We are going to spend 6 weeks in the 11th chapter of the Gospel of John. There are 6 great lessons that we can learn from Lazarus’ death and Jesus raising him from the dead.
The death of Lazarus gave Jesus the opportunity to reveal Himself as the resurrection and the life. From what I see, there were seven purposes for Lazarus’ death. Let’s look at these purposes as we work our way through the first 16 verses of chapter 11.
READ 1-3. So we find that Lazarus was sick. At this particular time Jesus was being rejected by almost everyone. It seems that He was an unwelcome guest in most homes. He was walking around preaching and proclaiming that He was One with God, the Son of God himself.
Making these kinds of claims, some thought He was crazy or demon-possessed. His own family was even having difficulty with Him at this time. They were apparently so embarrassed by His claims and the rumors of His insanity that on one occasion they traveled a great distance to bring Him home before He was harmed.
But there was one family who always opened their home to Jesus when He was in and around Jerusalem—the family of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, who were brother and sisters. They lived in Bethany, a suburb about two miles outside Jerusalem. Their closeness to Jesus is the reason the sisters felt so free to interrupt His evangelistic tour with the request to help their sick brother. Note Jesus’ great love for this family throughout this passage.
READ v. 4. Here’s the first purpose of Lazarus’ sickness—it was to glorify God and to proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God. Lazarus’ sickness was not for death. He was to die for the glory of God and Christ. He was sick, and he was to die so that the works of God could be demonstrated. So Lazarus died so that God could be glorified. How could his death glorify God?
• By showing God’s desire for man to have life.
• By showing God’s power to give life.
• By showing His approval of Christ by which He proved that He really did love the world enough to send His Son to save the world.
Lazarus also died so that Christ could be glorified. How so?
• By having the opportunity to do the work of God.
• By demonstrating God’s power.
• By showing compassion.
• By strengthening the faith of believers.
• By leading unbelievers to believe.
So in raising Lazarus from the dead, both Jesus and His Father were glorified as the Life of the world. Do you remember that in dealing with the blind man, both God and Jesus were glorified as the Light of the world.
READ v. 5. The second purpose of Lazarus’ sickness was to show Jesus’ great love. Each member of the family is mentioned separately. He loved the family, but He also loved each one individually. Each one of these family members had a need and each one received help from Jesus. Lazarus’ death gave Jesus the opportunity to demonstrate His great love not only for the families of the world but for each individual in the world.
READ v. 6. Here’s the third purpose of Lazarus’ sickness—to show the necessity for waiting upon God in great crises. Jesus wasn’t waiting two days so that Lazarus would die and He could perform a great miracle. He knew that Lazarus was either already dead or that Lazarus was going to die on the very day the person brought word of Lazarus’ illness. We know this because Lazarus had already been buried four days when Jesus arrived in Bethany.
Jewish burial immediately followed death. The four days would be counted from:
• One day of travel by the messengers in bringing word to Jesus.
• Two days needed for Jesus to complete His ministry.
• The day or two needed by Jesus to travel to Bethany. The reason I say day or two for Jesus to travel is that crowds were always around Jesus, which prevented Him from traveling rapidly. It is possible that He completed His ministry in one day and took two days for travel to Bethany. He always ministered as He went along so there could be an overlap in ministry days and travel days. Nonetheless, Lazarus was in the tomb for 4 days.
The point is this: Martha and Mary were learning to wait on God throughout the whole experience. That tells us that when we ever find ourselves facing severe illness or death, there is no answer except to wait on God. Jesus knows when to act. He knows the exact moment, the best time:
• For us to bear the trial.
• For us to stand and be helped, to learn the most.
• For us to bear testimony of God’s power and strength.
Whenever that moment arrives, the Lord arises to meet the need of the believer. What the believer must do is what Martha and Mary had to do: learn to wait upon God. The Lord WILL act at the right moment.
We can’t dictate to God when to act or how to act.
1. You might remember Mary, Jesus’ own mother who, at the marriage feast, wanted Jesus to go and get more wine. He rebuked her for interfering with His work, the work of God. He has His own way and time, the very best way and time for meeting the need.
2. Remember Jesus’ brothers who tried to ridicule Him into going by caravan with them to the feast in Jerusalem. Jesus rebuked them for the same reason. He knew how to conduct His ministry and when to go about doing it. He knew what was best.
READ 7-10. Here we see the 4th purpose of Lazarus’ sickness and that was to teach the need to grasp opportunity. It had been 3 days since Jesus had received word of Lazarus’ illness. Now Jesus says it’s time to go into Judea. Bethany was in the district of Judea. The disciples protested. It was the Judean leaders that had tried to kill Jesus. So the disciples couldn’t believe what Jesus was saying. Why would He jeopardize their lives?
Jesus’ answer was forceful, but what was He saying? It’s actually a good lesson for us. He says there are only twelve hours in a day. So He must walk, that is, go and do his work while it is day. He must go and do what is right, regardless of the danger. He must go and do what is right or He will lose the opportunity.
If Jesus had walked in the dark, that is, failing to work and failing to do what He knew to be right, He would have stumbled. He would have shown that there was no light in Him. He knew the work to be done and the right thing to do, so He must go into Judea.
So I hope you can see that Jesus is telling us that a person only has a certain amount of time to see the Light of the world. Once the night comes, the opportunity is lost.
READ 11-14. Here we have the 5th purpose of Lazarus’ sickness and that is to show Jesus’ great power over death. Jesus made it clear what He was going to do. Lazarus was asleep so He would go and awaken Lazarus out of his sleep.
The disciples misunderstood what Jesus was saying. When Jesus said SLEEP, He meant DEAD. But the disciples thought He meant resting in sleep. But Jesus then made it very clear to them that He meant DEAD. Lets’ note four things from these verses.
1. Jesus called Lazarus “our friend.” He was dead, but he was still “our friend.” This is a hint that Lazarus is still living, still alive in another world. Jesus had strong feelings for Lazarus.
2. Jesus predicted that He would raise Lazarus from the dead. He would “wake him up” and resurrect him. This is a picture of the resurrection of believers.
3. The disciples misunderstood. Many disciples still do. They misunderstand the meaning of death and the resurrection.
4. Jesus said that death is as “sleep. Death is called “sleep” in order to picture the idea that the believer is resting in the presence and comfort of God—resting from the labor of his service on earth.
Unfortunately for those who are not Christ’s they picture death as an annihilation, as ceasing to exist. Scripture tells us that it is not. Believers continue to exist, resting in the life and comfort of God. The body lays down and, so to speak, sleeps; but not the soul of man.
READ v. 15. Here’s the 6th purpose of Lazarus’ sickness and that is to help strengthen the disciples’ belief. Jesus said He rejoiced that He was not in Bethany when Lazarus was sick. Why? Jesus joyed over what was to happen. Lazarus was to be raise from the dead, which meant that every believer, both then and in succeeding generations, would experience a great leap of faith.
This scene can’t help but stir the hearts of believers as it shows us that Jesus has the power to give life and to raise the dead.
READ v. 16. The 7th purpose of Lazarus’ sickness was to stir the disciples’ courage and loyalty. Note that doubting Thomas took the lead here. He showed great courage and loyalty to Christ, a dynamic example for every believer. He demonstrated:
• A deep love for Christ, a love that was ready to die for Him.
• A willingness to stand and to die with his fellow believers in the Lord’s work.
• A knowledge that to die for Christ is better than to live without Him.
So we have seen 7 purposes for Lazarus’ sickness—7 reasons that God allowed this to happen.
1. To glorify God and to proclaim that Jesus is the Son of God.
2. To show Jesus’ great love for us.
3. To show the necessity for waiting on God in a crisis situation.
4. To teach the need to grasp opportunity when it comes around.
5. To show Jesus’ power over death.
6. To help strengthen our belief.
7. To stir up our courage and loyalty.
