Jesus, the God Man: The Gospel of John
“Praying for the Sick”
John 11:1-6
Introduction: “Will you pray for my friend or family member? They are sick.” Most of the time as believers or I as a pastor the prayer requests we get from people usually have to do with someone that is sick or dying. So how do you pray for those requests?
In our passage today we see this exact example mirrored in the life of Jesus. He has left Jerusalem and has been living in the area where John the Baptist had begun his ministry for about a month. It is here that He will hear of the grave illness of a close friend of His. It is in this encounter that we will learn some surprising truths about “praying for the sick.”
1. Come based on your relationship. (vv. 1-2)
“certain man named Lazarus” – His name is a form of the name Eleazorus which means God is our help.
This amazing story is not even mentioned in the other gospels but is only found in John. Most suggest that because the other gospels were written earlier during a time of intense Christian persecution that telling this story would have meant trouble for Lazarus and his family since they would have still been alive. Naming their names as John does would have meant difficulties for them. John was written much later and so he includes this story and gives names. It is likely that Martha, Mary, and Lazarus were all dead and thus the threat of persecution would not exist.
“town of Mary and her sister Martha” – WOW! This town was known for a woman that lives there even though she is the younger sister. Martha is usually named first suggesting that she is the oldest and that the house belongs to her. One commentator said the house may belong to Martha but the town belonged to Mary!
What could that possibly mean? It means that Jesus’ words were true that He spoke in Matthew 26:13.
Truly I tell you, wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her.”Matthew 26:13 (NIV)
Jesus said she would be spoken of throughout history but no one would have known her name were it not for John giving it. It is interesting that this act of worship has not taken place yet (it occurs in John 12:1-8). John speaks of what she is known for and thus the town is known for her even though it has not yet taken place. He writes this in hindsight.
This story demonstrates the relationship that she and her family had with Jesus and soon we will see the depth of that relationship expressed in a message to Jesus.
If you are going to pray for the sick then make sure you have a relationship with Jesus and come to Him based on that relationship. Jesus is Jehovah-rophe, the God who heals. Ask Jesus not some other false god.
Example: The lady that said she was being prayed for by friends to other gods which was good because Jesus is known by other names! FALSE!
You come because you have a relationship with Jesus and that is what makes it possible for you to pray!
2. Ask, but don’t tell Jesus how to work. (v. 3)
“Lord” – kyrios which recognizes that He is God! In other words go to the Source for help. God is Healer not the doctor, nurse, the bottle of pills or other gods!
“one whom you love” – There it is! The relationship is why they brought the message. The word love is phileo which means fond of or brotherly love – “The one you love like a brother.”
Aren’t you glad that Jesus loves warmly like a person? That is His humanity that loves like that.
But this also reflects that they came based on His love for Lazarus and not the other way around. They did not say the one that loves you is sick. Come to Jesus based on Him and not us. It is about how much He loves us and not how much we love Him.
Sometimes we come and list all of our credentials and what we have done and how long we have been a believer or been faithful. People will talk about how much they love God and thus don’t know why this happened. We list all our deeds like that is supposed to move Him a little quicker like some spoiled actor from Hollywood that wants special treatment!
I am so glad that Jesus does not work in my life based on my love for Him, but rather based on His love for me!
“is sick” – Two words for sick in Greek. One means the disease itself and the second deals with symptoms. The second is used here which means deathly ill.
Don’t miss this important truth: People that love Jesus and that Jesus loves get sick!! These were some of Jesus’ closest friends and yet he got sick and died. Being sick does not mean you lack faith or that you don’t love God.
"Those whom Christ loves are no more exempt than others from their share of earthly trouble and anguish: rather are they bound over to it more surely" --Richard Trench (1807-1886) quoted in Jamiesson, Faust, Brown Commentary
Theirs is a very simple prayer and it is prayer boiled down to its very essence. They simply make the need known but do not prescribe how it must be answered or what needs to be done.
Too many times we begin telling God how the prayer needs to be answered: make them do this or heal in this way or send this money by this date. I am guilty of this as much as anyone. It is not wrong to make God aware of what you’d like Him to do but prayer is bringing your need to God and leaving it there!
There are other examples in Scripture where this is true:
Jesus’ mom in John 2:3 – “They are out of wine.”
Moses cries out to the Lord when people murmured against him in Exodus 15:25.
Hezekiah in Isaiah 37:14 lays the letter from his enemy before the Lord.
Bring your need to Jesus and let Him answer in His way.
3. Remember sickness is for God’s glory.
(vv. 4-6)
“Jesus heard that” – Jesus hears our prayers!
“Sickness not for death…but glory” – No matter what happens it is for God’s glory! Your life is not about sickness or death but God’s glory! You and I may not understand or like the results, but it is not about us! It is for God! Your life, whether healthy or sick, is about bringing glory to God. Healing is good, but being raised from the dead is better!
Be careful that you don't demand from God the good when He could be reserving the best for you. --Tim Temple, former pastor, Abilene Bible Church, TX
Example: Jim Weldon announcing his illness that could take his life in four years and then dying a few days later. His mom had asked that he would not suffer. Her testimony: “God answered my prayer.”
v. 5 – “Jesus loved” – agape – Jesus loved them sacrificially with God’s love. They came based on His phileo love and He responds with His agape love. He has both but this one is important to remember. They said, “You love like a brother.” and He said, “I love all of you sacrificially.” He says the same to us today.
It is important to understand the contents of verse 5 or verse 6 will make no sense. People in the midst of a “verse 6 time of life” will ask “Why?” and the answer is found in verse 5!
v. 6 – “So” or “therefore” – Because He loved them He waited two more days! He heard His friend was sick and He waited two more days!
It took one full day for the message to arrive, He waits two more days, and then it will take one full day to get there! Four days are gone before He goes to them.
Doesn’t God care? Where is Jesus? I thought He cared about us? Why is He waiting? Go back to verse 5. It is because he loves them.
Sometimes love waits. Sometimes God says wait, but is always because He loves and for His glory!
Be still before the LORD and wait patiently for him; Psalm 37:7a
I wait for the LORD, my whole being waits, and in his word I put my hope.
Psalm 130:5 (NIV)
Yet the LORD longs to be gracious to you; therefore he will rise up to show you compassion. For the LORD is a God of justice. Blessed are all who wait for him! Isaiah 30:18 (NIV)
Good things come to those who wait, but it also leads us to depend on God and not on ourselves!
The LORD will vindicate his people and relent concerning his servants when he sees their strength is gone and no one is left, slave or free.
Deuteronomy 32:36 (NIV)
What is He waiting for?! He is waiting for you to give up and let Him do things His way and for His glory!
Conclusion: Loneliness, loss, pain, sorrow: these are disciplines; they are God's gifts to drive us to his very heart, to increase our capacity for him, to sharpen our sensitivities and understanding, to temper our spiritual lives so that they may become channels of his mercy to others and so bear fruit for his Kingdom. But these disciplines must be seized upon and used, not thwarted. They must not be seen as excuses for living in the shadows of half-lives, but as messengers, however painful, to bring our souls into vital contact with the Living God that our lives may be filled to overflowing with himself in ways that may perhaps be impossible to those who know less of life's darkness. –An unknown man quoted by Ray Stedman
We too often want to look at what the sickness or difficulties are doing to the other person and forget that God’s desire is not always to heal them physically but to renew and heal them spiritually. We need a new perspective. We need to set our watches and calendars to the eternal and not the temporal.
• Come based on your relationship with Jesus.
• Ask, but don’t tell how it must be done.
• Remember it is for God’s glory.
If we remember these things then perhaps it will change how we continue “praying for the sick.”
