John 11:1-57 - Resurrection Power
Notes
Transcript
Pray
Pray
Father, thank you for the opportunity to see your glory in your Word.
My words are powerless, but yours are powerful.
So, I pray that you would speak to us, and change us into the likeness of your Son.
Please change us through your Spirit as he applies your Word to our hearts.
I pray that you would take my meager effort to preach your Word, and cause it to bear fruit.
I pray this in Jesus’ name. Amen.
Intro
Intro
Have you ever thought about the reason we have insurance.
I know… insurance is not a very interesting hook, but bear with me.
Insurance is basically paying someone to take on your risk.
If you don’t want the risk of paying a large amount of money for something that’s likely to happen, you pay an insurance company a smaller amount to take on that risk.
People are pretty likely to get in a car accident especially on the windy roads in Humboldt county…
so we pay a little for insurance so that we don’t have to pay a lot to fix our car when we wreck it.
Getting in a car accident is pretty likely, but how much more likely is it that we’re going to die?
When we’re young it is pretty unlikely, and as we get older it becomes more and more likely.
But ultimately… everyone dies.
There are plenty of people who have gone their whole life driving and never getting in a car accident...
But aside from a couple of people mentioned in the Old Testament… nobody can avoid death.
And death is everywhere.
It usually doesn’t take long in life before you’re impacted by death around you.
The threat of death paralyzes, the sorrow of death cripples, and the reality of death throws us into despair.
Because death is such a prevalent enemy, Jesus has given us life in himself… Jesus IS resurrection power.
We are going to walk through John chapter 11 section by section and see Jesus’ resurrection power on display as he answers…
the threat of death,
the sorrow of death,
the reality of death,
and how he would finally conquer death.
So, first up, we see the threat of death in verses 1-16
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 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 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
So, here we see Jesus’ Resurrection Power and…
The Threat of Death (1-16)
The Threat of Death (1-16)
When someone we love gets sick… I mean really sick… we’re compelled to do everything we can to see them get better because we love them so much.
Because we know that if they don’t get better, they're going to die.
The threat of death is scary, and Mary and Martha were scared that their brother Lazarus would die soon from his illness.
So, they sent a message to their close family friend, Jesus, so that he might possibly heal him.
But the threat of death did not have a typical effect on Jesus.
Any of us would drop everything and go to comfort our loved one in their illness, or do everything we can to help them avoid death.
But Jesus is confident that this illness does not lead to death.
He’s confident that Lazarus has become deathly ill for God’s glory.
So that His glory would be displayed through Jesus, His Son.
The rest of the story explains exactly how the Son of God would be glorified through Lazarus’ illness.
Rather than drop everything to come and heal his friend, Jesus responds to the threat of death by waiting two more days before setting off for the town of Bethany where Lazarus, and his sisters live.
Again, Jesus is unfazed by the threat of death because he knows that God will be glorified through it… he knows what’s about to take place.
So, after two days he tells his disciples that they’re going to go back to Judea, where the town of Bethany is.
But there’s a problem… remember the previous chapter?
Remember what happened in Solomon’s colonnade?
The Jews tried to stone Jesus to death because he said “I and the Father are one.”
Jesus practically has a bounty on his head in Judea, and the disciples bring up that very point.
So, the threat of Lazarus’ death doesn’t faze Jesus, and neither does the threat of his own death.
How is he so unfazed by the threat of death?
Well, Jesus answers his disciples’ concern for his life and their own lives by giving them a kind of cryptic proverb.
He says in verses 9 and 10, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
What in the world does that have to do with the threat of death in Judea?
What Jesus is saying is that they don’t need to fear death at the hands of the Jews right now because his time has not yet come.
It’s still daytime, he’s the light of the world, and because they’re with him and his time had not come, death could not touch them.
Kind of like plot armor but better because Jesus is not just a character in history, he’s also the author of history.
Because Jesus has life in himself… he IS resurrection power.
Jesus is 100% confident that the threat of death at the hands of the Jews right then was powerless, so he tells his disciples that they’re going to go and wake up their friend, Lazarus.
But to the disciples, waking up a sleeping friend is not a good enough reason to waltz back in range of the Jews’ rocks.
If he’s just fallen asleep then he can wake up on his own… he doesn’t need Jesus to give him a wake-up call.
In fact, since Lazarus has been sick, sleep is probably the best thing for him right now so he can get better.
But Jesus wasn’t talking about literal sleep… Lazarus had actually died.
And waking him up was another way of saying that he would raise him from the dead, but the disciples missed that.
Jesus miraculously knew that Lazarus has died and says as much to the disciples.
And he tells them that they would boldly face their own threat of death to go to him.
Then Thomas says something interesting... he says, “Let us also go that we may die with him.”
I think the “him” he is referring to is Lazarus because Jesus has just said very plainly that Lazarus has died.
Thomas is not confident in their safety with Jesus, he’s a bit pessimistic.
He thinks that going to Lazarus will prove to be their death just as sure as Lazarus himself has died.
But he goes anyway.
The threat of death has clearly made him cower in fear, but he takes courage in Jesus’ confidence and braves his fear knowing that whatever happens Jesus has it under control.
Just like Thomas we cannot eradicate the fear of death without courage based on our faith in Christ.
When the threat of death makes you cower in fear, take courage and boldly live for Christ whose resurrection power has removed the sting of death.
So, first we saw how Jesus’ Resurrection Power answers the threat of death so that we can boldly live for him.
Next up we’re going to look at the sorrow of death in verses 17-37.
Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 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.
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.” 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. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”
So, here we see Jesus’ Resurrection Power and…
The Sorrow of Death (17-37)
The Sorrow of Death (17-37)
Jesus is a wanted man in Judea, especially near Jerusalem.
But he comes to the town of Bethany only two miles from Jerusalem, to the home of Lazarus, Mary, and Martha.
A lot of the Jews had also come there to mourn Lazarus’ death.
Even Martha, Lazarus’ sister, understands the threat to Jesus here.
That’s why she and her sister sent that message to Jesus before Lazarus was dead, so that Jesus could sneak in and heal him without another confrontation with the Jews.
But he didn’t.
He waited two whole days, and that window of opportunity was closed.
They hoped for a miracle from their friend who happened to have the power to heal their brother, but he did nothing.
And now it was too late.
Lazarus was dead, and the Jews who were seeking Jesus’ life were at the house mourning and would probably arrest Jesus when they saw him.
As soon as Martha gets word that Jesus has come, she rushes out to meet him to avoid another death and leaves her sister, Mary, sitting in the house with the guests.
In verses 21-22 Martha says to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”
She doesn’t know Jesus’ plans, but she trusts that he has one.
She thought the best outcome would be for Jesus to come before all these Jews were swarming her house…
To heal her brother without endangering his own life.
But he let Lazarus die, and here he is walking straight into danger to comfort her in her loss rather than preventing that loss in the first place and staying away from danger.
It doesn’t make sense to her, but she still trusts that Jesus has a plan.
Jesus comforts her by telling her exactly what his plan is.
He says, “Your brother will rise again.”
The sorrow of death is comforted by the truth of Jesus’ resurrection power.
But Martha doesn’t understand what Jesus is saying.
She thinks he’s talking about the resurrection at the last day.
Now, the Old Testament clearly taught the reality of this future resurrection.
For I know that my Redeemer lives,
and at the last he will stand upon the earth.
And after my skin has been thus destroyed,
yet in my flesh I shall see God,
whom I shall see for myself,
and my eyes shall behold, and not another.
My heart faints within me!
Therefore my heart is glad, and my whole being rejoices;
my flesh also dwells secure.
For you will not abandon my soul to Sheol,
or let your holy one see corruption.
Your dead shall live; their bodies shall rise.
You who dwell in the dust, awake and sing for joy!
For your dew is a dew of light,
and the earth will give birth to the dead.
Then he said to me, “Son of man, these bones are the whole house of Israel. Behold, they say, ‘Our bones are dried up, and our hope is lost; we are indeed cut off.’ Therefore prophesy, and say to them, Thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will open your graves and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will bring you into the land of Israel. And you shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves, and raise you from your graves, O my people. And I will put my Spirit within you, and you shall live, and I will place you in your own land. Then you shall know that I am the Lord; I have spoken, and I will do it, declares the Lord.”
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.
—
Martha understood the truth of this future resurrection in the Scriptures, but she was missing an important truth that Jesus is about to reveal to her.
And he’s about to display this truth to everyone there and to us as we read this story in God’s Word.
Jesus said to her in verses 25 and 26, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
When the sorrow of death overwhelms you, Jesus’ resurrection power is not some obscure thing to think of in the distant future.
Jesus is the resurrection and the life!
Believing in him means eternal life...
Those who physically die will rise again to new life in Christ, and those who are still alive don’t need to fear death because Jesus is Lord… even over death, and in him we have eternal life.
Back in chapter 5 Jesus told the religious leaders in John 5:25–26 ““Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son also to have life in himself.”
That hour is coming, and we are still waiting for it in the future, but Jesus shows how that hour was here for Lazarus and his sisters…
That future reality had broken into their present circumstances.
Jesus asks Martha, “Do you believe this?”
I mean, that’s a good question for all of us… Do you believe this?
Do you believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life?
Do you believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God?
Resurrection to eternal life is only promised to those who have had their sins forgiven, who have been reconciled back to God.
And that can only happen by putting your faith in Jesus, and submitting to him as Lord by repenting of your sin.
Martha believed… she says, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
She believed that Jesus is God’s promised deliverer.
She believed that Jesus is God in the flesh.
She believed that Jesus was sent from God the Father into the world to save sinful humanity.
That belief is what’s required… the only thing really required to be saved from sin and death.
Well, Martha left Jesus there and told her sister, Mary, that Jesus was there and that he wanted to talk with her.
So Mary got up and ran out… hopefully the Jews would stay there with Martha and not end up seeing and confronting Jesus.
But they followed her anyway.
And when she saw Jesus she fell at his feet and said the exact same thing that Martha said.
“Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
She questioned Jesus’ plan, but she didn’t say anything about trusting that he had a plan like Martha did.
She weeps in despair, and the Jews who had followed her also weep in the despair of death.
Here Jesus answers the sorrow of death not with the reasoning he did with Martha, but with his own sorrow over death.
This sorrow is still potent even for Jesus because death is an enemy.
Jesus is deeply emotional in this moment and compelled to action.
He asks where Lazarus’ body is so that he can put an end to this sorrow with his resurrection power.
But even as he’s compelled to action, his sorrow comes through, and the Jews notice him weeping and have two different responses.
Some simply note his love for Lazarus, but others, knowing exactly who Jesus is, question his plan like Martha and Mary had done.
This is the guy who had just opened the eyes of a man born blind!
Surely he could have prevented Lazarus from dying!
Jesus doesn’t answer their questioning statement with words, but with action.
Martha, Mary, and these Jews all questioned Jesus’ plan in letting Lazarus die.
We can also end up questioning God’s plan in the face of death, can’t we.
But when the sorrow of death makes you question God’s plan, trust that he is good and he is sovereign, and he has a perfectly good reason for your sorrow.
So, we saw how Jesus’ Resurrection Power answers the threat of death so that we can live boldly for him.
And we saw how his Resurrection Power answers the sorrow of death so that we can trust in his goodness.
Next up we’re going to look at the reality of death in verses 38-44.
Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 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.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 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.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 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.”
So, here we see Jesus’ Resurrection Power and…
The Reality of Death (38-44)
The Reality of Death (38-44)
Jesus shows a display of his power that’s greater than everything he has done up to this point.
He turned water to wine.
He healed an official’s son from afar.
He made a lame man walk.
He multiplied bread and fish.
He walked on water.
He gave sight to a man who was born blind.
But now, he outshines all those other amazing miracles as he pits the reality of his resurrection power against the reality of death, and he wins.
Lazarus has been dead for 4 days.
That’s long enough for his body to start decomposing and smelling really bad.
Martha’s still a little skeptical, maybe thinking Jesus just wants one last look at his friend before he says good bye.
She protests, but Jesus gently rebukes her, assuring her that she would witness his glory in what he was about to do.
Then Jesus prays, but it’s not like the prayers of Elijah and Elisha in the Old Testament when they raised people back to life.
They prayed that God would raise them, but Jesus prays that the people would know that the Father sent him.
These Old Testament prophets had to rely on God’s power, but Jesus has power to do this in himself because he is God.
Then Jesus calls out for Lazarus to get up and come out.
Again, this is not like how Elijah and Elisha did it.
Both of them laid down on the dead and prayed and God raised them up, but Jesus simply commands it to happen... with his voice.
Kind of like the creation account in Genesis chapter 1 where God used his voice to create everything.
He said, “Let there be,” and there was.
This vocal resurrection power is the same for the other accounts of Jesus raising people from the dead in the other gospels.
In Mark 5:21-24, Jesus raised Jairus’ daughter by simply telling her to wake up.
And in Luke 7:11-17, Jesus raised the son of a widow from a town called Nain by telling him to get up.
Jesus’ method of resurrection is another proof that he is God.
Death seems so powerful and so pervasive.
It’s a sure thing… so powerful that nobody can escape it.
But the reality of death is no match for the power of God.
Jesus is resurrection power… he has power even over death.
Though the act that would conquer death for good was still to come, Jesus gave a glimpse of it here as a foretaste of what would come a short time after this.
Jesus would go to the cross, bear the sins of the word, and die the death that was meant for you and me.
Then he would rise again three days later defeating death.
But Jesus’ resurrection power is not a result of his death and resurrection.
He has that power because he’s God, and he displayed it here in raising Lazarus, and he will display it again at the cross and the empty tomb.
Jesus gave us this foretaste in raising Lazarus, but he is the firstfruits of the resurrection.
His own resurrection is the proof and the seal that we will also be resurrected to eternal life when he comes back.
That’s the hope his Resurrection Power gives us.
The reality of death is not eternal for those who are saved by faith in Jesus.
It’s only temporary until we receive our glorified bodies to live with Jesus forever.
So, When the reality of death seems to have the victory, remember that Jesus has conquered death.
Don’t despair in the reality of death, but hope in the sure resurrection that will come when Jesus returns to make all things new.
So, we saw how Jesus’ Resurrection Power answers the threat of death so that we can boldly live for him.
We saw how his Resurrection Power answers the sorrow of death so that we can trust in his goodness.
And we saw how his Resurrection Power answers the reality of death so that we can hope in our sure resurrection at his return.
Finally, let’s look at the Conquering of Death in verses 45-57.
Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 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.”
But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.
Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.
So, here we see Jesus’ Resurrection Power and…
The Conquering of Death (45-57)
The Conquering of Death (45-57)
This shows how raising Lazarus from the dead advanced events toward the cross and Jesus’ own resurrection.
The Jews who were there had two responses to Jesus’ resurrection power.
Many believed, and we rejoice to read that belief in Jesus resulted from this glorious display of his divinity.
But some went and told the Pharisees.
I assume they told an accurate account of what had happened, but their hard hearts refused to believe...
Instead, they were compelled to gather the council.
The council was known as the Sanhedrin, made up of both Pharisees and Sadducees.
They gathered to officially decide what to do about Jesus who was stirring up so much trouble for them.
They were worried that Jesus would draw the attention of Rome and they would lose their position of authority, and even their freedom as Jews in the Roman empire.
But Caiaphas, the high priest at that time, had a plan, a plan that was actually the will of God, but he didn’t know that at the time.
He says, “It’s better that one man die for the people than the whole nation die.”
In principle this sounds okay...
Better one man die than everyone.
But he didn’t realize how prophetic his words were, because Jesus did die to save humanity from the death sentence of God’s wrath against sin.
All of this is moving toward the cross and Jesus’ resurrection where he will finally conquer death in his resurrection power.
But the author, John, also gives us a comment in verses 51 and 52 that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.
When Caiaphas said that is was better for one man to die than the death of the nation, he used a specific word.
“Ethnos” in greek is the word for nation, but also the word for Gentiles, non-Jews.
Jesus would die for the Gentiles too, to gather into one man both Jews and Gentiles scattered abroad.
We read about that in Ephesians chapter 2.
We were all dead in sin but made alive in Christ because of God’s love and not because of our own merit, and Jesus is making one new man out of both Jews and Gentiles.
But neither Caiaphas nor the other members of the Sanhedrin understood the prophecy that he had just said.
They understood, from the darkness of their own hard hearts, that Jesus had to be killed so that they could live the way they wanted.
So, they plotted to kill Jesus, but Jesus made good on his promise to his disciples that they would not die by going to Judea to help Lazarus.
He retreated to Ephraim and waited until the right time to enter triumphantly into Jerusalem for the last time before his death and resurrection.
And that time would come at the next Passover.
So, when the Passover was at hand, the people all expected public enemy number one to show up, and the religious leaders made sure everyone knew that Jesus was to be arrested on sight.
This whole gospel account… really, the whole of history from the advent of death in Genesis chapter 3…
All of it has been leading up to the crucial moment when death would be conquered forever through Jesus’ resurrection power.
It’s a big concept to wrap our heads around.
Death came into the world through Adam’s sin back in Genesis chapter 3, and it has remained a potent enemy ever since then.
But when you understand how Jesus has conquered death, worship him because he died and rose again for you.
That worship involves...
remembering who he is and what he has done…
submitting to him as the sovereign ruler and creator of everything…
and serving him with everything we have because he is worthy.
Conclusion
Conclusion
So, with this miracle, Jesus has given us a foretaste of his resurrection power that he would display fully in his death and resurrection.
We saw how his resurrection power met the threat of death to turn fear into boldly living for him.
When the threat of death makes you cower in fear, take courage and boldly live for Christ who has removed the sting of death.
We also saw how his resurrection power met the sorrow of death to turn doubt into trust in him.
When the sorrow of death makes you question God’s plan, trust that he is good and he is sovereign.
Then we saw how his resurrection power met the reality of death to turn despair into hope in him.
When the reality of death seems to have the victory, remember that Jesus has conquered death.
And finally we saw how his resurrection power providentially moved to meet death head-on and conquer it forever at the cross and the empty tomb.
When you understand how Jesus has conquered death, worship him because died and rose again for you.
If you are not a Christian yet, then I beg you, right now, to believe in Jesus.
Believe that he is the Christ, the Son of God, who has come into the world.
That’s what Martha confessed when Jesus asked her if she believed.
He’s the one God promised to send to save his people...
He’s the Son of God, God in the flesh, who alone has power over death...
And he has come and saved us through his resurrection power by dying for us and rising again.
Now all you have to do to experience his resurrection power in your life… to be saved from sin and death… is believe in him and submit to him as Lord.
Pray
Pray
Father, thank you so much for sending your Son to defeat death for us by dying in our place and rising again.
I pray that in the face of death you would help us to live boldly for you, trust you fully, and look forward in hope to the victory feast we will have with you forever because you have conquered death.
This is a gift that is beyond anything we could ever think or imagine… life without the threat, sorrow, or reality of death because you have conquered it.
Father, we are so thankful that you love us… you love us so much that you have given us your best… you have given us your Son... and you have given us life in him.
We thank you and praise you in Jesus’ name. Amen.
