THE NEVERTHELESS OF HIS CARING
John 11 (KJV)
Introduction
• [Illus] – A bank was opening a new branch office and flowers were ordered to celebrate the occasion. After the ribbon cutting an upset business man was on the phone with the florist. “Charles”, he said, “we will never do business with you again.” The florist was shocked and asked if the flowers had arrived and if they were pretty enough. “Oh yes”, was the reply, “but it sure was embarrassing to me to cut the ribbon and then look over and notice that the flowers stated ‘Rest in Peace’”…There was silence on the other end of the line for a good 30 seconds. “Charlie are you still there?” “Well, yes sir, I was just thinking about the flowers that are at a graveside stating ‘Congratulations on your new location’”
• The Bible is full of contrasts and surprises.
• John 11:14-15
• God’s actions are above ours. We just can’t fully comprehend all that He is, does and is about.
• Jesus is Son of God and the son of man – God yet man
• The moment you believe you have Him figured out – POW – He surprises you.
• To me Jesus is “The Great Nevertheless”
• That may sound corny, sac religious, and funny – yet I’m serious.
• The word “nevertheless” means “nonetheless, however, in spite of”.
• The word describes Jesus so well – Romans 5:8
• Try to remove your mind of Christ thinking for a minute. The cross & the resurrection seem so out of place. Those would not be the answer we’d come up with if we were God. Nevertheless, Jesus went to the cross for you and for me.
• In the upcoming weeks I’d like to help you see Jesus as “The Great Nevertheless”. To accomplish that I will be focusing on several of the “nevertheless” statements of our Lord in the KJV.
• Today we focus on “the nevertheless of His caring”
• John 11 tells the story of the raising of Lazarus from the dead..
• What do we notice about Jesus, “The Great Nevertheless”, in this passage?
1. The way that He loves
a. In verse 3 Jesus gets a message from Mary and Martha concerning their brother Lazarus’ illness. They remind Jesus of His love for Lazarus. The word they use is “friend love” – indicating that Jesus knew Lazarus somewhat and had some feelings for him.
b. In verse 5 we are told that Jesus did love Martha, Mary and Lazarus. Yet a different word is used this time. The word John chooses to use is “God love”. The word indicates that Jesus knew them through and through and was totally devoted to them.
c. And He loves you the same way!
d. He knows you – every action – every thought – every motive. He knows what others know and He knows what only you know – and He still loves you.
e. He loves you despite how you’ve treated Him – despite your sins, failures, and unfaithfulness.
f. He knows the truth, nevertheless, He loves you.
2. The way that He views death
a. Verses 4, 11-15
b. It took at least one day for the news of Lazarus’ sickness to reach Jesus. By then Lazarus was dead.
c. Though the sisters were urgently calling for Jesus to come, He wasn’t in a hurry to get there.
d. To the sisters – Lazarus was near death AND death is so final.
e. To Jesus – the finality of death did not exist BECAUSE He was its Master.
f. A good many deaths have rocked our church over the last few years. Yet Jesus is still in charge. He does not view death as we do.
g. We are scared of it. We don’t understand it. It is ugly. We try to avoid it.
h. Jesus has no fear of death. You did notice how calm He was in verses 11-15, didn’t you?
i. Lazarus is dead; nevertheless, it is not as final as it appears.
j. Oh the way that He views death.
3. The way that He responds
a. Notice that Jesus tarried for 2 days – verses 5-6.
1) That is quite a wonderful way to show love, wouldn’t you say?
2) This is certainly an unexpected reaction from the Lord.
b. Just imagine things in Bethany. Everything is in turmoil. The sisters are full of fear and stress. They have cried out to the only One who could help and Jesus still has not arrived.
c. Let’s pause a moment and think about “answered prayer”.
1) Did Jesus answer their request?
2) Did He answer their request the way they expected?
d. All prayer is answered. God answers with a “Yes”, “No”, or a “Wait”.
e. They asked Jesus to come and heal Lazarus. He comes and raises Lazarus.
f. Knowing something about Jewish thought may help us at this point.
1) They believed that at death the soul lingers close to the body for 3 days.
2) There would still be hope for the soul to reunite with the body.
3) On the 4th day the soul sees decomposition setting in and leaves. Then there would be no hope of earthly life again.
g. If Jesus would have come right away. Lazarus would have been dead 2 days or less – still hope. The raising of Lazarus could have had another explanation. But after 4 days…?
h. Martha is very adamant about the stone being rolled back. Her brother’s body was decomposing. The spirit/soul has finally left and there is no hope.
i. So that is what you think is it, Martha? Well, The Great Nevertheless is here. Oh the way that He responds.
4. The way that He encounters difficulty.
a. Verses 7-8
b. “Well excuse my French Lord but you are crazy to go there. That is a mine field ready to explode. You’ll be falling right into their hands.”
c. Verses 46-47,53
d. Yes, it was a minefield ready to explode. And so Jesus said to His disciples, “Let’s go.” He knew what lay in store – not only some irritated folks but a cross.
e. To go to Bethany, just outside of Jerusalem, meant He would encounter the worse of difficulties. Yet He doesn’t quiver a bit. He is The Great Nevertheless.
f. I’m impressed by the way He encountered difficulty head on.
5. The way that He gets involved
a. Return with me to verse 15 – “to the intent ye may believe”.
b. That is the reason He delayed. That is the reason He went to Bethany.
c. Note this well – What God does, He always has us in mind. God took my brother Glenn home to be with Him almost 6 weeks ago. Why? I don’t know, but I have trust enough in the Lord to know that His purposes are beyond our understanding and at the same time have our best interests in mind.
d. Now notice verse 7 – it doesn’t say “go to Bethany” – it says “go into Judea again”.
e. He was not only going to Bethany to resuscitate Lazarus from the dead, but was also going to Jerusalem to die for Lazarus so that when Lazarus died physically again he could be raised to eternal life.
f. What God does and what God allows to happen is not only for our present but also for our future.
g. Oh the way He gets involved. He is The Great Nevertheless.
h. He has been involved in your life. He has brought you to this point in life. I wonder why??
6. The way that He gives life
a. Verses 14-15, 25-26
b. He can give life because He is life.
c. Just as Lazarus’ sickness led to his death, your sin will lead to yours. Sin is destructive and damning. It will take you down.
d. Romans 6:23a, 23b
e. Jesus died for me. Jesus died for you. He took eternal death on our behalf. By trusting Him, you will not have to face eternity in hell.
f. By trusting Him you will leave this earth in death probably. That happens so you can be free of this corrupted body – free to receive a new body – free to enjoy life with God forever.
g. By trusting Him you will experience future resurrection – at death. But Jesus is the resurrection today. By trusting Him, His Spirit comes into your life and brings new life – present life – eternal life.
h. Death can be a foreboding and scary thing. But The Great Nevertheless takes the sting and power out of death and uses it to translate His follower into the presence of God.
i. Oh the way that He gives life.
Conclusion
• Notice with me 2 more verses
o Verse 35 – Jesus weeps for you – He cares – Oh how He cares
o Verse 43 – He calls you forth
• Calls us forth to:
o Receive life
o Be unwrapped
o Get involved (feast)
• Despite all the objections that are coming into your mind, will you trust The Great Nevertheless?
