Grief, Hope, And The Power Of Resurrection

Pastors Tim and Ryan slow down and sit with the Lazarus story, not just the miracle, but the ache around it. If Jesus knows He’s about to raise Lazarus, why does He weep so deeply? We talk through what might be happening in that moment: compassion for Mary and Martha, the weight of death, the pain of disappointment, and even the cost of calling Lazarus back only for him to face life and death again.

From there, we get honest about the kind of faith many of us live with day to day. We’ll say God is powerful, but when the pressure hits we quietly assume He’s not powerful enough for this marriage, this addiction, this diagnosis, this grief, or this season at church. Jesus’ words to Martha cut through that half-faith: “I am the resurrection and the life.” Not a concept. Not a future idea. A Person. We connect that to Christian hope, the difference between Lazarus’ resuscitation and Jesus’ resurrection body, and why that shapes how believers face death.

We also dig into what “abundant life” really means and why it’s often nothing like the comfort our culture promises. The free gift is real, but daily surrender is real too. We talk about hidden sin, shame, and dread and how they form a cage called freedom, plus what it looks like to stay on the tracks and live with the power of the resurrection in ordinary life. If you’re grieving, supporting someone who is, or wondering where God was when you needed Him, this conversation is for you.

Subscribe for more, share this with a friend who needs hope, and leave a review to help more people find the Midweek Podcast from Fresh Wind Church. What part of John 11 do you find hardest to trust?

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Welcome And Series Setup

SPEAKER_00 0:08

Welcome and thanks for joining us on this episode of the Midweek Podcast, brought to you by a Fresh Wind Church. Each week, our team brings you new content to help you take steps towards Jesus and discover more in Christ. Today's episode is hosted by Pastor Ryan.

SPEAKER_01 0:27

Well, hey, welcome back to the Midweek Podcast. Pastor Ryan joined as always with Pastor Tim, and we are in week 12 of our series Signs and Life, where we are not signs and life. That was an all-seeries. Signs and glory. And it's uh it's pretty exciting what's going on here in John chapter 11. And so Tim,

Imagining Lazarus Coming Back

SPEAKER_01 1:05

you had a chance to study and and preach this sermon. Um, what was sticking out, man?

SPEAKER_02 1:12

Well, I tell you, what was sticking out is that uh this doesn't happen for all of us. And uh lots of anecdotal things is like, what did how did Lazarus feel? And you want me to go back?

SPEAKER_01 1:27

You know, I think John Christ, the comedian, does a skit about that where you know Lazarus is up in heaven playing, you know, hoops, shooting hoops with the disciples, and one of the angels comes like, uh, Lazarus, I'm gonna need you to come come with me. Could you imagine? Yeah, I mean, four days you've been in paradise, and they're like, uh-huh. Yeah, you you you bought the round trip package, actually.

SPEAKER_02 1:50

We gotta send you back. That would have been with uh David and Abraham and Isaac and those guys because the disciples. I guess disciples weren't there yet.

SPEAKER_01 1:59

That's true. I probably got my references wrong. It's been a while.

SPEAKER_02 2:04

But yeah, I'm that's that's one thing to wonder about. Um the other thing I think uh I uh I pulled out of that was uh that he really grieved.

Why Jesus Weeps At The Tomb

SPEAKER_02 2:20

He was grieving, and I I I can't pinpoint that. Um what why are you weeping? What's what's the weeping? And um I don't know if he looks to the future and sees how the Jews uh won't accept him uh later on. But first of all, you know, Christendom started with Jews and uh their testimony that they took all over the world, but I didn't know if he was thinking about that. I don't know if he was just thinking about Mary and Martha and how distraught they were, how disappointed they were with him for not coming sooner. Um that would have been that would have hurt. Uh sometimes you think you're at somewhere, you know, a level uh with a friendship, and then you realize oh no, I don't I don't think that way about you. I want a better preacher for my funeral than you. You know, something like that. Um so um when you when you grieve, it's like uh when you scare a guy. Uh when you scare a uh a woman, uh it's she has a different reaction. Um but there is a segment of women who do the same thing as men, it's they get angry and they want to fight. Some guys you scare, they go through one of those haunted houses, you're gonna get punched in the face. You're just yeah, they scream like a little girl, and then they all off and slam you.

SPEAKER_01 4:01

Yeah, my uh my cousin Nate was was like that. That was my youth pastor, and we went to oh gosh, I think was it called Trip to Hell? Used to be over there where coals and everything is now. Yeah. Um we he was walking through Trip to Hell and some demon came out, got in his face, he dropped him.

SPEAKER_02 4:20

And uh so you have that kind of fear, but grief can can affect you the same way, and you can get you can get angry. And especially from Mary and Martha's uh perspective, we know a guy. We knew a guy who fixes this kind of stuff every day. Right. And he didn't come.

SPEAKER_01 4:43

So Yeah, I you see it in their statement, right? They had complete faith. If you had been here, right, this wouldn't have happened. It's not a lack of faith thing. I mean, they geez, we believe if you would have showed up, yeah, something different would have happened and we wouldn't be in this situation. Our brother would still be with us. We we wouldn't be in this this moment of grief and and our brother's dead. I mean, why why weren't you here for us?

SPEAKER_02 5:08

Right, and I I don't know if that's what made him weep, if it was um if what was coming, you know, in the next few chapters, Jesus' own death and resurrection. I d I don't I don't know. It's uh it's hard for me to pinpoint you know, how do you know the mind of God, right? Right, right. But um he weep he weeps. It didn't say he cried. Those mourners were crying, but him and Mary and Martha were weeping. Right. And um I don't know if the transition between life and death, there's a lot going on there or there's nothing going on there. So what what what's making you weep, Jesus? Um we are empathic. Um I've got a lot of people when I cry when I'm preaching, they always cry and they tell me to knock it off. Stop making me cry, because they're sympathetic criers, right? And Jesus was all human, so he might have been looking at their grief and and sympathetic crying, weeping. I I d I just that's one of the things, you know, scouring through it, thinking about it all week long. I got it all put together uh last Monday, and um all week long. Why why was he weeping like that? Especially he knows he's about to raise his raise him from the dead, yeah.

SPEAKER_01 6:39

Why why are you so upset? And yeah, is it about their lack of belief in his ability, you know? Um if you had been here, you know, well, so I can heal when he's alive, but I can't do anything now, you know. Now I'm powerless. Like, is there a lack of of belief there that that crushes them? Um sometimes I'm well, you know, this is me, uh the way I think about scripture sometimes, you know, out there a little bit maybe. Um, you know, is is he crying because he's bringing Lazarus back, you know, like man, Lazarus, you you're in paradise, man. Um it's great, great for you. And uh I'm gonna need you to come back here. And he knows, man, life's rough. Lazarus is gonna die again. Yeah, you know, he's gonna do it all over. Yeah. I mean, dying once is bad enough, having to do it twice. Golly. So was he was he upset about having to subject his friend to that? It it is interesting. Why why does he weep? And again, not just cry, weep because he's getting ready to raise from the dead. This should be a joyous occasion, and yet he weeps.

SPEAKER_02 7:46

Well, death is our dread, right? That's uh that's the thing that we all are gonna have to face one day, and and uh it becomes probably a bigger thing that it is than it is in the spiritual world, especially for a Christian. Christian, it's I think it's like walking through a door. And uh but you know, since the beginning of time we've had this dread. And you you have that dread going into it. Um I you know when I I see Christians die peacefully a lot in my career, I and uh just welcome it. Come get me Jesus. And uh but I know a lot of people um struggle on on the way out. I don't know. It's it's something that calls to me, but I I can't get my head wrapped around around it. Now what one thing that happened here is that she said, Well, I know he'll be resurrected on the last day. When Jesus comes back, we're all gonna be resurrected. And um this resurrection that happens, the Lazarus is not like that, you know. Uh don't get those mixed up. This was a foreword of Jesus' resurrection and and the resurrection at the end times. I don't think that's true. When Jesus came out of the tomb, he was different. He was different.

SPEAKER_01 9:22

Well, and if it was the same thing that Jesus experienced, we'd still have Lazarus. Right.

SPEAKER_02 9:27

He'd still be walking around. Right. He might be walking around.

SPEAKER_01 9:31

Well, can you imagine? Yeah. He's like, hey, that sermon on Sunday. Uh you got a lot wrong. I'd like to talk about it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 9:41

And uh when we resurrect on the last day, uh, we're gonna be like Jesus. Whatever Jesus was when he came out of the tomb, whatever he was made up of, whatever happened to his human body, that's the stuff that we're gonna be made of.

SPEAKER_01 9:56

I got to do it. The scripture says, well, we will be like him. That's your class.

SPEAKER_02 9:59

Yeah, that's uh the class I teach. And it's it's exciting to get your head wrapped around that. But Lazarus came back to be what he was before. And uh and now he's gonna watch Jesus die on the cross, but then again, experience his resurrection. Um but he also Lazarus also um becomes Josephus tells us that Lazarus and Jesus becomes the focus of the religious leaders trying to kill him. So Lazarus went into hiding too, because you just can't have this guy walking around, right? Given his testimony. And uh I love that song we sang on Sunday. You know, every one of us are a living, breathing testimony, and boy, Lazarus was a big one. Yeah, you know, for sure. And uh so I I don't know, maybe Jesus was crying, we're what he's gonna put Lazarus through. Now you're gonna be hunted, you know. And but so a lot of things um play into that. I think I think the biggest thing I got

Lazarus Sign Versus Final Resurrection

SPEAKER_02 11:10

out of it was um I believe you're powerful. But not all powerful. That was my and I and I wonder in my life how many times that I think he's powerful but not that powerful, you know, to take care of this situation for me, or take care of this situation for the church. And I wonder I wonder if there's there's some times in there when I say, Well, all things are possible that I'm thinking, but not all things. And because Martha's statement of faith was perfect. And she had it all down. I mean, she didn't miss nothing. I know he's gonna be resurrected. I just know if you would have been here, he'd still be here.

unknown 12:00

Right.

SPEAKER_02 12:00

Jesus. And um I don't, you know, I made her out to be, you know, rebellious and and angry, and she probably wasn't that way, but she's probably just broken. And I think it's interesting that Jesus feels like he gets upset with Martha when he says, I am the resurrection, I am the life. What haven't you been listening? And then Mary comes out of the house and says, If you would have been here, he's like, I'm not getting across to anybody. So I wonder I I just wonder why he wept like that. It's good to see it that our God weeps with us when we grieve. It's pretty important to me that um he cares.

SPEAKER_01 12:53

So not to, you know, it's almost like if that was enough, like if that's all that we got out of it is man, he weeps, it's it's enough. If he if he did it just to show us that he cares, you know. And you know, I I got a a buddy of mine, uh Dr. Denver Daniel over at uh Open Door Christian Schools, and every now and then out of the blue, um, he'll text me, hey man, uh just wanted to see how you're doing, let you know I'm praying for you this morning. Well, they asked me to come lead a devotional for the staff last year before school got back in session. And I made a joke that Denver's the kind of guy who who will schedule a text like that. He'll put it on his calendar, you know, check in with Ryan, let him know you're praying, because he's just that detail-oriented guy. And so I I was I was making a joke about it, but at the same time, even the guy that schedules it, you know, like that still says something about the character of that person. And so I'm not trying to minimize Jesus crying, you know, weeping just to prove that he he's you know sympathetic to us. Um it shows us a lot about who he is, man. Here's a God who cares. And when your your heart's broken, it breaks his heart. He feels for his people. And man, if you want to know, just like I want to know what Jesus wrote in the the sand when he was talking to that woman called adultery. I want to know, John, why even bring it up if you're not gonna tell us? Um but man, if that's all we get out of it, man, he's a God who who

Powerful But Not All-Powerful Faith

SPEAKER_01 14:30

weeps with his people.

SPEAKER_02 14:31

Right. Um his statement there that I am the resurrection, I am the life is something that we can't overlook either. This is the this is this is our source of life. In the beginning, he uh m formed man from the dust and breathed life into him. And I think he's trying to remind us all here in this situation that that was me. I know you guys are getting this. I'm the Son of God, I'm the Messiah, but I'm the one that's responsible for life on this planet. I'm the one. Now, John uh he he says it right in the beginning in John chapter one, that uh nothing was created without him. Nothing was made without him, including us. I think one of the biggest uh stretches that it makes us stretch as Christians is that we're trying to live this abundant life. We're trying to do this, and and Jesus says, no, no, no, no. I'm gonna give you life. I'm just gonna give you life. And but that life has some um prerequisites, and and those prerequisites are you gonna live for me or you're gonna follow me, and uh, and then I'll give you a life. And then we look at people who have followed Jesus and been thrown in prison and and uh persecuted and all kinds of things have happened to them, and we're like, Well, I don't know if the life you have for me is the life that I actually want. And uh that can be that can be true too. But those lives um who end in in what we would see as tragedy are lives that stood up for Jesus, and we don't know what that means in the spiritual world. And we don't know what it means in the life down here, you know?

SPEAKER_01 16:38

Well, I think we talked about it, I think it was last week on the podcast. Um, this abundant life. You know, we we get this idea I'm gonna follow Jesus, he's gonna make everything better. And then you look at how the apostles died, and for most of them it was pretty brutal. Um I think all of them but John were murdered, executed, and John didn't get off a whole lot better. I mean, he was you know stranded on an island, and it's yeah, that that abundant life is is maybe not what we in the American Western culture have made it out to be. Yeah, but to say it's gonna be great. I mean it when Jesus I'm I I came that you would have life and have it to the full. I think if you were to ask any of those disciples, you know, if you got to to be Lazarus for a minute and go up and shoot hoops with them and say, Man, was it worth it? They say absolutely. I'll do it all over again. And years ago I preached a sermon and I I think the title of it was free with an asterisk at the end. And it was the whole idea was the free gift that cost you everything. There's nothing you can do to accept this gift. There's nothing you can do to I mean nothing you can do to earn it. All you can do is accept it. It's the free gift. But then deny yourself, pick up your cross daily, follow me. Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,

Abundant Life Costs Daily Surrender

SPEAKER_01 18:05

whoa. Hold on. I I thought you were just gonna save me. I did. Now pick up your cross, come follow me. And there's this, man, I gotta say yes to Jesus every single day. And and he man, well, how's the old song go? He demands my soul, my life, my all. Yeah, you know, you said on Sunday in the sermon, righteousness matters. Yeah, there's these things that this new life, if we're gonna experience this abundant, free life that Jesus has given us, we're gonna have to say yes to some things and we're gonna say no to some things. But at the end, it's gonna be worth it.

SPEAKER_02 18:40

Yeah, my dad used to give his his um testimony. And he said, Every restaurant I sat in, I sat with my back to the wall, every cop I seen on the road, I hit the brake. Every, every I was just waiting for the hammer to fall, you know? And um every time someone knocked on the door, is it the cops? Um those or is it the other crew that you know I stepped in on and got their money or whatever and uh are they coming to get me? He spent most of his young life living that way, and he says, I am so free now running double nickels down the highway. I'm just free. I don't have to worry about being pulled over. I can set in a restaurant with my back to the door, and I nobody's coming for me. Um and he said, That's that's freedom. And I think um all the guys who are um place they shouldn't be on the internet, you know, trying to hide that from family and kids or um cheating on their wives, you know, their phone filled with text and they live under this oppression all the time. Am I gonna get caught? Am I gonna get caught? Am I gonna get caught? Am I gonna get caught? And that that kind of stress and anxiety has gotta weigh on you. Especially if um you confess Jesus as Lord, you know you're in the wrong.

unknown 20:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:31

And you're waiting for we talked about not long ago, uh, Hebrews chapter 12, he punishes those who he loves. So you you gotta know that the Lord is not gonna let this continue.

SPEAKER_01 20:42

And we act like those things are freedom, you know? Yeah. No, this is me expressing my my freedom, my individual freedom, my choice to to live this life the way that I want, not realizing we've we've cuffed ourselves, man. Right. And yeah, then you live with that constant fear uh of getting caught, being exposed, um, just dread. And it's like, man, this is freedom is is right here, and and Jesus is promising it. And are you gonna have saying no to some things? Yeah, but there's a whole lot more you get to say yes to. Right. And in that process of saying yes to him, you find life like your dad did, man. It's free. Yeah, it's free. I'm I'm not trying to push the envelope, I'm free right here, you know, and and you can enjoy life to the full without looking over your shoulder, without that constant fear or dread, um, carrying around that shame and guilt that so many of us carry around. I'm free.

SPEAKER_02 21:45

And you know, we see it a lot in uh people's finances. Um if you stay within your budget, you're free. You

A Cage Called Freedom

SPEAKER_02 21:55

don't have to worry about if the bills are going to get paid or not. But when you When you say, I'm gonna grab this credit card and I'm gonna go get what I want. I deserve what I want, I'm gonna get it, then you bring that all that dread right back down on top of you. And we live in that cage that we call freedom. And uh it's tough. But the the flip side of that is um if you get on the tracks that Jesus has set for you, then all the power of the power of the resurrection resides in you.

SPEAKER_01 22:34

You know, not to interrupt you, but we've been talking about books that we've been working on. Hopefully, when Heaven Marvels will be out soon. But what an incredible book title, A Cage Called Freedom.

SPEAKER_02 22:44

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:45

Uh one of us might need to write that and I'll bring shit to it.

SPEAKER_02 22:50

Yeah, that's that's good. We have a we have a problem of being able to understand what the power of the resurrection means and and what it means simply is the ability to say no and not get yourself in those situations that your life has sucked out of you. And and that would be that would be a great book. I use that illustration as a locomotive being one of the most powerful things that we have, and a guy came up to me between services. I said, I love trains. I want you to know that there's some locomotives out there that can pull 20,000 tons of coal. 20,000 tons. That's how powerful they really are. And and I was thinking about that. You know, we don't we're always off in the meadow, off the track, somewhere spinning our wheels and wondering why God can't use me. And and it's simply no, you've got to follow me. Follow me, and when I ask you to let something go, just let it go. And and I'm gonna give you life and you're gonna live a powerful life. Yeah. If you'll just stay on the track.

SPEAKER_01 24:03

Stay on the tracks.

SPEAKER_02 24:05

And it's not when we talk about the Christian life and staying on the tracks. Well, you know, am I gonna be a pastor? And I'm no, you're gonna be a dad. You're gonna be a dad who's very influential with his kids. You're gonna be a dad uh who's very influential at work. Um even though if you're working the assembly line, people will find you. They'll want to know you're gonna be powerful in a way that makes a difference. And um makes a difference in Christ's kingdom, and that's that's gonna be a life filled with joy. Uh, even though you might hit some hit some sorrow. You might run into what Mary and and Martha ran into here is uh why us. Why us? We got to remember that Lazarus' uh resurrection is a sign, it's not a guarantee. Most of us are not going to experience something like that. And we've been talking about this focused on Lazarus and Jesus, but we need to talk a little bit about what it meant for those two women. Because if you're dying and God's grace is on you, and the Spirit of the Lord has assured you that you're on your way uh to that perfect place uh to be with Jesus, you're you're all good. But everybody standing around your bedside are not all good.

SPEAKER_01 25:32

Yeah, I mean, for the believer, what does scripture promise? To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. Jesus said, I will come and I will receive you to myself. So you say this all the time. Like you don't have to worry about who's coming to get you in that moment. Jesus himself is gonna come and receive you, take you home. It's a great day.

SPEAKER_02 25:49

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:49

I mean, scripture says it's better. I mean, that day is better. We should rejoice at that day. But everybody else standing around the bedside, it it is, it's a different story. As pastors, you and I, man, we've been in those situations with people in in though those moments where someone they love is is getting ready to cross over. And man, it's I I think that there is a peace, you know, that when we know that that they're a follower of Christ, they're gonna go home and be with the Lord, and I'm gonna get to see him one day. But man, that doesn't always mean the pain just dissipates, you know.

SPEAKER_02 26:29

Jesus was standing right there with them, and sometimes, you know, we say, you know, just lean on Jesus, uh, Jesus will be with you, and but Jesus was

Staying On The Tracks

SPEAKER_02 26:40

right there, and it didn't stop anybody's grief, you know.

SPEAKER_01 26:43

Wow, he he actually wept.

SPEAKER_02 26:45

Yeah, the presence of Christ does not abolish grief. And uh Mary is weeping, the crowd is weeping, Jesus is weeping, everybody's weeping, you know. And uh I think one uh we have to be careful as Christians when we deal with someone who's under um enormous grief that we don't um belittle that. Yeah. Because a lot of people well, you're really you're really messed up over this. You really don't have faith. No, I have faith that he's in heaven, but he's not here. You know? I've lost my life partner, and I am hurting, and I'm lonely, and I want it to be the way it was. I don't want it to be this way. And for us to kind of crank that into uh lack of faith, I think that that belittles who who God is and who we are as Christians.

SPEAKER_01 27:47

Well, and particularly for men, you know, Pat shares that story, you know, about that uh guy they met when they were going through treatments with their their son, who going through a you know, similar situation, son passes away, and you know, he he he told Pat, you know, I've always I was always told real men don't cry, and this guy's trying to just hold all this stuff in. And Pat told him, You're allowed to cry, man. This sucks. Yeah, you're allowed to grieve. And and Pat said at the at the funeral, the dad just broke down and just wept. Yeah. You know, to say, man, it's it's because you don't have faith. I mean, we do. We we belittle the the moment the these things, man. We love the person, and it's it is okay to grieve when when they're not here anymore. Man, am I glad they're in heaven? Absolutely.

SPEAKER_02 28:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 28:40

But I won't I'm still gonna miss them. Yeah, I wanted them here with me. You know, I wasn't done selfishly. I wanted more time. I wanted to go first.

SPEAKER_02 28:51

The future hope uh does not negate the present pain. That's what I said on Sunday. Um you know, Jesus in this whole situation, he knew he was gonna resurrect them, and all things were gonna be back to the way they were, uh except for the fact that the Jews were gonna try to kill Lazarus. But that's a little thing, though. Yeah. If you've ever been told that real faith means not grieving, that is untruth. Don't believe that. Because uh we love and when we get separated, we grieve. Uh there's a family in our church whose son uh just graduated from uh Marine Boot camp and he's at it headed out to his first assignment. I don't I'm not sure where he's going. But you can't tell me that they're not grieving. You can't tell me that they're not worried. You can't, you just can't tell me with everything going on in the world and uh what our what our society, what our country does for the world, policing the world, that he might not be he might be put in harm's way. And as soon as he gets on that plane or on that bus to to head out, those parents are gonna be grieving and they're gonna be full of fear.

Grief With Hope Not Platitudes

SPEAKER_02 30:10

And I know what that's like. And when Tim my son Tim went over to Afghanistan, I was afraid every day I was gonna get a phone call, you know. So um let's not make little of I know we're afraid of it, we're afraid of all the emotions that's involved in it. Uh just like that guy said, uh, you know, men are not supposed to cry, and you know, how do I deal? All that kind of stuff. Well, the way you deal with this stuff is you grieve. The way you deal with this stuff is you miss 'em. You know? You you just gotta have have to embrace that. And uh one day, I think uh what was that movie, Sleepless in Seattle? That guy had lost his wife, and uh they asked him what he was gonna do, and he says, I'm gonna get up every day and remind myself to breathe and in and out, and then maybe one day I won't have to remind myself to do that anymore. And uh we think, well, God is bigger than that. God can do what well he can weep with you. That's what he'll do.

SPEAKER_01 31:20

Yeah. I think I think you read this verse on Sunday, 1 Thessalonians, um, where Paul writes, Man, we don't we don't want you to to be uninformed or worried, brother. And just he says, We don't grieve like the rest who have no hope.

SPEAKER_02 31:35

Right.

SPEAKER_01 31:35

What he didn't say is we don't grieve at all. Right. He's just saying our our grief is different. We have a hope. And man, I sometimes I think is the only thing that pulls us through that grief, you know. I'm gonna get to see them again, you know, and and I know that they're if they're a follower of Jesus, man, they're healed, they're whole, right? They're they're with their savior, you know, they're they're not sad, you know. It's life is great for them. And that hope, man, it it gets us through. So we don't grieve like those who have no hope. But man, he didn't say we don't grieve at all.

SPEAKER_02 32:12

That's true. I think sometimes we were afraid. I know my mom was when she lost my dad. She was afraid that she wasn't a good testimony because she was grieving so hard. And um I was like, Mom, um you're you're gonna have to forget about what it looks like and just grieve.

unknown 32:36

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 32:36

Quit trying to hold it all in. Um in Ministry 101 the class, we talk about grieving and not um getting people um as a pastor trying to entertain you, but that you stay out of the way so that they can grieve. Not to greet them with a bunch of platitudes like what a Christian say sometimes. Well, there's something coming that they couldn't handle, so the Lord took them, and all these kind of things we try to say, and uh all that all that happens when that happens is they ask why, why, why? And then now you're you're trying to answer a question that's unanswerable. Right. So I just be be quiet and let them grieve. Don't get in between them and their grief. Let them be angry against God, let them be angry against life, let them be just like Mary and Martha. If you would have been here, you know, this wouldn't have happened. And so uh everybody's gotta go through that, everybody's gotta uh wrestle with that, and that's part of the grieving process. And as Christians, we don't we don't wanna come in with platitudes and get them distracted, and you gotta let them you gotta let them grieve and face the reality of what has happened. And that don't happen in a couple hours at a funeral. It takes sometimes it takes years. So as ministry uh ministers of the gospel, we need to be a people that recognizes grieving for what it is, it is a healthy reaction. Now, as a Christian, you can grieve with hope, and and that's great, um, but you're still grieving. And you need to take a time and and let that let that happen to you. Um and I know uh there's all kinds of books on grieving and they all say the same thing is you have to grieve. You can't lock it down, or it'll leak out for the rest of your life. And uh and then one day you'll get up and you won't have to remind yourself to breathe in and out. And uh and the Lord will be there to to grab your hand and walk on, but he's gonna sit there and and give you the elbow during that entire period and say, Hey, breathe in and out uh because he grieves with us and he proved it right here in in uh John chapter eleven. Um I wish I know what it might have been the whole thing altogether that uh made him weep, but um I just I d I can't pinpoint it. And uh what do you what do you think is the the biggest thing here that made him grieve with him?

SPEAKER_01 35:38

It's I mean again all speculation, I guess. Um I I think the weight of it all i i it's probably a little bit of all of it, and who knows I guess who knows. Um what I'm what I'm grateful for is that we have a God who meets us right there. And it would be great for it'd be great if you just showed up and it didn't have to be this way. And I think that's where a lot of us get wrapped up in

Where Were You When I Needed You

SPEAKER_01 36:10

Lord, why didn't you show up? Why didn't you do it the way that I wanted? Why why weren't you here? As you read John chapter 11, it's it's perplexing, man. Um Jesus loved him and he found out his his I mean maybe one of his best friends is sick. So he stayed. Right. And man, sometimes I feel like as we're following Jesus, a lot of us end up in that situation.

SPEAKER_02 36:38

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 36:39

Jesus, I feel like you stayed. You didn't come when I needed you. Where were you? Where are you? I need you to show up and to to realize, man, he did that out of love. You know, he loved these people. And and we see it when he weeps. He loves them, he cared for them. And then he meets them right there in that grief. Um I am the thing you're looking for. Um I'm the thing you're desperate for. The resurrection and the life, that's me. It's all in me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 37:17

I don't want to end on this. On this, it's it's tough. End on grief. So let's uh talk about what Augustine said. I thought that was uh pretty interesting. He said uh if Jesus wasn't didn't specify Lazarus, everybody in Judea would have got up and came out of the grave.

SPEAKER_01 37:38

Um I wonder how popular of a name Lazarus was.

SPEAKER_02 37:41

Yeah. Probably people walking around. What happened? You just happen to have the wrong

Resurrection Power Conquers Our Dread

SPEAKER_02 37:50

name, dude.

SPEAKER_01 37:50

Yeah, sorry. Um should have been a little bit even more specific. Right. Um, yeah, that you know, he's he's taking a valley of dry bones and put some some skin on them before it could have happened.

SPEAKER_02 38:05

You know, when he resurrected um from the dead, um scripture says, I can't remember what was. I should have looked it up before we started this. Um, that people came out of the grave, yeah, began testifying. Everybody says, Well, why didn't they just grab the disciples and why didn't they do well? There was a lot going on. There was a lot going on. There was um Roman centurions that were getting punished for you know falling down on the job. There was um people who had been dead walking around Jerusalem, you know, um praising Jesus. And uh so there was there was a lot going on that the religious leaders had to deal with. And um so that would have been a moment, man.

SPEAKER_01 38:51

Jesus, you know, comes out and hears all these these bodies, you're like, is that Larry? Yeah, he's been dead. What is going on here? Right. Um it and you know, scripture says what there was 500 people that that saw Jesus in his resurrected form. And when you go through acts, I mean they just name some of them. You can go talk to this guy, you can talk to that lady over there. They they saw them.

SPEAKER_02 39:18

Oh, that guy, he was dead.

SPEAKER_01 39:20

Yeah, that one, yeah. We got his death certificate here, and I don't know, he he made dinner last night. Yeah, it was wild. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 39:29

So we see that in Elisha when Elisha dies and they they put his body in it, brushed against some bones, and those bones got up and walked out. Um so you know, we we think about resurrect death being our main dread in life, that resurrection is the greatest power. Not sure about that. You know, that first verse in Genesis, pretty big deal. In the beginning, God created the heaven and the earth. That's a pretty big deal. And um so if the universe started right there when he said let there be light, that's that's probably the major miracle. And resurrection is just oh no, that's that's not miraculous. That's just science that you don't understand. You know, I can bring anybody back. That's just so I don't know. I don't I don't know. But since it's resist our our greatest dread is to die. Um I think we look at it as the greatest power. You know, Paul did it. You know, he said you have the power of resurrection inside you. Um the thing you dread the most has been conquered for you. What are you afraid of? And uh man, we should grab a hold of that, that Jesus can call a man out of a tomb. Um he can walk out of the tomb, and one day when you're dead, you will rise again. Uh those are things that help us stay on the track.

unknown 41:03

Right.

SPEAKER_02 41:03

You know, help us pull the load. And uh doesn't mean that you won't grieve for someone, you will. Um but still uh we don't grieve as someone without hope.

SPEAKER_01 41:15

No, he's he's gonna come again, he's gonna receive us to himself. And Lazarus, who died and then came back and then died, he's gonna rise ahead of us. Yeah, and then those who are still here, we're gonna get caught up to. Um, we're gonna go. We're gonna be with Jesus and we'll be like him. Not this body that's gonna perish again. Everything's gonna be made brand new. There's gonna be no more sorrow, no more tears, crying, pain. No, no mind can even conceive what God has prepared for those who love him. It's whatever you think heaven's gonna be like. It's better. Yeah, it's better. Um, and it it's hard to say it's better than the Franco's Pico, which is that's pretty good. It's pretty good stuff, man. And it's better, man. It's it's gonna be amazing. And in that, man, it should fill us with that hope that we need. Absolutely grieve. Grieve. Yeah, but don't grieve like the rest of the world. Grieve with hope, man. And when we stay on those tracks, we're that powerful locomotive pulling 20,000 tons, man. God's gonna give us life, so much life we can't even handle it, you know? And it's gonna be awesome. It's gonna be awesome, and you're gonna accomplish great things for his for his kingdom. And man, what a what a privilege it is.

SPEAKER_02 42:39

Get on those tracks right now. Get on your knees and tell the Lord, I'm tired of playing around. I'm gonna drop this stuff that I'm always waiting to get exposed on, and I'm gonna pick up your word and uh the cross and follow you. And uh you'll never be the same. You'll never be the same. Yeah, I'm glad we went there. Um, Jesus is our resurrection. Even sometimes when um you're a Christian and you feel like you're in a dry and dusty land, he is your water source, he is your resurrection

Prayer And Ways To Connect

SPEAKER_02 43:15

to the life that he has for you. Don't give up on it. Don't give up on it.

SPEAKER_01 43:19

Pray for us, right? Father, we thank you for your word that continues to to give us the faith and the confidence we need to move forward. And Lord, I know that a lot of us um life has been tough, it's heavy. A lot of us are grieving. Uh, even people within our church have lost loved ones um even recently. And Father, I pray that I pray that you'd comfort them. Don't let us grieve uh like the rest of the world, like people without hope. You are our hope. You are the resurrection and the life. And so, Father, we uh we look forward um to that day when we all rise with you and uh to meet you in the air and be like you. And Father, in the meantime, I pray that you would give us the faith and the courage we need to stay on the track so that we can experience the abundant life that you've prepared for us. Let us accomplish all of it, and uh, God will give you all the glory in Jesus' name. Amen. Amen and amen.

SPEAKER_00 44:16

Thanks again for joining us for this episode of the Midweek Podcast. We'd love to hear from you. Let us know how God is using this resource in your life or send any podcast questions or topic ideas to podcast at a freshwind.org. If you would like to support this ministry financially and help us continue offering new resources that equip you to discover more in Christ, simply text any amount to the number 84321. We're so grateful for your support. Make sure to tune in next week for a brand new episode of the Midweek Podcast. Be blessed and have a great week.