SERMON OUTLINE:
(1). The Comfort of Knowing God Cares.
(2). The Comfort of Knowing God’s Presence.
(3). The Comfort of Knowing God’s Promise.
(4). The Comfort of Knowing That God Has a Plan.
SERMON BODY:
Ill:
• Neil Thomas Douglas, is a photographer;
• Who was travelling to Galway from Glasgow via Stansted to photograph a wedding.
• When he got on his Ryanair flight,
• He noticed that there was already a man in his seat.
• He politely asked him to move and when the guy looked up,
• The 32 year old got the shock of his life!
• The man sitting in his seat was 35 year old Robert Stirling,
• Whose striking similarities means he could easily be his twin brother.
• (Google story for photos or email me)
• Now that was bizarre;
• But it turns out that they both also booked into the same hotel in Galway;
• And later that night they both ‘bumped’ into each other at the same pub.
• TRANSITION: Bizarre and strange things can happen when you travel!
• As illustrated in the story of Neil Douglass and Robert Stirling.
• The story we are looking at this morning starts in a bizarre way:
• Verse 6 tells us that when Jesus got news from the two sisters,
• And this news was an emergency-come-quickly cry for help message.
• He stays where he was for two days!
• He is in no hurry to go and he sends no message back to the sisters,
• They are left in silence watching their brother Lazarus die!
• Well, let us park the story there for a moment;
• And we will come back to it in a few minutes time.
• Now in our travels with Jesus we have arrived at Bethany.
• Question: What do we know about Bethany?
• Answer: Some facts & trivia regarding Bethany.:
(a).
• Its origin:
• Bethany first became a settlement, a village in the 6th century B.C.
(b).
• Its name Bethany means…well actually the experts can’t agree on its meaning;
• Some say it means, 'house of song', others 'house of affliction', others, 'house of figs'.
• Still others say; 'house of the poor'
• Ancient Bethany was the site of an almshouse for the poor;
• And a place of care for the sick.
• i.e. Mark in his gospel tells of Simon the Leper's house there (14:3-10);
(c).
• Its location:
• Bethany was a small village on the eastern slope of Mount Olivet:
• About four miles from Jerusalem.
• Today it is an Arab village called ‘Al-Azariyeh’, an Arabic version of Lazarus.
• The original village was probably higher up the hill to the west of the tomb of Lazarus.
Ill:
• The gospel writers sometimes refer to the village as ‘his’ (Jesus) base;
• When going in and out of Jerusalem.
• (Matthew chapter 21 verse 17; Mark chapter 11 verses 11,12&19).
(d).
• It’s popularity.
• Bethany or 'El-Azarieh' is a popular pilgrimage site;
• Because it contains a house believed to be 2,000 years old.
• It is believed ‘by some’ (mainly the tourist board);
• To be the House of Martha, Mary & Lazarus,
• Well, it at least serves as a reminder of a house from that time period.
• Bethany also hosts the now well-visited “Tomb of Lazarus”
• Which is located at the southeast edge of the ancient village ruins.
(e).
• Three people lived in one particular house at Bethany.
• They were close friends of Jesus, and Jesus visited them on a number of occasions.
• The home at Bethany belonged to Martha (Luke chapter 10 verse 38).
• Which might indicate that she was a widow.
Ill:
• For Jesus this was not just a house but a home,
• It was an oasis, a hideaway, somewhere to go and relax!
• Here he can switch off and relax, he can ‘recharge his batteries’.
• Because he is able to enjoy the company of his three special friends:
• Mary, Martha & Lazarus.
• Friends who won’t demand miracles or ask leading questions.
• They just want to enjoy him and his company.
• It’s a home where He knows He is loved and accepted,
• Where He knows He can rest.
• Note: Jesus could relax in this home:
• So much so that in his final week (passion week);
• Jesus stayed in Bethany, traveling into the city each day.
(f).
• Four specific events are recalled in the Gospels, set in the village of Bethany.
• FIRST: It was the setting for the incident of Mary & Martha.
• (Luke chapter 10).
• When Martha had her priorities wrong and was busy doing;
• When Jesus wanted her and Mary to be listening!
• It is always a danger that Christians face;
• We can be busy serving the Lord at the expense of not spending time with the Lord.
• SECOND: It was also the home of Simon the Leper;
• He held a dinner party to show off in front of his friends with Jesus as the guest;
• But it all went horribly wrong for Simon,
• Because a sinful woman gate-crashed the party and stole the show!
• She anointed Jesus with expensive perfume (Matthew chapter 26).
• THIRD: As we will shortly see;
• Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead and offered His well-known saying:
• “I Am the Resurrection and the Life!”
Quote: The Franciscan monk Albert Storme says;
“the reason why pilgrims have been drawn to this place is not based on “some ‘casual’ wonder. In their eyes, Lazarus’ resurrection prefigured that of Christ, and heralded their own return from the grave.”
• FOURTH:
• Jesus spent time with these dear friends before the Passion Week,
• (John chapter 12).
• When you know you only have a few days to live;
• You do not waste them!
• I suggest you spend time with the people you love most.
(g).
• The Ascension of Jesus took place near Bethany.
• Luke chapter 24 verse 50.
“When he had led them out to the vicinity of Bethany, he lifted up his hands and blessed them.”
___________________________________________
TRANSITION:
• Well that’s the trivia regarding Bethany;
• Let’s focus our thoughts and minds on one specific incident.
• The raising of Lazarus from the dead.
___________________________________________
Ill:
• Imagine you are standing on a seashore.
• Looking a sailing ship.
• The ship spreads out her white sails to the morning breeze;
• And sets sail for the ocean.
• The ship looks beautiful and strong,
• You watch her until she seems like a speck of white cloud,
• Just where the sea and sky meet each other.
• Someone by your side says; “There, she’s gone”
• But where has she gone?
• Gone from your sight, that is all!
• She is just as large in mast and hull as she was when she left the shore.
• She is still carrying her load of living weights to its destination.
• Just as one person says, “She’s gone!”
• Another voice says; “She’s here!”
• TRANSITION: Death is similar;
• Earth’s loss is eternity’s gain.
• Each one of us has an endless existence,
• First in this world, and then in the next.
The Christian dies in hope – they are certain that when he or she dies:
• They are ‘absent from the body’
• And immediately ‘present with the Lord’.
• (2 Corinthians chapter 5 verse 8)
• Now, don’t misunderstand me;
• There is no emotion so deeply distressing or painful as grief,
• The death of a loved one leads to sadness. Shock, numbness, and bewilderment.
• Feelings of regret, guilt, anger and self-pity surface;
• As memories emerge.
• Some of these recollections are intensely happy,
• Others are painful.
• But the sense of loss lingers.
Quote: Someone has said:
“thank God for the ability to shed tears, but it can feel that an ocean full of tears will not be enough to heal the hurt. Endless words from family and friends are well meaning but inadequate to relieve the heartache and heaviness of the loss”
• As we pick up the narrative of Mary, Martha and the death of Lazarus;
• That is the struggle Mary & Martha are experiencing,
• The struggle between trusting God and blaming God for the death of their brother.
• So often when we lose a loved when we face those contrasting feelings.
• Between trusting in God and blaming God, for what has happened.
Ill:
• Did you ever as a kid take hold of an egg and put a small hole in each end of it;
• And then blow the contents out.
• If you ever collected birds eggs you had that experience.
• The problem was that the egg looked like any other in the bowl, or collection;
• But it was hollow.
• And when pressure was applied to it, it broke easily into shattered pieces.
• TRANSITION: Many people are like those blown out eggs;
• They have a hollowness in their souls;
• And it leaves them feeling shattered from the pressures of life.
Question:
• When the unexpected happens, do you crumble like a hollow eggshell;
• Or do you know where to find strength for your soul?
• The God of the Bible does not take away the hurt and the pain of death of a loved one;
• Death is part of living in a ‘fallen world’
• It will one day come to all of us and all of those we know and love;
• The God of the Bible gives us life to enjoy;
• And when that life is taken away, he gives us comfort to cope!
NOW AS WE LOOK AT THIS INCREDIBLE PASSAGE OF THE BIBLE:
• It is incredible because:
• We have an account of a man who is actually raised from the dead, back from beyond.
• A man who had literally started decomposing,
• But who in an instant, was restored;
• And not just restored back to life but to full health!
Ill:
• The first miracle that John recorded Jesus performing;
• Was at a wedding in Cana.
• This last miracle that John recorded Jesus performing;
• Was this funeral occasion at Bethany
• One contrast between a wedding and a funeral is:
• In a wedding you unite to live, but in funeral you separate through death.
• One is a start of a union, and the other is an end,
Note:
• I am not going to do a verse by verses analysis of the passage;
• We haven’t got time and we have done that before;
• What I want to do is pull out a few threads;
• Threads that show comfort and hope in this chapter.
(1). The Comfort of Knowing God Cares.
• At the start of the chapter Lazarus is seriously ill (vs 3);
• His family and friends are panicking – doctors cannot save him..
• When we pick up the narrative that illness has led to death.
Question: Who was Lazarus?
Answer:
• Lazarus was not one of the 12 disciples,
• He was the brother of Mary and Martha,
• These three people were very close friends of Jesus.
Ill:
• Three times in the passage we are told of the special friendship,
• The special relationship between Jesus and Lazarus:
• Verse 3: "Your dear friend…..….the one you really love!"
• Verse 6: "Jesus loved Martha, Mary AND Lazarus"
• Verse 36: “Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
APPLICATION:
• Circumstances change but God never does;
• The love of Jesus is not transient, it is not like a shifting shadow.
• It is constant!
Ill:
• Charles Spurgeon (18th century Baptist preacher & author);
• Once went down to visit a friend in the country.
• His friend had built a new barn,
• And above it he had placed a weather-vane bearing the text, "God Is Love".
• Spurgeon did not like for he thought it gave the impression;
• "That God's love is as changeable as the wind?"
• But his friend said that it was the complete opposite;
• "It means that God is love, whichever way the wind blows!"
• TRANSITION: Circumstances change but God never does;
• The love of Jesus is not transient, it is constant!
(2). The Comfort of Knowing God’s Presence.
• At long last Jesus and the disciples arrive at Bethany (vs 17)
• Lazarus was now buried and had been in the tomb 4 days.
• Many friends and relatives have also arrived on the scene.
• They had obviously come to pay their respects and to mourn the death of Lazarus,
• When Jesus arrives the place is packed, full of people.
Note: The coming of Jesus:
• Sparks reactions in the two sisters Mary & Martha,
• Reactions that are both similar and dissimilar, note the contrasts in verse 20.
20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him,
but Mary stayed at home.
• Don’t miss that contrast in
• Martha goes to greet Jesus, Mary stays at home.
• It is the reversal of the last time Jesus visited their home (Luke chapter 10):
• Then Mary is preoccupied with Jesus,
• And Martha taken up with the home and home duties.
• But now Martha goes to greet Jesus,
• Mary stays at home.
Now when they do both eventually come face-to-face with Jesus:
• Notice: the similarity in their greetings:
• Martha verse 21: “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.
• Mary verse 32: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
• “If” is such a big word:
• Both of them realise that if Jesus had hurried up, and got a move on,
• He could have prevented the death of their brother,
• But for some reason (vs 6) says he waited two days before he set off to help them.
• You can imagine the question constantly going around in their heads;
• “Where is Jesus?”
Note:
• Although their words of their greetings are the same,
• Their posture is not.
• Martha runs to Jesus, she is active and upright.
• Mary falls at Jesus’ feet, passive and prostrate.
THESE TWO SISTERS REACT IN TOTALLY DIFFERENT WAYS TO JESUS::
The Reaction of Martha (vs 21):
• You get the impression Martha is angry, hurt and confused,
• She wants intellectual answers;
• She wants an explanation as to ‘why’.
• So she says to Jesus (verse 21);
• "Where were you Lord ? You could have done something",
• "You could have saved him, why weren't you here?"
And as a sort of second best she says in verse 22:
"But even now it's not too late, ask God to raise him",
"He'll do it for you !!! But not for us".
Verses 23-26: Quietly and reassuringly Jesus replies.
23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?”
• Jesus replies to Martha;
• And although she cannot fully grasp the truth of what Jesus says;
• She is prepared to trust him.
Verse 27:
Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ,
the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”
• Martha then uses three titles for Jesus;
• “Lord”, “Christ/Messiah” and “Son of God”.
• Notice in this verse that instead of blame, now there is trust.
• Instead of chaos, there is calm.
• And her need for explanations, and theological debate are met in Jesus.
• No clever answers, no rational explanations.
• She catches a glimpse of his divinity!
• Jesus simply says:
• "You don't know why, but you do know me".
• "You know who I am the things I've said…………Now trust me".
The reaction of Mary (vs 32):
• Mary’s needs are very, very different to Martha’s,
• Mary seems to need emotional support,
• "Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died!"
• She says exactly the same thing as her sister,
• She had thought it often over the past 2 days.
• Martha needed intellectual comfort,
• Mary needed emotional comfort.
• Martha needed to know that Jesus was in control.
• Mary needed to know that Jesus cared!
Look at how Jesus responds (vs 35): "Jesus wept"
• These were not crocodile tears,
• Again in verse 38 Jesus once again grieves.
• Here we see Jesus fully understanding the sisters feelings.
• Fully sharing their grief and fully meeting their individual needs.
• Mary sees the humanity of Jesus!
Quote: Warren Wiersbe:
“When you are sick, you want a doctor and not a medical book or a formula.
When you are being sued, you want a lawyer and not a law book.
Likewise when you face your last enemy, you want the saviour and not just a doctrine written in a book.
In Jesus Christ every doctrine is made personnel”.
Notice:
• There are 3 different viewpoints/perspectives here:
• Martha, the crowd and Jesus all view this incident from a different perspective.
(1).
• Martha looked to the future (vs 24):
• “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
(2).
• The crowd looked to the past (vs 37).
• “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
(3).
• Jesus centred their attention on the present (vs 25):
• “I AM the resurrection and the life!”
• In other words;
• If you have Jesus with you then you have everything that is needed for that situation.
(3). The Comfort of Knowing God’s Promise.
Verse 38-39:
38Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39“Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
• "4 days" Not only dead.
• But corruption would have now have set into Lazarus’ body.
• Martha is trying to believe Jesus can do something,
• But the reality of the situation is that it is too late!
Verse 40:
40Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
41So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
• "Lazarus, come out".
• Named individual.
Quote:
“A Puritan writer once said; “If Jesus had not named Lazarus when he shouted, he would have emptied the whole cemetery!”
Verse 44:
44The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
• Since Lazarus was bound, he could not even walk to the entrance of the tomb,
• So God’s power must have carried him along, it was an unquestionable miracle.
• In front of their eyes stood a man who was back from beyond,
• He was decomposing and then he was fully restored again.
• And think of the stories he must have been able to tell.
• Back from the dead, it is literally mind blowing.
(4). The Comfort of Knowing That God Has a Plan.
• Two questions are raised in this incident:
• (1). Why does God allow bad things to happen?
• (2). Doesn't God care when we experience hurt and heartache?
• Note:
• Both those questions found their answers in Jesus Christ.
• The same is true for us…
• God answers our questions in the person of Jesus.
Quote: C. S. Lewis:
“I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it,
but because by it I see everything else”.
• The same is true for us and God:
• We do not get all the answers, probably couldn’t handle them.
• But God answers our questions in the love & re-assurance of Jesus.
In conclusion:
• Death is humanities greatest enemy:
• All of us will experience it some time. It is life’s greatest fact!
• Yet Jesus has defeated this enemy called death again and again and again.
• Verse 25:
“Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?””
Ill:
• Around 125 A.D., a Greek by the name of Aristeides wrote to one of his friends,
• And trying to explain the extraordinary success of the new religion, Christianity.
• In his letter he said,
“If any righteous man among the Christians passes from this world, they rejoice and offer thanks to God, and they accompany his body with songs and thanksgiving as if he were setting out from one place to another nearby.”
Ill:
• John & Betty's Stam were American Christian missionaries to China,
• They worked with the China Inland Mission (CIM), during the Chinese Civil War.
• In 1934 they were arrested and murdered (beheaded) by Communist Chinese soldiers.
• They were martyred for the faith and you can read their story in the book:
• ‘John And Betty Stam: Missionary Martyrs’ by Vance Christie.
• And among their few personal belongings was this poem:
• Called, ‘Afraid? Of What?’ And written by E. H. Hamilton
To feel the spirit's glad release?
To pass from pain to perfect peace,
The strife and strain of life to cease?
Afraid? Of that?
Afraid? Of what?
Afraid to see the Saviour's face,
To hear His welcome, and to trace,
The glory gleam from wounds of grace,
Afraid? Of that?
Afraid? Of what?
A flash - a crash - a pierced heart;
Brief darkness - Light - O Heaven's art!
A wound of His a counterpart!
Afraid? Of that?
Afraid? Of what?
To enter into Heaven's rest,
And yet to serve the Master blessed?
From service good to service best?
Afraid? Of that?
Afraid? Of what?
To do by death what life could not -
Baptize with blood a stony plot,
Till souls shall blossom from the spot?
Afraid? Of that?
• TRANSITION: For the believer;
• Death is not some black chasm to be feared,
• Death is the gateway into something far better.
• Question: What gives that assurance?
• Answer: Faith in Jesus Christ and him alone!
SERMON AUDIO:
https://surf.pxwave.com/wl/?id=vAbYJkc57ti0Ri7lkADq1ZyvwYUMeG1N
