John 11:5 ESV – Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

Lazarus is famous for one pretty impressive thing – Jesus raised him from the dead! But while we are all familiar with the story of Martha complaining to Jesus that she was doing all the work and most know about Mary pouring perfume on the Lord’s feet, we don’t really know much about Lazarus. In the Bible we do not even hear a single word he said. When we first meet Lazarus, it is at his sister Martha’s home, not his own. Later, after his resurrection his friends hold the party at a leper’s house named Simon. We don’t know if Lazarus is married, has children or any other detail about him, except that he was sick and died. His was a life that would not have given rise to an impressive resume by anyone’s standards!

But in spite of his unimpressive life, we learn one very important thing from our silent friend Lazarus. That single truth is that we don’t need to impress others to be loved by Jesus Christ. We don’t need the best grades, a good job or a wonderful family for Him to cherish us. None of these details matters more to Him than the simple fact that He has chosen to love us as His child and that, just like Lazarus He will call us from the grave to be with Him forever!

God loves each of us as if there were only one of us – Saint Augustine