There is no hesitation in Jesus, but there are divine delays.   And, sometimes we get confused and fail to note the difference- which is exactly what happened to Mary and Martha. 

Their brother Lazarus was deathly ill.  The medicines weren’t working.  The doctors had no solution.  The sisters quickly sent a message to Jesus, “Come quickly.  Lazarus is deathly ill.  There is no hope unless you come immediately and heal him.”

How confident they must have been when they sent that message to Jesus.  After all, how many strangers had Jesus healed?  How many lepers had been made whole?  How many blind could now see?  How many deaf could now hear?  If Jesus gladly ministered for hours healing strangers, certainly he would rush to Bethany the minute he received that message.  Surely his response to heal his dear friend Lazarus would be immediate.  But Jesus didn’t come.  He received the message, and he stayed where he was for two more days.

Jesus deliberately waited two more days. 

Lazarus dies.  Mary and Martha bury him in the tomb.  And they weep.  They weep with grief burdened hearts.  But they also weep with deep disappointment. 

 Where was Jesus? 

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With a lump of wedged clay in his hand, a potter sits at his wheel.  After he throws the clay onto the wheel, the potter anchors his elbows to the inside of his thighs.  His secured hands are ready to begin the most important part of transforming this lump of clay into a beautiful piece of pottery.

He is ready to center the clay on the potter’s wheel.

As the clay spins and wobbles unevenly, the potter places his cupped hands on the clay and adds pressure.  He works the spinning clay up and down between his hands until it is perfectly centered.  Then the potter gives the clay its shape, its form.  Then it can become a beautiful vase, a cup, a bowl.

But without being properly centered, without the clay yielding to the pressure of the potter’s hands, the clay becomes a misshapen, uneven piece of pottery – cracked and unusable.

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