July 21, 2002
In Artesia, New Mexico, Mary Bratcher accidentally ran over her pet dog, Browny. The family tearfully buried the little mixed-breed dog in a field near their ranch home. The family’s youngest son refused to accept that Browny was gone; neither would Browny’s momma! The momma pooch dug Browny out of the ground and the following day the family returned from a trip to discover Browny, caked with mud and dried blood, on their porch. Browny was barely breathing, but they rushed him to the veterinarian. He recovered, although he lost an eye, and had a broken shoulder. He also now has a new name -- Lazarus!
Our text this morning is about another Lazarus, a friend of Jesus¡¦.
1A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. 2This is the Mary who poured the expensive perfume on the Lord¡¦s feet and wiped them with her hair.„T Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. 3So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, ¡§Lord, the one you love is very sick.¡¨
4But when Jesus heard about it he said, ¡§Lazarus¡¦s sickness will not end in death. No, it is for the glory of God. I, the Son of God, will receive glory from this.¡¨ 5Although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, 6he stayed where he was for the next two days and did not go to them. 7Finally after two days, he said to his disciples, ¡§Let¡¦s go to Judea again.¡¨
8But his disciples objected. ¡§Teacher,¡¨ they said, ¡§only a few days ago the Jewish leaders in Judea were trying to kill you. Are you going there again?¡¨
9Jesus replied, ¡§There are twelve hours of daylight every day. As long as it is light, people can walk safely. They can see because they have the light of this world. 10Only at night is there danger of stumbling because there is no light.¡¨ 11Then he said, ¡§Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.¡¨
12The disciples said, ¡§Lord, if he is sleeping, that means he is getting better!¡¨ 13They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was having a good night¡¦s rest, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died.
14Then he told them plainly, ¡§Lazarus is dead. 15And for your sake, I am glad I wasn¡¦t there, because this will give you another opportunity to believe in me. Come, let¡¦s go see him.¡¨
16Thomas, nicknamed the Twin,„T said to his fellow disciples, ¡§Let¡¦s go, too¡Xand die with Jesus.¡¨
17When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. 18Bethany was only a few miles„T down the road from Jerusalem, 19and many of the people„T had come to pay their respects and console Martha and Mary on their loss. 20When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed at home. 21Martha said to Jesus, ¡§Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.¡¨
23Jesus told her, ¡§Your brother will rise again.¡¨
24¡§Yes,¡¨ Martha said, ¡§when everyone else rises, on resurrection day.¡¨
25Jesus told her, ¡§I am the resurrection and the life.„T Those who believe in me, even though they die like everyone else, will live again. 26They are given eternal life for believing in me and will never perish. Do you believe this, Martha?¡¨
27¡§Yes, Lord,¡¨ she told him. ¡§I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.¡¨ 28Then she left him and returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, ¡§The Teacher is here and wants to see you.¡¨ 29So Mary immediately went to him.
30Now Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. 31When the people who were at the house trying to console Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus¡¦s grave to weep. So they followed her there. 32When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell down at his feet and said, ¡§Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.¡¨
33When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, he was moved with indignation and was deeply troubled. 34¡§Where have you put him?¡¨ he asked them.
They told him, ¡§Lord, come and see.¡¨ 35Then Jesus wept. 36The people who were standing nearby said, ¡§See how much he loved him.¡¨ 37But some said, ¡§This man healed a blind man. Why couldn¡¦t he keep Lazarus from dying?¡¨
Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead
38And again Jesus was deeply troubled. Then they came to the grave. It was a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. 39¡§Roll the stone aside,¡¨ Jesus told them.
But Martha, the dead man¡¦s sister, said, ¡§Lord, by now the smell will be terrible because he has been dead for four days.¡¨
40Jesus responded, ¡§Didn¡¦t I tell you that you will see God¡¦s glory if you believe?¡¨ 41So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, ¡§Father, thank you for hearing me. 42You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so they will believe you sent me.¡¨ 43Then Jesus shouted, ¡§Lazarus, come out!¡¨ 44And Lazarus came out, bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, ¡§Unwrap him and let him go!¡¨
John 11:1 ¡V 45 (NLT)
The Biblical Lazarus lay dying also. He and his sisters, Martha and Mary, were friends of Jesus. They’d seen Jesus do it before -- heal, do all manner of wonders. So they sent for Him. Jesus got the message, but decided to wait an extra two days before beginning the journey. (He may not show up just when we want Him there, but He is never late!)
By the time Jesus decided to go, His disciples must’ve thought He’d forgotten. They were more vocal now -- Master, you can’t go there -- the religious leaders are after your head. Stay here -- you can do more good alive than dead! Incidentally, they all said this out of fear and doubting; all except one -- Thomas. Old "Doubting Thomas" was ready to follow Jesus to Jerusalem, and die with Him. It is only fair to give Thomas his due here. He was committed to suffering for Jesus even before the proof of the resurrection. Most of us shrink from it even after we have recognized the resurrection’s reality!
Jesus arrived in Bethany four days after they’d buried Lazarus. Martha greeted him first, and told him, Lord, if only you had been here -- Lazarus -- YOU could have saved him. Jesus startled her, Your brother will live again. Martha wouldn’t be comforted, I know about the resurrection -- but that’s so far off. Jesus then uttered the basis for all history’s hope and direction -- Martha, oh Martha,
I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE!
What a claim! Jesus claimed to be in charge of everything ¡V life, death, and everything between. In the 60’s Muhammed Ali (then Cassius Clay) boldly proclaimed he was the best boxer to ever step on the planet. This brash young man with springs in both his legs and left jab, then stepped into the ring and demolished the invincible Sonny Liston. I listened to that fight in my college dorm. We couldn’t believe it. We were waiting for him to get his brains (what little we figured he had) knocked out. In a later interview, Ali posed the deeply philosophical truth -- It ain’t braggin’ if you got the goods!
I am the resurrection and the life -- Jesus wasn’t braggin! They took him to where Lazarus was entombed. Jesus spoke an audible prayer to the Father -- just so there would be no mistake about His intentions to raise a dead man. He then called the corpse’s name, and the crowd of onlookers -- including supporters, detractors and assorted curiosity seekers beheld what is not supposed to happen -- a dead man walked!
Now that’s the story -- what do we make of it? What does it mean on Independence Sunday? What application for our lives this week? Note the parallels between Lazarus’ condition and our own...
Parallel #1 -- Lazarus was Buried
From the beginning we are all caught in a grave of sin. The Bible states it clearly:
For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God; Romans 3:23
He that is without sin among you,let him first cast a stone at her. John 8:7
And you hath he quickened,who were dead in trespasses and sins: Ephesians 2:1
It is a grave, or a trap, because human beings become slaves to our sinful nature:
Jesus answered them, Verily, verily, I say unto you, Whosoever committeth sin is the servant of sin.
John 8:34
Sin is such a deep trap, no one can ever get out. This is the reason Christ had to die. Sin is that serious. Our freedom comes with a heavy price. This month we celebrated 226 years of independence. Of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence, five were captured and tortured by the British as traitors. Nine others died in battle; 12 had their homes burned; 2 lost sons in battle, and 2 other signer’s sons were taken prisoner. Our political freedom came at a heavy price. But the price of our eternal liberty cost the only Son of the living God! We were buried in sin, like Lazarus was buried in the grave -- and Jesus came to us like he went to Lazarus!
Parallel #2 -- Lazarus was Beckoned
Jesus stood by the grave and called His friend, Lazarus. By the way -- those are the only ones (friends) He will call on resurrection day. Lazarus was a dear friend (John 11.11), and the tomb was no place for him.
In a very real sense, Jesus beckons all of us as friends now:
The Son of man is come eating and drinking; and ye say, Behold a gluttonous man, and a winebibber, a friend of publicans and sinners! Luke 7:34
That’s it!!! He is a friend of sinners like you and me. He beckons us:
Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Matthew 11:28
Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me.
Revelation 3:20
Early in his ministry D.L. Moody was called upon to preach a funeral. He hunted through the New Testament for some ideas how Jesus preached a funeral. But the search was in vain. Every time Christ was confronted with a funeral he broke the thing up! That’s what the beckoning voice of Jesus does around death!
Lazarus was buried, beckoned, and...
Parallel #3 -- Lazarus was Bound
When Lazarus appeared at the door of the tomb he was wrapped from head to toe in cloths. Grave clothes are for the dead -- Jesus said, Loose him. The word means to loosen, as if something is constricting. Lazarus would have had a really tough time walking home to dinner dressed like Boris Karloff in The Mummy. He would be tripping and stumbling all over.
In our lives, the parallel is that since Jesus has set us free from the death of sin, we also should take off the grave clothes so we can walk without stumbling. We need to wear some appropriate clothing for the Christian walk! The apostle Paul says it emphatically,
Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us,
and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Hebrews 12:1
In short -- just as our political freedom doesn’t mean we can enjoy liberty without responsibility -- our spiritual liberation at the cross means we have been saved to a lifestyle of good works and service to our King! A pastor put the question to a class of children: If all the good people in the world were red, and all the bad people green, what color would you be? A little girl in the front row thought hard, and then answered, Pastor, I’d be streaky!
That is sadly the case. Sometimes the reality that we do sin, even after being saved, becomes an excuse for not striving to stay away from those grave clothes. It is, after all, a choice whether we will live life on a higher plane.
Oswald Chambers wrote,God regenerates us and puts us in contact with all his divine resources, but he cannot make us walk according to His will
The parallels are striking. As with Lazarus, we have been buried, beckoned, and bound. The question is --
Will we, like Lazarus,respond to the call of Jesus, and leave the tomb? And, being saved, having left the tomb,will we, like Lazarus, put the grave clothes off
so we can walk as Christ calls us walk?
The answer, beloved, is up to each of us...and it largely depends on whether you will open your eyes and your heart to the Christ who beckons you come out from the burial place, and the binding of the grave clothes.
George Burman Foster said it this way:
Jesus blew everything apart, and when I saw where the pieces landed, I knew I was free.
Do you know you’ve been died for? Do you know He blew death and hell and the grave apart for you? Are you willing to accept such a One as Jesus for YOUR Savior? Will you accept him now?
Your question may be like this -- What will happen if I do that? I know sin has buried me, I feel its weight. I believe what the Bible says that He beckons me...I feel it inside. What will happen to me if I say ’YES’ to Jesus? Here is your answer:
Jesus will come to you like He came to Lazarus. Lazarus was stone-cold dead in the tomb. Jesus said, Lazarus, come forth. In the twinkling of an eye, color came to the pale dead face of Lazarus, and blood started pumping through his veins. His eyelids started twitching as nerves again began to connect with a brain stem, which kicked-in like a computer in boot-up mode. The heart began to beat again, and the breath of life started carrying oxygen to every part of that decaying, stinking body. And Lazarus, laying in that cold, darkened tomb of a cave decided he’d heard enough....HE CAME FORTH! And Jesus said, Take off those grave clothesthey’re for dead people, my friend Lazarus is ALIVE!
That’s what will happen if you say Yes to Jesus today. You will begin to feel more alive than you ever have before. Do you believe this?
