Speaker 1: 0:00

You know this time of Lent again. I don't know how many of you grew up observing it or paying attention to it all, but it is something that I find helpful in the telling and the reimagining of the story of the gospel. So oftentimes our worship and our focus in church can be one-dimensional. We just always praise God, thank Him for His goodness, and we kind of keep it very black and white, if you will, and I think that as we follow the story of the gospel through the church calendar, we're able to engage in different ways and with different nuances to what Christ has done for us. This little book I got was very helpful. It's a book just called Lent, on the Season of Repentance and Renewal, by Esau McCauley. He grew up in a Baptist church and then he writes about his experience with Lent and I just again I don't want to we're not leaning into this too heavily, but I wanted just to read a little bit of what he says in here because I find it very helpful Begins by talking about Lent.

Speaker 1: 1:15

Begins with Ash Wednesday, which was his last Wednesday, where in many churches they have a service where they take ashes and they put a cross on each of the parishioners' heads. He marks their foreheads and then one of the things that they say when they do that as part of the liturgy is remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return. When the pastors or the priests do that, they tell them that they're going to die, that death is a reality, matter of fact. He tells of a personal story. His little children enjoy new things and new opportunities to go up during the service and to experience new things, and he just remembered thinking that when his wife and his children came to the front as part of this, that this was not something to really find joy in, necessarily, but he was actually going to look his daughters in the eye and his wife in the eye and says you are going to die. It is a stark reminder that we are mortal. He goes on to say Ash Wednesday evokes the punishment arising from the fall, when God says to Adam and Eve dust you are and to dust you'll return.

Speaker 1: 2:39

In other words, the sadness of Lent is not a general sadness about the inevitability of death, but explicitly an explicitly Christian diagnosis of the cause of death. We sin and die because humanity rebelled against God. There's nothing natural about death. That's not the way that God designed the world when he originally created it. It is an alien intrusion into the good world God created. It is an enemy to be defeated. So on Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, we remember that we will die, but we do not accept it as the inevitable reality of the human experience, even our acknowledgement of death, even in our acknowledgement of death, there are hints of our rebellion against it. We do not in ourselves believe that this is what we were meant for and we fight against it.

Speaker 1: 3:47

But you know, when we are confronted with death, when we come face to face with death, it causes us to ask a lot of questions why, why did this happen? It creates confusion. We don't understand, we say. Oftentimes, if it affects you directly or affects family directly, you ask why? Me? Things have been good, I've been blessed, I've been taken care of, I've been taking care of those I love, or why now? We ask why does this happen to me? Now? Everything's going well? Or it's just too much? Maybe I can't take any more of this. This is overwhelming to me. It's just too much for me to handle right now.

Speaker 1: 4:36

When the diagnosis of death and its terror is determined, we then begin to imagine ways that we could have avoided it. Right, maybe I should have done this, maybe I had. If I would have just done that, I would have had the power to stop this horrible thing from happening. So then we begin to look back and then we ask what we could have done to change this outcome. We ask what if? What if we'd have done this, what if we would have done that? I'm so sorry, I regret that I wasted time in doing this and when I could have been more careful, I could have exercised, I could have dieted, I could have protected myself by wearing more masks or getting more vaccines. Or we find ways that we go about and we regret our decisions and we wonder how we could have done something different.

Speaker 1: 5:30

But death is everywhere. It's everywhere. We see it all over the world. We see it in what happens through abortion, when the life is terminated in the womb. We see it. I was just in Africa, where babies and humans are starving and dehydrated and they're dying. The mortality rate is higher than the survival rate. Or we see it when disease penetrates our life or disease infects the world. We see it in war, the violence and terror that is happening in Ukraine or Palestine. And yet death is everywhere. It's inevitable. So many of these things fill our world, but as you get older or more vulnerable oftentimes, and most likely, they're going to come really close to home. They're going to invade your personal space Miscarriages, a life that you were looking forward to share with your child, the cancer that invades your mom's body, heart attacks, strokes or just accidents and just like that, your life changed because of the terror of death and sin. Because of the terror of death and sin.

Speaker 1: 7:15

In May of 2021, I received a call that my mom had suffered a stroke and was in critical condition in South Carolina. I couldn't wait. I had to buy the ticket that would get me there the fastest, to rush to her side, and I didn't know what I was going to do, but I needed to be there. I wanted to be there, and then people told me they were praying for me. They were praying for my mom and they were praying for us, and I was like what? At the time? I was like I don't know what to pray for, I don't know how to pray. My body is numb, my spirit is numb and I don't know how to face the reality that my mom is likely going to die.

Speaker 1: 8:10

Even for believers, this is difficult because it calls into question your acceptance and your faith and your belief in God. Does God know what's going on? Does he know what I'm going through? Does he even care? I can read that he loves me. I believe in his love and his goodness, but I just don't feel it. Why doesn't God do something? How can he just ignore the pain and suffering and devastation that death brings, and I'm sure even for the non-believer or people who are struggling in their faith or doubting, skeptical? If love is supposed to be one of the Christian God's defining attribute, god is love. Why does he allow death and devastation? Why does this happen? How do you expect me to trust a God who can't prevent death from happening, from happening?

Speaker 1: 9:29

In our passage today, we'll consider a story of a family whose life is turned upside down because of a brother who unexpectedly becomes ill and suddenly dies, and we will see how Jesus, who actually is especially close to this particular family, responds to this tragedy of these dear grieving friends. What we're going to find is it might surprise you, it's a bit unexpected, but we will find that in the end, things end up better than they could ever imagine. So let's turn in our Bibles to John, chapter 11. This is a long passage and I know we lost an hour of sleep. Lord willing, we'll make it through this and no one will be gaining that hour of sleep back here in this room today, but hopefully it'll be less than an hour. So we'll get there. John, chapter 11.

Speaker 1: 10:33

A couple of things I want to point out to you before we read this passage. This is a powerful passage. It's one where we enter into a very close story of a friendship that Jesus has with people. And you might say, well, he loves everybody. Yes, he loves everybody. But there's something particular that John points out in this text that shows us that there's a special sort of friendship and love that he has with this particular family. And also, if you were here for John when we preached John 9, I also preached that a few weeks ago you'll find that there's a few things that sound very familiar, that are very similar to our story of John 9, where he heals the blind man, and so you might notice those as well.

Speaker 1: 11:23

But let me read this passage for us, beginning in John 11.1. Now a certain man was ill, lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary, and her sister Martha it was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair whose brother, lazarus, was ill. So the sisters sent to him saying Lord, he whom you love is ill. And Jesus heard it and said and sent back to them this illness does not lead to death, it is for the glory of God, so that the son of God may be glorified through it. Now, jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. It seems a little odd, but we'll get back to that.

Speaker 1: 12:21

Then, after this, he said to his disciples let's go to Judea again. The disciples said to him Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you and you're going there again. Jesus answered are there not 12 hours in a day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, but he sees the light of the world. But if he walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him. After saying these things, he said to them our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. The disciples said to him Lord, if he's fallen asleep he will recover. Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant to take. He was taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly Lazarus is dead and, for your sake, I am glad that I was not there so that you may believe, but let us go to him. So Thomas, called the twin, said to his fellow disciples yeah, let us go to him. So Thomas, called the twin, said to his fellow disciples yeah, let us go to die, or let us go also, that we may die with him. Now, when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.

Speaker 1: 13:37

Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them and concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said 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. Jesus said to her your brother will rise again. Martha said to him I know that he will rise in the resurrection.

Speaker 1: 14:14

At the last day, jesus said to her I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die yet, shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to him yes, lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, who is coming into the world. When she had said this, she went and called her sister, mary, saying in private the teacher is here and is calling for you. And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him.

Speaker 1: 14:52

Now Jesus had not come to the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now, when Mary came to where Jesus was, she saw him. She fell down at his feet saying Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

Speaker 1: 15:16

When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and was greatly troubled. And he said where have you laid him? And they said to him Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. So the Jews said see how he loved him. But some of them said could not he open the eyes of the blind man and also have kept this man from dying?

Speaker 1: 15:51

Then Jesus moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone lay against it. Jesus said take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead for four days. Jesus said to her Did I not tell you that if you believed that, you would see the glory of God? So they took away the stone and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me and I said this on the account of the people standing around that they may believe that you sent me. When he said these things, he cried with a loud voice. Lazarus, come out. The man who had died came out. His hands and feet were bound with linen strips and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them unbind him and let him go.

Speaker 1: 16:57

This is a Matter of Death and Life and this, truly, jesus, is revealing himself to be everything that we need in order to face the reality of death and to receive the goodness of life, the first thing I want us to see this morning in our text is that when Jesus feels distant, trust that he truly cares and that he is doing what is best, when Jesus feels distant, trust that he truly cares and that he is doing what is best. We read two times in the opening 16 verses that it tells us that Jesus loves Lazarus. We're told, as a reminder, that he didn't just love Lazarus. In verse five it says that he loved Mary and Martha. This is not talked about a whole lot. This language is not used a whole lot in the Bible when it comes particularly to Jesus. John, the writer here, probably uses it the most, but even in his gospel there's not a lot of places where someone is said to have been loved by Jesus particularly.

Speaker 1: 18:30

Jesus indicates also in this that he is fully aware of both the situation and the plan or purpose. So as Jesus hears this news that is sent to him from Martha, hears this news that is sent to him from Martha, he hears this and he has in his mind an awareness of the situation and it seems as though he does have a clear plan and purpose. He says here that this illness does not lead to death. What does not lead to death, what he obviously did not get the message clearly. But Jesus goes on and he tells us that it is for the glory of God, so that the son of God may be glorified through it. So he has something else that's going on in his mind. This is similar to what I already mentioned, this, but it's similar to what we found in John 9, when the disciples said who sinned? This man or his parents? And Jesus tells them it's not that he sinned or his parents sinned, but that the glory of God will be displayed in him.

Speaker 1: 19:39

Jesus has a greater motivation going on as he engages a world of sin and despair and destruction and death. He has something greater going on that is more important than just rushing and running to the aid of someone who is dying. How can he not do that? How can he avoid this? He has the power to do this. Why does he not rush to the side of the one that he loves? Jesus goes as far as not to just hear it and wait, but he waits two days, two more days.

Speaker 1: 20:16

It's funny how John and this is our English translation here, but it's funny how he gets this it says now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. And then he says so, when he heard Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in that place. So, like that's like the way that a person that loves this family is going to act. This is his response. So this is what I'm going to do, here's my plan. And then, after two days, is going to act. This is his response. So this is what I'm going to do, here's my plan. And then, after two days, he decides to go. Now I will tell you that the disciples I think they were a little bit relieved we're not going back there, because last time we were there they had stones and they were going to stone us. And so when he says, yeah, we're not going, they're like, oh good, we're not going, we're going to stay here, great. And then, after two days, he's like all right, we're going to go. And the disciples are like, well, wait a minute. Last time we were there they were going to stone us. We go back, we're surely going to die.

Speaker 1: 21:15

And Jesus, as he's being coached by his logistic team of missiologists they know his mission better than him. They can prevent things happening to him that he doesn't foresee Jesus says to them guys, listen, the sun is only up for just a little bit. We have to work while the sun is still here. What people are able to see when the sun goes away? When the light goes away, how do you expect people to see? This is again similar to what he says in John 9 to the disciples when he says to them that we must work while it is still day. We must work the works of God. Jesus has a clear mission that while I'm here, I am the light of the world. I am the light of the world and I am the light of the world and I am to go into the darkness, even in the face of death, and I am to do the work of God. That's why he is here.

Speaker 1: 22:18

But then they hear from Jesus. The disciples hear from Jesus oh well, he's actually asleep. And they're like oh good, he's recovering, he's taking rest and he is going to be fine after he rests. And they're like great, we don't have to go Start unpacking the bags. And he's like no, you didn't understand me what I mean and I'm gonna say it plainly Lazarus is dead. He's not just sleeping, he's not just taking a nap, he's not on the recovery bed, he's dead.

Speaker 1: 22:54

It is in this that Jesus gives us again a little peek behind the scenes as to what is going on. Why does what is he trying to do? What is he trying to accomplish? He's already said once that it is for the glory of God to be seen through him. But now he says to the disciples specifically I'm glad that we didn't go, I'm glad that we waited until he died. It's so that you might what's he say? That you might what's he say, that you might believe, that you might believe. Verse 15 says and for your sake, I am glad that I was not there so that you may believe. But let us go to him. Thomas kind of responds the way that we would probably respond Great, he's dead, he's not sleeping. We're going to go. We're just going to join him. Lazarus, scoot over, make room for the rest of us. We're going to go. We're just going to join him. Lazarus, scoot over, make room for the rest of us. We're coming in.

Speaker 1: 24:05

The disciples are clearly not on the same page as Jesus, but Jesus' actions here to them. And I would say honestly, if we were part of that group, we can look at it in hindsight and say, I see what's going on here, but if we were part of that group, it would be a little bit confusing and a bit concerning at best. What is Jesus doing? What is he talking about? Why does he just have this abstract, theological mind that he just always is saying things like this and he doesn't understand reality? He doesn't understand what's happening here in this earth. You know, sometimes we, like them, look around and we just don't understand what God is doing. Why is he choosing to do what he is doing? Why is he delaying? I know I said this a few weeks ago, but it's like Gandalf says right, a wizard is never late. He arrives precisely when he means to Jesus is doing everything. It doesn't make sense to us. We would call it late, we would call it. He is not paying attention, he is not engaged, and yet Jesus is doing exactly what he was sent to do. He's doing exactly what he was there to do.

Speaker 1: 25:21

So let's look at the next section of this, chapter 11, verses 17 through 37. In this section we see this While we obsess over alternatives and prevention, jesus offers us resurrection. Jesus offers us resurrection. While we obsess over alternatives and prevention, jesus offers us resurrection. Jesus is now going to Bethany. He is going to see Martha and Mary and to engage in this scene. And Martha hears that Jesus is coming and she goes to meet him.

Speaker 1: 26:08

We might, as we view this scene, it seems like there's normal things happening. Mary and Martha are gathered together and there's all these mourners and friends who are there to weep with them. That seems normal, not waiting two days, not leaving them alone, but it seems normal to come and console and comfort these. But in the midst of this, mary runs out and she goes to meet him and this is where she starts posing a great theological understanding. But she starts posing these questions of what, if, what if? She says to him master, if you had only been here, my brother would not have died. You had a chance. It was to prevent him from dying. We sent message when he was ill. He was not dead yet and you got a message and now he's dead. If you had only been here, my brother would not have died. You know, this is not the only question as we read, and Mary follows up. She also asks and says the same thing to Jesus If you had been here, my brother would not have died.

Speaker 1: 27:35

And even the gossiping and small talk of the mourners who are there later say is this not the guy who opened the eyes of the blind man? Could he not have stopped him from dying? I mean, this is the reaction While he's alive, there is hope. Once he dies, there's no hope. This is the way that we think about hope. Hope is something. It's available to us when we can control it, when we can do something about it. But when there is no hope, when death comes, there's nothing that we can do to change that. And there's even faith in this.

Speaker 1: 28:22

I'm sure they had doctors there treating Lazarus. I'm sure they had things that they were doing trying to help him in his sickness and they believed in Jesus. They had a good theological understanding of what Jesus could do. He has healed sick people. He has opened the eyes of the blind. He can save Lazarus from dying. This is not without a true theological understanding of who Jesus is. When Martha comes to Jesus, she is coming to him with this theological understanding. Look at that conversation that they have here.

Speaker 1: 29:07

So when Mary heard that Jesus was coming verse 20, she went and met him. But Mary remained in the house. Martha said to Jesus Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask God, god will give you. She did have faith enough to believe in resurrection. This sounds very similar to about what we read in Hebrews 11.

Speaker 1: 29:31

And I wonder if the story of Abraham going to the Mount Moriah with his son to kill him on that mountain was told the way that the writer of Hebrews tells it, where he says that by faith Abraham offered up his son and he believed that, even if his son died, that God would raise him again. This is a faith, no doubt that was admirable. That was passed down regarding abraham, and I think that martha probably believed that too. She had faith that, yeah, he's dead, but I do think that you can raise him again. God will do whatever you ask him. And jesus says to her verse 23, your brother will rise again. Martha says I know, here we go. I have good eschatology right. I know that he will rise again in the resurrection.

Speaker 1: 30:29

On the last day, jesus said to her stop talking about times and schedules and eschatology. Look at me. I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die yet he shall live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. In me shall never die. If you die, you're still going to live and even if you die, you'll live.

Speaker 1: 31:11

He says this, he repeats this, and then he looks her in the eyes and says do you believe this? Now, this is kind of hard, right. It's kind of hard right. It's kind of hard, like we when we experience death. When my mom died, I have not yet been able to talk to her, or she has not risen again so that I could have a conversation with her. I can't hug her like what does he, does he mean and why, if in this moment, does he choose Lazarus? Is it just because he loves Lazarus? What's going on here?

Speaker 1: 31:48

The focus of what Jesus wants Martha to hear and I believe what he wants us to hear is that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. And the question is do you believe that? That's what he says to Martha? Do you believe this? He's not worried about times and how it's all going to work out. He's not there to give her a plan. He just says I'm the resurrection. Do you believe this? And she says yes, lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, who is coming into the world. This confession of Martha is profound. This confession of Martha is the spirit and the heart that we ought to have. She is confessing this before anything significant happens. Her faith is grounded in this truth before anything happens.

Speaker 1: 32:59

If you look back at John 9, this same kind of conversation happens at the very end of the chapter, when he goes to the blind man and he says to the blind man, do you believe in the son of God? And he says who is he that I might believe in him? And he says well, you've talked to him and it's he who is standing before you. And he says yes, lord, I believe that you are the son of God. And I believe that you are the son of God. And he fell down and worshiped him. This is after a man who was born blind, had his eyes opened and his life was forever changed. Now we're dealing with somebody who, to all their experience, to everything that they know about death nothing is going to change, but they are going to Martha does confess and exclaim to Jesus I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.

Speaker 1: 33:55

I think that we need to just consider that for a moment. I don't know how many of you have come face to face with the terror of death. I don't know how many of you have had family or friends that are close to you who have been. Their life has been snuffed out and pulled away from you and you've been left to weep and mourn and question. And we can get caught up with all the details of all those things. We can get caught up with the murkiness and the messiness of sin and death and we can miss the fact that Jesus wants you to hear him say I am the resurrection and the life, he that believes in me, though he were dead yet, shall he live? He is asking you the question do you believe this? Before anything amazing happens? He wants you to believe this, he wants you to know this.

Speaker 1: 34:58

Mary's reaction to Jesus is very similar, but like I would, I would probably assume from Mary's personality and John doesn't give us much of her personality in his, uh, his account but we know that Martha is kind of known for the busy one, the one who's going around and doing things and getting things done, and Mary's the worshiper. She just loves sitting there at Jesus' feet. I imagine that, as she is overwhelmed with the emotion of this moment, that she just I can't move. Martha, you go talk to him. I can't move. I'm just here Like I'm in a puddle of tears and I don't know what to do. Or I don't know how to say I can't even have a theological conversation right now. Or I don't know how to say I can't even have a theological conversation right now. I'm just a mess. And Mary runs out and Martha says to her hey, he wants to talk to you, okay. So Mary goes out and she says the only thing that she can say if you had been here, my brother would not have died. And all the people that are weeping with her and wailing with her, they're all coming out there and they are just wanting to see where she's going and to be there alongside her. But all she can do and all they can do is weep. And this is where we see another beautiful glimpse into Jesus' humanity. Jesus is not just stoic, he's not just there saying, okay, guys, when you're done, I'll do my thing.

Speaker 1: 36:31

Whoever marked out all the verses, narrowed it in, made it very clear. This is going to be the shortest verse in our Bible. What does Jesus do? Jesus wept, jesus wept, and you can tell. There's different translations for the way that what he is feeling is described here. He felt deeply. In some ways you could be translated that he was indignant or that he was just overwhelmed, but no matter how he is responding here, he is deeply affected by what has happened to his dear, beloved friends. He is deeply affected, so much so that he himself is weeping. So much so that the weepers look at him and say see, look at him, weep, look how much he loved him.

Speaker 1: 37:22

I want you to know that when Jesus feels far away, when you feel disconnected from him, you wonder if he cares, he cares from him. You wonder if he cares, he cares. He has a deep love for you. That's not just a theological reality. He has a love for you that causes him to do things that are unimaginable and to join you. Not just stay separated, but to join you in your sorrow, in your weeping. Stay separated, but to join you in your sorrow, in your weeping.

Speaker 1: 38:02

He's been confronted with these what-ifs. They believe that he is powerful enough to turn this thing around. But you know what their solutions? If you had just been here, if you'd done what he was able to do with the blind man, he would have changed all of this. But you know what these what-ifs and the solutions and the answers to these problems? They're short-sighted, they stop. I mean, what happens if Jesus would have gone there? Well, everything would have just continued. I mean, it would have been an amazing moment, right? But Jesus is entering into this and in just a minute we're going to look at his words and what he communicates to us. But all of these solutions that are offered, and even our solutions, when we asked what if? What if I could do this? What if I could stop this? What if I could prevent it by doing this? Now, just be clear part of my application is not to stop exercising and stop eating. Well, and stop. That's not my application here. Okay, there's other passages that deal with how to be good stewards of the body that's made in his image.

Speaker 1: 39:16

But what we do need to understand is that our what-ifs are not going to stop the power of sin and death. Our what-ifs, our solutions, our preventions are not going to stop what sin will do to us. Jesus comes to us and he wants to offer us a better outcome. We have one outcome in mind keep him from dying, but he wants to offer us a better outcome. The outcome that we want is to maybe extend our life, to create the best condition. As long as we possibly can, we strive to escape our morality. As we possibly can, we strive to escape our morality. We do whatever we can to give this current life a long and healthy existence. We do that and we think about it in terms of what if I don't do this, I'm going to die. If I don't do this and encourage my close one, my loved one, they will die. But our what ifs don't lead to Jesus' outcome. His answer, our solutions of prevention and regret can never really solve the problem of sin and death. And then what if all we can do is cry? All we can do is cry? Well, jesus wants us to know in our tears that he wants to give us more than we can imagine. Our what-ifs are built off of our imagination, but he says I've got something that goes beyond your imagination. So the last thing I want us to see here in the end is this when our words and worries and woes fall tragically short, jesus' words work wonders. When our words and worries and woes fall tragically short, jesus' words work wonders.

Speaker 1: 41:17

Jesus has been saying all along, as we studied the book of John, that his words give eternal life. In John 5, it says truly, truly, I say unto you whoever hears my word and believes in him, who sent me, has eternal life. In John 8, 51, he says truly, truly, I say unto you if you keep my word, you will never see death. Jesus has been saying all along that his words are there to offer eternal life, and even in the prologue, in the very beginning, in the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God. The same as in the beginning, with God. Jesus is the word and he is sent from God to us so that we may have life. So, as we near the end of this story, I want us to listen and look at the words that Jesus gives here and that he shares with them and as they experience the power of this resurrection. The first thing is that what does Jesus want them to see? They come there and he says to them remove the stone from the front of the cave. And Martha is just like okay, practical common sense here. He's been there for four days. He's going to stink really, really bad. I love the King James. Behold, he stinketh. It's going to smell, smell, really bad.

Speaker 1: 42:53

The great theologian Miracle Max talks about a situation like this. He talks about somebody who's mostly dead and all dead. He says when someone is all dead, all you can do is go through their clothes and look for loose change. If you don't know, this is from Princess Bride, the movie. He's not a theologian, but the reality is is that Lazarus is all dead, he's not just partly alive, and there's a special concoction that Jesus has in his hip pocket that he can give to him and slip to him and he eventually will come alive again. Lazarus is all dead, he's done, he's gone. They probably already gone through his clothes to look for the loose change.

Speaker 1: 43:37

He's down and out, but he wants them to see that when hope seems lost, and that there is nothing more glorious in that moment than to display the glory of God in Jesus Christ. Here are the things that Jesus wants us. He wants them to see and he wants us to see. Look at verse 40. Jesus said to her did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God? Jesus is now telling us, giving us insight as to what he has been doing all along. Why did he wait? What is his plan? Well, here's the first part of my plan for you to see the glory of God, and I want you to understand that. The glory of God to you. That might sound, that's great. We sing about that. We sing about the glory of God and it's so beautiful and I'm sure it's a great thought.

Speaker 1: 44:36

But what Jesus, I believe, is wanting them to realize is that everything that this world offers to prevent death from taking place it's just child's play, because one who has come from outside of this world, one who has come from eternity past, one who comes from the Father, has the power over life and death. He has the power to step into our world where death has ravaged us from the fall, and he has the ability to, just by his words, turn it around and change it. Jesus is going to prove that he is in fact the resurrection and the life and he wants them to experience this. He wants them to experience it as the glory of God, and I want you to understand this. Whatever sin and death has done to taunt you, to defeat you, to get you down, I want you to hear Jesus say that there is something far more glorious, there's something far more wonderful outside of this reality that you can believe in and you can find hope in. I want you to believe in that. So Jesus wants you to understand that Jesus is the Son of God, sent from glory to give us a glimpse of glory. And then, what else does Jesus want them to hear? That's what he wants them to see. He wants them to see the glory of God.

Speaker 1: 46:20

Now, what does he want them to hear? Verse 41, verse 42. So they took away the stone and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me. Thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on the account of the people standing around that they may believe that you sent me. He wanted them to overhear his conversation with God, the Father. He wanted them to overhear that what he was there to do was something coming from a dimension outside of their own. He wanted them to hear the connection and the closeness and the relationship that he has with the Father. He wanted them to hear that so that they would know that Jesus is in fact the Christ, the one who was sent from God.

Speaker 1: 47:11

And lastly, what does he want them to experience. He wants them to experience that even a dead man, who is all dead, can be aroused back to life at just the words of Christ. A simple word. The words of Christ, a simple word. He is speaking to us and he is calling to us with those same words, that he wants us to hear him and be raised to life. I love the fact that Jesus didn't say to him Father, raise him up. I love the fact that he didn't just say death be done or gone.

Speaker 1: 48:10

He actually speaks to a dead man and the dead man hears him and obeys. And the dead man hears him and obeys he speaks to. He must have seemed so foolish to speak to this corpse. And yet this dead man that stunk rises and walks out and is wrapped in these cloths that are binding him. And Jesus has to tell them to unbind him.

Speaker 1: 48:36

You know, we were dead in our trespasses and sins. We were dead and there was nothing in this world that could offer us hope. All of us, when we were born, were born into the condition of sin and we were destined to die. From dust you are and from dust you will return. And yet Jesus enters into your life and he calls to you. He says I am the resurrection and the life. He says to you rise up, come out. So, whether you yourself fear your own death, or whether you are struggling with the reality of the death of another, I want you to know that Jesus is the answer and we must believe in him.

Speaker 1: 49:38

You know, I remember reading this passage in the day. This is from Hebrews 5. In the days of his flesh, jesus offered up prayers and supplications with loud cries and tears to him, who was able to save him from death, and he was heard because of his reverence. Although he was a son, he learned obedience to what he suffered and, being made perfect, he became the source of eternal salvation to all that obey him. Jesus, when he was face to face at the garden with death, he prayed to the one who could save him from death. And what we do? We have a tendency, like Mary, like Martha, like those other people that are there. We have a tendency, like Mary, like Martha, like those other people that are there, we have a tendency to say stop him from going to the cross, save him from the cross, save him from the death that he's going to suffer at the cross. And yet we hear that after we realize that Jesus died on the cross, he was all dead too, but the answer of that prayer did not come at the cross. The answer to that prayer came at the tomb. And because it came at the tomb and God did not let death hold him, god did not let death get the last word. He raised him up, and this passage tells us and, being made perfect, he became a source of eternal salvation To all who obey him. If we trust him, if we obey him, because Jesus himself was raised, not prevented from going to the cross, but was raised to life at the tomb, we too can have eternal life through Jesus.

Speaker 1: 51:25

I'm gonna close with this poem. It is not death to die to leave this weary road and, mid the brotherhood on high, be at home with God. It is not death to close the eye long dimmed by tears and wake in glorious repose to spend eternal years. It is not death to bear the wrench that sets us free from dungeon chain, to breathe the air of boundless liberty. It is not death to fling aside the sinful dust and rise on strong, exalting wing to live among the just.

Speaker 1: 52:16

Jesus, thou Prince of life, thy chosen cannot die Like thee. They conquer in the strife to reign with thee on high. Let's pray God. We praise you that you are the resurrection and the life. We praise you that you give us hope and we praise you that, through your power, that through your resurrection, we have hope and life with you. And so, god, cause our hearts and our faith to be bolstered and stirred so that we might be able to say with Mary Lord, I believe and help us to walk with hope and faith and confidence that you give us life. We pray these things in your precious son's name, amen.