THE SILENT MAN WHO SPOKE NOT A WORD – Message John 11 LAZARUS Part 2
THE CHARACTERS OF JOHN’S GOSPEL
John 11 v 17 When Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. John 11:18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, John 11:19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. John 11:20 Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary still sat in the house.
The Apostle now moves the story to Bethany and says that Jesus found that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. That is the way John wrote it, but Jesus did not find that out when He arrived. He already knew all that from ages past because He is the Omniscient God, the same One who saw Nathaniel under a fig tree. If He does not know the end from the beginning, He is not God. The sense of verse 20 is that Martha did not wait for the group to arrive but set out to meet them. Someone must have raced ahead with the news. I think it was grief that kept Mary in the house in verse 20. “In the tomb” for four days means that he had been dead for four days, as they were buried straight away, not like the custom we have. Even if Jesus had not delayed for two days, He still would have been two days late.
John 11 v 21 Martha therefore said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. John 11:22 Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” John 11:23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother shall rise again.” John 11:24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” John 11:25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, John 11:26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” John 11:27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord. I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”
Poor Martha. She had a burdened soul of regrets. How many of us are just like that? Why, most of the world is. You can always identify regrets. It is the word “IF”. “If only I had gone there earlier. If only I had fixed the car brake last week. If only I could undo the damage my comments made. If only I’d gone to see her when she was still alive. If only I had got a proper tradesman! I have a PhD in regrets! And so we have Martha - “Lord, IF You had been here, my brother would not have died.” That shows Martha had faith for the here and now. Her great statement showed that she believed Jesus would have kept Lazarus from dying IF the Lord had been there when he was sick. Her faith did not extend beyond that, just like us. We pray that the Lord will heal people and restore them, but we don’t think of that in terms or raising them from the dead. Her regrets were focussed on the Lord’s absence – “IF only You had been here!”
In the year I was born a famous poem was written by RUDYARD KIPLING in “Rewards and Fairies” in “Brother square-toes”. This is it –
If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you,
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don’t deal in lies,
Or being hated, don’t give way to hating,
And yet don’t look too good, nor talk too wise:
If you can dream—and not make dreams your master;
If you can think—and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you’ve spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build them up with worn-out tools:
If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: ‘Hold on!’
If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with Kings—nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds’ worth of distance run,
Yours is the Earth and everything that’s in it,
And—which is more—you’ll be a Man, my son!
The poem's line, "If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two impostors just the same," is written on the wall of the players' entrance at Wimbledon.
The exchange from verse 22 to 27 is most interesting and important, and contains one of the most crucial verses in the bible. Martha steps out in faith and believes that God will grant what Jesus asks. When Jesus told her in verse 23 that Lazarus would rise again, her reply in verse 24 indicated she was not thinking of a resurrection there and then, so I am not sure what Martha was thinking of when she said that God would give Jesus what He asked for. She believed in a future resurrection like we do.
This crucial verse I alluded to is verse 25 which says, Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, (and the Lord reinforced that with verse 26) and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”. The last time in England I did a series on “The I AMs of John’s Gospel” and there were 8 of them all about 40 to 50 minutes each. They are more seminar messages but I would like to give that series sometime. At every funeral in the past you would hear “I am the Resurrection and the Life” but today, in line with the general paganism of the post Christian era, it is often not mentioned; rather “a celebration of the life of so and so”.
Verse 25 is fundamental to our faith. If there is no resurrection from the dead, then there is no hope and our faith is just a vain prattling. But Christ has risen and has become the firstfruits of all who believe. In Him is LIFE and the life is life everlasting. He is the Resurrection and the Life. Jesus asked Martha if she believed what He was saying, and she most certainly did, and her testimony is this - She said to Him, “Yes, Lord. I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.” Martha is a monument to faith. Still, with all that was said, Martha could not understand the power of the Lord to raise Lazarus from that sealed tomb.
Let us look at the next section. John 11 v 28 When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “The Teacher is here, and is calling for you.” John 11:29 When she heard it, she arose quickly and was coming to Him. John 11:30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him. John 11:31 The Jews then who were with her in the house and consoling her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
Martha went off to get Mary with some of the most personal words that comforted Mary - “The Teacher is here, and is calling for you.” Jesus calls us individually. He calls His sheep by name. Mary was so overjoyed that she rose up and went out to meet Jesus but He was still not at Bethany. In the very place where Martha met with the Lord, so too, did Mary. The friends and comforters followed Mary. Martha wanted it to be between her and Mary which is why John used the word “secretly”. Verse 28.
Let us look at the next section, verses 32 to 37.
John 11 v 32 Therefore, when Mary came to where Jesus was, she saw Him and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” John 11:33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit, and was troubled, John 11:34 and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” John 11:35 Jesus wept, John 11:36 and so the Jews were saying, “Behold how He loved him!” John 11:37 but some of them said, “Could not this man who opened the eyes of him who was blind, have kept this man also from dying?”
Mary and Martha must have spoken about their brother with a lot of “IFs” and Mary repeats the same thought as Martha – “If only You were here, Lord!” That would have solved the problem. Please do not miss Mary’s position in the account. She was at Jesus’ feet in humility and devotion. The whole crowd was weeping, and this affected the Lord so much that it says of Him, He was moved in spirit and troubled. It was the sorrow of the people that moved Jesus. That, though is not quite right, for it says “deeply moved in spirit”. The KJV says “He groaned in the spirit”. The wording of the Holman version is “When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, He was angry in His spirit and deeply moved.”
This word “angry” comes from “embrimáomai” ? “properly to snort like an angry horse; (literally) "snort (roar) with rage" which expresses strong indignation, and deep feeling that is moved to sternly admonish.” Again look at that expression, “deeply moved in spirit” in verse 33. The literal word is “tarásso” ? (to agitate back-and-forth, shake to-and-fro); to set in motion what should remain still; to "trouble" ("agitate"), causing inner perplexity from getting too stirred up inside ("upset"). We can see from all that, that Jesus was so deeply affected and that resulted in His weeping.
Why did Jesus weep? Jesus had no need to ask where Lazarus was buried but He engaged the people and went to the tomb. Verse 35 is the shortest verse in the bible. “Jesus wept.” Have you ever asked, “Why did Jesus weep?” We just saw that He was very troubled, all stirred up inside, angry, and deeply affected. I will give what I think are reasons for His weeping.
1. He did not weep because He had lost His friend Lazarus. He knew that He would raise Lazarus from the grave.
2. He wept for the sorrow of the two sisters. He identified with their sorrow and distress. This is compassion. He is the Great High Priest who comforts the heartaches of His people. It is almost as if He weeps in heaven over our sorrow and pain.
3. He wept because of the results of sin. He was a Man of sorrows and acquainted with grief. The sorrows of sin were all around and death is the ultimate consequence of sin. Sin has reaped so much destruction from people of wicked intent, which is everyone.
4. He wept for the unbelief of the people. They did not believe Him and even though the people there were friends of Mary and Martha, they still rejected His message. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men, but people refuse/refused to walk in the light because their deeds are/were evil.
Verse 36 was an observation, but was it correct? Of course Jesus loved Lazarus, but was that the cause of weeping when He was going to resurrect him? The question in verse 37 was logical. How can Jesus give sight to a man who was born blind but could not stop Lazarus from dying? Interesting question but we pass on from that.
John 11 v 38 Jesus again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave and a stone was lying against it. John 11:39 Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” John 11:40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you, if you believe you will see the glory of God?” John 11:41 They removed the stone, and Jesus raised His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You heard Me, John 11:42 and I knew that You hear Me always, but because of the people standing around I said it that they may believe that You sent Me.” John 11:43 When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” John 11:44 He who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Jesus was still agitated and disturbed and deeply affected, and ordered the sealing stone to be removed. Martha’s objection was that the smell would be objectionable. (“stinketh”, in the KJV). Verse 40 is another encouragement to believe what God said. Earlier Jesus spoke with Martha but it had not registered. The necessity of faith is a slow process for some to grasp. Before Jesus did anything, He prayed to the Father, knowing that God knew and had heard, but that this was to be a witness to the people gathered around, and that they might grasp faith (verse 42).
Verse 43 is a command of authority. Jesus commanded that Lazarus come forth. That would have been in a victorious and strong voice. Actually, the better translation is “Lazarus come out!” It has been said that Lazarus was called by name, otherwise the whole graveyard at Bethany would have risen from the dead. The story here I think is most instructive. In Revelation chapter 4, verse 1, just when man’s church history on earth is wrapped up, we have the Rapture in this verse - Revelation 4 v 1 After these things I looked, and behold, a door standing open in heaven, and the first voice which I had heard like the sound of a trumpet speaking with me said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after these things.” I believe when the Lord comes, He will shout to the redeemed, dead and alive, “Come up here!” 1Thessalonians 4 v 16 begins with, “For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout . . .” and the shout will be, “Come up here!”
John records that He who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” Nothing but the power of God could accomplish that. The power and authority of God is explosive and the universe was spoken into existence. Jesus is THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE. Our hope is fixed on Him. He will change our vile bodies into resurrected bodies like His own. This is what the New Testament calls “the blessed hope”. We shall be caught up and forever be with the Lord, our Saviour and Redeemer. Lazarus who was totally bound up in the death of the world, was released by the power of God into a new life. So shall it be for us when the Lord shall come and release our dead bodies into the newness of life in the Resurrection.
If you were there that day and had been a personal friend of Lazarus, what would you have asked him? How about, “What did you do?” or “Where did you go to?” or “Did you know what happened?” or “Were you aware of what was going on when you died?” or “What’s on the other side?” What did happen to Lazarus? There are two possibilities I can think of. Normally, when the righteous died before the cross, they went to Paradise. Did Lazarus go to Paradise? If he didn’t, then God kept him in a state of absolute unconsciousness like it is when anesthetic puts you to sleep in an operation.
Follow with me as we draw this to an end.
11 Verse 45 says many of the Jews who came to Mary and witnessed the miracle, believed. (Why Mary; not Mary and Martha?)
11 Verse 46 speaks of the enemy, the betrayers of Jesus.
12 Verse 9. All the curious arrived to take a look at Lazarus, and hopefully, Jesus.
12 Verse 10. These haters of the Lord even wanted to kill Lazarus. Evil men try to hide the evidence of God. That is why evolution is so popular.
12 Verses 17 and 18. The witnesses spoke of Jesus’s power and many went to seek Jesus as a result.
Lazarus was THE SILENT MAN. In the account not one word is attributed to him. Like the other Lazarus, not one word, but don’t you think he is like this man - Heb 11 v 4 “By faith Abel offered to God a better sacrifice than Cain, through which he obtained the testimony that he was righteous, God testifying about his gifts, and through faith, though he is dead, he still speaks.”
END OF MESSAGE
ronaldf@aapt.net.au
COULD ADD THE POEM AT THE BOTTOM
John 11:45 ¶ Many therefore of the Jews who had come to Mary and beheld what He had done, believed in Him,
John 11:46 but some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.
John 12:9 ¶ The great multitude therefore of the Jews learned that He was there and they came, not only for Jesus’ sake, but also that they might see Lazarus whom He raised from the dead,
John 12:10 but the chief priests took counsel that they might put Lazarus to death also
John 12:11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away, and were believing in Jesus.
John 12:16 These things His disciples did not understand at the first but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written of Him, and that they had done these things to Him.
John 12:17 The multitude who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of the tomb and raised him from the dead, were bearing Him witness.
John 12:18 For this cause also the multitude went and met Him, because they heard that He had performed this sign.
LAZARUS IS DEAD – BUT ALIVE
Low in the grace he lay, Lazarus their brother;
For him the Saviour came; not for any other;
Content he waited there in bliss and happiness.
He could not envisage that day of cheerfulness
When a command was heard: “You, Lazarus, come out!”
A summons so direct; a body-shaking shout.
Impelled, he stood upright; body and spirit unite;
He walked towards the voice; towards the outside light.
From life to death to life; in Christ, death is outlawed!
From death’s cold hand was called – to his old home restored.
He rose in victory, removed from death’s dark claim.
What power in that voice that called him by his name.
Lazarus suggests this – one day Jesus will raise
Each child of His asleep; they on His face will gaze.
Resurrection and life belong to God alone.
We will rise from the dead to worship ‘round His throne.
Poem – Ron Ferguson 2021
