Title: Be Loosed
Theme: A message about how God can loose us from our doubt, our impatience, and our issues.
Text: John 11:1 – 44
Note: I used the commentary on John from Jon Courson as a reference.
Opening Text
Miracles of Jesus
Joh 11:34-44 And He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." (35) Jesus wept. (36) Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!" (37) And some of them said, "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?" (38) Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, 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 him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days." (40) Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" (41) Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. [66] And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. (42) And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me." (43) Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" (44) And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."
We jump to the end of the story. We see the miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. At the very end we see a man coming out of the tomb wrapped in “dead man’s clothes” and Jesus says loose him. Set him free to no longer be bound.
This is the theme of this whole story. It is a powerful story of God loosing some people from stuff in their lives. Let us review these scriptures.
Introduction
John 11:1-44 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (2) It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. (3) Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."
Like Martha and Mary, I don't approach the Lord on the basis of my love for Him. You know why? Because my love for the Lord is fickle and feeble. But His love for me, however, is fixed and firm. He's never surprised by what I say, never taken aback by what I do. Therefore, wise is the man or woman who approaches the Lord based on His love. – Courson Commentary
It is interesting how the sisters make this personal. It was just a normal request. Truthfully it wasn’t that big of a deal. I mean by now Jesus had: healed the blind, caused the lame to walk, even raised a child from the dead.
Be Loosed from not seeing the glory of God
(4) When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."
Later on in this passage Jesus tells us that, “Lazarus is dead” (verses 11 - 13. So is there a contradiction here. No! Jesus views death differently than we do. For us it is a big event for Him He has the power to resurrect or it is a transition. Just a small part in life.
We get too focused on the process of death and not the proximity (heaven).
Be Loosed from missing God’s love
(5) Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
This explains a lot about the relationship. He loved them. This is the key to the whole passage, things may happen to us but it does not mean that God’s love has failed. He still loves us. He loves us enough to guide us through the hurt.
Be Loosed from Impatience
(6) So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.
Two more days. Have you ever felt this way. You are praying and Jesus is delaying. But God will teach of patience in His timing. There is a purpose.
(7) Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." (8) The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?" (9) Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. (10) But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."
There will be a time when darkness comes. When it is “Jesus’ time” but it is not now. No man can take Jesus’ life only if He “lays it down”.
(11) These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up." (12) Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well." (13) However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. (14) Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.
Be Loosed from Unbelief
(15) And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him."
“I am glad” Jesus states here that He is glad, why? Because He saw the bigger picture. He saw what was going to take place. He trusted that the Father would hear Him and do what was best.
Be Loosed from Disloyalty
(16) Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him." (17) So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. (18) Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. (19) And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
Martha meets Jesus – Correction
(20) Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. (21) Then Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
Is this a rebuke, a reminder or a statement of faith? It could be either. Knowing Martha it is a reminder that Jesus should have been here to save her from the pain and heartache of death.
(22) But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."
I still have faith in you. I trust that you will do the right thing and make the right decision. Martha was not fickle and carried about with every “wind and doctrine”. She was stable even in the storms or questions of God’s decision.
Be Loosed from Theology
(23) Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." (24) Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." (25) Jesus said to 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?" (27) She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world."
There is a the theology of Jesus (our understanding) and the faith that we have in Jesus.
There's not a believer in this room tonight who doubts the Lord's ability to do a miracle. What we struggle with is the same thing with which Martha struggled. That is, we don't question His ability. But we do question His willingness. Like Martha, we say, "I believe You're Someone special, unique, powerful, the Son of God, Messiah. But I can't believe You would be willing to do something for me." - Courson
Jesus was making a definite statement. I AM is now here. This is bigger than just waiting on heaven but as some would say, “Jesus is in the house”. It is time to refocus on what is happening here.
Jesus and Mary - Posture
(28) And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, "The Teacher has come and is calling for you." (29) As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. (30) Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him. (31) Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, "She is going to the tomb to weep there." (32) Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."
Look at Mary’s posture. Down again at the feet of Jesus. Luke 10 we see here there. This time it is a grand time. Happy and enjoying the teaching of the Lord. This time she returns in hard times.
Notice the same question with a different posture. As you can tell they had been talking.
(33) Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. (34) And He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." (35) Jesus wept.
As the mourners wail, as Mary weeps, as Jesus is at the scene, He finds Himself also crying, which intrigues me because He knew what would be happening. Why, then, does He weep?
Perhaps Jesus wept because He was reminded that sin destroys, sin kills, sin stinks. Aren't you finding this to be so? Aren't you seeing heartache and sadness all around because of sin? Doesn't it make you heavy of heart sometimes when you realize that precious people are hurting because of sin?
Perhaps Jesus wept because of the unbelief that surrounded Him. He had given a promise that Lazarus would rise, but no one embraced or believed it. On the contrary, they were all mourning. Jesus said, "It's going to be all right." But they said, "No, it's not." So, too, when He says all things are working together for good (Rom_8:28), and we say, "No they're not," our unbelief must break His heart as well.
Perhaps Jesus wept because He knew He was going to pull Lazarus out of Paradise and bring him back to this planet. Poor Lazarus!
Perhaps Jesus wept because, although He knew everything would turn out well eventually, those around Him were hurting presently. We are told in the Book of Hebrews that Jesus is a High Priest who sympathizes with us, feels for us, and prays on behalf of us. Therefore, even though I should be stronger in faith, when I'm hurting, Jesus hurts too.
(you notice that a few times when He sees the people weeping and He groans inside of Himself)
So it is that the shortest verse in Scripture becomes the most powerful when seen in light of both the deity and humanity of our Lord. - Courson
Be Loosed from Past Hurts (sometimes causes discomforts to bring back up again.)
(36) Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!" (37) And some of them said, "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?" (38) Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, 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 him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days." (40) Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?"
No doubt in that hot climate, the body of Lazarus took on a distinct odor. That is why Martha said, "Lord, just let it be. Don't ask me to roll away the stone. It stinks." The same is true of you and me. The Lord wants to do something in our lives. But before He does, oftentimes He'll say, "Roll away the stone. Expose the problem. Let Me have total access to the situation."
"Oh, Lord, not that," we say. "Do we have to deal with that? I'm embarrassed about it. I'm ashamed of it. It stinks."
The Lord said, "I gave you a promise, Martha. But here's the prerequisite: Roll away the stone." Do you think Jesus could have rolled away the stone Himself? Later on, He did—His own stone. But here He says to Martha, just as He says to me, "The promise is given, but here's the prerequisite: Roll away the stone. Even though what's inside stinks, let Me deal with it." - Courson
What a very powerful thought. We try to “hide” things from God. We don’t won’t Him to remove old scars and scabs. We don’t won’t to go there again. It brings up hurt feeling. Things that have not been dealt with or healed.
Splinter in my hand illustration. A while back I got a deep splinter in my hand. It was very painful. I wanted to get it out but it was very deep. Over time skin grow over the hole which made it harder to get to. I was hoping it would go away but guess what, it didn’t. I finally had to dig though the dead rough skin to get to the splinter, when I got it out it was an immediate difference.
If you can trust God to loose you from your pain you will see an immediate difference.
(41) Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. (42) And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me." (43) Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" (44) And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."
Turning to His disciples, to His followers, to the family, Jesus said, "I resurrected Lazarus. But I'm giving you the privilege and responsibility of loosening him." "I resurrected them. Now you loose them by praying for them, sharing with them, and standing by them." - Courson
Jesus can save a person but He calls us to disciple. A life long process of drawing closer to the Lord.
This is an interesting take. Jesus could have done everything. Yet He leaves something for them to do. Discipling is the key. Bringing someone along. Setting people free.
This gives new light to Matthew 18:18 Assuredly, I say to you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.
Conclusion
So what is it that God needs to loose you from. Doubt, Disloyalty, lost hope, hurts, etc. He is here this morning to give you new life and freedom. He loves you and cares about you.
