Great Plains Daily Devotional for 11/1/2018

John 11:32-44

 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw Him, she knelt at His feet and said to Him, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.  He said, “Where have you laid him?”  They said, “Lord, come and see.”  Jesus began to weep.  So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”  But some of them said, “Could not He who opened the eyes of a blind man have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus again deeply disturbed, came to the tomb.  It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.  Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”  Martha, sister of the dead man said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.”  Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone.  And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me.  I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.”  When He said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth.  Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
 

What an incredulous celebration it must have been when Jesus called for Lazarus to walk out of his grave after he had been gone for four days! Can you imagine the look on the faces of those witnessing this miracle as each piece of linen was unwrapped and Lazarus stood before them whole again? Jesus demonstrated His power through the Father to conquer the last enemy of mankind ... death. He did it by bringing Lazarus back and then again on the third day following His own death on the cross.

A Disney movie came out last year named “Coco,” which depicted a story of a boy’s desire to play music on a guitar. The movie evolved into a search for truth surrounding a scandal that had resulted in the death of his great-grandfather. The boy’s journey took him into the spirit world where each year on “All Saints Day,” also known as “The Day of the Dead.” Those in the spirit world passed back over to this world by the power of their family members remembering and honoring them by displaying pictures and hosting a huge celebration. The spirits who crossed over were only the ones who were being remembered. Those who were no longer remembered went on to their final heavenly dwelling place.

Each year in our church on the first Sunday in November, we too celebrate the life of those “saints” who have died the past year. We bring them back to our remembrance by displaying their pictures and honoring their life as it touched ours. When we celebrate those who have left this world we know they are now present with Jesus and all the other saints through the generations of believers.
 

- Pam Bilyeau, lay leader, Lyndon UMC 

Prayer for Reflection

Job 42:1-6, 10-17
Psalm 34:1-8 (19-22)
Hebrews 7:23-28
Mark 10:46-52