I Am the Resurrection
Notes
Transcript
Introduction
Introduction
For the Glory of God
For the Glory of God
1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”
Jesus was close to this family
Lazarus is the one Jesus loves
Mary wipes the feet of Jesus with her hair while weeping next chapter
Martha is the ideal disciple in this story
But tough times still come to the people Jesus loves
Lazarus is sick enough to send a worried message to Jesus
Jesus is half-way across Israel
But good news!
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.”
The glory of God and the Son is exciting
It turns water to wine - announcing the kingdom of God
It makes the lame walk
Perhaps most importantly in the minds of this family - it heals people across long distances with a single word
So it is easy to expect Jesus to solve this with a quick and easy miracle
But he doesn’t
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.
Jesus lets Lazarus die
Jesus is north in Israel
It’s a four day trip to Lazarus
Jesus doesn’t move until he knows Lazarus is dead
John 11:4 mentions only sickness
John 11:14 he isn’t dead until the two days are over
By the time Jesus does show up Lazarus is four days dead and stinking
Why would Jesus let the ones he love suffer like this?
Was he scared?
7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?”
Jesus has escaped at least four stonings. Did he need the heat to die down?
Nope!
9 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. 10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
Jesus has been talking about his coming hour throughout the gospel
Until that midnight hour strikes Jesus is perfectly safe
Jesus is the one who lays his life down - nobody takes it from him
Jesus didn’t just let Lazarus die - he wanted Lazarus to die!
11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
Jesus is glad that he wasn’t around to heal Lazarus
For two key reasons:
So that his disciples would believe
For the glory of the Father and the Son
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.”
Connect
Connect
Despite all of this verse 5 is still true - Jesus loved these people
We have a hard time believing that
If Jesus loved me then…
We need to ask two questions:
How will this suffering, and how I handle it, glorify God?
Will I believe in Jesus’ love despite how crummy life is?
Martha and Mary have different answers to these questions
Do You Believe This?
Do You Believe This?
When Jesus comes to Lazarus’ sisters in Bethany he has two conversations with them
Both start the same way “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
But then they diverge
One into a confession
The other into weeping and a questioning of Jesus’ power and love
One hopes for the glory of God
The other can only see the grave
The Context
The Context
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.
Notice how John is setting the scene for us
Lazarus has been dead for four days - Jesus is seriously late for any miracle that the sister’s had hoped for
They are just two miles from Jerusalem and many of the Jews from there have come to comfort the sisters
It was the Jews in Jerusalem who had just tried stoning Jesus
It is the Jews from Jerusalem that have consistently denied Jesus’ claims and refused to believe his signs
Some of them will go report everything to the Pharisees
Mary is staying inside with the mourners
Martha goes out to meet Jesus alone
Martha’s Conversation
Martha’s Conversation
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.”
Lazarus’ death doesn’t disrupt Martha’s faith
Despite him being dead, even now she has confidence in Jesus’ close connection to the Father
But she is viewing Jesus in a rather limited way
She only believes in the general resurrection
From Daniel 12:2
2 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. 3 And those who are wise shall shine like the brightness of the sky above; and those who turn many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
This and a few other passages were the foundation of the Jewish hope
God was faithful to his promises and would put his people into the promised land even if they had already died
Not all who were raised were good though - some awake to shame and contempt
Martha believed that Jesus could prevent death - but not that he could reverse it
I AM the Resurrection
I AM the Resurrection
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.”
Jesus is the resurrection and the life
He is the one who brings life - even to the dead
Those who hear his voice will live
It’s the will of the Father than all who look to Jesus will be raised on the last day
This is the reality behind all of Jesus’ I AM statements
The bread of life that satisfies
The light of the world that guides us out of darkness
The door of the sheep that provides pasture and protection
The Good Shepherd that gives us life by laying down his own
Jesus has just taken the problem of our existence and just tossed it into the trash
He’s solved Ecclesiastes
Why does Ecclesiastes think living a good life is pointless? Because you die.
Why does it not matter if you’re wise or foolish? Because you die either way.
Why is every pleasure in life, at best, a temporary distraction? Because you die.
We do everything we can to avoid death - Bryan Johnson
Has spent millions trying to reverse aging
Strict diet, exercise, medical interventions
Spent years getting blood transfusion from his son
The goal is to merely make it 200
Do you believe this?
When you are suffering, and it looks like God is too late, do you believe this?
Mary Doesn’t
Mary Doesn’t
Mary Doesn’t
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.”
Mary doesn’t have a private conversation with Jesus
The Jews who don’t believe in Jesus are following her
Her conversation starts exactly the same way as her sister - “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
It could have lead to a confession of faith - but devolves into weeping
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?”
38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
Jesus is deeply moved
This with the weeping is often used to demonstrate Jesus’ compassion - I’ve taught that
33 When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, He was angry in His spirit and deeply moved.
33 When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled.
Is Jesus angry, or upset?
Is he feeling sad or mad?
If he’s mad, at who or what?
Jesus is indignant and leaning more towards mad
It’s a reaction to the weeping of Mary and the Jews
It’s a reaction to those who question his power and his love for his dead friend
Jesus is indignant because while the resurrection and the life stands in their midst, all they see is the grave
Come and see - just as in the beginning - but they can only see the grave
They doubt the glory of God in Jesus
They don’t believe like Martha did and carry Mary away with their doubt and grief
And because they don’t see, they don’t believe, and won’t live
God’s Glory Revealed
God’s Glory Revealed
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.”
Martha puts it nicely
It’s too late!
Lazarus is four days dead (background)
He stinks!
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.”
This is the glory of God - This is why Jesus wants us to believe
So that we will hear his voice - even if we’ve died
So that we won’t be bound by death anymore
The glory of God is life
But it comes with risks
45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 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.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
Even still, there are those who do not believe
And so they want to kill him
This event not only glorifies God in the power of Lazarus’ resurrection,
Jesus glorifies God by choosing to give up his own life in obedience to the Father and for the sake of Lazarus
For the sake of all the children of God (John 11:50-51)
This is what is supposed to be seen in our lives
Have people seen the glory of the resurrection in you? Being lifted into a new life leaving sin behind?
Have people seen the glory of God’s life in you?
Or are we too focused on the grave to see the life in Jesus? Carrying people away from God with our grief and tears that show no hope
Application
Application
Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Do you believe this?
If we do we ought to take the words of Thomas seriously
16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Let us die with him
Not out of fatalism
Let our lives be for the glory of God
Let our faith in Jesus’ life and resurrection inspire belief among the nations
Let us die with him knowing that we will see the glory of God when we are raised to eternal life
