Resurrection Of Lazarus Series

Perea to Bethany

Lesson: Resurrection of Lazarus

John 11:1-44

Introduction

Jesus’ public ministry is over and now He is concentrating on His private ministry. He centers on individuals and He is no longer reaching out to the nation of Israel. The raising of Lazarus from the dead occurred between the Feast of Dedication and the Passover which would be sometime between December and April.

Now the supreme question is: Can Jesus raise the dead? The big question in any religion concerns death. Death is a great mystery. And life is a great mystery, but life is practically meaningless if there is no resurrection of the dead. The question to ask of any religion is whether it has power over death.

The Gospels tell us of three incidents of Jesus raising the dead. There was the 12-year-old girl who had just died. She was a juvenile. There was a young man whose body was being carried to the cemetery. Then there was Lazarus, possibly a senior citizen, who had been dead 4 days and had been buried. Allow me to be technical and say that these people were raised from the dead; they were not resurrected. Rather, it was a restoration to life. 1 Corinthians 15:42-44 tells us what resurrection is. “…It is sown in corruption; it is raised in incorruption: It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory: It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power: it is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body…” These people were raised from the dead, but none of them were given glorified bodies. They all faced death again.

While our Lord used different methods to perform His miracles of healing, His method of raising the dead was always the same. He called to them and spoke to them as if they heard Him. Do you know why He did that? Because they heard Him! Now let’s get into the incident of Lazarus being raised from the dead.

(John 11:1-2) Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)

We are told that a man was sick, in fact, he was near death. His name is Lazarus and he lives with his two sisters, Mary and Martha, in Bethany, which at that time was about two miles from Jerusalem. Jesus knew this family very well. They were evidentially among His closest friends. We are given a bit of additional information about Mary; she was the one who anointed His feet with fragrant oil and then wiped His feet with her hair. The sisters are very worried about their brother, so the next verse says that they did something about it; they sent for Jesus.

(John 11:3) Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.

The sisters sent their message to the Lord because they knew He was concerned about them. But note that they do not ask Christ to do anything. They simply make Him aware of their need, and know that because He loves and cares He will respond appropriately. Just knowing that He loves us means more than we can calculate—to know that we are not alone, that there are two of us in this, that it matters to Jesus Christ, that He is thinking of us, and will surely help us.

The message they had for Jesus was simple, “He whom thou lovest is sick.” Lazarus is loved by the Savior. Paul said, “He loved me” (Gal.2:20). John called himself the disciple whom Jesus loved. Paul declared that Jesus loved us. And by the way, He loves you and He loves me. Anyone who is a child of God is one whom Jesus loves.

(John 11:4) When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.

“This sickness is not unto death.” This means that the final result of Lazarus’ sickness will not be death. The final result will be for the glory of God. Sin is not the source of all sickness. Sometimes God permits sickness in order to reveal His glory. Greater glory was revealed in raising Lazarus from the dead than if Christ had simply healed him.

You can’t tell by the circumstances of a man whether God loves him or not. Jesus loved Lazarus when he was sick. Not only that—Jesus will let Lazarus die—but He still loves him.

(John 11:5-6) Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.