Removing Stones Instead of Casting Stones
John 11:38-48
38Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39“Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
41So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
45Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. 46But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many miraculous signs. 48If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
Intro: The sickness and eventual death of Lazarus teach us many things.
1. One, they teach us that bad things do happen to good people.
a) A common misperception is that bad things happen only to bad people and good things happen only to good people.
b) Jesus dispelled this theory when he encountered a man that had been born blind.
· His disciples asked – “Master who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?”
· John 9:3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the work of God might be displayed in his life.
c) Lazarus had not become sick because of some sin in his life. He wasn’t sick because of a lack of faith on his part.
· Lazarus became sick and he even died, in order to display the glory of God.
d) Yes, it’s true, God does discipline those He loves. Sometimes the pain and problems we face in this life are the direct result of our disobedience.
· But just as true, is the fact that sometimes, the negative stuff we encounter is nothing more than God using us to glorify His name.
2. There was no question – Jesus loved Lazarus. His sisters knew it. Even all the neighbors who gathered to mourn his death knew it as well.
a) I mention that, because troubling times have a way of causing us to question God’s love for us.
· Too often, we’re tempted to believe that He somehow loves us less during those difficult times of life. But that’s so far from the truth - as the death of Lazarus clearly points out.
3. The death of Lazarus also teaches us something about prayer, especially prayer that goes unanswered.
a) Could Jesus have responded to the request of Mary and Martha and arrived in time to heal Lazarus before he died?
b) There’s not doubt He could have – but He chose not to, because He had something much greater in store that He wanted to reveal to them.
c) Again this should encourage our hearts to know, that when we ask for something within His will and He doesn’t respond, then He must have something greater in store either for us, or for others through us.
4. When you face difficult times, don’t assume that God is judging or disciplining you, He may be pruning you to be more fruitful, or He maybe using you to glorify His name.
a) when you face such times, and we all will, look to Him for understanding, go to Him for grace to sustain you.
5. When you face difficult times – don’t conclude, that He doesn’t love you. Remember, nothing can separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
a) during such times, ask Him to make that love more real to you than ever.
6. When you face trying times, and your prayers seem to fall on deaf ears, don’t give up on prayer and don’t give up on God, He may just have a greater miracle in store for you or those around you.
7. I could spend the rest of this message expounding on these and other truths that the sickness and death of Lazarus teach us about God and our relationship with Him.
a) But instead, I want us to look this morning at the raising of Lazarus and two very practical points that it reveals to us.
To me it’s very interesting that Jesus chose to involve the people in the miracle of bringing Lazarus from death to life. I don’t mean just as spectators, but as active participants.
Notice the two things He asked them to do:
(1) Remove the stone
(2) Remove the grave clothes and let him go
Did Jesus really need them to move that stone? I don’t think so. After all, here’s a man that the winds and the waves obey His voice. I’m sure that with just His words he could have moved that stone and not even involved them.
· But that’s not what He did. He chose to include them in this miracle.
Or how about the grave clothes? Was it really necessary that they removed the grave clothes from Lazarus? Could He not just have spoken the word and have those clothes snap like a rubber band?
· There’s not doubt in my mind, that Jesus could have said or done something that would have caused those grave clothes to simply fall off of Lazarus. But that’s not what He did. Instead, once again, He chose to include the people in this miracle of bringing Lazarus from death to life.
Let’s look at the stone for a moment. Why did it need to be removed anyway?
· Why? Because it stood in the way of Lazarus responding to the life-giving voice of Christ.
After the stone was removed – Jesus spoke to Lazarus and said “come out” – come out of the grave, come out from the death and the darkness of death. And now there was nothing that stood in the way of Lazarus responding to the voice of Christ, which was compelling him to come out.
Why might have happened had they not removed the stone? Would Lazarus still have heard the voice of Christ? And if he did still somehow, rather faintly hear the voice of Christ, could he have responded?
I don’t think so. I believe Jesus had them remove the stone, in order to clear the path for Lazarus to respond to His calling.
How about the grave clothes? I know they weren’t the latest fashion for back to school clothing, but was it really necessary that they be removed right then and there?
Why did Jesus instruct them to remove the grave clothes?
(ill.) Wrap a volunteer in ACE bandage
Please notice: pallbearers didn’t carry Lazarus out of that grave – he walked out, or maybe he hopped out. The point is – his once lifeless body was now alive again.
But notice the problems these grave clothes, unless removed, would bring to him. They might cause him to trip and fall or even critically injure himself. They might even choke the new life right out of him. But at minimum that would keep him from freely enjoying the new life he had been given.
So like the stone, these clothes had to go! It wasn’t an option; it was a necessity.
(A) Here’s the practical application I see in all this:
(1) First of all, those who are not in Christ Jesus are spiritually dead. They may be walking around in a physical sense, but spiritually speaking, the Bible says they are “dead in their trespasses and sins”
They may still be inhaling and exhaling air, their heart may still be pumping blood – but spiritually speaking they are dead!
a) and the voice of the Holy Spirit, just like the voice of Christ did for Lazarus on that day, is calling each of them to come out of their spiritual grave and find new life in Christ.
b) The problem is, again just like Lazarus, there are often grave stones which stand in the way of them responding to Christ. Graves stones that He wants you and I as His followers to remove.
(2) Let’s look at just a few of the things (grave stones, if you will) which often stand in the way of the unsaved responding to the call of Christ.
a) for one – there’s the unbelief of the believers. Sounds like a contradiction doesn’t it?
· Look again at the text, which I read this morning – notice the response from Martha when Jesus told them to remove the stone.
· “But Lord, by this time he stinks, because he’s been there four days.”
· Jesus response? Did not I tell you, if you would believe, you would see the glory of God?
Martha was quick to say “if only you had been here you could have prevented this Lord”, but when the Lord gets there, she’s content to leave Lazarus in the grave as if, now it’s too late, he’s too far gone.
· Think for a moment of someone you know that is far away from God, someone that’s really a dirty, rotten sinner. Someone that’s maybe done some real horrible things in this life.
· Do you think the Holy Spirit is calling that person to a new life in Christ?
· Now let me ask you this – are you praying for that person’s salvation? Are you witnessing to that person? Are you even inviting that person to church? Or are you keeping your distance from them because they stink spiritually?
· Too often as believers, we act like Martha, as if this person’s too far gone in their sin. We mourn their spiritual death and what could have been, but we’re content to leave them in the grave as if there’s no hope left.
Friend, I believe that Jesus wants us as believers to remove the stone of unbelief, - to intercede for, to witness to, to bring in, event the worst of sinners they might respond to the voice of Christ and live.
Unfortunately, it’s the unbelief of believers that sometimes hinders the sinner from responding to the drawing of the Holy Spirit.
b) Another stone that stands in the way of the unsaved responding to Christ is often the hypocrisy of believers. By that I mean the inconsistency of our walk. We say one thing, but live differently.
Romans 2:21 “you, then, who teach others, do you not teach yourself? You who preach against stealing, do you steal? 22You who say that people should not commit adultery, do you commit adultery? You who abhor idols, do you rob temples? 23You who brag about the law, do you dishonor God by breaking the law? 24As it is written: “God’s name is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.”
· It has been said, that the one thing which attracts people to Christ more than any other thing – is the life of a Christian. And yet the one thing which drives people away from Christ more than any other thing – it too is the life of a Christian.
· I firmly believe that the world is looking for a Christianity that is genuine. They are longing for Christians to be people who are truly changed by having Christ in them.
· Sure some people use the excuse – “the reason I don’t go to church is because the church is full of hypocrites” but does your life validate such thinking or does it eradicate it?
I Peter 2:11 Dear friends, I urge you, as aliens and strangers in the world, to abstain from sinful desires, which war against your soul. 12Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on the day he visits us.
13Submit yourselves for the Lord’s sake to every authority instituted among men: whether to the king, as the supreme authority, 14or to governors, who are sent by him to punish those who do wrong and to commend those who do right. 15For it is God’s will that by doing good you should silence the ignorant talk of foolish men.
· Think about it – is your life helping people respond to the calling of Christ, or is it hindering them?
· We must remove the stone of hypocrisy!
c) Another stone that may stand in the way of unbelievers coming to Christ is the stone of “judgementalism”
· (ill.) Recently, I spoke with a person who has been going through some difficult times, a person who has done some things they know aren’t right. This person admitted their need to get back into church, but have hesitated to do so for one reason – they fear what people in church might say about them if they do come. “you know how people talk” they said.
Luke 18:9 To some who were confident of their own righteousness and looked down on everybody else, Jesus told this parable: 10“Two men went up to the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. 11The Pharisee stood up and prayed about himself: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men—robbers, evildoers, adulterers—or even like this tax collector. 12I fast twice a week and give a tenth of all I get.’
· Whether we realize it or not – all too often this is the attitude the sinner sees in many saints – the attitude of being “holier than them” – the attitude of being confident of our own righteousness while looking down on everybody else.
· Friend, if sinners feel that we as Christians, look down on them, then they’re not going to want to have anything to do with God or the church.
· But study the Scripture, examine closely the life of Christ and you’ll notice sinners were drawn to Him.
Luke 15:1 Now the tax collectors and “sinners” were all gathering around to hear him. 2But the Pharisees and the teachers of the law muttered, “This man welcomes sinners and eats with them.”
· Finally, the Pharisees said something right. Sinners were gathering around Jesus, because Jesus made them feel welcome in His presence.
· He didn’t look down on them because of their sin, but nor did He condone their sin. He lovingly showed them that there was a much better way to do life.
· I think the church would be amazed at the harvest of souls that would come to Christ if we’d only judge less and love more.
· We must remove the grave stone of judmentalism
d) There’s one more grave stone that I want to point out to you. One more thing that often stands in the way of the unsaved responding to the call of Christ.
· I’d call this stone the stone of self-centeredness.
· As we read the story of the good Samaritan we’re appalled by the actions of the priest and the Levite and rightfully so, but what we fail to recognize is that their actions often closely mirror ours.
(ill.) We will travel for miles to hear good gospel music, to be a part of an anointed worship service that will set our feet to dancing and our hearts to shouting. We will rearrange our schedules to attend crusades and revivals where the power of God is being poured out, in hopes of getting some of that fresh rain – but, we won’t walk across the street, we won’t take time out of our busy schedules to get to know a neighbor who doesn’t know Christ.
· Many of us, as Christians, have become so pre-occupied with self, that we’ve lost sight of a world that is dying without Christ.
· As I’ve said before, we spend much more time praying the prayer of Jabez, then we do praying for the lost!
· God help us to remove the stone of selfishness and reach out to others, that they may hear and respond to the voice of Christ.
Concl: Why didn’t Jesus remove the stone? Why did he ask them to remove it? The Scripture doesn’t clearly say, but could it be that He had them remove the stone, because they were the ones who put it there in the first place?
· I say, God help us as Christians, not to put anything in the paths of unbelievers, that would hinder them from hearing and responding to voice of the Holy Spirit drawing them to Christ.
· Help us to truly believe that no soul, not matter how wicked they’ve been, is beyond the reach of God’s love.
· Help us to truly live like Christ, so that our lives can personally dispel the myth that Christians are nothing more than a bunch of hypocrites who say one thing and do another.
· Help us as we truly strive for holiness, not to look down on others, not to judge others for their sinfulness, but to make them feel welcome in our presence that we might able to share with them the good news of Christ.
· Help us to truly see, that Christianity is not centered around us, it’s centered around Christ and the cross – and His desire to reach the loss and not just make our lives better.
John 11:45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.
Only Heaven know how many lives would be changed, if we would do our part, and do what Jesus said and “remove the stone”
