John Message #37 “Intro to Lazarus” Ed Miller, December 11, 2024
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Listen to the audio above while following along in the transcript below which is also available for download at www.biblestudyministriesinc.com
As we get ready to look into the word of God, I want to share a verse from Isaiah 27:3, “I, the Lord, am it’s keeper; I water it every moment, less anyone damage it. I guard it night and day.” The context, the Lord is talking about His people, His vineyard. Lillian has often tried to make my study live by bringing plants in my study, but I either don’t water them and they die or I over water them and they drown. So, I once had a cactus and that flourished because it’s a very tolerant plant. Anyway, this verse speaks about you as the plant of the Lord, and it says, “I water it every moment.” You know that if you water the plant every moment how it would die. It would drown. This shows how needy we are. We need to be watered every moment, and the Lord has promised to do that for us. So, we come before our all sufficient Lord as very needy people, and we’ll trust in God to bring those two things together. So, let’s pray.
Our heavenly Father, we thank You so much for Your word and every part of it. We thank You for the indwelling Holy Spirit who lives in us in our hearts, and we know it’s His pleasure and privilege and ministry to point us to the Lord Jesus. Once again, as we look in your word, we ask You to unveil the Lord Jesus in a fresh way to our hearts. We thank You that we can trust You for this. We commit this session unto You in the matchless name of Jesus. Amen.
Welcome once again. By the mercy of the Lord, we’re allowed to gather one more time. It’s always in His hands. In case you forgot, which I know you didn’t, we’re studying the Lord Jesus in the gospel of John. Whether it’s the gospel of John or any other book, it’s all the same. We study the Bible not to know the Bible. We study the Bible to know the Lord. He’s given us the Bible so that we might know Him.
Let me remind all of us once again of the theme, the reason the Holy Spirit guided John to write this book. John 20:31, “These things have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, you may have life in His name.” In our study of John, John tells us that he’s written that we might know the Lord more intimately. Every chapter just turns more light on the Lord, so that we might trust Him more completely, and so that we might enjoy Him and have abundant life.
In our study of John, we’ve come to the end of John 10, the Great Shepherd and the sheep in that chapter. There are a couple of more things I’d like to address before we begin to introduce John 11. Follow along, please, at the end of John, verse 39-42, “Therefore, they were seeking again to seize Him. He alluded their grasp, and He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing, and He was staying there. Many came to Him and were saying, ‘While he performed no signs, yet everything John said about this man was true.’ Many believed in Him there.” At the end of John 10 we see what he’s been emphasizing all through the ten chapters. Verse 39, “Some people reject,” verse 42, “and some people believed.” That’s always the response when the Lord Jesus is presented; it’s either riot or revival; some are going to say yes and some are going to say no; some are going to receive the Lord, and some are going to close their hearts and reject the message of the Lord.
At the end of John 10 we’ve come to the end of a huge section. I’ll get into that in another moment, but we have once again come to a reference, John 1 begins with John the Baptist, and now John 10 we’re having this reference once again to John the Baptist; he’s the messenger of the Lord. I want to go back to John 1 and just say a word about John. John 1:6, “There was a man sent from God whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify about the light, so that all might believe through him. He was not the light; he came to testify about the light. There was the true light, which coming into the world lights every man.” Then John 1:23, “John said, ‘I am the voice of one crying in the wilderness, “Make straight the way of the Lord, as Isaiah the prophet said.””” So, John, right at the beginning of the gospel of John, John the Baptist is presented as the witness of the light. He’s not the light. John the Baptist said, “I’m just a voice, and nothing else. That’s my claim; I’m a voice.” And he said, “I have a message,” and it’s in John 1:29, “Behold, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.” John was someone who was a witness, was a voice, and had a message, and the message was the Lord Jesus.
Before John was born into the world, an angel came to his father and told him what kind of person he would be. Luke 1:27, “It is he who will go as a forerunner before Him, in the spirit and power of Elijah.” According to that prophecy, John was going to go forth in the spirit and in the power of Elijah. So, he’s a witness, he’s a voice, he has a message, and now he has the resource; he’s going forth in the spirit and power of Elijah. When we think about Elijah or Elisha, you not only think about someone giving a message, but they’re known for miracles or signs. When we think about Elijah, he’s the one that prayed it wouldn’t rain, and it didn’t for three and half years. The Bible gives him a story where he multiplied food for that woman at Zarephath, and then he raised her son from the dead. That’s a mighty work of God. He called down fire from heaven several times. The Bible says that he ran four hundred fifty miles in a foot race in the strength of one meal; just imagine such a miracle as that. The Bible says that he outran a team of horses. This is a mighty miracle of God. Then we know he went to heaven in a chariot of fire. That’s a great way to leave.
Well, we know that John the Baptist is going to come in the spirit and power of Elijah, so wouldn’t we expect the same kind of ministry from John? Yet, we read in verse 41, “Many came to him and were saying ‘While John performed no signs, everything John said about this man was true.” John never worked a miracle; he came in the spirit and power of Elijah, but whatever that means, it’s not a miracle. It doesn’t mean he worked miracles. He never worked a sign; he was just a voice, a witness, and he had a message, and many believed. Some people think that you can’t have an effective ministry if you don’t have signs and wonders accompanying it.
It was prophesied that he would be a forerunner. A forerunner is just somebody who goes before and it’s implied that somebody is coming after. If you are a forerunner, you can look over your shoulder and someone is going to follow up. Matthew 3:11, “As for me, I baptize you with water for repentance. He who is coming after me is mightier than I, and I’m not fit to remove His sandals. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire.” John said, “I’m just a voice; I’m a forerunner. I can get you wet, and I can baptize you with water, but that means nothing, if He doesn’t follow after, follow up and baptize you with the Holy Spirit.” John was just a forerunner. John 41:42, “John performed no sign, yet everything John said about this man was true.” John had a ministry without fanfare, and without signs and without wonders, and all he did was talk about Jesus. That’s all he did; he was a voice talking about Jesus. That was the attraction.
I wouldn’t mind having that on my tombstone, except I’m not going to have a tombstone, but if I had one, I would love it to say, “Ed worked no miracles, but everything he said about Jesus was true.” That’s exactly what ministry is. If Jesus doesn’t follow up, there is no ministry. Sometimes He follows up right away, like Acts 2:37 at Pentecost when Peter was preaching and it says, “When they heard this, they were pricked to the heart,” right away; He preached and they immediately responded. Later, we read that three thousand got saved that day. But then you have a story like in Daniel, where Daniel spent about fifteen minutes with Nebuchadnezzar and he interpreted the dream, you remember; it took seven years for Nebuchadnezzar to understand that. Sometimes God follows up right away, and sometimes it takes time. 1 Corinthians 3:6, “I planted, Apollos watered, and God was causing the growth.” The one who plants, the one who waters, the voice, the witness, the one who comes before, the forerunner, we’re nothing, zero, we are nothing unless the Lord follows up.
In my ministry, I hope my ministry is patterned after John the Baptizer because that’s my testimony. I’m just a voice; that’s all. I’m a witness; I want to tell you about Jesus. Look at my life; there’s no sign and there’s no wonders and there’s nothing great. It’s just my message; it’s the Lord Jesus. Even when I prepare for these lessons and we meet together week by week, what I give you means nothing if the Lord doesn’t come and make it real. We can hear all the words, but He’s got to be the One to do it, and He’s promised that He would.
There’s one more thing before we leave chapter 10, and that’s verse 39, “Therefore, they were seeking again to seize Him.” Once again, you have rejection, but He illuded their grasp. If you look back from the beginning of the gospel of John through chapter 10, oh my, how God reveals Himself; Jesus showed Himself as the One who was the creator, as the One who was the Son of God, as the One who was sent from God, as the bread of Life, as the water of Life, as the pre-existing One, as the Son of God, as being One with the Father, the I AM, and there are eight miracles in the gospel of John, and we’re about to look at the seventh miracle. He claims He was Messiah, by healing the man born blind. All of that was the revelation of Christ. Listen to John 10:24, “The Jews gathered around Him and were saying, ‘How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.’” Hello! “We’ve been telling you plainly. I’m the son of God, I’ve come from God, I’m Messiah, I’m existing forever, I’m the word made flesh.” He told them over and over, but they didn’t get it. They just said, “Why don’t you speak clearly?” And He had revealed Himself in so many ways. John 10 brings us to a climax at the end.
Why didn’t they get it? It proves, I think, John 7:17, “If anyone is willing to do His will, he will know of the teaching, whether it’s of God or whether I speak of Myself.” They were not willing; that’s why they didn’t know; that’s why they said, “Tell us plainly.” It’s because they weren’t willing. Knowledge, in that verse, is not a matter of your mind; it’s not mental from your cranial cavity. Knowledge comes from the heart, from the will. John 3:3, Jesus said that to Nicodemus, “Truly, truly, I say that unless one is born again, he can’t see,” and that word is “understanding”. He can’t understand the kingdom of God; it’s not possible, because your heart is not toward the Lord. Then John 10:26, “You do not believe because you are not My sheep.” That’s why they didn’t get it. Nobody needs more evidence. Sometimes, somebody will say, “Well, I’m thinking about it, and I’m beginning to put it together, and I’m getting closer and closer to the truth. I just need a little more evidence; I need more proof, a little empirical evidence; give me sign; give me a wonder; I need more information.” Nobody needs more information. You can study your head off, and it’s not about that. Believing is from the will, from the heart, “If anyone is willing to do my will, he shall know.” Willing and knowing, it comes from the willing. All of this I’m mentioning to show you that John 10 is closing a big section of the ministry of our Lord Jesus. I believe that as far as the Jews were concerned, Jesus claimed to being Messiah had now come to a climax.
I’m not suggesting that they are not going to show up again and resist Him some more, but at the end of John 10, this is the final time He is in Jerusalem. The next time He goes to Jerusalem, it’s to take your place on the cross, and to take my place on the cross. This is the closing of a door; this is the closing of a section, and it’s focus will now be turned to His own people, especially 13-17, but it begins here in John 11. At the end of chapter 11 we read verse 57, “The chief priests and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where He was, he was to report it, so that they might seize Him.” There’s not change; they’re still rejecting Him, but it’s sort of a new chapter. As far as the chronology goes, some people think that chapter 10 is continued in chapter 11, but that’s not the case. Actually, you can write in your Bible, “Luke 11 all the way through 17:10” in between chapter 10 and chapter 11, all of those things took place in between the chapters.
I want to make a couple of observations as we come to look at chapter 11. Since John 10 ends in verse 41, “John performed no signs. Everything John said about this man was true,” that word “sign” has gripped the theologians, and Jesus did miracles, and Jesus did signs, and so they’re big on that and they’re big on spiritual numbers. So, when they read in John 2:11, “This beginning of signs that Jesus did in Canaan and Galilee and manifested His glory, and His disciples believed in Him,” because He mentioned the first sign, #1 turning water into wine. Then when they come to John 4 He mentions another one, verse 54, “This is again the second sign that Jesus did perform when He came out of Judea into Galilee.” Because John numbered, “This is the first, and this is the second,” commentaries say, “Well, we should number each one,” even though there is no #3 and no #4, “We’ll number them.” Because when they come to John 11 they have now come to seven miracles, they stop, and they say, “Well, there you go, the seven sign miracles of John in the gospel of John, and they say, “Just the ones in John are sign miracles; He turned water to wine, He healed the official’s son, the crippled man from Bethesda, the feeding of the five thousand, the calming of the stormy sea, healing of the man born blind, and now #7, the raising of Lazarus from the dead.” Probably they stop there because seven is the number of God.
If you go through John, there are more miracles in John, and it doesn’t stop at Lazarus. You remember the multiplied fish, and you can’t even read about the cross and the resurrection without miracles; they are all in them. Anyway, they say this is the final miracle, and we should study the miracle. John 21:25 says, “There are also many other things that Jesus did; if they were written in detail, I suppose all the world itself would not contain the books that could be written.” All His miracles, not just the six and the seventh mentioned in John, there’s more than that. Every miracle; He healed the blind to show that He could heal spiritual blindness. He healed the deaf to show that He could open the ears of those who are deaf. He healed the crippled to show that He could make men walk before God and men. He cleansed the leper so He could show that God will forgive all sin. He cast out demons to show His authority, that you could have victory. He raised the dead to show that He’s the Lord of life.
Every miracle is a sign, and when God now lives in your life, don’t make the mistake and say, “He healed them; He can heal now.” The healing He did then were pictures. He doesn’t come into your heart to re-enact the picture, but the reality. He still is healing the blind through you and opening ears and causing the lame to walk, and so on. Having said that, I’m not going to tone down the miracle of raising Lazarus. It is a climactic miracle. I just don’t think that being #7 makes it special. I just think it’s climactic. Sometimes in the Bible seven is just six plus one. For example, Job had seven sons. That’s not the perfect number of sons; that’s just six plus one. So, we need to be careful when we start looking at these numbers and getting all spiritual.
Anyway, we’re about to study one of the most amazing miracles, the raising of Lazarus from the dead, and even though there’s a time gap between chapter ten and chapter eleven, I believe there is also connection between chapter ten and chapter eleven. I believe the connection is in John 10:10, “I came that they might have life, and have it abundantly.” We’ve been looking at what John teaches about enjoying the Lord, and enjoying Him is having abundant life. It takes us back to this exchanged life. Life is Jesus; eternal Life is Jesus. I used to teach that all Christians have Life, but not all Christians have eternal Life, until I learned that Life is a Person, and eternal Life is a Person. All Christians have Life, and all Christians have eternal life. Then I said, “All Christians have Life, and all Christians have eternal Life, but not all Christians have abundant Life.” Well, I backed off again. Abundant Life is also a Person. All Christians have Life, and all Christians have eternal Life and all Christians have abundant Life. There’s a difference between having it and appropriating it, and not all Christians enjoy the Life that they have. You can have a billion dollars in the bank and live as a pauper. I think that many do. So, having it is one thing, but enjoying it is another. All Christians have abundant Life because they have Jesus.
I think John 11 gives a powerful illustration of abundant Life, the raising of Lazarus from the dead. How abundant is that Life? You see, God is giving an illustration now, and we’re going to see all of this exchanged Life, everything we’ve been studying. What kind of a life did Lazarus enjoy after he came out of the grave? I’m suggesting that’s abundant. What kind of a life did Lazarus enjoy when God put a stop to corruption? I’m suggesting that’s abundant Life. Lazarus is one of the greatest examples of what it means when the Lord said, “I’ve come that they might have Life, and that they might have it more abundantly.”
As you know, he was already corrupting in the grave. In John 11:39, “Jesus said, ‘Remove the stone,’ and Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, ‘Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead for four days.’” Behind the rock it stinks, and Martha said, “I don’t want to move that rock because you won’t like what You see when I move that rock.” That’s the miracle of entering into this Life more abundantly; Christ calls you from the dead, and from corruption. John 10:10, “I came that they might have Life and have it more abundantly.” Lazarus illustrates that abundant Life, and we’ll see that as we go through.
I have to ask you to be patient with me, please, because I know this is such a great chapter, people are just dying to get into this chapter. This lesson is designed to introduce the chapter and not get into it right away. We’re going to get into it. We’ve got several lessons on this wonderful chapter, but I want to make a couple of general observations to prepare our hearts for what is coming in chapter 11. I know it’s a full and exciting story, and you might be disappointed that we’re jumping over certain things. You want to get to it; we will. Please be patient. This morning let me give this introduction. We’ll go back several times and we’ll pick up a lot of the details in subsequent studies.
Let me start by an almost identical comment first made by Martha and then made by Mary. Martha said in verse 21, “Martha then said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if You had been here my brother would not have died.” And then in verse 32 Mary says the same thing, “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.’” We’re not going to look at these comments in detail now; we’ll go back to that. Do you think what Martha said and Mary said was true? If the Lord was there, would He had prevented Lazarus from dying? We don’t know the answer, but my guess is that He probably would have. He had a reputation of doing that. Could this death have been prevented? Probably, if the Lord wanted to. The fact is, He could have done it from a distance because He had done other miracles from a distance. In fact, in spirit He was there, even though they didn’t see Him. We read in John 11:6, “When He heard that he was sick, He stayed two days longer in the place where He was.” He deliberately delayed for two days. Verse 17 says, “When Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb for four days. He not only didn’t show up when He heard that His friend was sick, but He missed the funeral. He didn’t even come to the funeral.
As we introduced this wonderful chapter so vividly portrayed, we need to look at some of the spiritual realities behind the scene. Why would Jesus delay on purpose? One reason He states, John 11:14&15, “Jesus said to them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead, and I’m glad for your sake I was not there, so that you may believe; so let’s go to him.” Somehow, that delay was a test, so that the disciples, and not only them but Mary and Martha, would believe. Wouldn’t you expect the verse to read, “Lazarus is dead and I’m sad,” but if you look at it, it says, “Lazarus is dead and I’m glad, for your sakes.” He has a purpose. Why was He glad? It was not only to encourage the faith of His disciples, but to encourage their faith by enlarging their vision of who He was. They had a vision of Christ, and it was wonderful, but it wasn’t big enough. He wanted to show a more complete vision, to give them a greater revelation.
You see, they knew Him as the One who prevents; He can prevent death. I think that’s the reason the Holy Spirit has recorded this because they knew He could prevent, but He wanted to enlarge their vision, not as One who prevented death but as One who overcame death. I’ll tell you, it’s a big difference to know Jesus as the One who prevents and to know Jesus as the One who overcomes. My natural heart, and I don’t want to judge you, but I think your natural heart, would always, if I had a choice, I would choose to know Him as preventer, “Lord, if it’s Your will, smooth sailing, all flowers, no trees, all honey, no bees.” I’m on my way to heaven. I’d rather be helped than sick. I don’t want to be sick, “Prevent that, Lord. I’d rather not have trials. You can prevent that. Lord, those temptations that come into my mind and into my life, I’d rather live without those. So, if You don’t mind, I know You can prevent it; You can turn things around. I don’t have to go through that circumstance; You can prevent it. I don’t like to face loss; You can prevent it. Oh Lord, like this story, it’s so hard to be in the place where you are bereaving and somebody has been taken away and has gone to heaven.” What a test that is! “Lord, You can prevent that; I don’t want setbacks. I don’t want to confront that person; You can prevent that, and I wish that You would, and I don’t want to be rejected; I want to be accepted. Prevent it, but Jesus wants to enlarge your faith and enlarge my faith; He wants me to know Him as the One who prevents, but He also wants me to know Him as One who overcomes.
Jesus was glad because now He could present Himself as the overcomer. I don’t think it’s an accident that the Holy Spirit used this Lazarus story to reveal Himself as overcomer. Why did He choose death as the illustration? The answer is because death is man’s most unsolvable problem. You can’t deal with death. If Jesus can overcome man’s most unsolvable problem, it’s logical that He can overcome any lesser problem than that. There’s no problem and no situation that He won’t overcome. He’s the Victor and He lives in you, and so, you are an overcomer. He didn’t say, “Be of good cheer, you shall overcome the world.” He said, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” He’s the overcomer, and He lives in your heart. He’s the Victor, and He lives in your heart. He’s the One who vanquishes the enemy, and He lives in your heart. Our dear Sebastian brother sends out these devotionals and these prayers, and I get thrilled with the devotional and the prayers, but am thrilled by his signature, “God wins.” After every prayer he just puts, “God wins.” And after every devotion he puts, “God wins.” He triumphs; He’s the overcomer. No matter what comes into your life, brothers and sisters, I just want you to know that God wins; He’s the overcomer.
We know from verse 3 that the sisters sent Him word saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You loved is sick.” Jesus loved Lazarus. In verse 5, “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.” Jesus loved this family, and we know from verse 11, “And He said, ‘After this, our friend, Lazarus, has fallen to sleep.’” They were friends; this is the backdrop of the whole story, and I want you to know that there’s absolutely no contradiction between how much the Lord loves you and that you are united to Him; you are His friend, and the way He treated them. When you look at this story and say, “Is that how He treats His friends? Is that how He treats those He loves?” The answer is yes, and there is no contradiction. He delays; He loves you. He’s your friend. He’s not on your time schedule; He delays. He loves you. He doesn’t show up when you expect Him to show up; He loves you and He’s your friend. He didn’t even go to the funeral. He didn’t contradict anything; He loves you and He’s your friend.
Then He gave them a word that was very clear, that was not so clear. Do you ever get a clear word that’s not so clear? John 11:4, “When Jesus heard this, He said, ‘This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so the Son of God might be glorified by it.’” Some commentators, and I’ll actually say most of the ones that I have, have a time table, and they say, “Well, when the messengers were sent to Jesus, Lazarus was very sick and dying, but by the time the messengers got back to give them the message, Lazarus was already dead, that it was too late, that Lazarus was already dead, and then Jesus delayed two days, and by the time He got there he had already been in the tomb four days.” So, they do the math and say, “Well, clearly, he was already dead,” except that they’re reasoning from the fact that there is no gap between chapter 10 and chapter 11. At the end of chapter 10 Jesus is where John was baptizing, and that’s about a day’s journey to Bethany. So, they say that he was only a day’s journey away, except in between there is chapter 11 of Luke all the way to 17:2, and He’s all over the place. He’s going through villages and towns, and so on. We don’t know where Jesus was when they got the message, so maybe he was dead. The word, “This will not end in death,” it didn’t. That was a clear word, and they would have gotten that word, or it might have been an unclear word if the messengers arrived and Lazarus is still sick.
I’m not telling you to agree with me, but I incline to the fact that he was not dead when the messengers came back, that he was sick, very sick and dying. Do you realize what a test that would have been for Mary and Martha? It seemed like such a clear word. When Mary and Martha sent word, they didn’t ask for healing. The didn’t say, “Lord, please heal.” To be honest, they just said, “Behold, he whom you love is sick.” They just presented it, but I have this idea that I think they expected Him to heal. I think the record shows that He healed others and He healed complete strangers. He loves us, and as His friend, He’s not going to overlook him. Now they get a clear word, “This sickness is not to end in death.”
If he were still alive, how would they have interpreted that clear word, “This sickness is not unto death.”? I’ll tell you, if my Lillian was very, very ill, and I got word from the doctor and he said, “This sickness is not unto death,” my heart would thrill and I’d say, “She’s not going to die.” That’s how I would interpret it, “This sickness is not unto death.” When they sent to inform Jesus, it was a bad situation. Lazarus was very sick, and as time went on, he got sicker, and sicker. This is not in your Bible; it’s just in my head and my imagination. I can just picture Mary and Martha with their dear brother so, so, so sick, going up to him and whispering in his ears, “Take courage, my brother, I know you feel bad and it looks like things are worse, but we have a word from Jesus, a clear word, and He said, ‘This sickness is not unto death.’ Hang in there; you are not going to die. Jesus won’t lie; He said that this sickness is not unto death.” It was bad when he got sick; it was worst when he got sicker, but as he got sicker and sicker, can you imagine if Mary and Martha interpreted that he’s not going to die, and then he dies? What a test for their heart! That was very, very bad. When it went from bad to worse and worse to impossible, that’s when we read, “Lazarus is dead and I’m glad for your sakes,” because the Lord had something else in mind.
We can read that both ways; you aren’t going to die, or it’s not going to end in death. Both ways it would have been true. When Jesus received that word, “Lazarus is dead and I’m glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe,” Jesus was glad because now He has the opportunity to enlarge their faith and vision and present Himself as the overcomer. It’s a tremendous test for the friends of Jesus and for those He loves when Jesus delays and holds back and you hold His love in suspicion, “Doesn’t He love me? Doesn’t He care? I thought we were friends. Why didn’t He show up?” My expectations of what God will do, when I found out that my expectations were not as clear as I thought they were, that can be shocking. I think it was for Mary and Martha.
It’s just a little suggestion; don’t hold God to your expectations of Him and what you think He should be doing. God will not be put into a box, and nobody is able to crowd Him into a creed or a doctrine. He’s a Person, and He will do His purpose, and you and I need to trust Him. If I’m going to know Him in His fullness, I’ve got to trust Him at all times, even when my clear word leaves me scratching my head saying, “What happened; I really expected this and I didn’t get it.” So, disappointment, confusion, darkness, frustration: brothers and sisters in Christ, those are mighty weapons in the hand of the Lord for good. He wants you to trust Him. Every forward step in helplessness is a forward step in the knowledge of the Lord and in the knowledge of His word. May God help us! He could have sent a clear, clear word. He could have said, “Mary and Martha, thanks for telling me about your brother. I know the situation, but he’s going to die, but I’m going to show up and I’m going to raise him from the dead.” He could have said that, but He didn’t say that, and He didn’t on purpose, “This sickness is not unto death.”
As we close this introduction, this wonderful, fantastic chapter, I want to address a couple of more things. Remember, this is only an introduction to the chapter; it’s not the exposition. We’re going to get into that. So far, I’ve tried to show you that it’s a climactic miracle. I’ve tried to show you that there is a space between chapter 10 and chapter 11, and I tried to show you that it’s an illustration and a powerful one of abundant life. I tried to show you that there is a difference between knowing Jesus as the One who prevents and knowing Jesus as the One who overcomes. I tried to show you that receiving a word that seems clear and is not so clear is a wonderful test, and it crowds you to Christ.
To conclude the introduction, I want to give a couple of more illustrations of life more abundantly, and the first is embedded in the two comments of his sisters. Once again, verse 21, “Martha said, ‘Lord, if You had been here my brother would not have died,” and Mary said the same thing in verse 32, “Lord, if You had been here my brother would not have died.” Both Mary and Martha loved the Lord Jesus, and they wanted to trust Him, and they wanted to live in union with Him, but the circumstances were so overwhelming. When you lose a loved ones, that is powerful, and we’re going to see that when we get into looking at Mary and Martha. The test of the delay itself was very powerful and showed that they were struggling in their faith. I told you that death is man’s most unsolvable problem which is why it makes Jesus wonderful as an overcomer. But death is also an enemy. 1 Corinthians 15:26, “The last enemy that shall be abolished is death.” Just put that together. If God can overcome man’s most unsolvable problem, He can overcome any lesser problem. If the Lord Jesus can overcome the final enemy, there’s no enemy in your life or mine that He can’t overcome and will overcome, but He wants to reveal Himself as the overcomer.
They struggled with this test. Was it because of the natural heart, and they had confusion, and they had pain and they had grief and had lost a loved one? Their comment showed in this overwhelming circumstance that they limited the Lord in two ways. Let me mention those two ways. We’ll develop it in the days ahead, but for now, how did they limit the Lord? They limited the Lord in the place, “If You had been here, you weren’t in the right place.” They limited Him in place, but they also limited Him in time, “Lord, if You had been here, but You weren’t, you were late,” in fact, in their minds, it was too late. We want to trust and depend on the Lord; we want to believe in Him, and we can if it’s the right place and the right time. Then it’s easier. But this place and this time? You are talking about here? You are talking about now? “Lord, if You had been here,” but You weren’t, “if You had, but You didn’t,” that’s a great struggle for thousands of Christians. You need to remember that this is a picture and it’s picturing the abundant life. Christians struggle with the abundant life, the exchanged life. They’ll trust in any other place, in any other time, but when it comes to this, which is climactic, they say, “We are struggling.” Verse 25, “Jesus said, “I’m the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live, even as he dies.” We’re going to get into that in great detail, but for now, just know it’s the right place and it’s the right time.
The final illustration is Martha’s words to Mary, John 11:28, “When she had said this, she went away and called Mary, her sister, saying secretly, ‘The teacher is here and is calling for you.’” I want to take that out of John 11 and bring it to Bethany, this Bethany, here. “The teacher is here, and is calling for you.” That applies to each one of us, but when you read the context, what was He calling Mary to? The answer is first, that He’s calling her to Himself, “Come, Jesus is here, now. The place and time is perfect. He’s here now, and He’s calling for you to come to Him.” But the second answer is that He’s calling you to the truth of resurrection Life, to the truth of the abundant Life, the risen Life. Jesus is here, the teacher is here, now, and He’s calling you. Again, I want to be John the Baptizer. I know that what I’m giving you is just water, and unless He comes and follows up. I hope the Holy Spirit will write in your heart, as we get ready to study this tremendous chapter, that the teacher is here, and He’s calling you to Himself and to the truth of resurrection. We’ll close there and pick it up next time. Let’s pray together.
Our heavenly Father, we thank You for this wonderful chapter. We pray, Lord, more and more You would unveil Yourself, that we would know in fact and in reality and in experience what it means to know You as the overcomer, the overcomer of our most impossible problem and the overcomer of every enemy. Thank You that You are going to reveal Yourself that way. We commit this to You and ask You to write it on our hearts. We pray in Jesus’ name. Amen.
