Better late than never

Better late than never.

Upon reading this old adage,

the first person that came to mind was the thief on the cross.

His life displayed a series of poor choices

which led to destructive behavior… and then he got caught.

He did not deny his wrong doing or avoid blame;

he acknowledged his hopeless estate and that he was receiving what he deserved.

“One of the criminals who were hanged there 

was hurling abuse at Him,

saying, 'Are You not the Christ? Save Yourself and us!'

But the other answered, and rebuking him said,

'Do you not even fear God,

since you are under the same sentence of condemnation? 

And we indeed are suffering justly,

for we are receiving what we deserve for our deeds;

but this man has done nothing wrong...'” 

~Luke 23:39-41

The thief not only recognized Jesus’ innocence,

he also identified that Jesus was completely without sin,

that Jesus’ authority was equivalent to that of God,

and that God’s kingdom belonged to Jesus.

“…And he was saying,

'Jesus, remember me when You come in Your kingdom!'

And He said to him,

'Truly I say to you, today you shall be with Me in Paradise.'”

~Luke 23:42,43

God’s grace and gift of life were extended to the thief right then and there.

*      *       *

Better late than never

…may also allude to another manner

in which Jesus drove home an important life lesson to those He loved.

“Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus

of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha… 

…So the sisters sent word to Him, saying,

'Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.'
But when Jesus heard this, He said,

'This sickness is not to end in death,

but for the glory of God,

so that the Son of God may be glorified by it...'"

It’s hard to imagine a more difficult tragedy or agonizing sorrow

than the one which was about to occur.

“…Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 

So when He heard that he was sick,

He then stayed two days longer 

in the place where He was...”

If Jesus loved Lazarus, then

why wait two days longer?

“...Jesus then said to [His disciples] plainly, 'Lazarus is dead,

and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there,

so that you may believe;

but let us go to him…'” 

Plainly, there were two options presented;

take Jesus at His word … or don’t believe Him.

Here are several of the people’s reactions;

unfortunately each is very common to this day…

The Martyr Reaction

“Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.”

The Informed Reaction

“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

The Reasoning Reaction

“Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man,

have kept this man also from dying?”

The Write-It-Off-As-Done

and Let’s-Move-On Reaction

“Lord, by this time there will be a stench,

for he has been dead four days.”

This next phrase is going to sound familiar because Jesus purposefully repeated it,

reinforcing, highlighting, underlining, emphasizing,

…stressing over and over and over again…

“Did I not say to you that if you believe,

you will see the glory of God?” 

“So they removed the stone.

Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said,

‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 

“I knew that You always hear Me;

but because of the people standing around I said it,

so that they may believe that You sent Me.’

When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice,

‘Lazarus, come forth.’ The man who had died came forth…

“Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary,

and saw what He had done, believed in Him.”

~John 11:1-43

Jesus was late… on purpose.

   Lazarus was totally and completely dead… beyond a shadow of a doubt.

      All possibilities of hope for Lazarus were eliminated.

         Only God could conquer death and create life.

            God was glorified as a result of Jesus being late… on purpose.

               God knows what He’s doing.

                  We don’t.

                     We can trust Jesus… completely.