WEBVTT 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:04.732 as well. 00:00:04.732 --> 00:00:07.432 Good morning, Valley View. 00:00:07.432 --> 00:00:08.599 It's great to be with you today. 00:00:08.599 --> 00:00:25.132 While we continue our study in the Book of John, we've been working through the Gospel of John now for many months, and we're into Chapter 11 today when I started as pastor here, a pastor friend of mine reached out and he said, Hey, let me just share a few things with you. 00:00:25.132 --> 00:00:30.565 One of the things he said was, I can't stand it when people ask me to do weddings. 00:00:30.565 --> 00:00:33.633 I'm like, okay, you're such a bundle of joy here. 00:00:33.633 --> 00:00:34.865 Why is that? 00:00:34.865 --> 00:00:35.899 What's the deal with weddings? 00:00:35.899 --> 00:00:41.865 He said, Well, let me tell you, I don't mind weddings, but what I love is funerals. 00:00:41.865 --> 00:00:43.365 It's okay. 00:00:43.365 --> 00:00:44.932 It's not getting any better. 00:00:44.932 --> 00:00:46.698 What's the deal? 00:00:46.698 --> 00:01:04.399 And as we talked and I kind of knew what he meant when he said that, but he referenced and I thought of Ecclesiastes seven two, it's better to go to the house of mourning than the house of feasting, for that is the end of all mankind. 00:01:04.433 --> 00:01:08.865 And the living will lay it to heart. 00:01:08.933 --> 00:01:17.099 We've all been in those moments where you have been at a funeral and a part of being there is your own self reflection. 00:01:17.332 --> 00:01:19.632 What is my end? 00:01:19.632 --> 00:01:21.498 What is my purpose? 00:01:21.498 --> 00:01:23.899 How is God going to use me or not? 00:01:23.899 --> 00:01:28.533 I see this person's life and these are the things I admire or don't. 00:01:28.533 --> 00:01:30.599 God, what are you going to do in my life? 00:01:30.599 --> 00:01:36.433 It's a powerful moment of reflection and we tend to try to avoid that, right? 00:01:36.433 --> 00:01:44.132 I don't like to think about my own death the end of time, but in those moments it's coming. 00:01:44.132 --> 00:01:46.266 None of us will escape it. 00:01:46.266 --> 00:01:53.033 And in those moments, we pause for just a moment and reflect at a place where we need to go. 00:01:53.033 --> 00:02:00.266 And in this morning's passage, we're going to look at how a number of people react to this reality of looming death. 00:02:00.399 --> 00:02:17.199 It's a well known story, the story of Lazarus and John, Chapter 11, and we could unpack it all in one big section today, but we're going to break it up because Chapter 11 is really a big transition in the book of John, Chapter 11 and Chapter 12, both. 00:02:17.199 --> 00:02:34.199 So we've gone through the first ten chapters, and you may have noticed at the end of Chapter ten last week, Jesus returns to where John the Baptist launched his public ministry, John the Baptist launching his own public ministry, but also Jesus's public ministry at the end of Chapter ten. 00:02:34.199 --> 00:02:42.532 And that book is the major part of Jesus's public ministry, because chapter one after the Prolog began that way. 00:02:43.733 --> 00:02:51.066 And so you have this public ministry of Jesus being launched by John the Baptist, but then it's closed back at the end with a reference to John the Baptist. 00:02:51.066 --> 00:02:54.799 And as we get into Chapter 11, we're going to see him moving out of the public eye. 00:02:54.799 --> 00:03:00.699 He's no longer debating openly in the temple and going out in in vast and open ministry. 00:03:00.699 --> 00:03:02.799 He's focusing in on his disciples. 00:03:02.799 --> 00:03:05.498 And so we get these chapters now and 11 and 12. 00:03:05.498 --> 00:03:07.966 It's very transitional. 00:03:07.966 --> 00:03:21.799 We're moving into a time, we're moving closer, and it's going to start to pick up speed towards his own death and resurrection and in fact, when I think of Chapter 11, I think of the times we've been hiking in Colorado. 00:03:21.799 --> 00:03:31.399 Our family used to spend every other summer in Colorado, where I taught a course that campus groups say did kind of an interim Bible study course for new staff at Campus Crusade. 00:03:31.399 --> 00:03:43.432 And the thing about hiking in Colorado is you start out on a hike in the mountains are so big and they jut up right in front of you, you go onto this hike and even if you know where you're going, there'll be a peak in front of you. 00:03:43.432 --> 00:03:46.966 And you're sure that's that's the highest peak we're going to hit today. 00:03:46.966 --> 00:03:50.466 But when you get to it, you see that was just the initial peak. 00:03:50.466 --> 00:03:58.066 There's another bigger peak on out of here that was being blocked by that one right in front of you in there's a whole range of huge mountains out ahead of that. 00:03:59.265 --> 00:04:03.566 And Chapter 11 is kind of like this penultimate peak. 00:04:03.566 --> 00:04:14.299 It's this raising of Lazarus that also raises the book and points towards the greater miracle to come later in the book. 00:04:14.299 --> 00:04:29.399 And so when we look at Chapter 11 today, we all are going to be pressed with this issue of how are we going to live in light of death, in light of a looming death in light of eternity. 00:04:29.399 --> 00:04:31.298 It's the same question there presented here. 00:04:31.298 --> 00:04:34.632 And so let's look at how some react to this reality. 00:04:34.632 --> 00:04:35.632 John, Chapter 11. 00:04:35.632 --> 00:04:44.266 It's on page 843 In the church Bibles, we have free copies of Bibles that are tied in to the page numbers on the screen that are out in the connection corner. 00:04:44.266 --> 00:04:46.365 Go out there and get one anytime if you need one. 00:04:46.365 --> 00:04:47.699 Those are free for you. 00:04:47.699 --> 00:04:49.466 We want you to have a copy of God's Word. 00:04:49.466 --> 00:04:50.798 We want you to be His word. 00:04:50.798 --> 00:04:51.199 Reading it. 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:55.699 Grab one of the Bible reading plans we're going through as a church and just get into God's Word. 00:04:55.699 --> 00:04:57.999 Get to know him through his word. 00:04:59.266 --> 00:05:02.733 But let's look at the first four verses while we set up this passage. 00:05:02.733 --> 00:05:06.399 John Chapter 11 versus one through four. 00:05:07.499 --> 00:05:15.466 Now, a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary, and her sister Martha. 00:05:15.466 --> 00:05:21.132 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 00:05:21.132 --> 00:05:26.598 So the sister sent to him saying, Lord, he whom you love is ill. 00:05:26.932 --> 00:05:31.499 But when Jesus heard it, he said, This illness does not lead to death. 00:05:31.499 --> 00:05:37.598 It is for the glory of God so that the son of man me glory may be glorified through it. 00:05:38.732 --> 00:05:45.732 What shocked me when I started to study this passage, a very familiar passage, But what shocked me about it? 00:05:45.732 --> 00:06:04.365 I hadn't seen this as I read the commentary after commentary after commentary was the amount of time that each of these academics and I'm reading when I study, I'm mostly reading evangelical commentaries, people who believe that the Bible is God word, God's word, people who believe in the authority of Scripture or the inerrancy of Scripture believe in the Trinity. 00:06:04.365 --> 00:06:09.098 Surprisingly, there's lots of commentaries written that don't believe that the Bible is true. 00:06:09.098 --> 00:06:11.966 Mark, You waste your time writing the commentary about is what I want to know. 00:06:11.966 --> 00:06:13.999 But lots of people do. 00:06:13.999 --> 00:06:18.531 And I was shocked as I read these evangelical commentaries in this particular section. 00:06:18.531 --> 00:06:32.899 In this particular passage, they spent way more time than they had anywhere else that I have read so far, defending this passage, defending the historical trustworthiness of this passage. 00:06:32.899 --> 00:06:35.165 Why this passage in particular? 00:06:35.165 --> 00:06:38.266 Why would they spend so much time here at the beginning of Chapter 11? 00:06:38.266 --> 00:06:58.331 Well, if you are from a liberal theological background and you don't believe that Jesus was real and that he did miracles and that I can trust the Bible well of any place in scripture you want to undermine, it's going to be the Gospels, the places that talk about Jesus, the places that show his miracles, and of any place among the gospels that you want to undermine. 00:06:58.331 --> 00:07:11.699 It's going to be the book of John, as we saw last week, in previous weeks, where there were clear pointers to even the contemporaries around him, knowing he is saying that he is God and in human flesh, you're going to want to undermine the book of John because of that. 00:07:11.699 --> 00:07:22.399 And then if you're going to undermine anywhere in the Book of John, it's going to be Chapter 11 where he raises someone from the dead. 00:07:22.399 --> 00:07:25.732 Because if he can't do that, that's going to undermine everything else. 00:07:27.598 --> 00:07:34.999 But here we have right here in this section, right off the bat, Lazarus of Bethany, the village. 00:07:35.466 --> 00:07:39.298 These are real places, historical places, places they had dug up. 00:07:39.298 --> 00:07:44.331 You can go and see today, in fact, in just a few verses later, wills are in the next passage. 00:07:44.331 --> 00:07:47.966 Next week, we'll see where it says that this was two miles outside of Jerusalem. 00:07:47.966 --> 00:07:53.798 We're not trying to hide anything about this story, not trying to make up details. 00:07:53.798 --> 00:08:01.266 In fact, some of the archeology that's been done in that particular area, they've dug up what are called ossuaries, which are burial boxes. 00:08:01.266 --> 00:08:02.999 Throw a photo up on the screen. 00:08:02.999 --> 00:08:09.199 These aren't the exact ones, but they're similar to what these burial boxes would have been like. 00:08:09.199 --> 00:08:11.932 And the way these work, they're actually not very big. 00:08:11.932 --> 00:08:13.732 It doesn't mean the people were small. 00:08:13.732 --> 00:08:16.732 What they did was kind of like with Jesus's tomb. 00:08:16.732 --> 00:08:22.365 They lay them out in an open tomb until the body decayed, and then they put the bones in the boxes. 00:08:23.298 --> 00:08:26.165 That way you could fit more people in there that way. 00:08:26.165 --> 00:08:29.766 And so a whole family might have their own box. 00:08:29.766 --> 00:08:42.599 And archeologists have discovered this in particular burial site with ossuaries from this area with the names of Mary Martha Lazarus in that particular city. 00:08:42.599 --> 00:08:49.966 We don't know if that was actually them or not, because the thing is that those names were very common then. 00:08:49.966 --> 00:09:03.532 And so you have all this historical fact right in here in the front end of this passage, things that are going to be difficult to deny and just write off because we we don't like what it might imply. 00:09:03.899 --> 00:09:11.631 Now, what happens here is that when the sisters reach out to him, the way he reacts is interesting in this. 00:09:12.666 --> 00:09:19.499 First, it makes a sad comment about Mary being the one who anointed his feet, which we haven't encountered yet. 00:09:19.499 --> 00:09:20.265 In the book of John. 00:09:20.265 --> 00:09:21.099 He's pointing forward. 00:09:21.099 --> 00:09:23.499 It's going to come in a few chapters. 00:09:23.499 --> 00:09:35.566 John often assumes that you have read some of the other gospels now in the introductory sermon to the whole series, one of the early church fathers pointed out that John wrote this book. 00:09:35.566 --> 00:09:38.865 He wanted to write something different than what Matthew, Mark and Luke had done. 00:09:38.865 --> 00:09:40.798 He wanted to piece it together differently. 00:09:40.798 --> 00:09:45.399 That's why something like 90% of what's in the Book of John is unique to John. 00:09:45.399 --> 00:09:50.765 Even though Matthew, Mark and Luke share many other stories about Jesus. 00:09:50.765 --> 00:09:52.432 And so here we get a little pointing forward. 00:09:52.432 --> 00:09:53.365 You know, this is coming. 00:09:53.365 --> 00:09:54.231 This is who this is. 00:09:54.231 --> 00:09:55.899 You've heard about her. 00:09:55.899 --> 00:09:57.099 This all ties together. 00:09:57.099 --> 00:09:57.999 You can trust it all. 00:09:59.999 --> 00:10:14.099 And we also get through that just a subtle reminder of how much Mary loved Jesus, the love that was shared between them in fact, she said to him, We know that you love Lazarus. 00:10:14.099 --> 00:10:18.466 There is a deep, intimate love shared between us. 00:10:19.798 --> 00:10:24.466 And Jesus says in that moment, I'm not worried. 00:10:24.466 --> 00:10:27.466 This isn't a sickness unto death. 00:10:27.899 --> 00:10:30.831 Now, how does it continue? 00:10:30.831 --> 00:10:33.466 You look at verses five through seven. 00:10:33.466 --> 00:10:37.298 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 00:10:37.298 --> 00:10:43.899 So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 00:10:43.999 --> 00:11:10.764 Then after he said this to the disciples, let us go to Judea again, these two verses verse five and six present What for many is a huge difficulty and for many is too difficult to overcome when they think about following God, knowing God, following a loving God. 00:11:10.764 --> 00:11:13.365 And what we have here is just this gigantic contrast. 00:11:13.365 --> 00:11:19.365 You see in verse five, it says very clearly, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 00:11:19.365 --> 00:11:26.631 In fact, this verse is such that in Greek that word loved is moved to the front of the verse so you don't have to do it in word order like we have to in English. 00:11:26.631 --> 00:11:37.099 They move words around and usually, if the words really important, they'll throw it on the front end to emphasize that some have translated like he really loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus. 00:11:37.099 --> 00:11:38.599 He loved them deeply. 00:11:38.599 --> 00:11:42.264 And so how does he show them his love here in this passage? 00:11:42.264 --> 00:11:45.764 Not how you would expect because he loved them. 00:11:45.764 --> 00:11:48.664 He stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 00:11:50.432 --> 00:11:53.831 That's a weird way to show your love, Jesus. 00:11:53.831 --> 00:11:54.631 Right? You. 00:11:54.631 --> 00:11:57.365 We would expect that because he loved them. 00:11:57.365 --> 00:11:59.065 He would respond to their request. 00:11:59.065 --> 00:12:01.365 He would come right away. 00:12:01.365 --> 00:12:04.365 He would come running. 00:12:05.399 --> 00:12:06.432 But he doesn't always do it. 00:12:06.432 --> 00:12:09.032 He doesn't always do that. 00:12:09.032 --> 00:12:14.798 In fact, that's difficult for many of us. 00:12:14.798 --> 00:12:18.932 Jesus doesn't just snap to attention when I demand it. 00:12:18.932 --> 00:12:21.831 He doesn't immediately do what I say he should. 00:12:21.831 --> 00:12:26.231 He doesn't always answer the prayers the way I think he should. 00:12:26.231 --> 00:12:35.099 That's difficult, especially given the nature of whatever situation you might be praying for. 00:12:35.099 --> 00:12:39.264 Even though he says he's loving, there are times where you feel like, are you really? 00:12:39.264 --> 00:12:41.065 Are you really here? 00:12:41.065 --> 00:12:43.465 But you're saying you're loving. 00:12:43.465 --> 00:12:50.032 I don't feel that way in this moment, but he doesn't just snap to attention because we demand it. 00:12:50.032 --> 00:12:53.099 I just finished reading a book by a lady, Kate Butler. 00:12:53.099 --> 00:13:05.264 She is a professor of divinity at Duke Divinity School, and she wrote a book that walked through her own struggle with cancer as a young mother with just a one or two year old at home. 00:13:05.264 --> 00:13:09.764 You know, life's just starting all her dreams and hopes, new career before her. 00:13:09.764 --> 00:13:14.131 And she's diagnosed with cancer and she's wrestling with this question as well. 00:13:14.131 --> 00:13:23.764 But the irony of the situation is she had just finished dissertation on the whole prosperity movement, which would say name it and claim it. 00:13:23.764 --> 00:13:24.899 No one should ever be sick. 00:13:24.899 --> 00:13:27.365 If you're sick, it's because your faith is weak. 00:13:27.365 --> 00:13:28.631 You should be rich as well. 00:13:28.631 --> 00:13:30.399 If you're poor, it's because your faith is weak. 00:13:30.399 --> 00:13:33.731 God wants you to have everything, to have perfect help, to never have any problems. 00:13:33.731 --> 00:13:37.731 That would be the prosperity gospel of great simplification of it. 00:13:38.865 --> 00:13:45.099 And so here she is in the midst of her own challenge, having just been saturated into that world. 00:13:45.099 --> 00:13:51.231 And she was shocked by how after person of friends she had made in that connection. 00:13:51.231 --> 00:13:55.698 In our world, we're bringing a lot of that same language to her. 00:13:55.698 --> 00:13:58.698 Where's your faith? 00:13:59.032 --> 00:14:02.465 Why are you not trusting God in this moment? 00:14:02.465 --> 00:14:07.999 What have you done wrong that has brought this sickness upon you over and over again? 00:14:07.999 --> 00:14:12.198 But God is not our puppet. 00:14:12.198 --> 00:14:15.298 We don't just demand what He does, and then he follows. 00:14:15.298 --> 00:14:20.365 In fact, he has his own sense of timing. 00:14:20.365 --> 00:14:32.865 One of the things that's interesting about this whole section, it reminds me of a couple of different stories we've already encountered when they asked about the blind man, was he blind? 00:14:32.865 --> 00:14:35.664 Was it because of his parents in a red own? 00:14:35.664 --> 00:14:38.264 And he says, no, it's just so that God will get the glory. 00:14:38.264 --> 00:14:39.465 I mean, that's what he says here. 00:14:39.465 --> 00:14:40.831 This illness does not lead to death. 00:14:40.831 --> 00:14:42.565 It's for God's glory. 00:14:42.565 --> 00:14:50.298 I've got a greater purpose in mind than what you can ever imagine or understand or comprehend. 00:14:50.298 --> 00:14:54.264 So there's that story in terms of what this point towards. 00:14:54.264 --> 00:14:58.698 But here in this particular section stayed two extra days. 00:14:58.698 --> 00:15:07.099 He loved Martha mary Lazarus, and yet he lingered. 00:15:08.532 --> 00:15:36.099 One of the challenges with this is that many will read something like this and they'll think, if God and you've probably heard this kind of objection to Christianity at times, if God is all knowing and all loving, why would he allow evil and sin to continue in the world If he's all knowing and all loving, He no one would dare allow things to happen that have happened. 00:15:36.099 --> 00:15:40.798 So either he must not be all knowing or he must not be loving. 00:15:40.798 --> 00:15:45.231 This is way a common objection you'll hear to this dynamic. 00:15:45.231 --> 00:15:49.065 And so I just want to take a second and give a couple of responses to this. 00:15:49.065 --> 00:15:52.065 And by the way, this isn't a light and easy section. 00:15:52.065 --> 00:15:58.331 Here I am giving more of maybe the theological responses. 00:15:58.331 --> 00:16:01.865 I'm not necessarily unpacking the full pastoral response. 00:16:01.865 --> 00:16:06.865 These aren't the responses you lay out someone right in the midst of a big challenge. 00:16:06.865 --> 00:16:12.432 In fact, we went to Julie and I went with some friends to a comedian last night. 00:16:12.432 --> 00:16:23.932 He's a Christian comedian, and he was down at the Kentucky Center for the Arts and he said, Why is it that it seems like God only we only say that God is in control when something bad happens is said. 00:16:23.932 --> 00:16:27.731 When you when someone says, hey, I got a new job, we say, hey, that's great. 00:16:28.831 --> 00:16:29.965 Hey, I lost my job. 00:16:29.965 --> 00:16:34.399 God is in control and it's only in the bad moments that we drop that I like. 00:16:34.399 --> 00:16:53.565 He wasn't game control with the with the good job, but we feel like we've got to remind people God in can control and he is and so let me just walk through but this isn't with these four arguments then I'm going to present these aren't the ones you drop on someone right in the midst of suffering, per se. 00:16:53.565 --> 00:16:56.398 These are for us to kind of address at a high level here. 00:16:56.398 --> 00:17:00.097 So let's look at these together for reasons why. 00:17:00.097 --> 00:17:03.164 And the technical term for this is called The Odyssey. 00:17:03.164 --> 00:17:05.964 What is God allow evil and suffering to continue in the world. 00:17:05.964 --> 00:17:07.065 It's called theodicy. 00:17:07.065 --> 00:17:10.632 The response to these Why the Odyssey comes from God and justice. 00:17:10.632 --> 00:17:11.632 God's righteousness. 00:17:11.632 --> 00:17:16.964 Why can we consider God righteous in the midst of allowing evil and suffering to continue in the world? 00:17:17.964 --> 00:17:18.964 These don't cover it all. 00:17:18.964 --> 00:17:19.632 They're just a few. 00:17:19.632 --> 00:17:20.897 But number one. 00:17:20.897 --> 00:17:23.964 First one consider is human freedom. 00:17:23.964 --> 00:17:26.698 Human freedom. 00:17:26.698 --> 00:17:29.865 That's one of our words for this year. Free and fearless. 00:17:29.865 --> 00:17:31.097 Everybody wants freedom. 00:17:31.097 --> 00:17:38.798 In fact, as Americans, we demand freedom as nothing more offensive than thinking someone might control me. 00:17:39.132 --> 00:17:40.432 Yeah, we demand freedom. 00:17:40.432 --> 00:17:41.597 But yet. 00:17:41.597 --> 00:17:48.531 But we want him to control the actions of others apart from their own desire. 00:17:48.865 --> 00:17:53.865 It's a really hard thing to bring up, but we really can't have it both ways. 00:17:53.865 --> 00:17:55.298 Yes, God, we want freedom. 00:17:55.298 --> 00:17:55.632 But no. 00:17:55.632 --> 00:17:57.397 But stop that now. 00:17:57.397 --> 00:18:00.397 Don't allow them to do that. 00:18:00.397 --> 00:18:01.565 But I want to be free though. 00:18:01.565 --> 00:18:02.231 But don't. 00:18:02.231 --> 00:18:03.332 Don't control my behavior. 00:18:03.332 --> 00:18:03.932 I want to be free. 00:18:03.932 --> 00:18:06.464 But stop them. 00:18:06.464 --> 00:18:09.632 If we have human freedom, some will abuse it. 00:18:09.632 --> 00:18:11.365 That's just the reality of that dynamic. 00:18:11.365 --> 00:18:17.097 And by the way, any one of these four arguments I'm making is it's not the trump card. 00:18:17.097 --> 00:18:18.798 It doesn't stand alone. 00:18:18.798 --> 00:18:19.698 These act together. 00:18:19.698 --> 00:18:23.298 And there are many more there are gigantic books written on this topic. 00:18:23.298 --> 00:18:26.031 I can't cover it all, but these are just a few. 00:18:26.031 --> 00:18:36.432 Number two, the reality is challenges, suffering difficulties can make us stronger as they can. 00:18:36.432 --> 00:18:52.231 They might not always, but just thinking about my own life, some of the most growth has occurred in my life through the hard things, even more so than the great things those have grown me as well. 00:18:52.565 --> 00:18:57.731 That's just one dynamic of why difficulties suffering have continued in the world. 00:18:57.731 --> 00:19:02.798 Number three, God is sovereign. 00:19:04.298 --> 00:19:06.798 Even when it doesn't feel that way. 00:19:06.798 --> 00:19:09.464 He is sovereign, He is in control. 00:19:09.464 --> 00:19:16.031 And the key part of that reality is he can see the bigger picture way better than we can. 00:19:16.031 --> 00:19:25.198 I've also been reading a book called Providence by John Piper, Gigantic book going through passage after passage after passage on the Providence and sovereignty of God. 00:19:25.198 --> 00:19:27.865 I've been reading it over a year now. 00:19:27.865 --> 00:19:30.432 Every couple of months I'll get on the phone with a friend of mine. 00:19:30.432 --> 00:19:32.664 We'll talk through some of the chapters. 00:19:32.664 --> 00:19:48.897 Recently, he went through the whole story of Joseph and one of the big takeaways there, Joseph says to his brothers, who were really worried that he might take it out on them after their dad died, which you meant for evil. 00:19:48.897 --> 00:19:51.065 God meant for good. 00:19:51.065 --> 00:20:01.565 All this horrendous stuff he went through being sold into slavery, being and accused of things he didn't do, seemingly one thing after another, going against him. 00:20:01.565 --> 00:20:03.198 He couldn't see the whole big picture. 00:20:03.198 --> 00:20:07.097 He couldn't see what God may be doing in the background. 00:20:07.097 --> 00:20:08.597 Again, none of these stand alone. 00:20:08.597 --> 00:20:15.365 There are plenty of things encountered you may not know in this lifetime what God was doing in the background. 00:20:15.365 --> 00:20:22.765 We don't always get all the answers, but He is his sovereign and he is in control, even when even when it doesn't feel like it. 00:20:23.932 --> 00:20:31.332 And then number four, and before I read number four, look at verse four, just as a reminder, Jesus heard it. 00:20:31.332 --> 00:20:36.498 He said, This illness does not lead to death. 00:20:36.865 --> 00:20:43.498 It is for the glory of God so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. 00:20:43.498 --> 00:20:44.298 Verse four. 00:20:44.298 --> 00:20:53.031 And number four, part of why He allows things to continue in the world is to bring glory to him. 00:20:55.198 --> 00:21:12.865 I've heard it said at times, people don't really care what you believe when life is going great, but when they watch you suffer, when they watch you respond to suffering, especially if you respond well, that's when they'll want to know what you believe. 00:21:12.865 --> 00:21:14.065 That's when they'll want to know. 00:21:14.065 --> 00:21:17.065 How did you get through that? 00:21:17.798 --> 00:21:19.164 And that's a difficult reality. 00:21:20.632 --> 00:21:25.964 That's hard, especially when we pray God open doors for me to talk about the gospel. 00:21:25.964 --> 00:21:27.298 And then he brings suffering. 00:21:27.298 --> 00:21:29.332 No, no, no, Lord, that's not what I meant. 00:21:29.332 --> 00:21:31.065 I didn't mean that way. 00:21:31.065 --> 00:21:36.897 No, like through a pamphlet or tract or something not suffering. 00:21:38.597 --> 00:21:47.897 But that's one of the ways, one of the reasons why the challenges, the suffering evil continue in the world. 00:21:47.897 --> 00:21:58.298 You know, Jobe, when he was going through so much, his wife came to him and said, Look, why don't you just curse God and die? 00:21:58.298 --> 00:22:02.932 And I thought she really needed our five love languages class here at church, right? 00:22:02.932 --> 00:22:04.031 Words of affirmation. 00:22:04.031 --> 00:22:09.365 I don't think she skipped that part of the marriage course, but he didn't. 00:22:09.365 --> 00:22:10.565 He endured. 00:22:10.565 --> 00:22:12.432 She said, Give up on your integrity. 00:22:14.530 --> 00:22:16.431 He endured. 00:22:16.431 --> 00:22:18.830 He stayed fast. 00:22:18.830 --> 00:22:20.698 And God is the one who's going to get the glory through that. 00:22:20.698 --> 00:22:25.565 And he's the one who's going to get the glory in this situation. 00:22:25.998 --> 00:22:29.565 That doesn't cover every aspect at all. That's just a taste. 00:22:29.565 --> 00:22:37.765 And it's not meant to just paste over some very hurts and challenges many in this room are facing. 00:22:38.030 --> 00:22:44.397 But it's just a taste of what else is going on in the world in the midst of those challenges. 00:22:45.365 --> 00:22:52.664 Now look at how the story continues, because after this, after he said to the disciples, Hey, let's go to Judea, look at how they respond. 00:22:52.664 --> 00:22:55.664 Look at verse eight. 00:22:55.698 --> 00:23:01.530 The disciple said to him, Look, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you and you're going to go there again. 00:23:02.798 --> 00:23:06.198 Jesus answered, Are there not 12 hours in the day? 00:23:06.198 --> 00:23:12.397 If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world. 00:23:12.397 --> 00:23:18.397 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him. 00:23:18.698 --> 00:23:25.664 So Jesus says, Let's go back to the Judea, and the disciples rightly answer with concern. 00:23:25.664 --> 00:23:27.431 We just got out of that place. 00:23:27.431 --> 00:23:30.265 They were trying to kill you, which means they probably want to kill us too. 00:23:30.265 --> 00:23:33.230 And you want to drag us back there. 00:23:33.230 --> 00:23:40.230 Now, you would expect his answer to be more comforting or assuring them this instead, it's like some bizarre, cryptic puzzle. 00:23:40.230 --> 00:23:42.030 What are you talking about? Jesus? 00:23:42.030 --> 00:23:43.631 Light and day, whatever. 00:23:43.631 --> 00:23:45.464 We're only worried about those guys trying to kill us. 00:23:46.498 --> 00:23:47.597 But look at how he responds. 00:23:47.597 --> 00:23:48.964 There's two things going on here. 00:23:48.964 --> 00:23:51.198 There's the obvious layer. 00:23:51.198 --> 00:23:51.730 Okay? 00:23:51.730 --> 00:23:54.631 If you don't want to stub your toe, don't walk in the dark. 00:23:54.631 --> 00:24:01.798 Walk in the light, which is pointing to the reality of Jesus saying, we are going to stay out in the open. 00:24:01.798 --> 00:24:04.730 We don't have anything to hide. 00:24:04.730 --> 00:24:11.065 We don't have like secret underwear or secret knowledge or something that we're trying to keep from everyone else. 00:24:11.065 --> 00:24:13.698 We're out in the open here. 00:24:13.698 --> 00:24:23.830 Same is true here at Valley View, where we don't have just some kind of special knowledge that you might work up to that will unveil, I mean, only what is maybe hidden in God's word. 00:24:23.830 --> 00:24:25.397 And it's not clear to us at the time. 00:24:26.865 --> 00:24:29.431 So there's this working in the open, working in the light. 00:24:29.431 --> 00:24:35.431 And by the way, we're not going to Jesus is saying suddenly we're not going to avoid the hard places as a result. 00:24:35.431 --> 00:24:38.597 We're not going to shy away from those who want to kill us. 00:24:38.597 --> 00:24:43.397 We're not going to avoid an area just because those people are there. 00:24:43.530 --> 00:24:52.230 That's the first maybe more obvious layer, but the second layer really is an application point for Christ and the disciples and. 00:24:52.230 --> 00:24:56.998 I'm leaning on the work of Don Carlson here in terms of some of the insights he had. 00:24:56.998 --> 00:25:18.998 He says this these verses metaphorically insists that Jesus is safe as long as he performs the father's will, Jesus is safe, as long as he performs the father's will, and the disciples as well are safe, as long as they are the father's will. 00:25:18.998 --> 00:25:22.998 The safest place to be is in the father's will. 00:25:22.998 --> 00:25:24.530 I heard a guy, Ronnie Stevens. 00:25:24.530 --> 00:25:45.865 Years ago, Julie and I were at a conference for new Campus Crusade staff, and he was a pastor still in Memphis, but he had just come back from being a missionary in Russia, and he had gone there not long after the fall of the wall and his took his whole family there and the breakdown of communism. 00:25:45.865 --> 00:25:49.164 And it wasn't a very safe or stable place to be at the time. 00:25:49.164 --> 00:25:54.265 And one of his friends, fellow church member, fellow elder, had been very critical. 00:25:54.265 --> 00:25:56.865 What do you think you're doing? 00:25:56.865 --> 00:26:03.330 Why are you going to take your family to a place like this that is irresponsible, to put your children in that kind of situation? 00:26:05.530 --> 00:26:07.397 Now, granted, some of that may be justified. 00:26:07.397 --> 00:26:29.530 I don't know that whole situation, but the point he made to us, I was only hearing his side of the story, the point he made to us in that moment, that very week that this guy was criticizing for me, this for this as we're in Russia, someone in the very neighborhood I had lived, a young boy fell off a swing set and died. 00:26:31.298 --> 00:26:35.498 And the safest place to be is in the Lord's will. 00:26:35.865 --> 00:26:38.431 Safety is an illusion. 00:26:38.431 --> 00:26:41.431 None of us are safe. 00:26:41.565 --> 00:26:45.830 The only safe place to be is in the Lord's will. 00:26:45.830 --> 00:26:50.565 I mean, how many of you here are afraid of being eaten alive by a shark in the ocean? 00:26:50.565 --> 00:26:52.464 Any. I see a few hands. 00:26:52.464 --> 00:26:53.498 I know it's a little random. 00:26:53.498 --> 00:26:54.131 Come with me. 00:26:54.131 --> 00:26:56.431 I see a lot of hands all of a sudden. Okay. 00:26:56.431 --> 00:26:57.530 This is a bigger fear. 00:26:57.530 --> 00:27:02.330 And I thought we may need to have a counseling session just on the fear of sharks. 00:27:02.330 --> 00:27:06.798 Do you know how many are killed by a shark every year in the U.S.? 00:27:08.265 --> 00:27:09.131 Half a person. 00:27:09.131 --> 00:27:12.131 Well, it doesn't sound right. 00:27:12.597 --> 00:27:18.298 One person every two years is a better way to say it, are killed by a shark. 00:27:18.298 --> 00:27:20.597 Now, how many are scared of lawnmowers? 00:27:20.597 --> 00:27:23.597 Let me see some hands out here for fear of armor. Okay. 00:27:23.597 --> 00:27:24.798 A lot of fear of lawnmowers. 00:27:24.798 --> 00:27:25.498 I am, too. 00:27:25.498 --> 00:27:27.464 That's why I've refused to mow our yard. 00:27:27.464 --> 00:27:30.230 No, not really. 00:27:30.230 --> 00:27:34.365 69 people a year are killed by lawnmowers. 00:27:34.631 --> 00:27:36.964 What does all that have to do with this? 00:27:36.964 --> 00:27:39.664 Our fears are often misplaced. 00:27:39.664 --> 00:27:41.597 Where are you? The safest? 00:27:41.597 --> 00:27:44.597 There is no safe place. 00:27:45.365 --> 00:27:47.263 Only in the Lord's will. 00:27:47.263 --> 00:27:48.530 That is the safest place to be. 00:27:48.530 --> 00:27:51.798 Because the reality is and the word Jesus is pointing here with them. 00:27:51.798 --> 00:27:57.131 The reality is death comes to all death is coming. 00:27:57.131 --> 00:28:00.498 Do all we can avoid it. 00:28:00.498 --> 00:28:03.963 So let's be in the father's will as we move toward it. 00:28:03.963 --> 00:28:13.564 It's a thousand times more important than to be to be in his will as we move forward in life. 00:28:13.830 --> 00:28:16.864 Jesus knows, though, that they don't understand this, and so he explains it. 00:28:16.864 --> 00:28:26.631 Let's look at verse 11 after saying these things, he said to them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. 00:28:26.631 --> 00:28:32.163 The disciples, confused as they often are, said to him, Lord, if he's fallen asleep, he will recover. 00:28:32.163 --> 00:28:33.864 Jesus had spoken of his death. 00:28:33.864 --> 00:28:36.198 They thought He meant taking rest in sleep. 00:28:36.198 --> 00:28:38.597 Jesus told them plainly. 00:28:38.597 --> 00:28:40.198 Lazarus has died. 00:28:40.198 --> 00:28:43.564 And for your sake, I am glad that I was not there. 00:28:43.564 --> 00:28:47.330 So that you may believe, but let us go to him. 00:28:50.830 --> 00:28:52.763 I love this interaction. 00:28:52.763 --> 00:28:57.798 It is amazing how the disciples are often very confused. 00:28:57.798 --> 00:29:02.897 It seems like they're more confused than they are understanding of what Jesus is doing. 00:29:02.897 --> 00:29:05.897 And yet the fascinating part is they continue to follow it. 00:29:05.897 --> 00:29:08.830 Even in the midst of the confusion. 00:29:08.830 --> 00:29:09.431 And right here. 00:29:09.431 --> 00:29:17.498 What I love about this passage, though, is that Jesus very patiently takes the time to spell it out with them. 00:29:17.498 --> 00:29:18.963 This isn't what he did with the Pharisees. 00:29:18.963 --> 00:29:23.163 The Pharisees demanded last week, Speak plainly to us. 00:29:23.163 --> 00:29:24.364 Who are you? 00:29:24.364 --> 00:29:25.763 Are you the Christ or not? 00:29:25.763 --> 00:29:27.963 Tell us. 00:29:27.963 --> 00:29:30.830 And Jesus doesn't speak plainly with them. 00:29:30.830 --> 00:29:36.064 He won't just follow along with what they demand, but with the disciples. 00:29:36.064 --> 00:29:39.064 He's patient, He's kind. 00:29:39.263 --> 00:29:42.330 He's caring with those who are sincere. 00:29:43.397 --> 00:29:45.498 He's going to meet them where they are. 00:29:45.498 --> 00:29:51.330 He's going to take the time to love on them and meet them where they are. 00:29:51.330 --> 00:29:56.631 And it always has shocked me and has always shocked me about Jesus. 00:29:56.631 --> 00:30:06.397 The people who he is the most patient and kind with are the prostitutes, the tax collectors, those who are openly sinning. 00:30:06.397 --> 00:30:15.131 And the people he's the harshest with are the religious professionals, those who have it all figured out, the self-assured. 00:30:15.131 --> 00:30:21.397 You know, I just kind of pause and say, this is one of the things that I am very grateful for at Valley View. 00:30:21.763 --> 00:30:27.864 I'm never worried that the person who comes in who doesn't have it all figured out is going to be rejected. 00:30:27.864 --> 00:30:42.897 I'm never worried about that In fact, I know the person who comes in and is struggling, whether it's addiction or openly sinful choices, we're not running them out the door. 00:30:42.897 --> 00:30:44.597 People aren't looking down at them. 00:30:44.597 --> 00:30:50.097 And of course, maybe there is someone here in there, but the overall tone of the church is please come, please. 00:30:50.097 --> 00:30:51.830 You're welcome here. 00:30:51.830 --> 00:30:57.530 And we I love that about valley of you. 00:30:58.263 --> 00:31:03.830 And we always say, come as you are, so you don't have to stay as you are. Right. 00:31:03.830 --> 00:31:04.830 That's our hope. 00:31:04.830 --> 00:31:05.897 We all want to grow. 00:31:05.897 --> 00:31:07.263 We all want to change. 00:31:07.263 --> 00:31:10.263 No matter where we are. 00:31:10.263 --> 00:31:12.564 I love that about Valley View. 00:31:12.564 --> 00:31:26.931 Even though our temptations, there's something about our hearts at times, much like with the Pharisees we want to praise, who seem to be the professionals and ignore those who don't have it all together. 00:31:26.931 --> 00:31:34.397 I'm so grateful for being a church that seems to follow, for the most part, the way that Jesus approached it. 00:31:34.631 --> 00:31:44.198 So he's very gracious with the disciple, He's very calm, He takes the time and then he reveals his purpose here in what's coming in the interaction with Lazarus. 00:31:44.198 --> 00:31:47.097 You know, you would think the story here would be about Lazarus. 00:31:47.097 --> 00:31:49.397 Primarily. 00:31:49.397 --> 00:31:51.498 Lazarus probably felt like it was about him. 00:31:51.498 --> 00:31:53.998 You think it would be about Mary and Martha. 00:31:53.998 --> 00:31:56.230 And they're definitely involved. 00:31:56.230 --> 00:31:59.897 But he reveals his purpose here back in verse 15. 00:31:59.897 --> 00:32:06.897 I am glad I was not there for your sake so that you may believe. 00:32:06.897 --> 00:32:13.763 He was focused on the belief of the disciples, and this was critical to the ultimate growth of the church. 00:32:13.763 --> 00:32:19.698 And in my core guys who were going pass on the message to be on board to know what I'm about. 00:32:19.698 --> 00:32:27.364 And he's constantly telling them, You think I'm about this, You're confused, here's what I'm about. 00:32:27.364 --> 00:32:39.597 Believe now how this passage wraps up gives us a real picture into this reality of how people are responding to looming death. 00:32:39.597 --> 00:32:43.931 So look at this last verse, verse 16, last verse we're going to cover today. 00:32:43.931 --> 00:32:52.998 So Thomas called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die with him. 00:32:52.998 --> 00:32:54.064 So here we have Thomas. 00:32:54.064 --> 00:32:58.730 This is the first occurrence of Thomas in John, and he's called the Twin. 00:32:58.730 --> 00:33:01.431 There's some speculation about who was his twin. 00:33:01.431 --> 00:33:08.963 I heard one pastor say, I think it was Matthew, because every time the disciples are listed, Thomas and Matthew are always listed together. 00:33:08.963 --> 00:33:10.431 We don't know. 00:33:10.431 --> 00:33:12.030 But this was his nickname. 00:33:12.030 --> 00:33:14.864 He's better known, though, for a nickname we've given him. 00:33:16.097 --> 00:33:21.896 But what's what's his name referred to as Doubting Thomas, Right. 00:33:21.896 --> 00:33:25.263 What a great nickname to pick up along the way, Doubting Thomas. 00:33:25.263 --> 00:33:29.631 And we'll see this as we get into Chapter 20 after Jesus is resurrected. 00:33:29.631 --> 00:33:31.730 He is like, Yeah, I got to see him, I've got to touch him. 00:33:31.730 --> 00:33:34.730 I got to know that is him. 00:33:35.131 --> 00:33:36.364 This passage is interesting. 00:33:36.364 --> 00:33:42.797 This shines a little of light, I think, on his character, on his heart. 00:33:43.064 --> 00:33:46.096 And we can't know the tone of how this is written. Exactly. 00:33:46.096 --> 00:33:50.263 And I've heard a lot of different speculation about the tone of this passage. 00:33:50.263 --> 00:33:55.663 You know, some have said it's kind of like him just giving up, maybe a little sarcastic. 00:33:55.663 --> 00:34:00.463 I guess we'll go in that in, you know, Jesus wants to go to Judea. Here we go. 00:34:01.497 --> 00:34:06.330 We don't know we don't know exactly how it came across. 00:34:06.330 --> 00:34:22.496 But it's interesting me that he's the only disciple to speak up and he's the one to say, all right, if this is where need to go, if this is the father's will, we've signed up to follow him. 00:34:22.496 --> 00:34:24.831 Let's go. 00:34:24.831 --> 00:34:27.563 And so I'm not going to call him doubting. 00:34:27.563 --> 00:34:30.530 I'm going to call him loyal. Thomas. 00:34:30.530 --> 00:34:35.396 And if this is what it means, let's go. 00:34:35.396 --> 00:34:38.396 I am willing to go die. 00:34:39.197 --> 00:34:41.563 I don't even know what that means yet. 00:34:41.563 --> 00:34:52.664 If anyone wishes to come after me and deny himself, this was the call to the disciples, deny himself, take up his cross and follow me. 00:34:52.664 --> 00:35:00.396 And so with Thomas, we see this response to Where's my life headed? 00:35:02.496 --> 00:35:07.097 We see this response to the reflection at the funeral. 00:35:07.097 --> 00:35:08.996 Where am I going? 00:35:08.996 --> 00:35:11.130 Where is my loyalty? 00:35:11.130 --> 00:35:13.931 Where is my purpose and direction in life? 00:35:13.931 --> 00:35:15.630 And Thomas sums it up. 00:35:15.630 --> 00:35:19.364 Let us go wherever he's going, no matter the cost. 00:35:19.364 --> 00:35:21.864 Let's follow him. 00:35:21.864 --> 00:35:38.063 And so my hope today for each of us here, that as we think about our own end, as we think about what God has in store for us, that would be the same sentiment, the same burden, God, where you want me to go. 00:35:38.063 --> 00:35:40.864 And that may not mean Russia. 00:35:40.864 --> 00:35:42.364 Who knows what that means for you. 00:35:42.364 --> 00:35:49.097 That may just mean staying faithful to the gospel where you are. 00:35:49.463 --> 00:35:56.996 But the call is of Thomas to be loyal, to continue to follow in all things. Let's pray. 00:36:00.264 --> 00:36:02.797 God, we thank you for this morning. 00:36:02.797 --> 00:36:11.231 We thank you for seeing these students who are graduating, having been a part of this church. 00:36:12.530 --> 00:36:16.264 Many have already rejected you at this point in life. 00:36:16.264 --> 00:36:18.697 Many have said, I'm going to go my own way. 00:36:18.697 --> 00:36:21.864 Many have said no thanks, Lord. 00:36:21.864 --> 00:36:29.896 We pray for the protective hand over these these young adults, these young men and women. 00:36:29.896 --> 00:36:36.931 God use to change this city, to change every place you take them. 00:36:37.530 --> 00:36:37.963 Thank you. 00:36:37.963 --> 00:36:41.130 That we can celebrate what you're doing in their lives. 00:36:41.130 --> 00:36:41.496 Thank you. 00:36:41.496 --> 00:36:45.864 That we have VBS coming up where these kids are growing up in the church. 00:36:45.864 --> 00:36:48.797 Lord do radical things in their life. 00:36:48.797 --> 00:36:51.797 In the coming weeks. 00:36:52.130 --> 00:36:57.697 Lord, I pray today, as Ecclesiastes says, that the living would lay it to heart. 00:36:59.231 --> 00:36:59.664 Today. 00:36:59.664 --> 00:37:02.364 We would just be mindful. 00:37:02.364 --> 00:37:04.331 Life is short. 00:37:04.331 --> 00:37:06.431 You have a purpose. 00:37:06.431 --> 00:37:12.630 And more important than anything else is that we follow you help to follow you faithfully to day. 00:37:12.630 --> 00:37:15.630 Jesus. 00:37:16.396 --> 00:37:26.764 Tear down the walls of all our traditions, Break up the ground of our empty religion, and help us to truly follow you. 00:37:26.764 --> 00:37:28.563 Jesus, we love you. 00:37:28.563 --> 00:37:29.896 We love you, Jesus. Amen.