“When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, ’The Teacher is here and is calling for you.’ And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 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.’ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, ’Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept. So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’ But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?’" (John 11:28-37, ESV.)
When I was a young boy, living in a remote barrio on a mountain, my attention was always caught by the moving clouds being carried by the wind. As they moved and being transformed into different shapes, for a young mind that was not exposed to a movie or TV, the moving clouds in the sky was a glorious thing. I was really enjoying watching them.
When I grew up and our family transferred in the city, I was now enjoying the movies. But when I became older and got to travel in an airplane, I was given the opportunity to watch the moving clouds from a different angle. I was now over them. Before I was looking upward to watch them, but in an airplane, I was looking down at them. And the scene was more glorious!
Glorious, in the sense, that there was striking beauty in what I saw and there was delighted admiration in what I felt. It was not just a very good experience. It was glorious! I hope I could see and experience it again and again.
Have you seen or experienced something glorious? Are you thinking of the glory of the person, the place, or the experience you enjoy? What glorious thing in this world you would like to experience?
This time, let’s focus on the topic, BEHOLDING THE GLORY while we study our text (John 11:28-37).
As followers of Jesus Christ, we ought to be excited to experience the future Glory that Jesus will reveal. We believe that it will transcend all the glories in this world. In our present time, when His Glory at least flashes in us, what do you think could be our reaction?
Before we answer it, remind again ourselves that the Gospel of John was written by the one who addressed himself repeatedly in the book as, “the disciple whom Jesus loved.” The writer, who is John, focused on the life and words of Jesus in His few remaining days on earth. He emphasized that Jesus is God. And he related the importance not only of believing, but also of loving Jesus.
In the first 16 verses of chapter 11, John pointed out an unexpected action of Jesus toward those He loved. In His love for Mary, Martha and Lazarus, Jesus wanted them to see or experience more than physical healing. His loving desire for them was to behold the glory of God.
In verses 17-27, we were able to have a glimpse of the glory of Christ. First, we were able to grasp it in His peculiar Presence. And second, in the profound truth about Himself. Jesus manifested Himself to Martha that He is the Resurrection and the Life. He would not just be the Resurrection in the future, but even at present, He is the Resurrection and Life.
In the context of the story, He was trying to tell Martha that she could really expect Lazarus to rise in the future, but because He was present at that time, Lazarus could also experience the resurrection. But the statement of Jesus has a deeper truth embedded in it. Before a person could really believe, first he needed to experience new life. He needed to be resurrected from spiritual death, so he could believe. Jesus said, “…everyone who lives (his spirit lives) and believes in me shall never die” -- shall never die spiritually (verse 26).
In our time, we could also look forward to be resurrected. But, even now we could also experience the resurrection -- the bringing into life of our dead human spirit. And according to Peter, true believers have experienced it. He wrote, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to His great mercy, He has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead” (1 Peter 1:3).
Now, in our present text, we could note some “flashes” of the Glory of Christ and we could also display at least two glorious reaction. What are those?
I -- Quick Response To His Call (verses 28-32).
We read verses 28-32, “When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, ’The Teacher is here and is calling for you.’ 29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 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.’"
Martha told her sister Mary, “The Teacher (Jesus) is here and is calling for you.” Notice the reaction of Mary. We read in verse 9, “…when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him.” Her reaction was immediate when she knew that Jesus was calling for her. She did not even heard the voice of Jesus audibly. She just realized that He called her through Martha. Yet, she rose quickly, went out of the house, to be where Jesus was.
Her response was quick. It could be that, just like her sister Martha, Mary could also sense a glory in the Presence of Jesus. When she encountered Him, she said to Jesus in verse 32, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” It was the same statement of Martha in verse 21. Both Mary and Martha had the idea of the Glory in the peculiarity of the Presence of Jesus; that in His Presence, there could be no tragedy or good or even great things could happen.
In the case of Mary, she beheld or experienced the call of Jesus. His glorious call was compelling. It was Sovereign. It was Glorious. Though Mary did not hear audibly the call of Jesus, but only realize it through Martha, the glorious effect did not diminish. There was an active response for Mary. No hesitation. There was excitement to come and be with Jesus.
In Mark 1:16-20, we read when Jesus Himself called for His first disciples: “Passing alongside the Sea of Galilee, he saw Simon and Andrew the brother of Simon casting a net into the sea, for they were fishermen. And Jesus said to them, ’Follow me, and I will make you become fishers of men.’ And immediately they left their nets and followed him. And going on a little farther, he saw James the son of Zebedee and John his brother, who were in their boat mending the nets. And immediately he called them, and they left their father Zebedee in the boat with the hired servants and followed him.”
Jesus called His first disciples and as immediate was His call, their reaction was also immediate.
In the story of the Gospel, there were those who failed to answer His call. But Jesus said in John 10:27, “My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me.” These sheep-kind of people, as we learned before, are those people given by the Father to the Son. They could recognize the Glory of the Son. They are aware of His Beauty and Greatness as the Son of God. And they could really hear His Voice, not as the voice of a tyrant but of a Good Shepherd.
Jeremiah described it in a certain sense, as we read in Jeremiah 15:16, “Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts.”
Believers or lovers of Christ, unlike the Israelites in the time of Moses, we could no longer hear today the voice of God. But through His written Word, His message could still come to us.
We also read in Hebrews 1:1-2A, “Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son,…” We could not also hear today the voice of Jesus, when He was with His disciples on earth. But His Word was also recorded for us.
As we read, or hear, or as we encounter His words, do they become to us a joy and the delight of our heart? Or, do they become an annoyance and a burden?
For Mary, His call or His Word was a flash of glorious joy and delight. She rose up from her sorrow, quick to respond and excited to come and be with Jesus. How about you?
When you are suffering tragedy, struggling with difficulty, or wallowing in a problem, could you also rise quickly from your situation and respond to the call of Jesus?
When you are busy or enjoying your earthly pursuit, could you also immediately leave it to pursue the summon of the Word? When you are doing something else, or even feel that you don’t want to do anything, could you spring up to your feet as He calls you to be in communion with Him, whether in prayer, in worship, in the study of the word, or in the service of the Church?
No matter how tragic is our situation, no matter how busy we are or how pleasurable or profitable our activity, we will put it aside. We will do so, if God’s call, or His Word appears joyful and a delight in our heart. But if our gadget, our habit, our human activity, or sin of hatred, envy, unforgiveness, or without self-control, or laziness is more glorious or appealing to us, our own human will power is not enough to move us to respond to God’s call. Especially, to respond quickly.
What is more glorious to us in this world than God’s Word?
If you do not know in your heart the glory of His Call, it’s time to pray what Isaiah experienced in Isaiah 50, “… Each morning he (the Lord God) awakens me eager to learn his teaching; he made me willing to listen and not rebel or run away” (Isa. 50:1B-2, CEV). Or, pray what the Psalmist prayed in Psalm 119:18, “Open my eyes, that I may behold wondrous things out of your law” (ESV). When His Call or His Word appears to you as glorious that you will be motivate also have the glorious reaction: quick response to His Call.
What other glorious reaction to the Glory of Christ we could have?
II -- Perceive How He Loves Us (vv. 33-37).
We read verses 33-37, “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" 37 But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?"
Notice the comment by the Jews, “See how he (Jesus) loved him (Lazarus)!” What did they see in Jesus that they were able to say He loved Lazarus? They saw Jesus wept. They saw that He shed his tears. They saw the humanity of Christ. Actually, the Jews did not really see the exact reason why Jesus wept.
He wept not because he was personally wounded emotionally or hurt for losing Lazarus. He was thinking more on the distress of the two sisters and perhaps of the greater damnation that would befall the unbelieving Jews then present.
But the shedding of His tears showed the goodness of the human side of Jesus. His compassion shone for the suffering of others. As a perfect human being, He displayed sympathy even for the temporary suffering of His people. And even for those people who could bring eternal pain to themselves.
Such droplet of glory in the humanity of Jesus ought to strike us with His love. And that could be one of the many incidents that the Apostle John witnessed in the life of Jesus that John regarded always himself, as the disciple whom Jesus loved.
Actually, there were many instances in the life of Jesus here on earth that He displayed His love for others, especially for His followers.
In John 13:1, we read: “Now before the Feast of the Passover, when Jesus knew that his hour had come to depart out of this world to the Father, having loved his own who were in the world, he loved them to the end.”
Even at the brink of His human life, His love for His true disciples was “to the end” -- constant, up to the end. And other commentators even suggested that it means, “to the fullest.” But we are sure what happened in this chapter. Jesus condescended Himself by washing the feet of His disciples. Because also of His love for them, he humbled himself to serve them as a servant.
And, of course, the greatest display of the love of Jesus, while in His Humanity is pictured in 1 John 3:16A. Let us read it in the paraphrase of the Amplified Bible: “By this we know [and have come to understand the depth and essence of His precious] love: that He [willingly] laid down His life for us [because He loved us]…”
Believers or lovers of Christ, have you perceived, experienced, or felt the love of Jesus for you? Like the Apostle John, could you also identify yourself and even boast and say to others that, “I am the believer, whom Jesus loved!”?
Take note also that when an aspect of the glory of the Humanity of Jesus was displayed, not every Jew concluded of His love for Lazarus. We read in verse 37, “But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?’” Some of them were still expecting something from Jesus. Instead of seeing His love, they wanted to see or expect something else.
Are we also expecting something good to happen in our life to feel that Jesus really loved us?
Could we not acknowledge or perceive Jesus’ love, because our income is not enough to pay our bills? Or, our house has no air-conditioning? Or, our health is deteriorating?
Or, if you are single, you have no boy friend or girl friend? Or, if you been married for many years, still you have no child?
Let us not follow the flow of the thought of those Jews, who wanted to see more tangible things to perceive the love of Jesus.
We do not need to have our own church building, or to have the service of an elevator to perceive that Jesus loved our fellowship. We do not need that all our children to be gainfully employed to experience His love.
We do not need that everyone should agree with us. We do not need that all should speak well of us. We do not need that all our problems be solved to enjoy and be satisfied of Jesus’ love.
What we really need is to know Jesus. Know the real Jesus, who said: “As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you…” (John 15:9A.) The Savior who has given us not only forgiveness, but also repentance and righteousness. Many versions of him are being presented to us by men. And if we are not careful, we could even claim that we know Him. We may even hear His Name being preached to us for many years. We read, heard and know about His love for His people, but we do not feel it.
Be not satisfied with weekly or even twice a week Bible study. Read and study the Word daily. Search the Bible from beginning to end. Strive to be familiar with Jesus that when someone would say something that defaces His glory, you could detect it. Know Him well that you could feel His love.
CONCLUSION:
In closing, we may entertain the idea that on our own we could know Jesus. But be aware of what God said in Jeremiah 24:7, “I will give them a heart to know that I am the LORD, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.”
To have that God-given heart would enable us to behold the Glory of Jesus, both in His Humanity and Divinity. And only then that we’ll be able also to have a quick response to His Call, and to perceive or feel how He loves us.
