23-0507a Transcript

(2:07) Thank you, Tom. (2:09) And thanks, Kevin, for reading that this morning.

(2:12) Well, as you can tell by the text that has been read to be talking about, (2:19) the great I am statement made by Jesus where he says, (2:25) I am the resurrection and the life. (2:28) Can you hear me now? (2:33) Gee, we’ve been doing that all day without the mic on. (2:36) How about that? (2:37) Now it’s probably blowing everybody’s ears out.

(2:41) Okay. (2:42) We’re continuing with the lessons I’ve been bringing about Jesus being the (2:50) great I am, Yahweh, from the Old Testament, believe it or not, (2:55) the second person of the Godhead. (2:58) And it’s the same holy being who was born of a virgin, God with us, (3:05) Emmanuel, and he reveals himself through the titles that he says about (3:15) himself in the New Testament.

(3:18) And in the Gospel of John, John is the one who primarily records most of the (3:24) I am statements. (3:26) And those are powerful statements, and we’re going to see in future lessons (3:31) where just the power of our Lord’s name can literally knock an army over. (3:40) And praise be to God.

(3:44) Our Jesus reveals in John 11. (3:52) We’re going to read the chapter through. (3:55) And as I’ve said before, (3:56) Paul encouraged young ministers to devote themselves to the public reading of (4:03) Scripture.

(4:05) So, Tracy. (4:11) Sorry. (4:14) I look back there and I see Tracy pulling a face.

(4:20) I know, it’s for the little one. (4:24) We ought to see grandpa. (4:28) They probably don’t know what my real face looks like.

(4:32) Okay. (4:36) We’re going to read through John 11. (4:39) And this is where it’s the raising of Lazarus, a wonderful story.

(4:45) It’s a powerful story. (4:47) The last time I spoke, a couple weeks ago, we talked about the raising of the (4:54) widow’s son, the widow of Nain, and the raising of Jairus' daughter. (5:00) And today we’re going to look at the third time Jesus raised somebody from the (5:05) dead.

(5:08) I look back there. (5:12) Okay. (5:12) So, starting John chapter 11, verse 1. (5:17) Now, a certain man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, of the village of Mary and her (5:23) sister Martha.

(5:25) It was that Mary who anointed the board with ointment and wiped his feet with her (5:30) hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. (5:34) The sisters therefore sent to him, saying, Lord, behold, he for whom you have great (5:40) affection is sick. (5:43) But when Jesus heard it, he said, this sickness is not to death, but for the glory (5:49) of God, that God’s son may be glorified by it.

(5:54) Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. (5:58) When therefore he heard that he was sick, he stayed two days on in the place where (6:04) he was. (6:05) Then after this, he said to the disciples, let’s go into Judah again.

(6:10) And the disciples told him, Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and (6:14) you’re wanting to go there again? (6:17) Jesus answered, aren’t there 12 hours of daylight? (6:21) If a man walks in the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this (6:25) world. (6:26) But if a man walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light isn’t in him. (6:32) He said these things, and after that, he said to them, our friend Lazarus has (6:37) fallen asleep, but I am going so that I may awake him out of sleep.

(6:42) The disciples therefore said, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. (6:48) Now, Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he was speaking about (6:53) taking rest and sleep. (6:56) So Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

(7:01) I am glad, for your sakes, I was not there, so that you may believe. (7:06) Nevertheless, let’s go to him. (7:10) Thomas, therefore, who was called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, let’s go (7:15) also, that we may die with him.

(7:19) I am the resurrection and the life. (7:22) So when Jesus came, he found that he had been in the tomb four days already. (7:30) Now, Bethany was near Jerusalem, about 15 stadia away.

(7:34) Many of the Jews had joined the women around Mary and Martha to consult them (7:40) concerning their brother. (7:42) Then, when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him. (7:47) But Mary stayed in the house.

(7:49) Therefore, Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you would have been here, my brother (7:53) wouldn’t have died. (7:54) Even now, I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. (8:01) Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again.

(8:05) Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. (8:11) Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. (8:14) He who believes in me will still live, even if he dies.

(8:18) Whoever lives and believes in me will never die. (8:22) Do you believe this? (8:23) She said to him, yes, Lord. (8:26) I have come to believe that you are the Christ, God’s son, he who comes into the world.

(8:32) When she had said this, she went away and called Mary, her sister, secretly, saying, (8:37) the teacher is here and is calling you. (8:40) When she heard this, she arose quickly and went to him. (8:44) Now, Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was in the place where Martha met him.

(8:49) Then the Jews who were with her in the house and were consoling her when they saw Mary, (8:55) that she rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, she is going to the tomb to weep there. (9:03) Therefore, when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying (9:09) to him, Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. (9:13) When Jesus, therefore, saw her weeping and the Jews weeping who came with her, (9:19) he groaned in spirit and was troubled and said, where have you laid him? (9:24) They told him, Lord, come and see.

(9:27) Jesus wept. (9:29) The Jews, therefore, said, see how much affection he had for him. (9:34) Some of them said, couldn’t this man who opened the eyes of him who was born blind (9:39) have also kept this man from dying? (9:43) Jesus, therefore, again groaning in himself, came to the tomb.

(9:47) Now it was a cave and the stone lay against it. (9:51) Jesus said, take away the stone. (9:53) Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, Lord, by this time there is a stench (9:58) for he has been dead four days.

(10:02) Jesus said to her, didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see God’s glory? (10:07) So they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. (10:11) Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you listen to me. (10:17) I know that you always listen to me, but because of the multitude standing around, (10:22) I said this, that they may believe that you sent me.

(10:26) When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. (10:32) He who was dead came out bound hand and foot with wrappings, (10:36) and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. (10:39) Jesus said to them, free him and let him go.

(10:43) Jesus, therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what Jesus did, believed in him. (10:51) But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things which Jesus had done. (10:58) The chief priests, therefore, and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, (11:03) what are we doing? For this man does many things.

(11:07) If we leave him alone like this, everyone will believe in him. (11:12) And the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. (11:16) But a certain one of them, Caiaphas, being a high priest that year, said to them, (11:22) you know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is advantageous for us (11:28) that one man should die for the people and that the whole nation not perish.

(11:33) Now, he didn’t say this of himself, but being a high priest that year, (11:38) he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation and not for the nation only, (11:45) but that he also might gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. (11:52) So from that day forward, they took counsel that they might put him to death. (11:57) Therefore, Jesus walked no more openly among the Jews, (12:02) but departed from there into the country near the wilderness to a city called Ephraim.

(12:07) He stayed there with his disciples. (12:11) Now, the Passover of the Jews was at hand. (12:14) Many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.

(12:20) Then they sought for Jesus and spoke to one another as they stood in the temple. (12:24) What do you think? That he isn’t coming to the feast at all? (12:29) Now, the chief priests and the Pharisees had commanded that if anyone knew where he was, (12:34) he should report it that they may seize him. (12:42) Now, we’re going to do a walk through these verses, verse by verse.

(12:48) I like to throw in my two cents as to what’s going on. (12:53) That’s my motive of apparandi. (12:57) So let’s go.

Let’s look at verse 1 again of chapter 11. (13:01) Now, a certain man was sick, Lazarus, from Bethany of the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (13:07) Verse 2. (13:08) It was that Mary who had anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, (13:13) whose brother Lazarus was sick.

(13:17) So this story is the third example of our Jesus raising someone from the dead. (13:23) The first, of course, was Jairus' daughter. (13:26) The second was the widow of Nain’s son, and now he’s about to raise Lazarus, (13:31) a very close friend of his from the dead.

(13:35) And in the 10th chapter preceding this of John, which we’ll explore later, (13:40) ended with Jesus going to Bethany along the river some 50-plus miles away (13:47) where John used to baptize people. (13:51) And it was in the wintertime when he traveled there because the text in John 10 says (13:57) that they were celebrating the festival of dedication, (14:01) and that’s what we know as Hanukkah, and that comes in December, (14:05) the Jewish month of Kislev, which is around late November, early December. (14:13) So the time in our present story is about four months later from that (14:18) because it’s close to the festival of leavened bread and Passover, (14:22) which is around March, April months.

(14:27) And Jesus' death, therefore, is close at hand. (14:31) So Martha and Mary, we know from earlier stories, (14:35) Martha once invited the Lord into their home and held a dinner for them, (14:40) and she complained to Jesus about Mary, who wasn’t helping her with the preparations, (14:46) to which Jesus responded, Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things. (14:53) Mary chose the good thing to listen to me, and that won’t be taken from her.

(14:58) So this doesn’t discredit Martha as being non-spiritual. (15:04) She was just somebody who was concerned about the details and not the greater thing, (15:12) which is Jesus being there and teaching. (15:15) Also as stated in this text, Mary is the woman whom Jesus gave the greatest honor to (15:22) after she had anointed him with expensive perfume to prepare him for his burial (15:29) by saying that what she did for him would be included in the gospel story in memory of her.

(15:38) What an honor. (15:39) I don’t think that there is any other person in the gospel to receive such an honor, man or woman. (15:47) And what is missing from those previous stories of these women is any mention of them having a brother.

(15:54) So the brother, not even being mentioned, must have been a much younger brother, (16:00) because normally Martha is listed first. (16:03) She was a widow, I believe, and so she’s the one who kept the house. (16:07) She’s probably the oldest sister and the one who always pays attention to details.

(16:12) Mary, being the younger, was the one eager to learn from the Lord. (16:20) And Lazarus was just MIA in any of the other texts. (16:24) Let’s look at verse 3 and 4. (16:26) The sisters therefore sent him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom you have great affection is sick.

(16:34) But when Jesus heard it, he said, This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God, (16:39) that God’s Son may be glorified by it. (16:43) So verse 3 shows the sisters' belief that Jesus is the Christ. (16:48) They didn’t have to ask Jesus to heal him.

(16:50) They just trusted in his personal love for Lazarus, whom you have great affection for. (16:58) So believing that he would come and heal him, a true friend, they regarded him. (17:02) So Jesus, being God and knowing all, he knew Lazarus was sick to the point of death.

(17:09) And Jesus said to the messengers that Martha sent, to where they were, (17:14) which took two days for them to get there because they were some 50 miles away. (17:21) Mary and Martha were in Bethany by Jerusalem, which was like two miles away, (17:26) and Jesus was outside of Bethany along the Jordan River. (17:31) There’s two Bethany.

(17:33) Anyhow, so these messengers took two days to get there, (17:39) and they’re the ones who brought the news to him. (17:44) And he says to them and to all who were with him that that sickness wouldn’t end in death. (17:51) They would know that help was on the way.

(17:55) So they go back to Mary and Martha. (17:58) That would give comfort to the sisters upon their return (18:03) that Jesus said this sickness will not end in death. (18:07) So at least they had that to comfort them with.

(18:10) So they probably presumed that Jesus was on his way right then. (18:25) So Jesus had other plans. (18:27) He was going to use this occasion of Lazarus' death to give glory to God in himself.

(18:36) And it’s also one of the reasons he had in mind was to prepare his followers for his own death. (18:46) And he knew that his death on the cross would really shake their faith in him. (18:54) And at first, Jesus would hint to his disciples of his upcoming death.

(19:00) In John 2, 19, Jesus answered them, (19:04) Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up. (19:08) And that was sort of an ambiguous hint about his death and resurrection. (19:12) And then later, as the time of his death came closer, like right now, (19:18) he came right out and told them at times what was going to happen.

(19:22) In Mark 8, 31, he said he began to teach them that the Son of Man must suffer many things (19:30) and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed, (19:36) and after three days rise again. (19:39) So Jesus had to demonstrate to all that he is the Lord of both the living and the dead, (19:46) and that he is truly the resurrection and the life. (19:50) So let’s look at verses 5 through 7. (19:53) Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, (19:57) when therefore he heard that he was sick, he stayed two days in the place where he was.

(20:03) Then after this he said to his disciples, Let’s go to Judea again. (20:09) So concerning verse 5 there, (20:12) it’s a myth to say that God didn’t have people whom he showed special affection to, (20:18) dare I say favorites. (20:21) Of all the disciples, it was John who was the one whom Jesus loved.

(20:30) Of course, Jesus loved all of his disciples, but he had a special affection for his cousin John. (20:39) Interesting that John the Baptist was also his cousin. (20:42) It’s kind of a family thing going on there.

(20:45) But John the apostle was special to Christ, and vice versa. (20:53) So, you know, John enjoyed saying the disciple whom Christ loved, (20:58) and knowing how competitive those guys were. (21:01) I don’t know if it was said to rub their noses in it, but it is what it is.

(21:08) So we’re not told anything about Jesus and this family’s relationship. (21:16) Like, did the Lord know them before his ministry? (21:19) How long did he know them? (21:21) Were they friends of the family? (21:22) Were they distant relatives? (21:25) All we have is what we’re told in Scripture. (21:27) And what we read is that they had a good, loving relationship.

(21:33) So it appears that Jesus deliberately delayed going back to Bethany (21:38) so that when he gets there, Lazarus would have been dead several days. (21:43) So that there’s no doubt in anybody’s mind that Lazarus was really, really dead. (21:50) That will make the resurrection that he’s about to do all that much more amazing.

(21:57) After the two-day delay, Jesus decides it’s time to go back to Judea, to Martha’s home. (22:03) And so it’s going to take two days to get there. (22:08) So Lazarus would have been dead four days.

(22:13) Let’s look at verse 8. (22:14) The disciples told the rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you. (22:19) And are you going there again? (22:21) So for context, in chapter 10, Jesus makes a couple of his I Am statements, (22:27) which we’ll explore after this lesson. (22:31) You know, I am the resurrection of the life.

(22:33) Jesus had equated himself with God, to which the Jews wanted to seize him and kill him. (22:40) But he slipped through their fingers because at this time, his time had not yet come. (22:47) And that’s how they ended up in the area of, you know, John the Baptist and Bethany by the Jordan, (22:54) some 50 miles away.

(22:56) So let’s look at verses 9 and 10. (22:59) Jesus answered, aren’t there 12 hours of daylight? (23:02) If a man walks in day, he doesn’t stumble because he sees the light of the world. (23:07) But if a man walks in night, he stumbles because the light isn’t in him.

(23:13) So this is very reminiscent of chapter 9’s lesson, I am the light of the world, (23:19) a statement he made in John 9, 4, and 5, where he says, as long as it is day, (23:25) we must do the work of him who sent me. (23:28) Night is coming when no one can work. (23:31) While I am in the world, I am the light of the world.

(23:34) Again, Jesus uses this Jewish idiom of 12 hours in a day to express in a metaphor (23:43) that we’re given a certain amount of daylight time to get our work done. (23:47) In this case, to make the two-day journey back to Judea to raise Lazarus. (23:52) Jesus' will is that light that Jesus, God’s will is the light that Jesus walks in, (24:02) and God wants Christ to go raise Lazarus from the dead.

(24:07) Jesus makes doing God’s will his will, and Jesus makes his will known to his disciples. (24:13) And he makes his will, or light, known to his disciples, and they are enlightened by it. (24:20) And that was the lesson from pretty much the crux of the lesson from I am the light of the world.

(24:26) When you walk in the daylight, you are walking according to God’s will, his word, his truth. (24:33) If you rely on your own understanding, doing what’s right in your own eyes, or some worldly teaching, (24:41) you’re walking in darkness and will stumble because you don’t have Christ’s light of the world. (24:47) Jesus and his teachings in your heart, guiding your decisions.

(24:51) Okay, John 11, 11. (24:55) He said these things, and after that he said to them, (24:58) Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going so that I may awake him out of sleep. (25:04) Speaking in metaphor.

(25:06) Jesus said this. (25:08) When Jesus said this, Lazarus had actually just died, and Jesus was going to wake him up. (25:15) Just like when he woke up Jairus' daughter and told them, (25:20) Don’t weep, she isn’t dead, she’s only sleeping.

(25:25) By Christ’s saying, this means that death is only a temporary state, (25:31) a rest until the final awakening, the resurrection of the dead. (25:36) It has been revealed by God to the patriarchs of the ancient past. (25:41) They believe that those who die are only sleeping also.

(25:46) And in Genesis 47, 29 and 30, it says, (25:51) The time came near for Israel, who is Jacob, to die. (25:57) And he called his son Joseph and said to him, (26:00) If I now have found favor in your sight, please put your hand under my thigh, (26:06) and deal kindly and truly with me, please don’t bury me in Egypt. (26:13) But when I fall asleep with my fathers, you shall carry me out of Egypt and bury me in their burying place.

(26:20) And Joseph said, I will do as you have said. (26:24) So we can read in all of the records of the kings also, (26:29) the kings of Israel and Judah, who died. (26:34) And that’s how they described death.

(26:39) And 1 Kings 2.10, David slept with his fathers and was buried in David’s city. (26:44) And likewise, when his son King Solomon died, he too was said to have slept with his fathers. (26:52) So God uses the most gentle of language to describe when his believers die.

(27:00) By calling death sleep, he takes the fear out of dying. (27:06) Everyone knows about sleep. (27:07) We’re refreshed by it, and we all expect to wake up from it in the morning.

(27:12) And that’s the idea, I believe, that God wants us to have about death. (27:17) It isn’t final. (27:19) Think about this.

(27:21) In Psalm 116.15, the Lord tells us precious in Yahweh’s sight, Yahweh God, is the death of his saints. (27:32) So when we pass away, that’s precious to God. (27:37) You know, God views our death like a loving parent who peeks in on their sleeping child (27:43) and sees them peacefully at rest, knowing that they will awaken bright and refreshed on the day of the resurrection.

(27:52) So, let’s look at verses 12 and 13. (27:56) The disciples therefore said, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. (28:01) Now, Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought he spoke of taking a rest in sleep.

(28:07) Knowing of the possible danger that had awaited them back in Judea, where the Jews wanted to take hold of Jesus and stone him, (28:15) the disciples were content to think that Lazarus would recover on his own since he was sleeping and didn’t require their presence. (28:25) They misinterpreted what Jesus was saying and couldn’t figure out what he was going to do. (28:31) Verse 14, so Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

(28:39) I am glad for your sake that I was not there so that you may believe. Nevertheless, let’s go to him. (28:45) So Jesus is going to use this occasion to strengthen their belief in him as the Messiah.

(28:53) Up to this point, they’ve seen plenty of miracles and amazing things to give them the idea that this is the Messiah we’ve been waiting for. (29:05) But this particular miracle, raising somebody who’s been dead for so long, is going to really give them a rock-solid faith that yes, this is the Messiah. (29:20) So he needs them to have that because when he goes to the cross, he doesn’t want them to panic and lose faith.

(29:30) We’re going to see that when he does go to the cross, they scatter like sheep, and the prophet Zechariah prophesied that. (29:38) So even with such a rock-solid faith and seeing such amazing things, they’re only men. (29:46) And sometimes fear can make people abandon their faith.

(29:54) But how much, let’s look at verse 16. (29:57) This is, you know, Thomas really gets a bad rap by his one statement as being called the doubting Thomas. (30:05) So let’s look at that.

(30:06) Thomas, therefore, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, (30:11) Let’s go also that we may die with him. (30:15) Does that sound like a doubtful person? (30:18) That sounds like somebody who is ready to die for their Lord. (30:23) Thomas is called Didymus, and Didymus means, in Greek, twin.

(30:28) And when you look at all the order of listings of the apostles in the Gospels and in Acts, (30:37) Thomas is always listed with Matthew. (30:40) Just something to think about. (30:43) You know, could Matthew have been the other twin? (30:45) We don’t know.

(30:47) That’s a supposition. (30:50) That’s just Jim talking. (30:51) Anyhow, but his character, you know, this shows that he’s willing to go back to Judea.

(31:00) And as for Jesus, with Passover less than two weeks away, (31:04) when he would actually be sacrificed on the cross as God’s Passover lamb, (31:09) he literally was going back to Judah to die. (31:14) Jesus came to this earth, we’re told, to undo the damage that Satan had done, (31:22) that he caused in the garden, and has been doing ever since. (31:27) Nothing was going to sway Jesus from this final trip to Judah.

(31:31) He had to go and complete his task of salvation that the Father set before him, (31:37) and Isaiah put it this way. (31:39) In Isaiah 57, (31:42) And that’s talking about Jesus' resolute determination to go do God’s will and die for mankind. (32:03) So Jesus set his face like flint.

(32:05) Flint’s one of the hardest rocks there is. (32:09) It’s so hard, it’s almost glass-like. (32:14) It can be chipped and turned into something very sharp.

(32:18) And, you know, to say that someone’s face is like flint is to say that their face is hard and cannot change. (32:25) And that shows his determination, his unchangeableness to save mankind, (32:33) and that he would face the worst of human cruelty imaginable. (32:39) He’d face ridicule, mockery, and death.

(32:43) Because of his great love for us, he was willing to go through all that. (32:48) And he was innocent and sinless, not guilty of any of the false charges that were going to be brought against him. (32:55) And therefore, he would feel no shame, even though it’s shameful to hang on the cross.

(33:02) But he wasn’t guilty, so his face wouldn’t be red with shame. (33:08) And that’s what Jesus was going to do for all of us, was go to that cross and die, (33:15) that we might live, the innocent for the guilty. (33:19) We’re the guilty.

(33:21) So I’m going to break this lesson off right here. (33:24) I’ll continue and finish up I Am the Resurrection and the Life this evening at 6 o’clock. (33:30) So if anybody needs any prayers from the church or would like to put on Christ in Baptism, (33:38) we give you this opportunity.

(33:39) This is the invitations song time. (33:42) So if you’d like to come forward, you may certainly do so as we stand and sing this song.