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let’s ask the Lord’s blessing on the preaching of the word heavenly father that is the prayer that we pray as we sang in The Last Song we want to Behold our God I want to see his glory we want to rejoice in his salvation and we want to be instructed in the way that we should walk in response help me Lord to be able to explain your word and help us Lord to hear it and to put it into practice in Jesus name amen well it is good to be back preaching with you through the Gospel of John we had to take a little break of course due to the arrival of the little newborn Jonathan he’s growing he’s doing well many thanks to you Pastor Bobby for preaching pretty much all December and January giving me some time giving us some time but Lazarus has been in that tomb long enough it’s time we bring him out and we’ll see today how our Jesus accomplished that but speaking of Lazarus I came across an interesting term this past week Lazarus Syndrome Lazarus Syndrome also called Lazarus phenomenon or the Lazarus effect it refers to the rare medical situation in which a person’s heart has stopped CPR fails to restart the heart a person is pronounced clinically dead but then that person’s heart re starts all by itself and a person apparently comes back to life this autoresuscitation can happen minutes or even hours after someone is pronounced dead Physicians are not entirely sure what causes Lazarus Syndrome the prevailing theory is that it has to do with diminishing air pressure in the chest after CPR ceases nevertheless the existence of Lazarus Syndrome is is Undisputed there have been 65 cases of Lazarus Syndrome documented since 1982 now in most cases of Lazarus Syndrome the revived person does not come back to life for very long usually only a few hours a few days or a few weeks but in 18 of the 65 documented cases which is just over a quarter the person’s accidentally pronounced dead made complete recovery here’s something else interesting the person holding the record for the longest time of being clinically dead but then recovering is a woman named Velma Thomas who in 2008 at age 59 was clinically dead for 17 hours before recovering now you can understand why this remarkable medical phenomenon might be called Lazarus Syndrome as these apparently dead persons miraculously seem to come back to life just like the man Lazarus in the Gospel of John 11 if I may be a little bit picky though Lazarus Syndrome as a term for this medical anomaly is a bit misleading for two reasons first because persons who experience Lazarus Syndrome do not actually die though they sure seem to they do not actually die and therefore they do not actually come back to life in a miracle unlike the biblical Lazarus and second because those who experience Lazarus Syndrome only do so shortly after death within 24 hours according to all documented cases whereas the biblical Lazarus was raised to life after 4 days in the grave here’s another surprising fact did you know that every recorded Resurrection in the Bible aside from those of Lazarus Jesus and those who were raised after Jesus resurrection according to Matthew 27 around Jerusalem every other Resurrection besides those three takes place shortly after the person dies on the same day I’ll give you the list it’s only eight Elijah raises a Widow’s son on the same day the son dies in first king 17 Elisha raises the shunamite son on the same day the son dies 2 Kings 4 Elisha’s bones raise a man who is heardly placed into Elisha’s tomb after the man just died 2 Kings 13 Jesus raises a Widow’s son in the funeral possession of that son meaning he just died that’s Luke 7 Jesus again raises gyrus daughter after she has just died and is still at home that’s Matthew 9 Mark 5 and Luke 8 Peter raises Tabitha from the dead after she has just died and is still at home acts 9 and Paul raises you to from the dead after the lad has just died after falling out of a window in Acts 20 now you may say that’s some interesting Bible trivia Pastor Dave but what’s your point the point is that Lazarus Resurrection is clearly special it is the first resurrection in the Bible to take place sometime after the day of death in fact more than 3 Days Later what’s so significant about being raised after at least 3 days for one being raised after 3 days means that no one could argue that Lazarus did not in fact die that Lazarus was himself a victim of Lazarus Syndrome and he only appeared to die no Lazarus is wrapped up in the Tomb for 4 days he is definitely dead which means if he comes back to life it could not possibly be just a medical phenomenon it’s an obvious Divine miracle more importantly though being raised after 3 days means that Lazarus Resurrection takes place despite what pretty much everyone at that time assumed to be an insurmountable obstacle to resuscitation that obstacle is bodily Decay you see though a dead body Begins the slow process of breakdown immediately upon death it’s only on the third day that the decomposition of the body becomes obvious with the shape and color of the body plainly warped and the odor of death now overpowering actually there was a rabinal tradition from at least early medieval times and perhaps going back to Jesus day that the soul did not fully depart a dead body until the third day the rabbis apparently believe that though the soul left the body upon death it hovered around the body for three days hoping to go back in however on the third day when the soul itself observed the clear and ugly Corruption of the body taking root the soul completely departed meaning that death was irreversible all this is why I said to you last time we were in John that no one in John 11 is expecting a resurrection of Jesus 4 days dead friend I mean Jesus may be a great miracle worker who can even raise the the dead he did it two other times at least but no one can erase someone whose body is already experiencing obvious corruption alas there’s nothing to do but mourn or is there because you see Jesus is not merely A great miracle worker he is as he declares himself to be in John 11 he is the resurrection and the life and if Jesus can raise decomposing Lazarus from the the dead then Jesus will not only prove once again that he is the Son of God and Messiah but also that he will indeed raise bodily one day all those who believe in him no matter how corrupted their bodies may have become but will Jesus be able to do it let’s find out together please take your Bibles and turn to John 11 the title of our message today is when mourners meet the resurrection part two when MERS meet the resurrection part two we’re back in John 11 that’s page 174 where we’ll start reading in the Pew Bible we’re focusing on just verses 38 to 46 today but we’ll read back in verse 17 to give you the most immediate context but I’ll also review what we see in the beginning of the chapter let’s read John 11:17 to 46 okay so I guess that’s the previous page 173 if you’re using the Pew Bible so when Jesus came he found that he that’s Lazarus had already been in the Tomb 4 days now Bethany was near Jerusalem about 2 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 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 life 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 when she had said this she went away and called Mary her sister saying secretly the teacher is here and is calling for you 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 then the Jews who were with her in the house and consoling her when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out they followed her supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there 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 they said to himl 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 a stone was lying against it Jesus said remove the stone Martha the sister of the dece said to himl 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 bowed 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 an amazing record here again we see in the passage verses we read the main narrative describing the seventh of the seven sign Miracles that our author John presents to us in this gospel now before we review what we just read don’t forget how our author sets up this section in the first 16 verses of the chapter John 11 1-16 back in that section this is more than a month ago now we learned that this miraculous episode it takes place only a few months before Jesus crucifixion remember after nearly being stoned to death by the Pharisees in Jerusalem during Hanukkah because Jesus declared himself to be the Son of God even one with the father after escaping that near lynching Jesus retreats northward to the region of batona or banah east of the Sea of Galilee there it’s Jesus that’s where Jesus receives word from his friends his dear dear friends Mary and Martha that their brother Lazarus who is also jesus’ dear friend is seriously ill though the message was sent to Jesus undoubtedly to ensure that Jesus would come right away to help his family this family of dear friends we’re told in the beginning section it is because Jesus loves Martha and Mary and Lazarus and because he’s confident that this sickness will not end in death but for the glory of God and the glorification of the son that Jesus delays his departure and thus delays his Deliverance it’s only after Lazarus has died that Jesus tells his disciples that he’s ready to set out for hostile Judea again he tells them it’s so he might awaken their friend Lazarus from sleep and so that he might cause the disciples and all those who witness what Jesus is about to do in this situation of great danger and confusion and sorrow all the witnesses might believe in Jesus now last time we began working through verses 17 to 46 and we observed the following as the main idea of this main portion of the narrative in John 11:1 17- 46 John reports Jesus miraculous resurrection of Lazarus so that you will believe in Jesus and thereby experience spiritual and physical Resurrection yourself I’ll say that again John reports Jesus miraculous resurrection of Lazarus so that you will believe in Jesus and thereby experience spiritual and physical Resurrection yourself now I told you before that verses 17 to 46 divides into three main parts and a short epilogue and we looked at the first two main parts last time again this is review we saw in verses 17 to 27 that number one Jesus proclaims himself the resurrection and the life Jesus proclaims himself the resurrection and the life Jesus arrives in Mary and Martha’s Village in Bethany near Jerusalem it’s in the middle of that customary week-long period of intense morning that the Jews would often do following someone’s death Jesus arrives right in the middle of that Lazarus has been dead and buried for 4 days meanwhile many Jews from Jerusalem have been visiting Mary and Martha to comfort them when Martha hears that Jesus is getting near the V she goes out to meet him and pours out her confused yet faith-filled lament to Jesus that he did not come sooner to save her brother from dying when Jesus tells Martha that Lazarus will rise again Martha affirms that she believes that Lazarus will rise again in the future in the final Resurrection but Jesus uses her misunderstanding of his words to Proclaim an amazing truth in verses 25 to 26 that is is that Jesus himself is the resurrection and the life which is to say not only as the god of life is Jesus the personal agent of the coming Resurrection but also Jesus imparts his eternal Resurrection Life Now spiritually to those who believe thus could be said on the one hand that though someone believing in Jesus may die that person will yet live when Jesus one day raises that person person personally and bodily from the dead but thus could also be said on the other hand that the one receiving and already experiencing God’s Own eternal life through the spirit that one will not and could not ever die really with these words Jesus is looking to refocus Martha’s hope amid sorrow and confusion not merely on some coming future event of Deliverance but on the god of Deliverance who will be with her both now and in the future to unveil gloriously his resurrection life and power when Jesus poses the question to Martha whether she believes what he says and thus is still willing to trust him as her resurrection and life Martha affirms her wholehearted belief in Jesus as her Lord and God God just as we are meant to as well so we saw that first we saw next in verses 28 to 37 that number two Jesus feels indignation and grief over death’s tyranny Jesus feels indignation and grief over death tyranny when Martha sends her sister Mary to meet with Jesus outside the village the scores of visiting Jews follow Mary and whale with her remember the word for weeping is one that refers to loud wailing or crying they wail with her as she also pours out her confused yet faith-filled lament to Jesus that he did not come sooner to save her brother and seeing the whole mournful scene Jesus is deeply moved in spirit and was troubled verse 33 says that is Jesus becomes indignant in his spirit and is stirred up to the point of pain P ful grief now why is this is it because Jesus saw something evil about their mour or because Jesus too felt powerless against death I’m so upset about that not at all we know by now that Jesus is The Sovereign he’s the perfectly contented Son of God always in control rather the explanation is as the perfectly good god of Life Jesus is angry over death cruel sway over Mankind and over all the sorrow loss and pain death produces for those that Jesus loves therefore as one moved to righteous action by truly righteous anger Jesus determines to do something about death grip in this instance as a testimony to what Jesus will do one day with death for all his people amid Jesus own sincere tears and amid the not so so quiet questioning of the crowd Jesus makes his way to Lazarus tomb prepared for a show down with death that brings us to the third part of our passage where we begin to investigate newly today this is verses 38 to 44 where we see number three Jesus both demonstrates and previews his resurrection power Jesus both demonstrates and previews his resurrection ction power we’ll start our new verse by verse investigation by looking just at verse 38 look back there so Jesus again being deeply moved within came to the tomb now it was a cave and a stone was lying against it notice in this verse as we change locations we’re again told that Jesus is deeply moved within or more literally that Jesus is stirred up within himself the Greek verb here is the same one translated as was troubled back in verse 33 that indicates that painful that uncomfortable feeling of sympathetic sorrow notice though the verb tense is different here from before in verse 33 Jesus was troubled past tense here in verse 38 it’s a present participle indicating a continual action or state of being we see in our translation the nasby 95 he was being deeply moved within that is he’s continually being troubled or stirred up to the point of painful sorrow within himself why the change in description well certainly at the most basic level our author is indicating that Jesus stirred up compassion and grief before it was not perfunctory it was not shortlived but it was deeply felt even ongoing but it could be that there’s a new provocation here perhaps Jesus is stirred up to deeper feeling because he hears the murmuring of the crowd people saying Oh How He loves him but hey couldn’t he have stopped this man from dying he who healed the man who was born blind couldn’t he have prevented his friend from dying maybe that’s what deepens jesus’ feelings my view though is that it’s actually Jesus arrival at the tomb sight that provokes this further troubling of spirit for what is a more obvious symbol of death’s tyranny than a tomb that visibly separates the Dead from the living it’s the sight of his dear friend’s tomb that troubles Jesus spirit in an ongoing way and moves him to act even more determinedly the 16th century reformer John Calvin comments similarly on this verse Calvin writes Christ does not approach the Seiler as an idol spectator but as a champion who prepares for a contest and therefore we need not wonder that he again groans for the violent tyranny of death which he had to conquer is placed before his eyes now it might be helpful to ask what exactly do we mean by tomb here let me help you get the picture while poor persons in those days might only have a simple burial in the soil first century Jews with a bit more money would carve a room out of rock or modify a naturally forming but small cave to serve as a tomb for their dead these tombs could be vertical that is in the ground or they could be horizontal in a Hillside and either way they would be sealed at the entrance with a heavy round and flat stone now usually the tomb entrance was small enough that you would need to bend down to enter into it which is something that we kind of get misled in some of the pictures that we use around Resurrection Day this fulls siiz doorway a person can easily walk in that’s not the way they constructed tombs back then because carving out more rock means paying more and people didn’t want to have that unnecessary expense you made the door small because especially you weren’t expecting to go in and out of the Tomb very often so save some money it’s not going to be too inconvenient there would be a person could certainly fit but you’d have to bend down it’s not a very large opening the tomb usually would only have one room and in that room would be one two or three raised Stone beds slabs for laying out the dead and these dead they were not embalmed like the Egyptians were but were instead typically wrapped in cloth with perfume poured in between the layers in between the layers of wrapping now this perfumed wrapping it would not stop decomposition but it would temporarily suppress the smell of death and it would be a way of symbolically honoring the death by pouring out this sweet smelling even expensive perfume now a body laid to rest in this way would eventually decompose over the month to just bones and after all that time the family of the bereaved would later collect the bones into a bone box a smallish bone box and put it somewhere else in the tomb which would free up the stone bed or beds for whichever next family member might need to be buried this is how tombs worked for Jews in the first century now here we learn that Lazarus family has purchased a tomb made from a natural horizontal cave Lazarus body then is inside laying on a stone bed on one of the slabs meanwhile a heavy Stone lays up against the entrance preventing anyone without help from getting in and preventing the sight and smell of decomposition from getting out well considering this Arrangement the command that Jesus gives next in our text is shocking beginning verse 39 we read Jesus said remove the stone what I’m sure the people around Jesus are all looking at each other concernedly maybe their eyes wide and appropriately the nearest of kin the one with authority over Lazarus body which would be Martha Speaks up in response to Jesus request we read in the rest of verse 39 Martha the sister of the deceased said to himl by this time there will be a stench for he has been dead four days this is a polite way of telling Jesus that what he’s asking for is not a good idea Jesus surely you know that Lazarus body is decomposing by now there will be a terrible odor whatever love you hope to express for Lazarus by opening the tomb I’m telling you now it’s not going to be pleasant not for you not for him not for any of us here let’s not make a scene let’s not dishonor my brother’s memory I know you would like to open the tomb but it’s better if we don’t you must accept that Lazarus is gone and not coming back notice though Jesus responds to Mary in verse 40 Jesus said to her did I not say to you that if you believe you will see the glory of God God now this response from Jesus is intriguing for two reasons first because despite Martha’s seemingly sensible objection Jesus remains completely undeterred in his desire to open Lazarus tomb second this is intriguing because at first glance Jesus seems to be making something up if you just look back through the passage you will not find any place where Jesus says to Martha if you believe you will see the glory of God so she seemingly might answer jesus’ question with the answer um I don’t think you said that how do we explain this it is possible that in verse 40 Jesus is referring back to something that he said to Martha earlier that wasn’t recorded for us by our author there’s maybe other conversation that they had he didn’t mention it before but now Jesus is mentioning it now that’s possible more likely though Jesus in verse 40 is simply rephrasing and applying what he did say to Martha back back in verses 23 to 26 it’s like Jesus Is Telling Martha here Martha didn’t I tell you that you didn’t have to wait to the final Resurrection to see God’s glory on display because I myself am the resurrection and the life I’m here didn’t I ask you whether you believed in me to be the resurrection and the life for you even now I told you that your brother will rise again trust me even though you don’t fully understand and you will see the Glorious and Powerful life of God Unleashed right now in a way that you never expected well with Jesus reminder and reassurance Martha acquiesces but what happens next in the text is also surprising look at verses 41 to 42 so they removed the stone and 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 okay what’s Happening Here Jesus prays to his God and Father and notice what kind of prayer Jesus prays not a prayer of petition not a prayer of request but of thanks father Jesus Jus says again speaking with that familiarity with God that the Jews of that day would never use but which Jesus consistently and appropriately uses since he is the Son of God father I thank you that you have heard me or we could translate that I give thanks to you that you heard me heard Jesus when well obviously sometime previous not reported when Jesus prayed for what did Jesus previously ask in prayer that God heard well Mary Martha and the Jews are about to find out but we know the answer will be Lazarus Resurrection Jesus prayed for that and he says father I thank you that you heard me but how can Jesus already give thanks and confidently say that God heard Lazarus is not yet out of the Tomb wait is is Lazarus alive already that is possible though not likely I say it would be better to understand that Lazarus does not rise until he actually hears the words of command from Christ to rise that fits better with what Jesus said earlier in John 5:25 about hearing the voice of the Son of God and coming to life so what’s going on with this prayer of thanks then I think what we’re seeing is exactly what we see elsewhere in the Bible in the Psalms especially from David sometimes the psalmist will speak in the Bible words of thanks for an answer to prayer that he hasn’t received yet but he’s so confident in the answer he knows that God hears that he gives thanks in advance he Praises God for the Deliverance that he hasn’t even experienced yet because he’s that confident that God will bring it I think we see the same confidence in jesus’ prayer here after all Jesus does say to God I knew that you always hear me Jesus doesn’t have the attitude I prayed and H I’m not sure will you do it God no he knows he thank gone in advance yet notice why Jesus expresses this confident Thanksgiving publicly he tells us because of the crowd standing around I spoke so that they might believe that you sent me other words this is an evangelism minded prayer before the miraculous Resurrection takes place Jesus publicly prays Thanksgiving to God for that Resurrection so that when that Resurrection happens everyone will see even more clearly that the resurrection happened by God’s power and approval in the sun if he thanks God in advance and says God you’re the one who’s doing this through me then when it happens everyone will say God did it and Jesus says and then you’ll believe people should be moved to believe when they hear this prayer beforehand and then they see it happen they should be moved to believe that Jesus is God’s son and the Messiah Sent From Heaven by the father now we should note the intention of this prayer reaches us even in the present day we are reading about this historical event almost 2,000 years later but that ancient prayer from Jesus is still true why does he pray this prayer why is this written down for us that you might hear it and that you might believe that Jesus is the one sent from heaven to be your savior side note these two verses are a reminder that public prayers though spoken primarily to God should be mindful of other hearers and purposefully work good for them well with the tomb now open and the evangelism minded prayer of Thanksgiving spoke there’s only one action left to do it’s the moment we’ve all been waiting for verse 43 when he Jesus had said these things he cried out with a loud voice Lazarus come forth and you can see the emphasized volume of Jesus words in the phrasing of this verse we have the verb cried out or shouted so that’s loud but it’s paired with the phrase with a loud or great voice so you got two descriptions emphasizing volume this is a loud powerful Cry of command from Jesus and what is the command Lazarus come forth or we could translate that Lazarus come out or even Lazarus over here outside and what is the result of this short shouted command of the Son of God read about it in the first part of verse 44 the man who had died came forth bound hand and foot with wrappings and his face was wrapped around with a cloth stop there for a second just take a moment behold what a staggeringly wonderful and compassionate Miracle is accom accomplished here by our Lord Jesus Christ verse 44 Begins by reminding us the man who had died came forth this is not some clever rou John our author is emphasizing this for us Lazarus indeed died he was four days in the grave he was decomposing yet now he comes forth completely restored he’s not a zombie he’s not a mummy he’s restored and he’s coming out of the Tomb what’s more despite being bound with wrappings all over his body including with a cloth around his face which would make it pretty hard to see Lazarus gets up from his stone slab walks to the entrance bends underneath the tomb door and marches outside these actions too should be impossible or at least embarrassingly difficult for someone bound up like Lazarus was yet Lazarus apparently has no problem at all responding immediately and complet completely as Christ commands it’s not like Jesus says Lazarus come forth and like 5 minutes go by as Lazarus is fumbling around in the Tomb trying to find his way outside nope comes right out obeys jesus’ command what is this what what are we observing here this is our Mighty Champion Jesus the god of Life engaging in battle with the time of death to rescue one of his beloved who is caught in death grip except the contest is no contest at all as if caught in a choke hoold death immediately yields death immediately gives up its prisoner when Christ commands it and death sends Lazarus back into the land of the living appropriately the tomb scene ends in verse 44 with Jesus saying a short word to Lazarus family and friends look at the end of verse 44 Jesus said to them unbind him and let him go that phrasing strike you unbind him let him go what kind of phrasing is that what kind of language is that that’s the language of Freedom you get that sense even more clearly in the original Testament New Testament Greek more literal English translation of these words would be loose him and release him to go away like Jesus is saying death has no Dominion here anymore I’ve broken death’s shackles so take off these stifling binding grave clothes release this free man to go away from death and back to life just amazing can you imagine the scene in Bethany after Jesus says and does all this what was a week-long funeral becomes a week-long celebration tears of Sorrow turned to tears of joy instead of the loud cries of wailing the town is filled with shouts of praise and thanksgiving we can see by imagination Lazarus face unwrapped and the surprised smile spreading across it we can see his sister’s arms draped around their brother as laughter and crying mixed together and become indistinguishable we can see the people jumping and dancing around Jesus and the reunited family I mean the whole scene is surely one of Wonder and Rapture yet none of that is recorded for us indeed we probably have so many questions about what happened next for Lazarus and his family but pretty much none of them are answered by the author but we’ll see Lazarus and his sisters again in the in the chapter 12 but more or less there’s nothing else told to us why not I mean we’re curious because the Apostle John and the spirit of God do not want us to miss this the most important part main point of this whole account what’s important here is not that Jesus miraculously pulled through in the end for his distressed friends to save Lazarus from death for this is only a temporary Deliverance is it not one day Lazarus would die again as would his sisters as would all the visiting Jews this temporary reprieve from Death as welcome as it is it doesn’t solve the problem so what is the point what is the point of this great miracle and our hearing about it it is a sign it is a glorious revelation of Jesus and his salvation given to us so that we may believe by raising his four days dead friend from the grave Jesus proved once again that he is the Son of God and promised Messiah he even is the resurrection and the life in whom if you will believe in one sense you will live again even if you die and in another sense you will never die that’s proven in the sign Miracle he accomplished why is that the case that if you believe you will have this eternal life because by faith you become spiritually attached to him who is life and resurrection power and his very essence and his very being thus the message of this gospel and all the New Testament all the scriptures is affirmed again if you will repent of your sins and believe in Jesus you will be saved you will experience his resurrection life and power both now and forever furthermore by demonstrating Divine victory over the grave in this way Jesus resurrection of Lazarus serves as a proof as a picture as a preview of both Jesus own coming bodily Resurrection after death and the bodily resurrection of every believer after death and unto eternal life after all didn’t Jesus declare in John five that his voice will be the one to raise everyone out of their tombs in the last day Jesus literally fulfilled that right here with Lazarus in preview form if he did it with Lazarus you can be sure he’s going to do it with everybody in the future though we should know that Lazarus Resurrection isn’t totally like Jesus resurrection or the final resurrection of all the saints after all Lazarus needed his tomb door opened Lazarus came out bound by grave clo and Lazarus was still bound to die again someday as he was only raised with a regular body but when Jesus rises from the dead he passes through the tomb door without opening it remember the tomb is opened after Jesus is raised not to let him out but to let people in and see that he’s not there anymore when Jesus rises he leaves his grave wrappings behind and when Jesus rises he’s never to die again because he’s raised in a glorified body poignantly 1 Corinthians 15:20 says it’s the resurrected Christ and not Lazarus or not any other temporarily raised person in the scripture who is the first fruits of those who sleep the sleep of death and yet believe in Jesus in other words our Resurrection Brethren is going to be like our Lord Jesus’s resurrection and not lazarus’s nevertheless Laz Resurrection does prove it does picture it does preview the greater Resurrection resurrection that is accomplished and epitomized by Jesus himself so again how should you how should we respond to this glorious revelation of Jesus Christ today it is by repentance and Faith it is with new and and deepened trust and belief in Jesus Christ you know what that means it means that if necessary you must let go of any sins or Idols that still have a hold of you in your life you need to let go of any self-righteous efforts you are still pursuing to earn God’s favor earn God’s salvation or keep your salvation you are to let go of control of your life I want my life to go this way I need to have this happen this is supposed to this is the way things are supposed to work out no you give up all of that why so that you can take Jesus instead you’re going to put all your trust in Jesus because he’s the only one who can save you he’s the only true Lord he lived the perfect life that you and I needed to live but couldn’t he died the substitutionary death that you and I are supposed to die but couldn’t handle but he also is the one who he’s the only one who can raise himself from the dead in power to prove that those in him are accepted by God Jesus is the only one who can deliver you from death both now and forever and Jesus knowing Jesus and walking with Jesus is life in its very essence Jesus says it is eternal life to know him and to know the father through him all those things being true the intention of our author the intention of the Holy Spirit again to you is today is repent and believe the gospel let go of everything else that is preventing you from following Jesus make him inaugurate him as the Savior and Lord that he really is and commit your whole life over to him say Jesus it’s all about you now everything I’m get I’m letting go of the sin I’m letting go of my own self it’s all about you now because you are life you are the resurrection of the life I believe that is that what you believe Jesus asked Martha do you believe this is that is that something that you can answer in the affirmative what we’re really talking about here is just the gospel it’s the good news it’s offered freely again to us today if you haven’t believed it’s time to believe but if you have believed it’s time to go go deeper in your faith say Lord I want to follow you more I want to know you more but remember and must not be naive about this as incredibly generous as spectacularly unexpected and merciful this offer of Salvation and life is in Jesus there is a cost to stand with Jesus means that the unbelieving world will stand against you and to stand with Jesus means to stand with the biblical Jesus I should clarify means that Many religious people will stand against you yes even those who claim to love the one true God even those who claim to love Jesus Christ they will in fact stand against you why am I bringing that out to you because of how our passage ends verses 45 to 46 we have a a tiny epilogue to this whole amazing narrative we see finally epilogue the Jews divide some believe some go report the Jews divide some believe some go report look at the last two verses again 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 verse 45 probably isn’t too surprising to us I mean how could you not believe in Jesus after this fantastic revelation of divine power and authority and Glory he just raised Lazarus who was 4 days Dead from the grave he has to be the Son of God and the Messiah and they believe so that’s not too surprising but verse 46 is surprising some of the witnesses of Lazarus Resurrection they go tattle on Jesus to Jesus most determined enemies the Pharisees in other words despite desite witnessing the glory of God’s son despite a clear unveiling of the glory of God’s son these Jews decide that rather than believe in Jesus they will cozy up to the religious establishment and help Jesus enemies destroy him because to them this seems the safer option it’s the one that allows them to more or less keep intact their worldly Treasures their relationships and their self-righteous Pride something else surprising according to what we’ll see next time we’re in the Gospel of John it is the resurrection of Lazareth in Beth Bethany it is the final straw for Jesus enemies it’s because Jesus raises a four days dead friend from the dead that the Jewish leaders agree that Jesus must die now the disciples were worried that Jesus go back into Judea they were going to kill him and in a sense their worries were realized still it would be according to God’s timing and God’s plan nevertheless it was actually this good obviously Divine miracle that causes these religious people the religious leaders to determine to kill Jesus and that is a perverse reaction isn’t it that’s an insane reaction yet this is the deceitfulness of sin this is the natural Corruption of the human heart even among the so-called religious this is something we’ve seen throughout this gospel right just because you’re outwardly religious just because you affirm some true doctrines it doesn’t mean you really know God if when you see Jesus Glory put on display you run from him you even hate him you showed that you never knew God at all despite whatever religiosity you have on the outside you still love yourself still love the Treasures of the world you still treat yourself like you are God you know the passage we read earlier I was slightly worried when I put that in the bulletin because this is a different Lazarus in Luke 16 I don’t want you to think that they’re the same person but the reason I had us do that scripture reading is because what Abraham speaks at the end of it is very true and quite evident as we come to the end of this passage in John if someone stubbornly does not believe God’s word he will still not believe even if someone actually comes back from the dead that is exactly what happens in this passage what does that mean for us well it means we need to be sober about following Jesus Christ as even these original readers of John’s gospel would have to be sober these were the intended audience was mostly Jews who realized that if they were going to follow Jesus it would cost them their relationships it might cost them their livelihood it could cost them their life John is not being secretive about that as Jesus says if they hated me they will hate you too even to the point of trying to kill you but don’t be afraid Jesus says that’s one of the messages of this whole gospel again and again don’t be afraid why because I am the resurrection and the life if they kill you I will raise you and you will never die again forever because I will make you just like me as I Rise so you will rise friends and Brethren do you believe in Jesus even if it means that your friends your family your neighbors turn against you as you consider that question here again Jesus questioned to Martha did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God Jesus prove that to be true and that will be true for you as well so Brethren what should we do let us trust in the Lord of life even if it means going through the valley of the shadow of death for Jesus proves again in today’s passage whoever believes in the resurrection of the life will not be disappointed in the end let us close in prayer Lord it is impossible to talk about dying for you without recognizing that that wasn’t just the experience of some Believers in ancient times or Medieval Times or Reformation times that is the experience of many Believers even now in the world it seems strange to us with the religious freedom that we often enjoy here in America but in Nigeria or Vietnam or China or Colombia Lord Christians are regularly being put to death not because they’ve done anything wrong but because they follow you and they’re not willing to go along with the system not willing to go along with ungodliness but Lord proclaiming their hope in you Lord when we are faced with lesser trials for believing in you we still sometimes get afraid we still sometimes wonder will it be okay for me in the end if these people turn against me if I lose my work if I I lose my reputation will it be okay for me in the end Jesus you affirm for us again and again in this gospel but especially in this passage yes yes it will be okay this illness this trial will not end in death but it will be for the glory of God you promise US Lord if we will believe if we will persevere in that faith we will see the glory of God and we will experience your eternal life in a way we never expected so God we pray that you would increase our faith now Lord help us to believe we believe but help us to believe you know the weakness of our flesh but you are stronger you are the champion we’re so glad to have you as our champion Lord thank you that we have no need to fear death even fear death anymore because we know the resurrection and the life Lord but this is not good news to keep to ourselves it is the good news that everyone needs to hear there is an escape there is deliverance from Death not in a final event but in a person Jesus help us not to be ashamed of you so that you are not ashamed of us help us to preach your word to those who are on the path of death who yet kick against your truth and won’t acknowledge it Lord we pray that you would use us as faithful Witnesses you would use your gospel to open blind eyes and yes Lord take even enemies and make them friends and brothers and sisters in Jesus Christ thank you Lord that you are with us now we don’t have to just wait to be with you later you’re with us now Lord I pray that as we get to know you more and as we walk in Greater obedience to you we would experience the joy the life that is in you and that you’ve meant for all your people in Jesus