Sermon Brief
Date Written: April 2, 2011
Date Preached: April 3, 2011
Where Preached: OPBC (AM)
Sermon Details:
Series Title: Falling in Love With Jesus
Sermon Title: Jesus – Resurrection & Life
Sermon Text: John 11:32-44 [ESV]
John 11:38-44
32Now 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." 33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." 35Jesus wept. 36So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" 37But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?" Jesus 38Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." 40Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" 41So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42I 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." 43When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." 44The 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."
Let’s look at these verses and see what we can glean for our hearts this morning:
32Now 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."
v.32 – This verse reveals to us that Martha and Mary were human, and they were hurting just like YOU and me when we suffer loss! Like Mary here in this verse when we suffer a great loss in our lives, we tend to cry out against God like Mary did…
Mary said… “Jesus, if you would have just been here…this would not have happened.” Now we know that this was said in her deep grief and pain, but this statement from her basically blamed her brother’s death on Jesus.
When we are hurting… when we suffer great loss, we do the same thing… we say things like, “God how could you let this happen?” or “God if you loved me you would not have let this happen…” Basically blaming God for the tragedy in our lives.
33When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.
On the surface when we read this verse we see Jesus sharing in Mary’s grief, for many reasons. First He loved Mary and 2nd He loved Lazarus… and here He was hurting with Mary in her time of great grief.
But when we investigate the original language… the Greek we find that our English translation misleads us about Jesus’ emotions at this point. The phrases “deeply moved” and “greatly troubled” reveal an anger that was boiling up in Jesus…
Death was an evil and terrible taskmaster that robbed His creation of much joy in this life. Thinking all the way back to the Garden of Eden, Jesus was MAD at death… Jesus was furious with SIN… they had brought so much pain! But we can also see how Jesus could have been a bit disappointed with Mary in her obvious lack of faith in Him…
You see, at this point, Mary had confessed that she believed that if Jesus had been there BEFORE Lazarus died that Jesus could have saved him… but for Mary DEATH was the final door… the line one could not cross… She revealed NO faith in Jesus to cross death’s threshold and save her brother… in fact the thought never even crossed her mind…
But to give Mary the benefit of the doubt, she was human, and she was in great grief and sorrow over the loss of her brother. This is why I believe Jesus reacts as He does…
You see I believe that even though Mary’s faith may have been shaken, Jesus still loved her and still felt and understood her sorrow, grief and pain. He was NOT absent in her grief and He was NOT apathetic to her sorrow…
Likewise, Jesus is THERE for us when we suffer. Even if our faith in Him is deeply shaken and we lose sight of how powerful He truly is… He knows us, He knows our frailties and in spite of all our failures… Jesus loves us and is empathetic to our pain and suffering! When we hurt… Jesus hurts with us!
34And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." 35Jesus wept.
This verse reveals the loving character of Jesus. Jesus wants to be there for us in our pain… to partake in our pain with us… to be there in our deepest hurts…
He is there to comfort and console and He is there to grieve and hurt along with us! His presence with us in those dark times of our lives, can bear us up and help us get thru those difficult times.
In v.35 we read, “Jesus wept!” I want to ask, have you ever thought about this picture?
Jesus saw the pain in their faces – He felt the grief in their hearts and Jesus connected with them because He hurt with them, He grieved as they grieved…
Do you know that TODAY, Jesus is still the same! When we suffer loss and pain… when grief and agony come our way, Jesus sees that pain and wants to be there for us! Can you picture Jesus crying alongside of you in your pain?
This reveals that Jesus is RIGHT there for us when we are hurting… He is there to strengthen us! There are NO words that can console and comfort us during those dark times, but Jesus’ presence reveals His love and care for us! When we suffer loss the way our friends and family show their love is NOT thru words but in their presence… Jesus does the same thing… HE IS THERE!
But Jesus is not there JUST to empathize with us and grieve with us… Jesus is there to bring strength to our hearts!
36So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" 37But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?"
These people could see the love Jesus had for Lazarus and his sisters, but these people could NOT see Jesus for who He truly was… Like Mary, they believed the time for a miracle was PAST, and Jesus was just TOO late!
When we face loss and tragedy in our lives, we can know that Jesus is going to be there for us… we can know that we can experience His presence… we can know that we will experience his comfort!
BUT… there are still questions in our mind, we wonder “WHY” even in our consolation and the comfort that Christ brings to our hearts, we will wonder “WHY? Why Jesus? Why did we have to go thru this?”
I want us to go back to chptr 9:1-2… the disciples asked the same question about the man they saw that was blind! Why Jesus? Why was this man born blind? Why did he have to suffer like this?
Jesus told His disciples that day… that this man’s condition was being used to reveal the great power, mercy and love of God to them and to the world around them…
Here Mary and Martha had already asked the “why” question, and the Jews who had come to mourn were now asking the same question among themselves… Why did Jesus not get here sooner and stop all this pain?
38Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days."
In our grief Jesus comes and grieves with us… but Jesus does not desire our grief to overwhelm us. It is the desire of Jesus to directly touch our hearts! Here in this verse we find Jesus moving Martha, Mary and the mourners toward the healing process!
Jesus had moved to the tomb and then Jesus makes a request that catches them off guard… and brings some mild resistance from Martha. Jesus tells them to ‘move the stone’… Martha says, “What? Move the stone? Why Jesus? What purpose could that serve other than bring the stench of death out to our noses…” He’s been dead for 4 days!
In 1st century Palestine, the burial usually took place on the same day as death. There was NO embalming procedure, they would wash the body and douse it with spices and colognes to mask any decomp smell for a few days… but Martha believed that time had passed and that it was going to stink when they opened the tomb.
The implication from Martha here… is the same as Mary and the mourners earlier in this event. Death was the final frontier for them and they believed that up until death Jesus could do something, but now that death had taken him, there was NOTHING to be done! Oh how they sold Jesus short!
Also I see Martha’s comments to imply that Jesus somehow did not understand the situation… Have you ever found yourself doing the same thing with God? In the middle of your pain or grief… God calls us to act to begin the healing process and we don’t understand it, and we begin to challenge and question it… Jesus you just don’t understand how I feel!
They were baffled by Jesus’ request, but Jesus insisted… and when we don’t understand and challenge God’s calling in our time of grief, we have to understand that He is going to insist, simply because He knows what is best for us…
40Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" 41So they took away the stone.
TAKE AWAY THE STONE was the command and after a mild challenge to that request… Jesus turns to Mary and asks her a very direct question. “Did I not tell you…?”
What Jesus was speaking about was a conversation that he and Martha had when He first arrived on the scene… we find that in v. 21-27
21Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you." 23Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." 25Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?" 27She said to him, "Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world."
When Jesus comes to us in our grief and begins leading us down a healing path… and we begin to protest and challenge because we don’t understand… Jesus is always going to go back to His Word… back to His promises!
Jesus promised to never leave nor forsake us…
Jesus promised to save us when we accept Him as Savior…
Jesus promised those who accept Him…a peace that only He can provide and that the world cannot comprehend
Jesus has not only promised us LIFE, but a life more abundant
So, when we are hurting and Jesus comes to us… he comes reminding us of His Word! This is why it is so important for believers to be intimate with His word… be familiar with the promises of God. So important to become intimately familiar with Jesus. When we hurt… and He calls us toward healing, we must trust His Word!
And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42I 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."
They may not have understood why Jesus requested the stone to be removed, but either out of curiosity about Jesus’ request OR in sympathy for Mary and Martha… the stone is rolled away.
At that point, Jesus turns toward Heaven and prays to the Father:
Father! Thank you for your attentiveness to my voice…
BUT Father, I want ALL here today to see that you hear me… I want them to see so that they will believe!
When we are obedient to the calling of God… THAT is when we are going to hear from heaven! Jesus was obedient to the Father and when He went to the Throne… God’s answer came back swift and sure!
As believers, we all suffer hurt and loss, but we are NOT going to see an outpouring of Heaven on our lives until we are obedient to His calling on our life. 2 Chron 7:14 tells us that humility/obedience produces miracles from the very throne of heaven!
43When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out." 44The 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."
At this point Jesus was ready for Mary, Martha and the crowd to witness the glory of God revealed thru Him. He cried out, “Lazarus! Come forth…” he said his name so that ALL who were buried in this tomb would not come forth…
Jesus moved these people past their pain into healing… Lazarus was raised from the dead! Likewise, whatever your pain is today… Jesus wants to be there to move you out of pain and into healing… On this day he raised Lazarus from the dead! What Jesus does for you will be what He knows to be best for you…
We must understand that in our grief, Jesus comes to us to touch us and move us to a place of healing. Jesus wants to deliver you… but we have to understand 2 things.
First… the closer we are to Jesus, the sooner Jesus can touch us!
Second, this world is broken and distorted and there are times when Jesus choses to deliver us FROM the storms of life but there are other times when Jesus choses to deliver us THRU the storms of life.
But because of the world we live in… those storms are going to return… just as Lazarus had to die again! Regardless of the storms… We have Jesus! Jesus comes to empower us and guide us… either thru the storm or deliver us FROM the storm!
This morning I want to EMPHASIZE to all of us here… Jesus is HERE! Jesus wants to be there for you! Jesus wants to show His compassion as He comes alongside of you in your pain and feels your pain with you!
But Jesus does NOT want you to wallow in that pain, but Jesus wants to move you toward HEALING! Jesus wants to deliver you FROM your pain… be with you THRU your suffering! Jesus wants to do this… Jesus WILL do this…
However, Let me ask, “What about this passage sticks out to you?”
Some say it is Jesus raising the dead.
Some say it is the lesson of faith that was taught. “If we believe, the impossible can happen!”
Other say that it reveals that we do not see what God sees and we cannot jump to conclusions and judge by appearances, but we should trust God.
Some see the love of Jesus for Lazarus and that He wept for him as the most important part of this event. This gives us comfort that Jesus loves US as well as evidenced on the Cross of Calvary…
The fact that the Father hears the Son… this is a great lesson.
And, while all these things are indeed wonderful, I think that there is something missed here that is equally as wonderful and needed by all believers...
Now this may be just me, but did you think to yourself, “Why did Jesus ask the people to roll away the stone?” After all, the man who can raise from the dead could have vaporized it with a mere thought! OR Jesus could have thrown it aside to land in the Temple courtyard or on the High Priest’s roof.
Jesus could have done anything He wished with the stone, but He did NOT… and do you know why? Do you know why Jesus chose to ask these people to roll away the stone?
I believe that the answer to this question is very is straightforward, simple and VERY uncomplicated. Jesus asked them to do it because they could…
There were many things they could NOT do, and raising lazarus for the grave was one of them… However, there were things they COULD do and Jesus saw that rolling away the stone from the tomb was something they could do…
So I believe this is a valuable lesson about God and how He chooses to interact with us. Scripture is clear that God will NEVER going ask us to do anything we cannot do, unless He equips us thru the power of the Holy Spirit to do it.
But God is NOT going to do things for us that we can do for ourselves! And when we think about i? Think about it… We feed babies until they can take a bottle and then we take the bottle when they can handle utensils. As our baby does more and more for themselves, we do less and less for them. That is a natural part of growth and development.
Today God is calling YOU… YOU have to respond! He is not going to force Himself upon you. He is not going to twist your arm! He wants to be there for you in those times of grief and heartache, but if you refuse to let Him in… He simply cannot be there for you!
I want you to understand… your response to Jesus is NOT what saves you! God’s grace and mercy poured out on the Cross of Calvary and the miraculous resurrection of Jesus revealing the great love of God… THAT is what saves you.
Your response is merely accepting what God has provided! Your actions do NOTHING to save you… your actions are in response to what God has already done… Are you willing to come to Him today… he is calling!
Today you have heard about His love for Mary, Martha and Lazarus… but let me share with you about His love for YOU. He loved you so much that He was willing to die on a cross for YOUR sin… sin that FOREVER separates you from God.
His sacrifice paid the price for our sin and He is now offering salvation and relationship with Him! I call you today to surrender yourself to His calling… allow His loving grace to wash over you as you confess your sin, and allow His forgiveness to cleanse your soul today!
I call on you to come as Bro Ken comes to lead us in our hymn of invitation… as we begin to sing… I call you to step out and come pray at this altar… come pray with me… come and let Jesus come into your life.
