “hopeless” situation, a “death” situation, where everyone around him was in doubt, except Himself.

Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha had died. From verse 3 the Bible tells us that Jesus knew about Lazarus’s sickness, because Mary and Martha had sent a message to him about it.

Jesus responded by saying: “this sickness would not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God, so that the Son of God will receive glory through this.”

After confessing these beautiful words of hope, however, Jesus still did not rush to Bethany to pray for Lazarus, so he could get well. Jesus remained in Jerusalem for two more days.

The Bible does not tell us what he was doing in those two days. He could have been praying, fasting, etc. But all we know that He knew, He believed, He understood that God was going to get glory out of this situation. And that He, himself, Jesus, would be glorified through it. He knew that Lazarus would rise again. He had no doubt about that.

7 Finally (when the time came), Jesus said to his disciples “Let’s go back to Judea.” 8 But his disciples objected. “Rabbi,” they said, “only a few days ago the people in Judea were trying to stone you. Are you going there again?”

These are the voices of fear, which say: “It is dangerous. Don’t go there, What about this? What if? How can?”

Jesus replied, “There are twelve hours of daylight every day. During the day people can walk safely. They can see because they have the light of this world. 10 But at night there is danger of stumbling because they have no light.” 11 Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up. — John 11:9-11 NLT

In the verse above, Jesus uses figurative speech to explain to the disciples that the dark hour had come in the family of Lazarus, and there was stumbling, there was no light, no faith, no revelation, and no hope. And Jesus had to bring this light to that area of Judea, where the dead Lazarus was.

The people who needed to receive the light of Jesus Christ, get a revelation and believe. This miracle that was to happen, was for their sake. So that God may be glorified.

So that they may believe
12 The disciples said, “Lord if he is sleeping, he will soon get better!”13 They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died.

14 So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.”

From verse 15, we get to understand why Jesus was happy that he stayed two more days in Jerusalem, after hearing about Lazarus’s sickness. He was happy that he was not there when this entire thing happened, so that there would be no shadow of doubt that God had done it, when Lazarus is raised from the dead.

He did not want to interfere or tamper with anything. He wanted all the glory to go to God, and then, He Himself, to be glorified through what God had done through Him. Then the people could truly believe.

For the doubtful who are around you
16 Thomas, nicknamed the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go, too—and die with Jesus.”

There are those that are around you, that would even journey with you, and that truly love you, but they just lack the faith. They are even willing to “protect” you, or to even “die” with you, because they are just not seeing the light of day in this whole thing.

They mean well. But their faithless and hopeless state of mind demands that you pray to the Father, for their sake too, so that they may see the light, and they may believe.

17 When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. 18 Bethany was only a few miles[d] down the road from Jerusalem, 19 and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss. 20 When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.”
25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.” 28 Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.”29 So Mary immediately went to him” — John 11:17-29 NLT

Some, like Martha, have the faith and the revelation up to a certain extent. Some in their revelation there is a delay — they are envisioning the future resurrection, as opposed to “the now resurrection”.

They need you to bring them the encouragement, the hope, the assurance, the affirmation, even a little push, that comes with who you are because you are His.

And you can do all things through Christ who strengthens you (Phil 4:13). You can do even greater things than what He, Himself, Christ, did (John 14:12-14). That same power that raised Christ from the dead is within you (Romans 8:11). Therefore, in you, there is Resurrection and Life. And that resurrection is taking place now.

And again there will be many who would be the spectators, who would be asking questions and pointing a finger as well, saying: “This man, this woman, he has been opening the eyes of the blind, she has been praying too much, prophesying, doing A, B, & C, couldn’t he have kept this situation from getting to the point of death? Couldn’t? Couldn’t?”

Just remember, it had to happen for their sake, and for the glory of God.

Deeply moved in spirit, to a point of anger
33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?”

They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” 37 And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”  —–John 11:33-37 NKJ

Many of you are facing heart-moving situations — you are experiencing a Lazarus (a death situation) in your relationships, in your marriage, your family, your career, your finances, your ministry, your business. You are surrounded by sickness, injustice, loss, poverty, hopelessness, etc, and you have been groaning in the spirit and deeply troubled by such situations, and in holy anger you are being moved by the Spirit of God, to say: “where have you laid him?”(vs. 34).

The hour is now, to face that situation head-on. You know whom you have believed.

For their sake, pray to the Father
38 Groaning deeply again, Jesus came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying in front of it. 39 Jesus said “Remove the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, told him, “Lord, there must be a stench by now, because he’s been dead for four days.” 40 Jesus told her, “I told you that if you believed you would see God’s glory, didn’t I?” 41 So they removed the stone.

Then Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. 42 I know that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.”

43 After saying this, he shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet tied with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a handkerchief. Jesus told them, “Untie him, and let him go.” John 11:38-44

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In this eleventh hour, miracle month of November 2018, which also marks the beginning of the month of Kilsev in this Hebrew year 5779, let the light of Jesus Christ in you, come over every dark area around you. Let faith be renewed. Look up and pray to the Father, in the name of Jesus.

Even though you are certain that the Father has already heard you, and He always hears you, do this for those, that are around you.

I heard the Lord saying: “Stand and stand again, for My Glory and for the people’s sake. I have been pleased by your trust in Me. I have been moved by your unwavering faith. And I have now come.

“The season, the hour, the minute, is now, for My name to be known, for the nations to marvel at My goodness and My greatness. I have come. I am raising the dead through your life, in your life, and all around you. I am doing this, so that they may believe that I have sent you.”