Bystander turned Believer

For a few moments picture yourself living as a local in the small village of Bethany a little over 2,000 years ago. The village is slightly less than 2 miles from Jerusalem and you have made the trip back and forth many times. As is the case with most days in this part of the world, it's scorching hot. The blinding sun is beating down on you and all you really care about is finding a nice shade tree to sit under and eat your figs.

Just as you find a good spot on a hillside, you notice a dusty disturbance in the road below. More than a dozen people have gathered and are making their way toward another group walking into the village. The last thing you want to do is lose your shady spot, but Bethany is small and rarely has much excitement.

Even though it's probably nothing, seeing the crowd in the distance is enough to peak your curiosity. Thus, with a surrendering sigh you take the last bite of your fig, rise, and head back out into the baking sun to see what all the commotion is about.

As you make your way closer to the crowds you notice many familiar faces. Everyone in Bethany knows each other... there are no strangers in this paltry town and not a day goes by that you question why you haven't moved to Jerusalem yet.

As you are pondering your life circumstances a women abruptly bumps your shoulder and falls to her knees weeping to a man whom you do not recognize.

Instantly, you recognize the women. She happens to live in a small abode directly diagonal from your small home and her name is Mary. She and her sister, Martha, had recently buried their brother, Lazarus. Both sisters were still in deep mourning and you had just stopped by their home two days earlier to give your condolences.

In a quivering voice, you hear Mary say... "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Clearly, he must be physician of some sort, you reason.

As you look closer at the man (whom you still do not recognize), you see a deep compassion in his eyes and you can tell that he is deeply saddened by this situation.

“Where have you laid him?” The man asked.

There was something in his voice that made you stop in your tracks. It was as if everything around you went into slow motion and for a moment... you gave him your full attention.

“Come and see, Lord,” another replied.

Thus, Mary and her sister, Martha, led the stranger up the road and over some rocky terrain. Not knowing exactly what to expect, you decide to follow the crowd. It's not like you had a lot of other options anyway.

Walking up the hillside you recognize the tree that you sat under just a few moments ago. Curiously, you also realize the intense heat from the sun doesn't seem to bother you like it had earlier. Looking up, you see the stranger briefly look toward the tree, then to you, then back to the tree. For a moment you wonder if he saw you sitting under the tree as he approached Bethany. You quickly dismiss the notion, chalking it up as a coincidence and nothing more.

After a few more minutes of walking the crowd stopped. They had reached the tome of Lazarus... which happened to be carved into the rocky hillside.

There was complete silence and strangely, the wind was calm as you stand at the top of this hill.

Now what? You wonder.

As if he had read the question in your mind you hear the stranger say...

“Take away the stone."

If it could have been physically possible, your jaw would have hit the ground by your sandals.

Then Martha replied... “But, Lord, by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

You begin to interject in agreement, but instead you hesitate... your lips still slightly ajar.

Then the stranger said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

So they took away the stone and the stranger looked up to the sky as if praying. Once finished, he cried out in a loud voice...

“Lazarus, come out!”

The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

You hear yourself gasp as you fall to your knees.

The stranger said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”


Jesus raises Lazarus from the Dead

In a matter of a few short moments you went from being bored and hot, to curious, to witnessing Jesus glorify God by raising Lazarus from the Dead.

Can you truly picture the actions of the crowd as Lazarus walked out of that tome? I can't even begin to imagine what that would have felt like if I had seen it with my own eyes.

That day in Bethany started off like every other typical day. Yet, after a few short minutes of Jesus' arrival a miracle occurs. Not only did He raise Lazarus from the dead... He turned many from being lone bystanders to believers!

God bless you. And this is for His Glory!

Roadmap to Heaven

Abbreviations and Buzzwords seem to be everywhere these days... I can't seem to get through the day without someone emailing me a "LOL", "IMHO", or "BTW". It's even worse when there is direct dialog, because there's about a 99% certainty that someone's going to throw out a "Leverage", "Best Practice", or "Think outside of the box". Yeah, you know what I'm talking about, right? :)

Oops... there I go with the famous and greatly overused smiley face. :) :) :)

OK, at this point you might be asking yourself, so how does this relate to Jesus Christ?

Well, Jesus had his own arsenal of buzz words that He "leveraged" on a daily basis. Unlike the buzz words of today that enter and fade with the passing of fads, we have the comfort of knowing that the words of Jesus will endure the test of time.

Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.
Mark 13:31

Jesus frequently used one word in particular... "Blessed"

If I were to look up the word "Blessed" in the dictionary, I would run across this definition:

Blessed: divinely or supremely favored; fortunate.

Wouldn't everyone want to be blessed in some way? I can't reasonably say that I know anyone who wouldn't want to be blessed.

Now the question becomes... How do I find favor with God? What do I need to do to remain obedient and be pleasing in the eyes of God? Well it's easy to get overwhelmed with trying to find a single answer to this question. Let's face it, the Bible is big book and there are thousands of passages we could underline, highlight, and memorize that would help. However, there is one particular event in the Bible that, to me, sums up the path to Heaven. Let's call it the "Roadmap to Heaven" as they would probably say in the business world.

This one significant event was The Sermon on the Mount. It's where Jesus preached of the Kingdom of Heaven. It's the third decade of the Luminous mysteries of the Rosary. "The Announcement of the Kingdom."

During the Sermon on the Mount Jesus introduced the Beatitudes (which means blessed or happy in Latin) to all of us and each teaching begins with the word "Blessed."

Here are the Beatitudes:

3 “Blessed are the poor in spirit,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

4 Blessed are those who mourn,
for they will be comforted.

5 Blessed are the meek,
for they will inherit the earth.

6 Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness,
for they will be filled.

7 Blessed are the merciful,
for they will be shown mercy.

8 Blessed are the pure in heart,
for they will see God.

9 Blessed are the peacemakers,
for they will be called children of God.

10 Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness,
for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

11 “Blessed are you when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me. 12 Rejoice and be glad, because great is your reward in heaven, for in the same way they persecuted the prophets who were before you.
Matt5:3-12

In conclusion, when I think of a question like, "What's the roadmap to Heaven?" I think of the Beatitudes. This is because Jesus clearly outlines the way we should act, think, and live in nine loving statements. He shares the secret with us.

Personally, I felt the Beatitudes were so important that I memorized them and now recite them on a daily basis. It really doesn't take long to memorize, it just takes some determination and a little repetition. IMHO :)

See you can't get through anything these days without an abbreviation/buzz word!

God Bless you. And this is for His Glory!