The only hope for humanity is found in the Lord Jesus Christ through His death, burial, and resurrection. This account of the raising of Lazarus from the dead has so many lessons for each of us. It is a message of hope in a hopeless circumstance. It is a message of victory in the time of defeat. It is a message of eternal life instead of eternal death. It is a message that will lift the heart, stir the soul, and spark new life into the heart of a downtrodden individual that is dead in sin, who has no hope for deliverance from their sad state.
If we are to look at this story and gain part of its deeper meaning it will be necessary to think of it in terms of which of the characters (Martha, Mary, Lazarus, & the Jews that were with the family) represent us, and what their condition was during this great miracle.
For all of humanity is represented in the hopelessness of the death of Lazarus and the pain and sorrow of his family until Jesus came upon the scene and turned hopelessness and despair into victory and power.
Jesus was away doing His duty and ministering to the people of Israel in their need. He healed the nobleman’s son, restored the impotent man at the pool of Bethesda, multiplied the loaves of bread and fish and fed five thousand, and now He receives the news of Lazarus’ death. Because of his love for this family, He left the place where He was after two days of receiving the news and traveled to Bethany from Jerusalem.
Why did He not respond immediately after receiving the devastating news of his friend Lazarus like so many of us do? Why did He put others before His friends, when they needed Him at this particular time the most? His decision to delay coming appears callous and thoughtless. Does He not know that Martha & Mary is in a panic, pacing the floor waiting for Him? Why the delay?
The delay was because He loved the family, and that love would be clear within time. Moreover, the delay would also ensure that Lazarus would be dead long enough (meaning the process of decomposition had to take place), that no one would misinterpret the miracle He would perform. A miracle that would be more potent than all those He ever done and even more monumental than the raising of the widow’s son in Nain or Jairus’ daughter.
Therefore, when He heard that Lazarus was sick He continued to do the work in Jerusalem that He had come to do. He continued in Jerusalem until He knew, before anyone brought the news that Lazarus had died.
God knew that we would need a Savior long before the world was founded. For God placed the story of the gospel in the stars of the sky before He ever created the earth. His plans were already set in motion to provide salvation and redemption to a sick and dying world before Adam hit the scene.
According to our text, the first to meet Jesus as He came close to Bethany was Martha. She was overcome with grief at the loss of her beloved brother, and in verse twenty-one, she said unto Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Her response was not a rebuke of His delay, but a testimony of her trust in His healing power. Therefore, He said unto her, Martha, “Thy brother shall rise again!”
When it seems that all is lost, when you feel that the knot is unraveling in your hand, when you feel that the end has come and there is no more hope – that’s when Jesus comes on the scene with the greatest message of hope that we could ever hear.
Therefore, it does not matter what the circumstances say, or what other people think, or what impossibilities lay ahead, “You Shall Rise Again.”
When your family is on the brink of destruction – You shall rise again! When your capital has been depleted, and the vision appears dead – You shall rise again! When you feel depressed, despondent, and hopeless due to circumstances beyond your control – You shall rise again!
What a great message that was to my sin sick soul, when I fell at the Master’s feet and poured out my hopelessness and grief to Christ. For I heard Him speak those words to my heart and soul – You shall rise again, just trust “Me” through the process. Shame will not be your resting place.
These words are the greatest hope and promise that God could ever give to us, but all too often, we take the attitude of Martha. She believed in the resurrection but she had not yet come to know THE RESURRECTION. It’s easy to believe in a promise in some distant future but what about right here and now?
Nearly every Christian will confess that they believe in healing but ask them to have faith for their healing right now pertaining to their physical, emotional, psychological, relational, or economical plight, and it is a different matter.
We can believe that God is the Great Physician and that He has the power to heal but we often have a problem believing that God will heal us right now.
Most of us are like the father of the demon possessed boy in Mark 9:24, "And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief." Lord, I know you can. Lord, I know you will. Lord, I just can’t come to grips with “when” you will.
Jesus revealed Himself in a deeper fashion to Martha. Martha, I AM the Resurrection and Life. Martha did not realize the power, the glory, and the sovereign majesty of the man who stood before her that day.
Don’t start pointing fingers at Martha though, because I dare say that none of us, who know Jesus as our Lord and Savior, can yet realize all that God is, who lives within us.
For Jesus Christ is the I AM. He is God, the Creator of all things, the sustainer of all things. He is I AM of the Old Testament and King of Kings of the New Testament.
He is resurrection power. He is Glory & Majesty. He is God Almighty, Holy, which was, which is & which is to come. That is who stood before Martha that day and He is the same one that is knocking at the door of your heart.
If we will but believe in the fact that Jesus is God, that He is the Resurrection and the Life, we shall never die but will have everlasting life.
Martha, do you see what I am saying? Martha can you believe that I AM the Resurrection and the Life? Again, Martha confesses her belief but there is no indication that she really understood or believed what Jesus was saying to her. She was saying, “I believe in the resurrection, I believe in eternal life, I believe it is coming some day, I believe that you Jesus are the Messiah that was promised to Israel.”
It seems that Martha made her confession but was quick to run away to get Mary. She was like most of us, she just didn’t like being put in a place to make a decision. It was easier to run than to answer.
Moreover, look at Mary’s response; she jumped up and ran out of the door to go to Jesus, and when she got to Him, “she fell down at His feet, saying to Him ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.“ In essence she was saying if you had only been here you could have healed him”
The others who were with Mary in the house saw her run out and presumed that she was going to the cemetery to cry for Lazarus and they hurried to follow her.
Here is a picture of us in general as well. We are quick to jump on the bandwagon of negativity. They said amongst themselves, Mary left crying; let us go help her cry. We don’t have any answers, we can not ascertain the words to comfort her sorrow, but let’s join her in her grief.
Now Mary ran to Christ and fell at His feet. That is commendable for all of us. We should all run to Christ for only in Him is there relief from the life of grief and sin. Only in Him is there any hope for the Hopeless.
The shortest verse of the Bible is found in verse 35 and it simply says, “Jesus Wept.” Only two short words but what power and what a great message they hold for those who have a discerning spirit.
The great I AM, touched by the circumstances of those around Him, began to cry. What was it that He was crying about? Was it for Lazarus? - No, Jesus didn’t cry for Lazarus for He knew that Lazarus would soon be resurrected. Was it for his own grief and loneliness in the absence of his friend? – No, because Jesus knew the destination of Lazarus and that Lazarus’ soul and spirit were in His father’s hands. I believe that Jesus cried because of the unbelief, the pain, suffering, agony, and grief of the people who stood around.
He was so affected by the negative environment of grief and unbelief that He groaned in Himself. Those standing around mistook this groaning for grief over Lazarus’ death. They were hurting, confused, hopeless, and sorrowful but they were also blind to the reality of the fact that The RESURRECTION stood with them.
Jesus groaned within Himself again. It brings to mind the scripture in Romans 8:26, "Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered." - Jesus groaned to express His deepest thoughts and concerns in ways that no one around Him could grasp.
Now Lazarus’ body was laid in a cave and covered by a stone. This description is a depiction of our spiritual and moral response when we have done wrong. We cover ourselves. We are always trying to cover our sin somehow. But Jesus removed the stone and revealed the death within.
The searchlight of the word of God and the Holy Spirit will remove our cover to show us the sin and darkness within our own heart and life. He knows the thoughts and intents of our heart and knows how to reveal His will to us if we will only listen.
Martha said to Jesus, “By this time he stinketh.” The “life of sin,” given time will steak as well, and none of us wants our smelly old life of sin to be revealed. None of us wants to look upon our own black heart. But, if we are to know the Resurrection we must come face to face with our own soiled spirit. We have been dead in sin a long time and that sin has brought the decay of death upon us. We need to be resurrected out of our miss by the power of God.
Jesus said, “If you would believe, you can see the glory of God!”
Jesus interceded on behalf of those who stood around by praying to the Father in Heaven. It was meant as a prayer to build the faith of those who stood in unbelief that they might have their eyes opened and their understanding enlightened to see and hear the power and glory that they were witnessing.
This resurrection was not going to happen because of the faith of those who stood around, because they were too burdened with sorrow and grief.
It was to happen so that those who stood there would finally begin to really believe in the Lord Jesus Christ as the Son of God who has all authority in Heaven and in Earth and who is the Resurrection and the Life.
Jesus Cried for Lazarus to come forth. That voice that spoke the worlds in existence and hung the stars in the sky spoke, and all of heaven, earth, and hell itself shook from the power of His command. His word carried creative power. Therefore, it was impossible for Lazarus not to come forth.
Dear beloved, God can speak to every hopeless situation, to every hopeless individual, into every hopeless circumstance and bring life and victory. Therefore, He is calling you, as He had called Lazarus from the grave. If you hearken to His voice, “You Shall Rise Again.”
Rise from the pitiful pit of self-pity. Rise from that horrible state of shame. Rise from the vestiges of your past. Touch your neighbor and tell them, You Shall Rise Again.”
