John #9

Northside Church

The Gospel of John

Nov. 7th , 2021

John #9

Jamey Mills

ILL: You guys have all been a part of those stories or jokes… that once they get going the person realizes… that it’s either not funny, not relatable, or so nearly impossible to believe… it ends with the phrase… you had to be there…

I’m curious how many times we will explain the last few years to our great grand kids and end it with… I know it sounds unbelievable, you had to be there.

When I was 16 a few friends and I were out shooting rabbits with .22’s… we did that often… and the weather in CO can go from sunny to run for your life pretty quick… when we left, not a cloud in the sky but after about an hour of walking through the brush… Huge, dark clouds rolled in and without any warning… a tree not all that far from us was hit with lightning… not sure if you have ever been close to anything that… it is crazy loud…. It split this juniper tree from the top all the way to the bottom… we had no idea what to do, so we took off running… and I was so scared, I kid you not I hurdle a barbed wire fence to get to the truck.

It was scary and sort of exciting all at the same time, you had to be there.

I’ve heard stories… close to me… of those who were in the room when loved ones have passed away… someone who is incredibly close to me told me that you could feel it… it was indescribable… he talked about how the hair on his arms stood straight up and it was almost tangible, you could feel something enter the room they were in… and a short time after… it left… and the exact same time… she flatlined.

Literally… its hard to believe, and I am pretty sure when this person told me this years ago… he used the phrase… it's hard to explain, you had to be there.

We are in our 9th sermon out of the gospel of John… and so far, it feels like it's been one account after another where that line would work.... You had to be there.

And John says that he shares these things so that you might come to understand the reality of who Jesus is… by looking at what Jesus did and the way others responded to Him… and come to the same convictions he did… because it's there… and only there… that you find life.

Each one of these situations we talked about… reveal a different and important reality as to who he is…

Turning water into wine… we learn about the generosity of God as well the potential impact that comes when His power combines with our willingness to do whatever He says.

Jesus and Nicodemus… that new life is possible in Jesus… and is needed by even the best of us.

Woman at the well… Even if the entire world rejects you… Jesus doesn’t. There is freedom found in following Him.

Lame man reminds us that God brings hope to the most hopeless of situations.

Feeding the 5k: God can do great things through the little that we bring.

Lady caught in adultery: it's not about condemnation… but forgiveness and grace. Man’s schemes will never disqualify you from God’s love and grace.

Blindman: Jesus came to help us truly see the reality of God and His truth.

Each one of these things ought to catch our attention. They show us more and more the reality of who He is and what He came to do. These… amazing, you had to be there kinds of moments… but this one, this one was different. So big that it would signal the beginning of the end of the beginning.

We first meet them in Luke 10, Jesus was on His way to Jerusalem, when Martha invited He and His disciples in.

Mary, her sister, sat at the feet of Jesus and listened to Him teach, while Martha worked anxiously preparing dinner… and she made sure people knew about it.

These were people Jesus knew and became close with. They knew and believed the truth about Him.

And so it's not a shock that when their brother Lazarus was at death’s door, in complete desperation they sent a messenger for Jesus to come.

Jesus said that this wouldn’t end in death, but then he stayed where He was for 2 days, partially because it says many were responding and coming to believe in who He is.

They were desperate… but Jesus waited.

After two days, Jesus told His disciples it was time to go back to Bethany, which is less than two miles from Jerusalem… The word literally means house of the poor, and there is excavated evidence that suggests it was just that… like a hospice of sorts… where the old and sick would go to live out their last days and eventually die.

The disciples wanted none of it. They reminded Jesus that just a short time ago the relgious leaders tried to arrest Him, even held the rocks in their hands to stone Him… they saw it as a suicide mission…

But Jesus responded in a really odd way…

John 11:9–14 NLT

Jesus replied, “There are twelve hours of daylight every day. During the day people can walk safely. They can see because they have the light of this world. But at night there is danger of stumbling because they have no light.” Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.” The disciples said, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better!” They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died. So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.

9 Jesus replied, “There are twelve hours of daylight every day. During the day people can walk safely. They can see because they have the light of this world. 10 But at night there is danger of stumbling because they have no light.” 11 Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.”

12 The disciples said, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better!” 13 They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died.

14 So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. 15 And for your sakes, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.”

One author says it like this…

On one hand Jesus is saying

The only way to truly know where you're going and what God is up to is by staying close to Jesus.

And on the other he is speaking about the sovereignty of God… the all knowing, all present, and all powerful nature of God. That He is over it all…

That

God’s purposes will not be undone by the plots of those who stumble around in the dark.

Jesus was telling them that they cannot outrun the will of God… and to be courageous.

Once they realized that Jesus wouldn’t be turned away… it was Thomas (Didomas… the twin)… who is actually known best as doubting Thomas… that had one of his better moments… He is the one that stood up and said “then we’ll all go and we will die with you there”.

As they were getting close, someone told Them that Lazarus had been in the grave for four days… and the mourning was in full effect.

In that day, they didn’t mourn the way we do… It literally was all about sitting with and consoling those who lost a loved one… and it would go on for up to a week. There were processions of people mourning and weeping… They'd even hire professional mourners to add to the ambience of grief and sadness… I think I missed my calling…

They heard that Jesus was close and so of course it was Martha that ran out to meet Him… and it seems like she had an agenda!

John 11:21 NLT

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.

21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.

Why weren’t you here…? Why weren’t you here when I needed you? For four days those emotions had been raging in her…

Where were you?…

She truly knew the power and the presence of Jesus, that He could have and probably would have done something… anything… things would have been different.

She wasn't just morning the past that was… but also… the present that could have been.

She saw time as insurmountable… it was simply too late for Lazarus, he was too far gone, he was beyond hope…

2 things I think we learn.

Sometimes that mindset creeps in faster than we realize… that we or those we love are too far gone, beyond the reach of what God can or will do… beyond the reach of what Jesus came to do… even subconsciously… and even now, there are some that I know and love deeply that are living that lie.

it is… and active attack by an enemy that just a chapter ago Jesus said came to kill, steal and destroy any concept of hope and real life that you might have… To rob you of the life that Jesus died to bring you…

In that same passage… Jesus said I came to give life, real life… Life in the face of even in the midst of hurt, heartache, turmoil, trouble, persecution, and even death.

And

It is only God that can take those things the enemy meant for harm, to destroy and abuse and confuse and raise them up into real, meaningful, redeemed and purpose filled life.

God’s promises don't always happen the way we might imagine or even desire.

… or even on our timeline… BUT… they always come to be. He is trustworthy… even in those moments when we see no possible way… God is, has been and will be completely faithful… and that doesn’t mean we won’t face excruciating things… it does mean we won’t face them alone.

Not only that… but He is at work in the very process of it all… bringing His light in ways that call us to deeper hope, deeper trust… and that's exactly what He is doing here… for Martha… for Mary… for His disciples that were there… and even for you and I.

It's why Jesus went on to say one of the 7 great I am statements that we find in the book of John…

John 11:25–27 NLT

Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”

25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”

27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”

Do you believe it Martha?

He was drawing Martha to a place of greater faith…

By reminding her that HE is the resurrection and the life. That He is over it all.

Not He might be, not He will be… but He is… it is the very nature of who He is and it’s a truth that is echoed over and over in John…. That He is the source of it… the author of life and the bringer of NEW life…. NT Wright says it like this… it’s not about an event, it's a person… New life, real freedom, real fullness is found in Christ Alone.

NT Wright says it like this… it is not an event… It's a person. New life, full life, free life… is found in Him and in Him alone.

And that there isn't anything… not even death itself… that can rob you of it.

And Jesus reminded Martha in a way and in a time she wouldn’t have expected…

That the promise of life… quality and quantity… that's what eternal life means… is not for some other lifetime… it starts as soon as we step into the light of Jesus.

Martha went back and told Mary, and she quickly got up to go meet Jesus. The crowd assumed she was going to weep at the Lazarus’ tomb, so they followed to mourn with them there its part of what they did…

As soon as she saw Jesus she said the same exact thing… it’s almost like they’d talked about it…

IF ONLY you were there… Lazarus would be here…

She was broken… and hurting… and Jesus knew it.

John 11:33–34 NLT

When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. “Where have you put him?” he asked them. They told him, “Lord, come and see.”

33 When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled.

34 “Where have you put him?” he asked them.

They told him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Then Jesus wept.

The word for anger actually means to snort like a horse.

I don't like the translation anger… it can mean that for sure. Most translations say “deeply moved” and I think that’s more accurate.

And I think this is important….

The Son of God, who created all that is, was and will ever be… snorted… and grieved with the hurts of His people.

He knew what was going to happen with Lazarus, this wasn't about that… It was about the hurt and even the lostness of the people.

He is not some far off unaware person. HE IS AWARE!

And that doesn't mean he will remove every obstacle and take away every heartache… He will not, at least in this life, resolve every issue… But HE is the one that grieves beside you, that weeps with you. That feels the broken within you…

Jesus wept… it means to suddenly burst into tears…

What does it mean when it says that Jesus wept?

And at least for me…

There is a peace in knowing that God, even now… even in the midst of incredibly painful and confusing seasons that He chooses to step into our grief and weep beside us.

there is a peace in knowing that God… even now… even in the midst of incredibly painful seasons… He shares in my grief… and weeps with me.

When they arrived at the tomb… Jesus told them to roll the stone away, it was Martha that objected… after 4 days the smell would be beyond nasty..

They rolled the stone away and Jesus prayed… and then loudly called for Lazarus to come out…

And… you would have had to be there…

John 11:44 NLT

And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

44 And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

What would you have done if you were there? What would you have said or thought?

I think we can see 3 reactions to this…

Vs 45 many believed

Vs. 46 some were skeptical and went to tell the religious leaders

Vs 47 the religious leaders themselves…

John 11:47–52 NLT

Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council together. “What are we going to do?” they asked each other. “This man certainly performs many miraculous signs. If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation.” Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time, said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about! You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.” He did not say this on his own; as high priest at that time he was led to prophesy that Jesus would die for the entire nation. And not only for that nation, but to bring together and unite all the children of God scattered around the world.

47 Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council together. “What are we going to do?” they asked each other. “This man certainly performs many miraculous signs. 48 If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him.

These are the words of His critics… He does too many amazing things and if we don’t stop Him, everyone will believe in Him.

In the end… at least as far as it goes for you… your reaction is really the only one that matters.

Jesus is… the resurrection and the life. He is the source of Life and of NEW life in Him… and… He is the one who calls you out to the depths of greater faith. He is trustworthy… His promises are true… but they don’t always look or feel the way we wish they would… or even happen when we wish that they would; but even in that, God is at work in us and through us.

I’ve seen people… run from God in a moment… in that… WHERE WERE YOU when my life wasn't the right moment… not realizing that God was weeping with them every step of the way. Over my career I have seen two responses… those that run away from God in rebellion… into a life that is sort of sudtated with all kinds of godless things.

And… I have seen people with similar attitudes that we see in Martha… hurt, confused… wondering why… but in the end say… I believe.

THOSE two attitudes wind up in wildly different places.

Every Sunday we provide the opportunity for communion:

Some believe that part of what Jesus was doing with this whole situation is preparing them for what would happen just about a week and a half later…

The religious leaders made it known that if anyone saw Jesus they had to report it…

In just a few days, Jesus would be arrested. Shortly after… he would be brought before Pilot… He’d be beaten and then crucified… Jesus had already proven He holds power in life… and His power over death.

It was the High priest of that day, Caiaphas, that unwittingly delivered a powerful truth when He said, don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.”

God’s promises… over you… can not and will not every be brought under by the planning of scheming of men.

Every time we take communion, we are celebrating that fact… That His promise… still stands and that He is able… He is trustworthy…

Communion is on the back table, if you’d like to participate please take whenever you ready during the next few songs.

Conclusion … SO WHAT…