When a child is lost, we have the comfort of knowing that child is with God-who lovingly extends His abundant mercy and compassion to the child and to the parents. Then He issued a simple command: “Lazarus, come forth!” (verse 43) And he did! Martha told Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days” (John 11:39). Returning to the story, Jesus gave instructions for the tomb to be opened. He enters our sorrow and shares our grief. Isn’t that a beautiful picture of our Savior’s love? He is not some distant force or impersonal power. And as He made His way to the tomb, “Jesus wept” (verse 35). “When Jesus saw weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled” (verse 33). Even though Jesus knew there was hope and healing for Lazarus, John tells us He was overcome by the grief of those who were mourning. He planned to heal Lazarus by raising him from the dead. He intended to heal their brother, but He also wanted to grow their faith. Their brother was gone, and there was nothing to do but mourn him. The sisters gave up hope, believing it was too late. But by the time Jesus came, Lazarus had been dead for several days. His sisters, Mary and Martha, sent for Jesus, hoping He would arrive in time to heal their brother before he died. John 11 records the death of a man named Lazarus. In other words, there is a difference in accountability between a young child and an adult. Instead of discipline, the two-year-old will receive patient correction and instruction she will be taught to learn respect for her parents-something a teenager should already know. But when that teen’s two-year-old sister says “No!” the consequences will be different. Think of it this way: When a teenager defiantly says “No!” to his parent, the result will be discipline. Other verses refer to young children as “innocents,” indicating God treats their naïve sinful desires differently than the willful sinfulness of mature individuals ( Jeremiah 2:34, 19:4). When we study the book of Deuteronomy, we find an unbelieving generation of Israelites being prevented from entering the Promised Land while their children were exempt from that penalty (Deuteronomy 1:39). Those who are too young to understand the consequences of their choices are considered innocent. Anyone who is old enough to know right from wrong is said to have reached the age of accountability, meaning they will have to answer to God for their actions. Scripture indicates that God judges a child differently than He judges an adult.
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