John 11 - Lazarus being Raised
This morning, we are going to take our Bibles once again and look at the gospel of John. Today we are in chapter 11. Today we are going to look at one of the most significant and well-known miracles of Jesus, even though John is the only gospel writer to record it: the raising of Lazarus. Lazarus, along with his two sisters, Mary and Martha, lived in Bethany, a town about two miles east of Jerusalem. Their house was a favorite “getaway” location of Jesus. He loved them and loved to spend time with them. So he visited Bethany often. But we will see that such a significant event happened here that the name of the town was changed from “Bethany” to “El `Azariyeh” or “The town of Lazarus.” What was this? Let’s watch the screen and see.
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Every good investigator is taught to ask questions: Who, What, When, Where, and Why. And I’d like us to look as these questions today. First, Where? Where does all this take place, and what is the significance of that? Back in 10:31, we see that the leaders of the Jews want to stone Jesus to death. In 10:39 we see they try to arrest him. In 10:40 we see Jesus gets out of the country, and goes across the Jordan River. map on ppt -- So, today we see Jesus coming back to Judea, to face up to all the hatred and scheming of the Jewish leaders. Why would he do this? A few reasons. First, because his time is coming. Over and over again, he has responded “My time is not yet come.” But Jesus returns to Judea , he prepares for the last leg of his earthly ministry. Second, he comes to Judea again because he has miracles to perform for his friends, and this morning we are going to look at not one, but three miracles Jesus performs. Third, Jesus returns because he wants to use this as a teaching lesson for his disciples. Look in 11:15 - “And for your sake, I am glad I wasn’t there, because this will give you another opportunity to believe in me. Come, let’s go see him.” Jesus is still teaching the disciples, and he wants to continue to teach us today, no matter how long we have been a Christian. Let’s pause right now and ask God to speak to our hearts. PRAY
Let’s look at three miracles Jesus performs here in this chapter. First,
I. The Miracle of Perspective - Here the question we want to look at is “Why?” Martha says in verse 21, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” The question she is asking is “Why did you let this happen?!” She says, “Jesus, if you would have simply come when we asked you to, you could have healed Lazarus and he would be fine, he would not have died. Jesus, WHY didn’t you come and help us?”
This is a question we often ask - Why did God let this happen. Normally what we are really asking is “Why did God let this happen TO ME? Normally, we are okay to accept the consequences of living in a fallen world as long as those consequences happen to someone else. But when bad things happen to us, it shakes our faith. We question the goodness of God. But we need to realize that God uses crisis to change our lives. Personal crisis will test personal faith.
Why do bad things happen to us? Jesus gives the answer in verse 40. While the text does not record this earlier, it appears that Jesus has stated this to Martha when she first questions him, and then restates it again after Jesus calls for the stone to be removed. Look at verse 40. Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you will see God’s glory if you believe?” God allows bad things to happen so He may show us his glory. Ezekiel 28:22 - God speaks to a nation where he is bringing judgment and says, “ I will reveal my glory by what happens to you.” Why does God allow tragedy? He desires to show his glory. He shows himself strong when we are weak.
Martha is given a new perspective - a new way of looking at things. Yesterday, one of the speakers at the missions conference gave this illustration. He said a man had four rowdy kids at the bus station; they were loud and out of control. Someone approached him about how loud his kids were and the man said, “Yes, I know, their mother died yesterday, and they’re having a difficult time knowing how to process all the emotions. Suddenly the observer’s perspective changes. From one of judgment to one of compassion.
Here Jesus changes Martha’s perspective of one of questioning and complaint to one of hope and anticipation. She is focused on “Why?” Instead of answering why, she is simply reminded that Jesus is God’s promise of life. There is no problem that he does not care about. Jesus helps her to see that He already IS at work, even though she has not seen it.
In the midst of hope, Jesus challenges her to believe. He promises her brother will live, but she thinks he is talking only of the future resurrection. Jesus assures her of his power to give eternal life, and then uses this as a chance to remind her of her faith. In verse 26, Jesus asks her if she believes, to which she gives this remarkable response: “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.” And it is interesting, after she is reminded of this truth, that is enough for her.
When she remembers that Jesus is God, he is in control, he is the fulfillment of all the promises of God -- that is enough. It is easy to question and complain, but when we remember that God is sovereign and over all, then we can simply accept whatever happens without having to know why.
That is the message of the book of Job. Job loses cattle, lands, family, health, wealth, and peace -- and then his friends come to tell him all this has happened because of his sin. Job is a righteous man, one who tries to follow God, so he does not accept their accusations. But after a while He questions God as to “Why?” He never finds out why -- even though we do. But God simply reminds Job who is God and who is man. Whatever God has chosen to have us go through, should be okay with us.
I’m not talking a fatalism that we need to embrace all kinds of tragedy, but let’s not place ourselves in the position of needing to know every reason either. It is enough to remember that we serve a good God who works all things together for our good. We can rely on him to work for us.
Martha’s miracle comes as her perspective changes of one of question to one of faith.
May each of us replace our questions of “why?” with faith!
II. The Miracle of Presence - The second miracle we see in this passage is one of presence. This is Mary’s miracle. And it also is tied to a question. The question is “who” - “who will be with me?” Who will take care of me - who can I lean upon, who will guide me - who can I turn to? Lazarus had been the head of the family. Now suddenly Mary’s world is in upheaval. Death often does that. One day everything is going great, and the next day you don’t know how you will make ends meet. Death so often comes unexpectedly.
Mary greets Jesus with a similar statement, “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.” But in the original language there is a very different emphasis. Martha is focused on Lazarus’ premature death. Mary emphasizes “my” brother - she is focused on the relationship. Mary is characterized as we see her in the gospels focusing on relationship, in contrast with Martha focused on action.
Mary’s miracle is one of understanding that Jesus is God’s promise of love. We face no problems alone. He has told us “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” As he left his disciples, his final words as recorded in Matthew 28:20 are these: “And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”
Jesus understands the reality of grief. In verse 33 it says in the Phillips translation, “He was deeply moved and visibly distressed.” Does Jesus understand the feelings and emotions of grief - Yes, far more than we even understand it ourselves. In verse 35 as Jesus comes to the tomb he weeps. But Jesus brings hope even in times of grief.
It is interesting that for Martha, Jesus responds to her questions by reminding her of her faith, by reminding her of who he was. For Mary, she simply needs to be reminded that Jesus is with her. She does not need dialog, she simply needs a shoulder to lean on.
Sometimes we go to funerals, or hospitals, or to visit those going through difficult times, and we think we need to come up with lots of reassuring verses of scripture to remind them that God knows what he is doing. Sometimes the best thing we can do is to SHUT UP and simply let your presence be a comfort. Sometimes the best thing we can say is nothing.
For Mary, as she is reminded of the presence of the Lord, she is satisfied. When Jesus is present, everything will turn out all right.
In our lives as well, sometimes we don’t need answers, we simply need to be reminded that we are not alone in our grief, in our struggles, in our problems. We have a faithful friend in our Lord
The third miracle we see here is
III. The Miracle of Power - and the question here is “What?” Jesus, what can you do? Lazarus is dead, life is forever changed for his family, so Jesus, what can you do about it? Look in verse 37 - But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Why couldn’t he keep Lazarus from dying?” They are questioning Jesus’ power - “what can Jesus do?” Sometimes we ask the same question in our own lives. I’ve got a bad marriage - my spouse just doesn’t understand me - my boss is sexually harassing me - my kids won’t listen to a thing I tell them - but what can God do about it? Yes, sure, I believe that God worked in the Old Testament doing all those miracles, but what can God do today - surely he doesn’t do miracles today does he?
To the question of “what can Jesus do?” we need to see Jesus as having all the power and authority of God. There is no problem to big for him to handle. And he loves to prove himself strong on the behalf of those who trust in him. Look in verse 42, as Jesus prays, he says, You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so they will believe you sent me.” His purpose in doing the miracle is to bring about belief in those who see his power displayed.
Jesus has the ability to work in any problem situation we face in this life - and he loves to do it to show his power so we will believe in him. But often Jesus wants us to do what we can do before he will do what only he can do. Notice here in verse 39 - Jesus calls them to do what they can do - roll the stone away. They give excuses - he’ll stink after being in there this long - but Jesus does not want to hear their “stinking” excuses. He wants them to do what they CAN do.
We come up with a lot of stinking excuses as to why we can’t do anything for God, why we can’t give up a sin that we enjoy, why we don’t choose to change, even when we know we need to change. We have lot’s of stinking excuses.
Jesus calls Lazarus to come out - and he comes out. No matter what your stinking problem, when God calls you to move, get moving! Don’t wait for another day, do it right away. Lazarus comes out in the power of God. And we also can live and work and act in the same power of God. We don’t need to give in to sin - 1 Cor. 10:13 tells us that “when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it.”
Conc: Now, there is one more question we need to look at today, and that is “So What?” Jesus raises Lazarus, but so what? What does that matter to me? What are the ramifications of this miracle?
Look first in 45 - “Many of the people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen.” For many, the miracle caused them to believe. They had seen God’s power displayed, and they chose to believe. But not everyone believed. Look now in verse 46 - “But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.” And now in verse 53 - “So from that time on the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus’ death.”
Even after knowing this man Jesus was acting in the power of God, the leaders refused to believe. they hardened their hearts. Anytime we see God work in our lives, we cannot stay the same. We will either choose to have tender hearts and be drawn into a closer relationship of faith and belief, or we will harden our hearts and continue on in our sinful lifestyle of rejecting the power of God. And each time we harden our hearts, we hear less and less the gentle call of the spirit of God until as it says in 1 Tim. 4:2 - “They pretend to be religious, but their consciences are dead.” There comes a time that we have rejected God’s call to us so long that we just don’t care anymore.
What will we choose today?
Bow your heads, close your eyes, and look at your life.
Have you been asking God “why” a certain situation has come? Instead of asking why, choose to believe, choose to have faith, remember that God is at work in your life, and instead of focusing on the problem, focus on the power of God at work in your life.
Have you asked “who cares about me?” Have you felt alone and forsaken, alone in your grief or guilt or pain. Remember that Jesus is there. Never will I leave you, never will I forsake you is his promise.
Have you asked, “what can God do in my situation?” If so, remember there is no problem too big for God to handle. But it starts with us doing what WE can do, and then letting him do what only he can do.
As you see God at work, calling you out of your comfort zone to embrace a new challenge, will you respond in obedience and faith, or will you resist and reject God’s way.
Shall we pray.
