I don’t mean to be irreverent, but sometimes the little details in scripture can be a bit humorous. This is one of those verses for me. Jesus has just raised Lazarus from the dead. So the enemies of Jesus make a plan: “not only do we need to kill Jesus, we need to kill this Lazarus guy, too.” Again. Does that sound logical? They don’t seem to have gotten the message that death is not the final word for Jesus and his followers. Every time the devil tries to defeat you or me with despair and discouragement, fear and intimidation, it’s a little bit like this plan. He is trying to kill someone who has already been resurrected. We may not have literally been in a tomb like Lazarus, but by faith, we’ve been raised from the dead with Christ. (Rom. 6:4) Jesus has already won the victory. The only way Satan can defeat us is if we allow him to. Nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ (Rom. 8:35-39). When you’ve already been killed once and lived to tell about, it ought to give you a great deal of confidence the next time around.
– Ken Roach