John 11 "Lessons from Lazarus" Part 3

His Moment With Mary- Jesus feels our pain
Poor Mary. She is so caught up in her grief that she just sits there while all this stuff is going on around her. When Martha got up to go greet Jesus Mary apparently either didn't notice or didn't care. All she could see was the pain of Lazarus' death looming before her. She is living the reality of death and drinking in every ounce of it's sorrow.

Martha comes up to Mary and whispers into her ear. "The Teacher is here and is calling for you."
Mary gets up quickly and marches right to where Jesus is. She has a few thing that have been on her mind. She is barely able to hold herself together as she walks down the dirt road. Her eyes are puffy from crying and she is trying desperately to get a hold of her emotions. But when she sees Jesus she can no longer hold it in. She runs up to Him but immediately falls at His feet in anguish. She says the same words as Martha but apparently the inflection was a little different. Her cry seems to be slightly accusatory and more an expression of her disappointment with Jesus.

"Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died."

Jesus looks down at Mary's brokenness and takes a sip of her sorrow. He then turns to the crowd and sees all their weeping as well. And as He takes in this moment and absorbs the pain of those he loves there is a swirling mixture of emotion in this text. It says in vs 33 "He was deeply moved in His spirit and greatly troubled." Believe it or not this actually means He got angry. The phrase moved in His spirit means to snort like a bull. The word "embrimaomai" in the Greek denotes a scolding disapproval for the phrase "deeply moved". Also, the word "greatly troubled" is "Tarasso" which means to be agitated. And then... He wept. From anger and frustration to sorrow and tears.

What was Jesus angry at? My submission is that He was angry at Death. Jesus , the author of life is about to face off with His greatest foe, death itself. Like a UFC fighter about to go into the ring with a mortal enemy Jesus is angry and broken hearted at the same time. He feels the exact same way Mary does. He feels the exact same way that you and I do about death.

Isn't it curious that Jesus has such emotions? Doesn't He already know what He is going to do? There is no reason for Him to weep except to bare Mary's pain. Though our God is in heaven and can see how it all is going to work out, He still understands our sorrow in the meantime.

Mary now looking up at Jesus can see the mixture of emotion on His face. And now she knows that He knows how she feels. As our Great High Priest, Jesus can be the mediator between God the Father and Man because He both sees the end from the beginning and can sympathize with how we feel.

The crowd can see it too and they think it is because He is missing Lazarus. But in the back of their minds the question that they have still lingers as well. "This guy opened the eyes of the blind just a few weeks ago, couldn't He have done something here?"

At this point Jesus gets angry again and lowers His head like a fighter about to step into the ring. With determination He makes His way to the tomb. But this tomb is not just any tomb. It is a cave in the mountain side, with a rock rolled over the entrance. Sound familiar?

Almost as a command Jesus says, "Take away the stone!" His tone seems terse here.

Martha protests. "It has been four days and His body probably is rotting and stinks."

Jesus reminds Martha of their conversation earlier and essentially says, "you said that you trusted me."

Martha apparently gives her approval. She signals to someone and the stone is moved. There is now a dramatic pause as Jesus looks up to heaven. He then begins talking to His Father out loud so everyone else can hear. "Father I thank You that You have heard me. I know You always hear me (implying even when I talk without speaking). But I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that You sent me."

Then Jesus cried out with, what is phrased in the Greek, "Megas Phone" or loud voice. "Lazarus come out!"

I love how the bible phrases the next verse. vs 44 "Th man who had died came out,"

Lessons from Lazarus Part 2

The Message To Martha- "I am the Resurrection and the Life"

Martha is in mourning. People from the community have gathered around to console her but there is only one person that she has been waiting for. The proof of that is that when she hears that Jesus has come she runs out to meet Him; Martha brings her heart and hurt to Jesus as well. The first thing that she can think to say is "Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give you"

This seems to be a proclamation of love from what I can tell from the context of the passage. Her tone is different than that of Mary's. She comes to Jesus with confidence that if He had been here in time Lazarus would not have died. It doesn't seem like the statement is accusatory because she follows with a statement that "even at this moment God listens to Your requests". She seems to be reassuring Jesus that it isn't His fault that Lazarus died and that if He had been there he could have done something and that He just barely missed the opportunity.

Jesus responds by saying "Your brother will rise again". In other words, "I haven't missed my opportunity Martha. It's not too late. "

This clues us in to the fact that she wasn't saying that Jesus could raise Lazarus from the dead because when He tells her plainly that Lazarus will be raised she thinks He is talking about prophecy. She draws a wrong conclusion in thinking that Jesus is using theology to comfort her. But this is not a moment for theological comfort and knowing information that will help console her in her grief. This is the revelation of the power of Christ over death itself.

Jesus cuts off her wrong conclusion and interrupts her thoughts of what He is saying to show her that this is not theoretical, it is reality. "I am the resurrection and the life". Jesus is saying to Martha, "Everything you hope for in the future is found in me. I am the 'raiser upper' and the source of life. I am the only way that the dead live. And I am the the only way that the living never die."

Then He drops this question "Do YOU believe this?"

The same question can be posed to us. You see it is not enough just to know the facts about Christianity. It isn't enough to say "I have asked Jesus into my heart." It isn't enough to read your bible every day. The question that Jesus asks Martha is the same question that is posed to us today. "Will you put your trust and rest your hopes not in a system of thought but a person?" If Jesus could shout it out to us today I believe He would say, "I AM NOT A THEORY!!! I AM THE REALITY!!! What do you trust in? Is it some point of theology? Or do you stake all of your hopes upon HIM? Jesus the person. Jesus the reality.

Martha thinks for a moment and then she confesses what her heart is telling her is the truth. " I believe that You are the Christ (anointed one, messiah), the son of God, who is coming into the world." Or to state it another way. "All of my hopes for what God has promised rest in You."
At that moment, Martha has nothing left to say. There is no argument, nor debate, because she has put her trust, not in a theory that might later be disproved, but a person who never fails. She is at rest and now she runs to get Mary, who needs comfort as well.

John 11" Lessons From Lazarus"

I preached from John 11 this Sunday and really enjoyed the things that I learned form the sermon. I though I might share my notes with you all. It won't be all of the message at once but a piece at a time throughout the week. Hope you enjoy.

John 11

Sometimes in a story it yields great insight to view the story from the shoes of each of it's characters. Today's message will be an attempt to do that in brief.

The Duty Of The Disciples- Follow

When the news of Lazarus' sickness first reaches the disciples, there was, no doubt, concern. But when Jesus responds with what appears to be supernatural knowledge of the situation their fears are quieted. (Vs 4) "This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God." He says it with such confidence that the disciples simply trust what He says and continue life as though it is true. "I mean hey, if Jesus isn't worried then we shouldn't worry either." they might have thought.

Then 2 days later it seems like Jesus' tune has changed. "Let us go to Judea." (vs 7)

Maybe Jesus hasn't thought this through carefully enough. Maybe Jesus forgot what happened the last time they were in that area. Remember when Jesus said "I and my Father are one." (vs 10:30) and then they picked up rocks to stone Him. "Let's remind Him" they must have thought. We are not welcome there, people don't like our message, it is dangerous, we aren't very popular, etc.... The excuses for not going were thousands. As the disciples reach for the one that fits them best Jesus addresses the real issue.

"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. But if anyone walks in the night he stumbles, because the light is not in him." In other words, there isn't much time to get done what needs to be done. So, we better get busy. The disciples must have been thinking, "What work could we possibly do other than be killed?!"

Jesus again comes with further revelation of what is on His mind. "Our friend Lazarus, has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him."

Still resisting the risk, "Well then let him sleep. That's what the sick need isn't it? Let him rest and he will recover."

Jesus illuminates further, "Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him. "

At this point the disciples get why it is such a priority in Jesus' mind. Lazarus is dead. Something bigger than their temporary comfort is at stake here. There is someone that Jesus loves and wants to save from perishing. Jesus is saying to his disciples, "I want to go, but will you follow? Is saving the perishing worth it to you like it is to me. Are you shepherds or are you hirelings? Are sheep that follow or goats that but.

In Josephine County only 18.7 percent of the total population is religious. This translates to 15,225 out of 81,618 residents. Before we go congratulating ourselves we have to consider that some of those that are religious are not within what is considered Christianity. By the time you take away Mormons, and Jehovah's Witnesses you end up with only 12,637 people that are within the scope of Christianity. This group includes Catholics, 7th Day adventists, Aog and other evangelicals. And within these groups are many that do not have actual saving faith in Jesus. This leads us to the statistic that it is likely that less than 1 in 10 people in our County are "saved" and for every one that you meet that is "saved" 9 go to hell. "Pray to the Lord of the harvest."

You have to love Thomas' response here."Let us also go that we may die with Him." In essence Thomas is saying, "I'd rather die if it means I get to be with Jesus. Death with Him is better than life without Him!"

Every disciple must decide. Will I follow Jesus, whatever that may mean? Is life with Him more valuable than anything else?

Jon Piper phrases the question best, in his book God is the Gospel. "The critical question for our generation is this: If you could have heaven, with no sickness, and with all the friends you ever had on earth, and all the food you ever liked, and all the leisure activities you ever enjoyed, and all the natural beauties you ever saw, all the physical pleasures you ever tasted and no human conflict or any natural disasters, could you be satisfied with heaven, if Jesus wasn't there?"

A disciple:
Holds his relationship with Jesus to be more precious than "Wife, kids, mother, father, friend"
Gladly would leave "families and homes and earthly goods" to follow Christ (Luke 14:25-33)
sees that "my life is not my own, I have been bought with a price" (1 Cor 6:20)
"puts his hand to the plow and never looks back" (Luke 9:62)
"Is crucified with Christ yet he lives but it not him that lives but Christ in him." (Gal 2:20)
"Takes up his cross daily and follows Him" (Luke 9:23)
Sees Jesus as the prize (Phil 3:8-19)


The reward of our faith is Jesus. Fellowship with Him. He is our exceeding great reward! And being with Him in danger is better than a thousand safe lives without Him!