Jesus' Ultimate "I Am" Statement

Introduction

Jesus is going to state his 5th of 7 “I am” statements

1. “I am the bread of life”

2. “I am the light of the world”

3. “I am the door”

4. “I am the good shepherd”

and now the 5th…

Lazarus Dies at Bethany

John 11:1–6 CSB

1 Now a man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick. 3 So the sisters sent a message to him: “Lord, the one you love is sick.” 4 When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was.

How did Jesus feel about Martha, Mary, and Lazarus?

What did Jesus do when he heard the news about Lazarus?

What did you think when you read his response?

Was it okay, confusing, unexpected?

What would you have expected Jesus to do?

How do you suppose Martha and Mary felt when Jesus didn’t come to them immediately?

Why do you think Jesus responded in this way?

Have you ever asked God for something that he didn’t answer right away, or didn’t answer in the way you wanted?

What thoughts came to your mind when your prayer wasn’t answered? When your problem wasn’t solved?

How did God prove himself faithful and loving in your story?

Trials and suffering can make us feel as though God is cruel, distant, and unloving. But Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, and maybe because of that love He allowed them to live this painful story.

He weaves a better plot than we can imagine. His ways are higher and better than our own. We can trust in Him.

Do you believe that Jesus is working for your greatest good, even in trials?

John 11:7–11 CSB

7 Then after that, he said to the disciples, “Let’s go to Judea again.” 8 “Rabbi,” the disciples told him, “just now the Jews tried to stone you, and you’re going there again?” 9 “Aren’t there twelve hours in a day?” Jesus answered. “If anyone walks during the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks during the night, he does stumble, because the light is not in him.” 11 He said this, and then he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I’m on my way to wake him up.”

What did Jesus mean in verse 9 and 10?

I think he was referring to that fact that his time had not yet come to be crucified, He was still doing work.

What did Jesus mean in verse 11?

John 11:12–16 CSB

12 Then the disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.” 13 Jesus, however, was speaking about his death, but they thought he was speaking about natural sleep. 14 So Jesus then told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. 15 I’m glad for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe. But let’s go to him.” 16 Then Thomas (called “Twin”) said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go too so that we may die with him.”

Did the disciples understand what Jesus said previously about Lazarus?

What did Jesus mean in verse 15?

Thomas was literally called the Doubter. He was the disciple that wouldn’t believe Jesus resurrected until he saw him and touched the holes in his wrists.

Thomas, in verse 16, trusted in Jesus and was loyal to him, but still didn’t truly understand that he was the Son of God.

John 11:17–22 CSB

17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem (less than two miles away). 19 Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. 20 As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. 22 Yet even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

Why do you think Mary remained seated in the house?

What does Martha say to Jesus when he arrives?

Have you ever said something like that to God in grief or confusion, in the midst of suffering or a trial?

Did Martha or Mary show faith in Jesus? If so, how?

even in the middle of grief and tragedy, Martha knows who Jesus is?

What was Martha low-key asking Jesus to do for her?

John 11:23–27 CSB

23 “Your brother will rise again,” Jesus told her. 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. 26 Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who comes into the world.”