It Stinketh!

ENGAGE

This is the last week of our 4 part series “Face to Face with Jesus”.

We talked the first week of this series about the Pharisee Nick who came Face to Face with Jesus at Night, and how Jesus told him that he had to be born again to enter eternal life.

He was confused because his legalistic mind just couldn't understand that God would just give away grace and forgiveness to someone who has not followed all the rules of the Jewish religion.

We saw his progression from darkness to standing up for Jesus among his coworkers, and then coming to retrieve the dead body of Jesus with 75 pounds of burial spices.

We left him assuming that he did in fact move into the light of Jesus, but scripture doesn't explicitly say that.

Week 2- we talked about the Samaritan Woman I named Samantha, and how she came Face to Face with Jesus at high noon at the water well.

We found out that she had been through a lot of pain, either being divorced by, or losing 7 husbands, and now living with a man just to survive.

She was an outcast, but Jesus had compassion for her, and he welcomed her and talked with her about worship and the living water that he provides, that fills a believer up and begins to overflow to their community.

We saw it in her, as she ran back to the city, leaving her bucket to tell them about what Jesus had done in her life. Leading her to spread the news of Jesus to her whole town.

Last week, we talked about Micheal Bailey Brighton, another outcast, this time because he had been born blind and the only thing he could do was sit and beg for money.

He came Face to Face with Jesus when Jesus made a mud pie out of saliva and clay and applied it to his eyes, and then told him to go wash in the Pool of Siloam.

Jesus restored his ability to see, but also restored his identity of a child of God.

He then runs and tells his story to the neighbors and the religious leaders.

His parents ended up throwing him under the bus, and the religious leaders throw him out of the temple- and he meets back up with Jesus and falls to his feet in worship.

When we left last week, we heard Jesus comparing spiritual blindness to the Pharisee being self-sufficient and essentially their own lower case g gods.

TENSION

This week in our last week of the series - we are going to meet a man who is literally dying to get a face to face meeting with Jesus.

TRUTH

Turn with me to John chapter 11.

John 11:1–6 CSB

1 Now a man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick. 3 So the sisters sent a message to him: “Lord, the one you love is sick.” 4 When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was.

We talked in the first week about how God loved the World, and he sent his Son down into the world to save it. Well now we have the love of Jesus on a very personal level.

Jesus’ friend Lazarus was sick. We don't know what he was sick with, the CDC would probably say it was Covid.

Lazarus’ sisters send Jesus a text message and they are so close, that they don't even really tell him what to do, they just let him know that Lazarus is sick, and Jesus knows what to do.

So Jesus loves them so much, and when they share their deepest problem with him- he responds.

Well, he kind of responds.... He loves them so much that he waits two more days before he heads to Bethany, which is only a couple of miles away.

Here we have this vulnerable family waiting for Jesus to come to heal his close friend, and Jesus is hanging out with the Disciples, drinking Mountain Dew, eating popcorn and binge watching season two of The Chosen.

Why did he wait 2 days to start off to Bethany to help his friend Lazarus?

I thought he loved him.

John 11:7–16 CSB

7 Then after that, he said to the disciples, “Let’s go to Judea again.” 8 “Rabbi,” the disciples told him, “just now the Jews tried to stone you, and you’re going there again?” 9 “Aren’t there twelve hours in a day?” Jesus answered. “If anyone walks during the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks during the night, he does stumble, because the light is not in him.” 11 He said this, and then he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I’m on my way to wake him up.” 12 Then the disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.” 13 Jesus, however, was speaking about his death, but they thought he was speaking about natural sleep. 14 So Jesus then told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. 15 I’m glad for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe. But let’s go to him.” 16 Then Thomas (called “Twin”) said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go too so that we may die with him.”

So just a chapter earlier, Jesus barely escapes as the Jews pick up rocks and try to stone him, because he is doing many signs and wonders, and accuse him of blasphemy for claiming he was God.

The Disciples make sure to remind him of that fact. I’m sure getting pelted with rocks is not on their top ten things to do for today.

He basically gives them the same speech that I have to give my 7 year old daughter when we go outside in the dark … “I have a flashlight- just stay with me and you will be ok. Nothing is going to bother us.”

He also tells them, without really telling them, that his time on earth in a physical body is getting shorter. Soon he will have to leave, and he has work to do, and the first thing they need to do is go visit his friend Lazarus because he is taking a nap.

Well, he tells them he has fallen asleep, but whenever they talk about those who have “fallen asleep” in the bible, they are referring to those who have died.

Being the slow to learn Disciples that they are, they don’t understand what Jesus is talking about and they really do think Lazarus is just taking a Nazarene nap after church. You know one of those really good ones on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

Anyway....He does tell them that he is glad Lazarus has died, and that he wasn’t there to help, so that the Disciples may believe. .....

Now mind you they are already Disciples...… they have to wonder what in the world he is talking about.

And why would he be glad that his friend has died? It is so confusing being a first century disciple of Jesus.

So Jesus and the Disciples are now on their way to wake up old Lazarus.

Now in verse 17:

John 11:17–27 CSB

17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem (less than two miles away). 19 Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. 20 As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. 22 Yet even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23 “Your brother will rise again,” Jesus told her. 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. 26 Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who comes into the world.”

So here we have the reunion of Jesus and Martha.

She comes off as if shes saying “well if you would have gotten here sooner, Lazarus wouldn't have died”

She gives Jesus the classic “if only..”

We do this all the time don’t we, If only i were taller, If only i were younger, if only I had a million dollars.

Martha is still in a state of grief, she isn’t sure exactly what she wants at this point, or maybe its more of shes not sure what can be done at this point.

Jesus assures her that Lazarus would rise again, but she thinks he means when ALL the believers that have died are resurrected and brought to life to live forever with Jesus.

He goes on to tell her that he IS the Resurrection and the Life, and she confesses that she believes that he is the messiah, the son of God.

Not exactly what he asked her, but he takes it as a win for now.

John 11:28–37 CSB

28 Having said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 As soon as Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Jesus had not yet come into the village but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 The Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw that Mary got up quickly and went out. They followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to cry there. 32 As soon as Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and told him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died!” 33 When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, he was deeply moved in his spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you put him?” he asked. “Lord,” they told him, “come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Couldn’t he who opened the blind man’s eyes also have kept this man from dying?”

We switch characters here, although the dialogue is very much the same, but this time, Jesus’ reaction is much more swayed by the neighborhood mourners and the sight of Mary, as well as the posture of Mary at his feet.

Her statement, even though its the same words, is more a statement of worship, not of blame. While she comes at it a different way, its still an IF ONLY statement.

Many of us have stories similar to this. If Only I would have been there… mine is the night my mom essentially passed away. I was 50 miles away from her and had no clue that she was that near death.

I replay that night over and over again in my mind, saying If only i would have been there, I could have done something to help, maybe she would have lived.

BUT there really is no place for an IF ONLY statement in a believer's life. We have to trust in God and his timing.

There is an old saying that God answers every prayer. Its either yes, no or wait.

We have to also consider that while Jesus knows what is going to happen and he knows that there is no real reason to cry over Lazarus, we have to consider that all this is weighing heavy on his mind because in just a short time, He will be doing the exact same thing. He will have to go through death. It would be enough to make a man weep.

The group then moves to the tomb where Lazarus has been placed.

John 11:38–44 CSB

38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 “Remove the stone,” Jesus said. Martha, the dead man’s sister, told him, “Lord, there is already a stench because he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you heard me. 42 I know that you always hear me, but because of the crowd standing here I said this, so that they may believe you sent me.” 43 After he said this, he shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.”

Verse 39 is one of my favorite verses in the Bible, but you have to read it in the King James:

John 11:39 KJV 1900

39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.

I love that image, the tomb being sealed up and a dead body being locked in for 4 days, im sure it would stinketh.

Jesus is going to Martha again, and challenges her, he tells her something like “I told you he would rise again....do you think its still going to sticketh if hes alive?

He implies that he is doing this so that she will believe that he is the one who controls life and has power over death and the grave.

Jesus finishes a prayer that he has been praying for 4 days now. He has been praying that God’s Glory would be shown through the miracle that happening to Lazarus.

Last week, Micheal Bailey Brighton, went around telling everyone, I was blind but now I see, and the week before, Samantha went through the town telling everyone about what Jesus was able to tell her, and now Lazarus, can stand and say, “I once was dead, but now I am alive because of Christ.

When Lazarus came out of the tomb, he was still wrapped in his burial cloths, he will need them again someday.

Lazarus will indeed die again. It is nature, all living things must die at some point.

Even Jesus had to die.

Many people came to believe in Jesus because of the miracle with Lazarus, but the Chief Priests and Pharisee were plotting to make poor Lazarus die again soon, because they had to eliminate all traces of this man called Jesus, who, in their eyes was becoming a military threat.

John 11:45–54 CSB

45 Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he did believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and were saying, “What are we going to do since this man is doing many signs? 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 One of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! 50 You’re not considering that it is to your advantage that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish.” 51 He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to unite the scattered children of God. 53 So from that day on they plotted to kill him. 54 Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews but departed from there to the countryside near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and he stayed there with the disciples.

The Roman government was in control at this time, but they had a sort of hands off role in the religion of the places they captured. As long as it didn't start to get crazy and resemble a rebellion, they were OK with whatever the Jews wanted to do.

But the Jewish leaders were concerned that Rome would see Jesus as a threat, and they would come in and take over and shut down the temple and the Jewish leader’s ability to lead.

They wanted to kill the one man, so the nation and the Jewish people and temple would survive.

Little did they know, that they were doing exactly what God needed to be done.

They were putting the plot to kill Jesus into motion, and setting us up for Good Friday and Easter Sunday.

APPLICATION

Now what we have looked at these last four weeks, is really a series of events that lead up to Jesus being arrested, killed and resurrected.

We skipped a few things, but essentially, we see Jesus progressing from talking to the Jews, to talking to the Gentiles, to healing a man born blind, to now bringing someone back from death.

That escalated quickly.

That escalation is what caused the concern of the Jewish leaders. From that day on, they weren't trying to capture Jesus to take him to trial, they were going to capture him to kill him, because in their eyes, he was already guilty of blasphemy against God.

The irony is that the way they wanted to get rid of the man who just showed that he had power over death, is to kill him.

We talked the first week about Nick and the story he would have known about the bronze serpent.

When Moses held the staff up that had a bronze serpent on it, anyone who looked at it would be healed of the venomous snake bites that were afflicting the people because of their rebellion.

That was a foreshadowing of Jesus and what he would have to go through to take away the venom of death.

He would have to face death face to face.

And on Good Friday, he would stand toe to toe with Death and wrestle with him for 2 days, and when he was laying in the tomb after his crucifixion, it probably stinketh, but when that stone was rolled away, there was nothing but the fresh air as he walked out, with no burial cloth, he wouldn’t need that anymore, so he left it in the tomb.

So that brings me back to this question.

Why did Jesus wait 2 days to start off to Bethany to help his friend Lazarus?

The answer is simple, it was God’s timing, it was God’s plan.

He couldn’t rush it. He knew that in order for God to be glorified, and for the witnesses to really come to believe in Jesus and the core essentials of the Christian faith, the resurrection of the dead unto eternal life, Lazarus had to die and have time to begin to stinketh.

Then and only then can he show Martha and the Disciples, as well as the world, what power he has over death and the grave, a miracle that can only be topped by Jesus’ own resurrection, which is being set into motion because of Lazarus.

It is because of Lazarus, that we can have faith that Jesus holds the power over death.

We can have faith that because he raised Lazarus and he could raise himself, and when the time comes, He will raise each one of us as well, to eternal life with him.

INSPIRATION/REFLECTION

Jesus not only loved Lazarus, Martha and Mary. He loved them so much that waited 2 days before he left for Bethany, even though the sisters’ wanted him to come quickly and he save him before he died.

But Jesus knew better. He was already in prayer with God the Father, listening to the plan and waiting for the time to be right to head out and do a miraculous thing.

So he could show the disciples and his friends the spiritual truth, that he was the one who could stand face to face with Death and knock him out and take all the power away from the grave.

We will all still die. Its a fact. But the sting of death has been taken away because the finality of death has been erased. We have a hope now.

We simply pass away from this life, into sleep, and the next thing we know, we hear Jesus call our name to come out of our sleep and walk out into his light.

NEXT STEPS

We need to be thankful for what Jesus has done for us.

There is no way that we can read enough and fully comprehend and feel the emotions that come with Jesus’ death and resurrection.

I imagine, on the day that we are called out of the tomb, and we walk out and stand Face to Face with Jesus, we will be like Lazarus, unable to say a single word, but simply enjoy living eternity with our Savior, who died for our sins.

Lets pray.

Our Father,

You are so good to us, you show us in small steps what eternal life means, and how we can get your living water.

You show us what its like to have our eyes opened to the spiritual things around us, and Lord, you even provided the vaccine for the disease called Death.

Death was brought into our world through Adam and even, but Jesus, you wiped it out with your death and resurrection on the 3rd day.

Lord, be with us as we go into Easter and help us to remember that Easter is the most important day of the year for us as disciples. Easter is way more important than Christmas, because if it wasn't for your death and resurrection, your birth wouldn't mean a thing.

Jesus,

Thank you for taking our sins, thank you for taking my sin, and leaving it on the cross.

Thank you for opening the door to eternal life by taking away the sting of death for all those who believe.

Lord I can’t wait until I stand before you Face to Face.

Its in your holy name I pray,

and all God’s children said,

AMEN