He said this, and then he told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I'm on my way to wake him up."

John 11:11 CSB

Ok so this story suddenly gets strange, not so much from our vantage point, because we know how the story ends, but from the disciples perspective. 

Jesus somehow escaped a death threat back there, the news of Lazarus's death came 2 days ago, and now Jesus wants to go back. 

Then the disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well."

John 11:12 CSB

Not unreasonably the disciples are trying to make sense of this and this is a good shot at it. 

The message can't have been quite right, he's sick but not dead. 

In PNG a colleague went to hospital to collect his brother who was dead.

I gave him time off, was very sympathetic for his loss. Turns out that "dead" can be very sick, but "dead finish" is the final level. He wasn't dead finish, but from my perspective I didn't have a full understanding.

The disciples didn't have a full understanding of what was going on, and while I don't like to admit it, neither do I. I'm limited, don't fully understand the mind of God, and try to fit circumstances into what I know.

That's why this story starts with Jesus loves.

And that's where our story starts, your story starts - Jesus loves you. 

And that's true even when there's things in our lives we don't get, and our limited minds can't grasp, it's OK.

We're in good company.

#Jesuslovesyou

#thereisaBigStory

#havefaith