"Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done." John 11:45-46
Jesus had just accomplished what arguably was his greatest miracle; he brought a dead man back to life. There are three other instances of bringing a person back to life in the bible. Elisha was the first to do it in the case of the widow's son. Jesus brought back to life a young girl and Paul a young man who fell out of a window. What distinguishes the case of Lazarus is the length of time he was dead. Popular Jewish belief stated that the life force lingered near the body for 3 days. Jesus waited four days to resurrect him despite having had the ability to prevent his death. Further, the scripture says that the body had begun to stink from decomposition at this point. This is what makes it such a tremendous miracle.
This, however, is not the focus of the message. The focus is about the effect all of this had on the people that witnessed it. There were those who "believed in him" on the strength of seeing him do the absolute impossible. They were also fully aware that he attributed the ability to do this to God. Jesus once told Thomas, who doubted, that he was blessed because he had seen and believed. There is nothing wrong with this. In fact, many believe that the reason Jesus did so many miracles was to prove who he is. When John asked if he was the Messiah or whether they should wait for another, Jesus instructed John's disciples to report back to him with what they had seen him do.
The other effect was that there were those who saw the same thing that immediately fled and reported the events to the ruling council. One must question the motive for doing such a thing after witnessing something never before or since seen. It was no secret that these men were the enemies of Christ. Were the tattlers advising the that their end was near because of the great power seen in Jesus, or were they merely gossipping and in so doing, warning the council that it was "their move?" Who can say? But the telling thing about all of this is that belief in him was not attributed to them. We know that without faith, it is impossible to please Him.
Beloved, miracles are done in our lives every day. Let us allow them to build our faith and strengthen our belief. That is what they are for.
In Revival,
Lee
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