The Resurrection of Lazarus

For the past several weeks we’ve been looking at the subject of resurrection in our Bible.

We’ve discussed Job:

He was a godly man who suffered.

He faced the reality of his own death.

He believed that he would be resurrected after he died and that in a body of flesh he would see God.

We discussed the widow of Zarephath:

She believed that her and her only son would die.

She was spared from the effects of famine and drought when God sent Elijah to live with her.

Her son unexpectedly died after being spared from the famine and the drought.

God resurrected her son and she heard those wonderful words “See, thy son liveth!”

This morning we consider a story that many of you have probably heard. The story of the resurrection of Lazarus. This story is divided into three different scenes. That’s how we will outline it:

The city of Bethabara (1-16)

The outskirts of Bethany (17-37)

The site of the burial (38-44).

I. The city of Bethabara (1-16).

A. The family (1-5).

According to 10:40 Jesus had traveled to the place where John had been baptizing. The religious leaders were trying to kill Him and this is the place He decided to take refuge. 1:28 identifies that city as Bethabara and it’s also known as Bethany beyond Jordan.

Word came to Jesus that one of His close friends was sick.

Mary, Martha and Lazarus were siblings who lived in Bethany.

Mary is the one who anointed Jesus’ feet and washed them with her hair. John isn’t even going to share that story until chapter 12. But what she had done for the Lord was so well known he assumed his readers would already know about it. John didn’t write this gospel until around 90 AD.

Martha owns a house that Jesus is welcomed into. She is a hardworking servant who is busy serving the Lord.

Lazarus is probably the breadwinner for the family. None of the family is ever mentioned as having parents or a spouse.

This family was close to Jesus. Jesus was comfortable in their home.

Look at all the times love is mentioned concerning them:

He whom Thou lovest is sick (3)

Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister and Lazarus (5).

Behold how He loved him (36)

Now look at verse 11 “Our friend Lazarus”

If you notice they didn’t even ask Jesus to come. They just sent word to Him Lazarus was sick. They assumed He would come when He found out.

The words Jesus sends back with the messengers are:

“This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified.”

Jesus didn’t say Lazarus wouldn’t die. “unto death” means this will not end in death. His illness led through death, but not to death.

What a glorious thing it is to have a family who loves Jesus and is loved by Jesus!

If a man gets sick he wants to have sister like this.

Sisters who love Jesus!

Sisters who serve Jesus!

Sisters who appeal to Jesus when you find yourself sick!

Thank God for a family like this!

B. The fear (6-13).

Jesus waited two days before leaving. Before we get too upset, we need to understand that Lazarus was likely already dead when the messengers arrived. When Jesus got to the grave, he had already been dead four days:

The day the messengers arrived was one day.

He waited two days before leaving.

Bethany was a day’s journey away.

That’s four days.

His disciples were probably thinking they weren’t going to go. Bethany was in Judea and that’s where the religious elite lived. They were looking to kill Jesus and traveling to Bethany would be a very dangerous thing.

When Jesus told them they were going to Bethany the disciples protested. Jesus used a proverb to let them know He only had a certain amount of time to work and now was the time. Jesus was perfectly safe because He was walking in the light of God’s will. They had no reason to fear.

Jesus said, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep and we’re going to wake Him up.”

In Scripture sleep is a euphemism for death. Jesus assumed the disciples knew that.

The disciples said, “If he’s asleep, he’ll wake up, no need for us to go.”

Clearly, they don’t want to go to Bethany.

C. The frankness of Jesus (14-16).

Jesus had to be clear with them. He says:

Lazarus is dead. That’s as clear as you can get.

What He says next may be surprising. He says:

“I am glad for your sakes that I was not there to the intent ye may believe.”

Couple of things from this:

First, no one ever died in Jesus’ presence when He walked the earth. It’s implied if Jesus had been there Lazarus would not have died. Jesus would have healed them. It’s amazing when you consider all the sick people Jesus was around that not a single person ever died in his presence.

Even on the cross, He died before the other two men did.

Second, Jesus was using the death of Lazarus to strengthen the faith of His disciples.

It’s clear that they needed their faith strengthened. Look at what Thomas says in verse 16. He says “Let’s go, at least we’ll all die together.”

II. The outskirts of Bethany (17-37).

A. People cannot give the comfort Jesus can.

Jesus doesn’t go into the city. Probably because it would be more dangerous if He did. Mary and Martha already had a house filled with people. Many Jews from Jerusalem had come to their house.

Look at verse 19. “many”.

Look at verse 31 The Jews which were with her in the house comforted her.

Look at verse 33. There are Jews there weeping with them.

They have plenty of people around them, but they don’t have the comfort they need.

Jews bury their dead within 24 hours of death. Orthodox Jews still observe that today. They don’t embalm the body.

After the funeral they observe shiva. Shiva is a weeklong mourning period. During this week family and close friends come by the house of the family to show their love and support. Mary and Martha’s house had been full of people. But there was one Person missing.

They want Jesus there.

I can imagine them looking out the window, staring down the road waiting for Jesus to arrive. It had been four days; He should have been there by now.

As soon as Martha heard Jesus was nearby, she went to meet Him. Afterwards she came and secretly told Mary that Jesus wanted to see her too (28).

They needed the presence of Jesus. We do as well. All we can do for our dead loved ones is weep. We feel powerless at death. Weeping doesn’t help. We need someone who can do more for our loved ones than weep. We need someone who can resurrect them!

We’re thankful for the cards when someone dies!

We’re thankful for the flowers when someone dies!

We’re thankful for the casserole when someone dies!

But we need more than that! We need Jesus! We need the One who can resurrect our loved one! People cannot give the comfort Jesus can!

B. When someone dies, we often look for someone to blame.

Mary and Martha blamed Jesus. They both said the same thing (21, 32). The fact that they both said the same thing implies they had probably been saying this to one another.

They wanted Jesus to come, and He had not come as quickly as they thought He should. I don’t think they were angry. I think they were hurt.

They’d been through a lot:

Nursing their sick brother

Coming to the conclusion he would probably die

Frantically trying to get word to Jesus

Watching their brother die

Planning a funeral

Attending a funeral

That little word “if” is important. She thought “If” Jesus had been here Lazarus wouldn’t have died. We have thought the same way:

If he had gone to the doctor earlier

If she had listened to the doctor’s orders

If the doctor would have ran this test

If we had decided to go to a different hospital

If I had prayed more

Listen friend, don’t play the “if” game. Nobody wins.

God was using the death of Lazarus:

To glorify Jesus (4)

To grow the faith of the disciples (15)

There is purpose in everything for the believer. You may not see it, but it is there.

C. Sometimes it’s hard to put our theology into practice.

Look at some of the things Martha says:

I know that whatever you ask God, He will give it to you (22) (including resurrection of Lazarus).

Jesus says her brother will rise again.

She says she knows He will rise again at the end of time. She believed in the resurrection believers at the end of the age. Isn’t it interesting that she believed the Lord would resurrect people who had been dead for thousands of years, but she was having trouble believing her brother would be raised who had only been dead four days?

Jesus tells her He is the resurrection and the life.

She says she believes He is the Christ (28).

She believes Jesus is the Messiah.

She believes Jesus can do whatever He wants.

She believes in a resurrection of the body.

She has all the facts down, the problem is her faith.

Here’s the truth, listen to me.

It’s harder to believe when it’s our loved one because of the depth of grief. In sorrow we often wrestle with doubt.

In verse 32 Mary is wrestling with her sorrow but she’s still at the feet of Jesus.

I’m not a big fan of swimming in the ocean. Several times I have found myself overcome with waves. They swallow me up, knock me down, and roll me around. The good news is they have always thrown me back on the shore.

When sorrows come like waves, when you are tossed around by grief and doubt, make sure those waves toss you back on the shore of God’s love and at the feet of Jesus.

Trust what you know of God.

D. Jesus love for us will not prevent us from suffering.

Over and over in these passages we’re reminded that Jesus loved this family (3, 5, 36).

But we see this love clearly in verse 35. Jesus saw Mary and Martha and others weeping over the death of Lazarus.

He groaned in His spirit. The Greek word literally means to snort as a horse does when it’s angry.

He was troubled. This means agitated.

Jesus saw the effects of sin and death on humanity, and it angered Him, it troubled Him.

As they walked toward the grave Jesus began to weep. I want you to notice the depth of Jesus love here. Jesus knew that in a matter of moments Lazarus would no longer be dead.

If you and I knew that Lazarus was about to be raised it would probably be difficult for us to weep. In fact, we might have to resist smiling. This only proves we don’t love with the depth Jesus does.

Only two times in the Bible Jesus wept. Here and when He wept over the spiritual state of Jerusalem.

He wept over sinners who were going to hell.

He wept over a saint who had gone to heaven.

The rod on His back couldn’t draw tears from His eyes but the love in His heart could. I want you to understand what I’m about to say because it’s important.

Are you ready?

If Jesus were at your brother’s funeral, He would have wept too.

Jesus will allow us to suffer, and He will weep with us as we do.

The Bible says to mourn with those who mourn, and Jesus does just that.

The circumstances in your life do not determine if God loves you or not. God has already proven He loves you through the cross.

God can keep us from dying but He normally doesn’t. He’s only done that two times in history: Enoch and Elijah.

The cross proves that Jesus loves you. How will you prove you love Jesus? Trials prove our love for Him. How do we know we have faith if it has not been tested?

Suffering in a godly way proves that we love the Lord.

III. The site of the burial (38-44).

A. The critics (37).

Back in chapter 9 Jesus healed a man born blind. These people knew that. They wondered why Jesus didn’t heal Lazarus. Maybe they were implying Jesus didn’t love Lazarus as much as some thought He did.

There will always be people like this.

If God is all powerful why doesn’t He:

Heal all the handicapped people

Protect all the weak people

Feed all the hungry people

Give money to all the poor people

Could Jesus have healed Lazarus? Yes. But it wasn’t His will.

There will be a day when there are no more hungry people, poor people, sick people, abused people, etc. But that day isn’t now.

In this world we will have tribulation. God isn’t going to keep us from struggling. In our struggles we develop character and reveal our faith.

B. The resistance (38-40).

Jesus is still grieving when He arrives at the grave. The type of tomb is described.

It was a cave with a stone rolled in front of it. It would take several men to move the stone. Jesus told them to move the stone.

Martha objected. She said it’s too late. He’s been dead four days. By now he stinks.

Her point was that decomposition had already begun to take place. She was probably right. The Jews didn’t embalm. She thought this was disrespectful to her brother.

But this was the plan all along. No one could deny this was a resurrection. No one could say Lazarus wasn’t dead. For four days he had been wrapped up in grave clothes and lying in a hot, dark cave.

Jesus rebuked Martha. He asked, “Didn’t I tell you if you believe you will see the glory of God?”

I don’t know about you but there are times the Lord needs to rebuke me. There are times doubt creeps in. There are times the world creeps in. I have to be reminded that it doesn’t matter how I feel or what I think. What matters is what God has said.

C. The miracle (41-44).

Despite Martha’s objection Jesus was obeyed. The stone was rolled away.

Jesus proud with a loud voice so that the people would hear Him. He wanted everyone to know that the power of God was about raise Lazarus from the dead.

The tomb is open. Lazarus is still dead.

His body is lying in that tomb.

There is no blood flow.

There is no heartbeat.

There is no brain activity.

He stinks.

Jesus says, “Lazarus come forth”.

An old preacher said if He had not said “Lazarus” the entire graveyard would have come forth.

I’m sure there was a silence. I’m sure it took a moment. But in a moment, there appeared Lazarus at the door of the tomb. He was wrapped in graveclothes from his head to his feet. I’m sure he was confused. He may have even been scared. Jesus said unwrap him and let him go.

What a miracle!

What a blessing to that family!

John gives us seven signs in his gospel. The first sign is at a wedding and the last is at a funeral. Jesus is with us in the good times and the bad. He is there to laugh with us and to cry with us.

How does this story relate to you?

The Bible says in John 5:28-29

Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.

I’m looking forward to hearing those words:

Kyle, come forth!

Jesus risked His life to go and resurrect Lazarus and give him a few more years on this earth.

Jesus gave His life to resurrect us for eternity. His death for us on the cross and His resurrection from the dead give all who trust in Him assurance of a resurrection unto life. Do you have that hope?

Repent of your sins.

Trust in Christ.

Call on His name.