“Never Too Late With Jesus”
Pastor V. P. Oliver
John 11: 21-23 (1-44)
“Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.”
This seventh and final sign or miracle recorded in the Gospel of John has been called the supreme miracle of Jesus while He walked this earth. It surpasses the other signs in its purpose of demonstrating that Jesus is the Son of God. John’s Gospel is a study of the mastery and creativity of Jesus as He performs signs or miracles to demonstrate and declare His divinity. Can I show you? In chapter 2 He gave wine by His spoken Word to make glad the hearts of men. In chapter 4 by faith and grace Jesus healed the nobleman’s son. In chapter 5, in defiance of the Sabbath-keepers, Jesus healed the impotent man. In chapter 6 He set a table in the wilderness, on a hill near the Sea of Galilee and fed 5000 thousand in response to their physical needs. In that same 6th chapter He came to the rescue of His own disciples, walking on water and stilling raging seas. In chapter 9, as the Light of the world, He opened the eyes of one who was born blind. And here in this 11th chapter Jesus gives life back to a dead friend to prove His claim to be the Resurrection and the Life for all mankind.
The miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead is regarded as the supreme sign because it is the enacted Word of God which most clearly reveals God to man. Unlike the other signs, where the active faith or cooperation of others was involved, Jesus is solely and sovereignly in charge of the action from start to finish. This final sign in John’s Gospel, which signals the beginning of Christ’s passion journey, which could only end at Calvary, is pivotal. Why, because it ventures into the area of life that we fear the most and know the least about; our death, our mortality. From the onset, this story about a friend who has died and a family that Jesus loved so dearly, is filled with a sense of desperation and hopelessness. Everything about it speaks of our helplessness over sickness and death. Everything about this familiar story sends the message, “It’s too late.” The Master’s delay in returning to Bethany said “It’s Too Late;” His statement to His disciples that “Lazarus is dead” said to them “It’s Too Late;” Martha and Mary’s despair over Jesus not coming sooner suggests that they believed that “It Was Too Late;” they all send the same message of desperation, “It’s too late!” But today, as we examine this miracle, I want to reassure you that it’s “Never Too Late With Jesus.”
1. NEVER TOO LATE FOR THE LORD’S DELAY.
First we need to examine THE LORD’S DELAY. Even when you experience a DELAY IN LIFE, and it appears that time has run out, you need to remember that it’s “Never Too Late With Jesus.” John, the writer of this Gospel account, takes great care to reassure us that THE LORD’S DELAY is not a careless or thoughtless act. John prefaced the report of His DELAY with the words of verse 5; “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister, and Lazarus.” So it was not because of a lack of concern for the magnitude of the crisis or what was at stake that Jesus DELAYED His return to Bethany. No, THE LORD’S DELAY was because of His love. (There’s somebody here today who is yet waiting on the Lord to move on your behalf. But you need to remember that it’s not too late.) John already said that Jesus loved this family. He enjoyed spending time with them. But because He loved these two sisters, Martha and Mary, Jesus wanted to strengthen their faith as a result of this crisis. He could more greatly strengthen their faith by allowing Lazarus to die and lie in a tomb for four days and then resurrecting him, than He could by hurrying to Lazarus’ side and healing him before he died. (So if you’re still waiting on the Lord, it just might be that He’s allowing your situation to get ripe for a miracle.) So He tarried at Bethabara for two days and timed His arrival at Lazarus’ home on the fourth day after His death. The intent of THE LORD’S DELAY was to demonstrate that regardless of how much time it takes, or the distance that must covered, it’s “Never Too Late With Jesus.”
2. NEVER TOO LATE FOR THE DEAD IN CHRIST.
Not only is it “Never Too Late With Jesus” when it comes to the DELAYS OF LIFE, but this miracle also shows us that it’s “Never Too Late” for the DEAD WHO DIE IN THE LORD. Verse 14 says, “Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.” Earlier in verse 11 when Jesus told them that their friend Lazarus was “sleeping,” He was using a biblical term, which describes the death of a saint or a believer. But His disciples thought that Jesus spoke of natural sleep, so they concluded that Lazarus must be better, as sleep suggests that the fever had broken. But Jesus meant what He had said. Lazarus was dead. For the believer, death is a sleep for his body. That’s why the word “sleep” so aptly describes the death of a believer. The Bible commentator, J. Vernon McGee had this to say about the believer’s death; “The body is put to sleep, to be awakened by the Lord. He is the only One Who has the alarm clock. He is the only One Who can raise the dead. And one day He will come and we shall awaken in our new bodies.” Jesus was not worried that Lazarus was dead, because He knew that he was just asleep.
The lesson to be learned here is that you need not fear or even dread death, if you die in the Lord. Why, because death is not the end for the believer. Death for the believer is simply a time of rest or sleep; a time to lay down from your labors, your burdens and your worries down here.
The Greek word for resurrection is “anastasis” which means “a standing up.” When our sleeping bodies are resurrected at the return of Jesus Christ, there will be a literal “rising or standing up” of those who have died believing on the Lord Jesus Christ. No, it’s Never Too Late, for the believer who temporally succumbs to death. And so it was with Lazarus. The Master wanted His disciples to understand that even though their friend was dead, it’s “Never Too Late With Jesus.”
3. NEVER TOO LATE FOR THOSE THAT DESPAIR.
So with Jesus it is “Never Too Late” for the DELAYS OF LIFE, nor for the DEAD IN CHRIST. Thirdly, It’s “Never Too Late” for THOSE THAT DESPAIR, if you have Jesus in your life. Verses 21 and 22 read, “Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord if Thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever Thou wilt ask of God, God will give it Thee.” Martha’s words revealed her faith in the resurrection, but it also exposed a pitiful faith in a “right now” God. She was like many of us today. We have a “someday faith,” instead of a “right now” faith. A “someday faith” says, “one of these days I’m gonna get my healing or my blessing.” But a “right now” faith says, “I am healed, I am blessed, right now!” It doesn’t take much faith to place your hope in the future. But it takes a whole lot of faith to say, “Despite my difficulties, I’m blessed anyhow; despite my sickness, I’m already healed; despite the death of a loved one, God is still good, all the time!” Although Martha knew that one day there would be a resurrection from the dead, she didn’t believe that Jesus could help her at that moment. Can’t you hear Jesus saying to her, “Martha, you’re waiting for a resurrection, but don’t you know that I am the Resurrection and the Life?” My brothers and my sisters, we all have to die one day, but if you have Jesus in your life death is not the end. If you have Jesus, you have eternal life! Jesus told Martha, “He that believeth in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosover liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.” It’s good to know that you don’t have to die to gain eternal life. “He that believeth on the Son hath everlasting life.” Martha would soon discover that her DESPAIR would be short-lived. Even though Jesus DELAYED His arrival; even though her brother Lazarus was already DEAD; and although she and her sister were in deep DESPAIR; because Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life, they found out that it’s “Never Too Late” to trust God for a miracle.
4. NEVER TOO LATE FOR A DIVINE AND DRAMATIC DEMONSTRATION.
We have discovered that there are some conditions of life that are “Never Too Late with Jesus:” The DELAYS OF LIFE, the DEAD WHO DIE IN CHRIST, and THOSE THAT DESPAIR are the kind of deadlines of life that are “NEVER TOO LATE WITH JESUS.” Finally, let me say a word about the DRAMATIC AND DIVINE DEMONSTRATION OF JESUS. Why a DEMONSTRATION? Because this entire incident takes place for the glory of God. That’s why Jesus DELAYED His return to Bethany; so that the great crowd of mourners from Bethany and nearby Jerusalem would witness this great miracle. That’s why Jesus prayed aloud and in public, so that the crowd of unbelieving bystanders could be convinced of the Father’s approval on His Son and His claim of deity. And that is why Jesus spoke to the dead Lazarus in a loud voice. His loud voice was not for the benefit of Lazarus, but for the bystanders. All of this was done to DEMONSTRATE that Jesus is the Lord of Life.
In spite of protests and concerns that by now the body of Lazarus had surely begun to decay and stink, Jesus commanded the bystanders to roll the stone away. Verse 43 reads: “And when He had thus spoken, He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.” And the Bible report is that Lazarus obeyed: “And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with gravesclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin.”
As with the other miracles or signs recorded in John’s Gospel, there is more to this miracle than meets the eye. The resurrection of Lazarus was accomplished by the power and the enablement of Jesus. By this I mean that when He raised Lazarus from the grave, Jesus also dealt with the physical aspects of resurrecting a body that had been dead for four days; flesh that had begun to decay was regenerated; brain cells that had been destroyed by a lack of oxygen were brought back to life; muscles that had been paralyzed by rigormortus were rejuvenated; and coagulated blood had began to flow again, spreading life throughout the body of Lazarus. Jesus DRAMATICALLY DEMONSTRATED His power over life, death and the grave! He DEMONSTRATED that even though Lazarus’ body had began to decay, although brain cells had been destroyed, rigormortus had set in, and his life-giving blood had began to clot, still it’s NEVER TOO LATE WITH JESUS!
But before the final resurrection comes, (the one that Martha was talking about) I need to tell you that God has some resurrections to perform in your life. It’s not too late for your marriage; it’s not too late for your relationship; it’s not too late for your career and your finances; it’s not too late! As I speak, He’s resurrecting wrecked marriages, broken and dysfunctional families; He’s resurrecting lives that have been crippled by crack-cocain and destroyed by drugs. In spite of the long DELAYS; He sent me here to tell you don’t DESPAIR; that which you thought was DEAD, will be resurrected. Yeah, doctors said it was TOO LATE; all of the studies, surveys, statistics said it was TOO LATE; your wife thought it was TOO LATE; your kids gave up because they thought it was TOO LATE; even you… you almost gave up on yourself, because everybody told you that is was TOO LATE; the said you’d never amount to anything; that you were no good, and you almost believed them when they told you that you were TOO YOUNG, TOO OLD, TOO BAD, NOT GOOD ENOUGH, TOO MANY CHARGES, TOO MANY ARRESTS, TOO MUCH TIME IN JAIL, TOO MUCH TIME ON THE STREETS…you almost believed them when they tried to tell you it was TOO LATE…..
But this miracle says to us today…
IT’S NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, TOO LATE WITH JESUS.
NO MATTER HOW LONG THE DELAY;
NO MATTER HOW DEEP THE DESPAIR;
NO MATTER HOW LONG YOUR SITUATION HAS BEEN DEAD;
JESUS WILL DEMONSTRATE IN DRAMATIC FASHION;
HE WILL PERFORM A RESURRECTION IN YOUR LIFE!
IT’S NEVER TOO LATE WITH JESUS!
