I want to begin by pointing out a correction that Jesus made to Martha's view on resurrection, a mistake that many people make even today.
In John 11:40 we read, "Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” That was a kind rebuke. Jesus was rebuking Martha for her incorrect view of His power to raise the dead.
But first, before we look at the the correction, let me say that the "glory of God" that is referred here is the resurrection miracle, the raising of their beloved Lazarus. So He tells them that if they believed, they will see the glory of God. It was true then and it is still true now - if you believe you'll see the glory of God. Faith makes you see the glory of God.
But let's go back to the correction. Jesus told her, "Did I not tell you if you believe you'll see the glory of God?' A question arises: When did Jesus tell her that? It happened when Jesus got to the home of Mary and Martha, when they saw him, both, but especially Martha, said (In a way, blaming him for the delay), "Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died..." Jesus told her, "Your brother will live again." Then she said, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”(V.24).
Martha had her eschatological facts right, she knew that he will rise again in the resurrection. However, her problem was not that, her problem was the NOW, the present, her felt need. She kind of felt like Lazarus should be alive, that he shouldn't have died.
It's good to have hope for the future, but many a times what we need now is so crucial that no hope for the future can satisfy. I like the chorus to the song, "Sing the Wondrous Love of Jesus" that says,
"When we all get to heaven
What a day of rejoicing that will be
When we all see Jesus
We'll sing and shout the victory."
It's good, It's soothing to the soul. It gives us hope. However, it doesn't necessarily satisfy the thirsty and hungry soul. There are many times that I want to see Jesus now, I want Him to appear and speak to my heart, I want him to come now, and I would say a big Amen to apostle John's deep prayer, "Come, Lord Jesus, Come." (Rev. 22:10). Hope for the future is encouraging, yes, but still doesn't quench the thirst in my heart for His presence. My heart still cries like Moses, "If your presence doesn't go with us, then don't bring us out of this place." (Ex. 33:15). No amount of future hope can satisfy me. I need Him to shine His face to me Now.
Martha was mistaken though and Jesus went ahead and corrected her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).
"Do you believe this?" Believe what? That Jesus is the resurrection and the life, Now. He said, "I Am the resurrection and the life." Not He will be the resurrection, but He is Now the resurrection. When Jesus asked Martha, "Do you believe this?," He was asking her whether, like Abraham, she believed that God raises the dead. And although she said Yes, she really didn't believe because when Jesus commanded that they remove the stone, she responded, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” And that's when Jesus mildly rebuked her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”
God raises the dead "NOW." He's a God of resurrection. Romans 4:17 says that Abraham believed in a God who raises the dead. The tense is present continuous, not just future only. He believes in a God who raises the dead NOW. The context of his faith is in regard to his "dead" body and Sarah's barrenness. He believed God is able to give life to his body, regarding the promise of a son even in his old age. He kept on believing that over 20 year period until the miracle happened.
When it says that Abe believed in a God who raises from the dead, it's not talking about future end-times resurrection (though true) but present continuous. It says in Ezekiel 37:13, "Then you shall know that I am the Lord, when I have opened your graves, O My people, and brought you up from your graves." What graves? Graves of sin, graves of hopelessness, graves of stolen destinies, graves of sicknesses, graves of despair, etc.
Now, for the rest of my message I want to focus on three hindrances to our resurrection miracle, or put it differently, three things you must do to experience your resurrection miracle.
1. You must take Jesus to your grave, to where you lost hope and gave up (33-34).
"Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, “Where have you laid him?”
Where have you laid him? Where have you buried him? Where did you lose hope and completely gave up in despair? You need to take Jesus there.
You see, Jesus knew all things and definitely knew where Lazarus was buried. He didn't need to be shown. This was not for the sake of Jesus but for their sake. Secondly, Jesus didn't need to be near the grave to call out Lazarus in order for Lazarus to hear. Lazarus was dead and his spirit was not in the grave. He could have called him out from anywhere and Lazarus would have come back to life. This was for the sake of those around him. They needed to take Jesus to where Lazarus was laid.
You see, I believe, before anyone dies, a lot of attempts are made to save their life. The Bible says that Lazarus was sick. We are not told what he was suffering from. It could have been cancer, or TB, or any other life-threatening disease. Before he died, however, I believe his sisters made a lot of attempts to save him. Maybe they rushed him to the emergency room, or gave him medicine, and/or prayed very heard, but all in vain. With all the attempts they made, they saw their beloved Lazarus succumb to death and breath his last. A funeral was conducted and they buried their beloved Lazarus, and walked away from the tomb in grief, disappointment, pain, and despair.
And now, just like they walked away from the grave, Jesus wants them to walk with Him back to the grave where they lost hope and buried him.
That's what Jesus wants you to do, if you are going to experience healing, resurrection of your "dead Lazarus." You have to walk back with Jesus. Take him to where you lost hope. It might be shameful and full of "stench," but he wants you to go back and revisit your tomb. It could be a grave of marriage, divorce, rape, sinful defeat, broken relationships, family relationship, that you don't want anyone to touch, even your own memory. But Jesus wants to go back with Him and revisit. It's kind of acknowledgement and confession to Him.
2. Take Away the Stone (V.39).
Lazarus was not only dead and buried, they put a heavy stone at the mouth of the tomb to close it and prevent any bad smell from coming out.
The stone is the closure, the conclusion of the matter. Notice they put it there, not Jesus.
Listen: Any closure or conclusion that we put on our despair, discouragement, hopelessness, etc, that God has not put will need to be removed before we can experience our miracle of resurrection.
You see, at one point, after calling and waiting on Jesus, their beloved Lazarus died. They buried him and concluded it was over. They had a lot of pain, grief and disappointment with Jesus. "If you had been here," They blamed him, "Our brother would not have died." (V.32b).
They were disappointed with God for delaying or not coming on time. They loved Jesus very much. Mary spent time worshiping at his feet, anointing Him with very expensive oil, and Martha served Him wholeheartedly, and yet He didn't come on time when they needed Him the most. They buried him but their feelings or emotions were not buried. And they had this stone on the tomb - the stone of closure, but closure with a lot of pain.
You might be someone like that. Someone who has been hurt very bad that you put a stone to block anymore more painful memory. You have said, "I will never trust men or women again." Or you have said "I will never trust certain kind of people, or I will never marry or be married." Others have been hurt by Christians, pastors, or the church, or even disappointed by God, and you have decided to close that chapter, phase the pain out. You have put a closure, a heavy stone to block any memory to surface."
Before Jesus can raise your "Lazarus," you must remove that stone. Jesus didn't put it there, you did and you must acknowledge this and remove it.
Imagine if Jesus raised up Lazarus and this stone was there, the resurrected Lazarus would not have been able to come out, and would probably have died there - again! There are some people who have not experienced their resurrection miracle because of this kind of stone. This stone (closure) is sometimes so heavy that it will need other's support in prayer or supernatural power to remove it from the mouth of the tomb.
3. Take away the grave clothes binding him (44).
"And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave-clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
Jesus didn't say, "Lazarus, be alive," but, "Lazarus, come out." And the Bible says, that "out came the one who had died bound with grave clothes." That's amazing! He came out of the tomb but his feet and hands bound. That's a miracle by itself because a question arises, how did he walk out of the tomb if he was bound hand and feet? Nothing short of another miracle.
When Lazarus came out of that tomb, he was completely alive but bound. You couldn't add anything to his being alive. He was fully alive but not lively. He needed to be loosed from the grave-clothes to be free and lively. Jesus commanded, "Lose him and let him go."
In the same way, our miracles come with work to do. They come fully alive but with work to do.
The greatest resurrection miracle is the miracle of the new birth, regeneration, being born again and receiving eternal life. When we are born again, we receive complete eternal life. You cannot add anything to the life that God gives us when we get saved, it's perfectly eternal life. However, we are born again with grave-clothes that need to be untied. We have grave-clothes of sin, sinful habits, company, sinful nature, etc. They keep us from being lively as Christians and needs to be loosed. That's the work that needs to be done to our resurrection miracle.
Taking Jesus to your grave is confession, confessing and acknowledging your lostness, hopelessness. Taking away the stone is putting away any argument against receiving Jesus, or that would keep Jesus from entering and giving you life, and lastly, take away the grave-clothes is the working out of our salvation with fear and trembling (Phil. 2:12).
