HELP FOR THE HURTING HEART
John 11:1-44
On any given Sunday, within this assembly there are people who are enduring tragedy, sorrow, and heartbreak. As we speak, members of our faith family are suffering emotionally, physically, financially, and even spiritually. You may have a precious loved one who is facing a terminal illness. Some are dealing with serious health issues themselves. With today’s economy many are struggling to make ends meet financially. Others may have rebellious children or marriages that are on the brink of divorce. Though we may be hesitant to admit it, there are times when we struggle spiritually.
Of all of the troubles and struggles that we may face in this life, one of the most difficult is enduring the death of someone that we love. Many will testify that the pain of a broken heart is much different and in some ways even worse than extreme and constant physical pain. The wonderful news is that we are not without hope and we can find help in times of immense suffering and sorrow. The hope and help that we need in the midst of pain, grief, and mourning is found in Jesus Christ.
One of the greatest biblical proofs of this reality is found in John chapter 11. Jesus had a close and beautiful relationship with a family in the town of Bethany. Various scriptures show us that Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were very special to the Savior. John tells us that Lazarus became very ill and his sisters sent word to Jesus. Though he was just a few miles away, Jesus did not arrive until four days after Lazarus had passed away.
In the beginning, Mary and Martha were concerned about Lazarus but confident in Jesus. Though this was a serious situation they possessed great hope; they were close friends with the man who had been traveling the region healing the sick, crippled, lame, and even those who were paralyzed. They had access to the One who had cleansed lepers, cast out demons, given sight to the blind, and made the deaf to hear and the mute speak. In fact, though they knew that Lazarus’ physical condition was critical, Mary and Martha possessed hope because they knew that Jesus had even raised people from the dead.
As a result of their hope, Lazarus’ sisters sent word to Jesus concerning their situation. Very soon their hope would fade and their faith would be tested. They knew that Jesus was aware of Lazarus’ illness, yet He did not arrive and Lazarus died.
Imagine the storm of emotions that those two women experienced throughout that four-day period. They experienced hope, trust, confidence, & assurance. Yet, in that same period of time they also dealt with uncertainty, helplessness, frustration, discouragement, doubt and even anger. There are times in life when we will experience this same range of emotions. Like the sisters of Lazarus, we will learn that sometimes Jesus doesn’t respond when, where, and how we would like, but ultimately His plans and purposes are greater than we could ever imagine.
There are many important lessons that we can learn from the story of Lazarus, but today I would like to examine the fact that in Jesus there is “Help For The Hurting Heart”.
Like Mary and Martha you may be in the midst of your own personal tragedy. If so, you may be asking: How should I handle my situation? Where can I turn? What can I do? Is there really hope we everything seems so hopeless? Based on the Word of God I can assure you that there is help for the hurting heart and it is found in Jesus Christ.
- As we examine the truths recorded in this passage of scripture, let me encourage you to:
I. REACH OUT TO JESUS WHEN YOU ARE HURTING
As Christians, even though we have access to the presence and power of Jesus Christ, we have a tendency to look for answers and assistance in all the wrong people and places. Troubles come and we turn to co-workers, family members, and close friends for answers. While we are blessed to have various important relationships in this life, no one can help us like Jesus. When we endure tragedy and experience a hurting heart, we must follow the example of Mary & Martha and reach out to Jesus.
The writer of Hebrews reminds us that “we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need”. (Hebrews 4:15-16)
- When we are experiencing a hurting heart we can and should reach out to Jesus. We are able to do this because of:
A. OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH JESUS
v1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
There were many people who followed Jesus throughout His earthly ministry who did not have a personal relationship with Jesus. This was not the case for Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. There are two occasions recorded in scripture where we see the intimate fellowship between these friends. There were many times when the Savior was welcomed into the home of this little family in Bethany. Because of their close relationship with Jesus, Mary and Martha were comfortable reaching out to Him for help and confident that He would respond. They were confident because they knew that Jesus loved them. John says in verse 5, “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus”.
The encouraging thing about the Savior’s relationship with this family is that they didn’t just call on Him when their world fell apart. They communed with Him in the good times as well as the bad. They loved Jesus and Jesus loved them. The accounts of Jesus’ time in their home show us that they regularly fellowshipped with Him, they served Him, they listened to Him and learned from Him, and they worshipped Him.
This should be the case for every born-again Christian. We certainly have the privilege of crying out to Jesus in the midst of tragedy, but that should not be the only time that His presence is apparent in our homes. On a regular basis we should fellowship with Him like Lazarus, serve Him like Martha, and sit at His feet listening, learning and worshipping like Mary.
As was the case for these close friends of Jesus, we have a personal and eternal relationship with the Lord. Though there are many different aspects of our relationship with Him, we must never forget that He is our friend and we can and should reach out to Him when we possess a hurting heart.
- Because of our relationship with Jesus, we have the privilege of reaching out to Him for help in times of need. Notice:
B. OUR REQUESTS OF JESUS
v2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”
It is interesting that John doesn’t say that Mary and Martha asked Jesus to come and heal their brother; they simply said, “Lord, he whom you love is ill”. There was no need to explain their desire because it was apparent; they wanted Jesus to come and heal Lazarus.
When you are enduring circumstances and situations that contribute to a hurting heart, your obvious desire is for Jesus to solve your problem and take whatever is causing your pain away. If you are sick, you want Him to heal you. If you are struggling financially, you want Him to provide a financial blessing. If you have a wayward child, you want them to return. If your marriage is failing, you want restoration.
No matter the source of our troubles we want relief and we always seem to think that we know what is best. The story of Lazarus shows us that Jesus doesn’t always respond when and how we would prefer, but that should not prevent us from reaching out to Him and making our requests known. In fact, ample scriptures prove that our Savior desires for us to do just that.
Matthew 11:28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
Matthew 7:7-8 “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
John 14:13 Whatever you ask in my name, this I will do, that the Father may be glorified in the Son.
John 15:7 If you abide in me, and my words abide in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you.
1 John 5:14 And this is the confidence that we have toward him, that if we ask anything according to his will he hears us.
1 Peter 3:12 For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous, and his ears are open to their prayer.
1 Peter 5:6-7 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you.
Just as Jesus loved His friends in the town of Bethany, He loves you and He will be with you throughout all of the troubles you encounter in this life. Furthermore, Jesus wants you to cry out to Him, He wants you to make your requests known.
- When you are hurting it is important to reach out to Jesus. However, reaching out to Him in prayer is not enough; you must also:
II. RELY ON JESUS WHEN YOU ARE HURTING v17-32
When I say that we should rely on Jesus I am referring to the fact that we should trust Him even when things seem to go from bad to worse. Verses 17-19 show us that we can and should:
A. RELY ON JESUS EVEN WHEN HIS RESPONSE IS DELAYED
v17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.
Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus concerning Lazarus’ condition. When the messenger arrived and informed them that he had made contact with the Savior, certainly they thought that the Lord would arrive within minutes of the messenger or at most a few hours later. Surely their close friend who had dined in their home and spent ample time communing with them would drop whatever He was doing and come to the rescue. They waited and waited and Jesus did not come. Then it happened, Lazarus died.
We have already covered the fact that as Christians we have a special, personal, and eternal relationship with Jesus. It goes without saying that He has done more for us than anyone else could have done. But let’s be honest, there are times when we think that because we have surrendered all and begun to faithfully walk with the Lord that He owes it to us to answer our prayers. On top of that, we have all of the many promises in His Word that assure us that He will hear and answer our prayers. This is an undeniable reality. However, we are never promised that He will answer them when we want Him to. In fact, it seems that the majority of the time His response is delayed. This is not because He doesn’t care about us or our situation. Quite the opposite, there are many times when God intentionally delays the answers that we seek and He does this for our benefit. Though we rarely understand it at the time.
When you possess a hurting heart, the best thing that you can do is to reach out to Jesus. At the same time it is important for you to rely on Jesus and to continue to do so when His response is delayed. Always remember that you serve an all wise, all knowing, ever present, and all-powerful God. He is sovereign and His timeline may not match up with yours, but He knows the whole story and He knows the absolute perfect time to grant your request. Knowing this, you should rely on Him even when His response is delayed.
- Moving further into the text we will see that it is also important to:
B. RELY ON JESUS EVEN WHEN YOUR REQUEST IS DENIED
v20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
v30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 Now 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.”
Notice that both of Lazarus’ sisters passionately informed Jesus that if He had come when they sent word to Him, Lazarus would still be alive. Their words reveal their faith in the power of the Lord, their confusion concerning His delay, and even hint at their frustration with Him. The fact is, Jesus’ response was not just delayed, their request was denied. They did not want their brother to experience death, they prayed to the Lord and His answer was “no!”.
Keep in mind, we know how this story ends. At that point in time Mary and Martha did not. Their faith had to have been shaken to the core. This man who had healed so many people and answered so many prayers in the affirmative had failed to do for them what He had done for others.
There are many times when we pray and the answer does not come when we want. But there are also many other times that we pray and the answer that we receive is not the one that we were hoping for or expecting. The fact is, there will be times when you pray with all of your heart, you plead your case before the Lord, you make your request known, you rely on Him and the answer to your request is “No”! What is the proper response when this happens? The proper response is to continue to rely on Jesus even when your request is denied.
“When God has another plan,
walk on and just say yes.
When God has another plan,
be assured that He knows best.
When all your dreams are shattered
rest in His sufficient grace;
you don’t have to understand,
when God has another plan.”
When God has a plan that is the opposite of yours, keep the faith and continue to trust in Him. When you reach out to Jesus in the midst of your pain and when you rely on Him even when His response is delayed, and when your request is denied, then you will find that you are able to:
III. REST IN JESUS WHEN YOU ARE HURTING
It is important for you to apply the steps we have learned today in order. Because the only way that you can truly rest in Jesus is to reach out to Jesus and to rely on Him. When you do this then you can experience rest even in the midst of immense pain and suffering. The story of Lazarus proves that:
A. YOU CAN REST IN HIS AVAILABILITY
v33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept.
v38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus 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.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”
The cynics in the crowd may wonder how I can say that we can rest in Jesus’ availability when He purposely made Himself unavailable when Mary and Martha seemed to need Him the most. Well, I can say this because Jesus was available when it mattered most. He knew that His delay would have a tremendous impact on Mary, Martha, Lazarus, the Disciples, the crowd that was in attendance and it even affected the enemies of Christ. To cover all of the reasons behind Jesus’ actions in this chapter would require another sermon altogether. But it is obvious that Jesus did what He did when He did it for various reasons. Ultimately, the Savior responded when and how He did for the glory of His Father.
Among those who are gathered here today there are a wide variety of troubles and struggles. It is also true that the people in our assembly are handling their hurt and heartbreak in different ways. Some are disillusioned, discouraged, doubtful and even defiant. Others are reaching out to the Savior, relying on Him, waiting for His response. It is important for us to resolve to remain faithful in the midst of our suffering and realize that our only hope of finding true rest is in Christ. We must look to God’s Word and cling to such promises as Hebrews 13:5 that reminds us that “he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”
Our Lord is always with us and though there will be times when it seems that He is a million miles away, He will never abandon us or leave us alone. Therefore, we can rest in His availability. Not only can you rest in His availability, Lazarus’ story shows us that:
B. YOU CAN REST IN HIS ABILITY
v41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I 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.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The 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.”
Not a single one of Jesus’ miracles was unimpressive. (They are called miracles for a reason!). It must have been astonishing to see Him heal the sick, cast out demons, walk on water, calm stormy seas, and feed multitudes with minimal resources. But to me there is something exceedingly fascinating about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. As Martha proclaimed, Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. This reality was no trouble for the Lord. He commanded someone to roll away the stone, said a prayer and then with three simple words, “Lazarus, come forth”, Jesus performed one of the greatest miracles in the history of the world.
It is important for you to know that there is a miracle that Jesus can perform in your life that is far greater than what He did for Lazarus. If you have never surrendered to Christ, the Bible says that you are “dead in trespasses and sins”. Those who die without Jesus will spend eternity separated from God. The wonderful news is that Jesus can deliver you from that fate. Though Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead, there came a time when Lazarus died again. If you will repent and believe in Jesus, you can be brought “from death unto life”; in Christ you can be “raised to walk in newness of life”. You can be born again and live with full assurance that though you may die physically, you will live eternally in the presence of the Lord.
For those of us do who belong to Jesus, this miracle provides us with great hope; it shows us that no matter what we may face in this life, no problem is too big for our Master. If He can do what He did for Lazarus, He can solve your greatest need. He has the power and the ability to come on the scene and do an amazing work in your life. As a result you can enjoy great rest. We have seen much evidence today that proves that Jesus may not move when, where, or how you want. But He knows what and when is best.
If you are hurting, reach out to Jesus. You can make your requests known to Him because of your relationship with Him. You must also rely on Jesus when His response is delayed and when your request is denied. Then, you can experience the rest that only the Lord can provide. You can rest in both His availability and His ability. The miracle that Jesus performed in Lazarus’ life makes it clear that there is “Help For The Hurting Heart”.
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