Week 3: GLORY: A Lesson from Lazarus
1. Introduction:
a. A young couple was going to be married. Sadly, before they were married they died in an accident. When they arrived in heaven St. Peter was there to greet them. The couple lamented to him the fact they had died before they could be married. They asked St. Peter, “Can we be married here in heaven?”
i. St. Peter said, “I’ve never had that request before. Let me think about it.”
ii. A couple of months later St. Peter came back and said to the young couple, “Yes, you can be married. It’s taken me a couple of months to set things up, but you can be married.”
iii. The young couple was further concerned and asked, “What would happen if we want to be divorced in heaven?”
iv. St. Peter seemed to be angry and said, “What do you mean a divorce! It took me two months to find a minister. How long do you think it would take me to find a lawyer?!?”
b. Jokes about death are not easy to find. Death is not very funny. Death appears to be in control of our lives. Some say all of civilization is an attempt to deal with death. Our art, culture, government, literature, the things we do to organize and express ourselves are an attempt to deal with death. They make meaning of life and help put out of our minds the fact we are going to die.
c. We are a culture of death deniers.
i. Think of the wonderful creams we can buy to do away with wrinkles.
ii. Think of cosmetic surgery and all the ways of extending life. We don’t want death, we want to stop death, we wish to make death wait! We stay on life support, we spend billions on health care, and are we any happier? No! Because we are a culture of death deniers.
iii. We would rather believe it is not going to happen to us.
d. We are going to read a story about death, a story about some friends: Mary, Martha, Lazarus, Jesus and the disciples, and how a seemingly tragic death leads to God’s glory being revealed.
2. We are now in the third week of an eight week series on the Glory of God.
a. Most of us by now have come to learn that the Glory of God is most often described as the VISIBLE MAJESTY OF THE DIVINE PRESENCE.
b. In a very real way, every time that God provided a visible sign of His presence, His glory was being revealed and demonstrated.
i. The most commonly recalled times of His glory being revealed was during the Exodus, while the Israelites were in the desert and the column of smoke by day and the column of fire by night led them through the wilderness.
ii. Last week we saw the glory of God revealed for the first time to the disciples at a strange place and time. In Cana, where Jesus turned water into wine.
iii. As a result of this revelation of his glory, his disciples believed in him.
iv. God’s agenda is His glory…to reveal it and make it known to His creation.
v. In the New Testament, we are seeing the glory of God redefined and displayed in a way that mankind hadn’t even dreamed would be possible.
3. Our key verse today will be: “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:40)
4. Let’s read together this very lengthy passage: (can we select 3 readers?
a. 1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 So the sisters sent word to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." 4 But when Jesus heard this, He said, "This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it." 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. 7 Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." 8 The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?" 9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 "But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him." 11 This He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep." 12 The disciples then said to Him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep. 14 So Jesus then said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead, 15 and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him." 16 Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, so that we may die with Him."
b. 17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off; 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. 20 Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. 21 Martha then said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 "Even now I know that whatever You ask of 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." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?" 27 She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world."
c. 28 When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." 29 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to Him.
d. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him. 31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." 33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, 34 and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews were saying, "See how He loved him!" 37 But some of them said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?"
e. 38 So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" 41 So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 "I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me." 43 When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." 44 The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
f. 45 Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done.
5. Analysis of the Passage:
a. What does this passage show?
i. Glory: We have been hearing about God’s glory for several weeks now. Somehow, God is going to be revealed in the midst of this crisis. People will see God’s glory. Not like during the Exodus, but in a new way.
1. "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.’" (John 11:4-5)
a. Jesus, in Galilee, has just been informed that one of His very best friends, Lazarus, is deathly ill.
b. This, in and of itself, was a horrible thing, for the death of someone we are close to is always hard to bear, and Jesus was, indeed, close to Lazarus (John 11:5-6: "Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.")
c. But what made it doubly hard was the fact that Lazarus was the sole provider for his two sisters.
i. If he were to die, Mary and Martha would be left with nothing, no income, no social security, no survivor’s pensions, no life insurance. Nothing!
ii. Yet, Jesus’ response when He hears the news of Lazarus’ illness is rather interesting: ". . . it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it"! Something as horrible to Lazarus, Mary, and Martha as Lazarus’ death, and all Jesus says is, "It is for God’s glory that God’s Son may be glorified"!
d. And to make matters even more interesting, this isn’t the only time Jesus says something of this nature (see verses 15 and 40-42)!
i. Here they are, in the midst of the most horrible time in the lives of these two sisters, and Jesus’ response is to say that he thanks God for this trouble, then He proceeds to stay where He was for two more days (John 11:6)!
e. Of course, we’ve all read John 11:44, so we know that Jesus was planning on performing a miracle that far out-did any miracle He has performed up to that time:
i. Raising Lazarus from the dead!
ii. But poor Mary and Martha didn’t have John 11:44. Neither did His disciples, or any of Lazarus’ friends!
iii. They were all living in John 11: 1-43 -- the part where Lazarus got sick and died!
iv. Try to imagine what they must have felt like, not knowing John 11:44!
v. For all appearances, Jesus had abandoned His dear friend. Jesus, who could have stopped the death, didn’t even seem to care!
f. Haven’t you ever been in the same boat as Mary and Martha?
i. Living in the middle of John 11:1-43--the circumstance--and all the while not knowing John 11:44--the final outcome?
1. Have you ever felt let down by God? Abandoned?
2. Like perhaps He doesn’t care for you anymore?
3. After all, He has the power to remove your bad circumstances, doesn’t He?
g. If we’re honest, I think we’ve all had quite a few times when we’ve shaken our fists at God and yelled, "Any time now, Lord!"
i. Why hasn’t God healed me? We ask.
ii. Why hasn’t God gotten me out of this financial bind?
iii. Why hasn’t God healed my relationship with my spouse?
1. In a world where we can get a pizza delivered in thirty minutes or less, a cup of coffee in two minutes or less, and a cheeseburger in one minute or less, it’s not hard to see how we can think that God is a bit behind the times for not giving us everything we want, when we want it
2. But impatience really isn’t a new thing. Martha and Mary suffered from it. They wanted relief from their suffering too!
3. God’s timing is linked to God’s glory (John 11:4), it can give us a different perspective.
a. Instead of waiting in anger, we can wait in joyous expectation of what God will do in our lives.
b. The God who raised Lazarus from the grave is the same God who can change your darkness into light and turn your tomb into glory.
4. The silent wait could have provoked unbelief, or at least a significant weakening of faith, not just in Mary and Martha, but also in His immediate band of disciples. But He knew when it was all over, their faith would be way stronger than it would have been had He gone right away and "merely" healed Lazarus. So He waited
h. And we must wait too, until we reach John 11:44 in our circumstances!
ii. Three kinds of death (all are degrees of separation, as death=separation)
1. Physical death, when the body and soul are separated.
a. What frightens me about death is not death itself.
i. What frightens me is the psychic pain, the profound awareness of lost opportunities during my final reckoning the minute before I die.
ii. What frightens me about death is life: the life I squandered, wasted and betrayed.
b. They say that a drowning man sees his entire life pass before his eyes before he dies.
i. What a terrifying thought. How long does it take? About a minute they say.
ii. Can you take but a minute and reflect on what you have squandered?
iii. Because unlike Lazarus, you will not get another chance to live your life. The bible says, “after death comes the judgment.”
2. Spiritual death, when the spirit is separated from God because of sin.
a. The bible says that all who have not placed their faith in Jesus Christ are spiritual dead, or separated from God. They do not know Him.
b. When Jesus said that “God so loved the world that He sent His only begotten son, so that all who believe in him would not perish (die spiritually) but have everlasting life.” He followed it by saying that those who believe in him have passed from “death into life.” All men are born spiritually DEAD or separated from God. We have no interest in God. We do not want his rule. We want to be our own god. That is our nature. And unless we turn to Christ and receive forgiveness for this rebellion, we will remain spiritually dead.
c. Only Jesus can bring a man back to spiritual life.
3. Eternal death: This is eternal and everlasting separation from God that will occur to all who reject Jesus Christ.
a. When an unbeliever dies physically, he also takes his spiritual death into eternity.
b. Jesus alone has power over this death as he said, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. (John 11:25-26)
b. This passage also shows the belief and unbelief of Mary and Martha, who could accept that Jesus was the ‘Messiah, the Son of God’, and that there is a resurrection ‘on the last day’, but not that Jesus could raise Lazarus that day! It also shows the unbelief of others who were there (John 11:23–27, 37).
i. Look at some of the other details:
ii. Decay had already begun, yet Jesus says nothing about it.
1. Jesus had already raised Jairus’ daughter while her body was still in her father’s house (Mk. 5: 35-43).
2. He had also raised the widow’s son while the body was being carried to the place of burial (Lk. 7: 11-17).
3. However, there is not a recorded case of Jesus raising one whose body was already in the state of decay (vs. 39).
4. By the time Jesus arrived, hope was gone for seeing Lazarus again in this life. After all, his body was already decaying.
a. How can you possibly hope anymore at that stage?
b. In these imaginings, we can see a bad situation getting progressively worse.
c. We definitely can see the tenacity of hope.
d. And we can also see the realism of hope:
e. Once things get bad enough, to continue to hope is pointless.
f. But into this decomposing, hopeless situation Jesus inserts a new dimension: Himself!
g. No matter how beyond-hope a matter may seem, Jesus can bring life.
h. So hang on to your faith in Jesus and never give up hope, no matter how realistically hopeless everything may seem.
5. He that reverses death also reverses the cause and effect of death.
iii. Resurrection is not simply something that Jesus does. He is the ‘resurrection and the life’.
1. It has been suggested that if Jesus did not call Lazarus by name, then all the dead would have come out!
2. When Lazarus comes out, he comes out still wrapped in grave clothes.
a. He is not only made alive again, but comes out of the grave still wrapped in bandages
3. Keep in mind here, Lazarus was actually “resuscitated” as opposed to resurrected. Jesus used this miracle to pre-figure the resurrection.
a. However magnificent the resurrection of Lazarus was, he died again to be raised on the last day.
i. His resurrection caused no-one else to be raised from the dead.
b. By contrast Jesus’ resurrection is that of the first of many (1 Corinthians 15:20–23).
i. He is the resurrection and the life. ‘Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this’ (John 11:25,26)?
c. The difference between resuscitation and resurrection:
i. Resuscitation is the SAME BODY, SAME SOUL coming back to life. One will still need to die, because the body is the OLD body, and subject to death.
ii. Resurrection is a NEW BODY, SAME SOUL getting new life.. It is the soul receiving a new body, what the bible calls, a “spiritual body” or a pneumatokos. Some call this a “glorified body.”
iii. Jesus is the only one who has experienced resurrection, and has demonstrated for us, what resurrection looks like.
1. He had a new body, few recognized him.
2. His new body had unique characteristics, it could be touched, he could eat food, it showed scars of his life (wounds in his hands and feet,) yet it was not subject to the laws of nature (he could pass through walls and locked doors).
3. We are told that the new body will no longer be subject to death, we will never be separated from it, it will never decay, and it will never get sick.
c. Jesus gives three instructions concerning Lazarus.
1. He tells them to take away the stone,
2. He commands Lazarus to come out,
3. He then directs them to unbind him, and let him go.
ii. By contrast, in the accounts of Jesus’ resurrection
1. The stone is rolled away to show the people that he has already been raised.
2. No-one commands him to come out, except the Father,
3. No-one needs to untie him and set him free.
d. Glory:
i. Many people believe that they will see the glory of God when they depart this earth and enter heaven and have no idea of the glory God desires to display in His people and in their lives.. “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:40)
ii. Which gives the greater glory to God, the healing of the sick or the rousing of the dead?
1. Which is the greater manifestation of His power?
2. Had Jesus not tarried, Martha and Mary might truly have been spared two days of sorrow, but neither they nor we living nearly two thousand years later would have had that demonstration of the resurrection power of God which was provided by the calling forth of a dead Lazarus from the tomb
3. This miracle was not performed for the sake of Lazarus nor his sisters, but for the glory of God and to produce faith in the witnesses (cp. Jn. 20: 30, 31).
iii. What kind of glory was Jesus describing that Mary and Martha would see?
1. It wasn’t the blazing glory on the mountaintop
2. It wasn’t the cloud of Presence that made it impossible for the priests to minister in the tabernacle or the temple.
3. The glory displayed was a simple yet powerful display of God’s control, in the person of Jesus, over the final and most fundamental human experience of death.
a. God was revealed in Jesus at that split second in time, when he commanded Lazarus to come out of the grave and he obeyed.
6. Lessons we can derive from this?
a. What does God get glory from?
i. Our Service:– Our Service can reflect the Lord’s glory.
1. “let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.” Mt. 5:16
ii. Our Sufferings can reveal God’s glory:
1. “These sufferings of ours are for your benefit. …and the more the Lord is glorified.” 2 Cor 4:15
2. It is not infirmity, for infirmity’s sake, that glorifies God, but that some facet of the Divine character or purpose should be displayed through it.
3. We too, like the crowd and Mary and Martha, who say, “if he was only here, he could have prevented this death.”
a. We say things like "Is there any necessity for all the mounting sorrow that there is in the world? If God would only hasten His purpose and cut short this evil day!" But God’s purpose will not be hurried.
4. Afflictions:
a. Job is the name that stands out as an example of endurance in affliction.
b. Through his afflictions, Job grew in the realization of the Deity of God, so much so that, when they were over, he was able to say of God, "I have heard of Thee by the hearing of the ear, but now mine eye seeth Thee" (Job 42:5)
c.
iii. Our Death can reveal God’s glory:
1. There is a sign in the graveyard! But it is written in the blood of God. It says, “I am the Resurrection and the Life.”
2. Death is not something that we particularly like to think about. Filmmaker Woody Allen once said, "I’m not afraid to die. I just don’t want to be there when it happens." But death is part of our experience
3. You may have lost a loved one to death…separated by the cruel force that is the end of each of us. Perhaps they suffered greatly in affliction. Yet God tells us that death can glorify Him. Because death is not an end, but a doorway.
4. “signifying by what kind of death he would glory God.” (Jn 21:19)
5. Your journey to the cemetery can glorify God!
This morning, I will be playing a song that runs about 6 minutes. It is a powerful recreation of the events at the tomb of Lazarus. The song, I believe, displays the glory of God to all who listen to it with their hearts. Following this song, we will have a time of invitation where you can be ministered to, where you can continue to seek the face of God here at the rails of prayer, or where you can come forward to have me pray with you. I urge you to respond to the GLORY OF GOD as it is revealed to you today.
Play CD.
Lord, I can hear your voice from 2000 years ago, calling Lazarus and each one of us to come forth from our graves! You call each of us by name. You knew us before we were made. You came to earth to restore us to spiritual life. We can have that in you if we will only say “YES Jesus” I want to receive your gift of eternal life and a relationship with God. I come forth, Lord. I am coming, because I hear you calling!
