Jesus in Isolation

In this world of illness and isolation, distancing and death, making sense of suffering has never been of more critical importance. Jesus in Isolation invites us to Bethany to witness the illness of Jesus's best friend, the spiritual isolation of both Jesus and Lazarus's sisters (Martha and Mary), and Lazarus's cruel and untimely death from an unseen illness, as well as Jesus's unexplained absence as he distanced from his friends and missed the funeral. Yet upon his late arrival, Jesus announced the glory of God had been revealed in the midst of the isolation, the distancing, and even death. He does this by proclaiming himself as "Resurrection and Life" and by absorbing into himself all the suffering and grief of his friends. Join Jesus, Lazarus, and his sisters on a journey through the great issues of our time as they encounter devastating illness, unanswered prayer, the abandonment of God, senseless suffering, cruel death, spiritual isolation, and deep disappointment. But notice when Jesus does arrive on the scene as "Resurrection and Life," the world as God intended is made available to each of them--and also to us.

W. Scott Sager has served since 2011 as the Vice President for Church Services and a member of the Bible faculty at Lipscomb University. He leads student groups each summer to Israel and has traveled extensively in the lands of which he writes. Sager also serves as Teaching Minister of the Green Hills Church of Christ, nextdoor to Lipscomb in Nashville, Tennessee.