Raising Lazarus

John 11:38-44

today we are to discuss the Miracle of Lazarus

I hope to:

Give you a renewed sense of WHO JESUS IS and what He alone is capable of

To Clarify what He did and What He is Going to DO

and to remind you of Jesus’s Motivation for this earth and His People

Jesus loves you Deeply

Lets Read our Scripture for today.

John 11:38–44 (ESV)

38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.

39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”

40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”

43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”

44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

The raising of Lazarus from the dead was not our Lord’s last miracle,

but it was the last of the public miracles and is most certainly the greatest

It is also the one that aroused the most response from Friend and Foe

It is the CLIMATIC miracle in our Lord’s Earthly Ministry

Jesus had raised from the dead before

BUT this time Lazarus was dead for 4 days

This miracle could not be denied or avoided by the leaders of the Jews

Friends

When you are sick you want the best doctor, not a medical book

When you need a lawyer you want the best to defend you, not a law book

AND

When you face the enemy, or death, or life in general you don’t need to hear a passage in the Bible,

You need to KNOW THE SAVIOR

You need to BE HIS

You need to Understand that you are entwined with Him, abide in Him,

that He is your WAY, Your TRUTH, and YOUR LIFE.

Friends we focus on the future for certain

But we must live with Christ moment to moment, hour by hour, day by day

In our Study of Lazarus

we see that Martha, Mary, and the believers around Jesus where focused on the Resurrection

Mary and Martha both knew Jesus could heal Lazarus, THEY KNEW IT

Martha said that she KNOWS that Lazarus will RISE AGAIN

She believed in the power in the Promise of the Future

She limited what JESUS GOD, could do right NOW.

Friends --- I remind you JESUS can do

ALL THINGS, ANYTHING, there is nothing that CHRIST cannot do to GLORIFY GOD

We must learn to be patient, trusting, and confident in our LORD

We all limit GOD in our minds

We struggle, and maybe even experience the impossible to think with out boundaries

Can you really understand a LIGHT YEAR?

or the HOW or WHY of the weather?

We seek to predict it, but we can not control it

Seriously, can you imagine if we could

we cannot agree to a perfect temperature in a car, or house

ITS TOO HOT, ITS TOO COLD

It is always the THREE LITTLE BEARS of Decision making

We simply learn to trust in GOD.

If we don’t love the climate we have the Freedom to MOVE.

So it is a great example of the control

that we do have and the control that we don’t

Mary and Martha were thinking this way

They understood only what they understood

Jesus is getting ready to blow their socks off

Demonstrating the POWER OF GOD

over ALL THINGS

to GLORIFY GOD and FRANKLY TO GROW OTHERS CLOSER TO HIM

They were going to have Their

Minds Blown

Eye widened

and their Faith Strengthen

Let’s talk about some Words that will be important

as you grow as a Christian

and as God uses you as an APOLOGETIC Champion for His Purposes.

The RE’s

There is a lot of information on the subject of Resurrection, and i believe we need to discuss the challengers

but focus on the meaning

1 Corinthians 15:42–44 (ESV)

42 So is it with the resurrection of the dead. What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable.

43 It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power.

44 It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual body.

Paul’s writing in the New Testament give us points that we need to consider

Jesus was resurrected

Died

Risen

Transformed

Taken to Heaven

The words that i want to get you some simple clarity on:

Resuscitation

Restored to life

Temporary, as death is still eminent

Still a final death

Still on earth in the same location

Limited on the ability to achieve, 4-5 hr after “death”

Very circumstancial

Decay, Organ viablity, decomposition all are issues

Reincarnation

Come back different --- cow, human, bird, etc

Life in a different body

new mind, same soul

Rebirth of soul in different physical elements

Total new existence

Religion is based on works

Do good your a cow

Do bad your a snail ( no idea??)

Reanimation

Weekend at Bernie’s

maybe in something like Lenon’s Tomb

Dead, Dead, Dead

outside stimuli to create motion

Open casket funeral is a slight version of this

Body is made up

BUT still deceased

Rebirth

Ah our CHRISTIAN JOY

Spiritual Rebirth

same blood, same body, same Physical attributes

Change in Heart,

Change in Attitude

Change in ALTITUDE

TOTAL change in Who’s we are

Title transfer to a new OWNER

Resurrection

And YES the GOAT ( the GREATEST OF ALL TIMES)

Permanant

Cannot be undone

Live forever

Total transformation

You are YOU, but nothing else is the same

You are in a blink of an eye in HEAVEN

You are no longer a target for temptation, Sin, Sadness, Pain

nothing in this World. NOTHING

can resurrect you EXCEPT JESUS

What does it all mean?

Lets do a quick review to anchor some facts

Jesus was about (john 10:40) 20 miles away where John was baptizing

Jesus Day one --- Gets a messenger that His Friend Lazarus is ill

Jesus (john 11:4) comforts and sends message that this “sickness will not lead to death”

it is for the Glory of God, so that the Son of God may be Glorified

Jesus sends the message back, waits two more days and travels to Bethany

By the time Jesus arrives Lazarus has been dead fourdays.

The Bible Exposition Commentary (Chapter Eleven: The Last Miracle—The Last Enemy (John 11))

Day 1— The messenger comes to Jesus (Lazarus dies).

Day 2— The messenger returns to Bethany.

Day 3— Jesus waits another day, then departs.

Day 4— Jesus arrives in Bethany.

There is a message here for all of us

Jesus could have prevented Lazarus from even getting sick

Jesus could have healed him from sickness

Jesus could have have done many things

Jesus RESUSCITATED and RESTORED Lazarus

To Show the POWER and the GLORY of the Father forever and ever AMEN

Don’t miss the MIRACLE

Jesus overcame the Decay

Jesus displaced the ODOR

Jesus restored Lazarus to LIFE

Jesus overcame the physical laws of this World

to show you the Power of the NEXT

to show you the Power in JESUS

TO show you the LOVE and Strength

To fulfill the Promises of the Father

But Jesus chose to perfectly time an opportunity to Glorify God

How can we do that daily?

We can focus on the Ultimate Result and not the temporary situation.

The Bible Exposition Commentary (Chapter Eleven: The Last Miracle—The Last Enemy (John 11))

It is not important that we Christians are comfortable,

but it is important that we glorify God in all that we do

_________________________

Friends

We need to believe!!

We need to not put Barriers around our LORD

We need to TRUST

For Christ has dominion over all things

and All things are under HIS COMMAND.

Lets Pray