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let’s pray together Lord God put yourself on display right now show us your glory that we may be transformed by it I pray God from your preached word that you will enable me to speak that we would believe in Jesus Christ and believe in him more in Jesus name I pray amen I’ve been thinking this past week about a certain notable person from church history that person is Jonathan Edwards born 1703 in Connecticut Jonathan Edwards has been called by many the greatest American Theologian gifted by God with a brilliant mind eloquent words and a genuine passion for Jesus Christ Edwards is still famous today for his sermons his treatises and his key role in The Gospel Revival in the American colonies known as the first Great Awakening but Edwards died in an unexpected and sad way in those days small pox was a terrible highly contagious disease that killed hundreds of thousands of people each year in Europe and America for those who survived small pox many had extensive scarring on the skin or were left blind however by The Mid 7 1900s European doctors had developed SL adopted a small poox inoculation what was this inoculation you might ask well the inoculation was the precursor to the modern small poox vaccine and it functioned similarly for the smallpox inoculation The Physician would introduce a less dangerous form of the small poox virus into a person’s body so that as the person subsequently became became sick with the small poox his body could develop natural antibodies that would then REM render him immune from all versions of small poox and prevent him from being able to transmit small poox to others now though by the 1750s small pox inoculation was already a proven medical procedure there was a small risk that the inoculated person could die from the introduced small poox but this was much better risk than the roughly 25% chance of dying through regular small pox for his part Jonathan Edwards was a strong proponent of smallpox inoculations and in February 1758 when small pox was again rampant in New England Edwards himself received an inoculation hoping that his example might encourage others to do the same however throughout his life Edwards had never been particularly healthy and after his inoculation he became seriously ill with small pox after a few weeks of extreme weakness and near starvation Jonathan Edwards died of a fever on March 22nd 1758 he was 54 years old we can imagine the great grief and even angry confusion of Edward’s surviving family members and Friends How could a proven medical procedure meant to preserve Edward’s life end up killing him why did Edwards have to be part of the rare selection of people who died by inoculation why would God take away someone from the world who still had so much left to do and to give for the Lord’s sake how could God repay a family who loved and served God so much with a sudden tragedy like this we can imagine these types of questions yet such apparently was not the predominant attitude of Edwards himself or his family when Edwards realized he would not recover from his illness he he wrote these last words to his daughter Lucy dear Lucy it seems to me to be the will of God that I must shortly leave you therefore give my kindest love to my dear wife and tell her that the uncommon Union which has so long subsisted between us and has been of such a nature as I trust is spiritual and therefore will continue forever and I hope she will be reported under so great a trial and submit cheerfully to the will of God and asked my children you are now to be left fatherless which I hope will be an inducement to you all to seek a father who will never fail you when John to Edward’s wife Sarah heard the news she wrote to her daughter Esther the following excuse me she writes what shall I say a holy and good God has covered us with a dark cloud oh that we may kiss the rod and lay our hands on our mouths the Lord has done it he has made me adore his goodness that we had him so long but my God lives and he has my my heart oh what a legacy my husband and your father has left to us we are all given to God and there I am and love to be your ever affectionate mother Sarah Edwards how is it possible that in such an unexpected tragedy in such great grief Jonathan and Sarah Edwards on the one hand confessed that God himself was ultimately responsible for their hard circumstances while on the other hand they not only worshipfully trusted in their God but encouraged others to do the same the answer is that these two understood the truth epitomized in our very next passage in the Gospel of John a truth that we also must understand if we are to believe in Jesus amid the hardships Great and Small in our lives please take your Bibles and open to John 11 John 11 1-16 the title of our message today is when Jesus let a friend die when Jesus let a friend die John 11 1-16 it’s page 173 if you’re using the Bibles that we’ve provided let’s read the passage together John 11 1-16 now a certain man was sick Lazarus of Bethany the village of Mary and her sister Martha it was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair whose brother Lazarus was sick so the sisters sent word to him saying Lord behold he whom you love is sick but when Jesus heard this he said this sickness is not to end in death but for the glory of God so that the Son of God may be glorified by it now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus so when he heard that he was sick he then 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 this he said and after that he said to them our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep but I go so that I may awaken him out of sleep the disciples then said said to him Lord if he has fallen asleep he will recover now Jesus had spoken of his death but they thought that he was speaking of literal sleep so Jesus then said to them plainly Lazarus is dead and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there so that you may believe but let us go to him therefore Thomas who is called dmus said to his fellow disciples let us also go so that we may die with him what we have here is the beginning of the account of Jesus last special sign Miracle mentioned in this gospel or featured in this gospel remember that our author the Apostle John he selects seven special signs for his gospel to demonstrate both that Jesus is the Messiah and Son of God but also what kind of Messiah and Son of God Jesus is that is to say Jesus miracles are indeed signs as to who he is and what he’s about this seventh and final sign will in some ways be the most powerful and most dramatic of them all Jesus will raise to life a man who has already been dead four days and thereby demonstrate that Jesus himself is the resurrection and life for all his people now while the account of this Resurrection Miracle spans John 11 1-46 something notable takes place in the beginning of the account that warrants our special consideration which is why we’re only looking at verses 1 to 16 today however to appreciate the profundity of this beginning section we need to get a grip on this passage’s precise timing take a peek with me for a moment at John 11:17 the verse right after the section we read John 11:17 says so when Jesus came he found that he Lazarus had already been in the Tomb 4 days now did you catch that time detail when Jesus arrives in the town of Bethany near Jerusalem Lazarus has already been dead 4 days but there are other time details we should note when the messenger first arrives with the news about Lazarus in verse three Jesus hears that Lazarus is not dead but merely sick we also hear in verse six that Jesus delayed pays his visit to Lazarus by 2 days yet before Jesus sets out to see Lazarus Jesus tells his disciples in verse 14 Lazarus is dead so Lazarus is dead before Jesus even sets out so let’s see if we can answer two questions now when exactly did Lazarus die and what did Jesus two-day delay have to do with Lazarus death the answer depends on where Jesus was when he received the news of Lazarus illness if you look right before our passage we looked at right after and Outlook right before in John 10:40 John 10:40 is the last time we heard about Jesus location John 10:40 says and he Jesus went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing and he was staying there okay that’s where Jesus is but but where is this place where is this place beyond the Jordan where John the Baptist was first baptizing the common interpretation is that Jesus was just on the other side of the Jordan River opposite Jericho when he received the news of Lazarus illness why is this well though none of the gospels say exactly where along the Jordan River John the Baptist did his first baptizing mark5 Mark 15 mentions that all the country of Judea and all the people of Jerusalem were going out to John to be baptized in the Jordan okay that reference suggests John’s baptism site was somewhere close for all these judeans and jerusalemites to get to and what part of the Jordan is close to that well the lower Jordan even the lower Jordan opposite Jericho so if you think about how the Jordan River flows from the Sea of Galilee in the north down the the Eastern side of Israel to the Dead Sea in the South the lower Jordan would be right above the Dead Sea so Jesus must be somewhere around there that’s where John was first baptizing why does this interpretation matter well the lower Jordan is only about one Day’s Journey from the village of Bethany outside Jerusalem where Lazarus is so for Lazarus to be dead 4 days by the time Jesus arrives and the timing of the passage must look like this in John 11 day one Lazarus is terribly ill and a messenger is dispatched to Jesus with the news however Lazarus dies later that same day day two Jesus receives the news but he delays his departure two more days day four Jesus departs and arrives at bethney the same day and raises Lazarus this reconstructed timeline makes sense and it allows Lazarus to be dead as the text says 4 days already 4 days and this reconstruction also has the seeming advantage that Jesus cannot be blamed for not saving Lazarus from dying since Lazarus was already dead when Jesus received the news of Lazarus illness messenger didn’t know but really Lazarus was already dead however there are two problems with this reconstruction first in John 11:4 Jesus uses the present tense to describe Lazarus illness he says this sickness is not to end in death suggesting that Lazarus is still sick but alive at that point second while John the Baptist may have indeed baptized at the lower Jordan at some point some point even at the beginning of his ministry John the Apostle our author has never mentioned that in this gospel he’s never mentioned that site but instead a different one back in John 128 the place in which John the Apostle Readers first hear about John the Baptist and see him baptizing is in a place called Bethany beyond the Jordan that’s the way it’s written in John 128 Bethany beyond the Jordan now historians and archaeologists have not found any evidence of a village called Bethany opposite Jericho on the other side of the lower Jordan however there was a Bethany beyond the Jordan known in the first century actually it was not the name of a town but of a region it’s what the Jewish Roman historian Josephus calls banah banah banah was a section of land east of the Sea of Galilee which would indeed be Beyond or on the other side of the Jordan River so then if in this gospel John the Baptist first baptized in this banah and you can see how that sounds just like Bethany just Greek ified if that’s where John the Baptist first baptized then in John 10:4 40 wouldn’t the naturally understood reference as to where Jesus goes where John first baptized wouldn’t it also be naturally understood as banah that’s where the gospel first said he was how would the reader understand anything differently therefore I take the view that Jesus is in banah in John 11 rather than in the lower Jordan you say okay great why does that matter well banah is a 4day journey a 4day journey to the Village of bethney near Jerusalem which means if we apply that information to the details of John 11 the timeline looks like this day one Lazarus is ill and a messenger is sent out to tell Jesus in Far Away banah day four the messenger arrives and Jesus prophesies about how the sickness will turn out but Jesus also determines to stay two days longer where he is day six two days later Lazarus dies prompting Jesus to gather his disciples to return to Bethany in Judea day nine so after a 4-day journey Jesus arrives in Bethany and raises Lazarus from the dead I believe this second reconstruction makes better sense of the time and geography details that we have in this passage and in the greater context of the Gospel of John yet this clearer timeline raises for us a poting question why doesn’t Jesus prevent his friend from dying if Lazarus is still alive by the time Jesus gets the news and why doesn’t the Good Shepherd the God man set out immediately to save his friend someone will respond well like you said it’s a 4-day journey Jesus wouldn’t get there in time if Lazarus dies two days later well are you telling me the Son of God couldn’t find a way to do the impossible surely he could have zoomed there like Superman I mean hadn’t Jesus already done something like that already in this gospel John 6:21 do you remember the disciples were in the middle of the Sea of Galilee they’ve got the winds going against them Jesus steps into the boat what happens John says the boat immediately arrived at the land to which they were going that was a miracle of transport or better yet Jesus didn’t have to travel Jesus could have healed Lazarus from a distance because didn’t he already do this in the Gospel of John John 4:50 Jesus heals a royal official son without being there he says go your son lives Jesus didn’t need to be in a certain place to do a miracle he’s God someone else might say well Jesus could only do the will of the father and the father apparently did not ordain for Jesus to save Lazarus from death but to instead raise Lazarus after death okay true enough we’ve heard Jesus speak similarly throughout this gospel about not coming to do his own will but only his father’s will and Jesus has also said quite recently in this gospel that he and the father are one God the father and God the son are one in being one in essence perfectly United in all action will and purpose so it’s not as if the father ordained something that the son is totally at odds with or is confused about father why won’t you let me go heal Lazarus it’s not that way at all father and son are in Perfect Harmony they’re in complete agreement in everything there’s no conflict within God this means that that when the father ordains sickness and death for Lazarus and consequently Calamity for Lazarus family the sun completely agrees in fact as the Living Word of God which we heard explained to us in John chapter 1 as the executor of God’s Eternal decree the one who makes what God decrees happen The Sun Also must be the one bringing to pass This calamity to say all that in another clearer way Jesus the son of God not only permits his friend Lazarus to die but in a divinely Transcendent sense Jesus the son of God causes his friend Lazarus to die but how can that be how can a good god ordain evil pain trouble for this world and even for those that he loves how can a good god do that now yes original sin God’s holy judgment man’s responsibility they’re tied up in the answer to that question nevertheless it’s still the question that we humans desire an answer for how can a good god ordain evil how can a good god ordain pain there a question with which many have struggled over the centuries and some have used it as an excuse to disbelieve in Jesus or to walk away from the faith I’ve met people who said that to me oh I can’t believe in a God who lets this happen causes this to happen now while the Bible does not give us as full of an answer to the question of the problem of evil the problem of pain as we might like the Bible does give an adequate answer so that we May with joy and peace believe in Jesus and follow him what is the fundamental answer to the problem of evil the problem of pain that the Bible gives it is this God has a good and holy purpose in all evil and in all suffering what is that purpose it is to display the glory of God in Jesus Christ to all all the universe and tied with that to conform people in Greater faith and obedience to the Son of God now there’s a lot of different nuances that we could work out and discuss in another context but this is the fundamental answer why does God ordain evil and suffering it is ultimately to display the glory of God in Jesus Christ and to cause those that God has chosen those that God has marked out for his love to believe in him and to become more like Jesus Christ This Is The Answer that is laid out for us in miniature in our present passage as I hope to show you we can State the main idea of John 11 1-16 in this way John records Jesus response to the news of Lazarus sickness so that you will believe in Jesus even when you face danger confusion and tragedy John records Jesus response to the news of Lazarus sickness so that you will believe in Jesus even when you face danger confusion and tragedy and you will some of you have some of you are experiencing it right now all of us will let’s take a closer look at how John unfolds this main idea for us the narrative proceeds in six parts so I’ll give you six headings as we make our way through the passage the first heading covers verses 1 to three where we see number one Jesus received some sad news Jesus received some sad news let’s reread those first three verses together now a certain man was sick Lazarus of Bethany the village of Mary and her sister Martha it was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair whose brother Lazarus was sick so the sisters sent word to him saying Lord behold he whom you love is sick you see here that we’re introduced to a certain family a brother and two sisters they live in the village of Bethany which is just on the other side of the Mount of Olives east of Jerusalem very close by the sisters Mary and Martha you’ve probably heard their names before because they appear a few times throughout the gospels in Luke 10 38-42 Luke 10: 38-42 famously we see Martha hosting Jesus at her home but getting flustered when her sister Mary listens to jesus’ teaching instead of helping Martha over prepare and in John 12 so just the next chapter in this gospel John 121-11 Martha is again serving a meal she was probably the elder sister while Mary anoints Jesus with precious perfumed ointment actually you see this latter reference brought up specifically in verse two here of our present chapter Mary is the one who anointed the Lord with ointment which is a curious inclusion considering that John hasn’t told us about that later event yet why does he do that well perhaps this is merely an example of foreshadowing by our author we say oh I want to find out more about that or this could also be an indication that the story of Mary’s anointing Jesus had become widely known even in the first century after all both Matthew and Mark in their gospels they mention an unnamed woman anointing Jesus in bethney 6 days before Jesus crucifixion John gives a similar account if that act was indeed well known then JN would already be connecting for his audience who had heard of this pretty significant Act of devotion that this Mary that he’s talking about now is that same unnamed woman that they had heard of before who did that marvelous thing for Jesus so as I say the gospels tell us a little bit more about Mary and Martha elsewhere but we don’t really get any information about Lazarus in any of the gospels other than what’s a little bit here and what’s mentioned a little bit in John chapter 12 he’s there again reclining at a meal in 122 when Martha is serving and Mary anoints Jesus but that’s pretty much all we know about last Lazarus he’s their brother he lived in this town nothing more said about him there is another Lazarus who’s mentioned in Luke 16 verses 19 to 31 a certain story that Jesus tells but that was apparently a different Lazarus Lazarus was a common name at that time so we might not know much about Lazarus we know a little bit about the sisters but something that’s definitely clear about this family even from this passage is that they all love and believe in Jesus since their home is in Bethany near Jerusalem it’s likely that Jesus and his disciples stayed often with this family as Jesus went up to the yearly feasts thus was developed a true friendship and devotion between Jesus his disciples and this Bethany Trio I mean look at verse two that reference is to extravagant love and wholehearted belief from Mary towards Jesus she’s pouring out this extremely expensive perfume on Jesus that’s someone who’s devoted that’s just one marker of this family and their love for Jesus these are no ordinary supporters they’re not strangers they’re not just kind of believe in Jesus these are precious god- serving Messiah believing family members talked away in little old Bethany therefore considering their Mutual affection it comes as no surprise that the sisters in verse three Let Jesus know of a sad development for the family Lazarus is seriously ill notice how their message to Jesus is written first of all it’s so short but also notice it begins with Lord and that’s a respectful title akin to sir and then they say behold he whom you love is sick I don’t even mention Lazarus name but they don’t need to Jesus knows whom they mean he knows the one that they love the man in the family clearly this is a family confident not only in Jesus love for Lazarus but in their love and his love for all of them that’s why they send him this message now notice they don’t make any explicit request in the letter even though our request is certainly implied why send this letter to Jesus not just oh Jesus by the way Lazarus is really sick no it’s because of this Jesus come visit us come help us come even heal and save this one that we know you love and don’t we often make similar requests of Jesus today by our own prayers Lord here’s what’s going on I’m in trouble this hurts my loved one is in danger come visit come help come heal and bring deliverance we know what that’s like and what true and loving friend would not be moved by such appeals from this family or even from us who have been brought into the family of God yet jesus’ response In this passage is both surprising and instructive we see in verse four our second heading we see number two Jesus foretells a glorious outcome Jesus foretells a glorious outcome look now at verse four but when Jesus heard this he said this sickness is not to end in death but for the glory of God so that the Son of God may be glorified by it notice Jesus initial response to the sad news about his friend’s sickness and the sister’s distress is to declare confident the outcome of this trial Jesus first says this sickness is not to end in death that is the tragedy of death will definitely not be the ultimate outcome of this sickness rather something else which Jesus clarifies next but for the glory of God in other words Jesus says Lazarus is sick for the glory of God his sickness will not have death as the ultimate result but instead the display of God’s great power and love and goodness for all creation to see these words may remind you what Jesus said in John 9:3 about why a certain man was born blind neither this man nor his parents sin but this was so that the works of God might be displayed in him now notice Jesus mentions an additional specific purpose at the end of verse 4 in John 11 he says so that the Son of God may be glorified ified by it ah notice that Jesus again uses the title that he asserted in dramatic fashion in John 1036 the one that nearly got him stoned to death as the Son of God Jesus is the one true God and he is one with the heavenly father apparently then this sickness Jesus says will be made in the end to glorify Father and Son now we’ve heard in this gospel about how the father and son are very much intent on glor in one another Jesus says this sickness will accomplish that and understand the word glorify here doesn’t refer to praise like oh this is going to result a whole bunch of Praise in the end rather this refers to Revelation to making God known and all his Beauty and worth and how important is it to know God to see him made known so that you can actually know him monumentally important for knowing god and you’ve heard this before as we’ve gone to this gospel knowing god is the essence of life even the essence of eternal life you want to experience life it is found in knowing god and all his glorious self Jesus says to his father in John 173 I hope you can memorize this verse at some point because you’re going to hear me quot it like every sermon but John 17:3 this is eternal life that they may know you the only true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent Jesus says that’s eternal life and he says that’s what’s going to happen in this situation with Lazarus sickness to know to walk with and to enjoy God in Christ is eternal life to not know Jesus to not know God in Jesus Christ is to totally miss out on life and even to experience Eternal death there’s nothing more important or satisfying for God’s creatures than to know God to know their creator to know Jesus Christ and to know him more but surprisingly Jesus says that this calamitous sickness this grief bringing pain bringing confusion bringing sickness with Lazarus is going to result in this kind of Glorious outcome wouldn’t think that those two things go together but Jesus says they do and by the way Brethren the same is true for you and me in the hardships and reversals that we experience perhaps as you foresee something hard in the future or as you’re experiencing something hard right now all you can see is death misery ruin you say this is hard and I only have hard things to look forward to it’s just going to be death from here on out but Jesus tells you today through this passage take courage death is not the end of your trial ruin is not the end of your trial rather your trial is going to end in the Glorious revelation of God to you and to others even the Glorious revelation of Christ so that you may enjoy eternal life so then Jesus initial response to the news about Lazarus is surprising but so is Jesus next action we move now to verses five and six which we encounter our third heading number three Jesus lovingly delays his Deliverance Jesus lovingly delays his Deliverance look at verse five just to start now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus I appreciate this verse because our author John wants to make sure that we don’t misunderstand we might read verse four and think God is callous God is only thinking about the big picture he doesn’t really care for individuals and making his omelet he doesn’t mind breaking a few eggs but John States plainly here that Jesus loved the family and not just the family even the individual members of the family note note the stress in each one of the persons brought up again in the verse Jesus loved Martha and he loved her sister and he loved Lazarus he loved each of them as individuals and he Dei desire their individual benefit also the verb translated love here is in the Greek imperfect tense which usually indicates a repeated action in the past so we could thus rightly translate here Jesus was loving Martha and her sister and Lazarus he kept doing it he wouldn’t stop doing it through everything that was happening to them even in their great trial Jesus was loving them and he would continue to do so as he worked alongside his father and the spirit to bring about good for them what was happening was not due to Jesus callousness God’s callousness no this is love at work and Brethren same is true for you if you are in Christ Jesus has never stopped and never will stop loving you he didn’t just love you once and he’s like well glad that’s over no he’s continually loving you he’s loving you all the time even when circumstances appear to teach the opposite because that’s certainly what it would have looked like for the Bethany family as we see in verse six so when he Jesus heard that he Lazarus was sick he Jesus Jus then stayed 2 days longer in the place where he Jesus was at first glance this verse does not seem to follow verse 5 we would expect to read the two verses together Jesus loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus so when Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick Jesus went to Lazarus right away because wouldn’t that be the loving action to take if you really are loving them wouldn’t you do that but curiously the transmiss word beginning this sentence which we could translate as so or therefore in verse 6 it indicates for us that it was because Jesus was loving each member of the family that he didn’t go to them right away in fact loving them best meant staying two days longer where he was even until Lazarus died and the family was plunged into tragedy I don’t know if that provokes your spirit you might ask but how is it loving to let someone go through pain when you could prevent it especially the terrible pain of bereavement death this is admittedly a hard concept for us to grasp especially when we are in the midst of great pain and suffering but we must ask again what is the the most loving act the Son of God could do for any of us is it the sparing of the lives of our loved ones is it healing us from all sicknesses is it protecting us from all troubles or is it showing us his glory so that we might so that we might know him more and become more like him if we’re thinking soberly and biblically we must admit that the answer is the last it’s showing us his glory that’s the most loving thing Jesus can do for us and the way God often best shows us his glory is by sustaining us and delivering us through great trials not from great trials and isn’t this also the Grateful testimony of of many believing Brethren across the ages it’s what we were sharing together in Sunday school was it not when you’ve gone through the trial and you and formed in your mind by the scriptures you say I’m grateful for it because I got to know Jesus better he drew me closer to himself through this he showed me his glory even through the pain brothers and sisters sometimes you will pray for deliverance from certain painful trials and God in love will not Grant your request at least not yet when that happens do not immediately rush to the thought that God has failed you or abandoned you or forgotten about you or doesn’t love you because that is impossible God has declared the opposite from his word he’s demonstrated the opposite from his word it isn’t impossible for Jesus Christ to stop loving you if you are in him so rather than running to that unbelieving really self-exalting thought rather remember what the scriptures teach again and again in different ways Hebrews 12:6 he whom the Lord loves he disciplines he whom the Lord loves he disciplines our trials I’m preaching this to myself as much as I’m preaching it to you our trials are not a sign of God’s lack of Love rather the opposite they are a sign of his love because there’s no way he can stop loving us there’s no circumstances that he brings that he ordains that is not authored in love not just love for the world but love for you individually it’s for your good it’s for the display of his glory to you so that you’ll be drawn to him no circumstance arises in your life that does not have that as its intention so in those otherwise inexplicable trials don’t say this means God doesn’t love me you say this is God’s love working out in a way that I did not expect trust God when Deliverance is delayed or even denied believe in your Lord’s love amid a host of questions because in the end you will see clearly how Jesus was loving you in the best way all along we testify of that at different times in our lives right we say that was a really long trial but now I see how the Lord was loving me through all of it you’re going to see that many times in your life and especially when your life ends and when you are with the Lord in glory you will say you were loving me all along I didn’t know the half of it now up to this point the lens of focus in our text has been on this suffering family in Galilee but we see a shift to the Jesus disciples as we move to our fourth heading covering verses 7 to 10 number four Jesus promises his Divine protection Jesus promises his Divine protection this may sound like I contradicting what I just said but I’m not let’s let’s see how this looks together uh we’ll read these verses all together verses 7 to 10 then after this he as Jesus said to his 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 the world but if anyone walks in the night he stumbles because the light is not in him we see here that Jesus suddenly announces his intention to go back south to Judea but after announcing this plan Jesus immediately encounters resistance from his disciples and why is that well they are afraid they’re afraid for Jesus and they’re afraid for themselves you can see in verse eight the disciples remind Jesus that he and they only recently escaped being brutally and unjustly stoned to death by the Jews in Jerusalem we saw that together in the last two weeks over in John chapter 10 that experience strongly suggests to the disciples that the group can expect more lynching attempts if they go back to Juda especially near Jerusalem which is where Bethany is now do the disciples have a valid concern from a mere human perspective yes but Jesus seeks to remind his disciples about another reality in his reply and Jesus communicates this reality via an analogy of daytime and nighttime to summarize the analogy Jesus points out that every day has a set number of day and night hours whoever walks in the day that is in the daylight is safe and does not stumble because he walks by the light of the world which is the sun therefore that person can see where he’s going but if a person walks around at night when there’s no light well that person easily stumbles what is Jesus saying by this analogy well based on the disciples objection we can we can fill it in what Jesus is saying is something similar to what Jesus also said in John 94 to five namely that Jesus is still in the daylight portion of his life he’s in the time of ministry and work according to the plan of God marked out for Jesus the night portion will eventually come that is the time when Jesus will be killed nothing can stop that pre-ordained time but before that time nothing can stop Jesus from doing God’s work Jesus is completely protected by the father because he’s in the day he’s in the daylight portion of his life therefore even amid danger Jesus can proceed forward in cous obedience in fulfilling his father’s will night is coming where I won’t be able to work but now is the day so let’s get to the work by extension as long as Jesus the son of God is in the world as the light of the world remember he claimed that title for himself that doesn’t just describe the son that describes the Son of God too as long as Jesus is in the world well the disciples are also safe they’re walking around with the light night is coming when Jesus will be seized he will be killed he will no longer be there to protect his disciples but that time is not yet the light of the world is still shining the disciples may still walk by his light so the disciples need not fear the murderous danger of the Jews for the God man will protect them don’t worry guys we’re still in the light I’m walking with you as the light you’ll be safe when you come with me to Judea and by the way Brethren there is a corresponding Truth for us along the same lines according to the scriptures and we’ve been talking about this in Sunday school recently both the number of our days and the content of our days are all ready ordained by God there’s no way you can lengthen your life or cut your life short and nothing can harm you accept what God has ordained for you which is ultimately going to work out for your good and His glory nothing even can kill you except which God designs to bring you to himself so really you too are under Divine protection nothing can harm you except that which is going to work out for your good so you too I too can be courageously obedient as we believe in Jesus for as Paul says in second Timothy God will Deliver Us from every evil attack until he brings us safely into his Heavenly Kingdom we’re in the daylight portion of Our Lives we don’t know when night’s coming we are to make the most of the day as God has given it to us now by this point Jesus has declared his intention to go to Judea but he has not really clarified the reason maybe the disciples don’t even realize he means to go visit this Bethany family but we see Jesus clarify the reason under the fifth heading and verses 11 to 15 let’s look at number five now Jesus clarifies his glad purpose Jesus clarifies his glad purpose verses 11-13 or it’s 11- 15 but let’s start with just 11- 13 this he said and after that he said to them our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep but I go so that I may awaken him out of sleep the disciples then said to himl if he has fallen asleep he will recover now Jesus had spoken of his death but they thought he was speaking of literal sleep notice Jesus does clarify for his disciples that he wants to go to Judea to visit our friend Lazarus but the disciples misunderstand Jesus metaphor describing what Jesus will do during this visit to a sick sick brother Jesus says that Lazarus has fallen asleep which is if you think about it an appropriate metaphor that describes someone who has died but is soon to be awakened by Resurrection Jesus used the same metaphor in Luke 8:52 Luke 8:52 before raising gyrus daughter from the dead if you might remember that he says she hasn’t died she’s just sleeping well she really did die but Jesus was about to raise her so it was it was a good metaphor actually falling asleep eventually became a common euphemism in the early church describing Christians who died and whose bodies therefore were now awaiting resurrection and when any of us die it’s just falling asleep not because our souls don’t go to be with God and we’re just sitting around in some kind of Soul sleep no that’s not true but rather our bodies are soon to awaken when God raises us from the dead but the disciples do not catch on to the Sleep metaphor and they’re confused as to why Jesus would want to disturb the literal sleep that would be so necessary for sick Lazarus to recover so Jesus further clarifies he makes his words extremely plain for the disciples in verses 14 15 or he says or it says so then Jesus said to them plainly Lazarus is dead and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there so that you may believe but let us go to him now what Jesus makes clear in verse 14 is something that could only be by his own Supernatural knowledge there was no new messenger there was no sign that would otherwise tell Jesus that Lazarus is dead the father had to make that known to him that had to come by Divine Supernatural knowledge and Jesus tells that then to his disciples but then what he says next in verse 15 is profound Jesus says that he is glad that he was not there in Bethany when Lazarus died which again at at first listen that sounds kind of Heartless but look more closely at verse 15 as to why Jesus is glad in that way first Jesus says I am glad for your sakes so Jesus glad gladness doesn’t come from something that benefits him but something that benefits others his disciples I’m glad for your sakes I’m glad because you’re going to get benefit and second Jesus says I’m glad for your sakes so that you may believe in other words Jesus is glad and how these plainly tragic and painful circumstances are working out because he knows that in the end what God is doing through Jesus and Lazarus will cause the disciples to believe in Jesus you may ask but I thought the disciples already believed in Jesus didn’t they already have saving Faith well yes they did except for Judas scariot of course nevertheless these believing disciples still needed to grow in their faith in Jesus they needed to grow in their knowledge of him their love for him they needed to be freed up even more to Proclaim him and serve him in the earth you see Brethren here is God’s glad purpose behind all our trials and calamities it is to draw us and it is to draw others to Greater trust and hope in Jesus Christ now such a purpose is counterintuitive to human wisdom in the flesh we think that comfort and ease and prosperity that’s what’s going to draw people to Jesus and the lack of these things that’s only going to drive them away and to be sure those who are not God’s chosen sheep they will often reject resent abandon God’s purpose when they experience severe trials in their lives even though these things really are meant to draw them to the Lord they they instead use it as an excuse to draw away from him but for the called for the true sheep of God severe testing is what what brings about proves and refines Faith the pressures of danger of suffering of persecution they clarify for us how all the treasures of this life life are passing Vapors broken reads but Jesus is the substance he’s the solid rock and when Jesus takes us into the storm we are soaked and battered and exhausted beyond our strength yet he delivers us safely to the other side we behold Jesus power we behold his love his life in ways we never did before and so we grow to trust him more and in this way our lives become powerful beacons of the Light of Christ Our words carry more weight when we speak the good news of the gospel because it’s been tested it’s been tested by trial even severe trial truly as we’ll see later in this chapter God will use Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead even after 4 days when he was plainly dead not mostly Dead all dead he will use Jesus raising of Lazarus from the dead to draw many Jews to saving faith in Jesus but not only that He will draw jesus’ disciples Jesus will draw the disciples to deeper faith in him of course it’s worth asking ourselves now what about in the current Trials of Our Lives what about what you’re going through right now do you realize God’s glad purpose for you at work even in God’s delaying Deliverance he will bring Deliverance that’s already in the works but do you see the Glad purpose at work before the Deliverance arrives have you therefore gotten on board with God’s agenda saying from the heart amid suffering amid puzzlement Lord Jesus I am in pain but I trust you grow me in faith as I know I deeply need to grow is that your attitude or do you vainly struggle against God’s kind purpose for you you resent God you rebel against God you accuse God you run from God into proud on belief don’t kick against the goats don’t fight against that which is actually meant for your true benefit even the loving purpose of God it’s funny how we Christians think we’ve finally learned to trust God and be content in Jesus Christ but then God puts us into a new trial and we discover oh I need to learn to trust Jesus sometimes I think we can settle for an attitude that is exhibited in our last verse here even by Jesus disciple in verse 16 let’s take a look at our last heading number six Thomas demonstrates loyalty and pessimism Thomas demonstrates loyalty and pessimism last verse here verse 16 therefore Thomas who is called dimus said to his fellow disciples let us also go so that we may die with him oh Thomas the poor guy doesn’t have a very good reputation among Christians is because he doesn’t doesn’t say very much in the Bible and when he does speak it just seems to be doubt and doom oh Tom now Thomas whose two names mentioned here they both mean the twin Thomas certainly needed to grow in faith just like we do but don’t miss that he does demonstrate Fierce loyalty and love for Jesus he urges Thomas urges his fellow disciples to follow Jesus into the danger of Judea let us also go he says to his fellow disciples he’s taking the lead here Thomas is not running away he urges his Brethren not to run either that’s good yet we also see from Thomas that he does not understand he cannot see how this little journey would end will end with anything except everyone’s deaths This is the End Boys but let’s not abandon Jesus now let’s go die with him Thomas apparently did not understand or take to heart Jesus Promised of protection in verses 7 to 10 or Jes prophecy of a glorious outcome in verse 4 and we Christians can do the same when the Good Shepherd leads us into the dark Valley sometimes we can trudge forward in obedience yet still despair of the Lord ever bringing us any blessing or Deliverance again I’m not going to abandon God but it’s just all Darkness from here on out well it’s good that we keep moving forward and following Christ even when we don’t see the way forward we don’t see clearly the Lord’s light but the Lord desires better for us than gritted teeth obedience he wants us to count on God’s good returning no matter how impossible it seems or how long it takes David the psalmist writes in Psalm 2713 Psalm 2713 I would have desp spared unless I had believed that I would see the goodness of the Lord that is Yahweh in the land of the living you hear from David there he says if I didn’t have hope that good was going to return I couldn’t couldn’t keep going he’s testifying there of course God’s good will always return you will see Deliverance you will see blessing you will see God’s good the darkness will not last forever God’s good will come again both in this life and in the life to come in the song that we were singing that that line kept saying uh lift up your heads right as you look and see our God lift up your heads I also think of that line in Luke where Jesus says when you see different things happening and you see that my coming is near lift up your heads your Redemption is Drawing Near I think that’s what we need as Christians we can’t just be like I’m going to follow God but uh just trudging forward in in the in the depths of uh depths of pain I understand it can be very hard but we too God wants us to lift up our heads and say yes in the pain I can still see God’s Deliverance is coming I don’t know when or how but it’s coming I can look forward to that I can trust in the Glorious outcome that is coming thus the final exhortation of Psalm 27 seems like a good final exhortation for us as we conclude our look at this passage today right after saying I would have despaired unless I believed I would see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living David writes Psalm 27:14 wait for Yahweh be strong and Let Your Heart Take courage yes wait for Yahweh let’s close in prayer Lord Jesus we know we’ll take time to let these truths really percolate into our souls the way that they need to but God this is the commitment that we want to have we want to wait for you God I know you know because you know us so well how easy it is in the next trial or the as trials seem to pile up on top of each other we say that’s that’s it I can’t take anymore and this is too much I’m doomed it’s all lost I can’t keep going but Lord you have instructed us in this text that we are to walk in the truth and the truth is no you are working such good your love is at work even in the sudden and the piling Trials of Our Lives God you are showing us more of yourself you were drawing us to a greater experience of eternal life in knowledge of Jesus Christ Lord are there any here who do not yet know Jesus Christ in a saving way I pray God that they would repent and believe to day turn from sin turn from lordship of his own life turn from all attempts to earn salvation by their own obedience that will never work Lord I pray that they would trust in the Life Death and resurrection of Jesus on their behalfs who’s the only one who can bring anyone to God and Lord that they would submit their whole lives to you and say Jesus your will your way always in my life until you bring me to yourself God we know it’s going to be a us you don’t teach us what we need to learn all at once it’s little by little you’re a good father but Lord help us to cooperate with your purpose not to mistrust you not to resent you oh Lord forgive us for where we do that but thank you that you have forgiven us it would help us instead see what you are wanting your disciples to see yes I can believe Jesus even in the midst of the danger even in the midst of the confusion even in the tragedy he’s doing me good he’s showing me his love and I will see it much more clearly in the end help us to persevere Lord by faith in Jesus name amen amen let’s stand as we sing Our Last Song