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Death or Life? John
11:1-44
I
believe that I have told you before about my friend Clyde Tanner. Before
His death his family asked me to talk to him, and I didn’t want to. It
was a difficult subject to start but I went to the house, and I met him
in his bedroom and started.
"Clyde, You have been sick for a while and the cancer is taking it’s
toll. You family wanted me to talk to you about your funeral, why don’t
we make arrangements about when..... you know... when... you pass on?"
Clyde didn’t say anything, he just sat there staring ahead.
"Clyde, I know that this is uncomfortable, for you, it is for me as
well, but your family wants to know do you want to be buried or
cremated?"
There was yet another long pause. Then Clyde looked at me with his sly
smile and said I would like to be cremated and recycled, and he began to
laugh, and it went on for 10 minutes.
Death isn’t always a conversation that brings laughter. When he subject
comes up most of us are left not knowing what to say. And often we are
left with more questions than answers.
In our study of John 11:1-44, we will find the significance of what
Jesus says about life and death.
The first thing that is worth noting is that Jesus has friends (1-4).
Now a certain 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."
This was a family that was very dear to Jesus. He had a unique personal
fondness for them. It was, for Jesus and His disciples, a home. It was a
place they could slip off their sandals and relax. We know nothing of
the personality of Lazarus except for this story.
But Martha we know. She was the type of person that was forthright. She
spoke her mind in a matter-of-fact manner.
Mary, on the other hand, was more emotional and more retiring. We might
even call her more mystical.
But now the family was in disarray. Lazarus was sick…very sick…and so
they sent word to Jesus. It was their assumption that he would hurry.
They knew Jesus. They felt and understood His love for them. So, they
were of the opinion that…of course…Jesus would come.
When the news reaches Jesus and His disciples, His reaction is found in
the words, “It is not a sickness unto death.” We are being clued in that
the ultimate issue here is not death. Instead, it is the glory of God.
Something really big is going on.
But then Jesus unexpectedly delays (5-6).
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.
Note how John describes His love for this family. It was an “agape” type
of love. It was a love that was unstoppable. There was an absolute
commitment that Jesus had for Martha, Mary and Lazarus.
But then the text tells us something strange. Our text says he loved
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus so much that He stayed away. Does that make
sense?
It is incredible and unexpected. But there is a matter of perspective
that we need to gain here.
First of all, let us note that Jesus is not waiting for Lazarus to die.
As the passage unfolds, we can say with confidence that Lazarus was
already dead when the message reached Jesus. It would have taken the
messenger at least one full day to get to Jesus.
And Lazarus probably died right after this unnamed messenger left,
because the messenger takes the one day, Jesus waits for two days, and
then travels to arrive on the fourth day, as we will see later in this
text.
So Jesus waits for two days. And as we will see later, it was on
purpose.
But next, Jesus unexpectedly returns (7-16).
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 twelve 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."
Jesus informs them that it is time to go back.
Let me stop here and remind you that there was considerable risk in
Jesus returning to Jerusalem. The Jewish leadership was bent on putting
Him to death. So, Jesus and His disciples had done the prudent thing and
made their way out of town. To the disciples, this must have been a
relief. Now that Jesus was claiming that it was time to return, they
probably were filled with unease.
In acknowledgement of their restlessness, Jesus encourages them to take
comfort that He was still with them. They had the light. They knew the
way to go. They were so much better off than those that were without
Him. Those kind of people would be forever stumbling in the dark.
Then He discusses the Lazarus issue by telling them that Lazarus is
asleep, but He is going to wake him up. The disciples, of course, didn’t
get this. They think that if Lazarus was just sleeping, why go? Someone
else can wake him up.
But something bigger is going on. Jesus was going to show them that
death was not the ultimate power. Something great was going to happen
here and Jesus is happy for it. When He gets to Bethany, the disciples’
faith was going to be strengthened. Though they already believe, the
belief is not yet strong enough to withstand what is coming. Their faith
must yet grow stronger.
Before we go on lets give doubting Thomas some credit. This was one
loyal disciple. He fully understood the impact of returning to Jerusalem
area. But he looked death in the face and chose death with Jesus rather
than life without Him.
Now we come to the next section and we see here that…
Jesus teaches about life (17-27).
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 seated 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 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. 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."
This is the point of the text that I mentioned before that demonstrates
that Lazarus was already dead.
We are now at the fourth day since he died. The ritual mourning now
would reach its highest point. For it is on the fourth day, the body was
decaying and now there was truly no hope.
“If Jesus had only been here…” We can be sure that these were the words
that both Martha and Mary had uttered over and over. So when Jesus
arrived and Martha met Him at the edge of town, Martha could not but
help to say what was on her mind. “If you had only been here…”
It was not a statement of rebuke in any way. Instead, it was a statement
of regret. She may have still had a small hope that something could be
done, but it was not a high hope. It seems that it is more wistful than
anything else.
It is at this point that Jesus says Lazarus will rise again. And here we
see that Martha is a fair theologian. She understands that things will
be better some day. There is a resurrection at the end of the age, thus
she will see Lazarus again. Jesus, though, is speaking of the immediate.
And this is the very thing that He wants her to realize. It is better
now because Jesus was there. He came to bring life from death, in their
now and for their eternity.
"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. Do you believe this?"
Once again, we are to understand that when Jesus says, “I am the
resurrection and the life,” the full force of Deity is being
communicated.
“I am” was the name God used when He identified Himself to Moses at the
burning bush. Jesus was noting that this was God-power at work. He was
communicating much more than a resurrection in the future. There was
resurrection now. There was new life now, because He is the
resurrection. Resurrection was more than a concept or an event. It was a
person. And He was about to show His power, though she doesn’t see it
coming. He had power over death.
In part, Martha gets it. He gives her hope, probably more than she
expected, for she does confess belief. She agrees with Jesus. She
accepts what Jesus has said. And her faith is not vague. Martha
understands that He is her Lord. He is the Messiah. He is the Son of
God. And she proves to be a great believer, a remarkable woman of faith.
As we move into the next section, we find an interesting, and sometimes
missed concept…that is…
Jesus feels what we feel (28-37).
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 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?"
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?"
Martha’s faith in Jesus is reaffirmed and now it is Mary’s turn. She
comes to Jesus. And we notice immediately that her reaction is much
different than her sister’s. She is more emotional and falls to His
feet.
She too knows of Jesus’ power and knows that Jesus would have saved
Lazarus had Jesus been on time. But note that she does not seem to
presume or ask for anything now.
Jesus’ response is so intriguing. The text tells us that He was moved in
His spirit. It is at this point that Jesus asks to be directed to
Lazarus’ place of burial. And we find that Jesus is no stoic. The tears
were literally coming down His face. He is not unmoved. We don’t know
why He specifically weeps. It was probably a multitude of reasons.
Certainly, He was moved by the emotion that surrounded the event. Death,
by nature, is sad. But it had to be more.
He must have been moved by the pain of those that were around Him. But
even more, we can be sure He was moved by the harmful effects of sin.
Death was unnatural. We were not created for death. We were created for
life.
His tears, however, are misinterpreted. People think He is frustrated
because He is too late. But they have missed the point.
Jesus speaks and things happen (38-44).
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."
Again, we see that Jesus is deeply moved in His spirit. It is the same
word we considered earlier. This scene of death is causing this
involuntary groaning.
Nevertheless, He very much has something in mind. It is time to move the
stone. And though Martha has believed the person of Jesus and understood
it better than most, she has not fully understood the application of her
confession.
We are not quite sure whether this is a demonstration of doubt, or if
she is just stating the facts. One thing for sure, though, she is going
to see glory, right at that very moment. After offering a prayer of
thanksgiving, it is time to prove that He is the resurrection. So Jesus
calls out for Lazarus.
I had a Bible teacher at Faulkner who believed that if Jesus hadn’t
called for Lazarus specifically, everyone in the tomb might have come
out.
Then, at that very moment, the blood starts coursing through the veins.
The heart resumes beating. The eyelids twitch. And air finds its way
into his lungs. Muscles stretch and move and mummy-like, Lazarus enters
into the sunlight.
And, oh, what the reaction must have been. After the astonishment of
seeing a dead man alive, there was a unwrapping that could only be
described as feverish. There was joy that was full of tears.
Hugs abounded. Mourning had turned into dancing and leaping for joy
became the appropriate response of the day. The funeral had become a
party. What a day!
APPLICATION:
So what can we learn from this marvelous event?
Let me share some parallels to our own lives today.
The first is When you need help, call on Jesus.
We have to appreciate the priority of Martha and Mary. When Lazarus was
sick, they knew who to call on. They called on the Lord Jesus.
In the same way, prayer has to be priority for us as well. When we are
troubled by the events of the world or in our own life, we must send
word to Jesus. When a crisis brings us to our knees, we are in a perfect
position to pray to Jesus.
The next parallel is When you don’t like the delay, learn to trust and
wait.
Mary and Martha were unhappy that Jesus had not come. They kept thinking
that if He had just been there, all would have been fine. Why couldn’t
He have come in time?
Sometimes, it is easy to blame God for bad things in our lives. Things
are unfolding for us differently than we like. And we wonder, “Where is
He?” Why is heaven silent?
But, just as Martha and Mary learned, perseverance pays off. What was a
disaster four days earlier, turned out to be great joy in the end.
Wait on God. A lot can happen when we are patient. We must never lose
sight of the fact that God is always at work.
The third parallel is When you are sad, you can cry.
When we read the shortest verse in Scripture, “Jesus wept,” it is a
statement that is loaded with meaning. Jesus was fully human, as well as
fully God, and He demonstrates that emotion is natural. It is nothing to
be ashamed of.
If you cry at funerals, that’s OK. Death is sad. And if the effects of
sin cause you to break down because of the hurt they cause, that’s OK.
We weren’t created for sin and death. We were created for life.
The last parallel we are to consider is that When you are overwhelmed,
recognize that Jesus is bigger.
When we read the gospels, every time Jesus is at a funeral, He breaks it
up. He has a knack of turning disaster into deliverance. He turns
discouragement into delight. And we learn, then, that there is no crisis
too big for God.
So no matter what you are facing, realize that it is Jesus that sets us
free. He tells us to take off the grave clothes and find that He is
bigger. Every crisis that drives us crazy with worry is an opportunity
for God to show us what He can do. And we can have confidence in this…
He will work for our good, and more importantly, He will work for His
glory.
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