#5kMay2018 Day 27

Yowsa! It was a hot one out there today! I don’t feel like I am ready for this heat, but ready or not -here it comes!

I got a nice and easy 5k this morning before it was too crazy hot and muggy. It absolutely poured down rain last night and through the night, and it was supposed to rain today, but instead we just had the humidity. We had a bit of flash flooding around here, but nowhere near as bad as some other areas got hit.

I ran 3.1 miles in 24 minutes and 11 seconds. I was moving at an average pace of 7:47 per mile. My legs felt like lead pipes and I was very happy to be done with my run today. Some days are like that. It was still enjoyable, but I was glad to be finished.

Reading through John 11-13, I was amazed by the plot from the chief priests to kill Lazarus, whom Jesus had just raised from the dead.

When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. – John 12:9-11, ESV

It is astonishing to consider the depths of depravity at play here. Lazarus was dead! Now he is alive! But the Jews are not rejoicing over this great miracle. No! Instead they are plotting to literally kill him again just to keep people from coming to Jesus, the one who was responsible for the miracle resurrection.

Wow!

I read this and I think, “I guess not much has changed…”

I don’t believe that the chief priests were intending to keep people from God. I believe they were so blind to the truth of who God is that they actually considered themselves to be doing the “right” thing by plotting to kill Lazarus. They actually thought they were “protecting” people by killing a living human being. Somehow they thought of this murder as a “compassionate” action.

They were choosing to end one life in order to make another life “better”. I guess you could say they were “Pro-Choice”. Lazarus was an inconvenience. The chief priests just wanted the inconvenience to go away.

How sad. How absolutely terrible. How utterly tragic.

We do not find out in the text what happened to Lazarus. It is likely that this plot to kill never fully developed to the point of being carried out. Legend points to Lazarus either traveling to Cyprus to become a church leader there until he died of natural causes, or of him traveling to Marseilles to become a church leader until he was beheaded for his faith. Either way, the point remains that the chief priests were losing their minds regarding Jesus.

This still seems to be the case today. I can think of educational elites, popular politicians, spiritual leaders, and others today who would seemingly stop at nothing to keep people from coming to Jesus? Why?

I believe they actually think they are doing the “right” thing. They are “protecting” people. They see their actions as “compassionate”.

How tragically misguided they are. But, like many of the Jews who were going away and believing in Jesus, we don’t have to listen to them. We can come to Jesus, the Giver of Life, the One who has the power to raise the dead, on our own. Their desire to keep us from Jesus does not have to result in our being kept from Jesus.

No one can stop us from coming to Jesus.

And Jesus cried out and said, “Whoever believes in me, believes not in me but in him who sent me. And whoever sees me sees him who sent me. I have come into the world as light, so that whoever believes in me may not remain in darkness. (John 12:44–46. ESV)

*5k Every Day in the Month of May 2018 is brought to you by Jeff Polen Music and Vertical Runner of Wooster. If you are joining the fun, don’t forget about the Facebook group, the Strava group, and the printable PDF.