I Am the Resurrection and the Life - Travis Kropf

Good morning, greetings to each one of you. In the name of Jesus,

If you'd turn in your bibles to John chapter eleven, I guess the

writings of John are getting well used. This morning message I have to share

I would entitle I am the Resurrection and the Life. This passage has stood

out to me different times, maybe especially in the last six months, and

probably more recently in the last month. Over the time that Amos Hall died,

I realized that some of these stories from the Bible can lose their human

us, their relevancy to our lives. Sometimes we kind of we read them

over off and they're in the King James English, and well, it's a

story that happened, and this is kind of how it happened, and we

can kind of tune out. These stories are relevant, they are real.

These stories can touch our lives, they can speak to our hearts. And

this morning, as we look at this chapter, I would like you to,

as much as you can, put yourself in the disciples place, put

yourself in Mary and Martha's place, think about it from their point of view.

How would have they felt? Think about it from the the information that

they had in their hand. They didn't have the New Testament. We live

in the New Testament era. We have the story of jesus resurrection. It

says the infallible proofs of that. We hear that story from little up.

We celebrated every Easter. We don't question it. Mary and Martha didn't have

that. The disciples had no concept of that. There was no precedent for

resurrection in their history. Yes, Jesus had raised a couple of people who

have the widow's son from nine of Jarus's daughter. Both of those cases were

right after their death. Probably someone with a very logical mind could have even

made the argument that maybe they weren't actually dead if they were inclined that way.

Now, it's one thing to cure someone who is sick. Someone's sick

and now they're well, But it's something else to give life when life is

gone. That's taking things to a whole different level. We have here in

chapter eleven of John Jesus on his way to the cross. You could kind

of say the countdown is on. He's he's getting close, and he knows

it, and Jesus knows that he's leaving his disciples. These twelve selfish in

many ways, spiritually blind, man to carry on the work that he has

begun, and he has They are the ones who are going to set up

His kingdom, his church here on earth. They're going to carry that forward.

And if there's one thing that those men must understand in order to move

ahead, they must understand the power that is available to them. And if

there's one thing that's essential, it's the resurrection power in their lives. That

they understand that there is a power here that can bring life where there is

death. That's the backdrop of this chapter. That's the that's what's behind this.

I don't pretend to know the mind of God, but as I look

at this chapter, I think that Jesus that this incident happened so that the

disciples had a precedent in their mind for jesus resurrection. I think of Jesus

as orchestrating these events in order that they can see that he has that power.

They have a picture in their mind of a man who was dead without

question, who is now walking around alive. As we go through this chapter,

I want to look at some of the other lessons. There's a number

of lessons I want to look at, and the culmination of that is the

resurrection power. But some of these are more practical things. As we think

of Jesus and his ministry and our lives here and how we should live.

Let's read most of this chapter three down verse forty five John chapter eleven.

Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town

of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary which which anointed the

Lord appointment and wiped his feet with her hair. Whose brother Lazarus was sick.

Therefore, his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold,

he whom thou lovest is sick. And when Jesus heard that, he said,

this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God,

that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha and

her sister and Lazarus. When he heard therefore that he was sick, he

abode two days still in the same place where he was. Then, after

that saith he to his disciples, let us go into Judea again, his

disciples saying to him Master, the Jews of late sought to stoney, and

goest thou thither Again, Jesus answered, are there not twelve hours in a

day. If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth, not because

he seeth the light of the world, the light of this world. But

if a man walk in night, he stumbleth because there is no light in

him. These things said he, and after that he saith unto them.

Our friend Lazarreth sleepest sleepeth. But I go that I may awake him out

of sleep, then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he

shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death, but they thought that

he had spoken of taking rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them,

plainly, Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I

was not there, to the intent that ye may believe. Nevertheless, let

us go unto him, then said Thomas, which is called Didimus, unto

his fellow disciples. Let us also go, that we may die with him.

Then, when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the

grave four days already. Now Bethany was nigh into Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs

off, and many of the Jews came to Mary Martha and Mary to comfort

them concerning their brother. Then Martha as soon as she heard that Jesus was

coming, went and met him. But Mary sat still in the house.

Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my

brother had not died. But I know that even now, whatsoever thou wilt

ask of God, God will give it thee. Jesus saith unto her,

Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him. I know that he

shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her,

I am the Resurrection and the life, he that believeth in me,

though he were dead, Yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth

in me shall never die. Believest thou this, She saith unto him,

yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of

God, which should come into the world. And when she had so said,

she went her way and called Mary, her sister, secretly saying,

the Master is come, and calleth for thee. As soon as she heard

that, she arose quickly and came unto him. Now Jesus was not yet

come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met him.

The Jews, then, which were with her in the house and comforted her.

When they saw Mary that she rose up hastily and went out, followed

her, saying, she goeth unto the grave to weep there. Then,

when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down

at his feet, saying, unto him, Lord, if thou had's been

here, my brother had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping,

and the Jews also weeping, which came with her, he groaned in his

spirit and was troubled, and said, where have ye laid him? They

said, unto him, Lord, come and see Jesus wept. Then said

the Jews, behold how he loved him? 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. Jesus therefore, again, groaning in himself,

cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay

upon it. 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. Jesus saith unto her,

said, I not unto thee that if thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst

should see the glory of God. 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, 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. And when

he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come

forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with

the grave clothes, and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus

saith unto them, loose him and let him go. Then many of the

Jews which came to marry and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed

on him. I'd like to go back to the beginning of the chapter.

Jesus healed many people. We have the multitudes coming and bringing the sick,

and Jesus laid hands on them and healed them. That's not Lazarus. Lazarus

was a personal friend. You have the word the message that was sent.

Lord. Behold he whom thou lovest is sick. This was a house where

Jesus went when he needed shelter, says Jesus didn't have a place to lay

his head. This was one place where he went. And that word love

us is the Greek word fileo filio has a thought of a family love,

brotherly love. It's used again in verse thirty six. Behold how he loved

him. This was one of jesus close friends. Verse five we have the

word loved again, but that's the word a gotpe, that's a godly love.

And verse six says. Verse five says he loved them with a godly

love. They were dear to him, and verse six says he stayed where

he was for two days. He essentially ignored the request for help. Did

Jesus need to be there to heal? Other occasions he healed from a distance.

Go home, your son's gonna be all right. We have that earlier

in the Book of John. And Jesus ignored that request even though he loved

them. Jesus loved them so much that he was willing to watch them suffer

to fulfill God's purpose, something higher and greater. It was not a callous

indifference to their suffering, but it was something that looked beyond earthly offering.

Number two, jesus focused focus was on the eternal. We have that in

verse four and also fourteen and fifteen would bring that out. The sickness is

not unto death, but it's for the glory of God. The Lazarus died

that wered glorified in verse four. If you look in the next chapter,

chapter twelve, we have the Greeks that came to Philip and said we want

to see Jesus. And when they when they told Jesus, Jesus said the

hours come that the son of Man should be glorified. That he used that

term glorified when he spoke of his death. So we have in verse four

the sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God and that

the son of God might be glorified. And if we would have kept reading

in chapter eleven, this incident led directly to the crucifixion. It was one

of the major steps because the Jewish leaders said, we cannot have this continue.

There needs to be an end. Lazarus sickness had an eternal purpose.

It was for the glory of God and that Jesus might be glorified to lead

Jesus towards the cross, and Jesus chose to allow this to happen to further

that path. We get stuck in here and now, the pain of the

moment, the things we have, the things we don't have, the stress

of life. Does it really matter? Is it important? Jesus said,

it's for the glory of God. Your pain is for the glory of God.

Do we believe that it's easy to get frustrated at circumstances, at people

who don't do what we think they should. Will you allow God to use

that for his glory? Will you allow God to use that to build his

kingdom, to mold you into what he wants you to be. The eternal

focus is to point others to God. And when Jesus prayed before he raised

Lazarus, he made that clear, it's for your glory, it's not for

mine. Number three, Jesus timing is all is right, God's timing.

Often we look at God's timing and we say, well, doesn't it's not

right. I wasn't ready for that, I wasn't ready for the pain,

I wasn't ready for the opportunity. And then the years go by, and

you look back and you say, well, I guess that was right.

Put yourself and marry and Martha's shoes. You know, it was a very

simple equation. Jesus comes, he can heal Lazarus. You can imagine them

sitting by Lazarus's bed. Jesus should have had time to be here about now,

when's he coming? And another day goes by and he's still not there.

He had the time to get here. Why isn't he here? And

Lazarus gets worse and worse, and finally Lazarus died and Jesus still hadn't showed

up. Who's timing? Suddenly the man of the house is gone, and

there's the pain of the loss, and there's the pain of what could have

been if only God's timing is always right. I'd like to look Versus nine

and ten. Now light and darkness. In verse eight, Jesus said,

well. Verse seven, Jesus said, okay, let's go. Two days

two days after you got the message, he said, it's time to go

now, it's the right time. And the disciple said, you're gonna get

killed. I don't think we should go. And Jesus answered, he said,

there's twelve hours in a day. If you walk in the day,

you can see, you're not gonna stumble. If a man walks in the

darkness, he's gonna stumble. There's no light in him. And it is

so often when Jesus teachings. There's there's there's double meanings. There's the physical

application, the literal, and then there's a spiritual. And Jesus used this

opportunity to teach them a lesson. There's twelve hours in a day. The

day's not over until it ends. Jesus had a ministry, he still had

life, he still had a purpose, and so he need to carry that

out and until it was time for the day to end, until his ministry

was over, until God said it's enough, God could take care of him.

My life will continue till my work is done. But at the same

time it will end sometime. There is an end. Today there's twelve hours

and then it's night, and what is not done will be undone. We're

called to diligence to get done what needs to be done, what we are

called to do. And he draws that contrast there walking in light and walking

in darkness, And in order to live, you must walk in the light

number five versus eleven to fifteen. It's called the opportunity of chrisis. Jesus

told his disciples. He said, I am glad that I was not there

to heal Azrus for your sakes. Leave Mary and Martha out of the equation,

Leave Lazarus out of the equation, for your sakes. I'm glad I

wasn't there. How could Jesus say that? It's Mary and Martha wept and

grieved, and Jesus told his disciples this other group of people who were somewhat

unrelated. He said, I'm glad that I wasn't there for your sake.

How would have Mary and Martha felt if Jesus would have said that in front

of them. It's yet another example of how God's economy is different than our.

He works on a different plane than what we do. His ways are

not our ways. One person has said, I do not like the crisis,

but I like the opportunities that they supply. Crisis is an opportunity,

and much as we dislike the pain the stress, they're an amazing opportunity.

And Jesus says, I'm glad that you will see the power that I have

over death. So that you can believe, so that you have that picture

in your mind a few weeks or a month down the road when it's me

number six, I am the Resurrection and the Life Versus seventeen to twenty seven.

Jesus finally comes into town. He's four days after Lazarus died. It

said there was many people. They were close to Jerusalem, many of the

Jews, which in the in the Book of John Jews refers to the real

legius leaders, leaders of the people. Typically there's many important people and they've

come to grieve, to mourn with Mary and Martha, to give their sympathy.

I remember if it says exactly, but it would infer that there were

The house was full of people. There's many people there with them, and

Martha hears that someone seen Jesus coming. He's coming into town. So Martha

goes out to meet him. And the thought that's been on Martha's mind for

the last four days comes out immediately. If you would have been here,

this would not have happened. You could have done something, you could have

changed the outcount. But I know that you have power. You can ask

God for anything. And Jesus said, Okay, your brother will rise again,

and she didn't believe him. She said, well, yeah, I

know the Resurrection the Last Day in verse twenty five and twenty six. I

want to read them again. Jesus said, unto her, I am the

Resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead,

yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never

die. Believeth sow this. I am the resurrection of the life. I

hold the power over death. And Jesus takes that to the spiritual again.

I have the power to give spiritual life. My power over physical death is

proof that I have power over spiritual death. Power over physical death is an

amazing thing. But you know as well as I that it's the power of

life, spiritual life over spiritual death that gives us hope, that gives us

a future, that gives us a church, that gives the Kingdom of God

is a changed heart Verse twenty six. In my own words, he that

has faith in me and lives out that faith in a practical way will not

die spiritually. And he said, do you believe that I have this power?

And Martha said, I believe that you're the son of God. And

then Mary came, and Mary said the same thing. Lord, if you

would have come, you could have made a difference. You could have healed

him. And the rest of the crowd came up. Verse thirty three.

Jesus saw her weeping. He saw the pe other people weeping, and it

was not from what I read, it's not a quiet weeping, but wailing.

It was loud grief. M Number seven. We see the Heart of

God Versus thirty three to thirty eight, and it says that Jesus groaned in

his spirit as he watched that grief, that expression of grief. It was

an audible grieving that Jesus. I won't go into all the Greek terminology there,

but very interesting if you if you look that up, heartrending, almost

the thought of anger, though I don't I don't believe Jesus was angry,

but a very deep emotion m HM. Says Jesus wept. You know,

it should be one of the greatest comforts to us in our grief when things

seem out of our control. Jesus cares. Jesus grieves with us, and

in our human mind we think that if God's there, he needs to do

something. There needs to be some action. God has not promised to do

anything, but he's promised to be there. He's promised to hold us number

eight, the power over death. They came to the grave and the people

there was no doubt Lazarus is dad. He's been in there four days,

and they expected the stench of a decomposing body. When that stone was rolled

back, they had no question in their mind that this is a dead man.

He's decomposing, he's there's no chance. Why do you want to do

that? Why open this grave up? Jesus said, take away the stone,

and Jesus prayed. He says, because of the people, I said

it, miracles are answered prayers. MHM. Jesus said, Lazarus come forth,

and Lazarus walked out the power over death, power over physical death,

and many that saw believed. I believe we have the story to help us

believe, to believe that there is power over death physically and spiritually. I

believe we have this story because it gives us a picture of the heart of

God when we are grieving, when we feel that God does not understand,

that God is not there, that God cares. M I am thankful this

morning for this story, for the lessons in it. I'm thankful that Jesus

is the resurrection and the life