So if you sinful people know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good gifts to those who ask him.  Matthew 7:11

Jesus could have been there.  He could have come and done a miracle!  Because Jesus can do anything, including healing sick bodies and sick relationships.

In the Bible book of John, two sisters wanted Jesus to come and heal their brother who was gravely ill.  They were friends of Jesus, so they sent word to Him, asking Him to come with His power.

But Jesus didn’t come, and Lazarus died. “Lord,” each of the sisters said to Jesus when he finally arrived four days later, “if you would have been here my brother would not have died” (John 11:21).  They knew that Jesus loved them, and that love gives good gifts.  They knew that Jesus worked miracles and they had wanted one.

The two sisters wanted a healing, but Jesus had a resurrection in mind. Jesus didn’t just want to heal Lazarus’ earthly body.  He raised Lazarus’ body back to life, but His true desire was to give Lazarus life forever.  “I am the resurrection and the life.” He said to the sisters and He says it to you. “The one who believes in me will live, even though they die,” (John 11:25) “I have come to give life” (John 10:10).

Maybe you’ve asked Jesus for a healing too, whether for a sick body or a relationship gone hopelessly wrong. A healing is a temporary good, but a resurrection is forever. Jesus may answer your prayer for healing in the here and now.  But He absolutely offers you something better—a resurrection, that is forever.

Resource reading: John 11:1-44