A Grieving Family

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.

So the sister sent word to Jesus, Lord, the one you love is sick.

When he heard this, Jesus said, this sickness will not end in death.

No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.

And then he said to his disciples, let us go back to Judea.

But Rabbi, they said, a short while ago, the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you're going back?

Jesus answered, are there not twelve hours of daylight?

Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world's light.

It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.

After he had said this, he went on to tell them, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up.

His disciples replied, Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.

Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

So then he told them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.

But let us go to him.

Then Thomas, also known as Didymus, said to the rest of the disciples, let us also go, that we may die with him.

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.

Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

Lord, Martha said to Jesus, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.

Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again.

Martha answered, I know he will rise again in the resurrection of the last day.

Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.

The one who believes in me will live, even though they died.

And whoever lives by believing in me will never die.

Do you believe this?

Yes, Lord, she replied.

I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.

After she had said that, she went back and called her sister Mary aside.

The teacher is here, she said, and he is asking for you.

When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.

Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.

When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out,

they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said,

Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

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 you laid him? he asked.

Come and see, Lord, they replied.

Jesus wept.

Then the Jews said,

See how he loved him.

But some of them said,

Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb.

It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.

Take away the stone, he said.

But Lord, said Martha, the sister of the dead man, but at this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.

Then Jesus said,

Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?

So they took away the stone.

Then Jesus looked up and said,

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 peoples.

I am standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice,

Lazarus, come out.

The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen and a cloth round his face.

Jesus said to them,

Take off the gray clothes and let them go.

Let's pray together.

Father, we thank you for the Bible,

and because from this passage we can so clearly see that you are a God who cares and listens.

We thank you for you and for all the work he has put in the preparation for this message this morning.

We ask that you will use the things he will say for your glory

and that more people will see and believe in your son Jesus

and we'll declare that he is indeed the resurrection and the life.

Well, friends, good morning and let me invite you to keep your Bibles open to the Gospel of John and chapter 11.

Before we begin our study this morning, let me just bring a personal greeting to you all.

You may have heard, but Helen and myself and the children are moving up to the Highlands

and we leave in July.

So this is really the last opportunity I have to bring that greeting before we move.

But on behalf of our family and the Holyrood Evangelical Church family,

I just wanted to thank you for your partnership in the Gospel during recent years.

We have benefited enormously from being part of the East of Scotland Gospel Partnership

in which Graham and before him John have shown tremendous leadership.

We as a church are very conscious of your prayerful support

and we are grateful that you enabled us to use this building, this wonderful property,

to hold our prayer meetings during those years when we were looking for a property of our own.

And we thank you that in recent months you have shared with us your preachers

and you have sent both Graham and Alistair to preach to us.

And so we rejoice in our partnership

and I pray that partnership between these two church families will continue

in the months and the years ahead.

Let's now look together at John chapter 11 and the raising of Lazarus.

John 11 · chapter mention

This is a very well-known account in the Gospel.

It's a text that is known even to the wider culture and the world outside of the church.

David Bowie, the musician, wrote a musical called Lazarus.

And you would expect people to understand what he meant by that

because the story of Lazarus is widely known outside of the church.

So it's a very well-known account and it's a very important event in John's Gospel.

It is the last of Jesus' miraculous signs before his crucifixion

and the one in which he demonstrates his authority over the last enemy, death itself.

And ironically, it is the resurrection of Lazarus that persuades Jesus' opponents

that he must be put to death.

11 verse 53.

So from that day on they plotted to take his life.

Jesus' life was already in danger at the beginning of the chapter

but by the end it's the final straw and there is a price on his head, so to speak.

So death casts its long shadow over the pages before us, over this entire chapter.

At the beginning, at chapter 11 verse 1, we learn of this man Lazarus.

He's sick and it looks likely he's going to die of natural causes.

And at the end of this section, chapter 12 verse 10,

we find that there is a plot to put Lazarus himself to death.

The chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well.

So at the beginning he's facing a natural death, at the end he's facing a violent death.

Death casting its long shadow over the events of this chapter.

But in the middle of this account, we have the wonderful light of the gospel breaking in

and these glorious words in verse 25,

I am the resurrection and the life.

Lazarus is delivered from the grave

and the Lord reminds us that the last enemy will not have the last word on the last day.

So we want to look at this passage together under three headings.

Firstly, verses 1 to 16, the sister's request.

Secondly, verses 17 to 37, the Lord's sympathetic response.

And thirdly and finally, verse 38 to 45, the supernatural resurrection.

Firstly then, the sister's request.

Chapter 11 verse 1 to 16.

You may have heard the name of Nabel Qureshi,

who was a convert from Islam

and he became a passionate Christian believer, a passionate evangelist.

He spoke at university campuses all over the world.

He wrote a best-selling book, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus.

He was a talented writer and speaker, a father and a husband.

And in his early 30s, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer

and people followed his illness with prayerful interest.

And during a very serious episode in his illness,

he recorded a video message from his hospital bed

asking that people might pray for a miracle

and that he might be healed.

He recognised the urgency of the situation.

He said it needs to happen in the next few days.

And no doubt people all over the world were praying in their thousands.

But only a few days later, Nabel died,

leaving his wife a widow and his toddler daughter fatherless.

What are we to think when the Lord does not do the miracle

we ask for and long for?

And that is the situation here with Lazarus.

Jesus was friends with Mary and Martha,

who we meet elsewhere in the Gospels.

And they have a brother who is also a friend of the Lord.

In verse 5, we're told Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

But Lazarus is taken unwell and word reaches the Lord

that he's perhaps about to die.

And what happens next?

Does the Lord drop everything

and travel through the night to reach him?

Well, we're told in verse 6,

when they heard that Lazarus was sick,

he stayed there two more days.

By the time he arrives in Bethany,

where Lazarus is, verse 17,

we're told that he had been dead for four days.

So the Lord knew his friend was sick.

And yet he did not rush to his bedside.

It took him at least six days to travel to his home.

And the situation is more complicated than that.

If we think back to John's Gospel, chapter 4,

you recall the miracle of the official who had a son

who was at the point of death.

And this official pleaded with the Lord, saying,

Sarah, come down before my child dies.

And the Lord replied, your son will live.

And when the official returned home,

he discovered that his son was alive and had recovered.

So the Lord could heal at a distance,

and yet he chose not to.

The Lord could have travelled quickly to Lazarus' side,

and yet he chose not to.

And it took him six days at least to arrive in Bethany.

Why did he not do the miracle everybody longed for,

and the sisters were hoping for?

Well, we're going to think about that in our third point.

But just notice a few clues were given.

Verse 4, when Jesus heard this, he said,

Verse 11, these enigmatic words,

Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep.

And verse 14, the Lord says to his disciples,

Let's hold these thoughts in our mind,

but let's notice that Lazarus died before the coming of the Lord.

And that is the experience of many Christians.

In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul writes that wonderful chapter about the coming of the Lord.

And he says this,

Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death,

so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind who have no hope.

What Paul recognised, what the early church experienced,

was that many Christians did die before the coming of the Lord.

Many Christians do fall asleep,

despite the earnest pleas and prayers of their loved ones,

before the Lord comes for them.

There are, of course, sometimes remarkable deliverances from death.

In January, I spoke to a colleague in ministry

who was taking part in a race

and suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed.

And one of the other people in the competition was a doctor

who immediately began to resuscitate him.

And his life was saved.

But very often our experience might seem

more like that of Martha and Mary.

The Lord not doing the miracle

perhaps we pray for and long for.

So that was the sisters' request.

And secondly, we see the Lord's sympathetic response,

verses 17 to 37.

He interacts with the two sisters.

And we notice that they both make the same remark to him.

Martha says,

Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

And Mary later says the same.

And yet the Lord responds in two quite different ways.

To Martha, he gives a theological answer.

Verse 23,

Your brother will rise again.

And Martha acknowledges this.

She says,

I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

Martha knew her Old Testament.

She knew the glimpses of hope of the life to come

which she read there.

The faith of the psalmist that God would take him into glory

and that he would dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

Or the promise given to Daniel

that those sleeping in the dust of the earth would awake.

A couple of weeks ago I was reading Isaiah

in my quiet time

and I encountered chapter 26, verse 19.

A verse I don't recall reading before

or certainly not with

the impression it made upon me that day.

And this verse says,

But your dead will live,

Lord.

Their bodies will rise.

Let those who dwell in the dust

wake up and shout for joy.

Your dew is like the dew of the morning.

The earth will give birth to her dead.

And all through the Old Testament

these hints and foreshadowings

of the resurrection.

And Jesus says that he is the resurrection.

Verse 25,

I am the resurrection and the life.

Whoever believes in me,

though he die,

yet shall he live.

So he gives to Martha

a theological answer

reminding her

of the promised resurrection,

pointing her to himself

as the one

who is the resurrection

and the life.

And Paul says the same

in 1 Thessalonians 4.

For the words we read,

not wanting to be uninformed

about those who sleep in death,

that we might not grieve

like the rest of mankind

who have no hope.

For we believe that Jesus died

and rose again

and so we believe that God

will bring with Jesus

those who have fallen asleep in him.

The last enemy

will not have the last word

on the last day.

And that changes

our understanding

of an experience

of death.

Charles Spurgeon,

the 19th century preacher,

wrote these words,

I will not fear you, death.

Why should I?

You look like a dragon,

but your sting is gone.

Your teeth are broken.

Oh, old lion,

why should I fear you?

I know you are no more

able to destroy me,

but you are sent

as a messenger

to conduct me

to the golden gate

wherein I shall enter

and see my saviour's

unveiled face forever.

The Lord gives to Martha

a theological answer.

But his response

to Mary is different

and she makes

the same remark.

Lord, if you'd been here,

my brother would not have died.

But to her,

he gives no theological answer,

but instead demonstrates

a moving pastoral response.

And we have in that response

the shortest sentence

in the Bible,

1135,

Jesus wept.

Jesus wept at the death

of a friend he loved.

He wept that death

should ever have invaded

and polluted the world he made.

And the Lord grieved.

Our majesty,

the queen,

in a televised address,

once said that grief

is the price we pay

for love.

And the Lord

loved Lazarus

and his sisters

and so he grieved

to hear

of his loss.

And as Christians,

we will grieve.

Paul has just said

the same

in 1 Thessalonians 4.

He wants us

not to not grieve,

but not to grieve

like the rest of mankind

who have no hope.

As Christians,

we will weep

when we lose

those we love.

We will weep

with those who weep

as we are commanded to.

And we will weep

as Jesus wept

at the loss

of friends

and of family.

The Lord manifested

a sympathetic pastoral response.

A very good friend of mine

last year

lost his sister

in adulthood

and he wrote

and spoke

about his experience

of this.

And one comment

which kept

coming back

to him

was the importance

of empathy.

And what made the difference

during those difficult months

was people

who were just willing

to be with him

and his family

and to sit with them

and to listen with them.

empathy

shown

to those

bereaved.

And that's what the Lord

does here

as he weeps

with those

who weep.

So the Lord

gives to Martha

a theological answer.

He demonstrates

to Mary

a very sensitive

pastoral response.

And may we

as Christian people

as we minister

to one another

seek to strike

that same balance.

The Lord's

sympathetic

response.

Thirdly,

verses 38

to 45

the supernatural

resurrection

of Lazarus.

And the story

is told

so powerfully

from verse 38.

Jesus,

deeply moved,

comes to the tomb

and commands

the stone

to be rolled away.

Martha

objects.

There is a bad

odour.

He's been there

four days.

But then Jesus

says,

did I not tell you

if you believed

you would see

the glory of God?

And so they

take away the stone

and he prays

to God

his Father.

And in verse 42

he says,

I said this

for the benefit

of the people

standing here

that they may

believe that

you sent me.

And after that

he cries out

to Lazarus

in a loud voice,

Lazarus,

come out!

And the dead man

comes out,

his hands and feet

wrapped with strips

of linen

and a cloth

around his face.

And the Lord

commands the grave

clothes

to be taken

from him

and for him

to be let go.

And it's just

a wonderful

reunion,

isn't it?

In recent weeks

we've seen

the restrictions

being eased

and people can now

begin to meet

their friends again.

Grandparents

can once more

hug their grandchildren.

children.

And haven't

these been

wonderful,

emotional,

joyful reunions

to hug those

perhaps you haven't

seen or touched

for three months?

How joyful

it must have been

for these sisters

to embrace

Lazarus

who they thought

they would never

see again.

The last enemy

is not the last word.

But why did it

have to happen

this way?

Well Jesus says

in order that

he might be

glorified,

that if you believed

you would see

the glory of God

in order that

others might put

their faith in him.

I say this

for the benefit

of the people

standing here

that they may

believe that

you sent me.

And that is

what happens

verse 45.

Many of the Jews

who'd come to visit

Mary and had seen

what Jesus did

put their faith

in him.

When they saw

the power of Jesus

at work

in Lazarus

in his death

and in his

resurrection to life

they believed

that Jesus

was the resurrection

and the life.

And isn't it often

the case

that when people

see the power

of Christ

during an illness

or a bereavement

that they themselves

come to put

their faith in him.

Nabi Al Qureshi

in that video

I mentioned

he asked for

prayer that he

might be healed

but he acknowledged

in that video

that God

was sovereign

and he said

whatever happens

I will love you

and trust you.

And that video

at the time

I viewed it

had been watched

almost one and a half

million times.

It was perhaps

not the answer

Nabi Al

himself would have

wanted

but one and a half

million people

have heard his

testimony

and seen

his faith

and seen

him committing

himself

to the will

of his

father in

heaven.

And it's often

the case

isn't it

that when people

see a Christian

suffering or

facing death

that they

themselves

come to Christ.

A famous

preacher in

Scotland was

moved by the

death of his

Christian brother

and that caused

him to reflect

upon his own

Christian faith.

death.

A friend

ministering in

East Asia

used to say

that people

would come to

funerals of

Christians in

that land

that continent

and say

oh I wish I

could die like

a Christian.

John Wesley

said of the

Methodists

our people

die well.

The Son of God

glorified

as Christians

face illness

and death

in faith.

Others

coming to

believe

when they

see the

power of

Christ at

work in

their lives.

But it's

also a picture

of what will

happen when

the Lord

comes again

when he

returns.

Paul speaks

about those

who sleep

in death

and he talks

of the

resurrection

that Jesus

died and

rose again

so we believe

that God

will bring

with Jesus

those who

have fallen

asleep in

him.

The Lord

will come

from heaven

with a loud

command,

the voice

of an

archangel,

the trumpet

call of

God and

the dead

in Christ

shall rise

first and

we will be

with the

Lord forever.

Lazarus

was woken

by the voice

of Christ

calling his

name.

Jairus'

daughter

in Mark's

gospel heard

the Lord

Jesus whispering

to her

Talitha

little girl

I say

to you

wake up

and one

day

those who

sleep

shall hear

the voice

of Christ.

John 5

25

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.

Some

commentators

have remarked

that's why

Jesus had to

specify

Lazarus

in verse

43.

For if he

simply said

come out

the entire

graveyard

would have

risen to

life.

That's what

will happen

one day

as the

Lord calls

out our

names

and restores

us to

life once

more.

And it's

only possible

through him.

You see

at the beginning

of the chapter

the Lord

Jesus risked

his life

to save

Lazarus

from death.

He knew

he was

in danger

and yet

he went

to his

friend.

But at

the end

of the

chapter

he speaks

to us

not of

Lazarus'

burial

but of

his own.

And in

verse 7

of chapter

12

Jesus speaks

about his

own burial

his own

death.

And this

time he's

not risking

his life

to save

a friend

from death

he's giving

his life

to save

his people

from

death.

John

Owen

the Puritan

theologian

spoke of

the death

of death

in the

death

of Christ

and that

is the

New Testament

witness.

Paul in

2nd

Timothy

Jesus Christ

has destroyed

death

and brought

life and

immortality

to light

through the

gospel.

The writer

to the

Hebrews

since the

children

have

flesh

and

blood

he

shared

in their

humanity

so that

by his

death

he might

break

the power

of him

who holds

the power

of death

that is

the devil

and free

those who

all their

lives were

held in

slavery by

their fear

of death

the death

of death

in the

death

of Christ

so the

Lord Jesus

has the

victory

life

conquering

death

and what a

wonderful

hope

that is

we live in

this unprecedented

time and

every day

we're told

of the

tens of

thousands

around the

world

getting sick

or dying

from the

coronavirus

we're given

detailed figures

of the

excess deaths

in our own

countries

never before

have we

been bombarded

so often

with reports

of death

statistics

each day

and what a

wonderful comfort

it is

to have the

words of Jesus

in verses

25 and

26

I am the

resurrection

and the

life

he who

believes in

me will

live even

though he

dies

so friends

we saw

the sisters

request

they prayed

that Lazarus

might live

and Lazarus

did live

though not

perhaps how

they might have

expected

yet it was

necessary for

this to happen

that the

Son of God

may be glorified

and that others

would come to

believe in him

and believe

that God

had sent him

sometimes the

Lord doesn't

answer our

prayers in the

way we expect

but like

Nabeel Qureshi

we are to

trust him

and love him

and trust him

for the future

the Lord

manifested a

sympathetic

response to

the bereaved

and as

Christians we

are to do

the same

we will grieve

but we do

not grieve

as those

who have

no hope

we must

remember the

theological

truths of

the resurrection

on the last

day but we

must show a

wholehearted

pastoral response

and to weep

with those

who weep

and we saw

finally the

supernatural

resurrection

the Lord's

power and

glory that

foretaste of

what he will

do for each

and everyone

who believes

in him

when he

calls our

names

and wakes

us from

our sleep

that we

might be

with him

forever

oh death

I know you

are no more

able to

destroy me

but you

are sent

as a

messenger

to conduct

me to

the golden

gate

wherein I

shall enter

and see

my saviour's

unfailed

face

forever

what a

comfort

that is

for us

but also

what a

challenge

and if

you have

been viewing

these

broadcasts

and we're

very glad

that you

have

but you

wouldn't

yet identify

yourself

as a

Christian

can I

direct your

attention to

verse 26

and the

words of

Jesus when

he says

do you

believe

this

and maybe

you've

tuned in

and you

enjoy the

music

the wonderful

music

and you

enjoy the

Bible

readings

and listening

to the

prayers

and today

the Lord

Jesus says

to you

do you

believe this

do you

believe that

he is

the resurrection

and the

life

do you

have hope

and security

in him

well friends

today might

be that day

when you

move from

darkness

to light

when you

cross over

from death

to life

and you

find in

Christ the

resurrection

and the

life

and find

in him

your hope

and security

in this

life

and in the

world to

come

well friends

thank you for

the invitation

may God bless

you and

may God

keep you

until we

meet again

Amen