The Sisters and the Savior
John 11: (Pew Bible p. 843)
Good morning, and Happy Palm Sunday. Please turn to John 11. If you are new to Christianity and aren’t really sure what all the different days mean, Palm Sunday marks the beginning of Holy Week. It’s the day Jesus entered Jerusalem on the back of a donkey, which fulfilled an Old Testament prophecy that the Messiah would enter Zion this way. You can look it up for yourself if you want—Zechariah 9:9—written over 400 years before this happened.
And maybe you are a little surprised we aren’t talking about that story this morning. But as we begin this Holy week, which you know is going to end with Jesus’ death on Friday and his resurrection three days later, I want us to look at an event that happened at some point before Jesus’ triumphal entry. And it’s a story that shows, maybe better than any other story in the gospels that Jesus understands everything we go through and experience.
The Bible says that Jesus was like us, in every way, yet was without sin (Hebrews 4:15). He experienced joy and sadness, hunger, thirst, the love of family and friends. We didn’t really need a multimillion dollar super bowl ad campaign to know that He gets us.
With that, let’s hear God’s Word this morning, from John 11, beginning in verse 17:
17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles[c] off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 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 on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.[d] Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
[Prayer]
If there is one lesson that has really hit home with me during this study of the I AM statements of Jesus, it’s that context matters. These seven statements are profound, for sure. But remember that every conversation or teaching Jesus had was at a specific time, in a specific place, to a specific group of people. And that is true for this I AM statement also. Probably more than any of them.
Chapter 11 opens with a messenger coming to them with news that a man named Lazarus was sick. This was the brother of Mary and Martha, and they lived in a town called Bethany, just outside of Jerusalem. These siblings had a very special relationship with Jesus. Verse 5 says Jesus loved them. Which makes verse 6 really confusing to me:
6 So, when he heard that Lazarus[a] was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
The Bible doesn’t say why Jesus waited two more days before heading to Bethany. I would have expected it to say, “so when he heard Lazarus was ill, he left immediately to see Him.” The only clue we get as to his motives is in verse 4:
“This sickness will not end in death,” he said. “No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” (11:4)
The strange thing is that Lazarus may have already been dead by this point. We aren’t sure where Jesus was at this time, but we know he waited two days before he set out, and we learn later that Lazarus had been dead for four days. So by the time they start toward Bethany, Lazarus was already dead, and Jesus knew it. Look down at verse 14:
So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” (v. 14)
What is going on here? Verse 4 Jesus assures the disciples that the sickness will not end in death. Verse 14 says Lazarus is dead. Which is it?
It’s both. For every one of us, death isn’t the end of the story. So with the rest of our time together this morning, I want to walk us through the six movements of this story: Martha’s pain, Jesus’ promise, Mary’s pain, Jesus’ passion, Martha’s practicality, and Jesus’ power.
1. Martha’s Pain (v.21)
But it seemed like death was the end of the story. By the time Jesus got to Bethany, the prayer vigil had turned into a funeral. Lazarus is already wrapped up and buried.
Did you know that there is no record in Scripture of Jesus performing a funeral? He crashed a couple. There was Jairus’ daughter’s funeral in Mark 5. Jesus interrupted the funeral and raised the little girl from the dead.
Similar story in Luke 7. Jesus was going through the town of Nain when he rolled up on a funeral procession for the only son of a widow there. Jesus put his hand on the coffin and said, “Young man, arise” and he did.
So whenever Jesus came to a funeral in the gospels, it stopped being a funeral. When the dead sit up and begin talking, the funeral’s pretty much over.
So after a two day delay, Jesus rolls up on Bethany, and Martha goes out to meet him. And I think there’s some accusation to what she says to him:
˜Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (verses 21, 32)
She hasn’t lost her faith—she still calls Him Lord. But she has questions. She was blaming Jesus for Lazarus being dead.
After all, Jesus could heal the sick. If he’ d been there Lazarus could have been healed and he wouldn’t have died.
At funerals – sometimes – there’s a tendency by some to blame God for death. We may not say it out loud, because we’re afraid we’ll get struck by lightning or something, but the questions are there:
“Lord why couldn’t you cure the cancer?
Why couldn’t You have stopped the oncoming car?
Why didn’t you prevent the overdose?
If you had been there, my brother… my son, my daughter, daughter… our mother… my wife…would not have died.
Is it a sin to ask those kinds of questions?
Apparently, Jesus didn’t think so. Jesus didn’t rebuke Martha, and he wouldn’t rebuke Mary for saying the exact same thing a few verses later.
Those of us who have a real relationship with Jesus have learned that it’s NOT sinful to question God.
It’s not out of bounds to ask why God would let the one we love die. God’s a big God and He can handle your questions.
And you don’t have to feel guilty for asking the question. Asking the question acknowledges that you believe God is powerful—that He could do something. And you’re willing to believe God is loving—that He should do something.
But the fact that He didn’t prevent it forces us to reckon with a third truth: that although God is all powerful; and although God is all good; God is not us. And we are not God.
The day will come when all of us will die. And we will die because we live in a world that has been damaged by sin.
2. Jesus’ Promise (v. 25-26)
Look what happens next. It’s almost like Martha hears the words coming out of her own mouth and immediately tries to walk them back:
21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”
Jesus responds with what I think is an intentionally ambiguous statement:
“Your brother will rise again.”
Jesus understands that Martha, the practical, analytical sister, is trying to process the meaning of all this. So He engages with her where she is. And Martha responds:
24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
Martha is expressing the typical Jewish mindset of the day: that there would be a general resurrection of all Jews when the Messiah returned and rebuilt Jerusalem. The spirits of faithful Jews, who up to this point were in Sheol would be reunited with their physical bodies. So that’s what Martha is thinking. That’s when Jesus gives his famous I AM statement:
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life.[d] Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who 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 coming into the world.”
So Martha’s answer is consistent with Jewish theology. There will be a resurrection when the Messiah comes, and Jesus is the Messiah who has come.
3. Mary’s Pain (v. 31-32)
After hearing Jesus say He is the resurrection and the life, Martha goes back to the house and found her sister Mary. Verse 28: “The teacher is here and he is calling for you. So now, Mary comes out to meet Jesus. Look at verse 32:
32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Notice that she and Martha say the exact same thing to Jesus. The only difference is that Mary fell at Jesus feet. Martha was in a state of mind where she could reason and think and talk with Jesus. But Mary was so overcome with grief that all she could do is fall at Jesus feet.
And I love how Jesus met each sister where she was. People deal with grief in different ways. Some want to talk it out—to process their pain. Others just need someone to share in their pain. To sit with them, even if they don’t say anything at all. So I love that Jesus talked with Martha, but He felt with Mary.
The Savior’s Passion (v. 33-38)
Twice in this account we see that Jesus is “deeply moved,” according to the English Standard Version.
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved[e] in his spirit and greatly troubled.
38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
Does anyone have anything different than “deeply moved?” This is actually a pretty tepid translation of the Greek word embrimiomai, which literally means “snort with anger.” Of all the English translations, the New Living Translation is the only one that gives you this sense: “When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him.”
I can understand why most translations chose to go with “deeply moved” instead of “deep anger.” It’s confusing. What was Jesus deeply angry at, or who was He deeply angry with?
Please don’t misunderstand. Jesus wasn’t angry at the sisters for questioning Him. He wasn’t angry with the mourners for not believing in Him.
I think Jesus was angry at the disruption of death. Jesus was there in the Garden with His heavenly Father. He knew what His Father’s intention was for human beings– that they would live forever in unbroken fellowship with Him.
But sin screwed that up. Sin disrupted that fellowship. And to be honest, I think Jesus was ticked off by it. I think we all could stand to have a little indignation at a funeral. Especially one like this. Because we know that it isn’t supposed to be like this.
When Jesus came to the grave he could have said something extremely profound. But there’s no sermon, no powerful observations.
Instead, the Bible only tells us what Jesus DID:
Jesus wept.
John 11:35. It’s the shortest verse in all of scripture, and yet the most profound.
Here is Jesus of Nazareth, the world’s most complete, most perfect man attending the funeral of a friend, and weeping openly.
He weeps without embarrassment, and without apology.
And those standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!”
Some of you have wondered where Jesus was when your loved one died. In your heart of hearts, you have wondered why Jesus didn’t do this or that.
But here, I think there is a very good indication of what Jesus did do. I think Jesus wept. I don’t think there is any degree of difference between how Jesus loved Lazarus and how Jesus loves everyone of us.
And where Jesus wept over the sickness and disease that ended his friend’s life, I believe Jesus wept over the disease that took Greg’s life this week. Or the addiction that took my nephew’s life last year. My nephew Aaron died from taking meth that had been laced with FentanyI. Where was Jesus? Jesus was weeping with us. I think Jesus wished Aaron could have found his joy in Him. That whatever demons and darkness that drove him to drugs in the first place could have been silenced.
I think Jesus wept because He knew it’s not supposed to be like this.
Martha’s Practicality (v. 39
39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”
(KJV: Lord, by this time, he stinketh)
Jesus’ Power (v. 40-44)
This wasn’t the general resurrection Martha had in mind. It was the specific resurrection of Lazarus.
Conclusion: Do You Believe this?
But do you remember what Jesus said to Martha?
He said, ˜I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies.
Do you believe this?
No, really, Do you believe this?
Jesus wasn’t merely saying there was going to be a resurrection.
He claimed that HE IS the resurrection.
And He proved it.
Not long after raising Lazarus from the dead Jesus died on the cross, and 3 days later He rose from the dead. He did that so we would know that He could guarantee us that promise as well.
We often think of this life as the ˜land of the living,” and that when we die we go the ˜land of the dead.”
But the truth is exactly the opposite. This is the land of the dying. “Death is the destiny of every person.” says Ecclesiastes.
But Jesus rose from the dead to offer us an opportunity to live in the land of the living.
The place Jesus offers is described like this in Revelation 21:
˜God himself will be with us and be our God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away. He who was seated on the throne said, Behold, I am making all things new!
There’s only one requirement for entrance into resurrection life.
You don’t earn heaven by how good you are, or how many nice things you’ve done for others. You don’t earn heaven by getting clean from drugs, or by never doing drugs in the first place.
Jesus SAID: I am the resurrection and the life.
He who BELIEVES in Me will live, even though he dies.
Do you believe this?
