Day 11 - 21 Day Bible Reading Plan

John 11:

"Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when He heard that Lazarus was ill, He stayed two days longer in the place where He was." (v.5,6) Jesus had a very special relationship with Mary, Martha and Lazarus so the sisters sent word to Jesus that their brother Lazarus was seriously ill but Jesus did not rush to the scene. Not because He didn't love this family but because God - and Jesus - would be glorified by His delay. (v.3,4)

As followers of Jesus we too cry out to Him for help in time of crisis. But what if He delays in coming to our rescue? Often we take it as a sign that Jesus doesn't care. Maybe we think we didn't pray hard enough or maybe we didn't pray "correctly" - maybe we didn't use the right words. Sometimes we get angry at God and think He let us down. We may not understand why we are in crisis mode and "why me?" always seems to be a big question. "Why me" is really immaterial; the "why" for any crisis in the life of a believer is to bring glory to God through the way we respond to the crisis whether we are rescued or not.

Mark 11:

"And those who went before and those who followed after were shouting, "Hosanna! Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the coming kingdom of our father David! Hosanna in the highest!" (v.9-10) I had always thought hosanna was just another way of saying hallelujah but it is not.

Perry's first message in December as part of the Hope series was Hosanna. He told us that hosanna means save now or please save. So when I ran across hosanna in these verses, I looked up hosanna and hallelujah. Hallelujah means "Praise the Lord!" and guess what...hosanna means "Save now!"

I didn't doubt what Perry said last December; I just remembered what he said and wanted to look it up for myself. It's just amazing to me that, after a lifetime in church, I had never known the difference in these two words. Especially since hosanna is a common Easter services word in music and Scripture reading.

I was reminded as I read those words today that God wants to save now and that being set free from sin through faith in Jesus Christ is the greatest need of every person.