The Resurrection and the Life (John 11:1-45)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

If you would, please open up your Bibles to John

John 11 · chapter mention

chapter 11. John 11, today we're going to look

at verses 1 through 46 as we continue in our

sermon series through some, not all, but some

of the miracles of Jesus and no doubt the one

that we come upon today. is a miraculous miracle.

It is a miracle that prepares us for what Jesus

will do when Jesus will lay down his life and

then take it up again. And so let's look at this.

John chapter 11, 1 through 46. Now a certain

John 11 · chapter mention

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. But when Jesus heard

it, he said, 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. Then after

this, he said to the disciples, let us go to

Judea again. The disciples said to him, Rabbi,

the Jews were just now seeking to stone you and

are you going there again? Jesus answered, are

there not 12 hours in the day? If anyone walks

in the day, he does not stumble because he sees

the light of this world. But if anyone 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 has fallen asleep, he will recover.

Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought

that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus

told them plainly, Lazarus has died. 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,

let us also go that we may die with him. Now

when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already

been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near

Jerusalem, about two miles off. And many of the

Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them

concerning their brother. So when Martha heard

that Jesus was coming, 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 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

again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus

said to her, I and 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. Now Jesus

had not yet come into 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 Jesus, to

where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his

feet saying to him, Lord, If you had been here,

my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw

her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her

also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit

and 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 who opened the eyes of the blind man also

have kept this man from dying Then Jesus deeply

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 four days Jesus said to

her Did I not tell you that if you believed 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, but I said this

on account of the people standing around, that

they may believe that you sent me. When he had

said these things, he cried out with a loud voice,

Lazarus, come out. The man who had died came

out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips

and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said

to them, unbind him and let him go. Many of the

Jews therefore who had come with Mary and had

seen what he did believed in him. But some of

them went to the Pharisees and told them what

Jesus had done. This is God's Holy Word, let

us pray. Holy Spirit, as you have inspired the

words of the text of the Bible, these words,

we also ask that you would open up our hearts

and our minds to understand what is here, to

apply this text to our lives, and to more and

more follow after Jesus. with complete trust,

these things we ask in his name. Amen. There

was once a Sunday school teacher, a class with

a bunch of small children. And on this particular

day in this class, the teacher was going over

some facts from the Bible, some Bible trivia,

if you will. And so the teacher asked the students,

how many books of the Bible are there? And the

kid screamed, 1 ,000. She said, no, no, no. There's

66. And she said, can anyone tell me who was

it that was in the den with the lions? And the

kid screamed out, it was David. She said, no,

no, no. It was Daniel. Can anybody tell me what

happened in the book of Jonah? Don't know and

the teacher began to get exasperated. Why don't

these children know anything? She said I she

said to herself. I'll give them a softball question.

I'll give them an easy one What's the shortest

verse in the Bible and all the kids screamed

Jesus wept Why is it that we remember that fact

So much so over other things I can remember being

a boy and knowing that Jesus wept being the shortest

verse in the English Bible I probably knew that

before I ever knew that there was a book called

Philemon in the Bible I Think that we know this

one because it's short But we need to know more

than just the trivia We need to know the context

we need to understand why Jesus wept. And so

for this, we have this amazing text. Now, it

is a longer text, and so I want to break this

up into three parts so maybe we can understand

it better. I want us to look at the sickness

of Lazarus from verses one to 16, the sorrow

over Lazarus in 17 through 37, and the summoning

of Lazarus. in 38 through 45. Let's start with

the sickness of Lazarus. You can see within this

text that Jesus really loved Lazarus, and he

really loved Mary and Martha, but they are in

Bethany. And when Lazarus gets sick, Jesus is

not there, right? Where is Jesus? Well, if you

look in the context in chapter 10, you can see

that he was elsewhere. He was doing his work.

Verse 42 of chapter 10 says, and many believed

in him there. So Jesus is doing a wonderful work,

but he's not in Bethany. And yet when he gets

word that Lazarus is sick, what does he do? According

to the text, he does not go immediately to Lazarus,

does he? You might say, why not? Why doesn't

Jesus hustle to the side of his dear friend?

Look in verse six. When he heard that Lazarus

was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place

where he was. We're reading this, and if you

didn't know the context, if we hadn't read all

of this, you might be thinking, Jesus, how is

this friendship? How is this love and kindness?

Get there, right? But Jesus has a special purpose.

for not being there right then. And you can see

the purpose statement that's written in verse

four. When Jesus heard it, meaning Lazarus's

illness, he said 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. And so

what is on the line with this story? It is the

very glory of God. And yet, you see what Jesus

says here. For when God is glorified, the Father

glorified, so is the Son. Why? Because the Son

and the Father, they're on the same page, aren't

they? Conversely, when those do not honor the

Son, do not honor the Father. And we can see

from this text, because it says it over and over

again, that God the Father glorified when people

believe in God the Son. God is surely glorified

by this. You remember other texts that tell us

that there is a celebration in heaven when people

believe and no doubt as people believe in this

text we can expect that same sort of celebration.

But you can see in the beginning of this as Jesus

is talking to his disciples they don't fully

understand everything do they look down in verse

14 Jesus here speaks to them plainly Lazarus

has died and for your sake I am glad I was not

there so that you may believe the disciples at

first think that Jesus is just talking about

Lazarus sleeping Jesus puts it, as I said, very

plainly for them. He's not just sleeping. He

is really dead. Friends, we're like the disciples,

aren't we? Sometimes we just don't know everything.

Sometimes we don't understand what is God doing?

Why am I suffering like this? Why am I going

through this? Why would God put me through these

things? Sometimes we just don't know. or waiting

for something to happen and it just never seems

to get there. We can take heart from this passage

that everything that God ordains is right even

when we don't understand it. We can take comfort

in the fact that God's timing is always perfect.

I don't know what you're waiting for. I don't

know what you're waiting on. But you can trust,

you must trust that his timing is perfect. Jesus

had a perfect timing. He had purpose to his delay.

And you can see that everything worked out perfectly.

Now, as I said, these disciples don't understand

everything that's going on, but they are committed,

aren't they? Look at what Thomas says. I think

it's in verse 16. So Thomas called the twin,

said to his fellow disciples, let us also go

that we may die with him. Again, they don't understand

everything, but they are committed. Thomas is

saying, hey, we're going with him. If he's going

to die, we're going to die with him. And Thomas

doesn't know how right he is, does he? For we

know this about the disciples, right? That excluding

Judas, of course, and excluding John, they were

all martyred. And so Thomas, while they're not

going to be killed at the same time as Jesus,

they will be. And so Thomas is very, very right.

For this reason and many more, I hope that the

doubting Thomas nickname that he has, I hope

that that is gone in glory. I am certain it will

be because he shows commitment to Jesus here.

Well, as I said, we also want to look at the

sorrow of the passage. Not just the sorrow of

Jesus, but let's start with the sorrow of Martha

and then Mary. we said Jesus delays coming to

Bethany and Martha is the first one to go to

Jesus and it's four days it's on the fourth day

since Lazarus died you might think why four I

thought three was the biblical number right well

according to some sources in rabbinical teaching

the teaching of rabbis in Jesus's day that a

person's spirit hovered over them for three days.

But after three days, the spirit was gone, meaning

that there was no opportunity to revive the person.

This was the teaching of rabbis at the time.

Sproul says here, by delaying his return, Jesus

let enough time pass to make it absolutely certain

that the raising of Lazarus was completely against

nature. and could not be seen as anything other

than a miracle. And so, as this is a sermon series

on the miracles, how perfect is this? And so,

Martha comes to Jesus first. Look in verse 21.

She says these agonizing words here. She says

to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother

would not have died. And Mary, utters a very,

very similar thing in verse 32. This is what

Jesus has to hear, if you would have just been

here. But verse 22 also shows us that Martha

believes that Jesus can do all things. And so

he's talking to her about this and look in verse

24. After Jesus says, I know your brother, he

says, your brother will rise again. Martha says,

I know. He will rise again in the resurrection

on the last day. And so she's thinking about

the return of Jesus here. I would like to say

this. Martha has really good theology. Many people

in Jesus's day did not believe in the resurrection

of the dead. The Sadducees, notably in Matthew

22, reject the resurrection of the dead. Martha

has good theology. She just doesn't know exactly

what Jesus is going. to do here. And it's the

same with us. We have good theology, prayerfully,

we're giving ourselves, committing ourselves

to the teaching of the Bible, but we don't know

all things. Just this week I've been asked questions

about the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. And then

I was asked about free will versus sovereignty.

And then I was asked about polygamy. And then

I was asked what in the world is going on in

Romans chapter nine. We have a lot of questions,

don't we? But we must seek the answers in faith.

And that's what I believe Martha is doing here.

Jesus makes it plain again. Look in verses 25

and 26. this incredible line from Jesus. 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. And then he asked this question that I ask

all of you today. Do you believe this? Do you

believe? Nod your heads. that Jesus is the resurrection

and the life. He is. Praise God. Jesus had to

come to die in order to be raised. A friend asked

me not too long ago, why did Jesus have to be

raised? And I said, so that you will be. Jesus

goes before us. And he is raised. And he demonstrates

this through this miracle with Lazarus. But also,

please see this, Jesus is not giving a lecture

here. He's not just dispensing information, is

he? We can see this because you have Martha crying.

You have Mary. They're both so burdened, right,

for Lazarus. But Jesus also is burdened too,

isn't he? And that takes us to that trivia question,

the shortest verse in the English Bible, Jesus

wept. Please see that Jesus is fully God and

fully man. And how remarkable is it that Jesus,

who knew what he was going to do, he knew that

he was going to raise Lazarus, and yet he still

weeps. over his friend. Jesus demonstrates that

line, weep with those who weep. This is Jesus

with his friends. And so please understand this.

Your Savior is not distant. Your Savior is not

aloof. Your Savior sympathizes with your weaknesses,

right? Your Savior is Emmanuel. God with us.

Look in verse 37, though. People are wondering,

what do we do with this weeping rabbi? Some of

them said how he loved him. And others said,

could not he who opened the eyes of the blind

man also have kept this man from dying? Remember,

though, the purpose of all of this so that people

would believe. So in verse 38 Jesus begins the

miracle look there Jesus deeply moved again came

to the tomb And it's a cave and a stone lay Against

it and we are reminded here that Lazarus has

been dead four days and then look in verse 40

Jesus said to Martha did I not tell you that

if you believed you would see the glory of God

so just a reminder I'm doing the very thing that

I told you I would do, showing you the glory

of the Father. And then what does Jesus have

done? He has the stone rolled away, not so that

Jesus could go in, but so that Lazarus, the dead

man, could come out. This demonstrates the power

of Jesus to command life, the man who was really

dead. for four days comes walking out, wrapped

up, just as he had been placed into the tomb.

And this is amazing. And it has many witnesses,

right? That here comes the dead man. And really

what this illustrates, what this story illustrates

is exactly what God does in us at conversion.

Go back earlier into John, chapter five, verse

25. to see what happens in us when Jesus makes

us spiritually alive. John 525, truly, truly

I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here

when the dead will hear the voice of the Son

of God and those who hear will live. This is

getting at something that Reformed Christians

like to call the effectual call the Holy Spirit

awakening those who believe in Jesus with the

gift of faith Friends, you know this we cannot

save ourselves For without the work of the Holy

Spirit regenerating us. We are spiritually dead

But with faith given to us by God we are made

spiritually Alive and that's one of the reasons

that I think that this miracle stands out so

beautifully Because it demonstrates not just

Jesus's power over the grave But it reminds us

what God does in our hearts that Jesus does something

that we could not do That Jesus saves us from

eternal death and gives us eternal life This

also demonstrates the very sovereignty of God

look in verse 45 Many of the Jews, therefore,

who had come with Mary and had seen what he did,

believed in him. But some of them went to the

Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

And so you see the whole purpose of this that

started kind of small with the disciples and

Mary and Martha just keeps getting bigger as

more people believe and yet not everybody believes,

right? And what all of this is doing is showing

us that, yes, this is an incredible miracle,

but it's also designed to do something else.

It sets the ball in motion for Jesus to lay down

His life. Look in verse 53. I know that's outside

of our reading today. Verse 53, it says, So from

that day on they made plans to put Him to death.

So because of what Jesus does with Lazarus, the

people make plans to put him to death. This shows

that faith is a gift, and God is sovereign over

all, right? And yet we know this. Jesus had to

go to the cross for us. Jesus had to die for

us. This is what Jesus does for us that is great

as this miracle is. Death. would come again for

Lazarus. There would be more tears shed for Lazarus.

Friends, it's not just enough to stay alive.

We need eternal life, for you know what happened

in the fall. You know that Adam, as our representative,

disobeyed God when he ate the fruit and brought

sin to every person who is conceived in natural

generation. And so from then on, death reigned

For the wages of sin is death but thanks be to

God Jesus on the cross Exclaims it is finished

and he defeats death and the devil and sin What

he does when Jesus goes to the cross is he undergoes

Everything for us as our substitute the story

doesn't end even with death Even with Jesus'

death, because he undergoes resurrection for

us too, so that one day when death comes for

us, when our days are up, they have really just

begun. Puritan Thomas Watson said this, we are

more sure to arise out of our graves than out

of our beds. Think about that. We are more sure

to arise out of our graves than out of our beds.

This is the truth for Christians raised to everlasting

life, not to everlasting death, that though we

weep now, Jesus will dry our eyes in the resurrection.

I begin to close here with this. Perhaps you

know this passage from Revelation chapter 21.

Revelation 21 · chapter mention

Verse 4 He will wipe away every tear from their

eyes and death shall be no more Neither shall

there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore

For the former things have passed away Church

family take heart Jesus's comment about being

the resurrection and the life And the fact that

he was raised, Jesus was raised himself, gives

you the surety, the certainty to know that one

day you, just like Jesus, will also be raised

to eternal life with him. Thanks be to God. Let

us pray.