ULTIMATE HEALING (JOHN 11:25-44)

SERIES: ONE SOLITARY LIFE, PART 82

GCEFC: FEBRUARY 22, 2009

INTRODUCTION

1. Hopefully you were here on the last Sunday of January when we looked at the first part of this extraordinary chapter in the Word of God.

2. Let me review the high points before we delve into today’s section.

a. Jesus and his disciples were ministering on the east side of the Jordan River when they got word that a man named Lazarus, a dear friend of Jesus, was very sick.

b. Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha lived in the town of Bethany. The town was about a 2 day journey from where Jesus was.

c. When Jesus heard word that Lazarus was sick, he decided to stay on where he was for two more days, which struck the disciples as strange. After all, if his friend was sick, would he not want to leave right away so he could go and heal him?

d. Of course, Jesus didn’t need to be physically present with Lazarus to heal him from whatever illness he had. He only had to speak the word and it would have been so.

e. But Jesus said in V4: This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.

f. So Jesus and his disciples stay 2 more days, then take 2 days to reach Bethany. When they arrive, they learn that Lazarus has died.

g. It’s likely that Lazarus died before word even reached Jesus. He probably died after the messenger left Bethany and before he reached the place where Jesus was.

h. Jesus is met by Martha, one of the sisters of Lazarus. She’s very sad that Jesus didn’t arrive earlier, convinced that if he HAD—her brother would have lived.

i. Jesus tells Martha in V23 that her brother will rise again. Martha says essentially: I know—I know he’ll be raised in that great resurrection at the last day.

j. Jesus tells Martha HE IS THE RESURRECTION. That whoever believes in him will live even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in him will never die.

A. MARY JOINS JESUS AND MARTHA

1. In V28 we see Martha return home and tell her sister, Mary, that Jesus wants to see her.

2. It was customary for a family to hire professional mourners when a family member died. Such professional mourners were at Mary’s home, trying to professionally console her.

3. Because Mary got up quickly and headed out, the entourage of mourners assumed she was going to the tomb to mourn there—so they follow her.

4. Mary then reaches the tomb of Lazarus and meets Jesus there. V32: When Mary reached the place where Jesus was, she fell at his feet and said, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ Sounds familiar.

5. Then in V33 we read some interesting words: When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ‘Where have they laid him?’ he asked. ‘Come and see, Lord,’ they replied. Jesus wept.

6. And for all of you that have trouble memorizing Bible verses, here’s one for you—the shortest verse in the entire Bible—Jesus wept: John 11:35. Hey—it’s a start.

7. The term translated deeply moved can also be translated: agitated, or indignant, or angry. But what could it mean?

a. It may mean Jesus was angry with these professional mourners. People who didn’t really feel any grief but were pretending that they did. He saw it as hypocrisy.

b. Or, in the face of Martha’s lack of faith and now Mary’s lack of faith, he may have been angered by their disbelief. He said he was the resurrection and the life, but they seem to be doubting his claim.

c. Or, seeing Mary weeping and those around him weeping, he may simply be angry at what death does to people. Angry at the destruction and pain and heartache and disappointment that death leaves behind.

8. Then we’re told that Jesus himself began to weep. Why would the one who has power of life over death and who is about to raise a man back to life be weeping?

a. Actually, he may have been weeping for any or all of the reasons he was indignant.

b. Weeping over the hypocrisy. Over the lack of faith. Over the cruel enemy that death is to the human race.

c. But how did the crowd assess Jesus’ tears? They thought they simply revealed how much he loved his friend Lazarus. The loss of his friend just caught up with him at that moment, and he lost his composure.

d. Others figured it was because he was so disappointed in himself for not being there when Lazarus needed him—maybe a kind of catharsis of repressed emotions. V37: Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?

e. They figure he’s just so overcome with grief for not being there to save Lazarus—that it all comes out in a flood of emotions.

9. So why WAS Jesus weeping? I don’t know, it doesn’t say. So we can only guess why.

B. LAZARUS, COME OUT

1. At this point, Jesus says something that shocked everyone present—Mary and Martha, family members, professional mourners, and onlookers. He said: Take away the stone.

2. Do what? Martha explains that Lazarus has been in the tomb 4 days. No embalming in a warm climate for 4 days would not render Lazarus very presentable to the public.

3. But Jesus says: Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?

4. Well, Martha, do you believe or not? If you do, you will have them take away the stone. V41: So they took away the stone. Martha may not have understood, but she believed that doing what Jesus said was a better option than not doing it.

5. After the stone is removed, Jesus looks up and says: Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.

6. Remember what Jesus said when he first heard Lazarus was sick? This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.

7. Well, that’s exactly what is taking place at this very moment. Jesus isn’t praying that the Father will raise Lazarus. He’s publicly acknowledging that it’s the Father’s will that the Son will be glorified and that people will believe that he’s who he says he is.

8. The purpose of Jesus’ miracle is so people will believe that God sent him. When Lazarus comes out of the tomb, there will be little room for doubt.

9. V43: When he had said this, Jesus called out in a loud voice, LAZARUS, COME OUT! Back in JN 5, Jesus said: I tell you the truth, a time is coming and has now come when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.

10. What Jesus said is not only fulfilled in Bethany with the raising of Lazarus, it’s a picture of what will happen when ALL WHO HEAR the voice of the Son of God WILL LIVE.

11. V44: The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. That’s the way he was entombed, and that’s the way he came out.

12. In V25 Jesus said: Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. He literally said: Whoever lives and believes in me will not die into the age.

13. He’s saying that those who trust in him will not experience death that lasts into eternity. Their death will only be temporary.

14. There are two very important things we should understand from this.

a. First, he means that whoever knows Jesus personally will not experience a physical death that will last forever. He proves this by raising Lazarus from the dead.

b. Lazarus was physically dead. His body had started to decay. But Jesus brought him back to life. He wants every believer to know he has the power to do this.

c. Whether a person has been dead 4 days or 4 thousand years, it requires miraculous power to bring him back to life.

d. So whether a believer has been in the grave for a day or for a millennium, it makes no difference. Jesus will call your name and you’ll come forth—as surely as Lazarus did.

e. But Jesus said in V25: He who believes in me will live, even though he dies. From this we understand eternal life is not an event in the future—it’s an immediate possession.

f. Jesus says in JN 5: Whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me HAS ETERNAL LIFE. Not something we get some day. Not an event for which we wait.

g. True believers have eternal life NOW. That’s why Jesus says that whoever lives and believes in him WILL LIVE EVEN THOUGH HE DIES.

h. He will live spiritually forever, starting at the moment of belief. He will some day die physically, but that won’t be permanent. As Lazarus demonstrates.

15. As you come to the communion table this morning, take a moment to thank God not only for what he can do, but for what he already has done, through our faith in Christ Jesus.