Behold the Reurrection, Pt 2

Encountering the Incarnate Word  •  Sermon  •  Submitted   •  Presented
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From death to life. The resurrection of Lazarus to bring Glory to the Father and the Son was, just like the regenerating work in our lives, solely and altogether a work of God.

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Introduction

This morning we will bring to a close our Christmas series. Over the previous four weeks we have looked at individual encounters with Christ. This morning we conclude by finishing our look at Jesus’ encounter with Martha, Mary and Lazarus.
Last week we left off with Jesus having asked Martha if she believes and we looked at the confessional response that she gives demonstrating her faith and proclaiming Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God, the one who who comes. Isaiah writing about this the One who was to come, He whose birth we have celebrated this past week, Jesus the Christ, the King of all Kings and the Lord of all Lords, says this:
Isaiah 9:1–7 LSB
But there will be no more gloom for her who was in anguish; in earlier times He treated the land of Zebulun and the land of Naphtali with contempt, but later on He shall make it glorious, by the way of the sea, on the other side of Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles. The people who walk in darkness Will see a great light; Those who live in the land of the shadow of death, The light will shine on them. You shall multiply the nation, You shall make great their gladness; They will be glad in Your presence As with the gladness of harvest, As men rejoice when they divide the spoil. For You shall shatter the yoke of their burden and the staff on their shoulders, The rod of their taskmaster, as at the battle of Midian. For every boot of the booted warrior in the rumbling of battle, And cloak rolled in blood, will be for burning, fuel for the fire. For a child will be born to us, a son will be given to us; And the government will rest on His shoulders; And His name will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, Prince of Peace. There will be no end to the increase of His government or of peace, On the throne of David and over his kingdom, To establish it and to uphold it with justice and righteousness From then on and forevermore. The zeal of Yahweh of hosts will accomplish this.
The people walking in darkness have seen a great light. As we have looked at these encounters with the Incarnate Word, there has been a central theme, the great light has come. As these individuals are confronted by this light they ultimately have to answer the same question that Pilate posed to the Jewish crowds that had gathered in Matthew 27:22 “Pilate said to them, “Then, what shall I do with Jesus who is called Christ?” We know their response, they desired and would have accepted nothing less than His crucifixion and we have seen Martha’s response. However, as we will see today, even though she has faith, even though she believes, she still does not yet fully understand. In fact, for her to understand, or for us to understand, God has to move first.
We, however, have a problem, a big problem, a problem that we simply cannot solve and that is our condition. Like Lazarus, we are dead. Unlike Lazarus we are not physically dead, but we are spiritually dead. Ephesians 2:1 “And you were dead in your transgressions and sins,” is very clear. Our condition, our natural condition, make it impossible for us to come to Him, in John 5:39–40 show us that we are not willing to come:““You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; it is these that bear witness about Me; and you are unwilling to come to Me so that you may have life.”
We wrestle with this condition in an effort to accomplish the task of making ourselves right. We strive to live a certain way, act a certain way, appear a certain way all in an effort to, whether it be consciously or subconsciously, make ourselves presentable to God. Yet all of our efforts and struggles are in vain. It is God alone that works to bring the dead to life, to regenerate us so that it is possible to grasp the gift of faith that has been given through the grace of Almighty God
Consider the words of Charles Spurgeon as he writes regarding our text for today
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, Vol. XVIII The Sphere of Instrumentality (No. 1,052)

Now, let this be taken as a plain statement of our belief as to the Lord’s work in salvation, and taken without any mitigation or dilution. We believe that in every case salvation is of the Lord alone and altogether. Regeneration is a supernatural work. Man must be born again from above—any power short of that from heaven will be ineffectual. The new creation is as much and entirely the work of God as the old creation.

“Can aught beneath a power divine

The stubborn will subdue?

’Tis thine, Eternal Spirit, thine

To form the heart anew.

“To chase the shades of death away,

And bid the sinner live!

A beam of heaven, a vital ray,

’Tis thine alone to give.”

As we study the remainder of the text this morning witnessing the miracle that Jesus gives as evidence proving His claim that we find in verses 25 and 26 John 11:25–26 “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die—ever.” I would invite you to evaluate your own life. We will see, once again, the polarizing effect that Jesus has on everyone as He comes to the grave of Lazarus and then calls him as he calls on all who are His.

Text

Please stand for the reading of God’s Word
John 11:28–46 LSB
And when she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to Him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him. Then the Jews—who were with her in the house and consoling her—when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to cry there. Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus therefore saw her crying, and the Jews who came with her also crying, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?” So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time he smells, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. “And I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the crowd standing around I said this, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.
Father, we thank You for Your Holy Word, for it’s principles, it’s promises, it’s directions, and it’s light. As we partake of Your Word this morning, may we learn more of Christ, teach us to behold our Creator, Your ability to save, Your arms outstretched, Your heart big for Your people. Father, may we have confidence in Your power and love, committing ourselves to You without reserve, bearing Your image, observing Your commands, pursuing Your service, and for all time be a monument to the effectiveness of Your grace. Help us to not only receive christ, but walk in Him, depend upon Him, commune with Him, be conformed to Him, follow Him, even though it be our efforts be imperfect, may we press on, thankful for Your salvation and rest. May it be that as we are saved by grace through faith that we continue to live by that faith, feel the joy of that faith, and do the work of that faith. Acknowledging nothing in ourselves, but finding in Christ, wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and redemption for Your names sake and glory above all. Father we ask these things in the blessed name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

He Wept

As we return to this text this morning we find Martha leaving her encounter with Jesus, going to Mary and sending her to the Teacher. You may remember from last week that in the Jewish culture there is a period of mourning that takes place after the loss of a loved one and during the first seven days of the mourning process not only would the family and friends mourn, but the family was also expected to hire professional mourners. The Jews who were gathered at the home were there for that purpose, to mourn the loss of Lazarus.
As Martha speaks to Mary, she does so, as the scripture records, secretly. We do not know if this is an attempt to give Mary sometime to speak with Jesus apart from the mourners or to protect Jesus because they knew that He was under threat of death and as we mentioned last week, there is textual evidence to support the likelihood that this was a prominent family, there would probably have been some in attendance who were with the Pharisees. Regardless of the reason, the efforts of Martha were in vain because Proverbs 16:9 “The heart of man plans his way, But Yahweh directs his steps.” God’s sovereign plan is in motion for the purpose of glorifying the Father and the Son.
As Mary reaches Jesus, who has remained where He was during His conversation with Martha, she throws herself at His feet. We know, from another interaction with these sisters that they are quite different in their behavior. Martha is the ever practical sister but Mary is the one who is more demonstrative in what and how she feels. Think back to the situation where Martha is working in the house, bustling around to prepare everything, while Mary simply sits at the feet of the Master.
As a matter of observation, during times of mourning, it was customary for the the family of the deceased to sit while others would come and console them, but here, not only has Martha come to Jesus but now so has Mary and in fact she throws herself at His feet.
It is as if there is no other place that she finds more comfort than there, at the feet of her Master. How often, when we are in periods of distress, disturbance, distance, difficulty do we throw ourselves at the feet of the master because we know that there is no other place that we may find peace, hope, consolation, joy?
Mary’s statement to Jesus, just like Martha’s is not one of rebuke or complaint, but rather one of fact and faith. These women know that Jesus has the power to heal and that this death could have been, in their minds, avoided, but in reality only merely delayed.
Scripture records no verbal response of Jesus to Mary’s statement. What we see instead is a reaction, first to Mary, and then to the others around her who were also there. The response we see translated here in the English as “He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled” is misleading. The Greek word being translated here is a word that is only used a total of five times in the New Testament, verses 33 and 38 of our text today, once in Matthew’s gospel and twice in Mark’s. What is interesting is that in each of the other three times that this word is used we have a very different meaning established:
Matthew 9:30 “And their eyes were opened. And Jesus sternly warned them, saying, “See that no one knows about this!””
Mark 1:43 “And He sternly warned him and immediately sent him away,”
Mark 14:5 ““For this perfume might have been sold for over three hundred denarii and given to the poor.” And they were scolding her.”
In these three verses we see the same Greek word we see in verses 33 and 38 of our text for today, there translated “deeply moved”, being translated and used as a warning and a rebuke. What this should do for us in this passage is subtly change the way that we understand Jesus’ non-verbal response described for us by John. Typically we read this verse and we feel as if there is nothing but compassion here for those who are mourning, but there is something deeper.
To be certain, Mary weeps for the loss of her brother, feeling the same physical pain that we feel when we lose those who we love, but what is it about her weeping and the weeping of those who came with her that causes the Holy Spirit to use John to describe Jesus’ reaction here. Many would simply read the passage, acknowledge Jesus emotional state, note that here again we see that Jesus was truly human in His emotional response, and move on but to do so, I believe, misses an important truth that we are meant to see in this passage.
In 1 Thessalonians 4:13 Paul writes “But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, so that you will not grieve as do the rest who have no hope.” This is a passage we use in times of grief to help comfort those who have lost loved ones. One of the great themes that we celebrate at Christmas is the hope that has come into the world. Hope however, is present condition based on a future certainty. Hope is, just like everything, affected by the fall. Before coming to faith in Christ, we can only hope in temporal things, things that have no lasting impact, things that merely effect the here and now. When we, by the grace of God, have faith the foundation of our hope changes. It is no longer on the ephemeral things of this world but now rests on the Eternal Creator of all.
Of course, our reality is that we stand on this side of the completed work of Christ and we can see things that they cannot see because we have the whole story, however, all of the evidence and truth was available for them to see. They had witnessed miraculous events and knew that the power of God was resting on Christ. Note Martha’s words from earlier in the passage regarding Jesus’ relationship to the Father, the belief that both she and Mary had displayed regarding the ability of Jesus to heal their brother and yet they still do not understand the hope that has been displayed before them.
They are grieving as those who have no hope, suffering the effects of the fallenness of this world…but God.
It is not until after Jesus asks for the location of the tomb of Lazarus and they are presumably on the way that scripture records that small but mighty verse...
John 11:35 “Jesus wept.”
Truly God, Truly Man, Jesus had all of the emotional responses that we would ever have, He truly was a man of sorrows, one familiar with grief. However, even in the midst of this most human of responses, weeping for a loved one lost, there is a difference in the reaction of Jesus. The word used here to describe the weeping of Jesus is different than the word used to describe the weeping of Mary and the mourners. The word previously used signifies a loud wailing, a desperate, hopeless cry. In contrast, the word used to describe Jesus’ weeping is an action of bursting into silent tears, tears that stream down the face of one who deeply loves, not just Lazarus, but all of His people, in response, not to the temporary separation from a loved one, but to the depth of sin in this broken and fallen world. Charles Spurgeon recorded these words in regards to this verse:
The Metropolitan Tabernacle Pulpit Sermons, Vol. XXXIII Might Have Been, or May Be (No. 1,944)

But love in Christ towards us most fitly shows itself in tears. When he thinks of what we are, and how we have become subject to death, and how sin has brought us under this bondage, since he loves us, he must weep; nay, he must die; for even his tears cannot suffice to manifest his love. Jesus must pour out his soul, not only unto tears, but unto death, that all may see how deeply he loves us.

The Polarizing Light 1

As the Jews standing around see this display before them, we once again see the polarizing effect that Jesus has on those whom He encounters. We have two groups, one who responds with what seems to be understanding regarding His love, but falls short as our understandings often do, and the other group who asks a question. It would seem, at first blush that this is simply a negative question…if He loved them so much, surely He could have prevented this whole thing…if He can heal the sight of a man blind since birth, surely He could have healed this man whom He supposedly loves...
If we are honest with ourselves most of us have asked this question, or one like it, a time or two in our lives, one of accusation regarding the truth of His love or one of what if or why didn’t…Jesus provides the answer for us in two places in this passage. The first is in response to the initial message He received regarding the illness of Lazarus and the second is found in His response to Martha in a few verses…both bring us to the same reality, this, like all things in life, occured, even when we do not and cannot understand how or why, to glorify God.
In truth, this is the central theme in all of Scripture, in all of life, the entire purpose for all things is that through them God is glorified above all. The central figure in the entirety of chapter 11 of John is not, although this will surprise some, Lazarus. The central figure is, always has been, and always will be Christ. The next few verses in the narrative describe for us what occurs when they approach the tomb of Lazarus.

Come Forth

As Jesus and the crowd reach the tomb of Lazarus scripture notes that it was a cave with a stone covering the entrance. John provides us a short but important description of the tomb. It is a natural cave, the word in the Greek differentiates it from a man made one. Together with the fact that the stone was placed over the entrance serves as evidence that the grave has not been tampered with, that Lazarus body hadn’t been moved, and that he was truly dead.
Jesus commands the stone to be removed, at which point Martha protests because her brother has been dead for four days and by this point would have begun to smell. Her comment here again serves to demonstrate her lack of understanding regarding Jesus’ intent but it should be observed:
That her faith was not conditioned on her full comprehension. The fact is faith did not and does not require total comprehension. This should solidify our understanding that faith is a gift given by the grace of God, else we would all be stuck in I cannot believe because I do not comprehend.
The miracle Jesus was going to perform did not depend in anyway on Martha, although she did believe in Him, the truth is with or without her faith, this miracle would occur, because it was for the Glory of the Father and the Son.
Her language demonstrates her lack of hope. The perfect tense is used in her statement, this indicates that she saw the death of Lazarus as a final and permanent reality. Even though she had faith that she would see her brother again at the last day resurrection, for now he was simply gone.
Jesus used the people standing by to remove the stone, which He certainly could have done without so much as a twitch of His eyebrow, but this again would serve as evidence that the grave had not been tampered with and that Lazarus was truly the one who was raised.
As the stone is removed, verse 41 records that Jesus then lifted His eyes and prayed and what an amazing prayer. Observe:
The prayer itself is not long winded but still full. Jesus did not drone on and on but merely acknowledged the fact that the Father had already hear the request. How often do we overlook this truth when we come to God?
The prayer required no specific posture, Jesus merely lifted His eyes and spoke
The prayer did not repeat the request, but only acknowledge God for hearing, not only this prayer, but all prayers
The prayer was another piece of evidence.
After His prayer Jesus cries out, the Greek of this passage is interesting. The word translated cries out is describing this loud verbal command, so when the text adds the loud voice it is merely amplifying what is already said, and in His cry He calls Lazarus forth from the grave. John MacArthur describes it in this way “At His command, the king of terrors yielded up his lawful captive; the grave was robbed of its victory; the door of death and hades was unlocked by the One who alone holds the keys.”

Divine Authority

Time and again we see Jesus performing miracles that demonstrate and prove His divine authority:
Matthew 9:6 ““But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins”—then He said to the paralytic, “Get up, pick up your bed and go home.”” demonstrates that He has the power to forgive sin
Luke 11:20 ““But if I cast out demons by the finger of God, then the kingdom of God has come upon you.” demonstrates that the kingdom of God has come
Luke 7:19 “Summoning two of his disciples, John sent them to the Lord, saying, “Are You the One who is to come, or should we look for someone else?”” and Luke 17:22 “And He said to the disciples, “The days will come when you will long to see one of the days of the Son of Man, and you will not see it.” demonstrate that He is the Messiah
John 2:19 “Jesus answered them, “Destroy this sanctuary, and in three days I will raise it up.”” demonstrate that He had the authority to cleanse the temple
Repeatedly He had taught that His disciples that He would rise:
Matthew 16:21 LSB
From that time Jesus began to show His disciples that He must go to Jerusalem, and suffer many things from the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised up on the third day.
Matthew 17:22–23 LSB
And while they were gathering together in Galilee, Jesus said to them, “The Son of Man is going to be delivered into the hands of men; and they will kill Him, and He will be raised on the third day.” And they were deeply grieved.
Matthew 20:18–19 LSB
“Behold, we are going up to Jerusalem; and the Son of Man will be betrayed to the chief priests and scribes, and they will condemn Him to death, and will deliver Him over to the Gentiles to mock and flog and crucify Him, and on the third day He will be raised up.”
Luke 24:6–7 LSB
“He is not here, but He has risen. Remember how He spoke to you while He was still in Galilee, saying that the Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, and be crucified, and the third day rise again.”
Ultimately, by His own resurrection, Jesus would demonstrate His ultimate authority as Paul records in Romans 1:4 “who was designated as the Son of God in power, according to the Spirit of holiness, by the resurrection from the dead, Jesus Christ our Lord,”
But here in the 11th chapter of the gospel of John, demonstrates and substantiates the claim He had made to Martha in verses 25 and 26 John 11:25-26
John 11:25–26 LSB
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die—ever. Do you believe this?”
And so, again we are confronted with the question, do you believe this? Even though this is not repeated to the crowd as a whole this is the point that they have been brought to, do you believe what you have witnessed? John adds here in verse 44 that Jesus calls the people to unbind Lazarus. This is more evidence of the validity of the resurrection of Lazarus, to touch one who was dead would have made the people ceremonial unclean.

The Polarizing Light 2

The final two verses in this passage, 45 and 46, along with the rest of chapter 11 once again bring us back to the polarizing reality of Christ. There are only two options when you are confronted with the truth of Christ, belief and unbelief. In Luke 11:23 ““He who is not with Me is against Me and he who does not gather with Me, scatters.” There is no middle ground of neutrality, you either belief or you don’t, one leading to life, eternal life, the other to eternal damnation.
In Revelation 1:17–18 Jesus says to John, “Do not fear; I am the first and the last, and the living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.” He says the same thing to us here today and once again asks, do you believe?

Conclusion

As we come to the end of this series and the close of this message, we are left with a central and unavoidable truth: Jesus is the resurrection and the life. He alone has the power to bring the dead to life—both physically, as demonstrated in the raising of Lazarus, and spiritually, as He does for all who are His. The same voice that called Lazarus from the grave calls us today. The question is: How will we respond?
This entire series has shown us the polarizing effect of encountering Christ. For some, His light brings clarity, salvation, and transformation, as we saw with Martha, Mary, and even Lazarus himself. For others, His light exposes unbelief and rebellion, leaving them without excuse. The same was true for the crowd at Lazarus’ tomb, as it is true for us today. There is no neutral ground when it comes to Jesus.
So I ask you again: Do you believe this? Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, the One who has come to save and reign? Do you believe that He alone can rescue you from the grave of sin and death and give you eternal life?
If you do, the call is clear. Just as Jesus commanded the crowd to unbind Lazarus and let him go, so He commands us to live in the freedom He has purchased for us. Live as those who have been brought from death to life. Share this life-giving message with others. Proclaim His glory in all that you do. And most importantly, walk by faith, knowing that His power to save is greater than our understanding and stronger than our doubts.
If you have not yet believed, consider the weight of what you have heard. The One who holds the keys to life and death stands before you, calling you to come forth from the grave of unbelief and sin. Do not delay. Place your trust in Him, for today is the day of salvation.
As we close, let us rejoice in the hope that has come through Christ, the eternal light that shines in the darkness, and the life that conquers death. Let us live as those who believe, who are transformed, and who are called to reflect His glory. And may we never cease to proclaim, in word and in deed, that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father.
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