Answers Bible Curriculum Year 3 Quarter 2 Lesson 4
This week in Sunday school, we’re talking about one of Jesus’ greatest miracles: raising Lazarus from the dead. If Jesus loved Lazarus and his sisters, why didn’t Jesus go to visit as soon as Jesus heard Lazarus was sick? Why did Jesus weep and even become angry when he saw the people mourning in Bethany? Why did Jesus choose to raise Lazarus the way that Jesus did? And what is the connection between Lazarus’ resurrection and the future resurrection of believers? We’re going to investigate such questions.
Our text for Sunday school will be John 11:1-53.
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saw his power displayed over nature we saw his power displayed over disease but today we’re looking at jesus power over death now i know it’s early in the morning and maybe this is not the most pleasant of topics that to think about but let’s think about that for a moment most people don’t like to think about death and they do whatever they can to escape death eat healthily drive safely don’t talk to strangers stay away from bad areas but we’re not omniscient and we’re not omnipotent really we can’t outwit death death will find every one of us in the end many people simply try to ignore that live life to the full party it up don’t think about tomorrow enjoy life while you can that’s what they say man hates death and for good reason death takes us away from all that we love in the world our accomplishments our money our earthly goods our enjoyment of creation and most of all the people we love when we die those we love must say goodbye to us and we must say goodbye to them your spouse will have to go on without you your children also must make do your friends will no longer get to enjoy your company and you must leave everyone and everything that you love behind on the earth there’s a reason that the bible calls death man’s enemy death was the penalty for adam and eve’s sin death is what robbed solomon of joy in all of life’s pursuits and death always brings pain and laments a person’s death is always a sad occasion in some way but what happens to a person after he dies is it just nothingness annihilation inability to know or experience anything is it something pleasant is it going to a better place is it coming back as a spirit and watching over your loved ones or is it something terrifying is it facing a fierce and condemning enemy is it everlasting punishment for all that you’ve done wrong is it actually horror beyond anything that this world knows man senses in his heart that there is something beyond life on earth but he doesn’t know what he tries to come up with answers and he tells things to make himself feel better but really man faces uncertainty on the other side and that only increases the terrifying power of death think about it for yourself are you ready for death when you close your eyes for the last time when your consciousness finally fades to black when your body is unable or unwilling to sustain itself anymore what will happen to you well thank god for his word this book not only tells us what will really happen after death but also tells us about the one who is able to deliver men and women from death and to give them and to bring them into eternal life we’re going to see that vividly in our passage of study today that’s john 11.
we’re going to look at most of the chapter but we’re going to split it into two parts we’re going to seek to answer two main questions today first how did the man jesus demonstrate power over death and then second what does this demonstration mean for you and for others who must face death yourselves one day this is a wonderful and hope filling section of scripture let’s pray and then give our full attention to the text oh great god there’s such joy in this passage such astounding hope helped me to be able to explain it help the people to understand it take it to heart and then we’d be changed by it in jesus name amen open your bibles please to john chapter 11.
that’ll be page 1073 if you’re using the pew bible john chapter 11 start in verse one before we read let’s get the context we’re late in jesus three and a half year earthly ministry back in chapter nine jesus was teaching in jerusalem and he healed a man born blind talked about that last week but while in jerusalem jesus was nearly killed twice in chapter 8 when jesus said before abraham was born i am the jews tried to stone jesus in the temple and then when jesus later taught elsewhere in jerusalem in john chapter 10 the jews tried to stone jesus again when he claimed i and the father are one at the end of chapter 10 jesus left jerusalem and he went to the other side of the jordan river to the place where john first baptized a more desolate region a safer region people were still coming to jesus there and they were believing in him acknowledging that all that john the baptist testified about jesus was true it’s right after that our text appears chapter 11 verse 1 though do note in chapter 12 that’s where we see jesus make his final journey to jerusalem to celebrate his last passover it’s in chapter 12 in john where jesus passion week actually begins so we’re pretty close to the culmination of jesus ministry in this passage let’s read the first section that i wanted to talk about today john 11 verses 1 to 27.
follow along with me please 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 sister 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 anne 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 you you were 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 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 i may awaken him out of sleep the disciples then said to him lord if he has fallen asleep he will recover now jesus had spoken of his death but they thought he was speaking of literal sleep so jesus then said to them plainly lazarus is dead and i’m glad for your sakes that i was not there so that you may believe but let us go to him therefore thomas who was called didymus said to his fellow disciples let us also go so that we may die with him so when jesus came he found that he had already been in the tomb four days now 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 martha therefore when she heard that jesus was coming went to meet him but still but mary stayed at the house martha then said to jesus lord if you had been here my brother would not have died even now i know that whatever you ask of 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 light he who believes in me will live even if he dies and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die do you believe this she said to him yes lord i have believed that you are the christ the son of god even he who comes into the world let’s begin our analysis of this text with basic observations the text introduces us to lazarus lazarus is a man beloved by jesus he whom you love his sisters say lazarus lives in bethany it’s a town close to jerusalem and lazarus is the brother of mary and martha now you know mary and martha they’re the ones that are mentioned in the synoptic gospels who showed hospitality to jesus mary sat at jesus’s feet listening to jesus and martha made all the preparations and ultimately complained that instance is not recorded in john’s gospel but it may have been known to his readers in fact this is the first time that this family appears in this book john adds a little clarifying note in the introduction about which mary he means this is mary the one who anointed jesus and wiped his feet with her hair it was her brother lazarus that was sick john actually records the anointing he mentions in the very next chapter of john chapter 12.
so mary and martha send word to jesus and lazarus is sick and note jesus threefold declaration to his disciples in response this sickness will not end in death this sickness will give glory to god and this sickness will glorify the son of god now note verse 5 it says directly that jesus loved martha her sister and lazarus and isn’t this a wonderful thing this was a side note but let us not um believe something false about jesus he was not stoic or apathetic jesus has real love for people he loved this whole family scripture tells us that but then notice verse 6 verse 6 begins with the word so so is a transition word that indicates cause and effect what is the cause that’s part of this so something that’s true and it leads to something else what’s the first part well it’s what verse 5 mentions it says now jesus loved martha and her sister and lazarus so there’s an effect to this what’s the effect the fact is he stayed where he was two more days because he loved them he stayed where he was now this should surprise the reader normally how does one express love to a family who has a very sick family member you might go and heal them or if you have ability to help them certainly you go to visit you don’t wait around if you really love the family you think you’d go and visit and comfort them right away but that’s not what jesus does out of love jesus actually stays longer where he is two more days when jesus does announce his intent to return to to judea where lazarus in the family is the disciples question him do you really want to return to the area in which they recently tried to stone you twice what’s the implication of their question if you return what’s probably going to happen they might try to stone you again they are really hostile to you before not much time has gone by what makes you think it’s going to be any different now probably going to try and kill you jesus and maybe might even try to kill the disciples but notice jesus response here he first asked the rhetorical question aren’t there 12 daylight hours each day and the jewish reckoning yes there are 6 a.m to 6 p.m would be considered day 12 hours then jesus says if someone walks in the daylight portion he doesn’t stumble but if someone walks in the nighttime portion that’s when he stumbles now note the different descriptions of the light during the day one walks by the light of this world but at night one stumbles because the light is not in him now on the surface these statements don’t make sense the disciples haven’t said anything about day or night so why is jesus bringing this up well clearly these statements must be figurative but what exactly does jesus mean to determine this and we’ll come back to this note that light and dark are repeated ideas in john’s gospel as is the connection between light and walking light and working consider john chapter 8 verse 12 john 8 12 jesus declares i am the light of the world he who follows me will not walk in the darkness but will have the light of life in john chapter 9 verses 4 and 5 right before jesus healed the blind man he said we must work the works of him who sent me as long as it is day night is coming when no one can work while i am in the world i am the light of the world and then there’s john 12 35-36 just a little after our passage jesus says for a little while longer the light is among you walk while you have the light so that darkness will not overtake you he who walks in the darkness does not know where he goes while you have the light believe in the light so that you may become sons of light now notice next there’s a misunderstanding that takes place in verses 11 to 13.
jesus said elijah was asleep and that jesus would wake him and the disciples thought that jesus was talking about literal sleep jesus clarifies that he’s talking about death but notice verse 15 jesus says lazarus is dead i am glad for your sakes that i was not there one lazarus died why would that be jesus says so that you disciples might believe when jesus says again that they will go to lazarus in judea thomas speaks up thomas is given two names here but they’re really the same thomas is hebrew while dynamis is greek and they’re both versions of the same name they both mean twin and you may notice that semantically the letters are a little bit similar so thomas the twin also known as didymus says to the other disciples let us go and die with him now who is the hymn of thomas’s statement the last hymn that was mentioned in the passage would be lazarus so we might say lazarus but lazarus is already dead it’s too late to die with lazarus so with whom else might the disciples be able and willing to die not lazarus but the lord jesus and there’s a good chance of that at least in the disciples minds because of the hostility that jews have towards him they’ve already tried to kill him but thomas says let’s go and die with jesus by the time jesus and his disciples reach bethany lazarus has been in the tomb four days martha goes to meet jesus on the outskirts of bethany and notice what she says she says first lord if you had been here my brother would not have died can you imagine the grief martha must have been feeling in her heart even today when someone dies we often wonder what we could have done differently to help that person to save that person their sorrow and grief and thinking about one could have done more if only i hadn’t let him drive so late at night if only we had gotten the medicine in time if only we caught the cancer sooner but for martha she knows lazarus could have been saved if only jesus had been there jesus you could have saved him if you would come sooner martha knew about jesus healing miracles she knew about jesus power and his compassion like the visiting jews she knew that the one who opened the eyes of the blind could have healed lazarus but then martha says something quite striking she says even now i know that whatever you ask of god god will give you whatever you ask what limit does martha see on jesus power and favor with the father no limit whatsoever that’s right no limit at all even now after lazarus is dead she confesses i know there is no limit to what you can do she might not have necessarily anything in mind but she knows this man he has absolute power even now he could do anything and then more striking statements come from martha when jesus tells martha that lazarus will rise again she quickly confesses i know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day so in that phrase i know there’s a implication of certainty and confidence i know that this will happen but then jesus says i am the resurrection and the life he who believes in me will live even if he dies and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die now that is a huge declaration jesus says it’s not simply that there will be a resurrection i am the resurrection and it’s not that men and women will simply be brought back to life one day i am the life jesus further explains anyone who believes in me will still live even if he dies or to say it another way he who lives and believes in me will never die now what a declaration what person in the history of the world has been bold enough to make such claims is jesus really telling the truth that those who believe in him will rise again consider the evidence we’ve seen so far consider all the miracles jesus has done consider his righteous life consider his profound insight into the world and the human condition consider the testimony of the old testament scriptures of john the baptist of the spirit of the father from heaven but jesus puts the question directly to martha martha do you believe what i just declared to you and here comes a final striking confession from martha she says yes lord i have believed that you are the christ the son of god the coming one and this is where her conversation with the lord ends let’s step back for a moment and consider a few interpretation questions based on what we’ve observed got four of them here number one what does jesus mean in verses 9 to 10 with his talk about hours of daylight this may be a little puzzling at first but this appears to be an expression of confidence of the disciples safety with jesus as he accomplishes the father’s work before his crucifixion you see a person is safe as long as he walks with the light of the world and jesus is the light of the world so as long as they’re with the light they’ll be safe and god is going to keep jesus safe until jesus work on earth is accomplished so jesus is telling them you think it’s going to be dangerous for us to go back but you’re with me and i’m protected by the father we’ll be safe this was true in a literal way well jesus and his disciples going back into judea but it’s also true in a spiritual way with all believers when you walk with the light of the world you’ll be safe number two what was thomas expressing in verse 16 when he said let us go and die with him yes yeah definitely go ahead what was the last part yeah so we got two things here on the one hand there’s some loyalty and maybe even some courage if jesus is gonna die we’re gonna die with him that’s admirable but the fact that jesus just expressed look you’re going to be safe because you’re with me thomas doesn’t seem to buy that he says i think there’s still a good chance we’re going to die some pessimism here maybe even lack of faith but it is an expression of devotion to jesus he’s gonna go even if they’re gonna die and he exhorts the disciples to do likewise number three what does martha express an increasing measure in her conversation with jesus her confidence certainly confidence that he could do something for lazarus in that situation but it goes beyond that because he says i’m the resurrection and the life do you believe so it goes beyond just the situation with lazarus and it becomes something personal for her and really all people she’s expressing faith faith in jesus not only in his ability to be a healer accomplish great things but to be the resurrection in the life and messiah himself now this claim this is number four when jesus was claiming i am the resurrection in life what exactly did he mean yes uh i think that roy deity i mean that’s that was john uses that expression throughout his gospel to show the deity of christ which is an indication that goes back to probably exodus three uh god’s declaration we said five am john purposely uses that statement here to show that the deity of christ and i think jesus is probably trying to say that about himself i think uh i think there’s something to that just to re-express your comment this use of an i am statement is very purposeful in john and really in jesus ministry in the book of john we see seven times jesus makes i am statements one of them is i am the resurrection and the life we saw another one just a few moments ago i am the light of the world and that may be a reference to god saying i am who i am and maybe a connection there certainly there is another connection in being a life giver god is the giver of life god is the the one who has authority over life and death and so for jesus to have that same authority he would be expressing deity but we can look at something maybe a little more directly here if he says i am the resurrection in the life he’s saying that resurrection is accomplished through me and really for me i bring about new life and i am the one that that new life is for jesus says it this way in john chapter 17 verse 3.
this is actually our theme verse for the quarter or for the first half john 17 3 jesus says this is eternal life that they may know you the only true god and jesus christ whom you have sent jesus is life it’s all tied up in him he’s the one who gives it and it’s for him we can say the same thing about the resurrection jesus is the resurrection he’s the one who brings about resurrection for all those who believe in him but they are raised for him to be with him now this talk about resurrection implies the power to save people from death eternally but does jesus really have that power up to this point in john we haven’t seen it demonstrated in a miracle but let’s now read the second half of our section verses 28 to 53 of john 11.
follow me starting at verse 28.
when she had said this that’s martha she went away and called mary her sister saying secretly a teacher is here and is calling for you and when she heard it she got up quickly and was coming to him now jesus had not yet come into the village but was still in the place where martha met him and the jews were with her in the house and consoling her when they saw that mary got up and went out they followed her supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there therefore when mary came where jesus was she saw him and fell at his feet saying to him lord if you had been here my brother would not have died when jesus therefore saw her weeping and the jews who came with her also weeping he was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled and said where have you laid him then they said to him lord come and see jesus wept so the jews were saying see how he loved him but some of them said could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man also from dying so jesus again being deeply moved within came to the tomb now it was a cave and the stone was lying against it jesus said remove the stone arthur the sister of the deceased said to him lord by this time there will be a stench for he has been dead four days jesus said to her did i not say to you that if you believe you will see the glory of god so they removed the stone then jesus raised his eyes and said father i thank you that you have heard me i knew that you always hear me but because of the people standing around i said it so that they may believe that you sent me when he had said these things he cried out with a loud voice lazarus come forth the man who had died came forth bound hand and foot with wrappings and his face was wrapped around with a cloth jesus said to them unbind him and let him go therefore many of the jews who came to mary and saw what he had done believed in him but some of them went to the pharisees and told them the things which jesus had done therefore the chief priests and the pharisees convened the council and we’re saying what are we doing for this man is performing many signs if we let him go on like this all men will believe in him and the romans will come and take away both our place and our nation but one of them caiaphas who was high priest that year said to them you know nothing at all what do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man died for the people and that the whole nation not perish he did not say this on his own initiative but being high priest that year he prophesied that jesus was going to die for the nation not for the nation only but in order that he might also gather into one the children of god who are scattered abroad so from that day on they plan together to kill him let’s now observe this second section mary now comes to jesus but an entourage of visiting jews and mourners come with her mary falls at jesus feet and makes the same initial declaration as their sister but jesus does not converse with mary as he had with martha instead we see some interesting things happening with the verbs in verses 33-35 it says that when jesus saw her and those with her weeping he was deeply moved and troubled in spirit now what does it mean to be deeply moved by something it’s emotional say that again yeah it it does mean to become a emotional to feel something strongly but there’s something interesting with the word here this compunction that jesus feels is not simple sorrow because whenever this greek verb is used outside of this verse in verse 38 whether it’s used in the new testament or in the translation of the old testament into greek the septuagint this verb translated deeply moved always has the connotation of anger indignation or profound displeasure being deeply moved is not really about grief it’s more about anger for instance the same verb is used for jesus sternly warning some of the men that he healed not to tell others about it in mark 1 43 and matthew 9 30.
the verb also appears in mark 14 5 where judas and the disciples become indignant with mary when she pours out gnard and precious oil on jesus and doesn’t sell it and give money to the poor it says they were indignant with her same verb so when it says jesus is deeply moved here there’s a sense of profound displeasure and even anger and indignation in jesus’s deep feeling it says here jesus was also troubled in spirit he feels inward turmoil and agitation jesus asks to go to lazarus’s grave a tomb made from a cave and a hill or a mountainside as he’s going we encounter the shortest verse in the bible john 11 35 jesus swept this phrase is also fascinating first there’s simply the fact that jesus wept you mean the messiah the son of god wept didn’t jesus already know what he was going to do didn’t he know how all this would end he did but he wept and even before he made it to lazarus’s tomb the jews who observed this weeping interpreted it as a sign of what was it they say see how he loved him this is a sign of jesus’s love for lazarus and that makes sense we should remember that in ancient cultures they were often much better at weeping and expressing emotion than we are today in america our culture sometimes looks down on the expression of emotion especially crying as a sign of weakness we even admire those who can hold back their tears in the face of tragedy and just soldier on but not so ancient cultures to not visibly weep in the face of a loved one’s death would have been a great insult to the deceased tears were considered a testament of one’s love for someone who had died therefore in the bible real men weep consider how much david wept in the old testament he’s a great warrior great king but he weeps a lot and we see this vividly when his friend jonathan dies he weeps and he composes a lament for jonathan or we could even go outside the bible go to homer’s iliad and observe manly man achilles he’s the apex of martial prowess an archetype for the greeks yet achilles weeps like a child when his friend patroclus dies such immense displays of grief were entirely seemly in ancient cultures and jesus sleeps here though there is a subtlety in this word for jesus weeping that’s not quite communicated in our english translations there are two different words used for the weeping in this passage the word describing mary’s and the mourners weeping describes weeping in general or even bitter weeping it’s the same verb used later on when peter denies jesus and it says he went out and wept bitterly it’s the same word but the word for jesus is weeping is different and it refers specifically to the shedding of tears tears were falling down jesus face as he went to lazarus’s tomb now note upon arriving at the tomb or shortly before jesus is again deeply moved feeling that profound sense of displeasure and even indignation and yet he then commands the stone to be removed which causes martha to speak up again i like the king james version of king james version translation of verse 39 she says lord by this time he stinketh well that’s not very nice martha why does lazarus stink while being dead his flesh is right that’s right his body is decomposing especially after three days most the internal organs have rapidly disintegrated this body is going to smell terrible stench of death is noxious but jesus reassures martha martha didn’t i say that if you believe you will see the glory of god people remove the stone and jesus prays and notice that jesus does not ask god for anything in his prayer rather jesus thanks god for hearing jesus jesus tells god that jesus knows that god always hears jesus and jesus tells god that jesus prayed for the people’s benefit so that they might believe that the father sent him jesus then with a loud voice commands lazarus to come out and lazarus does still totally wrapped in his grave clothes and even still wrapped in his face cloth now could you imagine being there and seeing this people just don’t come back from the dead that’s part of what makes death so terrible but here is this rabbi jesus a man opening tombs giving thanks to god and making a formerly decomposing dead man alive again and walk out of the tomb no problem who is this jesus how do the people respond to this well we need to see a couple different responses in the last part of our passage it says many believed in jesus but some went to tell the pharisees and then the pharisees along with the jewish leaders they determined from that day on that they would kill jesus now that’s strange jesus just raised the man from the dead and that makes you want to kill him what’s wrong with these people well verse 48 tells us it’s because of what they fear if we don’t stop jesus they say everyone will believe in him because of all his signs and then the romans will come and take away both our place and our nation the high priest even inadvertently prophesied better to have one man die than to have the whole nation perish but john clarifies that jesus would not only die for his nation jesus would also die so that he might gather together into one people the scattered children of god let’s turn to interpretation of questions once again now that we’ve made observations kind of number of them here number one over what exactly was jesus deeply moved to the point of great displeasure and indignation basically two main options here one we might say that he was angry over the bitter morning sensing that the people were weeping without hope and without belief in what jesus could accomplish if so the scene is reminiscent of jesus raising jairus’s daughter which is recorded in one of the other gospels according to the synoptic gospel accounts when jesus goes into the place where jairus’s daughter has just died jesus asks the mourners there why they are weeping and he tells them to stop since the child is not permanently dead jesus actually says she’s not dead but asleep or over paul says in first descent or thessalonians 4 13 first thessalonians that believers are not to grieve over deceased ones as the rest of the people in the world do who have no hope you don’t grieve the same way about death as they do so this could be what jesus is indignant about but am i lean away from this view jesus does not actually rebuke anyone here for their weeping moreover he himself sheds tears for lazarus this would seem odd for jesus indignation to be against the displays of grief themselves furthermore jesus is twice deeply moved here the first time at displays of grief and the second time as he approaches the tomb and there are no additional sites of grieving there so there’s a second option and it’s the one i lean towards many see jesus indignation here it’s not directed at the mourners but at death itself death that great curse that bringer of misery and along with death sin sin which had brought death into the world jesus spirit was revolted by the terribleness of death and the grief that it brings on his suffering human brethren he knew that this situation was not right death needs to be dealt with felt deeply that death is not good death is an enemy that must be put to death jesus was indignant with death number two when in this account does jesus actually give lazarus life well it’s a little ambiguous it could be when jesus told lazarus to come forth but that doesn’t seem to take into account what jesus says in his prayer jesus tells the father i thank you that you have heard me meaning jesus had asked something in the past and it had already been granted seeming to suggest that jesus already asked the father to raise lazarus or to have permission to raise lazarus from the dead if this is the case lazarus resurrection would be very much like jesus’s own later where the rolling way of the stone is not so that the miracle could occur but so that the proof of the miracle that already occurred would become evident to all but it is a little ambiguous by the way by allowing jesus to have the stone rolled away what again was martha exercising she doesn’t stop jesus it’s her because she’s again believing she’s showing faith number three where was lazarus’s spirit in between his death and resurrection well again ambiguous can’t say for sure the normal process is that as soon as someone dies one spirit either goes to be with the lord in heaven or goes to be in hell and this is demonstrated in jesus account of the rich man and a different lazarus in luke chapter 16.
he describes one man going into abraham’s bosom after he dies and the other man suffering in torment and then there’s a conversation but lazarus situation this other lazarus who has just raised the life this situation is certainly atypical there aren’t very many people in the bible who come back from the dead and none of them tell about it no one says oh you know what it was like we don’t get that testimony my thinking is that lazarus went to heaven and came back but whether lazarus was allowed to remember what he experienced in heaven or to speak about it with others that’s another matter ultimately we don’t know but whatever it was it was certainly unique next question and this is really one of the main ones what does this miracle prove about jesus we’ve already begun to answer this it’s similar to what we’ve seen with jesus other miracles first this is proof this miracle is proof of jesus power and authority even over death but along with that this miracle is proof that jesus is able to do as he claims to martha he is able to save anyone who believes in him from death by making them alive again after they die if he can do it with lazarus he can do it with anyone and this in turn proves that jesus is the messiah he is the son of god he is even yahweh himself the giver of life the rescuer the rescuer of sinners and the only way of salvation next question why did the jewish leaders say that jesus would eventually bring the wrath of rome on the jews so if we let him go on he’ll take away both our place in our nation better to have one man die than have all the jews die why did they expect that would happen well i think the jews were allowed by the romans to govern their own affairs and that if jesus overshadowed the jews in that regard that the romans may just come in and exercise their complete authority okay yeah i think something along those lines there was some autonomy to the jewish people the sanhedrin were it had some independence as rulers of judea and the leaders expected as jesus was being acknowledged as messiah and considered a leader by more of the people that he might upset the political structure rome would then feel like they would have to step in and revoke judy’s independence but i think it’s probably more than that because caiaphas claims at least that the people are going to die if jesus is not stopped so there must be some sort of expectation that jesus is going to lead a revolt or inspire a revolt that’s going to bring um shock and awe down upon the jews the romans are going to come they’re going to start killing people they say better to have jesus be killed and to have the rest of the jews killed now certainly this is quite ironic considering what has just taken place in this passage they want to excuse the murder of a man who’s just given life to the dead by arguing that if they don’t many people are gonna die we know according to the rest of the gospel john and really the rest of scripture what is the real reason that the jewish leaders want to put jesus to death remember it’s that theme of light and dark they did not love the light because they love darkness therefore they hated the light that’s that’s at the core of what the jewish leaders are doing they hate the light they come up with an excuse and they determine to kill jesus going back to the first section of john chapter 11 why was it actually loving that jesus did not come right away to see lazarus they say that again uh i only partially heard what you said but i think i think i got the gist of it he this is all about bringing about belief and strengthening their belief by delaying his arrival there are a couple things happening here it’s not necessarily true that if jesus had gone right away he would have gotten to bethany before lazarus died take some time to travel jesus or lazarus may have been dead by the time the messengers had actually reached jesus but by making sure he arrived after lazarus had died jesus was going to make it clear that it was only his divine power that brought lazar lazarus back from the dead and jesus arrived right after or yeah right after lazarus had died someone could have accused jesus of a fake resurrection or maybe this is a mere resuscitation he hasn’t been dead that long maybe he was never dead in the first place but by arriving so late after the decomposition process had progressed so much there would be no mistake and that this man was laid made alive only by the power of jesus things had to happen this way jesus allowed lazarus to die and even to decompose so he could show that he is the resurrection and in turn he could strengthen the faith of the disciples we know are already a little pessimistic thomas not so confident in jesus ability to keep them safe but also strengthen the faith of mary and martha and even testify to the crowds would come to mourn that jesus is the messiah the more loving thing to do rather than comfort right away or even get there before lazarus died was to strengthen the faith and to put faith into the hearts of the people who were going to be there in bethany and this is a good reminder for us isn’t it our god’s love goes much deeper than we expect he knows that sometimes the more loving thing to do is to build up our faith by extending a trial or causing a trial to proceed in a certain way rather than giving immediate relief for comfort one final question jesus clearly demonstrates his ability to save people from death but caiaphas prophesies that jesus will have to die for the people therefore what must be god’s means for bringing eternal life to all those who believe in jesus it would have to be his sacrificial death jesus will have to die in order to give people life this is consistent with jesus own words he says a grain must fall into the earth and die before a crop of resurrection can come forth the son of man must be lifted up like a bronze serpent in the wilderness in order for the people to see it that they may receive life and healing jesus couldn’t do with everyone what he did with lazarus merely using his power to prevent people from dying or after they die bring them back from the dead why couldn’t you do that why not just all in one go just give everyone life why do they have to die it’s because of god’s justice it’s because there’s a penalty that has to be paid it’s the penalty of sin we know what romans says the wages of sin is death someone’s got to pay back that debt you can’t just go go around giving everybody life there’s a sin debt that has to be paid a holy and just god demands that some atonement be made therefore for jesus to be the people’s resurrection he will have to be the bearer of the people’s sin and not just for the jews but for all god’s people scattered in the world which ends up including the gentiles let’s now summarize what we’ve seen in our observation and interpretation out of love for his people jesus demonstrated his power over death by raising lazarus from the dead jesus did this that people might believe in him and trust him to be the savior and even the perfect offering for sin to satisfy god’s wrath the powerful life-giver will give life to all his people eternally now what does this mean for us today perhaps you’re already seeing some applications but let me give you a few four points of application number one if you believe in christ don’t fear death don’t fear death jesus is your life and resurrection when you must take the leap into the void of death jesus will catch you he loves you we came to save you and give you life you are his brothers and sisters he became indignant with death on your behalf what he did with lazarus is a preview of what he will do for you you are safe with jesus just as the disciples were safe with jesus when he walked around through hostile judea jesus won’t lose you there’s still a great mystery and death and it is a painful experience but we need not fear jesus will cause us to rise again we will be with him forever do you believe that number two of course is the flip side to number one if you haven’t come to believe in jesus or if your life the life that you live contradicts your professed belief in jesus then you want to be afraid of death you don’t have the resurrection and the lies when you plunge into the void there will be no one to catch you or rescue you and you’ll be sorry to encounter the wrath of god forever instead no passing pleasure is worth eternal death don’t ignore jesus don’t fight jesus as the pharisees did for the sake of clinging to their sin jesus is the life there is no life without jesus you can’t have jesus in your sinful ways too number three trust jesus when you encounter trials you don’t understand mary and martha didn’t know why jesus didn’t come before lazarus died but they later discovered the reason it was to glorify god in a greater way to build up their faith and to show them love it’s the same with us god knows what he’s doing he doesn’t have to explain it to us trust him when that new trial arrives in your life that sudden injury that ongoing persecution that problematic friend that crushing workload if jesus cares enough about you to become indignant with death on your behalf surely he cares enough about your day-to-day life he knows what he’s doing the father knows what he’s doing trust your god and then number four love and praise god death has been our enemy since genesis chapter 3 but god has taken away death sting through jesus the new heavens and the new earth will be totally free of death and he’s preparing such a world for you if you believe in him what a great god how lucky you are to have been shown this kindness what undeserved blessing you have received meditate on such a kind god do not shame this god with your life make him known tell of his kindness to others so they too might be rescued from death any comments or questions before we close i think i was going to say that in john 12 10 the chief priest wanted to kill lazarus after he was resurrected but he to me that’s really chilling that’s very true and this is this is what we have to be saved from just to repeat your comment later on in chapter 12 we hear that the pharisees and the jewish leaders they want to put lazarus to death also because people are believing in jesus because of lazarus because he was raised from the dead that is chilling that is such a depravity of heart but really that’s what that’s what we all are we manifest that depravity in different ways some ways more respectable than others but it’s really the same we hate the light unless before jesus comes and saves us we hate the light we’ll do whatever we can to escape from the light even destroy other people and they could get away with it at least they thought they did that’s why they attempted and sought to kill lazarus but praise god for being gracious that he would save us even from that kind of heart robert you’re going to say something for me to die once and then after that comes judgment so do you think this is an exception to that yeah i think so yeah you mentioned the verse is appointed for man to die once and then the judgment a couple people have died more than once and lazarus is one of them uh we assume other people who were raised they then died again yeah they’re atypical so we can’t build um certain doctrines around what happens to them we go with the other things that are more clearly expressed but lazarus died again and then he went into eternity you have other questions or comments email me i’m glad to answer your questions or to talk further with you about what we’re learning you may have noticed that in today’s lesson the miracle that we examine is directly connected to a truth that jesus expresses about himself this resurrection is tied in with jesus declaration i am the resurrection we’re gonna see the same thing next week as we investigate a connection between jesus feeding the five thousand miraculously and jesus declaration that he is the bread of life let’s close and pray now this is a wonderful great hope-filling truth we’ve discussed today our death is not good it is a terrible thing that has come into the world but we brought it because we chose sin our forefather our representative he chose sin on our behalf and we choose sin ourselves and our lives but thank you lord jesus for coming to rescue us from death the savior people not just from physical death but eternal death to save us from the very wrath of god because our sin needed payment when you’ve done that for me you’ve done that for those that believe in you we’re so thankful god cause us to meditate on this meditate on you to love you and to obey you must be faithful in these days to bring you glory for you deserve it in jesus name amen all right i’ll see you all next week