If You Believe, You Will See God's Glory (John 11:1-54) Series

Today, we are going to read through a great story. For the most part today, I'm going to keep my hands off of it, and just let it speak for itself. [It's also a big story, and I have to fly higher to grab it in one week]. John 11:1:

(1) Now, there was a certain sick one,

Lazarus from Bethany,

from the village of Mary, and Martha her sister.

(2) Now, Mary was the one anointing the Lord with fragrant oil,

and wiping her feet with her hair,

whose brother Lazarus was sick/weak.

(3) Then, the sisters sent to(ward) him, saying,

"Lord, LOOK! The one whom you love is sick."

(4) Now, hearing-- Jesus-- he said,

"This sickness isn't to death,

but for God's glory,

in order that he would be glorified-- the son of God-- through it.

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

(6) Then, when he heard that he was sick, then, on the one hand , he was abiding in the place where he was two days.

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So Jesus truly loves Lazarus, and Mary, and Martha. But when the sisters send word to him that Lazarus, the one he loves, is sick, Jesus' immediate response is to do nothing. He deliberately stays an extra two days.

Throughout the gospel of John, Jesus never acts in response to human need, or asking. He always acts on his Father's timetable, doing what his Father wants.

Talbert: "He one encounters yet again the Johannine motif that Jesus' behavior is determined wholly by God's leading (5:19) and not by human pressures, especially by those closest to him like his mother (2:3-4) or brothers (7:8-9) or beloved friends (11:5)" (Reading John, 172).

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Verse 7ff:

(7) Next (on the other hand), after this, he says to his disciples,

"Let us go to Judea again."

(8) They say to him-- the disciples--

"Rabbi, a moment ago they were seeking you, to stone-- the Judeans--

and again you are going up there?"

(9) He answered-- Jesus--

"Twelve hours, aren't there in a day?

If anyone walks in the day, he doesn't stumble,

because the light of this world, he sees.

(10) Now, if anyone walks in the darkness, he stumbles,

because the light isn't in him.

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Jesus going to Judea again is something that, viewed from a lower, earthly level of understanding, doesn't make sense. The disciples know that Judeans are a people who want Jesus dead. They know that Judea is a place of danger. So why would Jesus go back again, so soon?

Jesus' answer, is that nothing bad will happen to him so long as he walks in the day-- in the light. He won't stumble; there's nothing to worry about.

Who is the light? What is the light? I think the light here is the Father. As long as Jesus is focused on the light of this world, and has the light inside of him, he is okay.

Now, when Jesus says all of this, he does so in a way that is designed to teach his disciples. What he says, is true, is not just for him, but for us, as well. If you walk in God's light, living faithfully toward the Father, you won't stumble. God will show you what to do, and say, and where He wants you to go. All you have to do, is learn how to walk in the light.

Jerome Neyrey, John, 194:

"Jesus' 'foolish' return to hostile territory is truly 'wise'-- but according to criteria different from those of the disciples."

Picking back up again, verse 11:

(11) These things he said,

and after this, he says to them,

"Lazarus our friend has fallen asleep,

but I am going,

in order that I shall wake him up."

(12) Then, they said-- the disciples-- to him,

"Lord, if he is sleeping, he will be saved."

(13) Now, he had been speaking-- Jesus-- about his death.

Now, those ones thought that about the sleep of slumber he is speaking.

(14) Then, he then said to them-- Jesus-- in boldness/plainness,

"Lazarus died,

(15) and I rejoice for your sake,

in order that you shall believe/give allegiance,

because I wasn't there,

but let us go to(ward) him.

(16) Then, he said-- Thomas-- the one being called Didymus by his fellow disciples--

"Let us go-- also us--

in order that we may die with him."

(17) Then, coming-- Jesus,-- he found him,

four days already being in the tomb.

(18) Now, Bethany was near Jerusalem, less than two miles away.

(19) Now, many from the Judeans had come to Martha and Mary,

in order they would comfort them about the brother.

(20) Then, Martha, when she heard that Jesus is coming, went to meet him.

Now, Mary in the house was sitting.