John 11:25 “Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life.”
INTRODUCTION
Luke 16:19-31 (read), and that is the problem, Jesus did die and was resurrected, and still the Jewish leaders did not believe.
We have a tendency to remember that there is only one resurrection from the dead, the most important one for us, the resurrection of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. However, there are actually four resurrections recorded in the gospels.
But it is not just Jesus who was raised from the dead.
1. Mk 5:22-43 records the raising of Jairus’s daughter.
2. Luke 7:11-17 records the raising of the widow’s son at Nain.
In both these cases arguments could be raised as to whether they had truly died or were just in a comatose state and that Jesus ‘just got lucky’ with them supposedly coming back to life. In both cases, they had only ‘died’ just before Jesus came on the scene. I am sure that there would be many today, with our more advanced knowledge of medicine, who would have happily gone down this route to discredit the miracles.
Jesus restoring the dead to life is part of His reply to John the Baptist’s question "Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?" (Matt 11:3).
The major difference between the first two resurrections and Lazarus is the amount of time between the death and the raising. There is absolutely no way that Jesus could have ‘got lucky’ in raising Lazarus; he had been dead 4 days (39).
The message here is that the sin which results in the death of us all is not some temporary mis-fortune, no passing ailment, or sad accident; it is a permanent result for each one of us which cannot be avoided. Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead was not:
1. out of sympathy for Martha and Mary, though it is obvious that He had great feelings this way for them and their distressing situation;
2. out of sympathy for their friends; nor
3. because Lazarus was a dear friend
It was because Jesus wanted to express to all His disciples what He had said earlier (25) “I am the resurrection and the life.”
The words could be misinterpreted and misunderstood. They could even be missed altogether. Here was an action which could not be missed. Not just the bringing back to life of someone who had died. This was the bringing back to life of someone who had been dead for four days. So dead that he would have started to decay in the heat of Palestine. So dead that Martha had to warn Jesus about the about the awful smell should the tomb be opened.
But Jesus was there to demonstrate the full power of God the Father in Him and that the Father desires to give eternal life to all who have faith in His Son.
If Jesus alone had been raised from the dead, wayward theologians could have argued that He alone could be raised, because He alone is perfect. Here we have the proof that eternal life is for all who are saved by faith in Jesus Christ as their Lord and Saviour.
Mark records a lovely incident where a woman who had suffered a flow of blood for twelve years (Mark 5:24-34). No human doctor could help her, she had spent all that she had on consulting them. She reached out and touched Jesus garment an was healed. She had faith in the healing power of Jesus, and Jesus says to her (v34), "Daughter, your faith has healed you. Go in peace and be freed from your suffering." But the Greek word used here actually means ‘saved’ rather than ‘healed’. She received physical healing so that she could “be freed from your suffering” and she received spiritual salvation “Go in peace”.
Jesus had compassion on this woman just as He had compassion on Lazarus.
1. The Emotion of Jesus.
Jesus was not an unfeeling person when He was on Earth. He went through the full spectrum of emotions that we feel, and for that I thank God.
(v33) “He was deeply moved” at the sight of the weeping Mary and those who were with her. He felt sorrow at the death of Lazarus, despite the fact that He knew the miracle that He was going to perform before them all. He saw and shared the raw emotions of a broken Mary and Martha and He wept with them.
Again (v38) He was “deeply moved” as He came to the tomb.
But, the Greek translated as “deeply moved” more implies anger and indignation, even outrage. I believe that Jesus was “deeply moved” as He saw the awful results of sin which results in the decay of the flesh. Where the end of a sinful life is death and decay without any way out.
This disturbs Jesus as He sees the results in His friends: the death and decay of Lazarus, and the deep sorrow of Mary and Martha at loosing a beloved brother.
For me this is a part of the deep mosaic of experiences that Jesus lived through which draws Him so close to the people He died to save. It also gives us an advocate at the throne of Grace and Mercy who can interceded for us (Heb 11:15) “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are--yet was without sin.” And again (Heb 12:7) “During the days of Jesus’ life on earth, he offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverent submission.”
Because Jesus has experienced all these emotions He knows exactly where we are coming from when we come to Him in prayer, even to the extent of being able, through the Holy Spirit, those prayers which we cannot lift because of our own inadequacies.
2. The Reaction of Jesus.
The reactions of the people were varied and do support what Jesus told in the parable of the rich man and Lazarus from Luke 16. Even though they saw someone who was very obviously dead being raised, they did not believe that Jesus was the Messiah.
Here was a very definite sign that Jesus was the Messiah, as foretold by the prophets. The one whom John the Baptist was looking forward to. The proof was laid out before them, but as Moses told the rich man (Luke 16:31) "He said to him, `If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’ "
(John 11:46-50) The rulers were afraid of loosing their position on Earth, rather than reaching out to an eternal position in Heaven. So they plotted to kill Him.
This is the start of the final road for Jesus to the Cross, where He willingly gave Himself in total obedience upon the Cross that we all might be saved.
Despite the possible hypocrisy identified by Jesus in the mourning crowd at the funeral of Lazarus, He loved the people. Despite the betrayal by some of those who witnessed the raising of Lazarus, He loved the people. Despite the plotting of the Pharisees, He loved the people. He loved them so much that He went to the Cross of Calvary to bear the burden of all our sin.
The reaction of Jesus to the sin and misery that He saw around Him; the distress that death brought to those whom He loved, was to give Himself utterly and completely for their salvation. There was no reserve in His reactions; He held nothing back.
3. What is our Reaction?
Will we follow the unbelieving of v46? Will we try to betray the sacrifice of Jesus, and the best way we can do that is to ignore it?
For many ‘believers’ and scholars it is to try to question the validity of the miracles. Some even try to water them down. The miracles are not something they could perform and have not seen performed themselves, therefore, did they really happen? Could it all be really possible?
Nearly all the Apostles died appalling deaths of martyrdom for the sake of these records. If they were only stories, made up and without any foundation, would they all willingly accept an early and painful death? One or two might, but nearly all of them. Also, there were a number outside the close ranks of the apostles who died cruel deaths because of what they had seen and believed.
These miracles are recorded so that we might believe. (John 20:30-31) “Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
John recorded these miracles so hat we might believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the one who would deliver the world from the guilt of sin and the power it has over us.
Jesus performed these miracles to prove that He is the Messiah, our Deliverer. Yes, He is our Deliverer right now. He performs miracles in our lives today, this is not a matter for the ancient past. Miracles are for the present, for our ‘today’ lives.
This miracle, of the raising of Lazarus is for our comfort today, as we come to gather around the Table of Our Lord. He died and rose again for us, and not just to make our death palatable or easy, but to ensure that we have an eternal life! His resurrection id for our resurrection, as is proved through Lazarus.
CONCLUSION
So what are we going to do about it?
Are we going to ignore this miracle? Are we going to try to explain it away? Remember, there was not just one recorded resurrection, there are four. John 21 25 indicates that there may have been many more that were not recorded, because there were just too many.
When Lazarus came out of the tomb Jesus said “Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
That is what Jesus wants us to do now. Take off our grave clothes, the stinking clothes clogged up with sin and degradation, the stench of evil decay. We can as we wash ourselves in the shed blood of Jesus and rid ourselves of all the guilt and power of sin
As God says to us in Isaiah 1:18
“Come now, let us reason together,"
says the LORD.
"Though your sins are like scarlet,
they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red as crimson,
they shall be like wool.”
We shall be dressed in glorious white robes when we come to stand before the throne of grace and mercy on that final judgment day, when Jesus claims us as His own, saved by His Sacrifice upon the Cross of Calvary.
Will you believe because someone has come back from the dead, or will you be like those who saw and plotted the Cross for Jesus?
