The Resurrection and
the Life
Book of John Chapter
11
We all need some
place to unwind and it is very possible that Jesus used the home of
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus to do this. Remember the flesh side of
Christ felt everything that we feel.
In our lesson today
we will see Jesus express love for His friends. It is in this chapter
where we find the shortest verse in all the Bible.
John 11:35 says
Jesus wept.
Jesus did not cry
out in excessive grief. This crying was not a sign of human weakness.
It was Jesus sharing in the grief of this family He loved.
They were dear
friends He had met and enjoyed their company.
The New Testament
records three times that Jesus wept.
1) In this passage
we are studying today.
2) Jesus wept as He
entered Jerusalem for the last time.
Luk 19:41 And when
he was come near, he beheld the city, and wept over it,
3) Not many talk
about it, but Jesus wept just before the cross.
Heb 5:7 Who in the
days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications
with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from
death, and was heard in that he feared;
Heb 5:8 Though he
were a Son, yet learned he obedience by the things which he suffered;
Heb 5:9 And being
made perfect, he became the author of eternal salvation unto all them
that obey him;
The most important
thing we can learn from this lesson is that Jesus revealed Himself as
"The Resurrection and Life".
It is easy for us
all to see that Jesus had compassion. Another word for compassion is
pity.
The Lord expects
each and every one of us to show compassion and have pity on all our
brothers and sisters.
Mat_18:33 Shouldest
not thou also have had compassion on thy fellowservant, even as I had
pity on thee?
Bethany is about 2
miles from Jerusalem and by the time Jesus had walked to Bethany,
Lazarus had been dead four days.
Jesus did not go
directly to the home of Lazarus but stayed just outside the little
city and sent word that He was there.
Let's begin our
lesson at verse 18:
*****Joh 11:18 Now
Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off:
Joh 11:19 And many
of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their
brother.
Joh 11:20 Then
Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him:
but Mary sat still in the house.
What we must
understand is, that when we believe that have reached the point of
endless sorrow, this is when the Lord can do His greatest work.
Isa 33:10 Now will
I rise, saith the LORD; now will I be exalted; now will I lift up
myself.
We should understand
that the Jews had a wrong belief that it was possible for someone to
be raised from the dead if they had been no more than 3 days dead,
but no one could be raised from the dead after 4 days or more because
their body had begun to deteriorate.
Even today there are
many who say this story is just a parable or some story and it never
happened, but it did.
Jesus did many
things that only God can do!
We should also
understand that this family was ranked high in Jewish society because
many of the Jewish hardliners had come to comfort this family, but
they were the enemies of Jesus.
This did not stop
Jesus from raising Lazarus from the dead and Jesus did not do this
thing to impress these men.
We should also know
Jesus did not raise Lazarus from the dead to make some big public
statement.
This was another
lesson for the 12 disciples and a lesson of faith for Mary and
Martha.
There are many who
believe in some sort of resurrection but if we do not put our faith
in the only One, Jesus Christ, who is the "Resurrection and the
Life" then we will only see a resurrection of the dead.
The key to eternal
life is only in the Lord Jesus Christ!
We can believe that
Jesus was unwilling to mingle in that crowd of mourners, many of
which were paid to act like mourners which was the custom.
If you going to be
around Jesus, then you better be real, Jesus did not like hypocrites
nor did He like people who were paid to seem like your friend!
Martha went to meet
Jesus while Mary stayed at the house.
*****Joh 11:21 Then
said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had
not died.
Joh 11:22 But I
know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give
it thee.
Martha had enough
faith to believe that had Jesus been in Bethany when Lazarus was sick
that He would have healed him.
Martha gave no
thought to Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.
Martha had enough
faith to know Jesus was her Savior but just like many today she
questioned why Lazarus had died.
It should be obvious
that we do not completely understand the plan of God, but we must
realize that the Lord never does bad things.
This is another
place where God placed a certain person into the path of Jesus.
With Lazarus, Jesus
would raise him from the dead but in doing so Lazarus would have to
leave paradise or Abraham's bosom.
Martha did not have
the "faith" of Abraham:
Heb 11:17 By faith
Abraham, when he was tried, offered up Isaac: and he that had
received the promises offered up his only begotten son,
Heb 11:18 Of whom
it was said, That in Isaac shall thy seed be called:
Heb 11:19
Accounting that God was able to raise him up, even from the dead;
from whence also he received him in a figure.
Abraham knew that if
he had killed Isaac his covenant would be broken with God, but he was
certain that God would raise Isaac up from the dead to keep the
covenant God had made with Him!
Many will teach that
this is why Jesus wept and it could be true, but one thing is sure,
the Lord has compassion for all His children!
The thing we must
all do is, just place our lives in Jesus's hands and serve in the
complete will of the Lord!
Martha may have
spoken harshly to Jesus for a moment, but she was convicted by her
own words and said, "whatsoever thou will ask of God, God will
give thee" and we had better believe this is true because God
the Father told God the Son not to lose any of His children!
We also see with
this statement that she placed Jesus at a level below God the Father
and Jesus had already said many times that what the Father did then
He did the same, "for they are the same in every way".
We all have a
tendency to do this from time to time.
God the Father, God
the Son and God the Holy Ghost all share the same power, in fact the
same everything!
Not three persons
but One God in three persons!
We can also see that
just believing in what Jesus says, will cause our "faith"
to grow!
*****Joh 11:23
Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
Joh 11:24 Martha
saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection
at the last day.
We will not
understand why God does what He does until we get to Heaven and then
we will understand.
We must trust that
everything God does is the right thing to do, because the Lord does
not make mistakes!
We must also
understand that to a child at the death of their parents, some
resurrection in the far future is not much consolation.
Only the comfort of
the Holy Spirit and the love of other family members and friends can
help them.
At the loss of every
loved one we will experience a change in our life, but we must remain
close to the Lord to have peace.
Martha did not
really know Jesus as well as she thought, and we do the same thing.
We make the Lord to be small when the Lord is great in all power but
also in compassion.
Martha did not want
her home to change while she was still living but none of us are
guaranteed a tomorrow.
Every Father wants
to die before any of his children and it is the same for the mother
just as it is the same for every oldest son or daughter.
We just do not want
our family to ever leave us!
We must place our
lives in the hand of the Lord and know that He will do right!
Joh 5:39 Search the
scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are
they which testify of me.
Joh 5:40 And ye
will not come to me, that ye might have life.
We must know that
true life comes only by the Lord Jesus Christ.
*****Joh 11:25
Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that
believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
Joh 11:26 And
whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou
this?
What is the greatest
truth of the Christian? We live a life that has triumphed over death!
Joh_10:17 Therefore
doth my Father love me, because I lay down my life, that I might take
it again.
By the power of the
Godhead, Jesus did this very thing.
What we should
understand is that the atonement of Christ did not end with His
death.
The atonement of
Christ only came to a climax when He "resurrected" from
that death.
There was so much
power revealed to us at this moment of the Lords death and then His
resurrection that there was enough "Grace" to be sufficient
for the sins of this entire world, but it was effectual only for
those who believe.
We were saved by the
power of the Triune God and we are kept saved by the Triune God and
we must not make the power of God too weak to sustain our life
throughout eternity.
Rom 1:4 And
declared to be the Son of God with power, according to the spirit of
holiness, by the resurrection from the dead:
Almost every one of
us make our God to be weak when we cannot know the strength of His
power other than observing all His creation.
Rom_1:20 For the
invisible things of him from the creation of the world are clearly
seen, being understood by the things that are made, even his eternal
power and Godhead; so that they are without excuse:
It is by God's own
power that we can be at peace with Him.
Reconciliation truly
means that God by His power, not ours, has removed that barrier of
sin that has been against us, since the time of Adam.
The reconciliation
becomes effective once we believe.
2Co 5:18 And all
things are of God, who hath reconciled us to himself by Jesus Christ,
and hath given to us the ministry of reconciliation;
2Co 5:19 To wit,
that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself, not
imputing their trespasses unto them; and hath committed unto us the
word of reconciliation.
Jesus made all this
much simpler when He said He was the "resurrection" and He
is "life".
Martha said she
understood but in reality, she lacked faith, but in many ways, she
puts us to shame.
After this Martha
went to tell Mary that the Lord had arrived.
One of best examples
of the compassion the Lord shows to us all is the fact the He will
weep with us in the time of our trials and tribulations.
We have a loving,
caring, compassionate God!
*****Joh 11:34 And
said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
Joh 11:35 Jesus
wept.
We must remember,
God was still God, but He was also human, and the human side showed
the compassion that God had for this family.
Joh 1:1 In the
beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was
God.
Joh 1:2 The same
was in the beginning with God.
Joh 1:3 All things
were made by him; and without him was not any thing made that was
made.
Joh 1:4 In him was
life; and the life was the light of men.
Joh 1:5 And the
light shineth in darkness; and the darkness comprehended it not.
Joh 1:14 And the
Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory,
the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and
truth.
It is a fact that
there can be tears of joy but in our life, we shed more tears because
of sin but the tears of Jesus were out of sympathy for those around
Him but also from a deep sense of misery sin had brought upon our
nature.
Heb_4:15 For we
have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of
our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet
without sin.
It would have been
easy for the Holy Spirit to have left this passage out, but He wanted
us all to know the love of God for each of us!
*****Joh 11:37 And
some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the
blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?
Joh 11:38 Jesus
therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a
cave, and a stone lay upon it.
Joh 11:39 Jesus
said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was
dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath
been dead four days.
We must understand
that God gets no pleasure at all in the death of anyone!
Eze 18:32 For I
have no pleasure in the death of him that dieth, saith the Lord GOD:
wherefore turn yourselves, and live ye.
At the same time it
is a precious sight for God to witness the death of any of His
saints.
Psa_116:15 Precious
in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
Jesus was groaning
"in" His Spirit as He approached the grave of Lazarus.
It always comes up
that if Jesus has this much love for us, then why did He allow this
to happen?
We must understand
that the nature of this world is corruption which we see every day,
but also trials and tribulation, suffering and pain, death and hell.
Many times it is
these things that allows an opportunity for God to do a great work.
God did not cause
the death of Lazarus, and I'm sure that Lazarus did not want to be
brought back to life, but because so many would witness this great
miracle it was a great opportunity for the Lord.
Many believed but
many fled to tell the High Priests and the Lord knew who these were.
Mat 5:43 Ye have
heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate
thine enemy.
Mat 5:44 But I say
unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to
them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and
persecute you;
Mat 5:45 That ye
may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh
his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the
just and on the unjust.
It is easy to see
that Jesus lived the way He preached!
We must believe that
God never does unnecessary things!
We must also believe
that God never speaks unnecessary words.
When Jesus was upon
this earth Jesus never did an unnecessary deed or miracle open to the
eyes of those around Him.
God will never show
us another sign that He is real until just before He returns other
than what we see every day!
Once we are saved,
God gives a place to reach out to others and He allows us the time to
do as He says, but we must do the rest!
We should be very
clear, God will never do something that we could have done ourselves!
We must never be a
stumble stone, but we should remove the stumble stones in the path of
others whenever we are able!
*****Joh 11:40
Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest
believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
Joh 11:41 Then they
took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus
lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast
heard me.
Our "faith"
has not grown until we know, that we know, that we know, we are
saved.
We must never doubt
our salvation!
We must also know
that we are to be busy about the work of the Lord.
Our Hope must be
built upon the promises of God knowing that He has never broken a
promise that He has made.
We must not grow
weary in well doing nor complain about the things God has given us to
do.
Mary and Martha were
still growing in their faith and we need to be growing in our faith
every day.
We must be at rest
and at peace with the Lord and "faith" that what we lack
God will provide.
The Lord Jesus did
everything His Father ask Him to do and we need to do everything
Jesus ask of us knowing that His words are the words of His Father!
The Father has
always listened to us just as He listened to the prayers of His Son.
We are to approach
God as a child calling upon his father.
Jesus said, "I
thank thee that thou have heard me" and we should have this same
confidence when we pray in fact it does not hurt to thank God ahead
of time before we receive what we are asking for.
Rom 8:15 For ye
have not received the spirit of bondage again to fear; but ye have
received the Spirit of adoption, whereby we cry, Abba, Father.
Rom 8:16 The Spirit
itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of
God
Jesus spoke these
things out loud, so these people would know more how to to pray and
to show those Jews who were among this group that He still claimed to
be the Son of God.
What was His proof?
*****Joh 11:42 And
I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which
stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
Joh 11:43 And when
he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
This thought from
someone else reminds me of the truth.
By speaking loudly
to His Father, Jesus put God in the position of answering His request
or denying it.
If Lazarus remained
in that tomb, then Jesus would be an impostor.
We should also
understand that all the prayers of Jesus were heard by the Father and
it is the same for all those who believe upon the Lord Jesus Christ.
Many of the lost
believe their prayers are heard and maybe God hears them, but He will
not respond to the prayers of this person.
Psa 66:18 If I
regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me:
Jesus cried with a
loud voice because He wanted everyone there at that time to hear Him.
The truth is if Jesus had not called Lazarus by name then all the
dead that died having the faith of Abraham would have come forth and
that would have been the rapture.
Jesus called him out
of the tomb as easily as if he had been not only alive, but also
awake.
This is what we call
sleeping in Jesus!
Death had to give up
to the commands of the Lord.
1Co 15:54 So when
this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal
shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the
saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
1Co 15:55 O death,
where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?
1Co 15:56 The sting
of death is sin; and the strength of sin is the law.
1Co 15:57 But
thanks be to God, which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus
Christ.
But the rapture is
for the Church only!
The Church would not
begin its, life until after the ascension of the Lord back to Heaven.
So what happened?
*****Joh 11:44 And
he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes:
and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them,
Loose him, and let him go.
Notice Lazarus came
forth still in his grave clothes and they had to be removed and I
imagine someone had to loan him a cloak.
Lazarus remained
alive to again suffer a natural death.
It will not be like
that for the saint of God when God calls His church out to go home.
1Th 4:13 But I
would not have you to be ignorant, brethren, concerning them which
are asleep, that ye sorrow not, even as others which have no hope.
1Th 4:14 For if we
believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep
in Jesus will God bring with him.
1Th 4:15 For this
we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive and
remain unto the coming of the Lord shall not prevent them which are
asleep.
1Th 4:16 For the
Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice
of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ
shall rise first:
1Th 4:17 Then we
which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in
the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with
the Lord.
1Th 4:18 Wherefore
comfort one another with these words.
This is the promise
we have from the Lord Jesus Christ!
We should remember
what Jesus has already said:
Joh 11:25 Jesus
said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth
in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
Joh 11:26 And
whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou
this?
You see, this is the
truth of the Word of God!
Amen,
Let's pray!
