God's Will and the Glory of God
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Intro
Intro
Jesus’ raising the dead occurred more than once—Jairus’s daughter in and the son of the widow of Nain in .
Jesus’ raising the dead occurred more than once—Jairus’s daughter in and the son of the widow of Nain in .
Some think it developed out of the parable of the rich man and Lazarus in Luke 16, but the two are quite different in theme and details, which makes it highly unlikely. The incredible detail and lifelike portrayal give us solid reasons for accepting this story. Jesus’ raising the dead occurred more than once—Jairus’s daughter in Mark 5:22–43 and the son of the widow of Nain in Luke 7:11–17 along with two general references in Matthew 11:5 and Luke 7:22. Moreover, the story fits its first-century context amazingly well and summarizes the emphasis in John on Jesus as the giver of life. So its function as the concluding event of Jesus’ public ministry and as a transition into the events of passion week make it a natural instrument for this purpose. The death and resurrection of Lazarus provides the perfect introduction to the death and resurrection of Jesus.
John summarizes the emphasis in John on Jesus as the giver of life. The death and resurrection of Lazarus provides the perfect introduction to the death and resurrection of Jesus.
Start with
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.” 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 SETTING: NEWS OF THE ILLNESS (11:1–6)
The humanity of Jesus found in verse 3
Calling Lazarus “the one you love” shows the depth of the friendship. Second, they are not casual acquaintances, and they are more than anonymous followers.
Mary and Martha appear in :
38 Now as they went on their way, Jesus entered a village. And a woman named Martha welcomed him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet and listened to his teaching. 40 But Martha was distracted with much serving. And she went up to him and said, “Lord, do you not care that my sister has left me to serve alone? Tell her then to help me.” 41 But the Lord answered her, “Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, 42 but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her.”
They were probably a wealthy family, since Lazarus was laid in a wealthy person’s tomb and Mary poured expensive perfume on Jesus.
Their home village, Bethany (not the same one as in 1:28), lay a couple miles east of Jerusalem on the road to Jericho.
Jesus was actually resting in the other Bethany (10:40) when he received the bad news about Lazarus.
Imagine the disciples listening to Jesus as he observed casually that the sickness would not end in death and then lingering around for a few more days before heading to Bethany.
Verse 4 speaks a familiar theme throughout the ministry of Jesus. Compare:
The glory of God was the major goal of Jesus’ life; all he accomplished was intended to reveal his Father’s glory (; ; , ).
28 Father, glorify your name.” Then a voice came from heaven: “I have glorified it, and I will glorify it again.”
13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
1 When Jesus had spoken these words, he lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, “Father, the hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you,
4 I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do.
Now the Lord revealed his power by reaching beyond this life and touching death and the afterlife—territory that belongs only to God.
11:1–3. As we have studied the Gospel of John, we have seen how John chose to record at least seven miracles that prove that Jesus was the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. Seven miracles that produce faith in readers. In the first six, we have seen his power over the physical aspects of life, including the human body, the natural elements, time and space, and even food and drink. But in each case Jesus also demonstrated that his purposes went beyond the physical to the spiritual. Now the Lord revealed his power by reaching beyond this life and touching death and the afterlife—territory that belongs only to God.
How was God been glorified through dark times in your own life?
Any crisis that brings glory to God is good. If God is glorified in illness, it is good, as difficult as this is for our human minds to grasp.
Here John used the common phileo, then switched to agapao in verse 5. Notice there was no request; among friends, requests are not always needed.
The Lord’s words, this sickness will not end in death, show us how much more deeply he was thinking than the disciples.
Certainly through the resurrection, but also in the death. The faith and hope that Lazarus’s death evoked in the sisters occupies a significant portion of this chapter.
Move to
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.”
We need to approach verse 39 by looking back to
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.”
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, in spite of all her discussion with Jesus in verses 21–27, still does not comprehend WHO HE IS what HE IS ABOUT TO DO. She still believed in only the single resurrection that was traditional to Jews
Can you relate to this?
Why didn’t Jesus simply command Lazarus on His own?
Martha, in spite of all her discussion with Jesus in verses 21–27, still does not comprehend what he is about to do. Therefore he repeats his earlier point: “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” (v. 40, repeating v. 4). Since he said that to the messengers rather than Mary, we can take the “glory of God” as a theological summary of what he has told her in 11:21–27. “Glory” in this Gospel is linked to the miracles as signs pointing to the power of God (see 9:3; 11:4). The death and resurrection of Jesus are seen as glory in 12:40–41; 17:5. To experience this glory, Martha and the others need the same faith shown by the disciples in 2:11. The glory will be there no matter what, but it will be perceived and appropriated only by those who see with the eye of faith.
The uplifted eyes are symbolic of Jesus’ total dependence on his heavenly Father.
JESUS MODELED A LIFE TOTALLY DEPENDENT ON GOD THE FATHER:
30 “I can do nothing on my own. As I hear, I judge, and my judgment is just, because I seek not my own will but the will of him who sent me.
57 As the living Father sent me, and I live because of the Father, so whoever feeds on me, he also will live because of me.
They roll away the stone, and Jesus stands at the opening, lifts his eyes to heaven (the basic Jewish posture for prayer was with uplifted arms and eyes), and prays (11:41). The uplifted eyes are symbolic of Jesus’ total dependence on his heavenly Father. We would do well to pray this way more often. Interestingly, this is the only mention of prayer before any of Jesus’ miracles, and he says in verse 42 that he does so “for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” Everything he did stemmed from his reliance on his Father (5:19, 30; 7:16, 28; 8:16, 29, 42), yet at the same time he himself had the power to perform miracles.
42 Jesus said to them, “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I came from God and I am here. I came not of my own accord, but he sent me.
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7 Now they know that everything that you have given me is from you.
A Jewish tradition
A Jewish tradition
We would do well to pray this way more often. Interestingly, this is the only mention of prayer before any of Jesus’ miracles, and he says in verse 42 that he does so “for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” Everything he did stemmed from his reliance on his Father (5:19, 30; 7:16, 28; 8:16, 29, 42), yet at the same time he himself had the power to perform miracles.
All of Jesus’ prayers apart from the cry of dereliction on the cross in begin with “Father” and show his submission to God. The decision to raise Lazarus had already been made within the Godhead, so he begins with thanks to his Father for hearing him. The Old Testament teaches that God hears the righteous (; ), and Jesus is perfectly righteous. The raising of Lazarus is proof positive of his special relationship with his Father, and he wants to draw his followers into that intimacy and allow them to share in his close ties to the Father. Here he states that a further purpose is to enhance their faith that God had indeed sent Jesus as his agent or envoy to complete the God-intended mission to the world (11:42). He is indeed the one sent from heaven by God.
At Jesus’ command, the most dramatic scene yet ensues. Lazarus emerges from the tomb with “his hands and feet [still] wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.” The Jews buried their dead by laying the corpse on a long, wide cloth with the feet at the bottom. They would then draw the cloth over the head and drape it over the front of the body, then tie it at the ankles, securing the arms to the body with linen strips. The face would be covered with a head cloth to hide the discoloration. It would be very difficult for Lazarus to walk with the grave clothes still around him, so Jesus immediately orders, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” To have been there and seen Lazarus step out of the dark cave still wrapped in the linens would be electrifying. Can you imagine the joy and the hysteria at that moment?
There is a further parallel with Jesus’ resurrection, when Jesus left the strips of linen and the head cloth lying in the tomb (). The difference is that Lazarus would have to die again, while Jesus conquered death with finality and forever.
5 And stooping to look in, he saw the linen cloths lying there, but he did not go in. 6 Then Simon Peter came, following him, and went into the tomb. He saw the linen cloths lying there, 7 and the face cloth, which had been on Jesus’ head, not lying with the linen cloths but folded up in a place by itself.
God did not cause Lazarus to die, nor did He cause the man’s blindness in 9:1–6; rather, He allowed for these things to happen by their own natural courses and then used the situations for good.
11:38 It was a cave. Caves were often used as tombs; large stones often closed the entrance to a tomb (see note on ).
11:38–40. The emotional intensity deepened as Jesus approached the tomb, deeply moved. The same word appears in verse 33. I have visited the Herod family tomb behind the modern King David Hotel in Jerusalem. This tomb is probably similar to the tombs of both Lazarus and Jesus. The tombstone was probably four or five feet in diameter and several inches thick. Since Martha had raised the protest, the response of verse 40 may be directed primarily at her, though it certainly established a general principle—one that we have repeatedly observed throughout this gospel: Believing is seeing.
We might also conclude that Jesus was speaking to the disciples, since to them he had said, “This sickness … is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it” (11:4). So to the sisters in their grief, the disciples in their bewilderment, and to all who seek faith for life at any age since this dramatic event, Jesus calls for faith first and sight later.
A Jewish tradition
A Jewish tradition
Believed the soul abandoned the body after three days; if this tradition circulated in the first century, no one expected even a miracle worker to be able to bring Lazarus back from death.
11:40 see the glory of God. A sign could reveal God’s glory ().
21 I thank you that you have answered me
and have become my salvation.
11:41 looked up. Jewish people sometimes looked skyward (toward heaven) when they prayed.
11:41 eyes above Jesus looks up not because God the Father is physically located above Him but because it was common to look to the heavens (the skies) when praying. He wishes for those who witness this event to realize that God the Father is the source of the miracle He is about to perform.
The prayer thus was not primarily for his benefit, but it was aimed at bringing the observers into the group of believers (11:42)” (Borchert, p. 362).
I give thanks Jesus does not begin His prayer by petitioning God to intervene; instead, He begins with thanks for what God has already done.
11:41–42. The power of Jesus is also seen in his prayer. These words must have been uttered audibly and publicly. The purpose of the prayer was to create faith in the hearts of those standing around the tomb of Lazarus wondering what would happen next. Here we get a glimpse into the relationship of the Trinity and particularly the Father-Son relationship within the Godhead that John dealt with so frequently in this Gospel.
All three of Jesus’ prayers recorded in John call upon the Father to support the mission on which he had sent the son (11:41–42; 12:27–28; 17:1–26). Borchert points out: “Unlike the other prayers, however, this prayer focuses on thanksgiving and is not unlike the formula prayer in (a psalm frequently cited by the NT writers). The prayer presupposes that Jesus knew the Father’s will concerning Lazarus, and what he was about to do would not be merely for the sake of Lazarus but for those who would witness the incredible act that was to follow. The prayer thus was not primarily for his benefit, but it was aimed at bringing the observers into the group of believers (11:42)” (Borchert, p. 362).
What exactly did Jesus mean when he said to the Father, I said this for the benefit of the people standing here? This public gesture of looking up and speaking aloud was unnecessary, since the Father always hears the Son and responds. But Jesus’ mission was to bring people to faith and John was mission-focused throughout this entire book. The unbelieving crowds of mourners heard Jesus’ rhetorical question of verse 40, watched him, and heard him pray openly to the Father. We learn later that “many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him” (11:45).
Boice emphasizes how Jesus involved people not only in watching and hearing but in the miracle itself:
Although it was Jesus alone who could bring the dead to life, he delighted to involve the bystanders in the miracle. First, they were told to move the stone. Then, after the miracle, they were told to unbind Lazarus. True, we cannot bring the dead to life. But we can bring the word of Christ to them. We can do preparatory work, and we can do work afterward. We can help to remove stones—stones of ignorance, error, prejudice and despair. After the miracle we can help the new Christian by unwinding the grave clothes of doubt, fear, introspection, and discouragement (Boice, p. 278).
11:42 Cf. .
36 And at the time of the offering of the oblation, Elijah the prophet came near and said, “O Lord, God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, let it be known this day that you are God in Israel, and that I am your servant, and that I have done all these things at your word.
11:43–44. Through this miracle we also see that Jesus is our power. How interesting that John should tell us Jesus called in a loud voice, for surely it was not necessary for that call to reach the ears of Lazarus. Perhaps he intended it for the crowd of mourners. No one present that day could possibly misunderstand what Jesus said or did.
This is one of the great dramatic scenes of the Bible, but we must be careful using the word “resurrection” to describe it. In one sense, Lazarus did experience resurrection because he came back from the dead. But New Testament “resurrection” refers to a return to life in a state of immortality so that one never dies again. That was the pattern of the resurrection of Jesus, of course, but not that of Lazarus who would die again. Yet the word “resuscitation” used by some commentators seems insufficient. Let us just recognize the limitations of resurrection performed in biblical times as over against that promised believers in a future day (; ).
The Greek verb rendered here called in a loud voice (ekraugasen) appears only nine times in the New Testament, eight of them in the Gospels. No Hollywood depiction of this event could possibly capture the drama of what actually happened that day as Lazarus stumbled and staggered into the sun while wearing his grave clothes. Borchert describes what he looked like: “A long, narrow sheet was folded in half, and the body was inserted between the folded halves. Then the wrap was bound together, and the body was secured. The head was wrapped separately, which explains the note both in the Lazarus situation (11:44) and the separate head wrapping in the case of Jesus’ grave clothes (20:6–7)” (Borchert, p. 362).
Finish with
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.”
45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him,
Parallel to Jesus
Parallel to Jesus
There is a further parallel with Jesus’ resurrection, when Jesus left the strips of linen and the head cloth lying in the tomb (). The difference is that Lazarus would have to die again, while Jesus conquered death with finality and forever.
11:44 Take off the grave clothes and let him go. John’s audience presumably knew that Lazarus would be tightly wrapped in linen cloths to keep his members straight and his mouth closed. If so, they would understand that it would take a miracle for Lazarus not only to be raised but even to emerge from the tomb. Sometimes face cloths were much larger than the head. Lazarus needs to be released by others from these wrappings—unlike Jesus at his resurrection.
11:45–48. Many unbelieving Jewish religious leaders believed as a result of this dramatic miracle, but others complained to the Pharisees, who called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. Such religious upheaval could destroy the carefully protected Pax Romana and bring Roman armies thundering into Jerusalem. We dare not forget that happened in A.D. 70. Since John wrote this Gospel about A.D. 90, we find a fascinating irony about the way he stated their concerns.
The public nature of the raising of Lazarus electrifies the Jewish people, and everyone takes sides. As before, the Jews are divided over Jesus (6:64; 7:12–13; 10:19–21). Those who believe in 11:45 are primarily the mourners who were present with Mary and Martha at the miracle. Theirs was undoubtedly the type of partial belief centered on the sign-miracle as in 2:23–25, but it was still the beginning stages of true faith.
Application
Application
Remember, Jesus won’t always answer when or how we expect, but that doesn’t mean our requests are unheard. Jesus will find a way to use even the most painful of situations to bring glory to God.
Do you see yourself in Martha and/or Lazarus?
Do you see yourself in Martha and/or Lazarus?
Or maybe you’re at a place like Martha where you feel confused by something Jesus said; perhaps you’re struggling with the Word of God.
Remember that though there are some lessons we may not fully understand, we may still trust in Jesus because we know who He is and we know who sent Him;
Or maybe you’re like Lazarus, and you feel as though the life has gone out of you or perhaps that life has passed you by.
Or maybe, like Martha, you have turned to Christ for help but fear that the answer will be messy in some way. Jesus knows your doubt but wants you to keep faith so that you, too, will see the glory of God.
Or maybe you’re like Lazarus, and you feel as though the life has gone out of you or perhaps that life has passed you by.
Maybe you’re feeling soul-less and wrapped up in things that won’t let you go. Jesus offers you new life. He will call you by your name and loose that which binds you.
Some of you know the reality of being raised to new life in Christ but this morning you are still shuffling along the road wearing grave clothes. Your old self, your old lifestyle, your old habits are still around your feet and you are unable to walk by faith and instead you shuffle – not very far though.
You have no business this morning waddling around in grave clothes if you have been raised to new life in Christ. Those old habits, those old attitudes, that old lifestyle, that old way of life, that old man only led to the grave.
Why would you still entrap yourself with those things when you have been freed from sin and death by the grace of God in Christ?
The point is this: Martha and Mary were learning to wait on God throughout the whole experience. That tells us that when we ever find ourselves facing severe illness or death, there is no answer except to wait on God. Jesus knows when to act. He knows the exact moment, the best time:
• For us to bear the trial.
• For us to stand and be helped, to learn the most.
The delay is for the glory of God and for their greater good – that they may believe. It is exactly the same in our lives. So remember that when you are attempted to give up in prayer or to start to believe that God is uncaring, indifferent and will not answer. His delays are the means of bringing glory to the Father and to bringing faith into the hearts of men.
Some of you know the reality of being raised to new life in Christ but this morning you are still shuffling along the road wearing grave clothes. Your old self, your old lifestyle, your old habits are still around your feet and you are unable to walk by faith and instead you shuffle – not very far though. You have no business this morning waddling around in grave clothes if you have been raised to new life in Christ. Those old habits, those old attitudes, that old lifestyle, that old way of life, that old man only led to the grave. Why would you still entrap yourself with those things when you have been freed from sin and death by the grace of God in Christ?