Jesus’ Power Over Death
John 11: 32-44
June 13, 2004
Death! Death is the great equalizer in life. We may all have different lives, come from different backgrounds, experience different joys and sorrows, but the one thing that links all mankind together is death. We are all going to die.
Some of the questions that mankind has tried to answer about death are:
- Is death the end?
- Is there life after death?
- Why is there death?
- Will we live again?
Twenty-seven people are banking on the idea that modern science will someday find or engineer a fountain of youth. Those twenty-seven people, all deceased, are “patients” of the Alcor Life Extension Institute in Scottsdale, Arizona, where their bodies have been frozen in liquid nitrogen at minus 320 degree Fahrenheit awaiting the day when medical science discovers a way to make death and aging a thing of the past.
Ten of the patients paid $120,000 to have their entire body frozen. Seventeen of the patients paid $50,000 to have only their head frozen, hoping that molecular technology will one day be able to grow a whole new body from their head or its cells. It sounds like science fiction, by it is called cryonics.
As you can imagine, cryonics has its share of critics and skeptics. Of course, Stephen Bridge, president of Alcor, cautions, “We have to tell people that we don’t even really know if it will work yet.”
Nevertheless, Thomas Donaldson, a fifty-year-old member of Alcor who hasn’t yet taken advantage of its services, brushed aside the naysayers and explained to a reporter why he’s willing to give cryonics a try: “For some strange reason, I like being alive…I don’t want to die.”
There is a more certain way to bring about the hope of eternal life. This morning we are going to learn how Jesus truly does have the power over death. Not only in His own life, but in the lives of others as well.
Open up your Bibles to John 11:1-44
Read The Text
What do we learn about Jesus here in this text? I believe that there are three lessons that we can learn about Jesus from our text this morning.
1. Jesus is compassionate!
What happened when Jesus was confronted with Mary? He broke down and He cried.
I believe that we sometimes fail to remember that Jesus Christ was fully human.
Why did He cry here?
There are two different reasons given by most commentary writers.
A. Some teach that He wept because He saw the pain that the family and friends of Lazarus were in.
I think that this is a strong possibility.
Jesus cared about people.
You know we can learn a lot from what Jesus did here. He shared the grief that everyone around Lazarus was experiencing.
As a matter of fact the Bible reminds us that we too are to share the grief and pain of one another.
In the Word of God we are taught that the Church is the body of Christ. Now imagine for a moment our brain not knowing that our arms were hurting, we can’t imagine that at all.
However, when we turn a blind eye to the pain and suffering of our brothers and sisters in Christ, that is exactly what is going on.
Listen to what Paul wrote to the Corinthian church in 1 Corinthians 12:26:
If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it.
I think that one of the things that we remember most about pain and suffering is where our friends and family were during that time.
Jesus here set an example for us to follow. He saw people hurting, and He felt their pain with them.
Like I said, some believe that He was weeping because of the pain the family and friends were in. I believe that is part of it. However, I believe that Jesus was weeping mainly because of the effects of sin.
It is so easy to take sin for granted. We get away with this here and that there. We begin to think that we can pretty much do what we want.
What happens is that we forget the consequences of sin.
What are those consequences? Death!
The Bible tells us in Romans 6:23:
The wages of sin is death…
Why was Lazarus dead, because of sin!
Why do people die today, because of sin!
Why are there people suffering everyday, because of sin!
Why are there children starving, because of sin!
Sin is serious business! So serious that everyone of us will feel it’s sting. What is that sting? Death!
Jesus was so overcome by the depravity of sin here that He wept aloud.
B. Jesus was moved by compassion to do something. What was it He did? He raised Him from the dead!
We can learn yet another valuable lesson from all of this. Compassion without action is useless.
Last month we went to a Cincinnati Reds baseball game. The game was great, but it was what happened afterwards that I will remember most. We were walking out of the gates early. The Reds lost in extra innings, but we left just after the ninth inning. As we were walking away from the stadium there were homeless people who were sitting on the side of the sidewalk with signs asking for money. I didn’t know how the boys were going to react to this. CJ, pretty much was still looking around at the city and the baseball stadium. However, Preston was moved by these people who had no home. He asked for some money to give to them. We walked by a few different people who were homeless, and every time, you could see the wheels in Preston’s heart turning. I learned a lesson from him that day. Compassion without action is useless.
As a matter of fact, listen to what James wrote in James 2:14-17:
What good is it, my brothers, if a man claims to have faith but has no deeds? Can such faith save him? 15 Suppose a brother or sister is without clothes and daily food. 16 If one of you says to him, "Go, I wish you well; keep warm and well fed," but does nothing about his physical needs, what good is it? 17 In the same way, faith by itself, if it is not accompanied by action, is dead.
2. Jesus is in control!
When things are at their worst in life, it is easy to wonder who is in control. Often times, we try to keep the control. However, we are unable to do that. I have yet to meet a person who could completely control everything that was going to happen in their lives.
I believe the account of Jesus raising Lazarus from the grave is one of the best in the Bible to show us that Jesus is indeed in control of everything in life.
- From the beginning of the story in verse 4:
When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.
- When Lazarus died Jesus was in control, verses 11-15:
After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up." 12 His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better." 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."
- When Jesus was met by Martha, He was in control, verses 23-26
"Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask." 23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
- At the tomb, Jesus was in control
“Take away the stone”
“Lazarus come out!”
For the most part, aren’t we all looking for someone to be in control? No, I don’t mean to run every aspect of our lives, like what clothes we are going to wear, or what food we are going to eat. I mean someone to turn to, when things are at their worst. We want to go to someone who has the answers.
Jesus is that person.
Knowing that Jesus is in control should help us to let go. However, we are like the monkey who won’t let go.
In Africa they have come up with a unique way of trapping a monkey. They put some food in the bottom of a bottle. You see, the hole in the top of the bottle is big enough for the money to reach their hand into it. However, once they grab a hold of the food, they won’t let go. With their fists clinched tightly around that piece of food they are trapped.
The same thing happens to us in life. We are confronted with the pain of a sickness, who is going to handle it? We are confronted with the loss of a loved one, who is going to handle it? We are confronted with tough times, because of a poor decision we or someone else has made, who is going to handle it?
Jesus is in control, all we have to do is trust.
There are so many different passages of Scripture that we could use to illustrate this point. However, I believe the best one is found in Matthew 6:25-34:
"Therefore I tell you, do not worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. Is not life more important than food, and the body more important than clothes? 26 Look at the birds of the air; they do not sow or reap or store away in barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much more valuable than they? 27 Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life? 28 "And why do you worry about clothes? See how the lilies of the field grow. They do not labor or spin. 29 Yet I tell you that not even Solomon in all his splendor was dressed like one of these. 30 If that is how God clothes the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is thrown into the fire, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? 31 So do not worry, saying, `What shall we eat?’ or `What shall we drink?’ or `What shall we wear?’ 32 For the pagans run after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them. 33 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.
Whatever it is, Jesus can handle it, all we have to do is let go.
Jesus is compassionate!
Jesus is in control!
Those are two pretty valuable lessons about our Lord. But His compassion and control are not what makes Him our Lord.
I believe the most valuable lesson that we learn about Jesus in this text is this:
3. Jesus is the Christ!
What is the one claim that Jesus made in this text?
He said: John 11:25-26
I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
I found this real interesting. Did you know that there are 5 I Am statements in the book of John?
A. In John 6:35 Jesus said, “I am the bread of life”
B. In John 6:51 Jesus said, “I am the living bread”
C. In John 8:21 Jesus said, “I am the light of the world”
D. In John 8:51 Jesus said, “Before Abraham was, ‘I am’”
All of those are pretty powerful statements in and of themselves. As a matter of fact, Jesus would have had to prove that He was indeed all of these things.
However, I believe the last I Am statement is the one that has the most power.
“I am the resurrection and the life”
How would you respond if someone would say these words in front of you? I don’t believe that we would respond much differently than what the Jews did.
They had to be skeptical of all that Jesus was saying. He made some very big claims. However, after He made those claims, He backed it up with a miracle.
Let’s read through the account one more time beginning at verse 38:
Jesus, 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." 40 Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" 41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I 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." 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44 The 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."
Aside from His own resurrection from the grave, I believe that this is one of the most powerful testimonies as to who Jesus Christ is. He is the Christ, the Son of the living God.
One interesting side note, in my reading this week I learned that the Jewish people actually believed that the spirit of the dead person would float above the body for 3 days until it went away. When did Jesus raise Lazarus? On the 4th day!
I love what verse 45 says:
Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in Him.
I believe that this miracle proves to us, as it did to the Jews of old, that Jesus is indeed the Christ.
If Jesus is the Christ, then what does that mean to you and I?
We have to make a decision one way or the other. We will either believe and receive Him as Lord, or we will ignore the evidence and continue to live life our own way.
The amazing part about is that we have the choice.
Death is not the end of the story. As a matter of fact, death is more like the begging of the story.
For hundreds of years before Christopher Columbus was born, the motto of Spain was ne plus ultra. This is Latin for “no more beyond.” You see, the Spaniards believed that they’d already discovered everything worth discovering.
One of the most beautiful monuments to Christopher Columbus today is a statue in Spain of a huge lion with the words ne plus ultra underneath. However, the lion is eating the first word ne. All that can be read is “more beyond.” This was Columbus’s greatest legacy—he proved that there was more beyond.
Jesus, too, has shown us that there is more beyond. Like the Columbus monument’s lion eating the words, the Lion of Judah erased the notion that death was the end. Through Christ’s death on the cross and resurrection from the dead, we can all say with assurance that there is plus ultra--more beyond!
“Death has been swallowed up in victory. Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 15:54-57).
Jesus is the Christ will you accept Him today.
In a sense the raising of Lazarus looks like the raising of us from our sins. Jesus knows how horrible the condition of sinfulness is. So in His compassion and love, He left the comforts of heaven, lived as a man, died as a sinner for us, so that we wouldn’t have to die, and was resurrected from the grave. And now He is standing outside of the tomb of our lives and shouting, “Come out”!
Will you come out this morning? Will you walk away from the tomb of sin? Will you come forward this morning and confess that Jesus is the Christ the Son of the Living God, be buried in baptism with Him and rise to remove the grave clothes of sin?
The choice is yours.
Stand as we sing:
I Can Only Imagine.
