2021 10/03- Sunday Morning Service

244. But some of them said, could this man who opened the eyes of the man who was blind, not have also kept this man from dying. So Jesus, again, being deeply moved within came to the tomb. Now. It was a cave and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, remove the stone Martha, the sister of the deceased said to him Lord, by this time. There will be a stench for his been dead for four days. Jesus said to her do I not say to you that if you believe you will see the glory of God, so they remove the stone and Jesus raised his eyes and said father. I thank you that you have heard me. But I knew that you always hear me nevertheless because of the people standing around. I set it so that they may believe that you sent me. And when he said these things, he cried out with a loud voice Lazarus, come out out. Came the man who had died bound hand and foot with wrappings, and a space was wrapped around with a cloth and Jesus said to them on, buying him and let him go. Throughout the Book of John, we repeatedly discover that the intention of everything that he recordes is to demonstrate the deity of Jesus. And pointing to his works are proof, chapter 5 verse 36. Jesus says, with the testimony, I have is greater than the testimony of John for The Works, which the father has given me to accomplish the very works that I do testify about me that the father has sent me. The very works that he did had no other explanation that he was divine and had indeed come from Heaven, as he claimed in chapter 10 verse 25. Jesus answered them. I told you and you do not believe the works that I do in my father's name. These testify of me. Verses 37 and 38. If I do not do the works of my father, do not believe me. But if I do them, even though you do not believe me believe the works so that you may know and understand that the father is in me, and I am the father. John the Baptist disciples had some questions about whether Jesus actually was the Messiah because things weren't going the way they expected them to John was in prison and Jesus wasn't setting up the kingdom. And so they came to Jesus in Luke 7:20 and 2322. Are you the coming one or are we to look for another at that very time? He cured, many people have diseases, and afflictions and evil spirits. And he gave sight to many who were blind and he answered and said to them, go and report to John what you have seen. And heard people who were blind receive sight, people who limped walk, people who with Leprosy are cleansed and people who are deaf, hear dead. People are raised up and people who are poor, have the gospel preached to them. In the Gospel of John, there are seven major Miracles that John lays out out of the three years of thousands of miracles. In fact at the end of the Gospel of John were told the books of the world, couldn't contain everything that Jesus did. But John picked 7 that are unmistakable eyewitness accounts of the deity of Christ as demonstrated in his miracles. None is more powerful and more memorable than this raising of Lazarus. What you see here is divine creative Supernatural power. That belongs only to God. God is the creator. In Genesis 1, Jesus creates and John, he is the one who made everything that has been made. John says about him in him was life. Jesus says, I am the life. That is on display here in a way. That is beyond any other Miracles, that John knows. But all of the miracles of Jesus and all the ones that John Chronicles are for the purpose, that you might believe that he is the Son of God and that believing you might have eternal life in his name. Now, if you look at verse 25, you have the Declaration from Jesus. I am the resurrection and the life, not that I give Resurrection, or do Resurrection. I am the resurrection. I am the life, the one who believes in me, will live even if he dies and everyone who lives and Believes In Me will never die. Do you believe this? She said to him? Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that. You are the Christ, the son of God and he who comes into the world. What led her to believe that the words of Jesus supported by the works of Jesus. He claimed to be the Messiah, the Christ. He claimed to be the Son of God in human form. He claimed to be the one who came down from heaven and supported it with powerful. Miraculous Works impossible for humans to do. In fact, the works that Jesus did were unique to him and he empowered his disciples for a short. Of time to do the same Works. Giving testimony to the fact that they were the true Apostles of the Savior himself. In the issue of John 11, the raising of Lazarus. Divine power is on display the kind of divine power that stops. The progress of Decay. Reverse is rigor mortis pours new life into rotting organs starts, a bloodless decomposing, heart beating and pumping fresh new blood to every organ. And every limb the kind of power that creates a brand new body that creates blood out of nothing and makes it flow Fast and Fresh. The takes sightless, decomposed eyes and gives new tissue and new nerve and New Vision. The kind of power that takes a non-functioning, decomposed mass of brain tissue and recreates it. So it can think and feel and move and speak. Lazarus has been dead for four days. And it's noted by this time that there is a stench coming from the decomposed flesh. Jesus steps into that situation and raises that man from the dead only. God has the power to give life. It is ludicrous to. Imagine that people have that power. Why does he raise this man from the dead? Why does he do that to strengthen the faith of his disciples in him? And they were always struggling with their weakness to produce space? In unbelievers who could have no other explanation and would come to the conclusion. Hopefully, that Martha came to the based upon what he did. You have to believe. He's the son of God, the one who came down from heaven. He also did the raising of Lazarus to give a preview of his own Resurrection. He also did the resurrection of Lazarus to demonstrate demonstrate a promise. He made in John 5 that he had the power of life and one day would race all the dead in all the graves of the globe, all the people who ever lived will be raised some under the resurrection of Life. Some under the Red Hood wreck, resurrection of damnation. He is displaying divine power for all those reasons. Now, we've noticed the John takes a great amount of detail to tell the story. We've already seen. The preparation of the miracle in the opening 16 versus which, of course, was a Story of Lazarus and his sister's living in the town of Bethany two miles, east of Jerusalem. They must have been a prominent family there because so many people showed up for the prolonged funeral and then from versus 17 on down to about 36, where we ended last time. We finally saw the arrival of Jesus. Now, I remember when Mary and Martha sent Messengers, the one whom you love the one, who's your friend. You have such great affection for is sick unto death of Jesus delayed long enough for him to be dead and buried. By the time he took a Day's Journey back to be in the grave. You there for 4 days and he did it. He tells us why he did it. In verse for the sickness is not meant for death, but it is for the glory of God. So that the Son of God may be glorified by it. He wants Lazarus, good and dead. And everybody didn't know he's good in bed so that when he raised him from the dead, it'll bring glory to himself as well as to the father. So we finally come to verse 37, and here, in this brief account. We see the resurrection itself. There are no pathological descriptions. There's no attempt to describe any of the phenomenon going on in Lazarus party or inside the Tomb. In fact, everything about this is very kind of human thing, except for one element. There's a lot of people there. Jesus asks them to roll the stone away with Lazarus comes out of the Grave. He asks, them to unwrap him. And is you go through this story? It has to strike you that, the Lord is always done that, he's always use people to do what people can do. They can't raise him from the dead, but they can unwrap him. They can steal him out of the clutches of death, but they can roll the stone away. And that's how the kingdom of God works in the world. God does, what only God can do, what you. And I can do, he always and lists us to be involved in and that's how we work in the kingdom. And we see that here. There's something very natural about it. But only God can do what God can do. You can see this kind of an analogy and salvation. Somebody can roll the stone away and let the light of the truth in. Somebody else can unwrap. The person who's newly given life. But only Christ can give life. He does the same thing in Salvation, but you see him doing here maybe that analogy helps and Rich it a little bit. So we come to vs 37 through 44 and again, like so many of these staggering Miracles. It's understated. There isn't any Fanfare here. No Angels show up. No, blowing trumpets. There's no Orchestra. It's not drawn out. Basically. Jesus says three words Lazarus. Come out. And if it's a command that's it and that statement, those three words, literally unleashes, the same power that created the universe. Now, the whole Miracle again, is to confirm the statement of Jesus in verse 25. I am the resurrection and the life again to confirm what he said in chapter 5, 26 through 29 for just as the father has life in himself. So he gave to the son also to have life in himself and he gave him a 40 to execute judgment because he is the son of God. Do not be amazed at this for a time is coming. When all who are in the tombs, will hear his voice and will come out those who did the Good Deeds to a resurrection of Life. Those who committed the bad Deeds to Resurrection of judgment. Jesus makes statements spiritual reality and then illustrates them in a physical way to prove it. On another occasion in the Gospel of John. He said, I am the bread of life and then he created a meal to prove it on another occasion. He said, I am the light of the world, any healed blind eyes to prove it. Here. He is the resurrection and the life and he proves it by putting his resurrection power on display. So, let's look at this miracle. It's pretty straightforward. And as we pick up the story and we will remember that when Jesus arrived, he found it last race at already been in the Tomb, for 4 days and Mary and Martha were there. And they were broken. Hearted. They love their brother and it was a terrible loss Martha. When she hears. Jesus is coming, runs out to meet him. And marry, who was The Melancholy one stays home and all these people are surrounding her and consoling. Her and Jesus has a little conversation with Mark in which he declares to be the resurrection and the life and then he asks for Mary. So Martha goes back to the house and verses 28 and 29. When she had said this she left and called. Marry her sister saying secretly. The teacher is here, and is calling for you. And when she heard this, she got up quickly, came to him. She didn't come alone. All the people who were with her and her house consoling, her got up thinking she was going to the tomb. So she could weep there and when she arrived, of course, she runs into Jesus, they haven't quite come to the tomb yet. Jesus sees her weeping sees the Jews who were with her weeping. He sees all this weeping and he is deeply moved in the spirit. And troubled, he has lost his friend, but he sees far more than that. He sees sin and death. He sees the reality that everybody's going to die. Every family is going to have a loss. Every relationship is going to be broken up. This is what sin has done, not just to this family and not just To this city, not just to this time, but throughout all of human history. He sees the impact of sin and it's really overwhelming. He feels the power of sin on display in this devastated family and the extent of the realities of death. And he knows that surrounded by unbelieving. People all are going to die, all are going to suffer the loss of people that care about and they loved and most of them are going to be catapulted into eternal hell, This is a massive burden for him to bear, and that is why the language is so graphic. As we pointed out last time, he's deeply moved and he is seriously troubled so much so that he burst forth into tears that he can't restrain. This is not just limited to the loss of a friend. We understand that now that gets us to verse 37 and let's look at the puzzle. So if this is the case, if he is so shattered and so devastated, and so broken, that he's in the condition that he's in, and it is a serious condition. Couldn't he see who opened the eyes of the blind men have? Kept this man from dying. I guess the word is circulated by now. Certainly. These are people who have been there for 4 days. They sent a messenger to Jesus at the very time, Lazarus was sick and he didn't come. So, a day for the messenger two days, waiting a day back. That's four days if he really loved as much as it looks like he loved. And if he has the power that he displayed in chapter 9, the healing of the man who's in his forties, who had been blind and sitting at the gate, everybody knew him and he gave him site. He was a stranger to Jesus. If he could give sight to a stranger that he didn't know, and he had the power to do. Couldn't he have healed? Whatever this illness was and if you loved him that much then why didn't he do that? Why didn't he come? There's a puzzle here and it's an understandable puzzle. Given what they've seen? Of course, from Jesus Viewpoint. He operates within the father's purpose, doesn't he? He knows exactly what's going on. The timing is absolutely perfect as he fusions one says, you know, God essentially does all things after the counsel of his own will and a job. We read, he doesn't have to tell us the duration in John, 13:7 on another occasion with the disciples. Jesus said what I am doing, you do not realize right now, but you will understand later they lived in that but you will World. They couldn't figure out almost all of what Jesus was doing at least in his unwillingness to take over and set up the kingdom, but the time would come when they would understand when he instructed them after his resurrection. So it's a matter of divine timing. He knows that he already knows that. This is the glory of God. He's going to be glorified. So he knows a resurrection is going to happen. The father's disclosed this to him. He knows that is the plan they don't and they are not and they are naturally puzzled. Then this leads to I guess what you'd call a problem, verse 38. So Jesus again, being deeply moved within came to the tomb. That was a cave and a stone was lying against it. This is an insight into the True Heart Of God toward unbelief and judgment verse 39. Jesus said, remove the stone and Martha, the sister of the deceased said to him. Lord, by this time. There will be a stench for he has been dead for days. Here comes the problem. Now, the stone serve, the purpose, it kept out animals, and people who might plunder whatever might be in there, but it also kept in the stink decomposition. As I pointed out last time happened. Very rapidly. And within four days, it would have been serious. This is a problem. She's not eager to have that stone rolled away. He told her back and verse 23, your brother will rise from the dead. And she said to him and verse 24. I know that he will rise in the Resurrection on the last day or knowledge of Prophecy. Was correct. There is a future Resurrection. I know that he says I'm not talking about that. Your brother will rise. Again, now is what I'm talking about verse 40. Jesus said to her, did I not say to you that if you believe you will see the glory of God. This isn't something future. You're going to see it. If you'll just believe you said you were a Believer. You said, you believed in me. This is a Leep, wouldn't you say? You might say, I know you're the resurrection and the life. I know you're the Son of God, the Messiah. You're the one who came down from heaven, but it's a big jump from that to see in this court, walk out of the Grave. We can understand that we would like to think that if we were there, we might have risen to Great, Heights of faith and never had a question about it. But her problem is, she's got her thoughts on the corpse rather than the Christ. But Jesus says, have you forgotten what I promised you so you see the puzzle in verse 37, the problem. He's so far gone, the promise verse 40 I said you did. I not that? If you believe you'll see the glory of God. I told you that. What does it mean? You'll see the glory of God. How did you see the glory of God in the garden? How did you see the glory of God? In the wilderness of Israel in a pillar of fire and Cloud God manifested, his glory, God's glory came down to the Tabernacle and entered into the holy of holies. God's glory was manifested in a number of ways throughout the history of the Old Testament. And then in the New Testament, the glory of God came in a body, the person of Jesus Christ and on the Mount of transfiguration, he was transfigured and they saw the glory of God, shining through the person of the Lord Jesus Christ. The reality of his Excellence reduced polite. Well God is going to put his glory on display here. Only. This is going to be a miracle power. You're going to see his glory as life itself, the visible display of his invisible Powers, the fullness of his attributes are going to put on the put on display Moses as in Exodus 33 18 Show Me Your Glory, what did God show? Him? Show them blazing light. They all behind a rock here. He's going to show his glory not in life. Not in the light. But in life, I'll show you the glory. You say you believe, if you believe you're going to see the glory, get your eyes off the courts and on Christ, set your heart on the Lord. Wait to see the glory revealed. We need to live in that kind of expectancy. We're not looking for miracles, but I will tell you this, when you really believe in the Lord, Jesus Christ, you see him display his glory throughout all of your life.

I live in the middle. Of a glory display all the time.

The astounding Providence of God by which he orders every circumstance, everyday of my life to reveal his purpose in his will. The complexity complexity of it is more staggering that if he interpreted national law and did a single Miracle. How many miracles does it take to create a complex reality out of all kinds of contingencies of the non miraculous. It's what he does every day.

My whole life is a glory display.

I just go from one day to the next. And if you're looking and believing, you will see the same thing. You will see God in your life. You will see God in circumstances. You will see God, working his purposes. That's what he's called upon here to look for. Okay, puzzle. Then a problem, then a promise and then there's a prayer verses 41 and 42. So they remove the stone in. Jesus raised his eyes and said, father. I thank you that you have heard me but I knew that you always hear me nevertheless because of the people standing around. I set it so that they may believe that you sent me. I thank you that you have heard me. You didn't have to say that to the Father. The father knew his relationship with the son. He not asking the father to do anyting. There's no petition hear. Some people miss that and they say, well, he asked the father to give him the power to know, he didn't, he didn't ask for anything. I thank you that you have heard me about what letting my glory be put on display. I knew that you always hear me. Justin, Romans 8 as the holy spirit always prays according to the will of God. So the sun always prays according to the will of God. He knows what the father will do. He knows it's for his glory, not because of you. I'm not saying this for your sake. I'm saying this, for the people around that, they may believe that you sent me again. The whole point, that's always in the Gospel of John, is that we understand by these works. That Christ has come as God incarnate and it's loud. He speaks loudly so that everyone can hear he identifies God as he always does as his father. The only time he didn't do that and talking to God was on the cross. When he was alien, aided and sin bearing and said my God, my God. Why have you forsaken me?

Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me. But for the people sake standing around, I said that we are in agreement on this Display of Power and Glory, that they may believe that you sent me. The people all know only, God can create there are no evolutionists in the first century is real. There's no atheists. They all believe in God. They believe in the true God, they believe in the Creator. God. They know that he made everything, the fact that Jesus can give life is clear evidence that he is. In fact, God, so he's praying in a sense publicly for the benefit of the people, not for the benefit of God, who is already in perfect agreement about what is going to happen. If you hadn't said these words, so everybody could hear the crowd would not have been able to give God and Christ the appropriate. Glory for this event. They weren't going to be able to attribute this to any other power. That leads us to the power at the final two verses 43 and 44. And when he had said these things he cried out with a loud voice Lazarus come out out. Came the man who died bound hand and foot with wrappings and a space was wrapped around with a cloth and Jesus said to them, unbind him, and let him go. There's no possibility of catching this miracle to anything other than his words, right? No possibility of Pat's. Attaching this miracle to anything other than his will and the father's will. Nobody can create, they are creating in unison. This Resurrection comes as an immediate response to his words. He says one name, two words, Lazarus and come out in the miracle happens. Now. Listen, he had so much power. He could. He will raise all the dead of all the ages. Sophia just said, come forth. That might have been the final Resurrection.

She had to put a limit on it. It was Lazarus. The rest of you stay where you are Lazarus, you come out. Can you imagine the pounding Hearts trying to look in the darkness of the Tomb? Verse 44 out, came the man who had died, talk about an understatement, man. They just left. Just need some Fanfare. Something out came, the man who died that's so simple and straightforward. But this is God. And for him resurrections, easy, man, came out, wasn't easy for him to come out when he was hit with life and created the power that creation surged in his body because it tells us, he was bound hand and foot with. Wrappings that how do you come out if you're bound hand and foot with wrappings and your face is wrapped with a cloth, wearing a mask.

What do you do? How do you get out of there? He had the power to be where he needed to be. He came out the grave and given up its prey. We can say what the Apostle, Paul o, grave. Where is your Victory grave? Where is your sting Christ? It is the Conqueror of sin and death and Satan Revelation. 118 says, he has the keys to death and Hades and he unlocked it for this man, and he will one day unlock it for every man, and every woman, So he is wrapped and Gary comes out and they're standing there. Stunned out of their minds as this package stands in the door.

And he says I'm tired. I'm Letting Go. There's no explanation of anything here. Didn't need to be, it would have been kind of interesting volunteer for that assignment. Just starting to see what's under there. And again, used to people to do what people can do after. He's done doing what only he can do. You remember? He created food, but the disciples passed it out here. He creates life, but the people do what they can do. He alone can save Sinners, but we can roll away the stone to let the truth in. We can unwrap the new believer. No higher privilege. This Side of Heaven, than to be used to roll away, gravestones and unwrapped, grave clothes when he gives Resurrection life, incredible privilege for us. So there he stands. Verse 45 says there. For many of the Jews who came to marry and saw what he had done believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things with Jesus have done wonderful.

How could you, why not? They believed that's the whole point of this, with some of them went to the Pharisees and reported a resurrection. Amazing. What's found prayer?

Father God. We're in all of the realities that one day. We will inherit eternal life in a resurrected physical bodily form. You have showed us what you will do for each of us. Who love you and know you. You will give us new life and all of this is because you died. We're so thankful that you have loved us like you loved Mary Martha and Lazarus and you have made us your family and you have given us life and one day of full resurrection and all of this is only possible because our sins have been paid for in full by your death. That is why we remember the cross it is there that forgiveness was made. Use us for your glory and we pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. Thank you, and you are dismissed.