Jesus Is Never Late: God's Timing and Repentance

John 11 tells the strange and wonderful story of Jesus, Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. Lazarus gets gravely ill while Jesus and his disciples are away preaching, teaching, and healing. Martha and Mary send word, “Lord, come back,” but Jesus does not come back that day, or even the next day. Jesus waits two days, and by the time he comes toward Bethany, Lazarus is already in the tomb.

Martha and Mary meet Jesus with the ache of disappointment. Their words say, “If you had been here,” but their hearts are really saying, “Jesus, you’re too late.” Lazarus is dead, and from their point of view there is nothing left to do. Jesus answers that grief not with explanation first, but with resurrection. Jesus calls Lazarus out of the tomb, and the dead man comes out alive and well. Jesus is in the miracle business every day, but Jesus does not operate on human time. Jesus operates on God’s time. Jesus is never late, and God is always on time.

The story of Alice shows that same truth in a life that looked hard, sharp, and unchanged for decades. Alice worked hard in the church, but she was quick to speak, quick to judge, and quick to wound. Her words about clergy, bishops, family, and fellow church members carried little filter and much judgment. For more than forty years, Alice looked like someone who was never going to change.

God had not given up on Alice. Near the end of her life, when a terminal disease brought death close, Alice got right with God. She picked up the phone, sent texts, and wrote letters to people she had hurt. Her words became confession instead of criticism. She told people she was sorry, said she was wrong, and asked for forgiveness. Those people were eager to forgive her, and there was much rejoicing in heaven.

Romans 3:23 tells the truth about every heart: all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. The “little bit of Alice” in every person is that place God is pointing out and saying, “Something here needs to change.” The Holy Spirit does not speak so that repentance can be delayed until tomorrow, next week, or next month. Today is the day to listen and act. Luke’s gospel gives the good news: there is more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine who need no repentance. Repentance is a miracle, just like Lazarus coming out of the grave, because Jesus is never late, and God is always on time.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Jesus is never late. John 11 shows Jesus arriving after human hope had already run out. Martha and Mary saw a tomb and thought the moment for mercy had passed, but Jesus saw a place where the glory of God would be revealed. Divine delay is not divine neglect, because Christ is not trapped inside the clock that frightens human hearts. [10:04]
• 2. God works on God’s time. Jesus did not return to Bethany on Martha and Mary’s schedule, and that delay exposed the difference between human timing and holy timing. The waiting was painful, but it was not wasted. God’s time can feel late to the grieving, yet it can become the very place where resurrection power is seen most clearly. [12:18]
• 3. Do not give up on people. Alice looked unchanged for more than forty years, and her sharp words seemed to define her life. Yet while there was life and breath, there was still room for Jesus to work. A person may look fixed in sin to human eyes, but grace can still reach the heart before the final breath. [18:14]
• 4. Repentance requires real action. Alice did not merely feel bad near the end of her life. Her repentance took the shape of phone calls, texts, letters, confession, and requests for forgiveness from those she had injured. The Holy Spirit’s conviction is not meant to remain an inward feeling, because true repentance moves toward God and neighbor with honesty. [17:00]
• 5. Today is the day to respond. Romans 3:23 leaves no room for pretending that sin belongs only to someone else. The “little bit of Alice” in each heart is the place where God is already pressing for change. Delayed obedience can become another form of resistance, but listening and acting today opens the door for miracle.
  
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Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [09:21] - A Funny Early Dismissal
• [10:04] - Jesus Is Never Late
• [10:17] - John 11 and Lazarus
• [11:20] - Martha and Mary Grieve
• [12:01] - Lazarus Comes Out Alive
• [12:18] - God’s Time, Not Ours
• [13:07] - Alice, a Hard Church Worker
• [16:29] - Alice Nears the End
• [17:00] - Repentance Before Death
• [18:36] - A Little Alice in Every Heart
• [20:09] - Today Is the Time to Act
• [21:14] - Heaven Rejoices Over Repentance
• [22:44] - Turning From Sin to Jesus

Bible Reading

John 11:1-44
“Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’ But when Jesus heard it he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judea again.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.’ After saying these things, he said to them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.’ Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’ So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’ Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.’ When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, ‘The Teacher is here and is calling for you.’ And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept. So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’ But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?’ Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, ‘Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out.’ The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’” [10:17]

Romans 3:23
“for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,” [19:57]

Luke 15:7
“Just so, I tell you, there will be more joy in heaven over one sinner who repents than over ninety-nine righteous persons who need no repentance.” [21:14]

Observation questions

1. In John 11, what did Martha and Mary send word to Jesus about, and how long did Jesus wait before going back toward Bethany? [11:02]
2. When Martha and Mary said, “Lord, if you had been here,” what situation were they facing by the time Jesus arrived? [11:20]
3. After Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb, what final instruction did he give to the people standing there? [12:10]
4. What specific actions showed that Alice’s repentance was real and not just a private feeling? [17:14]

Interpretation questions

1. Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, yet he still delayed going to them. What does this show about the difference between love and immediate relief? [12:25]
2. Martha and Mary believed Jesus could have healed Lazarus before death, but Jesus chose to reveal something even greater. How does this help explain why people sometimes experience God’s delay as disappointment? [11:38]
3. Romans 3:23 says that all have sinned. What does it mean to say there is “a little bit of Alice” in every heart, even if a person’s sins look different on the surface? [19:36]
4. Luke 15:7 says heaven rejoices over one sinner who repents. Why is repentance described as a miracle, and how is it like Lazarus coming out of the grave? [23:01]

Application questions

1. Where has life felt like Martha and Mary’s words, “Lord, if you had been here”? Is there a place where disappointment has quietly become the belief that Jesus is too late? [11:39]
2. Jesus is never late, and God is always on time. What situation right now is testing trust in that truth, and what would it look like to wait without giving up? [12:30]
3. There is something in each heart that God is pointing out and saying needs to change. What is one specific area where the Holy Spirit may already be pressing for repentance? [19:49]
4. Repentance is not only feeling sorry but taking action. Is there a phone call, text, conversation, apology, or act of confession that needs to happen soon? [20:49]
5. While there is life and breath, there is still room for Jesus to work. Is there a person who has been quietly written off as unlikely to change? How might hope and prayer be renewed for that person? [18:36]
6. “Today” is the time to respond, not tomorrow or next week. What tends to delay obedience most—fear, pride, embarrassment, or something else—and what would a first step today look like? [20:20]
7. Heaven rejoices over one sinner who repents. How would life look different this week if repentance were seen not mainly as shame, but as the doorway to joy and freedom? [21:26]