The Miracles of Jesus - Resurrecting Lazarus

John 11 records the story surrounding, and leading up to, the moment that Jesus calls for Lazarus to come out of the tomb. Not only did Jesus reiterate His power over life and death, He used this opportunity to teach all of us some important principles!

Transcript

 Hello and welcome back to Cultivating Growth. I wanna thank everyone for joining us again this week. This is our second episode of the month, talking through some of the miracles that Jesus performed throughout his time on. And today we're gonna be in John chapter 11 talking about the miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.

So with that, let's get right to it.

Well, John, as we began our discussion last week about Jesus and his miracles there in John chapter six in the feeding of the 5,000, what we made the point and probably will continue to make the point as we move forward. That each and every time Jesus performed a miracle, he, he wasn't do it to entertain, he wasn't doing it.

You know, to certainly put on a show. There was always a purpose behind it. But one other point I wanna make as we kind of get into John chapter 11 is that Jesus is he, he had full power, uh, even while he was on earth, because he was God on earth. And so it isn't just that he was able to multiply food as we saw in John six or, or heal the six.

Or, uh, you know, give the, the sight to the blind or heal the paralyzed or cast out demons. He, he has complete power and he showcases that with all of those things. Walking on water, calming the seas, even to the point here, as we'll see in John chapter 11, raising someone from the dead. Mm-hmm. And we'll certainly getting in, get into it, raising a decomposing body from the dead.

You know, it, it just again, goes to the point of this is a, a picture of god's or, or Jesus's complete power. And, uh, one other thing that's really interesting to me, especially as we get into John's, uh, account here of the raising of Lazarus, we saw it in John chapter six. The actual miracle itself was just really a couple of verses.

Mm-hmm. But there was so much discussion and teaching that kind of came off of that. And, and John does that again for us here in John chapter 11. The, the actual miracle itself Yeah. Is literally just a few words. Mm-hmm. I mean, literally just a couple of words and the miracle takes place, but there is so much context and so much discussion and teaching surrounding that miracle.

I think that points to the, the point that we've. Continue to make. It's more than just Jesus raising someone from the dead. Mm-hmm. There's always a purpose behind it. And John does a great job here in this chapter to kind of help us to see what that purpose was. Yeah. And I think unlike some of the other miracles that, uh, we see Jesus perform, this one involved some forethought on Jesus's part.

He wasn't just. Here's a sick person. Can you heal him? And he heals That person. Thi this one. There was news brought to him that Lazarus was sick, and in that moment, Jesus is days away at that time. But in that moment, Jesus says in uh, in verse number four, the sickness is not into death, but for the glory of God that the son of man, so the Son of God, may be glorified through it.

In that moment, Jesus knew what was going to happen. Because he references what he said there later on as this miracle unfolds, but it's days later before he returns to Bethany and actually performs the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead after he's passed away. And so Jesus is already seeing how this is going to unfold.

Days before anyone else is aware of what's about to take place. And so this, this one has a little bit of a different feel to it, is Jesus is really setting this up to have the impact that he wants it to have, both on his disciples as well as Mary and Martha and everyone else that's around. Because I mean, you know, spoiler alert, but verse 45.

Of this chapter, uh, when, when all this takes place, many of the Jews who had come to marry and had seen these things that Jesus did believed in him. And so as you pointed out, John gives us the purpose behind why Jesus was doing this. He was doing it so that many people would come to believe in him. But this was a days long process.

Setting up what was about to take place. And Jesus, having full understanding of what was about to transpire, was doing all of this so that he could get to verse 45. That's ultimately what he's doing. He's getting to verse 45 so that a bunch of people come to believe who he is because of what just happened.

Yeah, I mean there's really, here in this chapter, there's, there's several audiences. Uh, there are his disciples at the very beginning of the chapter, and some important things happen for them when he gets on the scene. Mary and Martha. Uh, have almost private audiences with Jesus, and there's important teaching that takes place and then the very public, uh, in front of the mourners and friends and family, you know, there as we see towards the end of this story.

And so it, it really lays itself out in several different pieces and, uh, people are confused almost all along the way. Yeah. But yet Jesus, to your point, he is acutely aware of everything perfectly. The news that he receives is that Lazarus is sick. He knows he's going to die. And the text kind of points to the fact that Jesus waits for that.

Yeah. And uh, and he tells his disciples that, listen, we're, we're not gonna go right now. And they wait two more days and, and then he kind of gets up and he is like, all right, now it's time to go. And they've got concerns about that because there've been some trouble with Jesus in that area. And then you start to see some confusion.

They're like, when Jesus says, you know, he's Lazarus, our friend is sleeping. I'm gonna go to wake him up. And, and they're like, well, if he's just sleeping, why do we have to go there? There's big trouble. And so he just comes right out with it. Yeah. He, he is. Dead. And, and so you start to see this setup. It is just incredible.

And, and to your point, we are days in, you know, at this, at, at this idea. And then when he makes his way on scene and Mary Martha come to him, they're confused. Mm-hmm. You know about everything. When he goes out to the tomb and ask for the stone to be rolled away, everybody else is confused. And so it's like everybody is operating at a high rate of confusion.

Yeah. Except for Jesus, who is completely under control, who is completely knows what's happening. And you've read really the two key points and parts to what this chapter is all about. At the very beginning, God is to be glorified through Jesus and what he does, and ultimately the reaction of the people and belief in him.

Yeah. Well, and to your point, when, when Jesus and the disciples finally arrive in Bethany and, and Martha comes out to meet them, she. Is a bit accusatory. Not in a disrespectful manner, but she's like, listen, if you had been here, I know you could've prevented this from happening. She, she knows who Jesus is.

She's seen his power. She believes there's some faith show. A hundred percent. She knows if you had been here, you could've stopped this from happening. But what she's failing to see or to recognize is that Jesus not only has power over life, but also over death. And that is the point that he wants all of them to see.

And this is not the only time that Jesus raises someone from the dead. He does this a couple of different times throughout his ministry to prove that very point. He, he is not just Lord over life, but he is. Lord over death, he is going to ultimately defeat death once and for all. And so he is demonstrating his power over these things.

And so again, this was intentional. I mean, like you said, he waited so that he could have this moment at the tomb with this audience of people to demonstrate this kind of power and, and he's trying to help Martha and those around understand the resurrection in all of this. Because Martha proclaims her belief and her confidence, her faith, as you said a moment ago, that, uh, listen, I, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection 'cause Jesus says your brother is gonna rise again.

And she assumes he's talking about the resurrection right? In the last day. And she's like, I believe that. I know that. And Jesus is like, I, I know you do, but I need you to see this and understand it to a different level. And so that's why he's ultimately going to raise. But he's, he's, he's teaching. Along the way while performing this miracle, again, the audience is so evident as to Jesus, understanding what they need in this moment.

They needed this lesson not only about Jesus' power, but also the resurrection itself. Yeah. And we see him moving. I mean, you have that first audience with his disciples before he leaves, that they needed to learn something and so he gave them. And the way they needed to, you know, to learn it in the most perfect way.

When he gets on scene, it is Martha, followed by Mary. They have a very similar, uh, kind of interaction. Mary, in a very similar kind of way, falls down at the feet of Jesus. And she also makes the point, if you, if you would've been here, you could've done something. Thing. Yeah. You know about this and, and she is broken as makes sense.

The people around are broken, but yet he is teaching and it's just remarkable how, how he can take whatever scenario and whatever circumstances going on and be able to deliver exactly what needs to be delivered and the way that it needs to be delivered. And we haven't even gotten to the miracle yet.

Yeah. Right. I mean, we, we haven't even, we haven't gotten there. Yeah. And, and he has set everything up in, in such a powerful way, and nobody understands and nobody sees it coming. And, and, and maybe they're even able to, you know, kind of look at it, you know, in a different way. Yes. You made the point, Jesus.

He, he raised. You know, people from the dead already, he's done so with Jarris, his daughter. He does so in the book of Luke, just with a, a, a widow, it seemed mm-hmm. In a funeral procession, I mean, in the moment. And, and maybe you could convince yourselves that those things were fresh dead, if you will. Yeah.

And you know, this is something very different. Uh, we're going to see, as we saw last week with the feeding of the 5,000 another, almost identical. Time, you know, frame, uh, with a, a few less people and the apostles find themselves in the exact same place. How are we, how are we gonna feed all these people?

Yeah. You know, almost. And, and so it, it is a very difficult, you know, thing to grab hold of. And Jesus is making the point here. I have all the power. Yeah. I, I have all the power, not just over the winds and the sea and over the food. I, I have power over life and I have power over death. Mm. And if I wanna bring somebody up from death that has been in the grave for days, I'll do it.

Yeah. And that's exactly the point that he makes. I think an interesting thing that we see as this story unfolds. How Jesus deals with the high emotion that people are experiencing through this story. I mean, obviously you have the Sisters of Lazarus that are understandably grief stricken, but also a lot of their friends are around.

You know, we're told that there are a lot of people who've come to comfort them and to help them in in various ways. So there are a lot of people around, all of whom are still very emotional over what has happened. You know, the, the impression we get anyway is that Lazarus was a, a young enough man that he wasn't expected to die.

Right. This was an unexpected illness and so somewhat abrupt it seems. And so there, there's a lot of emotion that's going on in all of this and, and Jesus sees. The weeping, the crying, the emotion that is going on here. And, and we get this, this verse that is oftentimes cited as, you know, the shortest verse in the Bible that Jesus wept, the easiest verse to memorize.

Easiest one to memorize. If you can't remember John 1135, then I don't know what to tell you, but so Jesus wept. I, I think it's, it's really interesting. It, it makes me think about something here. Jesus demonstrates to us that knowing the outcome of something. Doesn't mean that we don't grieve during difficult times and all of us as Christians.

I, I believe in the resurrection. I believe in eternal life in heaven. I believe that death on this earth is not the end for any of us. I believe that with all of my heart. That doesn't mean that I don't grieve when people die. That doesn't mean that I'm not saddened when hard times come, Jesus illustrates to us that that's part of life and, and grieving those moments, grieving those people that we lose.

It doesn't mean that we don't believe in what's ultimately going to happen, but it's a part of this human experience that we're all in, and Jesus experienced it too. He was minutes away from seeing his friend again. Mm-hmm. But he was watching all of these other people around him, friends of his grieve and be saddened by all of this, and he felt that too, and he wept as alongside of them.

I think it's a powerful testament to the fact that we shouldn't shy away from those, uh, moments of grief in this life. And that doesn't demonstrate a lack of faith as to what is to come. It, it really indicates that we are emotional creatures that God created and Jesus as a man experienced those same things that you and I do today.

Yeah. I've heard, uh, you know, others try to explain John 1135 and the fact that Jesus weeps here, that he's, he's weeping over sin. Because sin causes death. And you know, sometimes I hear that. I'm like, why? Why are we trying to overcomplicate things? Yeah. You know? Yeah. I'm not saying there's not a piece of that there.

Sure. But why are we trying to overcomplicate things? I mean, just a couple of verses up from there in verse 33. I mean, John tells us that Jesus saw her weeping. Mm-hmm. And the Jews who came with her weeping and he groaned in the spirit and was troubled. Well, you know, here is a, here is a man who is. Full of compassion.

Yeah. We make that point all the time, and rightly so. But here is someone who has sympathy, he has empathy for the, for the situation and, and he is weeping with those who weep. Yeah. And, and that's, that's what we are called, that's the relationship we're called to have. Exactly. You know, with with brethren that we are to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who rejoice.

And I think you're right. That doesn't showcase some lack of faith, you know, on. Uh, but it, it's a, it's a sad moment. Mm-hmm. And he was affected by that because yes, he has the power of deity, but yet at the same time he was completely human. Mm-hmm. And so he was in, uh, impacted by that. And so he carries that, he carries that, you know, all the way out to the grave.

And we made mention earlier, you know, the actual miracle, um, you know, is, is just, you know, literally just a few, a few words, you know, in, in a lot of ways three words really. Yeah. Right. But he, you know, he gets out to the tomb. He says, Hey, let's roll this stone away. There is more confusion that we're told because it's not been moments, it's been days and, and they're concerned about the decomposing, uh, flesh and the smell that may, you know, come out of there.

But he, he's not concerned with that, and he has them roll the stone away. And then three words, Lazarus, come forth. Out he comes and it's as simple as take those grave clothes off of him. And um, and you made mention already there in verse 45, man, the Jews who came to see that they believed in him. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

You know, and rightly so. Yeah. There, this is one of those miracles where there is simply no denying what you just witnessed. If you're there, there is no other way around it. This guy's been sealed up in a tomb for four days. Everybody knows it. Mm-hmm. There's, there's no getting around this. Like, this guy was dead and gone and decomposing, and Jesus just brought him back to life.

It, it's, it's the most amazing thing that human eyes could ever witness. Someone coming back to life from the dead. And that's what Jesus did. And so of course, yes, that is the response and that is the response that all of us who read about it today should have as well. That this, this has to be the Messiah.

This has to be the Son of God. There's simply no other explanation for it. And as we've talked about quite a bit, this is why Jesus performs these miracles. It built the faith of those who witnessed it firsthand, and it still continues to build our faith today. Yeah, and there's no question about that. And so as we close and we go back to John 11 in verse four, it it is exactly as Jesus knew that it would be, is that when he raises Lazarus from the dead, Jesus God is glorified and so we'll, we'll.

Close with that, uh, reiteration of verse four. It says, when Jesus heard that was Lazarus was sick, he says, this sickness is not into death, but for the glory of God, the Son of God may be glorified through it.

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Thanks again for joining us this week, and we'll talk to you again next week.