I am the Resurrection and the Life
Notes
Transcript
From Death to Life.
From Death to Life.
Bible Passage: Jn 11:17–27
Bible Passage: Jn 11:17–27
John 11, if you have your Bibles.
For the last several weeks here at Cedar Bay, we have been looking at the 7 times in the Gospel of John that Jesus takes the loftiest name of God in the Old Testament--I AM (or, Jehovah)--and claims it for himself.
What makes these claims so significant to us is that each time Jesus takes the name of God, he applies it to one of our most acute places of felt-need.
For example, to those who are hungry, he says, “I AM the bread of life”; to those in darkness, he says, “I AM the light.”
To those who feel lost, he says “I AM the door.” Every “I AM” claim Jesus makes in John starts with a human problem.
And today, we come to what is undoubtedly the ultimate human problem: DEATH. To which Jesus says in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life.”
Death is one of those ever-present realities for us that we can sometimes manage to ignore, until we can’t.
And in our time together we are going to explore Jesus’ statement I am the Resurrection and the Life.
The Greek word for life (zoe) is used thirty-six times in John’s gospel, which is more times than it is used in the other three gospels combined (sixteen times).
To the Christian believer, life is not merely a physical condition or a social experience so much as it is a person, and that person is Jesus Christ. Jesus is life.
The Apostle Paul says in Col. 3:4
4 When Christ who is your life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory.
he wrote to the believers at Philippi, “For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21).
Life is what we are alive to! And Paul is saying- If I’m alive, I’m going to live in Jesus. My life is going to reflect, Jesus. I’m going to spend my entire life telling others about Jesus.
And if he dies- he gets to be with Jesus. Its the ultimate win/win scenario.
People “come alive” to that which excites, delights, and satisfies them, that which is at the heart of their very being; and Christians should come alive to anything that relates to Jesus Christ.
In Christ, we have a hope and a purpose.
Some time ago, psychologist William Moulton Marston asked three thousand persons, “What have you to live for?”
Some might say there family.
Some might say there friends, there job, there dog, no one should say cat.
I’ve had a buddy say that he just wants to live to see the Jaguars win a Superbowl.
He also said if he passes before that happens- he wants to owner, coach, and some of the players to be his ball bearers so they can let him down one last time.
But really- He Marston asked “What have you to live for?”
But the results he found really surprised him.
He was shocked to find that 94 percent were simply enduring the present while waiting for the future.
They would describe this as waiting for “something” to happen—waiting for children to grow up and leave the house, waiting for next year, - new year new me- waiting for another time to take a long-dreamed-about trip, waiting for tomorrow, waiting for a new job, waiting for that raise. Waiting for inflation to go down. Waiting for prices to drop.
They’re all waiting- thinking when that one thing happens- then I’ll be completely and fully satisfied. I’ll be happy when...
I can really start living when....
They were all waiting without realizing that all anyone ever has is today because yesterday is gone and tomorrow never comes.
Have you ever seen the movie Braveheart?
One of the best movies ever. Its about the life of William Wallace. He was a Scotsman when the English controlled Scotland.
and He leads a rebellion against the English.
In the movie, William Wallace says a line to motivate his soldiers before the Battle of Stirling Bridge in 1297.
The full quote is, “We all end up dead, it's just a question of how and why. Every man dies, not every man really lives”
Every one of us is going to die but not everyone is going to live.
And the only way- the only way to live- is to live in Christ. Because if you die without Christ- you are going to spend an eternity in Hell.
And here’s the thing- we got a whole neighborhood right behind us, where a whole bunch of people if they were to die today- would spend eternity in Hell.
That’s why next Saturday- Blair and I are going to be going into the neighborhood. We are going to walk, pray, walk some more, hand out flyers, walk some more, pray some more, and talk to anyone who is out in the neighborhood.
The building is nice and pretty now.
Now, its time to go engage and be a part of the community.
We were talking during the staff meeting on Wednesday about what the Men’s Ministry is going to be about.
Ms. Laurie, Ms. Nancy, and Brother talked about how the Men’s ministry used to go out and do various projects.
I think that’s a fantastic idea. Lord willing, we return to that.
A working church is a growing church.
Ellen Gould White
Where to be the salt and the light, we need to be around those that do not have the light and aren’t salted.
We can do right and do good for our community, and if they show up to church- great. and if they don't- that’s okay too.
We can relentlessly serve the community whether people show up or not.
My goal and my prayer is not to grow the church numerically but for people to grow in the the Lord and then take it with them where to go.
Because I can’t be at your dinner table, and your dinner table, and your dinner table talking to people about the good news of the gospel.
That’s why part of our mission statement is Equip the Saints.
You have people in your life that I don’t know- that I don’t have a relationship. But you do.
And you’re here to take this and share it with them. And eventually, Lord willing, they’ll want to be a part of what we are doing- or they will get plugged into another Bible believing church.
And here’s the bottom line- if you want the church to grow- it’s your job to get them into the door.
and there will be some things coming up on the horizon that’ll be another way for people to get plugged in.
I’m working on my Doctorate of Ministry in Pastoral Ministry.
I was able to secure my Major Professor. He is a big Florida Gator fan, so you know He loves Jesus.
And I’ll find out if my potential project will be approved on the 27th.
Identifying Leadership development principles, to equip, train, and develop small group leaders for the purpose of Discipleship to enhance church revitalization.
And if that gets approved, we will begin walking through what that looks like.
I’m excited about it- And Lord willing it will go well.
Blair already has her doctorate.
Then we can be the Doctors Chambers.
But even when that becomes the case- you will still need to call 911 when a medical emergency arises.
And in John 11. When Lazarus was sick- Mary and Martha- Lazarus’ sister- they didn’t call a doctor- they called the doctor.
In John 11- We see that Lazarus is sick so Mary and Martha sent Word to Jesus and He said
4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Now, if we were to here this- we would think that’s the end of that story.
Lazarus covers from his sickness the end. But that’s not what happens.
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
That seems backwards doesn’t it.
Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, so he stayed two days longer.
We would say Jesus loved them so he immediately went to Judea.
But in those two days, Lazarus is dies.
Lets read the next 20 verses and dive into Jesus’ I AM statement.
John 11:17–37 (ESV)
17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.
18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off,
19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.
20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.
21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,
26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”
29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him.
30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him.
31 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.
34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”
35 Jesus wept.
36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”
Let us pray.
Why didn’t God just save Lazarus? Why didn’t God just do the thing? He has healed others, why not now?
Thats a question we have all grappled with.
Why didn’t God do something that we thought that he should have done.
I mean, it just didn’t make any sense: we prayed. We believed. We trusted in him. And We did all the things you were supposed to do.
But God didn’t seem to do his part.
The person still died. The marriage still disintegrated. We didn’t get the job.
When Ted Turner, media mogul and multi-billionaire (the man who founded CNN and TBS)--when Ted Turner was in high school, he was on fire for Jesus.
Most people don’t know that about him, but he was.
In fact, he felt called to be a missionary.
But when he was 15 his younger sister, Mary Jane, aged 12, contracted lupus, a degenerative tissue disease, and for the next several years he watched as she basically wasted away.
Ted regularly came home from school, sat by her bed, held her hand and tried to comfort her.
He prayed for her recovery, but after several years of misery, she died.
Ted's dad, Ed Turner, the family’s spiritual anchor, said, "If that's the type of God he is, then I want nothing to do with him."
And when Ted saw his dad’s faith crumble, Ted eventually lost his own faith.
He said in an interview years later, “I was taught that God was love and God was powerful, and I couldn’t understand, if that was true, how someone so innocent should be allowed to suffer like that.”
Reading that kind of statement breaks my heart.
And its a total misunderstanding of who Jesus is and what being a Christian truly means.
Being a Christ follower- isn’t rainbows, cotton candy, and easy street.
Jesus never promised an easy life- Jesus never promised health, wealth, and happiness.
If that was the case- all of Jesus’ disciples would have been rich and famous.
Jesus actually told us we need to count the cost- because there is a cost to following the Lord.
Peter was crucified upside down- because he didn’t think he was worthy to die in the same manner of Jesus. James was beheaded.
Thomas was speared to death in India.
Andrew- Peter’s brother was crucified on a X-shaped cross- and while on there dying he was preaching to those who came by- declaring the gospel of Christ even in his suffering.
The only one who died a natural death was the writer of this gospel- John.
Tradition says that the disciple John died a natural death after surviving numerous attempts on his life, including being boiled in oil. While most of his fellow disciples met violent ends, John's long life still bore witness to the faithfulness of Christ. His peaceful passage challenges us to embrace both life and death as opportunities to glorify God.
Coming to Christ doesn’t take away the hardships. Being in Christ- doesn’t make life easier.
Christ doesn’t just make life better. Jesus is better than life.
He doesn’t take us out of the valley of the shadow of death- He is with us. His rod and his staff comfort us.
Surely goodness and mercy will follow us all the days of our life and we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
How can it be good that Lazarus dies?
28 And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose.
Who defines what is good? us or God?
God defines what is good.
It was good for Lazarus to die. It was God’s love that allowed Lazarus to die.
Love lets him die because his death will help them see, in more ways than they know, the glory of God.
This leads us to our first truth
1. Present in Our Pain
1. Present in Our Pain
Jn 11:17-22
What is love? Baby don’t hurt me, don’t hurt me no more.
What does it mean to be loved by Jesus?
Love means giving us what we need most.
And what we need most is not healing, but a full and endless experience of the glory of God.
Love means giving us what will bring us the fullest and longest joy.
And what is that? What will give you full and eternal joy?
The answer of this text is clear: a revelation to your soul of the glory of God—seeing and admiring and marveling at and savoring the glory God in Jesus Christ.
When someone is willing to die—or let your brother die—to give you (and your brother) that, he loves you.
Love is doing whatever you have to do to help people see and treasure the glory of God as their supreme joy—to help people see and be satisfied with the glory of God.
That is the two great purposes of all things:
God’s demonstration of his glory in Christ, and human beings treasuring that glory above all things.
That is the meaning of life and of all creation. And these two great purposes are really one:
Because our treasuring God’s glory above all things—even life itself—is the way we join God in demonstrating his glory.
God is most glorified in us, when we are most satisfied in him.
So Jesus lets Lazarus die to show the glory of God and to intensify the faith of his disciples.
And the Gospel of John was written for these two great aims—to reveal the glory of the only Son from the Father, and to awaken and deepen our faith in him—our receiving him as the supreme treasure that he is.
So, we can go through things in our life- that reveals the glory of God and can deepen our faith in him.
Thats why James- the half-brother of jesus can say
2 Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds,
3 for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness.
4 And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.
During World War II, Corrie Ten Boom and her sister Betsie spent years in a concentration camp, in her Autobiography Corrie ten Boom recounted how they learned to give thanks in all things.
They even thanked God for the fleas that infested their barracks. It was later revealed to them that these fleas kept the guards away from their barracks, allowed them to hold Bible studies with the other women and pray in peace.
We may not realize it in the moment but the presence of God is in the difficult situations of life.
When Jesus arrived in Bethany. Lazarus had already been dead 4 days.
The timing is not an accident. After four days there’s no doubt Lazarus is dead.
It’s too long for it to be a mistake.
Martha comes out and meets him and expresses her disappointment (vv. 20–22).
She had a plan.
She called Jesus, and he could have fixed Lazarus, but he didn’t come in time.
Her intense disappointment reveals her deep confidence in Jesus.
She knew, beyond any shadow of a doubt, that Jesus could have healed Lazarus. Now here he is four days late!
Nevertheless, she still expresses great faith (v. 22). She essentially tells Jesus, “I don’t know what you can do now, but I know you can do whatever you want.”
Her response reminds me of Shadrach, Meschach, and Adednego- who are about to thrown into the fiery furnace for refusing to bow to Nebuchadenzzar.
17 If this be so, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of your hand, O king.
Our God is able.
18 But if not, be it known to you, O king, that we will not serve your gods or worship the golden image that you have set up.”
Our God is able but even if He doesn’t, He is still the one true God.
On Friday- I had a student come up to me, she took Bible online over the summer- so she isn’t in my classes but students will randomly come in and ask questions.
And She asked me why does God allow bad things to happen to good people?
I told her that the only good person to ever be unjustly punished was the Son of God. The Bible tells there is no one good, no not one.
And she goes - ok, but why does he let bad things happen?
Not bad happened until we ate from the tree of knowledge of good and evil. We chose to disobey God. We have free will.
Yeah, but he knows what we are going to do before we do it.
Correct.
Lets say I put my son in a room with a big bag of potato chips ( favorite things on earth) and I tell him not to eat those or he will be in trouble and I walk out.
Do I know whats about to happen? Absolutely.
Do I know he is going to eat the chips? Absolutely.
Did I tell him not to do it? Yes, I did.
Did He make a choice to listen to His father or not? Yes, he did.
So, when I walk in and he has chip crumbs all over his face, is it my fault or his fault that he ate the chips?
His.
Same Concept applies with the sin in the world- just because God knows what is going to happen doesn’t mean He is the one responsible.
But here’s the thing- God can use those times and draw us closer to himself.
And I also told her that the analogy isn’t full proof- and there are plenty of times where God has intervened in my own life.
God is not distant and if He feels distant its because we wandered from Him.
But Martha didn’t wander from God. She went right to him when her brother was sick.
She was so sure Jesus was going to heal him. And then He doesn’t but Here is.
Then we see in verse 23.
John 11:23 “23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.””
which leads us to our second truth about Jesus.
2. Promise of Eternal Life
2. Promise of Eternal Life
John 11:24
24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
Martha knows the Old Testament.
She understands God’s promise that this life is not all there is.
She knows the grave is not the end (v. 24). She knows all the answers. She knows the promise of eternal life.
She is just not understanding in this moment.
Some of us- or we know people who know all the answers but do not know the Lord.
Tozer Topical Reader in Two Volumes 695. Knowledge of God: Personal, Intimate
It is possible to grow up in a church, learn the catechism and have everything done to us that they do to us, within reason. But after we have done all that, we may not know God at all, because God isn’t known by those external things. We are blind and can’t see, because the things of God no man knows but by the Spirit of God.… We can hold the creed and not know God in His person at all. We can know the doctrine and not know spiritual things at all. The fearful consequence is that many people know about God but don’t know God Himself. There is a vast difference between knowing about God and knowing God—a vast difference! I can know about your relative—and still not know him in person. If I have never met him, I do not know the touch of his hand or the look of his eye or the smile of his face or the sound of his voice. I only know about him. You can show me his picture and describe him to me, but I still don’t know him. I just know about the man.
Thats not Martha- Martha knows and loves the Lord. She knows of the resurrection on the Last day
But Jesus is talking about something even bigger, even more remarkable.
But Jesus is talking about something even bigger, even more remarkable.
Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life” (v. 25).
He doesn’t say, “I can resurrect people, and I have life.” He says, “I am resurrection, and I am life” (emphasis added).
Our hope is not in an event (resurrection) but in a person (Jesus).
Nothing can hinder him from giving life because he doesn’t have life; he is life.
What does it mean for Jesus to be the resurrection and the life?
Think about the other “I am” statements we have covered in this series.
When Jesus called himself the “bread of life” (6:35), he presented himself as the fulfillment of the manna from heaven in the wilderness. Anticipating the way he would transfer to himself at the Last Supper the spiritual significance of the unleavened bread of Passover, Jesus asserted himself to be what God’s people would live on after the new exodus as they journeyed to the new heaven and new earth
Similarly, when Jesus called himself the “light of the world” (8:12), he presented himself as the fulfillment of the pillar of fire and cloud that would lead God’s people to the Land of Promise.
In keeping with these fulfillments of OT pattern and prophecy, when Jesus called himself the “good shepherd” (10:11), he presented himself as the fulfillment of the prophesied new Moses, the new Davidic leader who would shepherd God’s flock.
Now, He says I am the resurrection and the life.
The resurrection was also part of the prophesied picture of Israel’s restoration.
Hosea 6:2 and Ezekiel 37 depict the return to the Land of Promise after the exile as resurrection from the dead.
Jesus now asserts that he himself is the fulfillment of the promised resurrection from the dead.
He has life in himself (John 1:4; 5:26), and as such he himself is the resurrection.
Believing in Jesus is the means by which people are joined to his resurrection life.
To believe in (piasto) Jesus is to be plugged into the life that guarantees resurrection.
To believe in Jesus is to be united to the one who has life in himself, the one whom death cannot keep down.
Those who believe in Jesus may experience physical death, but it will not be permanent, and those who believe will not undergo the second death (cf. Rev. 20:6).
This is what Jesus means in John 11:26 when he says that those who believe in him will never die.
Understand- This is just one of the million ways Jesus is different from you and me.
You have life. He is life.
You can lose your life. He cannot and will not lose his life.
He laid it down, but his resurrection was proof that death could not take life from him.
26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Of course this doesn’t mean that no Christian ever dies.
I mean, the whole point of this story is that Lazarus believed in Jesus and he died.
Twice, in fact. After being raised here in John 11, Lazarus died again one day.
I mean, Lazarus isn’t somewhere hanging out alive in a cave like that Knight Templar in Indiana Jones’ Last Crusade. He died again.
Which, BTW, I love how John Crist says this, “We love to talk about how awesome this story is for Mary and Martha, and us… but you know who this story wasn’t awesome for? Lazarus.
Lazarus has been dead for 4 days, which means he’s been in heaven for 4 days. He’s moved into his mansion.
He’s getting the furniture arranged in there like he wants.
He had a bum knee that used to hurt but it’s all better now, and he’s started playing basketball with Abraham and Obadiah and King David, who had a wicked jump shot, every afternoon.
When suddenly there’s a knock on the door and when he opens it there’s a rather sheepish angel standing there who says, “Yeah, Lazarus, we gotta send you back.
We don’t normally do this but, the Father says it’s special circumstances…” Lazarus was a follower of Jesus, and he died twice--which doesn’t sound awesome.
So Jesus’ statement clearly doesn’t mean that no Christian ever dies.
He promises that those who believe, though they die physically, will live on forever.
Those who live spiritually will never have to worry about their spiritual life ending.
Christians live with great hope for the future. We hope in Jesus Christ.
When we take our last breathe on earth, we know our next breathe is in eternity in the loving embrace of our Lord.
To be absent from the body, is to be present in the Lord.
For those who live and believe in Jesus, this is what he promises.
Billy Graham said shortly before he died: “One fine day you will hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don’t you believe it. I’ll be more alive than ever, I will just have changed addresses.”
Do we believe this?
I listened recently to the testimony of this family- the Drakes- they attend the Village Church. The Village Church is the Church where Matt Chandler pastors.
Who himself went through brain cancer in 2010 at the age of 28.
But the Drakes shared the story of their son, Abram.
Abram, just a child, battled with neuroblastoma — a rare, aggressive form of childhood cancer.
They talked about the initial symptoms that started when he was in Kindergarten, to the treatments he endured, to the final weeks of his short life, to when the unthinkable loss of their young child became a reality, they found and still find themselves holding on and trusting the promises of God.
The last thing this mom said to her son, who was Judah’s age, was run to Jesus.
And when I first heard that, I was ugly crying, when I re-watched it for this sermon, I was ugly crying.
The Dad’s prayer the entire time was to take it from him and give it to me.
And when Abram breathed his last breath, his Dad picks up his son one last time and takes him where he is supposed to go.
And through all of that- they have trusted the Lord. Not that they haven’t been every emotion imaginable. Not that they haven’t cried out in agony and in pain but they trust the Lord that when Abram closed his eyes for the last time, He opened them in eternity looking at the face of our Lord and Savior.
We believe, like Martha, that Jesus is the Son of God, come into the world, just as God promised, to rescue us from death and hell.
We know that he is the only one we can trust with our lives, so we give our lives to him.
And no matter our circumstances, and no matter the situation, no matter the outcome.
We can respond like Job did.
Blessed be the name of the LORD.
After Martha responds in faith, she goes to get her sister Mary (vv. 28–30).
Mary says the same thing, word for word, to Jesus that Martha said (v. 32; cf. v. 21). Almost like they talked about this the last few days.
How many times before Jesus got there had they discussed it?
How many times in their grief had they said, “If only Jesus had been here, our brother would not have died”?
This was their plan. They were sure Jesus would heal Lazarus. But he didn’t, and it hurt.
And they are hurting because Jesus loved them.
But notice God’s response to our sorrow.
3. Participation in Our Sorrow
3. Participation in Our Sorrow
Jesus knows what he’s going to do, but before he does it, he responds with deep compassion.
Jesus wept.
Its the shortest verse in all of scripture.
If you have ever had a contest with children or teenagers for who can memorize the most Bible verses this one is always used.
As y'all may know, i’m a really big Florida gator fan.
But there have been games going on when I’ve need to do something, like get ready to preach for Sunday, or other obligations.
So I will record the games, and I will try to make it home before someone tells me what’s happened.
I just can’t make it home without somebody saying something, getting a text or seeing a big old smile or in recent history a big frown on somebody’s face and knowing what it’s about.
Somehow I always find out.
But here’s the thing: one benefit of knowing that the team I want to win has won or lost, when I’m watching the game back later and the other team goes on a run, I’m like, “It don't matter. DJ Lagway is going to throw a bomb to the 1 yard line and we will run it in.” Or at some point Baugh is gonna run seal the game with a 55 yard touchdown…and Florida is going to beat LSU for the first time since 2018.
Its a lot less stressful knowing what happens in advance.
So, why does Jesus weep with Mary if he knows that in 10 minutes the whole issue is going to be resolved?
“So that you may believe.”
It’s because Jesus wants you to understand how he feels about you, in your pain.
Even when Jesus knows the pain is temporary, he knows what it feels like for you, and he weeps with you.
Let’s be honest: 1000 years is not that much different to Jesus than 10 minutes.
Which means Jesus can already see the beautiful resolution to your story, he can already feel that beautiful moment when you are reunited to lost loved ones and all the sad things in your life become untrue, and he wipes away every tear.
He can feel that like it’s already here, but in the moment, the Son of God still weeps with you.
And that’s because his heart is knit to yours. He feels deeply what I feel, much like I feel deeply what my kids feel, even if I know their pain is temporary.
And I can tell you from experience that sometimes this is a great consolation.
To know that I have a Savior who has entered into my pain; that the tears in my eyes are matched with tears in his.
What a friend we have in Jesus! All our sins and griefs to bear! What a privilege to carry, everything to God in prayer!
Followers of Jesus are commanded in Romans 12:15 to “weep with those who weep.”
We do what Jesus did.
We love others enough to enter their suffering. Oh, to be more like Jesus. Oh, to willingly enter others’ suffering.
The most remarkable part is that Jesus is going to do something that takes their suffering away, but before he fixes their problem, he joins their pain.
He enters their grief before he exiles it.
We can’t be afraid to enter other people’s pain. We need to be more like Jesus in this way.
So often we shy away from the uncomfortable. We try to smooth over the brokenness.
We need to, out of love, sit and weep with those who weep.
Pray for a heart that breaks with heaviness when others suffer.
After entering their grief, Jesus moves to end it (vv. 39–42).
Why did Jesus let this happen if he knew he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead?
Why did he let those he loved experience four days of grief?
Jesus is doing things we can never grasp. He’s God.
He’s got purposes far beyond what we can even imagine.
We don’t know all that Jesus is doing, but we should never doubt his love for us, his desire for us to experience his glory, and his call for us to trust him.
His love, his glory, and our need for faith are often most clear in the darkest times.
This miracle was about something bigger than removing their grief.
This miracle was about the power of Jesus over death.
They were intimate witnesses to death’s demise. It was high noon, and they were lining the streets to watch the duel between Jesus and death.
That never would have happened if Jesus had submitted to the sisters’ plan.
The end of the story is almost anticlimactic (vv. 43–44).
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.”
It seems more should be said. Why so few words about the resurrection of Lazarus?
Because if Jesus really is life, then this wasn’t a fair fight.
The outcome had been decided long ago. It was a mismatch from the moment Jesus was born.
When Lazarus walks out of the tomb, he is still wrapped in the funeral garments.
Ten chapters later we read about another resurrection.
As big as this one is, that one’s even bigger. If this is the first blow, the next resurrection is the knockout punch.
Jesus is life, and death never stood a chance.
Jesus and death fought, and Jesus got the last word.
Up to this point, death always won. Death would sweep in, and whoever was in the way lost.
Death always got the final word.
Even if a person seemed to rally, death would eventually silence him.
Back in verse 4 Jesus told the disciples, “This sickness will not end in death.” But it did, didn’t it?
Yes and no. For Lazarus the train stopped at death, but the journey didn’t end there.
The train started up again. Death didn’t get the last word.
The sickness didn’t end in death but in resurrection.
Few passages are filled with more hope than this one, because no occasions feel more hopeless than when a person dies.
It’s all over. No more chances. No more hope. Death has spoken, and it is final.
Not anymore! Jesus has spoken. He has the final word, and the final word is this: “I am the resurrection and the life”
Let me be clear: I’m not urging you to believe this because it provides some kind of hopeful, happy, pie-in-the-sky ending for you.
I’m urging you to believe it because there is an empty grave in Jerusalem that Jesus used to occupy that declares to you that your hope is justified.
And, I’m trying to get you to see that Jesus orchestrated this entire story in John 11 with all its confusing twists and turns so that when you go through a time where it feels like God is absent from your life, you’ll know that he’s not, you’ll know that he cares, and he’ll be faithful to you just like he was to Mary and Martha.
Have you ever let him come into your life and take full control of you?
Have you received him personally? If not, or you’re not sure, you can do that right now, today.
He is either Lord of all or not at all.
Let us go to the Lord in prayer.
