Our Greatest Hope

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Scripture Reading by Lady Pepper (Show Slide)

(Show Slide) Thank you Lady Pepper for the announcements and the reading of God’s Word.

Welcome! to everyone and especially those who are joining us for the first time. My name is Pastor Doc, and I will be sharing the Word of God with you today.

Please have your Bibles ready and Take Note’s

Title of the message this Morning

Our Greatest Hope

Main idea:

The story of Lazarus teaches us that God seldom meets our expectations but instead fulfills our greatest hopes.

His timing is not our timing nor are His ways our ways.

But He is always faithful , He is worthy to be praised, and He is a safe place for us to put all our hope.

Prayer:

“Lord Jesus, you are the resurrection and the life.

We ask you to resurrect us now, today, and give us life where sin and darkness have set in.

Help us to live as you lived, trust as you trusted, and love as you loved. Amen.”

Scripture: John 11:1-45, Revelation 21:4, John 10:3, 1 Corinthians 15:26, Hebrews 2:14-15

Introduction

Welcome back church, we’re closing in on Easter Sunday and the culmination of our Letting Go series with a powerful passage to dive into together.

The story of Lazarus is filled with emotions on the extremes: from extreme despair and sadness because of the death of a loved one,

to extreme joy and wonder following a miracle which brought him back to life.

It’s widely considered one of, if not the greatest miracle of all those that Jesus performed.

The story of Lazarus foreshadows Jesus’ death and resurrection.

And Jesus’ story foreshadows our own story of life, death, and resurrection.

It is a life cycle we cannot avoid, and because of Christ, we need not fear.

Just as He was there to welcome Lazarus from the tomb, He is there for us as well.

Waiting to greet us into a new life with Him.

Let’s look at the story.

Jesus Heals a Man Born Blind (on the Sabbath) - Video

Main Teaching

John 11:1-20

I. The kingdom of God is also the loving community of God

Right off the bat, John emphasizes Jesus’ love for others.

Lazarus, Jesus’ friend, was sick. Lazarus had two sisters, Mary and Martha.

Jesus knew this family well and loved them very deeply.

(Two Slides)- “So the sisters sent word to Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love is sick’” (11:3). “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus" (11:5).

It’s interesting that the gospels of Matthew, Mark, and Luke tend to emphasize the kingdom of God.

The gospel of John tends to emphasize the loving community of God.

They are, of course, the same! We cannot have the kingdom of God without the loving community of God, because “God is love”(1 John 4:8).

Now even though Jesus gets word Lazarus is sick, he decides to stay put with his disciples for a couple days.

Jesus doesn’t go to Lazarus’ town of Bethany until two days later.

By this time, Lazarus was dead.

When Jesus and his disciples finally arrived in Bethany, “Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days” (11:17).

Now this is an important detail that John provides. Lazarus had been dead for four days.

Why is this important?

First of all, his body would be decomposing and starting to stink, which means he’s truly dead.

He’s not in a coma or just barely breathing. He’s dead.

The second reason this is important is because, in Jewish thought, it was believed that the soul left the body after the third day of death.

So John points this out to show that this guy is dead physically and spiritually.

He’s no longer himself. He is a rotting corpse whose soul has left the body.

Martha heard Jesus was about to enter the town, she rushed out to meet him.

And we have this very interesting exchange between the two.

John 11:21-26

“‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’“ (11:21).

There is despair and anguish in her voice as she says this.

The implication here is that Jesus was absent when they needed him most. “If you had been here….but you weren’t.” Can you hear that?

Has God ever disappointed you because he didn’t show up at a time you really needed him to show up?

I think that’s what’s going on here with Martha. Jesus didn’t fulfill her expectations —

she expected Jesus to be present and heal Lazarus before he died.

“Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha answered, 'I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’” (11:23-24).

Martha thinks Jesus is talking about an event in the future, but Jesus is talking about the present.

Lazarus will rise again, today! Martha was not expecting that.

II. Jesus doesn’t meet our expectations but he fulfills our greatest hopes

An important point here is that Jesus seldom meets our expectations but he fulfills our greatest hopes.

He’s already failed to live up to their first expectation: that he would’ve been there for Lazarus before he died so that Lazarus could’ve been healed.

But that didn’t happen. Understandably, Martha is devastated and hurt that Jesus didn’t heal Lazarus like he had healed so many others.

God’s activity is seldom inline with our expectations.

He doesn’t show up when we expect, he doesn’t provide what we expect, and he doesn’t prevent what we expect.

So this means either (a) He doesn’t care, or (b) He cares, but he sees reality from a completely different perspective than we do.

What should our expectations be of God? Do we expect him to protect us from hardships and sufferings?

Do we expect him to protect us from death and loss?

What should our expectations be of the God who claims to love us?

God doesn’t always meet our expectations, but he will ultimately fulfill our greatest hopes.

“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.” (11:25).

Resurrection and life are found in Jesus Christ. He is speaking both present-tense and future-tense.

Today, he will resurrect Lazarus, not just in the future.

Today, he is our life, our eternal life which comes into us and makes us new.

To say that “Jesus is the resurrection and the life” is to say that one day Jesus is going to heal it all.

One day Jesus is going to put everything right.

He’s going to wipe every tear from every eye.

He’s going to heal every sickness and every disease.

One day there will be no more mourning or crying or pain. The old order of things will pass away. Even death itself will be gone forever. (See Revelation 21:4

Revelation 21:4 NKJV

4 And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes; there shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away.”

He is the resurrection and the life. This is the great hope that we have.

Death does not get the final word.

In fact, because of Jesus: “Death is nothing at all. It does not count. I have only slipped away into the next room. Why should I be out of mind because I am out of sight? I am but waiting for you, for an interval, somewhere very near, just round the corner. All is well. Nothing is hurt; nothing is lost. One brief moment and all will be as it was before. How we shall laugh at the trouble of parting when we meet again!”[1] —Henry Scott Holland

God may not meet our expectations in the short-run, but he will fulfill our greatest hopes in the long-run.

John 11:27-32

III. What happens when God feels distant or absent?

Then Mary, the other sister, ran out to meet Jesus.

It’s obvious that she and her sister had been talking about Jesus’ absence when they needed him most.

“When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died’” ( John 11:32).

But as we noted, Jesus wasn’t there. God seemed absent in their struggle.

Can we talk about this for a second?

What happens when we are in the midst of pain, suffering, or death, and God seems distant or absent?

I think it’s a common experience with a lot of people.

It’s just part of reality that, in this life, we will go through difficult seasons and God will feel a million miles away.

• Pastor: Can you share a personal story of a time of going through darkness but the love of God was present and relevant through the presence of Christ-followers who surrounded you and walked with you?

John 11:33-38

IV. Jesus is angry at death because death is not part of God’s eternal nature

Jesus is still at the outskirts of town with Martha and Mary who are both weeping.

The Bible says Jesus “was deeply moved in spirit and troubled” (John 11:33).

Jesus himself starts weeping and goes to the tomb where they laid Lazarus.

Again Jesus was “once more deeply moved” (John 11:38).

It’s interesting here that the Greek verb in these two verses which describe Jesus being deeply moved and troubled is a word that indicates anger.

Jesus is not weeping just because he’s incredibly sad. Jesus is angry. (see NOTES)

He is angry at death itself because death is not part of God’s eternal nature.

Death is God’s enemy. Death separates. Death divides. Death breaks relationships.

So Jesus is weeping and deeply troubled because he is feeling deep, deep anger at his enemy (see 1 Corinthians 15:26 and Hebrews 2:14-15 about death being God’s enemy). (See 5 stages of grief)

John 11:38-45

V. Jesus calls us by name, “Come out!”

Lazarus was entombed in a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.

Jesus said, “Take away the stone” (John 11:39).

Martha chimes in, warning that there would be a bad odor coming out of the cave because Lazarus had been dead for four days.

She still didn’t know what Jesus was about to do, but he was about to fulfill her greatest dream.

“Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face” (11:43-44).

It’s interesting that Jesus calls Lazarus by name.

“He calls his own sheep by name” (John 10:3). (see NOTES)

God calls you out of your tomb also. He calls you by name, “Hey _______ come out and live!

I am the resurrection and the life!

Come out of your fears,

come out of your shame,

come out of your darkness, and live!”

Jesus invites you into his loving community of God, where we love one another and trust that God will fulfill our greatest hopes.

“For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins”(Colossians 1:13-14).

Conclusion

As kind of an epilogue, after Lazarus was resurrected, in the very next chapter of John we see him reclining at the table with Jesus over a meal.

Lazarus found in his resurrected life that a great way to spend it was hanging out with Jesus.

And Jesus was very happy with that.

They were experiencing the loving community of God together, around a table.

Also noted in the very next chapter of John is the fact that the religious leaders were upset that Lazarus had been raised from the dead.

Jesus was winning people into his loving community of God and that didn’t sit well with the Pharisees. So the Pharisees “made plans to kill Lazarus” (12:9-11). What?!?!

Welcome back to life, Lazarus!

I bet he didn’t see that coming!

Once again God’s purposes for us exceed mere comfort and security.

Lazarus wasn’t “safe” because of his relationship with Jesus.

But Lazarus was saved because of the very same relationship.

“For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but to save the world through him.” - John 3:17

Over the next couple of weeks we’ll be celebrating Palm Sunday and then Easter together as we wrap up our 8-part Letting Go series.

Take some time this coming week to consider John 3:16-17.

Let go of any sin or shame that may be holding you back in your faith journey.

Repent and re-calibrate.

Let’s pray together.

Salvation:

The Word of God says in:

John 3:16 NKJV

16 For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.

Romans 10:13 NKJV

13 For “whoever calls on the name of the Lord shall be saved.”

If you’d would like to receive Jesus today, please pray this prayer with all of us:

Lord I believe that Jesus is the son of God, and that He died On the cross for my sins and His resurrection from the dead gives me eternal life. I ask forgiveness of my sins, and I accept Jesus as my Lord and Savior. Amen.

PastorDoc@FaithVision.org

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(Show Slide)

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Pepper: Any comments or thoughts?

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Faith Vision Christian Ministries

Closing Blessing

Ephesians 3:20–21 NKJV

20 Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, 21 to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.