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let’s pray Lord Jesus speak to us from your word teach us about the hope we have in you for you are our life amen well something I often like to do these days is to take my son Benjamin on a walk uh he’s an as stroller I walk along with him and now that em and I are living in the parsonage I’ve come up with a little walk circuit right here in the community takes about 30 minutes have my little route and part of my circuit involves going through Cedar Hill Cemetery which is just southeast of the church as I pass through the cemetery on different days I can’t help but notice certain Graves they stand out to me I’ll share a few of them with you there’s a pair of graves for two military veterans who fought in World War II coming on the graves I’d initially assumed the two men had died during the war but on closer examination I discovered that they didn’t they both survived and they lived decently long lives however both eventually died in 1989 and one of the men was named Benjamin another gravestone is for a husband and wife the husband is listed as having died in 2003 while the wife’s death is listed just a year later 2004 underneath the death dates as a short statement which reads our love lasts forever finally there’s a gravestone dedicated to two children the daughter died in 2005 at age 21 the son also died in 2005 and he was not yet two years old and these children died only two months apart of course these facts represent only the barest of information for people you and I have never met but from such gravestones can we not imagine a little the life stories of these people people who probably weren’t all that different from you and me can we not also see ourselves in the shoes of their bereaved family members burying a father a mother a husband a wife a son a daughter a friend and some of you already know that hard reality all too well seeing these Graves can we not also therefore feel some of the tremendous sorrow that is left behind at the grave site you see every cemetery is a reminder even just as we sang that there’s something terribly wrong with our world every grave is like a scar of the human race a memorial of loss a testimony to a cruel gash inflicted by that terrible Tyrant who was death each grave of course is also a sober warning speaking to us a message that really is the same as one ancient popular Roman Epitaph apparently in the Roman World a lot of graves had this Epitaph or version of it and it reads reader beware as you pass me by as you are now so once was I as I am now so you will be therefore prepare to follow me how how to escape death this rude interruptor this horrible separator this enemy ancient people hoped in vain for some special magic that might grant them immortality or Resurrection we modern people often Place Our Hope in science or medicine supposing that these will someday finally Deliver us from death but the problem of death is not mer physical or medical it’s spiritual and Theological according to the Bible death is the one true God’s just punishment for sin it’s like God told our first forefather in the garden the day you sin against me the day you eat of this forbidden fruit you will die and not only have we come to receive the penalty of sin through our first parents but we also have sin continually in our lives all of us therefore rightly follow under God’s sentence of death and that’s not just physical death as horrible and heart-wrenching as physical death is but it’s also Eternal death the forever punishment of a holy God under his anger in Hell really There Is No Escape from death and on our owns there’s nothing we humans can do except mourn our tragic fate but then God’s word gives us a sure hope and teaching us that though death Reigns temporarily there is a guaranteed way of Resurrection unto life even abundant and eternal life and this way of Resurrection unto life is not a religious system it’s not a ritual you go through through it’s not a set of rules you keep no this way is a person God’s own son Jesus Christ in our next passage of the Gospel of John we will begin to see Jesus not only declare himself to be the resurrection but also set out to prove it and powerfully raising a friend four days Dead from the grave and this account is written so that we Mortals might believe and then know Jesus resurrection life for ourselves please take your Bibles and open to John 11 the title of today’s message is when mourners meet the resurrection and this will be part one when mourners meet the resurrection part one we’re beginning our look at John 11:17 to 46 today this is a decently long section of narrative and because of its length I’m not going to read the whole passage to start but we will instead read it as we work through its different sections but before I do that let me remind you of what we saw last time we were in John John 111-116 where the account of this seventh sign Miracle of Jesus truly begins in John 111:3 Jesus received some sad news Lazarus Jesus Jesus dear friend and the brother of Jesus other dear friends Martha and Mary is seriously ill but in reaction to this John 11:4 Jesus responds by foretelling a glorious outcome Jesus tells his disciples that Lazarus sickness will not end in death but in the glorification of God through the glorification of the Son of God then in verses 5 and six in John 11 Jesus mysteriously but lovingly delays his Deliverance of Lazarus and of the family and he does this by staying two days longer where he is he makes no attempt to go heal Lazarus but then suddenly in vers 7 to10 Jesus announces his intention to return to Judea his disciples then protest reminding Jesus how dangerous that area is for him and them considering the attempt by the Jews recently to kill Jesus Jesus however promises his disciples Divine protection remind them that Jesus and his disciples are safe as long as Jesus the light of the world is with them and as long as he is in the daylight portion of his life then in verses 11- 15 Jesus clarifies his glad purpose in returning to hostile Judea it’s to go to Bethany near Jerusalem and to awaken Lazarus out of sleep now that Lazarus has died Jesus even declares that he is glad that circumstances are turning out this way so that that the disciples might believe these disciples though devoted to Jesus they don’t really understand what he’s talking about or how they can be protected on such a dangerous visit and so in verse 16 Thomas articulates the attitude of the whole group by basically saying let’s go die with Jesus it’s not going to turn out well but we might as well stick with our Master but that brings us to the beginning of our new passage in verse 17 the main idea of the passage is as I stated earlier at the end of my introduction in John 11: 17- 46 so the whole section we’re going to only do part of it today 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 our new passage proceedes in three main parts and then there’s a small epilogue so my sermon outline over this message and the next one whenever I get to do the next one that will be four parts today we’re just going to look at the two the first two main parts get the other two next time now the first main part of the passage covers verses 17 to 27 and where that’s where we’re going to begin reading and analyzing the first main part is number one Jesus proclaims himself the resurrection and the life Jesus proclaims himself the resurrection and the life so let’s look at this starting in verses 17 and 19 so when Jesus came he found that he 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 so here we see Jesus arrives in the little town of Bethany near Jerusalem likely after a 4-day journey and Jesus learns that Lazarus has been in the Tomb for 4 days which is basically the same as saying that Lazarus has been dead for 4 days because back then the Jews usually buried their dead immediately we also see in these verses that with Bethany being so close to Jerusalem many of the Jews from Jerusalem have come to console these bereaved sisters now the term the Jews in John’s gospel usually refers to Jesus determined enemies the Jewish religious leaders and their closest followers in this passage however it seems the term is used a little differently the term appears to refer simply to judeans that is those who lived in the southern portion of the territory of Israel and near Jerusalem so it just seems like it’s the ethnic Jews of this area who are coming out to bethney nevertheless if that is indeed the way John is using this term we shall see that there are still enemies of Jesus in this group of visitors now the fact that many Jews it says come from Jerusalem to mourn with Martha and Mary suggests that theirs is a prominent family Bethany is not an amazing town by any means but for Lazarus and these sisters to have these friends and relatives these many friends and relatives visiting it suggests that they were a well-connected well-loved family and it was definitely a highly valued a culturally expected duty of the Jews at that time to visit with somebody who’s just lost a loved one it was expected that you would go mourn with someone that you knew well if someone passed away so we’re probably talking about dozens of people visiting maybe as many as a hundred or a few hundred all coming out from Jerusalem and the surrounding area to visit with Martha and Mary and by the way just as the Jews in those days often had extended family celebrations so a wedding might last several days even as long as a week they don’t really do that anymore but they did so they also had extended periods of mourning though a family as I said would generally bury someone on the same day that he died the family would usually host friends and relatives to weep together for seven days a weekl long funeral you could say a weekl long period of intense mourning and during this period many families even hired professional mourners who played or sang sad music or who continually offered up sorrowful cries to encourage the bereaved to let out all their sorrows as those bereaved reminisced and wept with the guests who came by now we don’t know if Martha and Mary have hired any morning help any musicians or whatever but we do see with Lazarus buried for 4 days that the sisters are in the middle of that customary weeklong period of intense morning they’ve already likely spent several days weeping with different Judean visitors but now Jesus is arriving how will this development shake up the morning scene let’s read the next few verses verses 20 to 22 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 here we see Martha likely the older sister of the two she doesn’t wait for Jesus to arrive to the Village or or wait for Jesus to call for her instead when she hears that Jesus is approaching that he’s is close by she goes out to the edge of the village to wait for him while Mary stays at the house with all the guests no doubt Martha is eager to see her dear friend Jesus again even the Lord in whom she has already believed but she’s also probably burdened with a certain painful thought that she and her sister both share the very thought that we hear Martha Express in verse 21 as soon as she sees Jesus Lord she said now that is a customary title of respect to K to sir but Martha probably uses it with more significant meaning she has become a believer in Jesus as the Messiah so Lord for her is not just a title of respect it is a confession you are the Messiah you are the king you are the Lord even my Lord but she continues after that Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died now many Bible interpreters sense an implied rebuke here from Martha toward Jesus as if Martha were saying in a not so subtle way to her Lord Jesus you failed us you should have been here to save my brother why didn’t you come some interpreters even link this idea to Martha’s other implied rebuke of Jesus in Luke 10:40 when Jesus apparently fails to direct Mary to help Martha with the many preparations and they say well here we go again Martha Martha always trying to tell her Lord what to do but I think that view is too hard on Martha clearly here she is disappointed and confused and grieved and who wouldn’t be in her situation why didn’t Jesus come but her words here need not mean that she crossed the line into sinful complaint or accusation against her Lord actually her words are akin to what we see in other places of the Bible model prayers of lament in the Psalms in the book of Lamentations and other places and so if she’s sinning here then God models sin in those prayerful laments and other parts of the Bible and clearly God doesn’t do that so I would say no she’s not accusing Jesus she’s simply doing what God’s people do or should do when God in his good but mysterious sovereignty ordains hard circumstances in a person’s life Lord you are the Lord I confess that I believe in you you have all things in your perfect control but I don’t understand why didn’t you send Deliverance why did you crush me instead actually notice the displayed faith in Martha’s verse 21 statement she says her brother would not have died if Jesus were present in Bethany and and what does that assume what does that imply that she believes that Jesus power and compassion are so great that he would have saved Lazarus life if he were present at Bethany notice further what Martha says in verse 22 she says that even now even after Lazarus has died she knows and that is a word to describe total confidence she knows that whatever Jesus asks of God God will give in other words Martha had faith in Jesus as God’s Messiah before Jesus didn’t show up and she still has that Faith Jesus I don’t know why you didn’t come before it hurt us but I know you can do anything the father will grant you anything you ask even now now is she she asking for something in this statement do her words in verse 22 indicate that she hoped or expected that Jesus would raise Lazarus from the dead she does say even now is that what she’s hoping for I would say probably not we’re going to see later on not this week but another time that Martha’s is the voice that objects to Jesus opening Lazarus tomb and she would only do that if she did not expect a resurrection miracle from Jesus furthermore while it’s not something you can really tell in the English translation in the original Greek the word translated whatever whatever you ask God will give you the word translated whatever in verse 22 is plural so the sense is whatever things or whatever requests you ask so what does that tell us that tells us that Martha apparently doesn’t have a particular request in mind as to what Jesus might ask of God in verse 22 she’s merely expressing her confidence that for whatever things Jesus might ask God to bring some good out of this tragedy God will grant she’s not asking for any more than that actually we’ll see that nobody by the by the time we get to Lazarus tomb nobody’s expecting a resurrection and Martha is part of that too so then even as Martha expresses grief and confusion to Jesus as to why Jesus is only showing up now she nonetheless affirms her faith in the Lord even her willingness to trust trust him in whatever he now thinks is best how dides Jesus respond to this anguished expression of Faith from his dear friend look at verse 23 Jesus said to her your brother will rise again this is interesting notice here what Jesus does not say to Martha he does not say Martha I’m so sorry for causing you all this pain do you think you could ever forgive me nor does he say don’t worry Martha let me tell you in detail how all of this will work out no instead Jesus replies with a statement of purposeful ambiguity he says your brother will rise again now on the one hand with these words Jesus Is providing exactly the explanation for why he did not come before and how her good and God’s glory will soon be manifested in this situation Martha I’m going to raise your brother from the dead your brother will rise again I’m going to do this shortly but on on the other hand Jesus does not say specifically how or when Lazarus will eyes so his words could easily be and most naturally would be understood as referring to the general Resurrection at the end of the age that’s not really what Jesus means but that’s the way it will most likely be understood and that is the way that Martha understands it as we see in verse 24 she says or it says Martha said to him I know that he will rise again in the Resurrection on the last day now notice the appearance of I know again Martha is confident in a coming day of final bodily Resurrection for all people the righteous to everlasting life the wicked to Everlasting contempt where’d she get that from well that’s what the Old Testament teaches job 19 psalm 16 Daniel 12 and this is also what Jesus himself teaches as we saw even from the scripture reading earlier in the service John 5 Jesus Affirmed the coming physical Resurrection so Martha definitely has sound Doctrine here she believes in the resurrection she is a devout Jew in that sense remember the only group of Jews that really didn’t believe that they were the Sadducees Martha believes in the coming resurrection and she knows that she will see her dead brother Lazarus again on that future day but is that really what Jesus said in verse 23 is that really the extent of Jesus comfort and explanation to Martha that’s all he’s got to say some think that Martha becomes a little annoyed at Jesus with these words she’s conveying a little bit of annoyance as if Martha is frustrated that Jesus can offer no greater consolation than the commonplace Resurrection comfort that the visiting Jews have surely been telling Martha over the last 3 days oh Jesus you’re just going to point me to the resurrection again that’s what everybody’s saying don’t you have anything more than that that just another platitude and cliche they suggest that Martha maybe is a little bit annoyed but we we should be careful about reading that into Martha’s words there’s really not enough evidence to say that we shouldn’t charge her with something uncharitable without firm evidence certainly we can say that Martha misunderstands Jesus and thinks that he’s trying to comfort her by directing her to think about the coming Resurrection on the last day rather than what he’s about to do but in a sense Jesus wanted her to misunderstand initially this is a situation like we’ve seen elsewhere in the Book of John Jesus says something that he knows will be misunderstood so that he can then clarify it in a more powerful way and that’s exactly what he does because look at the dramatic clarification in verses 25 and 26 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 now this statement is the heart of the whole passage you could say it’s the reason for all that has occurred Lazarus illness Jesus delay Lazarus death Mary and Martha’s grief the coming Miracle all of these take place so that this little Bethany family Jesus disciples John’s original gospel hearers and we today might hear and appreciate Jesus profound words this is the Son of God unveiling a glorious mystery let’s pay attention to it notice that we have here another I am declaration from Jesus this is the fifth of seven in this gospel and once again the expression has overtones of a assertion of deity and that’s because Jesus words are reminiscent of God’s use of the phrase I am in Exodus 3 with Moses and in Isaiah 43 when God is contrasting himself with other false gods and the another reason this has overtones of deity is because what Jesus declares himself to be is nothing that a or is something that a a mere man could never be and what is it that Jesus says he is he says I am the resurrection I am the resurrection and the life now consider how arresting that declaration would have been for Martha Jesus says to her Martha are you looking forward to the coming Resurrection on the last day is that where you’re finding Comfort I tell you I myself it’s emphatic in the Greek I myself am the resurrection and the life now here someone might ask oh is Jesus denying that there is going to be a coming bodily resurrection and teaching instead that God only offers spiritual Resurrection in Jesus Martha don’t pay attention to that coming Resurrection that’s not really a thing I’m the resurrection now and no that can’t be Jesus intent here because as we read from John 5 Jesus clearly affirms that there will be a coming physical bodily Resurrection he’s the one who’s going to make that happen that’s John 5:28-29 so instead of a contradiction what Jesus is doing here is he’s clarifying that the future resurrection that future resurrection and life power that will be Unleashed in marvelous Fashion on the last day it is already present and at work this is because Jesus himself is here and he is resurrection power and life in his very essence as other preachers have said Jesus is not really the one who accomplishes Resurrection or who gives life no he is resurrection and he is life in himself for all who believe and this can only be because as Jesus has made plain in this gospel he is God and all true life comes from and is found in God haven’t we heard this revealed this connection between Jesus being God and having life haven’t we already heard this revealed in the gospel in this gospel John 1: 1:4 you remember how it begins in the beginning was the word and and the Word was with God and the Word was God and verse four it says in him was life and the life was the light of men the word Jesus in him was life it’s who he is it’s his Essence John 5:26 Jesus also says John 526 for just as the father has life in himself even so he gave to the son also to have life in himself he’s the god of life so he’s not just waxing poetic when he says I am the resurrection and the life that is theologically true that is who God is that is who the Son of God is now what are the implications of that you see the words that follow the I am declaration they in a way they seem to be saying the same thing in just two different ways but there’s a slight slightly different emphasis in those two those two sentences those those words that come out afterwards two implications that Jesus draws out from the initial I am declaration and I’ll give those both to you one implication is that as the resurrection and the life that means that Jesus himself will be the one to raise Believers bodily after those Believers die Jesus himself will be the one to raise Believers bodily after those Believers die notice at the end of verse 25 Jesus says he who believes in me will live even if he dies Brethren unless Jesus comes back to snatch away his church in the Rapture sometime soon everybody here is going to die likely everybody here is going to occupy a plot in some Cemetery somewhere there’s going to be a little grave mark that has your name on it and has when you were born and when you died I don’t know when that’s going to happen for each one of you I don’t know when that’s going to happen for me but unless Christ comes that is going to happen but is that the end of you is that the end of your life not if you in Jesus Christ Jesus says that he is the resurrection and you will live even if you die not everybody’s going to die there’ll be some Believers alive when Jesus comes but even if you die he says you will live how is that how’s that going to be because Jesus is the resurrection your body may go into the grave but guess what it’s coming back out you will be raised to full and everlasting life and this isn’t going to happen because this thing called the resurrection is going to take place in the future it’s because the resurrection direction is going to accomplish that in you and for you why would Jesus do that for you because by repentance and Faith you have become spiritually connected to him and if he’s life and Resurrection in himself how can that not manifest in you and even in your body Paul says it this way in Romans 811 Romans 8:11 God will give life to your mortal bodies through Christ Spirit who dwells in you your mortal bodies they will have life why because the spirit of Christ is in you and who is Christ he’s the resurrection so though you may die you will live you will be brought back to life Jesus will be the one who raises you bodily and that sense is the resurrection that’s one implication but there’s another one what’s the other implication of Jesus being resurrection and life in himself that is number two that Jesus is the one who gives life to Believers Spirits now so that in a sense Believers Never Die I’ll say that again Jesus is the one who gives life to Believers Spirits now so that in a sense Believers Never Die look at verse 26 again Jesus says and everyone who lives and Believes In Me will never die now he’s not contradicting what he said before he’s just coming at it from a different angle notice specifically here Jesus gives two descriptions of those who fit the category of those who will never die both descriptions or we could call them conditions they must exist for a person to gain the Will Never Die part of Jesus statement now of these two conditions the second one is more straightforward and that is you must believe in Jesus he says everyone who believes or everyone believing in Jesus he will never die now that’s no surprise to us Jesus has been saying that all throughout this gospel the only way to everlasting life is not by works not by baptism not by church membership It Is by belief believing in Jesus believing in Jesus as the Christ and the Son of God that is the only way to everlasting life okay that’s one condition we get that but what about the first one in verse 26 he says everyone who lives or we could translate that everyone living what does that phrase mean some say that the phrase merely refers to everyone who is still physically alive and therefore the opportunity to believe in Jesus that’s a possible answer but that condition seems rather obvious and it applies to everyone who’s on the earth so why even mention it a better interpretation I would argue follows the niv’s translation of verse 26 if you have the NIV or if you look at it the translation there is and whoever lives by believing in me will never die whoever lives by believing in me will never die this is to say the phrase everyone who lives it describes those who have been brought already to spiritual resurrection and Life by faith in Jesus who even right now experience Jesus Eternal Abundant Life Through the Holy Spirit after all the phrase here who lives or the one living it describes a present not a future reality and if you are experiencing the eternal life of God now in the spirit then what can physical death do to you is that going to represent any diminishment of your eternal life not at all death can’t take away your life the only thing it can do is increase your experience of it so in that sense Jesus is correct you will never die you will never experience death because you have already been raised to life in the spirit by the way I should mention again that we have that wonderfully emphatic mode of denial from Jesus here at the end of verse 26 you may have heard this explanation before but it just seems to be something that Jesus does again and again in this gospel when he wants to say that something is absolutely never going to happen totally not possible there’s a certain grammatical construction he uses in the Greek it’s the most it’s the strongest kind of denial you can make it’s two negation words and a subjunctive in in English a more leral translation of what what Jesus is doing in verse 26 would sound like this everyone living and believing in me could not could not possibly die forever he couldn’t say it in any more stronger language but that’s what Jesus keeps doing in this gospel he says do you think that believer is going to die I tell you it could not not happen any way possible forever doesn’t want you to be afraid of that doesn’t want you to even think about the possibility of that that that that possibility can’t even exist never going to happen why because Jesus is the resurrection and the life and that will not fail his Essence will not fail to be applied for any of his people to put this all together then when we encounter Jesus I am statement in verses 25 and 26 we should not be asking is Jesus prom promising physical Resurrection someday or spiritual Resurrection now because the answer is both when anyone believes in Jesus that person is made alive in the spirit by Union with Christ therefore that person’s eternal life can never fade and Jesus will raise that person in a new body one day now why dides Jesus tell Martha all this the answer is to help her apply each of those truths in her own hard situation it’s like Jesus Is Telling Martha Martha do not put your hope in some impersonal General Resurrection to come put your hope in me for I am the one who will bring about the bodily resurrection of every person yet you don’t have to wait for the last day to know and find comfort in my Resurrection Life you can know it now because I share my Abundant Life with everyone who believes in me no matter their circumstances not even death can destroy the eternal life that I give Jesus lays out this magnificent declaration to Martha but then notice at the end of verse 26 he asks her if she believes what he’s telling her do you believe this Martha do you believe that I myself am the resurrection that no one brings it about for God’s people in the last day but me if you don’t have me you don’t have the resurrection do you also believe that you can know and enjoy the Resurrection Life Of God now by faith in me to answer Jesus with yes would not only be to confess that Jesus is the center of all life but also consequently that Jesus is God and worthy of exclusive wholehearted worship oh what does Martha say look at verse 27 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 now this is beautiful in the midst of her pain and confusion that has not been erased in the midst of her pain and confusion Martha readily confesses that Jesus is indeed the center of all life including her life and why because Jesus is God’s promised Messiah he is the Son of God equal in essence and glory to the father and he is the light of Life promised by the prophets and sent by God from Heaven into the world notice the the verb tense in Martha’s confession doesn’t say I believe but I have believed so this is the perfect tense in Greek well reflected in the English translation it indicates a past happening with ongoing effect in the present in other words Martha is not coming to believe in Jesus for the first time now she has already believed but her past faith is persevering in the present and is even growing her faith has deepened to the point that she is willing to accept that Jesus doesn’t need to explain himself or even provide her brother ‘s Resurrection immediately she is satisfied in whatever the son chooses to do for he is he himself is resurrection and life he is her resurrection and life and wasn’t this the purpose that Jesus articulated back in John 11:15 of this whole hard circumstance Jesus essentially said there I am glad that I was not there when Lazarus died so that those who don’t believe in me May believe and those who do believe in me like you disciples they may persevere in their belief and believe more deeply isn’t that also what we’ve been talking about in our trust in God Sunday school series you want to know Jesus better do you want to believe in him more do you want your faith deepened well the Lord will put you through some hard trials that’s not God being mean to you that’s God loving you just as Le Jesus loves Martha here and her family it’s so that she may believe and that’s exactly what’s happening so friends Brethren what about you and your own life Jesus asks Martha do you believe this but he also asks you by the spirit do you believe this do you confess that Jesus is the Christ the son of God even he who is coming into the world do you confess that he is the resurrection in the life even your Resurrection in the life and he doesn’t have to do anything in your life the way you think it has to be done whatever he thinks that’s the way it ought to be done the only way you’re going to be willing to say that is if you truly believe Jesus is your resurrection and your life and he’s going to raise you in the last day do you believe this or do you put your hope of resurrection and life in Something Else Something in the world some other person some religious system some sin you will be very disappointed in whatever else you trust because only Jesus is the resurrection and the life well at this point Jesus has revealed a glorious truth about himself to Martha yet before Jesus performs a miraculous sign to prove and preview some of the grand realities he’s just spoken of Jesus demonstrates something else profound what his heart is in this whole matter having to do with Mankind and death we now come to the second part of the passage this the last thing we’ll look at today this is verses 28 to 37 where we see number two Jesus feels indignation and grief over death tyranny Jesus feels indignation and grief over death tyranny look at the next set of verses well we’ll start with just vers 28-31 when she Martha had said this she went away and called Mary her sister saying secretly the teacher is here and is calling for you and when she heard it she Mary 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 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 okay here we see that with the important conversation with Martha essentially concluded its main purpose accomplished Jesus asks Martha to send Mary her sister to meet with Jesus outside the village Martha passes on the message secretly to Mary no doubt hoping to preserve a private meeting between Jesus and Mary but when the Jews see Mary get up quickly to go meet with Jesus they misunderstand her intent and like good Consolers when someone is in the morning period they don’t leave her alone they decide to follow and go with her now what does Mary do and say when she sees Jesus look at verse 32 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 probably notice immediately that Mary’s words to Jesus are pretty much the exact same as their sisters Mary also feels the disappointment the confusion the grief the pain that Jesus did not come earlier and save her brother yet like her sister Mary also affirms that Jesus is of such power and compassion that he could have saved Lazarus if he were present there are a couple of differences though in in Mary’s approach notice in comparison to her sister notice that while no mention was made of Martha’s posture before Jesus Mary Falls at jesus’ feet that’s a stance demonstrating humility devotion and even desperation also Mary has no accompanying statement to her first one and thus does not mirror her sister in that way either you remember Martha said if you had been here but then she said yet even now I know well we don’t see any accompanying statement like that from Mary she stopped speaking after her first sentence okay what do these difference indicate between the about the spirituality of the Two Sisters is Martha more spiritual is Mary more spiritual I don’t think we can say probably what’s happening here is just the two sisters are manifesting their different temperaments there’s not a lot said about these two sisters in the Bible but it does seem overall that Mary seems to be the more outwardly emotional while Martha seems to be the more outwardly controlled and apparently rational not that Mar is irrational but they they have different temperaments and so it’s reflected in their approaches to Jesus but both women we can see they truly believe in Jesus even while caught up in deep puzzlement and pain now it may be that Mary hoped to have a longer conversation with Jesus but that proves impossible due to the presence of a whole crowd of Jews who followed her and they’re not just following her but they are Weeping even as Mary is weeping too and all this weeping suddenly presented before Jesus it provokes a profound reaction from him look at verses 33- 37 when Jesus therefore saw her Mary 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 now to appreciate the picture here or to more fully appreciate the picture realize the Greek word translated weeping in verse 33 refers to loud wailing Mary and these morning Jews they’re not merely crying but they are screaming they are robbing loudly before Jesus now this is not because they’re weird or something like that this was customary for that culture this is the way that the Jews and the ancient people of that time the way they grieve This Is How They expressed their sorrow publicly with these loud cries with this loud wailing but with so many people doing this all at once it’s it’s an overwhelming scene and verse 33 says that Jesus is emotionally moved and the specific Greek terms that describe Jesus emotional reaction are very intriguing and even instru Ive the first term it’s translated in our nasby 95 translation as was deeply moved this Greek term usually carries with it some idea of anger or indignation the verb only appears a handful of times in the Bible in the New Testament about five times in the other passages we see it we see the word used to describe Jesus sternly warning that’s how it’s translated in the nasby Jesus sternly warning certain people not to reveal his identity as Messiah the other place we see it is when the 12 disciples in Mark’s account scold Mary the translation there is scold Mary for pouring out perfume on jesus’ feet rather than selling the perfume and giving it to the poor so being deeply moved yes this is a this is a strong emotional reaction but usually it has some idea of anger in it of indignation in it and so if we bring that overall usage in the Bible to this passage it suggests that Jesus beholding the loud mour it doesn’t just move Jesus to sympathy but to anger the question naturally arises anger at whom and why now some interpreters suggest that Jesus is angry with the mourners angry at them mourning like those without hope in the resurrection or angry because they are mourning hypocritically but I don’t think this is the best interpretation because we don’t have any good reason to doubt the mourner’s sorrow as being genuine Mary certainly has genuine sorrow and they’re there with her I think the most natural conclusion is that this is genuine sorrow we can’t be angry at them for their hypocrisy furthermore like Mary most Jews did believe or at least outwardly confessed in the coming Resurrection so would he really be justified in being angry with them for not believing in the resurrection I think the better interpretation here along with other interpreters is that Jesus is not angry or indignant with the mourners but with death itself after all as we just heard in the previous section if Jesus is life and Resurrection in his very being in his Essence then how could he not hate death which is the exact opposite of who he is and everything he desires for his people the Bible calls death our enemy one that God is determined not only to disarm but to destroy for our sakes so in John 11 when Jesus sees a clear picture of the tragedy of death the wrongness of death the destructiveness of death even in the lives of his dear friends it moves him it moves him even to the point of indignation Jesus knows that death ultimately doesn’t belong and as the Good Shepherd of his sheep he is determined to do battle with death and to remove its terrible tyranny yet someone might ask but didn’t God ordain death as the just penalty for Mankind’s sin how could Jesus get angry with something that God has ordained is this God getting angry with God the answer is that God does not love or take pleasure in everything that he ordains some of what God ordains he absolutely hates even though in God’s grand plan God is is pleased to ordain that hateful object for the sake of God’s holiness and Justice God is pleased to ordain death even Eternal death for all those who remain self idolators and Rebels against God but God does not love death itself not even the death of the wicked he says this plainly in the Bible just to quote two vers for you Ezekiel 18:32 Ezekiel 18:32 God says for I have no pleasure in the death of anyone who dies also Ezekiel 3311 Ezekiel 3311 God speaks to his Prophet Ezekiel say to them as I live declares the Lord God that is the Lord Yahweh I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live turn back turn back from your evil ways why then will you die oh House of Israel you see there’s no contradiction in God when Jesus becomes indignant with death in John 11 no Jesus is just displaying in preview form that same holy Zeal and determination that Jesus will later display at the cross and at his own tomb as well as what he will display in the new heavens and the new Earth at the end of Redemptive history what do we hear at the end of The Book of Revelation Revelation 213 and4 declare that after death and the grave themselves are symbolically thrown into the Lake of Fire to be gotten rid of forever Our God afterwards proclaims this is revelation 213 and4 behold the Tabernacle of God is among men and there will no longer be any death there will no longer be any mourning or crying or pain the first things have passed away what Jesus displays here is what he will continually display until death is totally gotten rid of now Jesus has not only moved to the point of indignation against death here in John 11 but verse 33 adds another description he was troubled or we could translate that he was Disturbed he was stirred up in himself now what does that mean well it means that Jesus feels the sorrow and pain of those around him of course not to the point of losing his own contentment and peace as God he can never stop being who he is but nevertheless to the point that Jesus genuinely feels trouble trouble sorrow and pain in his own Soul yes God can feel sorrow God can feel trouble God can feel even a kind of grief and pain and it is right for him to do so Brethren consider that as our sympathetic high priest Jesus knows our griefs and pains and Sorrows even as even as if he has felt them himself for if we are commanded to weep with those who weep and rejoice with those who Rejoice Romans 12:15 should not our Lord have shown us the way first and not merely in outward form but deeply and genuinely in his own heart truly Isaiah prophesied in Isaiah 53 that Jesus would be a man of Sorrows and acquainted with grief whose Sorrows whose griefs his own yes but not just his own his people’s too ours too this is also the truth emphasized in verse 35 famously the shortest verse in the Bible Jesus wept now intriguingly the verb for wept here is not the same as the one in verse 33 there we have the words weeping translated weeping it’s it’s the word for loud wailing but in verse 35 it’s a different Greek verb and it describes the shedding of Tears or even bursting into tears and does that different description mean that Jesus was more muted in his expression of grief unlike the others present maybe but the fact that Jesus visibly cries when confronting the scene of great mourning over his friend’s death shows that Jesus grief and thus his love for his sheep stuck in the shadow of death is real it’s genuine as even the Jews themselves note in verse 36 see how he loved him he feels the grief of this family he has compassion indeed just this part here is another wondrous revelation of our Lord and God we see clearly that our Lord’s compassion for us his own it is so great that he is genuinely indignant with death on our behalf and he is empathetic to all our pains and sorrows truly is the perfect high priest and savior and truly he is the resurrection and the life he is passionate about delivering his people from Death once and for all but is he able is Jesus well-meaning but impotent does he talk a big game but can’t deliver the goods you may notice in verse 37 the question is raised for the third time in our passage as to why Jesus this supposedly powerful and compassionate Messiah he didn’t save Lazarus from dying is it because he couldn’t is the answer that Jesus power is limited he wanted to save his friend but he just wasn’t able if that’s the case how could we ever put our trust in him as our resurrection and life how do we know for certain that Jesus indeed gives us life now and will raise us bodily in the future well Jesus answers all those questions in spectacular fashion in the final part of our passage which is what I have to say for next time really sorry about that but the Lord has given us plenty to meditate on today so I trust these words have still been profitable for you be back next time we’re in John for the climactic conclusion of this narrative let me close in prayer Jesus you are the champion Lord we we are people who apart from you dwell in the land of death there’s no way we could ever find life there’s nothing we could do but mourn but you you are the god of life and you have come to destroy death we’ve seen it defeated in part Lord by what you’ve accomplished at the cross and your powerful Resurrection from the grave but Lord one day that Victory will be total and death will be no more we will be raised and we will be with the god of life in new bodies forever in a perfect world that doesn’t know death or Mourning or crying or pain oh Jesus only you are such a champion Only You Deserve glory for who is the god of life except you you are the resurrection you are our life oh God I pray that that be a truth that we take to heart today so that even if we are still stuck where Martha and Mary are not knowing why God did the things that he did that we can still say my Lord is going to provide life one day and he’s already providing it now I don’t have to know I don’t have to have his Deliverance in a certain way because he knows what is best I will trust in my Lord and I will rest and his life God I pray that for each person here I pray that for myself and for those who still don’t know the resurrection and the life in the saving way I pray God that you’d open their eyes that they’d stop looking for life and resurrection and anything else they’re always going to disappoint there will be nothing at the end except disappointment and death but there will never be disappointment with you you are too powerful you are too compassionate you are too wise for that oh Lord strengthen our faith today those who have not yet believed I pray that they would believe but those who do believe like Martha God I pray that you would strengthen our faith so that we may know you more love you more trust you more in Jesus name amen