Resurrection Day - 9: Six days Before…
- 3 days ago
- 2 min read
John 12:1-2
Six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, the home of Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. There, they gave a dinner for him…
John drops a little timestamp into the story: “Six days before the Passover.” That’s not just a calendar note. That’s a countdown.
Six days before the Last Supper. Six days before betrayal. Six days and a bit before the cross. Six 1/2 days before darkness at noon. And where is Jesus? Not hiding. Not building a safety plan. Not pacing in fear.
He goes to Bethany. To the home of a friend. To the table of a confidante. To friends. Bethany is where Lazarus lives—the man Jesus raised from the dead. Can you imagine that house? It had to feel like a place where miracles still trumpeted in the hallway. A place where laughter had a deeper resonance of experience. Why, because sorrow had been there first.
Here’s something steady and kind about Jesus in this story. When the hardest week of his life comes, he chooses closeness and people. He chooses a meal.
That should matter to us! When stress hits, we often do the opposite. We pull back. We get quiet. We isolate. We say, “I don’t want to bother anyone.” Or we act strong while we feel shaky inside.
But Jesus shows another way. He walks into a friend’s home and sits down.
John doesn’t tell us everything that happened in verse 1. He just sets the scene. And that scene is already a sermon: Jesus is not only the Savior who conquers death—he is also the Savior who shows up for dinner. He is the Lord of Passover… and he is the guest in Applebee's.
So, if you feel like your life is in a countdown—toward a meeting, a surgery, a hard talk, a loss, a change you didn’t ask for—remember Bethany. Before the storm, Jesus chose a table.
Maybe your next faithful step is not a big heroic leap. Maybe it’s simple: let him come close. Invite him into the ordinary. Sit with him in the middle of what you can’t control. Because Jesus doesn’t just meet us at the finish line. He comes to us six days before—when the worry is still loud and the outcome still unknown.
And he sits down anyway.
