Below is the manuscript to this Sunday’s sermon. Chances are, you will encounter grammatical errors. Please be gracious. I pray this will be beneficial to you as you study the Word of God that is “profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work (2 Tim. 3:16-17).”
Alright, guys! Today we will be continuing on, working our way through John 11. So, please turn in your Bibles to John 11:28.
This will be our third week working our way through this specific chapter. This chapter is a pretty remarkable story; and we know that this story (like every other story in the gospel of John) is being told for one specific purpose: our belief in Jesus.
At the close of this gospel, John tells us that he’s writing this book so that “you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
So, that means that John chose to record this story about Lazarus, Mary, and Martha (when no other gospel writer chose to) in order to give us more evidence, in order to persuade and show us that there is something different about Jesus.He is the Christ, the Son of God, that the OT constantly spoke about and he is our only hope for eternal life.
Therefore, when we finish studying our passage today, we should be left standing in awe of who Jesus is. We should be astonished, amazed, and blown away at (1) who Jesus is (2) what he accomplished here and (3) what this accomplishment points to.
And when we finish looking at chapter 11 in two week, we should be left astonished, amazed, and blown away at how anyone could respond to Jesus with hostility and opposition.
How could someone not respond to Jesus by falling on his or her face in worship?
Now, up until this week, John 11 has been a pretty dark and gloomy chapter. We’ve seen a lot of heartache and pain. But, this week we will see the rain stop and the sun begin to rise over the clouds.
Think about what we’ve learned thus far…
At the start of John 11, we see John introduce us to a family that had an intimate relationship with Jesus. This family is Lazarus, Mary, and Martha. This family loved Jesus and Jesus loved them.
But, then we quickly see that this family has encountered a major trial. What is that trial? Lazarus became sick, and because of this illness, Mary and Martha do the only thing they know to do. They send for Jesus.
Then in verses 5-6 we see one of the strangest progressions in the gospel of John. We see that, because Jesus loved this family, he stayed were he was for two more days. Rather than stop what he’s doing and dart to their aid, he stays for another weekend. Because he loved them, he allowed them to continue to suffer.
This taught us that prolonged suffering does not negate God’s love for us. When we encounter prolonged suffering, that does not mean that God has not heard our prayer for healing, nor does it mean that God is mad at us. There was purpose in his delayed response. There was purpose in their prolonged suffering. And that purpose was that they see the glory of God displayed through their suffering.
Well, after two days pass, the pain of Martha and Mary increases because their brother, Lazarus, dies. And, once he dies, Jesus goes against the counsel of his disciples and he returns to Bethany to bring him back to life. Remember, the disciples didn’t want Jesus to return to Bethany because Bethany is two miles away from Jerusalem, and Jerusalem is where everyone who wants to kill Jesus lives (that will be important for us next week). But, rather than listen to his disciples, Jesus is obedient to the Father and he returns to Bethany anyways.
Well, at the start of last week’s passage, we see the scene switch over to Martha. Martha hears that Jesus is coming and she rushes out to meet him. Upon meeting him, she says something pretty profound, and this profound statement leads to a theological discussion between her and Jesus.
She says in verse 21, “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 responded with words. He said, “Your brother will rise again.”
And Martha is like, “Yeah, I know he will. He will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
Martha has apparently been listening to Jesus, because her answer is theologically correct.
But, Jesus, in response to her response, makes one of the most remarkable claims found in the gospel of John. He says, “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?”
So, if you believe in Jesus, death will simply be a doorway. Death is not the end. It is simply the beginning. Though you die, you will live. He is the resurrection and the life. He is the one who raises the dead to eternal life.
She then responds to his question about whether or not she believes by saying, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
This is a sister who gets it! The religious leaders are blind to the truth. But, this woman right here sees and knows the truth about Jesus! Jesus is the Son of God. He is the resurrection and the life.
Now, that exchange between Jesus and Martha will be important for us in our passage today. So, be prepared to go back to those verses at times.
But, what we will primarily see in our passage today is validation to Jesus’s claim to be the resurrection and the life. Where we saw last week Jesus claim to be the resurrection and the life, this week he gives proof to that claim by raising Lazarus from the dead.
Let’s dive in.
“28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 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.”
So, what we see here is that apparently after Martha declares her belief in Jesus, Jesus tells Martha to go get her sister Mary. Martha says to Mary in verse 28, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”
Now, if you’re like me and you’re skimming through last week’s passage, wondering when Jesus told Martha to go get her sister. Save your energy. There’s nothing in the previous verses that show this exchange between Jesus and Martha. It’s like there should a verse 27.5 that says, “Jesus then sent Martha to go get her sister Mary.”
But, nonetheless, she goes to her sister in private and says, “The teacher is here and is calling for you.”
I think one thing John wants us to see here is Mary’s immediate response. In verse 29 we see that… “when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him.” Then, in verse 31 we see that the Jews take notice of her “rising and going quickly.”
So, John wants us to know that without any delay, Mary wastes no time and darts to Jesus. In contrast to last week’s passage where Mary remained seated, she now runs to where Jesus is, which is (as we see in verse 30) outside of the town of Bethany.
When Jesus calls, we should move quickly.
Now, lets remember that Mary was not mourning alone at her home. We saw last week (v.19) that many Jews had come from Bethany to console Martha and Mary. So, when the Jews who were with Mary see her leave quickly, they get up and follow her, as well. She moves quickly so they don’t have time to ask questions. They can only assume. Verse 31 tells us that they assume she is going to the tomb to weep there. So, they follow her.
Now, I think that’s important for us to take note of.
The fact that a crowd got up and followed Mary to Jesus is important because it tells us that a large, diverse, crowd is present at the time of the miracle that will soon take place.
During this time not just family would be present with Martha and Mary. Yes, family would obviously be with Martha and Mary at this time. Yes, friends likely traveled from Jerusalem to mourn with them, as well. But, there would also be professional mourners present.
D.A. Carson tells us in his commentary on John that there was a custom during this time that even a poor family was expected to hire at least two flute players and one professional wailing woman. What a job!
So, that tells us that there is a large, diverse, crowd following Mary to Jesus at this very moment.
Why is that important? Well strictly from an apologetic stand point, this is crucial for us.
The large crowd present tell us that it would be irrational to be skeptical of the authenticity of the miracle that’s about to take place.
Let’s be real for a moment. The miracle that Jesus is about to perform is remarkable and very unbelievable.
If I came to you and told you that I died Friday night, but that Kayla brought me back to life this morning, I would hope that you would roll your eyes, shake your head, and then leave and find another church.
But, if I, and Kayla, and my kids, and my neighbors, and my friends, and my distant relatives, and the nurses, and the funeral home people all said the same thing, then you would be compelled to believe the testimony that they’re give.
The abundance of witnesses give validation to the claims being made. So, John is making a point to tell us that a large, diverse, crowd of people were present at the sickness, the death, the burial, and the soon raising of Lazarus.
So, how do we know that Lazarus was really dead?
Well, there’s a long line of witnesses (both believers and non-believers) that would say, “Yeah, he was dead.”
Some would say, “I checked his heartbeat.” Other would say, “I was hired to mourn, and I walked with Mary to the tomb to mourn with her.”
How do we know that Lazarus was raised to life?
Well, there’s a long line of witnesses that would say, “Yeah, that’s true. That man who died was raised to life.”
Some would say, “I was his doctor.” Others would say, “I was their professional wailer, and I watched Jesus yell at the tomb. I rolled the stone back. I unraveled his linens.”
John is telling us that it’s not just friends and family present. It’s not just Jesus’s disciples that saw this miracle. There’s a rather diverse crowd of friends, family, and hired workers present at the time of this miracle. There’s those who believe that are present, and there are those who do not believe who are present.
So, listen to me. The large crowd, the abundance of witnesses present, tell us that it would be irrational to be skeptical of the authenticity of the miracle that’s about to take place.
So, Mary got up quick, and started heading to Jesus; and as she’s going, a large crowd is coming with her. Then, we see in verses 32-35 Jesus and Mary meet for the first time since the passing of her brother.
Let’s look at this exchange.
“32 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.’ 33 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. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see. 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”
Now, I want us to take a moment and look at (1) what we see here in these verses and (2) what we don’t see here in these verses.
First off, what do we see here in these verses?
First, we see pain in Mary’s posture before Jesus. She’s hurting. The death of her brother has caused her deep pain
In verse 32, we see that she is broken and hurting, and she falls at Jesus’s feet. In verse 33, we see that she is weeping (this is a loud, uncontrollable sobbing).
She is broken over the death of her brother. So, she says to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Do those words sound familiar?
If you were paying attention just a minute ago, they should! Just a minute ago, we read Martha’s words to Jesus in verse 21; and now we see that the words of Mary in verse 32 are nearly identical to the words of Martha in verse 21.
I think this tells us that Mary and Martha have had this conversation already. At home, in the midst of their despair, in the midst of their pain, they’ve said to one another, “If only Jesus had been here, Lazarus wouldn’t have died.”
You know in these four days, they’ve likely wrestled through the question “why,” asking, “Why did Jesus not come? Why did he heal all these strangers, but not Lazarus, the one he loves?”
Therefore, when they both make it to Jesus, out of the abundance of their heart, their mouth speaks. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
So, what we see here is Mary has fallen before Jesus broken hearted, and she is weeping and pouring her heart out to Jesus.
Just to reiterate what Jacob taught us last week: it’s ok to come to God broken. It’s ok to be honest and raw with him. But, in our coming, may we not lose sight of who he is and the power he possesses.
Now, that’s what we see. Mary has come to Jesus hurting.
But what do we not see here in these verses?
Well, if you have a red letter Bible (meaning the words of Jesus are red in your Bible) you don’t see much red here.
Let’s compare Jesus’s exchange with Martha with Jesus’s exchange with Mary. This won’t be on the screen, but if you were to look at Jesus’s exchange with Martha in verses 20-27, you see quite a bit of red.
In response to same words spoken by Mary, Jesus told Martha that her brother will be raised, and then he told her that he is the resurrection and the life, and then he asked her if she believed.
Jesus and Martha had a theological conversation in the face of her suffering and pain.
But, here you don’t see Jesus have that conversation with Mary. Here you see a lot of silence from Jesus.
In response to Mary, he asked one question with five words (to which they both respond). These words should be on the screen. He says, “Where have you laid him?”
With Martha, Jesus spoke. With Mary, Jesus was silent.
Now, has something changed since the time he spoke with Martha? No. Everything he said to Martha is 100% true. Does his silence discredit the validity of what he spoke to Martha? No. Jesus was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Both of those things are 100% true. Does Jesus love Martha more than he loves Mary? No.
So, it is the God of this universe, the one who possesses power over life and death, the one who possesses all wisdom and knowledge, the one who knew what he was about to do before he did it, and the one who loves both Mary and Martha deeply, who, rather than speak, wept with Mary in her pain.
It’s not what Jesus does in this moment that is so powerful, It’s what he chooses not to do.
Jesus’s silence tells us that silence is not the equivalent of failure. At this moment, he doesn’t take on the role of a teacher and explain what’s going on. He doesn’t begin to apologize saying, “I’m sorry for your loss,” although he was. He doesn’t seek to encourage her by saying, “Cheer up! Lazarus is present with the Lord,” although he was. He doesn’t rebuke her by saying, “Stop crying because I’m about to bring him back,”although he will. No, Jesus simply wept with those who wept.
Church, we are to do the same. As Paul tells us in Romans 12, we “rejoice with those who rejoice, and we weep with those who weep…”
Sometimes, in the midst of pain and heartache, silence is not bad. You don’t always have to have an answer. You don’t always have to have an encouraging word. Silence is not the equivalent of failure. Don't be quick to view silence as failure.
Sometimes your brother or sister in pain needs to be reminded of the gospel. Sometimes we need to lift up the head of a suffering saint and point them to our eternal hope in Christ Jesus. Sometimes you need to share and explain, and comfort through words, just like Jesus did with Martha.
But, sometimes your brother or sister in pain needs you to be silent and weep with them. Sometimes, rather than try to lift up their head, we need to bow our head with them and hurt with them.
“Weep. with. those. who. weep.”
May we follow Jesus’s example in how we interact with one another in the midst of trials. There’s a time to speak and there’s a time to be silent.
Now, here’s something that rocked me this week as I was studying this passage. As I began to dig into commentaries, I began to quickly realize that I didn’t have a true understanding of what Jesus was feeling and going through at this point. I don’t think I ever really thought about what it meant for Jesus to be “deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.” I think when I read “Jesus wept” I always thought that Jesus was just really sad; and because he was sad, he wept.
But, John is actually going out of his way to tell us that Jesus experienced something far more severe than sadness. What we’re about to see is that Jesus isn’t simply sad; he’s angry and he’s upset. He’s deeply frustrated. The grief he is feeling is far different than the grief that Mary, Martha, and the crowd are feeling.
The Greek word used for “deeply moved” is “embrimaomai,” and it’s equivalent to anger, outrage, or emotional indignation. The word was also literally used to describe the snorting of a horse.
This is strong language. John is seeking to tell us that when he saw the weeping of Mary and the Jews, a deep anger welled up within Jesus. And he adds to that by saying that Jesus is “greatly troubled,” which means that he was agitated and emotionally unsettled.
So, as he is emotionally unsettled with a deep anger welling up within him, he asked the question “where have they laid him (their brother Lazarus)?” And they then say, “Come and see.” And it’s at this point that Jesus wept.
But, even Jesus’s weeping here is different from the weeping of Mary. The word used to describe the weeping of Jesus in verse 35 is different than the word used to describe the weeping of Mary and the crowd in verse 33. The weeping that we see in verse 33 is a loud, uncontrollable sobbing. The weeping in verse 35 is more of a silent overflow of inner turmoil.
Why is that important?
That’s important because it tells us there is an internal struggle taking pace within Jesus right now that different than Martha and Mary. There is deep anger welling up within him that is beginning overflow into a silent weeping.
Which leads to the Jews (1) acknowledging his love for Lazarus and (2) questioning his motives.
“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?”
They’re trying to reconcile Jesus’s love with his lack of action. They’re essentially asking the question, “If Jesus loved this man, and he possessed the power to heal him, then why did he not prevent him from dying?”
Notice how they’ve learned that Jesus possesses the power over life, but they have yet to learn that he possesses power over death. Raising Lazarus from the dead right now is on no ones radar.
But, before we get to the act of raising Lazarus from the dead, let me go back to the emotions that Jesus is feeling and ask the question “why.”
Why is Jesus angry?
What is leading to this inner anguish that Jesus is experiencing?Is he frustrated over the hopelessness of this situation? Is he frustrated that he showed up too late? Is he frustrated that he was unable to keep Lazarus from dying?
No. Jesus has made it clear that this sickness will not lead to death. He knows that he will raise Lazarus from the grave. He knows that this will lead to his glory. Jesus is not in anguish over the hopelessness of this situation.
Now, some commentaries, however, say that Jesus could be angry over a lack of belief displayed through their weeping. But, I’m not sure if that’s it, either.
I think what we see here is that Jesus is face to face with his enemy: Satan, sin, and death. And I think we see this a little more clearly when we look ahead to verse 38, “Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb.”
So, let me seek to explain. In this passage, as Jesus’s death is approaching, he’s visually seeing someone that he deeply loves experiencing the negative repercussion of sin and death. And he, himself, is personally experiencing the pain that comes from sin and death.
Remember, when sin entered the world in Genesis 3, it is at that point that we see death enter the picture. Mankind was originally created in the image of God in Genesis 1. But, in Genesis 3, they fell from their innocent and sinless condition by disobeying God in the Garden of Eden. And it’s at that point that sin brought forth physical, spiritual, and eternal death.
Therefore, the death of Lazarus is a result of sin. It is sin that has tore this family apart. It is sin that has brought forth this pain. Now, the whole purpose of Jesus’s coming is that we may have life through his death. So, where sin, death, and Satan have distorted and fractured God’s creation, God has now come to restore and redeem and give life to his creation.
Jesus— the one that all things were made by, through, and for— is experiencing the heartache and pain that comes from sin; and he’s deeply disturbed.
At this point, he’s standing toe to toe, looking eye to eye, with his enemy. And, as his blood is boiling, Jesus is about to show his enemy that he. Stands. No. Chance.
Death will soon be defeated.
Jesus’s time to defeat his enemy— sin and death and Satan— is on the horizon, and when he does it’s not even going to be a close battle.
Let me try to set the stage for what’s taking place here and what’s about to take place.
If you and I were standing toe to toe with one another, looking eye to eye, and we’re about to fight, and you’ve had time to carefully calculate every punch that you’re about to throw at me, and you feel like you feel like you’re going to win the fight because you’ve never lost a fight before…But, right before you rare back to throw your first punch I said, “Hang on. Here’s what’s about to happen… You’re about to jab me as hard as you can with your left hand and it’s not going to phase me. You’ll then throw a haymaker with your right, but it won’t hurt. That uppercut… it won’t work. That roundhouse kick… pointless. You’re going to exhaust yourself, throwing your greatest blows at me. And once you do that, I’m going to punch you square in the nose with my left hand and I’m going to knock you out.”
Please know that this is what we’re about to see take place. Jesus, looking eye to eye with death, is about to give his enemy a foretaste to how he will defeat him. Jesus, in watching Mary and the Jews mourn, in looking at the tomb, he’s angrily standing toe to toe with his enemy, sin and death, and by raising Lazarus from the grave he’s saying, “Your greatest blows will prove to be ineffective. You are about to throw everything you have at me by trying to kill me, and it’s not going to work. You will lose. In the same way that I’m about to raise Lazarus from the grave, I will rise from the grave. And there’s nothing you can do about it.”
In the midst of such a hopeless situation, the obvious question rings loud, who will defeat the dreaded enemy of sin and death.
It is Jesus, the one who is standing toe to toe with sin and death at this moment that possesses the power to defeat them.
Lets keep reading.
“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.”
Hold up. Wait a second.
Martha literally just made this beautiful declaration of her belief in Jesus back in verse 27. Remember in verse 27 she just proclaimed that she believed “Jesus to be the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” If you believe that Jesus is the Christ, then you should trust him as the Christ. But, now, within the same day, we see her try to correct Jesus.
Let’s notice two things really quick:
First, this reminds us that Christians are not perfect. We will say and do some pretty dumb stuff. We will doubt God, even though he’s given us no reason to doubt him. It would do us well to remember that although we are forgiven, cleansed, and justified in Christ, we are still imperfect people going through the sanctification process. We are still going through the process of becoming more like Jesus. Although you are a new creation in Christ Jesus, you will still at times sin. At times you will still wrong your neighbor, and at times your neighbor will still wrong you.
May we therefore be a people who fix our eyes on Jesus, not our works, as our only hope for salvation. We, like Martha, will say and do some dumb things as Christians. Therefore, we need much grace.
I also want us to notice how her statement gives further validation to the death of Lazarus. In case you’re still doubting, Lazarus is dead.
Seconds before Jesus calls Lazarus from the grave, Martha reminds us that Lazarus has been dead for four days. He’s been dead so long that there will be an odor from his decaying body.
With the crowd present, no one steps in and rebukes her, which tells me that everyone agrees with her logic.
Lazarus isn’t alive in the tomb playing poker with the roaches. That man is dead. His body is decaying, and the stench of death will invade their nostrils the moment they roll away the stone.
Jesus then responds in verse 40 by saying,
“Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”
Notice the patience Jesus displays to Martha here. He doesn’t mock her. He gently directs her focus back to who he is and the promise he gave her. He’s gently directing her back to belief so that they can see his glory.
And in response to these words, look at verse 41.
“So they took away the stone (not Jesus, but the Jews). 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.”
So, here we see Jesus praying publicly what he’s already prayed privately. Jesus is thanking God for hearing him past-tense. This tells us that Jesus has already been praying for Lazarus. In the same way that Jesus prayed for Lazarus, he intercedes on our behalf.
But, here Jesus goes to God in prayer for a specific purpose. What is that purpose? That purpose is the belief of those around him.
And then we get to the grand finale, the moment we’ve all been waiting for! Look at these last two verses.
“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.”
At the calling of Jesus, Lazarus comes to life. Think about that, Jesus possesses the power to call the dead to life. He’s not simply a good man. He’s not simply a good teacher. He is the only one who possesses the power to bring the dead to life. He is the only one who is capable of defeating our greatest enemy: sin and death.
How do we know this is true? Once again, look at the details John gives us here. Who unbinds Lazarus? The crowd.
Can you imagine what’s going through their mind at this moment? At the calling of Jesus, Lazarus, the man who died came out, and now they gotta go unwrap him.
Levitical Law prohibited the touching of a dead body. Therefore, Jesus’s command to unbind him proves that Lazarus is now alive. This is no longer a dead body that one must avoid touching. This man is alive, and the crowd must unbind him!
What a moment in history. Jesus is not simply a good man. He’s not simply a good teacher. He is the only one who possesses the power to bring the dead to life.
And this is the gospel.
Paul, in Ephesians 2, says to the church, “You were dead in your trespasses and sins…” So, that tells us that all of humanity is spiritually dead because of their sins. But, Paul goes on to say that “God, being rich in mercy has made us alive with the Messiah, even though we were dead in our sins.”
So, if your faith resides in Jesus, then you, by God’s mercy, have been brought to life (just like Lazarus). Where you had no hope for life, God graciously gave it. Where you were lifelessly and hopelessly trapped in a spiritual tomb, Jesus has called you out by name to a new life in him. Where you once let off a terrible stench of death, you are now the aroma of Christ to God. The hope of the gospel is that Jesus Christ defeated sin and death through his death and resurrection. And because of his death and resurrection, we too have been brought to life through belief in him.