Questions At A Tomb
John 11:17–44
Introduction
Adrian Rogers said, “There is no promise God cannot keep, no prayer God will not answer, and no problem too hard for Him to solve.” That is a great expression of the life of faith in God.
He keeps his promises, he answers prayers, he solves problems. But in our experience, there have been times when we weren’t sure about these things. Have you ever wondered, when things go wrong in life, if you can count on God? If he actually listens to your prayers? If he has reached the end of his work in your life?
Our text today centers on a family that has experienced a loss. A faith-filled family, a Jesus-devoted family. In John 11 we have, at first, an experience that is common, followed by a miracle that makes it uncommon.
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are friends of Jesus. Mary is the one who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair; John records this in chapter 12, and the event appears in all four Gospels. These friends have close connections to Jesus. So when Lazarus becomes ill, the sisters send for Jesus.
John 11:1-6, 14-15 ESV
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. ... Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
5. This text relates to us all, addressing so many human questions.
1. Is It Safe to Bring My Disappointment to God? (11:21–24, 32)?
John 11:21-24, 32
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.” ... 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.”
Both sisters express their disappointment: “Lord, if you had been here…” They are hurt. They are honest. Is it okay to be unhappy with God? Is it okay to say, “Lord, I don’t understand why you didn’t do something”??Jesus did not rebuke them - he speaks to them where they are. When we are disappointed, we have questions, we can bring
them to the Lord.
2. Does Jesus Really Care How Much I Hurt? (John 11:32–37)?
John 11:32-37
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.” 33 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?”
Does Jesus care when we hurt? Does he see? The shortest verse in our English Bibles, “Jesus wept,” answers that
question with tears. Many scholars note that the language “deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled” suggests not only compassion but anger—anger at death, sin, and all that breaks God’s good creation.
The plaintive song “Does Jesus Care?” asks that question in a haunting verse, but affirms in the chorus: “Oh yes, He cares, I know He cares, His heart is touched with my grief. When the days are weary, the long nights dreary, I know my Savior cares.”
3. Can I Trust Jesus When Obedience Seems Risky? (11:38–40)?
John 11:38-40
Then Jesus, deeply moved again, 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 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?”
In the face of the command to take the stone away, Martha tries to manage the situation. She is practical, reasonable. She always seems to be managing—earlier, “Tell Mary to help me,” and here, “Lord, this will not go well.” Jesus’ response is simple and searching: “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” He reminds Martha to trust him, even when his instructions seem odd, risky, or even offensive. The same is true for us.
Have you read the Beatitudes lately? “Love your enemies”? “Take up your cross”? These are “roll away the stone” kinds of commands. We can be grateful that Martha is here—struggling to trust, yet never rejected by Jesus. Her struggle gives us courage in ours.
4. What Difference Does Prayer Make? (John 11:41–42)?
John 11:41-42
So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”
Questions about prayer run underneath this whole chapter. I’m sure Mary and Martha prayed for Lazarus.? They may have prayed that Jesus would hurry. They may have asked God why Jesus didn’t come soon enough.
Jesus’ prayer here is unusual because it is prayed aloud for others to hear. His relationship with the Father is so deep that he can say, “I knew that you always hear me.” This moment gives us a miniature lesson in prayer:
-Affirming that God hears all of our prayers: “I thank you that you have heard me.”
-Giving thanks in a time of stress and heartache.?
-Showing that prayer has an effect on helping others believe: “that they may believe that you sent me.”
Jesus’ prayer here shows that prayer makes a difference because it points to the One who hears our prayers and acts.
4. Is Death Really Final? (John 11:43–44; 11:25–26)
John 11:43-44
43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
The most certain thing we face is our own death. Here, Jesus cracks that certainty open with a new reality: Jesus has the power to raise the dead!
Lazarus would eventually die again—that is the unhappy consequence of living in this fallen world. But Jesus is the author of eternal life, and we are only to die once.
John 11:25-26
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. 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?”
Job 14:14 “If a man dies, shall he live again?”
Hebrews 9:27 says, “…it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes judgment…”
2 Timothy 1:10 Jesus “abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel.”
For the Christian, death represents a time of victory in Jesus:
-Victory over the spiritual death of sin and separation: “even when we were dead in our trespasses, [God] made us alive together with Christ” (Ephesians 2:4–5).
-Victory over physical death: “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25–26).
-Victory over eternal death: Revelation 20:15 warns of the lake of fire, but Jesus writes our names in the book of life.?
Conclusion
Questions by the tomb of Lazarus are the questions we ask today.
-Is it safe to bring my disappointment to God?
-Does Jesus really care how much I hurt?
-Can I trust him when obedience seems risky?
-What difference does prayer make?
-Is death really final?
In John 11, Jesus answers every one of those questions with himself.
Adrian Rogers said, “There is no promise God cannot keep, no prayer God will not answer, and no problem too hard for Him to solve.”
Revelation 14:13 adds this word of comfort: “ ‘Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.’ ‘Blessed indeed,’ says the Spirit, 'that they may rest from their labors, for their deeds follow them!’ ”
Because he is the resurrection and the life, you can say by faith, “I will rise.”
___________________
To watch videos of sermons from Forsythe Church of Christ:
https://www.youtube.com/ForsytheChurchofChrist
Our church website is http://facoc.org
Forsythe Amazon Wish List:
https://www.amazon.com/hz/wishlist/ls/3T2VA3IW7IRDB
To receive sermon notes in your email inbox, subscribe here:
https://forsythesermons.substack.com/
To receive John Dobbs’ newsletter with photographs, books, Christian thoughts, and miscellany, Subscribe Here:
https://johndobbs.substack.com
John Dobbs is the author of several books. Find them on Amazon here:
https://www.amazon.com/stores/John-E.-Dobbs/author/B0CZLPDWHL
___________________
Discussion Questions
1. In verses 3–5, John stresses both Lazarus’s illness and Jesus’ love. How does that pairing challenge the idea that “if God loved me, this wouldn’t be happening”?
2. Both sisters say, “Lord, if you had been here…” What does that reveal about their hearts toward Jesus—both their faith and their frustration?
3. If Jesus knows he is about to raise Lazarus, why do you think he still weeps? What does that tell you about his heart?
4. Why does Martha object to Jesus’ command to take away the stone? What fears or concerns are underneath her words? How does the promise, “If you believe, you will see the glory of God” help us lean into obedience when we don’t yet see the outcome?
5. Jesus thanks the Father that he has already been heard, and then says he prays “that they may believe.” What does this teach us about the connection between prayer and other people’s faith?
6. Jesus doesn’t just say, “There will be a resurrection”; he says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” In what ways does this address our fears or anxieties about dying?
7. What seems to be the biggest fear among the chief priests and the Pharisees when they hear of the sign Jesus has performed in raising Lazarus (vs. 48)?
8. What assurance can we find in this passage during our own times of suffering?
_______________________
A Gift Before the Cross
John begins to quicken the pace as the final seven days of Jesus’ life draw near. Jesus is clear about the mission and speaks about it plainly. I wonder if he is informing the disciples—or reflecting on what lies ahead? It is hard to tell, as I read the word. Perhaps seeking a place of comfort, rest, and friendship, Jesus comes to Bethany. Mary and Martha, and Lazarus were close friends and full of love for the Savior.
Not surprisingly, there is a buzz around town about Lazarus. He had been in the grave for four days, but after that, he was seen down at the Bethany Dollar General just as alive as could be. In fact, his fame spread so rapidly that it nearly rivaled that of the miracle-working Messiah (12:9). Not everyone was enamored. The leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too (12:10). Too many were coming to believe in Jesus because of him.
But Jesus was not in Bethany to create a scene. He was there to be with his friends. There was food, conversation, and an amazing expression of love.
Then Mary took a twelve-ounce jar of expensive perfume made from essence of nard, and she anointed Jesus’ feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance. —John 12:3-4
Mary served the Lord with expensive perfume on his feet. This sounds strange to us, but we do not walk around barefoot or in sandals down dusty roads. It is not our custom to wash the feet of a guest as they enter our homes. We do not recline at low tables with someone’s feet as near as they would have been then. But this isn’t just custom; it is genuine love. The scent of the perfume filled the house.
Judas spoils this precious moment by grumbling about how much the perfume cost and how many poor people it could have helped. John adds his insight—Judas was a thief, not a compassionate champion of the poor.
Jesus replied, “Leave her alone. She did this in preparation for my burial. You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.”—John 12:7-8
As the dark cloud of Calvary began to form, the cross was never far from Jesus’ consciousness. This stunning statement seems to pass over the room without much notice, at least as far as John recorded. I can imagine Mary and Martha looking at one another with concern. When Lazarus heard the word “burial,” perhaps a shiver ran through him, a memory too close for comfort. But John is not here to tell us about Mary, Martha, Lazarus, or even Judas.
I am grateful for this scene—a calm before the storm. A mostly quiet moment with food, the best of friends, honor, and joy. The scent of an extravagant gift filled the house. Even so, it was a gift that foretold a future no one in that house wanted but everyone needed. Her act reminds us that love for Jesus is never wasted. What we pour out for him fills the world with the fragrance of faith.?
--From Seven Signs, Seven Days by John Dobbs
