The
first sign Jesus performed in the Gospel of John was to show His
transforming power at the wedding in Cana. His last sign before His
own death and resurrection was raising Lazarus from death to life. All signs Jesus gave throughout the gospels pointed to this: Jesus
gives spiritual life by dying in His flesh for all sinners. We gain spiritual life
also by allowing Jesus and the Holy Spirit to put our flesh and its
ways to death, so we walk in newness of life in Jesus and the Holy
Spirit. It is through His transforming power that we are raised from
the death of our fleshly ways and sin to new, resurrected, spiritual
life in Jesus Christ.
LAZARUS DIES -- A SINNER IS SET FREE AND GIVEN NEW, RESURRECTED LIFE IN JESUS
The
next time Martha and Mary are mentioned in the Gospel of John is when
their brother Lazarus died. Jesus will use this situation to bring
glory to God and give those involved deeper revelation of Him. This
time, Martha ran to meet Jesus first, but Mary stayed in the house.
(John 11:20) Martha has obviously learned from her past
correction from Jesus. There were many mourners in the house whom
Martha would be serving, but now her focus was on Jesus. She dropped
everything to go to meet Him. Martha has grown spiritually.
When
Jesus heard the news that Lazarus was sick, He proclaimed , “this
sickness will not end in death. No it is for God's glory , so that
God's Son may be glorified through it.” John 11:4 Jesus
delayed going to Lazarus for two days. He informs His disciples that
Lazarus has fallen asleep. Death in scripture is often called being
in a “deep sleep.” Jesus says, “but I am going there
to wake him up.” John 11:11
Lazarus was not only physically dead (asleep),
he was spiritually dead (asleep).
Jesus
will give Him a spiritual awakening. Jesus' disciples
thought He was talking about natural sleep, but Jesus was talking
about Lazarus' death—both physically and spiritually. Lazarus had
not come to believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God. Lazarus was Jesus' friend, but he did not believe in Him as the Son of God yet. Lazarus did not sit down at table with Jesus until after he was
resurrected. His sisters, Mary and Martha, believed in Jesus before
their brother Lazarus.
Thomas, one of Jesus' disciples, was so distraught that Jesus was going near the place where His enemies were plotting to kill him that he said to the rest of the disciples, “Let
us also go, that we may die with Him.” v16 Jesus responded, “Lazarus
is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may
believe. But let us go to him.” v14 Jesus
will use Lazarus' death to show them that He is the resurrection and
the life and has the power over death and the grave. He is also
showing them what is about to happen to Him in His own death and
resurrection.
Jesus
didn't go to Martha and Mary right away. He waited two more days
then came to them. A day is as a thousand years with the Lord.
These two days symbolize the age of grace when Jesus is gathering a Bride full of His resurrection life. After two days, Jesus said to
His disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” When
the age of grace is completed, Jesus will return to Judea to the city
of Jerusalem and usher in the millennial age of peace. Jesus will
reveal Himself to the Jews and rule and reign over the earth.
By
the time Jesus and His disciples arrive close to the house of Martha,
Mary and Lazarus, four days have passed. First, Jesus comforted the
mourners who loved Lazarus. The Jews believed that the soul hovers
over the body for three days. After this, there is no hope for
revival, and decay has set in. So they are without hope for their
friend and relative Lazarus. Jesus gives hope to the hopeless. He will demonstrate His resurrection power over death using His powerful Word and the power of the Holy Spirit within Him.
MARTHA
MARTHA
Martha
shows her faith in Jesus by saying, “Lord, if You had been here,
my brother would not have died.” v21
Martha knew that Jesus had the power to heal her brother if He had
gotten there on time. Humanity cannot dictate when Jesus will
respond to a cry for help. We are to humbly make our need known
through prayer and then trust Him to do what needs to be done in His
timing. Martha's faith is further emphasized by her next statement.
“But I know even now that God will give you whatever you
ask.” Martha has grown
spiritually. She knows the power and authority of Jesus and His
Word. Jesus told Martha that her brother would rise again. Martha
didn't quite understand this. She says, “I know He will
rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” v24 Most
Jews believed in the resurrection of the dead at the end of time
because of scripture. (see Job 19:25-26; Psalms 16:9-11;
Isaiah 26:19) Martha is
talking about the Day of the Lord at the end of the age. But Jesus
wants her to know that His resurrection life starts right here on
earth now. Jesus breathes new spiritual life into those who are dead
in sin when they come to Him as their Lord and Savior. Spiritual
rebirth is offered to every human now. Once we accept Jesus as our
Lord and Savior, we live in the Spirit, and when we die physically,
we will live on forever in the Spirit and our spiritual body just as
Jesus did.
Jesus sees Martha's faith in Him so He takes Martha even deeper. He
tells her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who
believes in Me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and
believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” v25 At
this revelation Martha speaks the same words that Peter spoke in Mark
8:29, “I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who was
to come into the world.” v27 Martha
came to believe that Jesus was not just her friend, but is the Christ
(Anointed One) and
the Son of God. Both Martha and Mary had to understand His Lordship.
Notice that Martha did not ask Jesus to resurrect her brother, nor
did Mary. They trusted this decision to Jesus. They were submitted
to His will and authority.
All
humans are spiritually dead in sin. Without Jesus there can be no
resurrected life. Jesus' resurrected life is for now, as well as
eternity. Jesus could not only heal Lazarus, He can raise him from
death to life. Jesus is about to show Martha, Mary and all of those
who mourned Lazarus' death that He indeed is the resurrection and the
life. First Jesus spoke His Word; then He performed His Word. In
the beginning at creation, God also spoke His Word and then performed
His Word. Since Jesus is God, He does the same.
Martha
didn't criticize Mary this time. She ran to tell her that the
“Teacher (Master/Rabbi)
is here and asking for
you.” The
jealousy and envy in Martha toward her sister has gone. Martha
probably referred to Jesus as “Teacher” to Mary because Mary is
the one who sat humbly at Jesus' feet to learn of Him and His Kingdom. When Mary
heard that Jesus was asking for her, she got up and ran quickly to
Jesus. She met Him in the same place that Martha had met Him. Jesus meets us right where we are at in our spiritual journey.
MARY
MARY
Mary
was deeply grieved over her brother's death. Many Jews were with
Mary trying to comfort her in her grief. When they saw how quickly
Mary went somewhere, they followed her thinking that she was going to
the tomb. Mary was not going to the place of death; she was going to
the place of life! When
Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at His
feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not
have died.” Mary's quickness in coming to Jesus brought all of these Jews to Him also.
Mary
approached Jesus in a different way than Martha. Mary humbled
herself and wept. Both Mary and Martha believed in Jesus' ability to
save, but Mary added humility, reverence, compassion and worship to
her faith. Mary said the same thing about her brother as Martha
did. They were both women of faith who knew Jesus could have healed
their brother if He had gotten there on time. Mary's humility, love
and sorrow moved Jesus to act.
Jesus
wanted Martha and Mary, as well as their family and friends who were
mourning with them, to know Him in all of His power and glory. He
would use Mary and Martha's brother's death to show His power to bring new life
to the dead. He would also use it to show what He Himself would go
through soon – death and resurrection. Jesus did in the “natural”
what soon would take place in the “supernatural.”
God had a plan and a time. If
Jesus had come sooner, these Jews would not have been gathered around
Martha and Mary to console and comfort them in their loss. Lazarus'
death brought these Jews to Jesus. He would show them the glory of
God through the resurrection of Lazarus. When things looked hopeless,
Jesus showed up. He would demonstrate His power over death and the
grave. They would witness His miraculous resurrection of Lazarus.
The weeping and grief of Mary and the Jews who came with her moved
Jesus in spirit and troubled Him. Jesus is so close to His own that
He feels our pain and sadness.
Jesus
asks, “Where have
you laid him?” v34 “Come and see,” they replied. Jesus wept.
Mary
and the Jews with her will lead Jesus to their dead brother and
friend. Christians are to bring those who are dead in sin to Jesus.
Jesus felt the pain and sorrow of Mary and the others and wept with
them. He probably also wept because of the unbelief of the Jews
present as well as Lazarus. Jesus knew that these Jews who came to
Him with Mary needed Him. The fact that some of God's chosen people
did not accept Him troubled Him. Jesus wept over the city of
Jerusalem for the same reason. The love and compassion of Jesus and
the Father toward lost humanity causes them to weep. Those who love and follow Jesus also sometimes weep
over those who are dead in sin.
Some
of the Jews said, “See
how He loved him!” But
others criticized Him. The Jewish critics said, “Could
not He who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from
dying?” v37 They
questioned Jesus' power, criticized His timing and perhaps even
questioned His heart. We have to trust Jesus and His timing over
every circumstance. He has a plan and a purpose that we may not know
about. Those who love and follow Jesus will always have both encouragers and critics. We must, however, keep our eyes on the goal--Jesus and His ability to resurrect life in those who are dead in sin.
Lazarus had to die before he could
be resurrected. The same is true with all of humanity both in the
present and for eternity. Followers of Christ have to allow Jesus to
put our flesh to death so we will walk in the Spirit and His
resurrected life.
JESUS GOES TO THE TOMB OF LAZARUS
JESUS GOES TO THE TOMB OF LAZARUS
Jesus
went to the tomb. Wealthy people were buried in a tomb. The poor
were buried in a common grave. So Lazarus, Martha and Mary were a
wealthy family. These tombs were sealed by rolling a huge rock
across the entrance. In other words, a rock was between life and
death. Jesus is that Rock. Jesus told those present to “Take
away the stone.” The
stone had to be rolled away for Lazarus to have resurrected life.
Jesus could have rolled away the stone but He told the others to do
it. In other words, “Remove the barrier.” The barrier for
humanity is sin. Each of us have to willingly allow Jesus and the
Holy Spirit to remove the barrier of sin in us so we can walk in new,
resurrected spiritual life in Jesus the Rock. In order for Lazarus
to have resurrected life, the stone barrier –the seal of
death--must be rolled away. Jesus wants to roll our sins away.
Jesus had knowledge that those
present couldn't see. Soon He would be crucified and placed in a
tomb sealed by a rock. Those who witnessed the resurrection of
Lazarus may remember and believe when Jesus is put to death and
resurrected. Jesus also illustrated during the resurrection of
Lazarus that it is the powerful Word of God anointed by the Holy
Spirit of God that calls us out of spiritual death to spiritual life.
After Jesus died and was put in a
tomb, on the third day God caused the earth to shake and sent an
angel of the Lord to roll away the stone that sealed the entrance to
the tomb that held Jesus' body. Jesus too was buried in a tomb of a
wealthy man. A messenger of God rolled the stone away, just as God wants those who know and love Jesus to roll the barriers of sin away. Jesus, God's
Supreme Messenger, rolled away the seal of death for the whole world.
He is our Rock that bridged the gap between sin and death, heaven
and earth. He took away our sin which brings spiritual death. In
Christ, we have new, resurrected life. Our flesh will die, but our
spiritual body in Christ will live forever.
Lazarus' dead body has been in the
tomb for four days. Martha is concerned with the stench of decaying
flesh. Flesh without life decays and stinks. When we are
spiritually dead in sin, we stink. The longer we hold on to our
sins, we are decaying and getting stinkier. We are spiritually dead
and asleep in the grave of our sin. Jesus wants us to come to Him so
He can remove our sin and decay. Lazarus was not only in the
darkness of death and the tomb, he was in spiritual darkness. Jesus
will call Lazarus by name and give him both restored physical life
and eternal, resurrected life. He will overcome the corruption of
Lazarus' flesh body by His powerful Word and the obedience of Lazarus. He will also remove the doubt in His disciples about His power and might to breathe new life into others. Believers of Christ are called to bring
new life to those who are dead in sin. We are to use the power of
His Word and His Spirit to do this. Even greater than this is to
live His Word and show others who Christ is by example.
Jesus
answers Martha by reminding her of His Word. “Did
I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
John 11:40 In
other words, “have faith in Me and My Word.” We must remember
God's Word in all circumstances, and believe that God will perform
all that He has spoken in His Word and to us personally. No matter
how bad the stench of our sin, Jesus can set us free, cleanse and
heal us.
In
His flesh body, Jesus was totally dependent upon His Father in
heaven. As soon as those present obeyed Jesus' command to roll away
the stone, Jesus prayed to His Father. He called God “Father”
showing the intimacy between the Father and the Son. Because of
Jesus, we too can call God “Father” in the same close and
intimate relationship. Jesus proclaimed earlier that Lazarus would
live. Because Jesus is fully God in the flesh as well as fully Man,
His proclaimed Word will come to pass. Jesus knew that God hears Him and will perform
His Word, so He didn't ask God to resurrect Lazarus. Instead, Jesus
thanked God that He heard Him and always hears Him. Jesus, God's
Son, is righteous. The Bible says that God hears the prayers of the
righteous who do His will. (see
John 9:31) Jesus
is righteous and does His Father's will so He had no doubt that His
Heavenly Father would perform His Word, and Lazarus would rise from
the dead. He and the Father work in absolute unity and harmony.
Jesus
saw beyond death, hell and the grave. Jesus “looked
up” and
saw through the eyes of the heavenly realm. As Jesus was the
obedient Son who carried out the will of God on earth, Jesus wants
those who love and follow Him to emulate Him and be a channel of His
love, truth and salvation to others. Jesus prayed His prayer out
loud “for the
benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that You
sent Me.” John 11:42 Jesus
wanted those present to know that He knew His Heavenly Father would
perform His Word. There was no doubt. Jesus knew, but the people in
front of Jesus didn't know that God hears and answers the prayers of
the righteous, so Jesus prayed out loud for their benefit.
Everything Jesus did as He walked the earth was designed for the
glory of God.
JESUS CALLS LAZARUS BY NAME AND GIVES HIM A COMMAND TO COME OUT OF THE TOMB OF DEATH
JESUS CALLS LAZARUS BY NAME AND GIVES HIM A COMMAND TO COME OUT OF THE TOMB OF DEATH
Jesus
called Lazarus by name and told him to come to Him. “Lazarus,
come forth.” v43 The
Word of God/Jesus woke the dead! The Word of God also wakes the
spiritually dead today. Jesus used His powerful Word to call
Lazarus out of the tomb of death to the One who has life. The Word
of God is powerful. When Lazarus heard Jesus' Word (voice)
, he obeyed and came out of the tomb of death to the life-giver
Jesus. It is hearing and obeying the Word of God that brings us to
new, resurrected life in Him. Jesus used His powerful Word to raise
Jairus' daughter (young
Jewish female),
the widow's son (young
gentile male) and
Lazarus (elder
Jewish man) from
death to life.
Jesus'
resurrection life is for everyone – Jew and Gentile, male and
female, young and old. Jesus had said in John
5 that
“a
time is coming, and has now come, when the dead will hear the voice
of the Son of God and those who hear will live.” v25
LAZARUS OBEYS BUT IS STILL BOUND IN GRAVECLOTHES
LAZARUS OBEYS BUT IS STILL BOUND IN GRAVECLOTHES
Lazarus came out
of the tomb at the command of Jesus, but he was still bound in his
death clothes (swaddling
cloth). His obedience to
Jesus' command brought Lazarus out of the tomb of death to new life
in Jesus. The power of Jesus' Word took away the corruption and
decay of Lazarus' flesh bringing him to new, resurrected life in
Christ. Jesus told His disciples to “take
off the grave clothes and let Him go.” John 11:44
The Law would not allow a Jew to touch a dead body or the grave
clothes, but Jesus tells His Jewish disciples to take away the grave
clothes. Jesus circumvented the Law because Lazarus is now alive. Jesus gave the job of taking off the graveclothes to His disciples. When people come to Jesus, they are born anew but they still are full of sin which brings spiritual death. Jesus
gave His Word that resurrected Lazarus from death, but His disciples
had a job to do also. They are to set Lazarus' hands, feet and the
cloth around his face free from the grave clothes that bound and
blinded him. Lazarus' hand represent his works. His feet represent
his walk, and his eyes represent his spiritual vision. Jesus wants His disciples to teach Lazarus to walk as
Jesus walked, do the works He did and help Lazarus put on the
face of Jesus and remove the face of Lazarus.
When we come to Jesus,
we are still bound by sin and our flesh's deathly ways. Jesus wants
His disciples to help new converts and fellow Christians to be set
free from the chains of sin that bind them. We do this through
prayer, the teaching of the powerful Word of God, Christlike love and
loving correction, and through example. Jesus must always be in the
lead with His disciples behind Him. We are called to “follow Him”
and His ways.
JESUS SEALS HIS OWN DEATH
JESUS SEALS HIS OWN DEATH
Jesus
gave life to Lazarus but He sealed His own death because of it. Many
Jews believed in Jesus because of this miracle, but some of them went
to the Pharisees to tell them what Jesus had done. The chief priests
and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin Council.
Caiaphas, one of the chief religious representatives, prophesied
unknowingly of the significance of Christ's death: “You
do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the
people than that the whole nation perish.” John ll:50 He
prophesied that Jesus would die for the whole Jewish nation, and for
the scattered children of God throughout the whole world to bring the
Jews and the Gentiles together as one resurrected Body. So
from that day on, they (religious
leadership) plotted
to take Jesus' life.
SEVEN MIRACLES OF JESUS IN JOHN
SEVEN MIRACLES OF JESUS IN JOHN
There
are seven miracles of Jesus in the Gospel of John. This is the
crowning miracle – resurrection life. Jesus did in the natural for
Lazarus what He would soon do in the supernatural for all of us.
This miracle happened just before Jesus was put to death, and His
dead body placed in a tomb sealed with a stone. But on the third
day, Jesus was resurrected and is alive forevermore. Alleluia!
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