But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
(John 11v37 NIV)
It seems a fair question but also a critical one.
Our mouths betray our hearts.
Even if it seems reasonable.
They expected Him to do miracles.
They were quite critical of Him at this stage.
As they saw how much He cared.
Man’s logic says ‘if he cares so much about so and so why didn’t He do something?’.
We often think we care more than He does.
Isn’t that the criticism levelled at God by society as way of deflecting?
The real question is ‘how much does He really care?’
In the absence of God rushing to justify Himself.
We fill in the gaps.
In a sense their comment was a put down.
It sounds the same as Mary and Martha.
But theirs carried something else that wasn’t there with the sisters.
Mary and Martha had a relationship.
They knew Him.
They didn’t question His love.
They just had questions.
We expect God to behave just like we think He should.
In the way that we want Him to.
In doing so we create Him in our image.
We want to define Him, control or manipulate Him to our ends.
We fall short by thinking, ‘if I was God I would do…’
Isn’t that what Satan was thinking.
To be equal with God.
Don’t create God in your own image.
Spend time getting to know what He is really like.
Mary and Martha saw that.
Many don’t.
