contemplating lazarus

Ironically, the dead guy isn't the complete center of the story.

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. "Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"

I'm currently working on a short devotional on John 11 for the high schoolers at my youth group this Saturday. While it's easy to spin Bible stories and regurgitate old cliches, I feel like God has been challenging me a lot this year to use Scripture to develop in the kids both a deeper understanding of the world we live in and a motivation to act accordance to the principles we hold so highly. That can be a bit of tall order, especially concerning such a well-known story like Lazarus'.

It's times like these where I wish we had Matrix-esque technology and I could just download several years of seminary / formal theological training into my brain to help write a compelling message.
posted by G at 11:21 PM   |

in?scrip?tion (n-skrip-shun)n.
1. The act or an instance of inscribing.
2. Something, such as the wording on a coin, medal, monument, or seal, that is inscribed.
3. A short, signed message in a book or on a photograph given as a gift.
4. The usually informal dedication of an artistic work.
5. Jeremiah 31:33