WEBVTT 00:00:01.280 --> 00:00:04.320 Welcome to the North Iron Church Podcast. 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:09.759 Our mission is to take the gospel from the upper peninsula to the ends of the earth. 00:00:09.919 --> 00:00:14.240 We pray this message will inspire and encourage you in your faith journey. 00:00:14.560 --> 00:00:15.919 Good morning, everyone. 00:00:16.160 --> 00:00:17.280 So glad you're here. 00:00:17.440 --> 00:00:18.559 Happy Easter. 00:00:18.800 --> 00:00:24.239 We're so excited today, as every week, but we're excited that you're here with us. 00:00:24.320 --> 00:00:26.800 And maybe you are a part of this church. 00:00:26.960 --> 00:00:32.640 Of course, we have campuses all over uh the UP and Lant, Antonand, and Marquette. 00:00:32.799 --> 00:00:35.520 Would you just welcome all those people who are watching us online? 00:00:36.000 --> 00:00:41.200 There's so many people across the United States that are part of Northiron. 00:00:41.359 --> 00:00:45.280 We have a movement going on, a Jesus movement, if you will. 00:00:45.600 --> 00:00:50.320 Jesus is not only our savior, redeemer, but he's also our Lord and King. 00:00:50.479 --> 00:00:54.399 And we want everyone to experience that. 00:00:54.880 --> 00:01:03.600 And that's why we're here every week coming together as we believe that the Lord is leading us uh into his into his kingdom. 00:01:03.840 --> 00:01:07.040 Very, very glad that you're here with us this uh morning. 00:01:07.120 --> 00:01:08.159 My name's Pastor Mark. 00:01:08.239 --> 00:01:11.519 I'm the lead pastor along with my wife Jennifer. 00:01:11.680 --> 00:01:17.120 If you grab your Bibles, we're gonna be in John chapter 11 this morning. 00:01:17.359 --> 00:01:18.480 John chapter 11. 00:01:18.640 --> 00:01:20.319 If you don't have a Bible, just raise your hand. 00:01:20.400 --> 00:01:22.719 We have a great free version for you. 00:01:22.879 --> 00:01:23.599 Easy to read. 00:01:23.760 --> 00:01:26.879 Maybe you're you're new to God's word, maybe you just forgot your Bible. 00:01:26.959 --> 00:01:32.319 We we we feel like everyone should have a physical Bible in your hand. 00:01:32.480 --> 00:01:34.159 It's God's word to you. 00:01:34.400 --> 00:01:39.280 And we're gonna be in John chapter 11 this morning in just a minute. 00:01:39.439 --> 00:01:49.840 We've been in a series called the I Am using God's name that he used in the Old Testament, uh, connected to the needs of the people of Israel. 00:01:50.000 --> 00:01:56.879 We find that in the book of John, that Jesus also connects this name to our greatest needs. 00:01:56.959 --> 00:02:00.480 He does that seven times for the last uh month, month and a half. 00:02:00.640 --> 00:02:17.520 We've been walking through each one of those, not only those needs or issues or problems we have in our life, and Jesus' uh uh answer to those things, but you need to understand that today is a significant day. 00:02:17.919 --> 00:02:28.400 And the reason that it's significant is it's when our world celebrates an incredible event called Easter with the resurrection of Jesus. 00:02:28.639 --> 00:02:44.800 It's an incredible event in that here we have a 30-year-old man who finds himself on the cross because of the way that he lived his life and the ministry that he did in uh a portion of his life. 00:02:45.039 --> 00:02:46.960 And he dies upon the cross. 00:02:47.039 --> 00:02:56.080 They take him off the cross on Friday, they put it very quickly put him into the grave, and then Sunday morning, Jesus' resurrection happens. 00:02:56.240 --> 00:02:58.479 It's an incredible miracle. 00:02:58.639 --> 00:03:00.319 I know we use the word miracle a lot. 00:03:00.400 --> 00:03:04.159 I know it's kind of muddied down, but it's crazy, everyone. 00:03:04.560 --> 00:03:09.919 Just the idea that the resurrection, the physical resurrection of Jesus happened. 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:14.400 It was crazy back then, it's crazy today, everyone. 00:03:14.719 --> 00:03:15.840 And it changes. 00:03:16.000 --> 00:03:20.639 If it's really true, it changes everything. 00:03:21.199 --> 00:03:22.719 It changes everything. 00:03:22.960 --> 00:03:29.439 It's so significant in those who call themselves, maybe the word Christian, maybe that's something you use. 00:03:29.599 --> 00:03:34.319 Some people say I'm a follower of Jesus, some say I'm a I'm a believer in Jesus. 00:03:34.560 --> 00:03:49.439 That that claim, if it's true, is so crazy over the top that for believers or followers of Jesus or Christians, it's so significant that every day is resurrection day. 00:03:49.520 --> 00:03:50.960 I need you to know that. 00:03:52.000 --> 00:04:01.280 Now, one of the things as the leader of this group of followers of Jesus, you hear me say this all the time, every day is resurrection day. 00:04:01.439 --> 00:04:05.120 Like a special day, one day out of the week is not enough. 00:04:05.280 --> 00:04:10.879 We celebrate every single Sunday that Jesus rose from the dead. 00:04:10.960 --> 00:04:16.560 It is the greatest significant event in human history. 00:04:16.720 --> 00:04:23.519 And listen, if it's true, if it's true, it changes everything in your life. 00:04:23.680 --> 00:04:33.360 Not only does it change the the present, it also changes your your past and definitely changes your future. 00:04:33.519 --> 00:04:52.639 If Jesus' resurrection is real, your sins can be forgiven, your mistakes, your missteps, your misgivings, your misunderstandings, your mishaps, miss mess ups have no binding authority in your past, present, and future. 00:04:54.560 --> 00:05:03.279 I heard a um a story about an elderly couple that went to Jerusalem on a tour, if you will. 00:05:03.360 --> 00:05:10.959 And and as the this husband and wife uh were on this tour tour, they were constantly fighting and bickering. 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:18.319 You kind of, I think you understand those kind of couples that that's how they're just constantly fighting and jabbing at each other. 00:05:18.480 --> 00:05:21.600 And really the husband was kind of the source of this. 00:05:21.759 --> 00:05:25.120 He was just a grumpy old goat that was never happy. 00:05:25.279 --> 00:05:28.879 You know, those I'm kind of reaching into that season myself. 00:05:30.720 --> 00:05:34.399 And uh, it takes years to build up that kind of anger, everyone. 00:05:35.199 --> 00:05:38.319 So they're always they're they're always they're always fighting on this tour. 00:05:38.399 --> 00:05:46.720 Everyone can kind of recognize that this husband's kind of overbearing and the wife is just, you know, all smiles, but she she she argues back and forth. 00:05:46.879 --> 00:05:54.160 And unfortunately, this husband has a heart attack and dies on the tour in Jerusalem. 00:05:54.240 --> 00:05:56.160 And so that just changes everything. 00:05:56.319 --> 00:05:57.199 The tour's off. 00:05:57.360 --> 00:05:59.279 And so uh the government gets involved. 00:05:59.360 --> 00:06:12.000 He's a foreigner, and so they hook the wife up with a funeral director, and so she has a meeting with the funeral director and says, uh, man, I need to get my husband back to the United States so I can bury him. 00:06:12.079 --> 00:06:15.120 And he says, ma'am, this is this is a very, very expensive. 00:06:15.360 --> 00:06:22.160 It's gonna cost$7,000 to ship your husband all the way home so you can bury him uh in the States. 00:06:22.399 --> 00:06:37.120 He says, I have a better option that people love to do, and that's I can bury your husband in Jerusalem, the land of the Messiah, the land of the apostles, the land of the prophets for$200. 00:06:38.959 --> 00:06:43.120 And she's she looked at the the funeral director and said, No, no, no, no, no. 00:06:43.279 --> 00:06:47.680 I want to make sure that I bury my husband in uh the United States. 00:06:47.839 --> 00:06:51.199 And the funeral director is like, man, this is an incredible opportunity. 00:06:51.360 --> 00:06:57.040 Not not everyone can say that my husband or or my family uh was buried in Jerusalem. 00:06:57.120 --> 00:07:04.720 And she says, No, no, no, I get it, but you need to understand 2,000 years ago they put a man in a grave and he was resurrected. 00:07:04.879 --> 00:07:06.720 I don't want to make that kind of mistake. 00:07:06.879 --> 00:07:10.160 I want to make sure that my husband is dead dead. 00:07:17.680 --> 00:07:19.920 Was that an appropriate Easter joke? 00:07:20.160 --> 00:07:20.959 I don't know. 00:07:21.199 --> 00:07:23.279 But I told it to make a point. 00:07:25.120 --> 00:07:27.920 It's a it leads up to uh a question. 00:07:28.480 --> 00:07:32.800 Why is the empty empty tomb so important for us? 00:07:33.120 --> 00:07:34.240 Why is that? 00:07:34.879 --> 00:07:37.920 Why does everyone get so jazzed about that? 00:07:38.399 --> 00:07:49.519 Why do why do people uproot their lives and turn their culture and their belief system once they come to the realization of this incredible event happening? 00:07:49.759 --> 00:07:55.839 Why why does it affect a majority of the world even today? 00:07:56.000 --> 00:08:00.160 Maybe you're even here and you're like, I'm not a follower of Jesus. 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:02.079 This is my first time in church. 00:08:02.240 --> 00:08:10.240 I got invited over to someone's house to eat a buttload of ham later, and they said this was a pre-reci replicate. 00:08:10.399 --> 00:08:11.199 Thank you. 00:08:13.680 --> 00:08:15.839 I have helpers down front. 00:08:16.879 --> 00:08:17.759 I need it. 00:08:18.399 --> 00:08:19.040 Why is that? 00:08:19.199 --> 00:08:20.399 Why is it so important? 00:08:20.639 --> 00:08:23.040 Why has it changed so many lives? 00:08:23.600 --> 00:08:45.039 And it really comes down to something super important, and and you need to understand that the reason, and we'll dive right into this really, really importantly in just a moment, but there is a great need in our lives, probably the biggest, the biggest need. 00:08:45.840 --> 00:08:52.080 And Jesus in John, uh, throughout John, is making the claim to be God. 00:08:52.720 --> 00:08:59.440 You'll see in just a moment that that throughout John, he is using the name of God. 00:08:59.919 --> 00:09:04.559 The name of God in the Old Testament as God Himself names him. 00:09:04.799 --> 00:09:06.240 The Israelites aren't naming him. 00:09:06.559 --> 00:09:07.759 God names himself. 00:09:08.159 --> 00:09:10.399 When asked, what should we call you? 00:09:10.639 --> 00:09:13.360 He calls himself the I Am. 00:09:14.399 --> 00:09:16.320 And that sounds weird to us. 00:09:16.559 --> 00:09:25.360 It sounded weird to the Hebrews who heard it first, because it's always, it was always connected to a great need that Israel had. 00:09:25.600 --> 00:09:37.840 When Israel was hungry or needed some kind of provision in their life, he would come in and say, I am the God Jehovah Jirah, meaning I am your provider. 00:09:39.519 --> 00:09:47.440 And likewise, Jesus does this in John, claiming not to be a prophet or a good teacher. 00:09:47.679 --> 00:09:50.320 He's claiming to be God. 00:09:50.559 --> 00:09:54.720 We find this throughout the Gospels that he's claiming to be God. 00:09:54.799 --> 00:10:03.279 We've looked at that over the last few weeks, as I told you, to those in John chapter 6, to those who are spiritually hungry. 00:10:03.440 --> 00:10:07.600 He said, I am the bread of life, to those who are in spiritual darkness. 00:10:07.759 --> 00:10:23.120 He says, I am the light in John 8, to those in John 10, to those who feel spiritually lost, he says, I am the door, to those who feel unloved, he says, I am the good shepherd. 00:10:23.519 --> 00:10:31.360 And when he made those claims, he he always backed them up with a miracle. 00:10:33.039 --> 00:10:48.399 It's one of the things you should recognize that Jesus is constantly walking into different situations with the purpose of healing people and redeeming people, supernatural power, but it's with a purpose. 00:10:48.559 --> 00:11:04.879 Jesus isn't just randomly trying to find people to heal, he's just taking opportunities to teach you something about him and the new kingdom that he's bringing in to establish here on earth and for eternity. 00:11:05.200 --> 00:11:08.480 And likewise, this is what's going on. 00:11:08.879 --> 00:11:15.200 And the issue that Jesus is tying this to is an issue we all deal with, and that's death. 00:11:17.039 --> 00:11:26.559 Death, though we may ignore it when we're younger, is something something we all deal with on a regular basis. 00:11:26.720 --> 00:11:31.840 Eventually we're gonna we're gonna show up in the same place that everyone shows up. 00:11:32.000 --> 00:11:40.000 It's as sociologists say, one of the greatest needs or one of the greatest fears that we have is death. 00:11:40.159 --> 00:11:42.639 That eventually we're all going to arrive there. 00:11:42.799 --> 00:11:46.720 The going rate for Americans is 100% death. 00:11:46.799 --> 00:11:48.559 I don't know if you've heard that before. 00:11:48.879 --> 00:11:49.840 We all die. 00:11:51.519 --> 00:11:52.480 We all die. 00:11:52.639 --> 00:11:58.240 We all come to a place where we look death in the face. 00:11:59.519 --> 00:12:07.679 And so John says in at the first part of chapter 11, John, John repeats what Jesus is saying. 00:12:07.840 --> 00:12:15.120 Jesus himself is saying this in a very, very sad situation that we're gonna walk into. 00:12:15.360 --> 00:12:20.159 A funeral that Jesus goes and and is and is a part of. 00:12:20.559 --> 00:12:27.120 He says, I am the resurrection and the life. 00:12:27.919 --> 00:12:30.240 I am the resurrection and the life. 00:12:30.480 --> 00:12:32.480 That's significant again. 00:12:32.960 --> 00:12:41.039 That Jesus is saying, I am the God that can take care of the death problem in your life. 00:12:41.279 --> 00:12:46.240 Not only can I resurrect your life, I am the life. 00:12:47.440 --> 00:12:59.360 A crazy, auditious claim that he would make because we all have the fear of death, and maybe that's where you're at. 00:13:00.080 --> 00:13:09.679 Maybe you've experienced, maybe you're not even older, but someone really close to you has died, and it's left a void in your life. 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:15.519 It's a pain you've never thought you would ever experience. 00:13:16.559 --> 00:13:24.559 Maybe it was your wife, maybe it was your child or schoolmate that you grew up with. 00:13:27.039 --> 00:13:28.240 We all are faced with it. 00:13:28.320 --> 00:13:39.440 And I think there's even a maybe a secondary need that is displayed here, and that's the disappointment of God. 00:13:45.679 --> 00:13:55.039 Where you're faced with the circumstances of sin and this world and destruction and disease. 00:13:58.000 --> 00:14:01.679 And you prayed because you believed in God. 00:14:03.120 --> 00:14:10.320 You prayed, you believed, and you trusted in him in nothing. 00:14:11.919 --> 00:14:13.519 So you lost the job. 00:14:15.120 --> 00:14:16.879 You lost your husband. 00:14:18.080 --> 00:14:20.080 You're losing your marriage. 00:14:22.639 --> 00:14:24.559 You've lost your child. 00:14:26.559 --> 00:14:28.799 And you're saying, where were you, God? 00:14:29.679 --> 00:14:30.320 When? 00:14:33.200 --> 00:14:42.639 It reminds me of a an interview that I saw with a very famo famous media mogul, Ted Turner. 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:52.480 If if you're young here, you don't know who who he is, but he created uh TBS and CNN uh in the 80s, 70s, 80s, and 90s. 00:14:52.559 --> 00:14:55.759 He was kind of like the Elon Musk of the 80s, can I say it that way? 00:14:56.000 --> 00:15:05.759 Multi-billionaire, very powerful individual at the time when TV was at its heights uh in the 80s and 90s. 00:15:06.080 --> 00:15:12.799 What most people don't know is that Ted was a very devoted Christian when he was a young man in high school. 00:15:12.960 --> 00:15:14.159 His family went to church. 00:15:14.399 --> 00:15:18.320 Matter of fact, Ted felt like he was called to be a missionary. 00:15:18.399 --> 00:15:32.720 But when Ted was 15 years old, his younger sister Mary, her name, um, oh I'm sorry, her age was 12, and she came down with a terrible, terrible disease called lupus. 00:15:34.399 --> 00:15:44.399 And Ted said that I would come home from school immediately, and I would sit with her in her bed and hold her hand and try to comfort her in some way. 00:15:44.799 --> 00:15:57.360 And he said, I I watched my 12-year-old sister, whom I love, go through pain and suffering for like two years, and eventually she she passed away. 00:15:58.879 --> 00:16:11.039 And he said, as a young man, I distinctly remembered my father who stood up and said, If this is the kind of God that I serve, I no longer want to serve him. 00:16:13.200 --> 00:16:18.960 And Ted told that story, and then he said this in the interview. 00:16:19.120 --> 00:16:30.639 I was taught that God was love and God was powerful, and I couldn't understand if that was true how someone so innocent should be allowed to suffer like that. 00:16:33.840 --> 00:16:40.080 I think we've all experienced pain on some level. 00:16:41.519 --> 00:16:51.840 And though we even looked to God, and we even maybe sang this song, Jesus Take the Wheels, but all we heard was crickets. 00:16:54.559 --> 00:16:56.720 God, why didn't you show up? 00:16:59.919 --> 00:17:01.360 Where were you when? 00:17:02.320 --> 00:17:04.400 How can I trust you after? 00:17:05.440 --> 00:17:08.480 And maybe these are the kind of questions you're asking. 00:17:09.039 --> 00:17:17.200 But I think you need to understand that Jesus is about to answer them in John chapter 11, and that's the good news today. 00:17:17.839 --> 00:17:19.200 That's the good news today. 00:17:19.279 --> 00:17:28.079 Now, if you turn with me in John chapter 11, the first part, you're gonna see that something horrific is going on with some very dear friends of Jesus. 00:17:28.319 --> 00:17:30.880 Jesus is with his disciples. 00:17:31.200 --> 00:17:34.079 He has friends Mary and Martha and Lazarus. 00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:39.839 Jesus loved everyone, but he did have kind of a really close circle with individuals. 00:17:40.000 --> 00:17:47.359 We don't know why Jesus loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus, but he considered Lazarus an incredibly close friend. 00:17:47.440 --> 00:17:50.799 Uh, some scholars would say they all kind of grew up together. 00:17:50.960 --> 00:17:57.440 They supported his ministry, they followed Jesus, they were uh a part of his inner circle. 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:13.119 And we find that Lazarus is sick, like really sick, so sick that it's to the point where uh his sister Martha gives word, go find Jesus, because at this time Jesus is already doing miracles. 00:18:13.279 --> 00:18:17.279 The blind man can see uh people are being raised from the dead. 00:18:17.440 --> 00:18:21.599 He raises a little girl, multiple, multiple, multiple uh miracles. 00:18:21.680 --> 00:18:23.119 And so the word is out. 00:18:23.279 --> 00:18:27.039 Martha is a part of this, Martha and Mary are part of this inner circle. 00:18:27.119 --> 00:18:33.119 They know Jesus and who he is, and so they send word to Jesus, he's quite a ways distance away. 00:18:33.279 --> 00:18:43.200 And so the the the the the the the the herald um the the person with the message arrives and they tell Jesus, listen, Jesus, Lazarus is sick. 00:18:43.279 --> 00:18:46.640 I need you to come in here and do what you do. 00:18:48.160 --> 00:18:51.599 Come in and take care of my brother, the one that you love. 00:18:52.960 --> 00:18:59.839 And we find in verse 5 again that Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 00:19:00.160 --> 00:19:08.880 And so when he heard that Lazarus, Lazarus was sick, he stayed two days longer in the place that he was. 00:19:09.359 --> 00:19:12.880 Now, those two things don't make a lot of sense, do though, do they? 00:19:13.359 --> 00:19:17.920 He loves these people, they're part of his family, if you will. 00:19:18.160 --> 00:19:24.079 And yet when he hears this incredible need, he hangs out for two more days. 00:19:27.039 --> 00:19:31.839 Matter of fact, and you can imagine Martha and Mary waiting. 00:19:32.559 --> 00:19:33.920 Where's Jesus? 00:19:34.079 --> 00:19:34.960 Where's Jesus? 00:19:35.119 --> 00:19:36.480 I heard he walked on water. 00:19:36.559 --> 00:19:39.519 I'm sure he can triple speed his walking. 00:19:39.920 --> 00:19:41.680 Like, what's going on? 00:19:43.359 --> 00:19:45.119 And their brother dies. 00:19:48.559 --> 00:19:52.559 Matter of fact, word comes that the brother dies. 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:58.240 And it's interesting because the disciples are like, dude, what's up? 00:19:58.720 --> 00:20:00.000 Why are we hanging out here? 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:01.920 We we we could have made that. 00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:05.920 Like, what in the world, Jesus? 00:20:06.559 --> 00:20:17.279 You could easily, I just I saw you do a miracle where you fe fed like 10,000 people in a prayer, and you just let this happen. 00:20:17.839 --> 00:20:21.200 And it's interesting because Jesus responds this way. 00:20:21.759 --> 00:20:26.559 He says, for your sake, I'm glad that I was not there. 00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:30.000 So that you may believe. 00:20:31.599 --> 00:20:32.880 Believe what? 00:20:38.319 --> 00:20:39.519 Believe what? 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:47.920 And again, Jesus is setting something up here, obviously. 00:20:49.599 --> 00:20:50.720 So that you. 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:56.880 And he's not just talking about the disciples, he's talking about you here. 00:20:58.480 --> 00:21:00.400 That you would believe. 00:21:04.960 --> 00:21:12.880 So Jesus finally arrives at the household of the two sisters, and you can imagine. 00:21:13.119 --> 00:21:16.559 Matter of fact, I believe scripture says that Martha went out to meet him. 00:21:16.720 --> 00:21:20.400 What that means is she's mad and she's double timing. 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:22.000 Down the road. 00:21:22.160 --> 00:21:23.359 She's gonna have it out. 00:21:23.440 --> 00:21:24.400 She, I don't know. 00:21:24.559 --> 00:21:30.240 I would like, if I'm gonna yell at Jesus, I'm gonna yell it down the road a ways, not wherever my family is. 00:21:30.720 --> 00:21:33.119 Not only Martha, but Mary also. 00:21:33.680 --> 00:21:35.359 Jesus gets it double. 00:21:36.720 --> 00:21:49.119 And Martha runs up to Jesus and asks the question that I think we're all asking in this world of confusion and pain and destruction. 00:21:50.079 --> 00:21:59.759 Martha says to Jesus, Lord, if you Jesus, if you had been here. 00:22:00.720 --> 00:22:03.759 My brother would not have died. 00:22:05.359 --> 00:22:18.319 If you, Jesus, who claim to be the resurrection and the life, if you were here, my heart wouldn't be broken. 00:22:19.039 --> 00:22:21.680 My brother wouldn't be dead in the ground. 00:22:23.920 --> 00:22:41.200 Scholars say that there's really four things that are going on here that I think we need that really tell us about what Jesus, the message Jesus is trying to give you, me, and the people that are at this funeral. 00:22:41.839 --> 00:22:45.279 The first thing is just simply the word tears. 00:22:45.440 --> 00:22:46.799 Can I say it that way? 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:52.960 Jesus doesn't score or scold Martha and Mary. 00:22:54.000 --> 00:22:58.720 He even doesn't really reveal what he's about to do. 00:22:59.920 --> 00:23:08.960 We just find when Jesus arrives and everyone is mourning, and the sisters are weeping over their beloved brother. 00:23:09.680 --> 00:23:15.759 Jesus takes a moment in all of this and he weeps with them. 00:23:17.839 --> 00:23:29.279 What's significant in John chapter 11, verse 35, that we find that there's a portion of scripture. 00:23:29.519 --> 00:23:32.559 Matter of fact, it's the the shortest portion of scripture. 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:38.240 I had to memorize five scripture verses uh for vacation Bible school when I was 10. 00:23:38.319 --> 00:23:39.680 This was one of them. 00:23:43.680 --> 00:23:46.319 Some of you are guilty like me of this. 00:23:47.119 --> 00:24:02.319 But but it's a significant that so that you will believe, so that you may believe that's how important this is. 00:24:03.200 --> 00:24:07.279 That he weeps and feels your pain. 00:24:09.680 --> 00:24:17.279 It's conf the tears of Jesus are confusing because ten minutes later, by the way, if you don't know this story, he's about to raise Lazarus from the dead. 00:24:18.400 --> 00:24:20.400 I'm gonna give you the plot here. 00:24:21.200 --> 00:24:25.200 And yet he doesn't say, Hey Martha, relax. 00:24:25.359 --> 00:24:26.240 Girl, I got it. 00:24:26.319 --> 00:24:27.279 I'm all powerful. 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:34.720 I spit the stars into existence, I created Lazarus, I could end Lazarus, and in just a moment, I'm gonna take all this pain away. 00:24:34.799 --> 00:24:42.319 He doesn't even do that, he sits and weeps with Martha and Mary. 00:24:44.319 --> 00:24:47.440 The reason that is, is you just need to understand. 00:24:48.000 --> 00:24:55.680 David says in Psalms that he created us, knew us before we were even born, knitted us together. 00:24:56.000 --> 00:25:01.359 And let me just say that his heart is knitted with yours. 00:25:03.359 --> 00:25:11.599 So that pain you're feeling, even though he knows, there's probably not a big difference between a thousand years and ten minutes with Jesus. 00:25:12.079 --> 00:25:18.960 He created time, he can even see the resolution for your life. 00:25:19.359 --> 00:25:38.079 Scripture says that he'll take the ashes of your life that either you created or someone else created or the environment of the world created, and he can fashion, make, gather them up, inject joy into them and create a beautiful crown to place on your head. 00:25:38.160 --> 00:25:43.440 And yet in the moment of that pain, he's there with understanding. 00:25:43.599 --> 00:25:47.839 It's important that the God of the universe weeps with you. 00:25:48.000 --> 00:25:53.359 You need to have that understanding that the emotions you are feeling are not wrong. 00:25:53.599 --> 00:25:56.400 It's painful to live in this kind of world. 00:25:56.559 --> 00:25:57.680 It's not right. 00:25:57.839 --> 00:26:01.279 It's what destruction and sin has created in our life. 00:26:01.359 --> 00:26:08.240 And yet we are part of a God who understands and weeps with us, even though he knows the resolution to your issue. 00:26:18.720 --> 00:26:21.839 It's also not wrong to be angry. 00:26:27.359 --> 00:26:46.799 We find as Jesus spends a moment weeping with the sisters, he walks to the tomb where his friend and her their brother lies, and the atmosphere changes. 00:26:48.720 --> 00:26:50.880 We find this in scripture. 00:26:51.200 --> 00:27:05.119 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping at the middle of a funeral, everyone, he was deeply moved in spirit and greatly troubled. 00:27:05.279 --> 00:27:11.200 Now you need to understand something here, that this is not a great translation. 00:27:11.359 --> 00:27:21.759 What people think here with deeply moved, meaning that Jesus had a heartfelt moment with the with that's that's that's not what's going on here. 00:27:21.920 --> 00:27:24.559 I don't want to say this is a bad translation. 00:27:24.799 --> 00:27:29.279 We just don't have an English translation of this. 00:27:30.400 --> 00:27:41.920 It means Jesus becomes angered, he becomes furious as he stands in front of the tomb. 00:27:42.480 --> 00:27:45.200 Like an atmosphere has shifted. 00:27:46.240 --> 00:27:52.319 And so Jesus boldly walks to the tomb deeply furious. 00:27:53.039 --> 00:28:03.599 Scholars would say, like the closest to a translation would be the snorting like an animal, like a bull ready to charge. 00:28:03.759 --> 00:28:11.200 You ever see these muscle men who these big monsters of individuals, they do these big deadlifts with 5,000 pounds. 00:28:11.279 --> 00:28:12.960 I don't even know how big they are. 00:28:13.440 --> 00:28:26.640 And they'll psych themselves up and the veins stop, they start screaming, and the the paint, the veins are like bulging in their foreheads, and they they they psych themselves up and they grab hold of that weight and they lift that thing up. 00:28:27.759 --> 00:28:29.599 So what's going on here? 00:28:30.400 --> 00:28:38.079 Scholars say that John Kelvin says that Jesus is walking into the ring. 00:28:41.279 --> 00:28:45.759 It's one thing to have a weeping friend with me who understands. 00:28:46.559 --> 00:28:52.480 But I'm here to tell you right now, more importantly, I need a conquering hero. 00:28:54.880 --> 00:28:59.680 And Jesus and death have a standoff. 00:29:03.359 --> 00:29:19.680 Jesus walks to the tomb and becomes angry, greatly troubled, as a warrior about to take on, walking into the ring to fight with this demonic presence called death. 00:29:20.160 --> 00:29:29.680 The great stealer and thief and robber that is introduced by sin into this world that we all experience. 00:29:29.839 --> 00:29:32.079 Jesus walks into the ring. 00:29:32.240 --> 00:29:34.319 You can imagine music going on. 00:29:34.880 --> 00:29:40.160 It wasn't the instrumental, what a friend we have in Jesus. 00:29:41.359 --> 00:29:42.319 It wasn't that. 00:29:42.480 --> 00:29:44.799 It was like Rocky. 00:29:50.640 --> 00:29:52.319 You understand what I'm saying here? 00:29:56.400 --> 00:29:58.000 And Jesus is mad. 00:29:59.680 --> 00:30:01.200 He's angered. 00:30:02.000 --> 00:30:04.160 And he takes on death. 00:30:05.519 --> 00:30:07.599 Hey everyone, I want to give you a heads up. 00:30:07.839 --> 00:30:13.599 Some uh a lie that the world will tell you that death is natural. 00:30:14.960 --> 00:30:17.039 There's nothing natural about it. 00:30:18.480 --> 00:30:21.680 You should not be ever okay with death. 00:30:22.960 --> 00:30:29.359 You should always be angered in the face of injustice and suffering. 00:30:29.759 --> 00:30:32.240 That is a right idea. 00:30:32.559 --> 00:30:35.680 We were not created to experience death. 00:30:35.839 --> 00:30:38.559 It is a a consequence of sin. 00:30:38.960 --> 00:30:42.640 It should be something you're angry with. 00:30:42.799 --> 00:30:45.440 You were not created to experience it. 00:30:45.599 --> 00:30:54.319 There's nothing that I'm so tired of the world kind of whitewashing this idea like a hallmark where we all have to die something. 00:30:54.480 --> 00:31:01.039 It's not the way that Jesus created us at the beginning, it's the consequences of death in our life. 00:31:01.119 --> 00:31:08.079 And we should have those kind of feelings when we leave our or when someone leaves our life that we love. 00:31:10.960 --> 00:31:17.359 And it's okay to be angry, it's a circle of life. 00:31:18.640 --> 00:31:21.119 And then I think we move on. 00:31:22.400 --> 00:31:24.799 Disney demonic ideas. 00:31:29.200 --> 00:31:32.559 And so Jesus comes in to conquer death. 00:31:34.319 --> 00:31:40.160 He came down to beat down and erase the power of death. 00:31:40.240 --> 00:31:50.799 And you need to understand something significant is going on that other leaders or prophets or even false messiahs would be, because the world is full of different people. 00:31:50.880 --> 00:31:55.440 A couple weeks ago, I told you there are not many paths to God. 00:31:58.000 --> 00:32:06.720 And all the great politicians, all the great uh religious leaders never had this capability. 00:32:07.680 --> 00:32:19.039 Not Moses, not Abraham, not Buddha, not Muhammad, not Joseph Smith, not George Washington, not Abraham Lincoln, though. 00:32:19.119 --> 00:32:22.400 I think a lot of us would like that our Abraham Lincoln didn't die. 00:32:24.319 --> 00:32:25.759 But they all died. 00:32:26.720 --> 00:32:29.359 And about half of them you can visit where they're at. 00:32:32.880 --> 00:32:36.720 It's okay to be angry at death. 00:32:38.000 --> 00:32:39.039 Jesus is. 00:32:40.400 --> 00:32:48.160 But it brings up also a truth that Jesus reveals to the sisters. 00:32:48.400 --> 00:32:54.880 He says in verse 25, I am the resurrection and the life. 00:32:55.039 --> 00:33:00.960 And whoever believes in me, though he die, he dies, yet shall he live. 00:33:01.200 --> 00:33:08.240 And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. 00:33:12.559 --> 00:33:18.319 And you need to understand what Jesus is saying here is not that Christians aren't going to die. 00:33:19.920 --> 00:33:23.359 What he's saying is that death is not final. 00:33:25.119 --> 00:33:27.839 The effects of death are not final. 00:33:29.599 --> 00:33:34.880 In this case, in the physical and also in the spiritual and the eternal. 00:33:35.119 --> 00:33:37.519 Poor Lazarus, he's been dead for four days. 00:33:37.680 --> 00:33:40.400 He's hanging out with God in paradise. 00:33:40.640 --> 00:33:42.160 Have you ever thought about that? 00:33:42.640 --> 00:33:47.359 Four days in, he's probably setting up furniture, getting it all set in his mansion. 00:33:47.519 --> 00:33:52.000 He's playing basketball with King David, who has an incredible hoop shot or whatever. 00:33:52.079 --> 00:33:52.880 I don't even know what that is. 00:33:53.039 --> 00:33:54.079 Jump shot. 00:33:55.519 --> 00:34:01.519 And then, you know, he hears this ring on the door, and he opens the door, and there's this sheepish kind of angel. 00:34:01.680 --> 00:34:04.400 Hey, uh Lazarus, man, I'm really sorry about this. 00:34:04.480 --> 00:34:06.400 We got it kind of messed up. 00:34:06.559 --> 00:34:09.760 Uh the big guy downstairs needs you to come back. 00:34:09.920 --> 00:34:11.519 I need you to come with me. 00:34:11.760 --> 00:34:13.039 Can you imagine? 00:34:19.119 --> 00:34:22.239 It's almost like probably for Lazarus. 00:34:22.880 --> 00:34:23.280 C.S. 00:34:23.440 --> 00:34:28.639 Lewis points to this that it's like a bad dream that you wake up from. 00:34:29.440 --> 00:34:30.719 This world we live in. 00:34:30.880 --> 00:34:35.280 Have you ever had a dream and you're like, this feels so real, so real, so real. 00:34:35.599 --> 00:34:39.679 And then you wake up and your wife is not a camel. 00:34:43.519 --> 00:34:46.239 And you're like, stop looking at your wives, man. 00:34:46.719 --> 00:34:49.360 Oh, you're gonna ruin your Easter meal. 00:34:49.760 --> 00:34:51.840 Gentlemen, look straight ahead. 00:34:53.760 --> 00:34:54.079 Right? 00:34:54.239 --> 00:34:57.199 You're like, whoo, thank goodness. 00:34:58.639 --> 00:35:02.719 And you had that feeling, oh, it was just a dream. 00:35:05.760 --> 00:35:07.119 Just a dream. 00:35:08.159 --> 00:35:09.199 That's what C.S. 00:35:09.360 --> 00:35:10.719 Lewis says. 00:35:11.039 --> 00:35:21.119 When we uh finally arrive where Jesus turns everything right, we'll look back on our life and say, that was like a bad night in a hotel. 00:35:21.280 --> 00:35:22.239 You ever have that? 00:35:22.800 --> 00:35:27.039 You get up, you take a shower, I just gotta get all this hotel stuff off of me. 00:35:27.599 --> 00:35:29.519 I'm never staying there again. 00:35:29.760 --> 00:35:31.119 It's like a bad dream. 00:35:31.199 --> 00:35:35.519 You kind of, as the day goes on, you start to forget about all those things. 00:35:35.920 --> 00:35:42.239 And the reason is because that's what that's what Jesus is saying in the resurrection. 00:35:42.960 --> 00:35:44.880 I'm gonna set everything right. 00:35:45.760 --> 00:35:56.320 In the resurrection, God is actually undoing the damage that our sin caused, and it all becomes untrue. 00:36:02.480 --> 00:36:07.119 And so greatly troubled, nice words. 00:36:08.719 --> 00:36:26.960 Jesus stands furiously in front of the tomb of his friend, battling death, and he prays a prayer, and he doesn't need to, but he prays a prayer verbally so that they can hear him. 00:36:27.760 --> 00:36:29.679 And he prays this prayer. 00:36:30.079 --> 00:36:34.559 Do this, Father, so they will believe that you sent me. 00:36:37.280 --> 00:36:39.519 I think it's in verse 38. 00:36:41.199 --> 00:36:50.960 He speaks those words of power, battling and destroying death, and he says, Lazarus, come out. 00:36:56.800 --> 00:37:01.920 And resurrection power brings Lazarus back to life. 00:37:03.039 --> 00:37:08.880 And he walks out to the joy of his sisters, and all who experience that. 00:37:10.159 --> 00:37:11.679 What a powerful moment. 00:37:12.800 --> 00:37:14.960 What a powerful visionary. 00:37:24.000 --> 00:37:27.840 Unfortunately, this is not the end of the story in a way. 00:37:30.239 --> 00:37:46.239 We find that at the end of chapter 11, because the religious elite, the Pharisees, Sadducees, the religious elite of the Jewish people find out about this miracle. 00:37:46.400 --> 00:37:48.480 By the way, there's a whole string of them. 00:37:49.039 --> 00:37:50.480 But this is a big one. 00:37:50.559 --> 00:37:53.280 There's a lot of people that witness this miracle. 00:37:55.679 --> 00:38:00.480 We find in Scripture that they begin to plan out the death of Jesus. 00:38:00.800 --> 00:38:03.280 They actually say this in verse 53. 00:38:03.920 --> 00:38:07.039 They made plans to put him to death. 00:38:08.639 --> 00:38:17.280 They got to the point of dealing with Jesus, but they were thinking to themselves, this guy's not going to stop. 00:38:18.880 --> 00:38:20.239 We have to kill him. 00:38:22.480 --> 00:38:32.639 Scholars say that by disrupting this funeral, he actually is starting his own. 00:38:36.079 --> 00:38:43.519 In chapter 12, and as we move in, we find that Jesus moves into Jerusalem. 00:38:43.840 --> 00:38:55.360 We typically call that celebration Palm Sunday, but eventually he's going to the to the Passover or the Last Supper. 00:38:56.079 --> 00:39:01.440 And then on that Friday, he's going to go to the cross and pay for our sins. 00:39:03.679 --> 00:39:13.039 By conducting this miracle to show us who he is, it actually starts the road to the cross. 00:39:13.440 --> 00:39:20.719 Now you need to understand that the fourth thing that is very important in this story is just simply grace. 00:39:26.320 --> 00:39:34.320 That because he went to the cross, it was in place of us. 00:39:35.599 --> 00:39:41.599 Now you need to understand that every single Sunday we preach the gospel in one form or another here at Northiron. 00:39:41.679 --> 00:39:43.760 It's the most important understanding. 00:39:44.079 --> 00:39:51.119 I oftentimes will say to people every decision you make in life is a gospel decision, though you know it or not. 00:39:52.719 --> 00:40:03.360 And understanding who Jesus is and the way he created you and the redemption he's applied in your life that we're celebrating today. 00:40:03.840 --> 00:40:18.559 The victory over death that Jesus shows us as they place him in the grave, and three days later, he's alive, spends 40 days with his disciples, teaching them. 00:40:18.800 --> 00:40:24.960 Scripture says over 500 people saw him, and then he's ascended publicly into heaven. 00:40:29.840 --> 00:40:33.199 It should radically change your thinking. 00:40:49.119 --> 00:40:53.760 The consequences of sin, we know, is death. 00:40:55.599 --> 00:41:04.960