Divine Dining March 9, 2026 Devotional

JOHN 11:1-3, 7-8, 14-16 | ¹Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ² Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. ³ So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

⁷ Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸ The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?”

¹⁴ Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ¹⁶ Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

The closeness of Jesus’ relationship with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus is evident in John chapter 11. It is visible in the way the two sisters ask for help for Lazarus. They inform but have no need to petition or beg, trusting that once  Jesus hears His friend is ill, He will immediately respond.

It is evident in Jesus’ choice to go to Bethany to raise Lazarus. Notice Thomas’ grim call to the disciples "let us go and die with Him," and the earlier warning when they suggest a return so close to             Jerusalem is a suicide mission. Yet He goes, knowing that this will provoke a final confrontation. Intimate friends can count on one another.

Who can you count on? Who can count on you?

Gracious God,

Help me move from acquaintance to friendship, from the casual to the intentional, from the shallow to the deep, in my relationships.

Amen.