Author: admin2

In our story today, a couple of years has passed and now we are winding down the ministry of Jesus.  Jesus is back in Bethany and had brought Lazarus back to life and now Lazarus, Mary, and Martha are throwing Jesus a party.  Lazarus is reclining with Jesus, Martha is again working the kitchen, and Mary again is at the feet of Jesus.  But what Mary does is cultural taboo.

When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem, and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss. When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house.

James 4:1–12 (NLT): What is causing the quarrels and fights among you? Don’t they come from the evil desires at war within you? 2 You want what you don’t have, so you scheme and kill to get it. You are jealous of what others have, but you can’t get it, so you fight and wage war to take it away from them. Yet you don’t have what you want because you don’t ask God for it.

This was John’s testimony when the Jewish leaders sent priests and Temple assistants from Jerusalem to ask John, “Who are you?” 20 He came right out and said, “I am not the Messiah.” 21 “Well then, who are you?” they asked. “Are you Elijah?”“No,” he replied.“Are you the Prophet we are expecting?”“No.” 22 “Then who are you? We need an answer for those who sent us. What do you have to say about yourself?”
23 John replied in the words of the prophet Isaiah:   “I am a voice shouting in the wilderness,  ‘Clear the way for the LORD’s coming!’ ”

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words. And the Father who knows all hearts knows what the Spirit is saying, for the Spirit pleads for us believers in harmony with God’s own will.