I am the Ressurection & Life - John 11:20-27

Do you believe?

Welcome/Pastoral burdens

Fathers day acknowledgment & prayer

READ: John 11:20-27.

Main idea: When you learn to trust (believe) in Jesus you experience life over death

FCF (fallen condition focus): When you don’t (learn to) trust (believe) Jesus, you are prone to a life of death instead of life over death.

Three movements of this text: The plan, pain, and power.

Movement 1: The plan - John 11:3-7.

The sisters had a plan- The plan was to have Jesus (near & dear to them) come fix the situation. It was a great plan. It is the right plan.

Jesus plan or our plan

Jesus plan include, delay (timing) - for God’s glory and because He loves them/us.

What do you do when Jesus has a different plan? How do you find yourself responding?

God’s glory over everything (situation)

No situation in your life in which cannot be glorified. Ex: impossible boss, co-worker, job; loveless marriage, crushing bills, dysfunctional family, relationship, …. Go scan be glorified in everything situation.

Ask: How can I glory God in this vs what’s the fastest way out of this.

God’s glory & love are not at odds

Death is no match for Jesus

v.8-10 Quick metaphor: Darkness does not stop THE LIGHT. Therefore, walk in the light instead of darkness.

Death is different for Jesus. Death = sleep because of Jesus authority over death.

HELP is on THE WAY

“But I’m (Jesus) on the way to wake him up”

Jesus knows something has dead in your life, he knows something needs to be resurrected & have life in your life. The text says “BUT I (Jesus) is on the way… to wake him (your dead situation) up.

Illustration: I am on my wait but we are late, get distracted doing something else, our heart means well but we don’t show up on time or not at all when we said we are coming.. BUT God is not like us: When Jesus says he is on the way he is coming… We must wait for His time.. The question is when he comes, how will you response?

God is on the move…He is on the way… will you trust he is on the way? will you exercise your faith when you encounter him?

Doubting Thomas right with his logic? v.16

He was not wrong with his thinking, logically speaking. People wanted to kill Jesus.

The problem is our logic does not account for power & plan of God.

Humans reason falls short of God

How often does your logic kept you from seeing God do something miraculous ?

how ofter does your critical thinking blinds you from God’s glory

Movement 2: The pain - John 11:17-27.

Four day—It’s clear Lazarus is dead and in the tomb.

Martha’s response to Jesus

“Lord, If you had been here my brother wouldn’t have died.” Her pain is real because she knows Jesus could have came when she requested.

We too say, “Lord if you had…”

Marthas has pain/doubt yet still has faith

“yet even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

Hope in the midst of pain.

“your brother will rise again” - Future? yes. Present? Yes.

Future Resurrection

Martha understand a theological truth

1 Thessalonians 4:13–18“But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so, through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep. For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and so we will always be with the Lord. Therefore encourage one another with these words.”

I (Jesus ) am the resurrection - a person not event.

Martha could only see the future resurrection not the present power of the resurrection.

Resurrection is not an event its a person - Jesus, v.25

Jesus resurrect what is dead and make it live!

No merely resuscitate

Hence its been four days with Lazarus in the tomb. — heart stop, life is gone (There customs belief was the soul says hovering over the body for a few day, the four day means the soul is gone), body decomposing…

Jesus was not resuscitating Lazarus. He was resurrecting life from death.

Jesus ask important question to Martha and us today

‘Do you believe this?”

Jesus has pain .v33-35

Pain as a human

Pain at what sin has caused

Movement 3: The power - John 11:38-44.

Jesus calls for faith to be initiated— “remove the stone”

Jesus is calling for us to remove the stone

Jesus say’s remove the stone — Martha response with honest hesitation

We do the same things. Jesus is asking us to remove what is covering (your pride, fear, anxiety, doubt,) our dead situation and we response with hesitation.

Faith 1st (do you believe) sight later (second)