I Am the Resurrection and the Life
Text: John 11:1-44
Core Idea: Jesus Christ is the Resurrection and the Life. In Him, everything sad becomes untrue and the stench of death turns into the aroma of life. Then let’s offer up worship that is fit for our Savior knowing that victory is ours through our Lord Jesus Christ.
INTRODUCTION
Good morning, Lighthouse. Happy Resurrection Sunday! It is always good to worship God with the people that I love so much. Now, if you’re new to our church or new to Christianity in general, we’re so delighted to have you here. I pray that you’ll come to see how beautiful and wonderful our God is – and that you’ll experience this incredible love that He has for you through the Word and our community as well. Last week, we looked at one of the “I AM” statements found in the Gospel of John. And we learned that Jesus Christ is our Good Shepherd who knows us completely, gives Himself willingly, and seeks out the lost passionately. Now, if you’re not familiar with these statements, think of them as declarations made by Jesus to describe the essence of His identity and mission – to teach us who He is and what He came to do. But more importantly, “I AM” is the personal name of God – which means that when Jesus applied this to Himself, He was proclaiming His divinity. No wonder this caused the religious leaders to hate Him and ultimately come up with plans to kill Him. As you can see, these “I AM” statements are important because they clearly show us that Jesus wasn’t just a great teacher or a gifted helper to God, but that He really was God incarnate, the Promised Messiah that the Israelites have been so desperately waiting for. Then with that in mind, today, we’ll look at another statement made by Jesus – namely, “I AM the Resurrection and the Life.” So, please turn your Bibles to John 11:1-44. Now, because this is a bit lengthy, it’s so easy to get lost – which is why I’m inviting you to enter into the story. Think about the emotions that the characters must have felt and the things they must have thought. And it’ll help you better engage with the text. Let me read this for us.
1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped His feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one You love is sick.” 4 When He heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days, 7 and then He said to His disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” 8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone You, and yet You are going back?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.” 11 After He had said this, He went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” 12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but His disciples thought He meant natural sleep. 14 So then He told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” 17 On His arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet Him, but Mary stayed at home. 21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give You whatever You ask.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that You are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” 28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to Him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met Him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. 32 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.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” He asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not He who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” 38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” He said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” 40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 I knew that You always hear Me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 When He had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
Amen. This is the Word of God for you today.
Let me share three things from this passage.
· THE WISDOM OF JESUS
· THE LOVE OF JESUS
· THE COMMITMENT OF JESUS
1) THE WISDOM OF JESUS
The story begins with the introduction of Lazarus who was sick. Now, just in case the readers were not familiar with him, John is quick to tell us that he was the brother of two sisters that many of them must have known – Martha and Mary. In fact, when he shares that Mary was the one “who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped His feet with her hair,” he was basically saying, “Do you remember that story? Lazarus is related to her.” We’re not told what made Lazarus sick – but it was serious enough that it prompted Martha and Mary to send word to Jesus. Verse 3, “Lord, the one You love is sick.” Now, let’s actually pause here and think through this a little more because it contains an important truth that all of us need to hear – “Lord, the one You love is sick.” Do you know what this means? It means that it’s possible for people Jesus loves to get sick – it’s possible for Christians to face storms and trials in their lives. The implication of this truth is massive because many people today assume that good people deserve good lives and bad people deserve painful lives – which means that if they were to experience unexpected trouble in their lives, they assume that God’s love for them has ceased. But this really is far from the truth because the Bible is full of people who were loved by God but who went through a great deal of agony in their lives – namely, Jesus Christ. R.C. Sproul said, “Why do bad things happen to good people? That only happened once, and He volunteered.” If this is true (and it is), then suffering doesn’t mean that God has abandoned us, closed doors don’t mean that God has given up on us, and tragedies don’t mean that God is punishing us. All that to say, what the sisters say in verse 3 teaches us that hardship in our lives does not mean that God has stopped loving us. Then a good follow-up question would be, “Why did Lazarus get sick?” Now, Jesus doesn’t have an obligation to answer (because He’s God) but He actually gives us the answer in verse 4, “It is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” In other words, Jesus shares that God allowed Lazarus to get sick so that God will be praised – which in turn will bring honor to Jesus as well. How will this happen? He said, “This sickness will not end in death” – which gives off the impression that He was about to heal Lazarus. Then can you imagine what Martha and Mary must have felt hearing this through the messenger? Relief. They must have said, “Great! Then there’s nothing for us to worry about. Jesus is coming – everything’s going to be okay. Lazarus, you’re going to be fine. Praise the Lord!”
Now, considering that Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus (as verse 5 tells us), what we would expect to read next is, “Jesus quickly got up and made His way to Bethany where they lived.” Or “Jesus immediately dropped everything He was doing and left to be with them because His heart was broken for them.” Think about it. He had the power to heal, and He loved them dearly – then it just made sense that He would do everything He could to alleviate their pain and sorrow as fast as He could. But that’s not what we read next – verse 5, “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when He heard that Lazarus was sick, He stayed where He was two more days.” Jesus loved them – so, He stayed behind. His heart went out to them – so, He delayed His coming. What’s going on here? How does that even make sense? In fact, think about what Mary and Martha must have gone through – they were certain that Jesus would be here soon. But the next day, Lazarus gets worse – and Jesus is nowhere to be found. The day after, Lazarus gets even worse – but Jesus is still not here. And I wonder if the sisters were beginning to get anxious – “What if Jesus doesn’t show up? But He said He would. Let’s not doubt. We know He loves us. He’ll be here.” But Lazarus ended up dying – and Jesus did not come. Now, if you were in their shoes, what would you have felt? Disappointment and devastation. “We trusted You, Jesus. How could You let this happen? Why would You break Your promise?” If you think about it, this is one of the most perplexing passages in the Bible. But this was written here to show us that though God may at times work in ways that we cannot understand, His ways are always better and always good. God says it like this in Isaiah 55:8-9, “For My thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways My ways. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are My ways higher than your ways and My thoughts than your thoughts.” Do you remember what Jesus said in verse 4? “This sickness will not end in death.” If we were reading this story for the first time, it would make sense for us to think that Jesus was about to heal Lazarus so that his sickness would not lead to his death. But what Jesus had in mind was far greater than we could’ve ever imagined – the reason why He stayed back two more days was because He wanted Lazarus to die. He wanted Lazarus to die not because He hated him, not because Mary and Martha sinned against Him – but because He wanted them to see that He had the power not only to heal the sick but raise the dead from the grave. All that to say, Jesus delayed His coming not because He was busy, not because He didn’t care, but because He was waiting for the perfect time. In other words, when Jesus came four days after Lazarus’ death, He wasn’t late – He was just on time.
Brothers and sisters, do you believe that Jesus is never late? Do you believe that He’s in complete control and that His ways are always good? Let’s be honest. It’s not always easy to think this way when life seems unbearable. If this is you, let me help you embrace this truth by reminding you of what Jesus said in verse 4 again – remember that the reason why Lazarus got sick was “for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” In other words, even though Lazarus was deeply loved by Jesus, Lazarus is not the main character of this story – Jesus is. This story is about Jesus and His power. Sure, if we see the story from Lazarus’ point of view, from Mary and Martha’s point of view, we can’t help but feel like Jesus was being irresponsible, cold-hearted. How can He say that He loves them but leave them in pain? But if we see the story from Jesus’ point of view, we begin to realize that this was necessary because He wanted to show us something greater – to show us that He was able to do far greater things than we could ever imagine so that we would trust Him with all of our lives. But for us to see that, He needed to delay His coming. Then in the same way, if you’re a Christian, remember that you are no longer the main character of your life – Jesus is. That’s what Paul was confessing in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. The life I now live in the body, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me.” Then let me ask you, “Who’s the main character of your life today? Whose point of view is dictating how you perceive your life?” Though His timing is not often our timing, His timing is always perfect. So, let’s trust Him and wait for Him knowing that He will always answer according to His perfect wisdom. Jesus waited because He loved Lazarus. Will you wait for Him today?
2) THE LOVE OF JESUS
Verse 20 – when the sisters heard that Jesus finally arrived in Bethany (four days after Lazarus’ death), Martha quickly went out to meet Him because she needed to know why He couldn’t come on time. So, with her heart broken, with a tear-stained face, she asked, “Jesus, where were You? If You had been here, my brother would still be alive. Isn’t that what You promised? You said that this sickness will not end in death. But that’s exactly what happened. I actually wish that You didn’t promise us anything – because then I would just be sorrowful. But now, I feel hurt and betrayed as well. You healed people You didn’t even know – but I thought You loved us. How could You let this happen to us?” Martha must have thought that Jesus was too late – too late to make a difference. Now, interestingly, you’ll notice that Mary says the same thing when she meets Jesus later on. But Jesus has two different responses – and He did this because both are needed for us to be comforted in our pain and trials. Then let’s take a look at each of them one by one. First, the truth. Even though Martha was perplexed, she didn’t want this to shake her faith. So, she says in verse 22, “But I know that even now God will give You whatever You ask.” She was basically saying, “Jesus, even still, I’m choosing not to blame You. There must be a reason why You were late. I won’t let this change how I view You.” What was she doing? She was fighting not to let her circumstances change the way she perceived Jesus – instead, she was choosing to honor Him. So, when Jesus said, “Your brother will rise again” in verse 23, she didn’t think much of it because she must have thought that He was just trying to comfort her – reminding her of the hope of resurrection on the last day. But she quickly realized that He wasn’t talking about the future but now. Jesus said in verse 25, “I am the Resurrection and the Life. The one who believes in Me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in Me will never die.” He was basically saying, “Martha, wherever I am, the dead will breathe again, and life will thrive because I am the Resurrection and the Life. Apart from Me, there’s no resurrection – apart from Me, there’s no life. But if You believe in Me, if you remain in Me, even if you die, you’ll live again because I am the source of life. I can reverse death; I can make everything sad come untrue again; I can turn your mourning into joy – even death will not be able to stop Me from accomplishing what I desire because I have the power to give life and life to the full. Do you believe this, Martha?” And she responded in verse 27, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
Now, what was Jesus doing here? He was comforting her with the truth about Himself. He was basically saying, “Martha, you don’t have to worry because this is who I am. Whenever you’re tempted to be crushed by the weight of your grief, remember these words. Meditate on these truths because they will give you hope and strength. They will encourage you when life gets tough.” Then let me ask you, “Do you believe that Jesus is able? Do you truly believe that He is the Resurrection and the Life – that life blossoms and thrives wherever He goes? Do you believe that He’s never late? Do you believe that His plans are always perfect? Do you believe that your suffering will not be wasted because He’s always working for your good? Do you believe that death is a defeated enemy? And if so, do you wholeheartedly trust Him with your life now and your life to come?” The truth of God comforts. Then if you’re facing a storm in your life today, I invite you to anchor yourself in the truth of God because it will teach you to stand firm.
Let me share something with the non-believers. First of all, thank you so much for spending time with us today. Now, the question that Jesus asked Martha is the same question that He’s asking every single one of you – “Do you believe this? Do you believe that life can only be found in Jesus Christ?” The Bible tells us that even though we were all made for God, we all rebelled against Him. And as a result, we were separated from God and were destined for death – the penalty of our sin. We had no way to escape this wrath because we didn’t have the power to make things right again – which is why the good news of the Bible is that God intervened and made a way for us. John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life.” Jesus lived the life that we couldn’t live and died the death that we should’ve died – and His death on the cross brought forgiveness to anyone who put their trust in Him. But that’s not all – three days later, He conquered the grave so that those who are in Him can have life and life to the full. This is what today’s all about. When Jesus is your life, death is not the end – death is just the beginning of forever in the presence of God who loves you. He will make all things right again and bring you to a place where there is no more sin, no more sorrow, no more suffering, and no more death. Friends, this is the depth and height of love that God has for you – He gave up His own Son to give you eternal life. Then let me ask you again, “Do you believe this? If so, will you trust Jesus as your life?” I invite you to wrestle through this because this is the most important question you’ll have to answer in your life – your eternity hinges on your answer. I pray that the Holy Spirit will open your hearts and minds to believe this gospel truth so that you’ll be comforted in your heart.
Second, empathy. Verse 32 – here, Mary basically says what Martha said before but unlike Martha, Mary couldn’t even engage in a conversation with Jesus because her heart was drowning in sorrow. Now, at this moment, Jesus could’ve said again, “Don’t be distraught – I am the Resurrection and the Life.” But He didn’t. Instead, verse 33, “When Jesus saw her weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.” And verse 35, “Jesus wept.” They say that this is the shortest verse in the Bible but it’s also one of the most powerful verses as well because there aren’t a lot of passages that reveal the heart of Jesus like this one. Jesus didn’t simply tear up – He broke down and wept. Now, if you think about it, this seems odd because He was just about to raise Lazarus up. In a matter of moments, He was going to perform a miracle that would transform this scene of great mourning into indescribable joy. Then why was He weeping? Why didn’t He stop people from crying because He was about to raise Lazarus to life again? It’s because He wanted to enter into their grief and mourn with them. Brothers and sisters, when we are going through trials and disappointments, when we are paralyzed by the power of death and evil, at times, He will remind us of the truth of God to clear our heads and to give us a new perspective – He’ll invite us to cling to the truth so that we won’t waver in our faith. But at other times, He’ll simply weep with you. He won’t say a word, but He’ll just sit with you and grieve with you because His heart has been bound up with you. Then think about how amazing this is. We are insignificant creatures compared to this glorious Creator and yet when we’re hurting, we create grief in the heart of this Almighty God. Then let me ask you, “Are you grieving, suffering, disappointed, or confused today?” I invite you to see Jesus weeping for you because it’s going to remind you of His love for you – Jesus weeps because He treasures us.
3) THE COMMITMENT OF JESUS
Verse 38, “Jesus, deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.” Interestingly, the word “deeply moved” in Greek literally means “to be indignant.” Why is this important? Because it shows us that Jesus was angry. Angry at what? Angry at death. When He saw the destructive effect of death on the people He deeply loved, when He saw that death was the enemy that robbed everything good, He was furious – and He was determined to bring an end to this. Verse 43, “Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that You sent Me.’ When He had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’” Now, when Lazarus heard the voice of Jesus, his heart started beating again and his decaying flesh was restored. Verse 44, “The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Take off the grave clothes and let him go.’” No one was prepared for this. They couldn’t believe what they were seeing. But there was no reason to doubt anymore – it was clear that Jesus was the Messiah, the Son of God, the One who had power and authority even over death. Brothers and sisters, see that there’s power in His Word. When He speaks, tears and mourning turn into joy and laughter; the stench of death turns into the aroma of life; the dead will breathe again and life flourish. I love what D.A. Carson said, “If Jesus had not specified Lazarus, every tomb in Jerusalem would have given up their dead.” Brothers and sisters, do you realize that this powerful One is for you and is with you? Do you realize that He’s at work in your life? Do you realize that He’s still speaking to you today – breathing life in you through the Word of God? And if He’s able to raise Lazarus from the dead, what is it that He can’t do in your life? Then are you holding onto His promises today? Are you trusting Him with all of your life? And are you giving Him the worship that He truly deserves?
Now, I titled this last point, “The Commitment of Jesus” because His demonstration of love in raising Lazarus from the dead would ultimately cost Him everything. We didn’t read this but listen to what John 11:45-48, 53 says, “Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in Him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin. ‘What are we accomplishing?’ they asked. ‘Here is this man performing many signs. If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation’… So, from that day on they plotted to take His life.” Bringing Lazarus back to life ironically set in motion plans for His own death because not everyone was happy to see Lazarus raised back to life again. The religious leaders saw this simply as a threat – a threat to their power, reputation, and comfort. So, they began to plot to take Jesus’ life. Lazarus’ illness didn’t end in his death, but it led to Jesus’ death. But what I want you to see is that even though raising Lazarus back to life would cost Him everything, Jesus did it anyway because He knew that there wouldn’t be an empty tomb without the cross. Jesus had to die to pay the penalty of our sins so that we may be forgiven and be victorious over death in Christ. Even though death is our greatest enemy, because of what Christ did, death became a defeated enemy. J.C. Ryle writes, “Comfortable is the thought that when we ourselves lie down in the grave, we may lie down in the full assurance that we shall rise again. The voice that called Lazarus forth will one day pierce our tombs.” Brothers and sisters, death will not have the last word in our lives because the victory is ours through Jesus Christ. We are safe because of His unwavering love for us. Jesus was committed then, and He’s still committed to us today.
CONCLUSION
Lighthouse family, Jesus Christ is the Resurrection and the Life. In Him, everything sad becomes untrue and the stench of death turns into the aroma of life. Then let’s offer up the worship that is fit for our Savior knowing that the victory is ours through our Lord Jesus Christ.
DISCUSSION QUESTIONS
1) Read verses 5-6. Why did Jesus stay where He was for two more days? How can He say that He loves them but delay His coming? How will this help you next time when you feel like God is slow to answer your prayers?
2) Read verses 25-26. Jesus shares that He is the Resurrection and the Life. What do you think that means? What do you feel when you hear this? How does this truth comfort you today?
3) Read verse 35. Why is this one of the most powerful verses in the Bible? How does this comfort you today?