Escaping Death (John 11:1-44)

Introduction

Harry Houdini was an escape artist. They tried all kinds of ways to keep Harry Houdini locked up. They would bury him in a coffin, but he would get out. They would sew him up in canvas bags and throw him in the river, but he would come out. He was placed in many different gadgets, but nothing could hold him. His biographer said he could escape from anything except your memory.

Yet there came a day when Harry Houdini died, and he did not escape. He told his wife if there was a way, he would figure it out. When he did, he said he would meet her on the anniversary of his death. For ten years, she would light a candle by his photograph waiting for him. Finally, she gave up because she knew there was no way to escape death.

No trickery there. Harry Houdini did not escape the iron-clad clutches of death. But I want to tell you there was another who died. His name was Jesus, and He made the great escape. Jesus came out of the grave, and He arose. Praise God, Jesus is alive!

I want to today tell you a little of what He can do for you. What His resurrection means for us. What we receive from Him when we place our faith in Him for our everlasting life.

Today we will look at John 11:1-44.

In this text we see many things about Jesus and death. But the first thing we see is that...

Jesus Is the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:1–27)

John 11:1–4 (ESV)

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 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.”

John 11:5 ESV

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

John 11:11–15 (ESV)

“Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

John 11:20–27 (ESV)

So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained...Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Explanation: Jesus had a special relationship with this group of siblings: Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. His love for them is mentioned several times (vv. 2–3, 5).

Yet when they send word to Jesus that Lazarus is deathly ill, Jesus delays coming and Lazarus dies (vv. 6–14). Jesus hints to his disciples what he plans to do, but they don’t understand (vv. 11–15).

When he finally arrives at their home in Bethany, the sisters are grieving and upset. They know Jesus could have healed their brother (vv. 21, 32).

Jesus tells Martha what he is going to do—raise Lazarus from the dead—but she thinks he means only in the last day (vv. 23–24). Jesus assures her that he is “the resurrection and the life” and whoever believes in him “will live, even though they die” (v. 25). She reiterates her faith in him as the Son of God (v. 27).

Illustration: Musician David Bowie died January 10, 2016. Seeming to cheat death, he released a music video of a song called “Lazarus” only a few days before his death. It began to circulate widely right after his death. His producer for the album Blackstar, wrote on Facebook

“He always did what he wanted to do. And he wanted to do it his way and he wanted to do it the best way. His death was no different from his life - a work of Art. He made Blackstar for us, his parting gift. … He was an extraordinary man, full of love and life. He will always be with us. For now, it is appropriate to cry.”

This had a powerful effect on his fans, who seemed to feel almost as if Bowie was reaching back through the grave through the song, which had themes relevant to the grave and resurrection. And yet, the truth of the matter was that Bowie, brilliant musician though he was, was, in fact, dead. Only God knows the state of his faith, but regardless of whether Bowie will be raised again with all believers, he cannot make the claim that Jesus makes here. Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Not even “I can raise people again,” but “I AM the resurrection and the life.” Bowie didn’t even claim to raise dead people, let alone to be the resurrection and the life. Like Lazarus, Bowie can only come alive again through an act of God. Just as God once breathed the breath of life into Adam and Eve, so God will do with the ashes and remains of our dead bodies. He can animate dead matter because He IS the resurrection and the life.

Application: Eternal life starts not in heaven but in the moment when we believe Jesus is God’s only Son and believe in what he accomplished for us through his death and resurrection. To become born again involves a transformation of our inward person that is then reflected over time in our outward lives.

That is why we live even though we die. We are Christ's, and as His, we live in and through Him. Even though we do and we may know and believe this with everything in us...

The Pain of Death Will Test Our Faith (John 11:28–37)

We see this in this next section of this narrative. We see Martha call Mary and Mary’s pain is real and deep.

John 11:28–29 ESV

When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him.

John 11:32–33 ESV

Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

John 11:35 ESV

Jesus wept.

Explanation: Openly emotional and upset, Mary comes to where Jesus is waiting for her (vv. 28–33). She is the same woman who had poured out her precious perfume on his feet and wiped his feet with her hair (v. 2). They were close and she was a believer. Yet her darkest moment of disappointment and pain tested everything she believed about her precious Savior.

Illustration: Sometimes death makes us wonder about the love of God. We may doubt that He is good and righteous when death occurs. There is horrendous and difficult to understand death all throughout the world.

I know of a story out of South America where a little child was trapped in a rising flood. There had been an earthquake and the child was trapped. The water was rising and rescuers worked diligently day and night to get to the child. Yet, they were unsuccessful in reaching the child.

This death may cause us to doubt the goodness of God and the righteous nature of Him. Yet, without Him this life was nothing. It was just a brief blip of existence that has been taken with nothing else to remain but a few memories until the family dies too.

Death comes for us all. We will all die eventually. This death though tragic, is just an earlier version of what comes for us all.

Death is an enemy that takes all in some form or another. We cannot escape it. No matter how hard we try, we are like that search and rescue team; we will fall short in saving ourselves.

But in Christ we have hope. In Christ we will live still. In Christ we will not be abandoned. In Christ we have life everlasting and will be in perfection forever.

The pain of death is still there and Jesus knows that pain. That is what He felt this day with Mary and Martha.

But He died and rose again so we can live. He suffered so we can have eternity with Him. By this death is defeated for all who believe in Him.

Application: When Mary faces her dark night of the soul, in the midst of her doubt and grief, Jesus says to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (vv.25–26). Today, Jesus promises the same to each of us who face our own doubt, grief, and fear. He confronts each of us with his identity as the resurrection and the life. He asks us to recommit to believing his promise. Can we say today, “Lord, I believe”?

Can you say that? Do you believe that through Him we never die and will always live with Him?

Death is swallowed up in victory because of Christ. In Him we have victory. In Him we have life. In Him death is not a power over us. In Him we can live with Joy even in the face of death.

We can because of Jesus and the victory He has won for us.

It is because of this victory of His that we can live.

It is because of this victory...

Through Jesus You Too Can Have Your Grave Clothes Removed (John 11:38–44)

John 11:38–44 (ESV)

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb...Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha... said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 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.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 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.”

Explanation: In this passage, Jesus confronts the stark reality of death. Like he did a few moments before, Jesus again weeps as he stands at Lazarus’s tomb (vv. 35, 38).

The very Resurrection and the Life personified is grieved by the horror of death. A cold, heavy stone blocks the entrance to the grave, serving to reinforce the finality of death (v. 39).

The scent of a decomposing body is near (v. 39) And then Jesus asks the gathered crowd to “take away the stone” (v. 39). Everyone is afraid of drawing nearer to death, but they obey Jesus (vv. 39–41).

And Lazarus emerges from the grave, alive! When Jesus says, “Take off the grave clothes” at Lazarus’s miraculous resurrection (v. 44), he is speaking to all the witnesses, the sisters, and their family and friends. This event is a precursor to the Easter story. Jesus too would die. Yet he would be raised. Not to die again, but to ensure our new Life.

Illustration: [Note to the Pastor: To illustrate “grave clothes” issues that need to come off, take a roll of toilet paper and, with sheets still intact, write in large letters common sin patterns that are destructive (for example: forgotten, addicted to pornography, cursing, hateful, unforgiveness, gossip, angry outbursts, lying, alcoholism, immorality, impurity, condemning myself, fear of humans, etc.). Then wrap a person in this roll of paper like a mummy and have them waiting a bit out of sight until this point in the message. Have the mummy come out unwrap him/her. Call out the words as you take them off and replace them with the opposite, based on who we are in Christ (“You are no longer hateful. In Christ, you are called beloved. You are no longer forgotten. In Christ, you are sought out.”).]

Application: As believers, we have a responsibility, a ministry of reconciliation, to help other people be free from the sin that so easily entangles, to help them remove the old grave clothes, and walk in new life.

Even though this is true, we can only do this because Jesus has made it possible.

Only Jesus can conquer death. Only Jesus has conquered death. Only Jesus can defeat the sin in your and my life.

We must trust Him to deliver us and work in us.

Today I again ask you, Do You Believe That Jesus is THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE, and that by believing this THOUGH YOU MAY DIE YOU WILL LIVE AND WHOEVER LIVES AND BELIEVES IN HIM SHALL NEVER DIE.

Jesus is the good shepherd, He is the lamb who has taken away the sin of the whole world, in Him is life and life everlasting.

Conclusion

He was born in an obscure village. The child of a peasant woman

He grew up in another obscure village. Where he worked in a carpenter shop until he was thirty

He never wrote a book

He never held an office

He never went to college

He never visited a big city

He never traveled more than two hundred miles from the place where he was born

He did none of the things

Usually associated with greatness

He had no credentials but himself

He was only thirty-three

His friends ran away

One of them denied him

He was turned over to his enemies

And went through the mockery of a trial

He was nailed to a cross between two thieves. While dying, his executioners gambled for his clothing The only property he had on earth

When he was dead

He was laid in a borrowed grave through the pity of a friend

Nineteen centuries have come and gone

And today Jesus is the central figure of the human race and the leader of mankind's progress

All the armies that have ever marched

All the navies that have ever sailed

All the parliaments that have ever sat

All the kings that ever reigned put together

Have not affected the life of mankind on earth

As powerfully as that one solitary life

No other life can save you. No other life can give you freedom. No other life can redeem you from the pits of this world.

It is only this one solitary life that can save you, free you, and redeem you. It is this one solitary life that can give you life. This is true because Jesus IS the resurrection and the life. He can breathe life into our ashes, into our dead bodies and lives. That is an amazing action that even the greatest magician and illusionist could not do. Nor can anyone else who has been before Houdini or after him. Only Jesus can do this.

I pray today that if you have never believed in Jesus that today is the day that you have been persuaded that Jesus is the only one who can give you life. That Jesus is the way, the truth, the life and only through Him do you see the Father and dwell with Him for eternity.

Houdini could not escape death by any human feat, but through Christ we all can live forever and death can only place us with the Lord forever.

So today as Moses asked the Israelites those many centuries ago, Deut. 30:19-20

Deuteronomy 30:19–20 (ESV)

19 I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have set before you life and death, blessing and curse. Therefore choose life, that you and your offspring may live, 20 loving the Lord your God...for he is your life and length of days.