John 11 (1)
You parents and grandparents, aren’t there some accounts from the Bible you love telling your children about? Like, David standing up against the giant Goliath, and whipping him with a stone. Jonah being swallowed by a great fish, Moses parting the Red Sea, Noah and the Flood, Jesus walking on water and feeding the 5,000, Moses parting the Red Sea. Neat stuff that sets our imagination running.
Well, in the 11th chapter of the book of John, we have one of those accounts, an account, or a sign that Jesus performed, that has so many lessons for us.
- Read John 11:1-53
1. God’s timing is always perfect - Jesus got word that Lazarus was sick. Now Lazarus was a friend of Jesus. Jesus had eaten with Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha a number of times. Mary had anointed Jesus’ feet with perfume and then had washed his feet with her hair.
In other words, Jesus knew these folks. They were probably some of the people Jesus was the closest with while He was here on earth.
So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “The one you love is sick”. One would expect Jesus to pray and instantly heal Lazarus from a distance. He had done that before. Or, one might think Jesus would go to Bethany and heal Lazarus there, I mean, after all, Bethany was just a few miles up the road, and these folks had fed Jesus so many times.
But Jesus did neither. He waited.
I don’t know about you, but that’s not what I would have expected. And if I were Mary or Martha, that’s not what I would have wanted. Jesus, you’re our friend, come and help us now, but Jesus waited.
The Lord does not always work when we want Him to, but His timing is always perfect.
I remember while I was in seminary, and again when I was a youth pastor and then when I first started pastoring, I often told the Lord how much easier things would be if I had a wife. I often reminded him how much more effective my ministry would be if I had a wife a children. I mean, not everyone wants to listen to a preacher talk about marriage and about how to make one work, if he’s not married himself. So I would tell the Lord, “You know Lord, a wife really would help right now.”
But He made me wait. And I never would have appreciated the gift He gave me if I hadn’t waited. Some times we have to grow up a little bit.
Mary and Martha wanted Jesus to come and help their brother, but Jesus waited. God’s timing is always perfect.
Second, you don’t know how you will respond, so pray for protection.
2. You don’t know how you will respond, so pray for protection.
- Read John 11:7-8, 16.
If you remember, in Chapter 10, the Jews tried to stone Jesus. They wanted to kill Him. In John 10:21 they picked up rocks to stone Him, and in verse 39, they tried to seize Him, but He eluded their grasp. In other words, from man’s perspective, He escaped by the skin of His teeth.
Now Jesus says, “Let’s go back there again.” The disciples are beside themselves. “Jesus are you crazy? They just tried to kill you. You barely escaped, and now you want to go back there again?”
Don’t you know some of the disciples began exchanging glances? Don’t you know they started shaking their heads thinking, “What have we gotten ourselves into?”
Jesus answers, “Yeah, we’re gonna go back.” So Thomas turns to the other disciples and says in verse 16, “Let’s go too so that we can die with Him.”
That’s pretty gutsy right there. That takes some nerve. Let’s go so that we may die with Him.
I don’t know if that would have been my attitude. But on this day the disciples decide that being with Jesus is more important than their own safety, so they choose to stay with Jesus.
Now, these are the same disciples who abandoned Jesus on the night He was arrested. Among these disciples is Peter, the one who denied knowing Jesus 3 times. And the one saying, “Let’s go die with Him, is the same one who stands in the upper room, and when the others tell him that Jesus has been raised from the dead, says, “Unless I put my fingers in the holes in His hands and my hand in the gash in His side, I’ll never believe it.”
You never know how you will respond in a given situation until you are in that situation.
On July 8, 1998, my dad and another deputy were called to the home of Allen Singletary in Geneva. Allen had pulled a gun on his landlord, so my dad and another deputy went to talk to Allen, to get the situation under control.
While they were talking to him, Singletary, standing in the doorway of a shed, reached behind him and came out with a pistol which he turned and fired at my dad, hitting him in the arm.
My dad backed up against a tree, called in on the radio that he had been hit and was not doing well. He stayed there, firing with his uninjured arm, and eventually emptied his weapon, hitting Singletary in the leg. Later, after my dad had passed out from loss of blood, Allen came and shot him several more times. Killing him.
Other deputies and SWAT came out and 2 other deputies were shot and wounded that evening. The deputy that was with my dad, though he was well-trained and armed, never fired his weapon.
We like to think that we will act heroically in a given situation. We all like to think that we will stand boldly and proudly when called to do so, but we never know how we will react when the chips are down.
Thomas and the disciples, standing with Jesus that day said, “Let’s go die with Him.” Little did they know that they would soon all abandon Him, and Peter would deny that he even knew Him.
That’s why Jesus told us when He taught the disciples to pray, “Pray, lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from the Evil one.”
> 1 Peter 5:8 Be sober-minded, be alert. Your adversary the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion, looking for anyone he can devour.
I remember a discussion among a bunch of preachers and gonna be preachers in class one day where it was mentioned that a fellow preacher had been caught having an affair with one of his church members. A number of the guys were crowing about how they would never do something like that. The professor replied, “The reason many of you haven’t fallen is because you haven’t been tempted.”
The disciples acted if not courageously here, at least faithfully, but you don’t know how long that faith, that courage will last, so pray. Pray for yourselves. Pray for your brothers and sisters in Christ. Pray for your pastor. Pray.
We aren’t playing here. People’s lives are at stake. People’s homes and marriages, are at stake. Our children are at risk. Our country is at risk. The church is under attack.
There’s a reason Paul calls us soldiers and tells us to put on the full armor of God, and why after telling us to do so, that he tells us to pray all prayers. Pray.
1. God’s timing is always perfect.
2. You don’t know how you will respond, so pray for protection.
3. God’s power is not limited to the future
- vvs 20-27
Jesus tells Martha, “Your brother will live again.” Yes Jesus. I know. He will live again at the resurrection. Martha, I am the resurrection.
Yes Jesus. I know there is a heaven. I know things will be good there, but I’m not expecting very much right now. I know things will be great there, but I’m not looking for miracles right now. I’m just going to trudge on
When was the last time you looked for God to do something miraculously? Sometimes I think, we are afraid to pray boldly, or to ask God for great things, because we’re afraid to have our faith tested, and some times I have to be reminded of that as well.
I asked ya’ll a while back, to pray about the sale of our little church building. We want to get out of debt here, and wanted to get out of the landlord business. I was growing tired of having to look after that other property, and honestly, was tired of having to chase people down in order to get paid. So, I asked ya’ll to pray we’d sell the building. Well, you started praying.
Later, Bonnie came to me and told me, “I’m going to pray that the property sells in October.” Now, that’s faith right there. I’m not only going to pray, but I’m going to pray specifically.
I’m happy to announce that the closing was this past Thursday, 2 days before the end of October!
Yes God works in the future. Yes Heaven is going to be great! Yes, the Lord is going to give us eternal life, but God is still alive and well on planet earth, and He is still doing miracles. He is still working on behalf of His children.
Ya’ll remember when Drew and Danny went to Asia. Not long after he got to Thailand, he and Danny were befriended by a man we call Boy. Danny and Drew were kinda adopted by boy and his parents. They later went to Myanmar, which is an impoverished country. They barely got out of that country and back across the border to Thailand where they have better medical facilities before the border was closed.
Boy told Drew, don’t worry about the covid. If you get back here, we’ll take care of you. I’ll buy tents and we’ll live in the jungle if we have to until this thing passes. Drew and Danny ended up staying in a cottage Boy’s parents had until they were able to come back to the states.
When it came time to leave, there were tears all around, and Boy’s mom said she would miss her American sons.
All the way on the other side of the world, God had our boys adopted by some complete strangers, to keep them safe. God is still alive and well and at work in the world.
BTW, Boy called Drew the other day. Boy’s mom had fixed a meal, and Boy told her it was too spicy. Boy’s mom answered, “My American son would like it.”
Martha, :Lazarus will live. Yes I know Lord, in the future resurrection. Martha, I AM the resurrection.
1. God’s timing is always perfect.
2. You don’t know how you will respond, so pray for protection.
3. God’s power is not limited to the future.
4. Our Pain Does Not Go Unnoticed
- vvs 32-35
Jesus wept. Such a significant statement that it is set apart in a verse of its own.
When the Bible was written, it was written on scrolls. Often each book was a different scroll. In the New Testament, the lines of Greek writing ran on and on, with little punctuation or separation.
The chapter divisions we use today were added by Stephen Langton, Archbishop of Canterbury in A.D 1227. These Old Testament chapters were divided into verses by Rabbi Nathan in A.D. 1448, and the New Testament chapters were divided into verses by Robert Estienne, also known as Stephanus in 1555. When Robert divided the chapters into verses, he recognized the significance of this verse, of this statement, and set it apart as the shortest English verse in the Bible.
Jesus wept.
Why? Why did Jesus weep? He knew what He was going to do. He knew that days before when they first told Him Lazarus was sick. Back in verse 4, Jesus said this whole episode would not end with death, but that this was going to happen so that “the Son of God might be glorified through it.”
Jesus knew what He was going to do. He knew how He was going to do it. He knew when He was going to do it; but that doesn’t mean that He took the pain of Mary and Martha lightly. It does not mean that He discounted their tears.
My friend, there is pain and heart ache and suffering in this world. That’s the only way it could be if God was going to give us free will. In order to give us the opportunity to choose Him, God also had to give us the opportunity to Not Choose Him. And that decision by many in the world to not choose God, has led to the pain and suffering we see in the world today. But, that does not mean God is unmoved.
What parent can see a child fighting addiction, and see their pain, and not be moved? What parent can see their child choose a sorry person for a spouse and not be moved? I am so glad the Lord was gracious to me and didn’t give me daughters, because I am afraid the first time one of them came home crying because a boy had broken her heart, that I would want to hurt someone.
My friend, the Bible tells us that Jesus looked over the city of Jerusalem, and saw what it had become, and the stupid choices the people were making and how it was going to turn out and He wept for the city.
Never think God is unmoved by your pain, your sorrow, and your heartache. Someday it will be fixed.
> Revelation 21:4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.
But we’re not there yet.
A number of years ago, when Drew was just a child, he started having real bad leg pains, so we took him to the ER. When we got there they told us he was dehydrated. So, they were going to give him some fluids. Being young, and dehydrated, they had a hard time finding a vein. They stuck that young child 6 times before they found a vein.
I still remember him looking up at me from that table, with tears in his little eyes as they prepared to stick him again and him making me, “Daddy, do I have to?” Oh, I can tell you that it was through tears that this dad said yes, knowing that it was necessary in order for him to get well.
Well my friend, I want you to know that when you are hurting, when you are in pain and don’t understand, that it is only through tears that the Lord allows that suffering to come your way, knowing healing is on the way.
1. God’s timing is always perfect.
2. You don’t know how you will respond, so pray for protection.
3. God’s power is not limited to the future.
4. Our pain does not go unnoticed
5. Nothing is beyond God’s ability
- vvs 38-40
Jesus told the folks, “Roll away the stone.” How did Martha respond? Jesus, he stinks. He’s been dead 4 days.
Jesus, if you had been here when he was sick, you could have healed him. Jesus, if you had been here shortly after he died, perhaps you could have done a miracle and given him back his life then. Perhaps you could have performed CPR, or resuscitated him in some way; but it’s too late now. It’s no longer possible. His body has already started breaking down.
I have a friend named Randy Engleman. Randy is a nuisance animal trapper for the state of Florida. Randy used to like to go to the rendezvous, the reinnactment where trappers would get together and remember the old mountain men that opened up the western part of the United States. Those guys would make their own coonskin caps, and buckskin clothes and such.
Well, Randy found out that a local rancher out in Oklahoma had had a buffalo die, so he asked the man if he could have the carcass. He wanted the hide for some clothes, and wanted to do some stuff with the tail and the horns and hoofs and such. The rancher told him he could have it.
Well, it had been very cold and the buffalo was frozen, so Randy and his friend took a chainsaw to cut off the head. That didn’t work. The hair bogged down the saw. Randy had cut off the animal’s tail. They tried one thing after another, and finally they decided they were just going to load the animal up, and take the whole thing with them.
What they didn’t know was that while the outside of the animal was frozen, the inside had not, and it had been rotting for several days, so when they tried to load it up in the back of the truck, the intestines ruptured and all of that rotting inside came pouring out the back and covered them.
By the way, that’s how Randy got his official indian name, “One Swollen Buffalo.”
Martha says, “Jesus, it’s too late. He stinks.”
My friend, I want you to know that when God is at work, nothing is impossible.
Some of you have family members who are wrapped up in the world. They are so blinded by the things of the world, and have embraced so many of the world’s values you feel that they are a lost cause. You tell the Lord, He is so much like the world he stinks.
Some of you have friends who are eaten up with addictions and you tell the Lord, “She stinks.”
Some of you look at our country, and you see the abortion, and sexual exploitation, and the homosexuality, and our twisted schools, and our crooked politicians, and our ignorant-deceived younger generation, and you say, “God, she stinks.”
You look at police officers being attacked, and looters on the street, and politicians trying to close churches, and nastiness being taught to our children in many of our schools, and you say, “God, she stinks.”
> Isaiah 59:1 Indeed, the Lord’s arm is not too weak to save,
and his ear is not too deaf to hear.
> 2 Chronicles 7:14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.
Perhaps the day will come when the Lord removes His hand from our country. Perhaps the day will come when our nation will be judged, but I have not given up hope. I have not thrown in the towel.
Lord, our country stinks, but please, do it again.
1. God’s timing is always perfect.
2. You don’t know how you will respond, so pray for protection.
3. God’s power is not limited to the future.
4. Our pain does not go unnoticed
5. Nothing is beyond God’s ability.
6. The Lord doesn’t always work like we expect
Had Jesus ever raised someone from the dead before, who had been dead this long? No. He interrupted a funeral procession for a widow’s only son one time, and gave that man back his life. And, Jesus healed Jairus’ daughter, but that’s not what He usually did. And He had certainly never called someone back from the grave, after he had already been laid to rest. Jesus more often healed them before they died.
That’s what Mary and Martha expected Jesus to do in this case. That’s why they first sent word that Lazarus was sick. But that is not how Jesus chose to work in this case. He chose to do something different.
Just because the Lord has chosen to work in a certain way in the past, doesn’t mean He’s limited by our expectations.
I was thinking about the the other day, as 1 of our 4-H boys and his friend were in the chicken pen replacing a waterer. I was thinking about that the other day as a man and his son from our 4-H club were riding their motorcycles around the property.
My word, who ever heard of hog pens at a church? Who ever saw a church with gingerbread people all over the place?
The Lord doesn’t always work the way we expect Him to, nor the way He has worked in other situations. Our responsibility isn’t to tell the Lord how He needs to work, but rather to look for where He is working and to join Him in what He’s doing.
Which leads us to the 7th lesson to be learned from this account.
7. We have a part to play
- Read 41 - 44
In verse 41, at Jesus’ command, the people roll the stone away. In verse 44, Jesus has the people unwrap Lazarus, to let him go.
Who brought Lazarus back to life? Jesus did. Who put breath back in his lungs? Jesus did. Who took what was rotting and stinking and gave it life again? Jesus did.
But, before and after this life-altering event in Lazarus’ life, Jesus had work for others to do. Jesus gave life, but people rolled the stone away and people unwrapped Lazarus’ funeral clothes.
Jesus is the only One Who can change a heart. He is the only One who can open people’s eyes, and touch their hearts, and change their lives. But, He has a part for you to play in His work as well.
Before our friends and family are given new lives, we live the part of salt and light in front of them; showing them what a life touched and impacted by the Lord looks like. We pray for them. We witness to them. We serve them.
And afterwards, we disciple them. We teach them, and we continue t pray for them.
Let me ask you this morning, what are you doing to roll away a stone so someone can live again? What are you doing to release them, to untie them?
My friends, Christianity is not spectator sport. It calls for all hands on deck.
Would you this morning, pray and ask the Lord, “Lord, what would you have me do? Lord, what part am I to play in your kingdom?”
