Welcome to the Daily Blade . The Word of God is described as the sword of the Spirit , the primary spiritual weapon in the Christian's armor against the forces of evil . Your hosts are Joby Martin and Kyle Thompson , and they stand ready to equip men for the fight . Let's sharpen up .
Speaker 2Welcome back day three of our deep dive into John , chapter 11 . One of the things I want you to see here is how Jesus is going to meet with a couple of sisters , and he meets them right where they are , and different people grieve differently , and Jesus gives them what they need according to who they are . Verse 17, . The Bible says now , when Jesus came , he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days . Now , a part of the reason I think the Bible says this well , bible says now , when Jesus came , he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days . Now , a part of the reason I think the Bible says this well , one it just actually happened . That's how long he was there . But a Jewish myth had risen up and they believed that the soul could actually hang around the body for up to three days . After the third day , you were dead , dead , and so you were gone , and so a part of the reason that Jesus waits here is because he wants to make sure that , before he raises Lazarus , nobody thinks that he swooned or he was just kind of a sleeper in a coma , that everybody in this area , bethany , knows that Lazarus is all the way dead , not sort of dead , not kind of dead , but he is dead dead Now .
Speaker 2Bethany was near Jerusalem , about two miles off , by the way . This is where Jesus would hang out when he would go to Jerusalem , and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother . It was actually first century custom that if somebody died , you could pay wailers and mourners to show up and go to the funeral , and so when you would cry , they would all cry with you . Verse 20, . So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming , she went and she met him , but Mary remained seated in the house . Now what you're going to see is two different personalities that deal with grief in two very , very different ways . Remember , at the party where Martha is working her fingers to the bone and Mary is just sitting crisscrossed , applesauce , in front of Jesus , and Martha complains about her sister , mary , and Jesus says oh , martha , martha , you have chosen the wrong thing and Mary has chosen the right thing . These are two very different personality types dealing with this situation Verse 21, .
Speaker 2And Martha , she's type A , she's driven , she's got to have answers . She says to Jesus Lord , if you had been here , my brother would not have died . But even now I know that whatever you ask from God , god will give you . She's bold , she's like what are you doing Now ? Let me ask you is it okay to ask God questions ? The answer is absolutely . He wants you to bring the real you to the real him , because the real Jesus died on the real cross for the real you . You can quit faking it , okay , I mean , don't believe me . See Psalm 22 , where David cries out my God , my God , why have you forsaken me ? And before Jesus ever quotes that on the cross , god hears that prayer and says that's a good one , david , let's write that one down , keep it in the book , because there are people that feel that way . It is okay to bring your questions to God . That is very different than questioning whether God is who he says he is , and then look at Jesus' response .
Speaker 2Jesus is going to go through a theological dissertation about what eternal life is and what we find is it's helpful to Martha . Jesus said to her your brother will rise again . And Martha said to him I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day . And Jesus said to her here comes the theological dissertation I am the resurrection and the life . Now , again , jesus is claiming not only deity , he is using the covenant name of God , yahweh . He does this seven times in the gospel of John , so that these seven I am statements are claiming I am completely and totally God .
Speaker 2He says .
Speaker 2I am the resurrection and the life .
Speaker 2Whoever believes in me , though , he die yet he shall live . He's saying . You can trust me , and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die Like we don't really die , we just kind of take a nap and then we are in the presence of God . We talked about this yesterday , and then he said this do you believe this ? That we're believe is pastuo . Not do you just mentally assent , but do you trust me is what Jesus is saying . And she says to him yes , lord , I believe that you are the Christ , the son of God , who is coming into the world . Now check that . We're going to come back to that .
Speaker 2Are you sure you believe ? All right , so because of the gospel , we do not mourn as those without hope . So listen , man , bad things happen . People that we love pass away , they die , their bodies cease to work , and it's sad . We'll talk about that in a little while . It's sad , no doubt , but it's not hopeless , because we know that everyone who believes in Christ shall never die , even though our bodies stop working .
Speaker 2And so let me ask you this Do you believe , have you gotten to the place where you have put your faith and hope in Jesus Christ ? Have you trusted that when he dies on the cross , that counted for you ? Because the moment you do that , all of your sin passes away , all of your sin is paid for by Christ on the cross and the righteousness of Christ is imputed to you . And everybody lives forever somewhere . And the person that rejects God in this life , he will give you what you ask for in the next and you will be separated from him forever . But whoever would receive the good news of the gospel of Jesus , the invitation to surrender your life to the lordship of Christ , then you also receive the righteousness of Christ and you receive eternal life . And though your body dies physically , you still go on forever and ever and ever in perfection in the presence of God . If you have not believed and received him , then you do it right now .
Speaker 1Thank you for listening to today's episode Before you go . If you want to help equip other men for the fight , share this podcast around and leave us a five-star rating and review . Stay sharp .