Questions At A Tomb Series

Questions At A Tomb

John 11:17–44

Introduction

Adrian Rogers said, “There is no promise God cannot keep, no prayer God will not answer, and no problem too hard for Him to solve.” That is a great expression of the life of faith in God.

He keeps his promises, he answers prayers, he solves problems. But in our experience, there have been times when we weren’t sure about these things. Have you ever wondered, when things go wrong in life, if you can count on God? If he actually listens to your prayers? If he has reached the end of his work in your life?

Our text today centers on a family that has experienced a loss. A faith-filled family, a Jesus-devoted family. In John 11 we have, at first, an experience that is common, followed by a miracle that makes it uncommon.

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are friends of Jesus. Mary is the one who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair; John records this in chapter 12, and the event appears in all four Gospels. These friends have close connections to Jesus. So when Lazarus becomes ill, the sisters send for Jesus.

John 11:1-6, 14-15 ESV

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. ... Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

5. This text relates to us all, addressing so many human questions.

1. Is It Safe to Bring My Disappointment to God? (11:21–24, 32)?

John 11:21-24, 32

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from 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.” ... Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Both sisters express their disappointment: “Lord, if you had been here…” They are hurt. They are honest. Is it okay to be unhappy with God? Is it okay to say, “Lord, I don’t understand why you didn’t do something”??Jesus did not rebuke them - he speaks to them where they are. When we are disappointed, we have questions, we can bring

them to the Lord.

2. Does Jesus Really Care How Much I Hurt? (John 11:32–37)?

John 11:32-37

Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

Does Jesus care when we hurt? Does he see? The shortest verse in our English Bibles, “Jesus wept,” answers that

question with tears. Many scholars note that the language “deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled” suggests not only compassion but anger—anger at death, sin, and all that breaks God’s good creation.

The plaintive song “Does Jesus Care?” asks that question in a haunting verse, but affirms in the chorus: “Oh yes, He cares, I know He cares, His heart is touched with my grief. When the days are weary, the long nights dreary, I know my Savior cares.”

3. Can I Trust Jesus When Obedience Seems Risky? (11:38–40)?

John 11:38-40

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”