Soar Like Eagles (Parts 30-31)
The Last Miracle and Last Enemy - John 11:1-57

The 1993 movie "Shadowlands" tells the bittersweet love story
involving the writer C. S. Lewis and Joy Gresham. At the beginning of the
film, Lewis was lecturing on the subject of pain in a hall full of
people. He told them,

Pain is God's megaphone to rouse a deaf world. ... We are like blocks of
stone out of which the sculptor carves the forms of men. The blows of his chisel
which hurt us so much are what make us perfect.

In the course of the movie, Lewis met Joy Gresham, and she began to
fall in love with him. Lewis, a confirmed bachelor, was at first
interested only in a friendship with Joy. One day, as the two were
sitting down for afternoon tea in his apartment, Joy exploded in
frustration at Lewis. She shouted,

I have only now just seen it--how you have arranged a life for yourself
where no one can touch you. Everyone that's close to you is either younger
than you or weaker than you or under your control.

Slowly, Lewis came to realize that Joy was right about the way he had
insulated his life from feelings and pain. Later, when Joy was in the
hospital with cancer, Lewis proposed marriage to her; and in 1956 they
became husband and wife. The next four years were wonderful years for
them, in spite of the ever-present cloud of cancer that hung over their
bliss.

During this time they took a late honeymoon trip to see a beautiful
valley which was depicted in a painting on their wall. Rain began to fall
as they were walking in the field, so they sought shelter in a shed where
hay was stored. While they sat there, Joy insisted on discussing her
coming death. In a steady voice, she said,

Let me just say it before this rain stops and we go back.... That I am
going to die and I want to be with you then too. The only way I can do
that is if I'm able to talk to you now.... I think it can be better than just
managing. What I'm trying to say is the pain then is part of the happiness
now. That's the deal.
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The raising of Lazarus from the dead was not our Lord's last miracle
before the cross, but it was certainly His greatest and it aroused the
most response both from His friends and His enemies. It showed His
mastery of human problems and a convincing proof of His claim to be the
resurrection and the life.
John selected this miracle as the seventh in the series recorded in
his book because it was really the climactic miracle of our Lord's
earthly ministry. He had raised others from the dead, but Lazarus had
been in the grave four days. It was a miracle that could not be denied or
avoided by the Jewish leaders!
If Jesus can do nothing about death, then whatever else He can do
amounts to nothing. "If in this life only we have hope in Christ, we are
of all men most miserable" Paul said in 1 Cor. 15:19. Death is man's
last enemy (1 Cor. 15:26), but Jesus has defeated this horrible enemy
totally and permanently.
The emphasis in this chapter is on faith; you find some form of the
word believe at least 8 times in this account. Another theme is "the
glory of God" (11:4, 40).
This event took place during the last winter of Jesus’ life, following
His withdrawal into Perea (10:40) and prior to His last Passover (12:1).
It marked the high point of His ministry in the neighborhood of Jerusalem
and made the concluding appeal to the crowd on the basis of signs.
The division of belief and unbelief which had already become apparent
in the crowd became fixed after the miracle!
The last two verses in chapter 10 which supply the historical setting
for the raising of Lazarus form a connecting link between the beginning
of Jesus’ ministry and its close:
- the allusion to John the Baptist recalls the statement of 4:1 that
Jesus had left Judea the first time because of the concern the Pharisees
showed over His great success. They were alarmed because "He was
baptizing more disciples than John."
- Now upon His return to the same region, He openly discussed their
hostility (Matt. 19:1ff and Mark 10:1ff) and accepted the belief of the
testimony of His forerunner.

The long interim between the early contacts with John the Baptist in
Perea and this later ministry had not caused the people to forget John’s
message nor to lessen their appreciation of Jesus.
In what Jesus said and did, He sought to strengthen the faith of three
groups of people:

1. THE DISCIPLES (11:1-12).
"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} Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
{6} Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two
more days. {7} Then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea."
{8} "But Rabbi," they said, "a short while ago the Jews tried to stone
you, and yet you are going back there?" {9} Jesus answered, "Are there
not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble,
for he sees by this world's light. {10} It is when he walks by night that
he stumbles, for he has 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.""
We need to observe that John carefully identifies Lazarus through a
connection with Mary and Martha, indicating that he was not very well
known at this time when the account of the miracle was written. And the
reference to Mary in verse 2 shows that she was well known for her
annointing of the Lord’s feet.
We sometimes think of the disciples as "supersaints," but such was not
the case. They often failed their Lord, and He was constantly seeking to
increase their faith. After all, one day He would leave them and they
would have the responsibility of carrying on the ministry. If their faith
was weak, their work could never be strong.
Jesus was at Bethabara, about 20 miles from Bethany (1:28; 10:40). It
is one of the most precious things in the world to have a house and a
home into which one can go at any time and find rest, understanding,
peace, and love. That was doubly true for Jesus, for he had no home of
his own. In the home at Bethany he had just such a place.
One day, a messenger arrived with the sad news that Lazarus, a close
friend of Jesus was sick. If the man had traveled quickly, without any
delay, he could have made the trip in one day.
Jesus sent him back the next day with the encouraging message recorded
in verse 4. Then Jesus waited two more days before He left for Bethany;
and by the time He and the disciples arrived, Lazarus had been dead for
four days...meaning that Lazarus had died the very day the messenger
left to contact Jesus!
When the messenger arrived back home, he would find Lazarus already
dead. What would his message convey to the grieving sisters now that
their brother was already dead and buried? Jesus was urging them to
believe His Word no matter how discouraging the circumstances might
appear.
No doubt the disciples were perplexed about several matters:
- If Jesus loved Lazarus, why did He permit him to get sick?
- Why did Jesus delay to go to the sisters?
- For that matter, why didn't He heal Lazarus at a distance, as He did
the nobleman's son (4:43-54)
- The record makes it clear that there was a strong love relationship
between Jesus and this family (11:3, 5, 36)
- Yet our Lord's behavior seems to contradict this love?!
The statement that "Jesus loved" Lazarus is a strange one, for some,
because Christ loves all people...but it doesn’t mean that He didn’t have
special friends while upon the earth.
To appreciate what these three meant to Jesus, ask yourself a simple
question: if you had an emergency at 2:00 a.m., whom would you call?
Jesus would have called these three close friends.
God's love for His own is not a pampering love; it is a perfecting
love. The fact that He loves us, and we love Him, is no guarantee that
we will be sheltered from the problems and pains of life. After all, the
Father loves His Son: and yet the Father permitted His beloved Son to
drink the cup of sorrow and experience the shame and pain of the cross.
The message to the sisters did not say that their brother would not
die. It promised only that death would not be the ultimate result, for
the ultimate result would be the glory of God.
The disciples were bewildered because Jesus was ready to return to
Judea when only a short time before the Jews had attempted to stone him.
Jesus replied that duty, not safety, was His first obligation.
Was His delay waiting for Lazarus to die? No, because it's likely that
he died while the messenger made the trip. His death of four days did
provide greater authenticity to the miracle and greater opportunity for
people to believe, including His own disciples: {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 (called Didymus) said to the rest of the
disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him.""
When Jesus announced that He was returning to Judea, His disciples
were alarmed, because they knew how dangerous it would be. But Jesus was
willing to lay down His life for His friends (15:13). He knew His return
to Judea and the miracle of raising Lazarus would precipitate His own
arrest and death.
He calmed their fears by reminding them that He was on the Father's
schedule, and that nothing could harm them. They felt Lazarus was still
alive, so Jesus makes it very plain! "He is dead."
But notice Thomas's response: we think of him as a doubter, but he was
also a devoted man, willing to go with Jesus into danger and risk his
own life. We may not admire his faith, but we can certainly applaud his
loyalty and courage! Didymus means "twins." Nowhere in scripture do we
know of a reference as to whom that twin might be.

2. THE SISTERS: MARY AND MARTHA (11:17-40).
Jesus was concerned not only about the faith of His own disciples, but
also about the faith of the two sisters.
"On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb
for four days. {18} 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.
Jewish custom demanded that burial take place on the day of death.
Lazarus had been dead four days.
Without question, these two friends had said one thing over and over:
"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." here was likely a tinge of disappointment but also some evidence of
faith.
We can almost hear the sting of disappointment in her words. "If only"
may be the saddest sentiment in any language. Martha must have been hurt
by Jesus’ delay in coming to them...Jesus stood there ‘and took it’ as
she expressed her pain, her confusion, and her disappointment.

Note the contrasts between the two sisters:
- Martha was active. She met Jesus at the outskirts of town...Mary
remained in the house, lost in mournful contemplation.
The events of Luke 10:38-42 makes it clear that these two sisters
were quite different in their personalities. Martha was the worker, the
active one, while Mary was the contemplative one who sat at the feet of
Jesus and listened to His word.
Because of this, we would expect Martha to rush out to meet Jesus
while Mary sat in the house, weeping with her friends.

- Martha’s greeting laid emphasis on my brother, a hint of her agressive
and possessive personality. Mary’s statement emphasized her brother. This
emphasized her tender nature. (Note to teachers: the difference aappears
in the word order of the Greek text, in which the last word is the most
emphatic. Martha’s words end with the possessive pronoun "my" (vs. 21)
while Mary’s words with the noun "brother" (vs. 32).

- Martha expressed a general assent to the hope of the
resurrection; Mary prostrated herself before Jesus in adoration and said
nothing concerning her expectations.

- Martha was vocal; Mary was tearful.
Both had personal faith in Jesus as a man and a friend, though it is
obvious from Martha’s response to Jesus’ command to remove the stone
showed that she did not anticipate any immediate restortion of her
brother.
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Discussion Starters
1. Of the five stages of grief, where were (1) Thomas (2) Martha on his
arrival (3) Mary at the tomb (4) some of the Jews (vs. 37)?
a. denial\isolation: He is not really dead
b. anger: He’s dead and you let him die
c. bargaining: If you’ll do this, I’ll do that
d. depression: I don’t want to talk about it
e. acceptance: He’s dead and there’s nothing we can do about it

2. If you had been there and saw Jesus crying, how would you have felt?
a. embarassed for him: grown men don’t cry
b. relieved: It’s okay to cry
c. awkward: Let’s get on with it
d. mad: You could have done something if you had gotten here earlier, and
now all you can do is blubber
e. comforted: He really cared

3. Why did Jesus ask the friends to "take away the stone" and "take off
the grave clothes and let him go?"
a. he needed their help
b. he didn’t like the smell
c. he wanted to convince them that Lazarus had really been dead
d. he wanted them to be part of the healing process
e. he always works in cooperation with human instruments
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When Jesus gave them a response, Martha was quick to think of a
solution in the future, in the last days: "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.""
The response by Jesus is the fifth of the "I Am" statements. It is
important to note that Jesus did not deny what Martha said about the
future resurrection.
By His teaching, miracles, and His own resurrection, Jesus clearly
taught the resurrection of the human body.
He has declared once for all that death is real, that there is life
after death, and that the body will one day be raised by the power of
God. But He went one step further: He transformed this doctrine, taking
it out of a book and putting it into a person: "Jesus said to her, "I am
the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even
though he dies; {26} and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.
Do you believe this?"
When Jesus responded to Martha, saying, "Your brother shall rise
again" (11:23), we have no way of knowing how that statement sounded to
her. Was it painful? Did it sound like so many of the empty, hollow words
one sometimes hears at a funeral home? Could it have sounded like a
rebuke for her lack of faith? Whatever her first reaction to Jesus' words
might have been, Martha spiritualized them and replied, "I know that he
will rise again in the resurrection on the last day" (11:24).
In this setting Jesus spoke some of the most world-changing words of
His entire ministry. He said to Martha, "I am the resurrection and the
life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who
lives and believes in Me shall never die" (11:25, 26a). It is important,
at this point, to notice what Jesus did not say. He did not say, "I will
resurrect Lazarus." He did not say, "I will experience a resurrection
Myself." He expressed much more than these ideas when He proclaimed, "I
am the resurrection and the life." Here we encounter another "I am"
statement in the Gospel of Tohn. Jesus was making another claim to
divinity, at the same time defining His relationship to that great enemy,
Death.
By proclaiming Himself as the resurrection, Jesus was not promising
that His followers would never face physical death, nor was He promising
that He would never face death Himself.
Instead, He was claiming that because He would die and rise again,
breaking the power of death, His followers would never again have the
same relationship to death. Resurrection for them would be much more than
a miraculous, one-time event; it would be a new reality about life!
Martha's next words reflect a tremendous faith and a deep
understanding of spiritual matters. When Jesus asked her if she believed
Him, she replied, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ,
the Son of God, even He who comes into the world" (11:27). Even before
witnessing the marvelous miracle that was about to take place, Martha
demonstrated the kind of faith the Gospel of John was written to create!'
Following Martha's encounter with Jesus, she returned to her home to
tell her sister about the Lord's arrival. Upon hearing that Jesus was
nearby, Mary hurried to meet Him. When she mel Jesus, she fell at His
feet and repeated her sister's painful words: "Lord, if You had been
here, my brother would not have died" (11:32). We have all experienced
pain, grief, sorrow, and frustration such as Mary must have experienced
at that moment. As a result, we are all ready to go with Jesus to
Lazarus' tomb.
As we notice the response of the Jews toward these two sisters, one
thing is clear: while they consoled the sisters (vs. 19), were faithful
in their attendance to the family (vs. 31), and expressed some
appreciation of the attitude of Jesus (vs. 36), it is clear that Judaism
had not prepared them toward any testimony to eternal life.
While we thank God for what the Bible teaches, we realize that we are
saved by a the Redeemer, Jesus Christ, and not by the doctrine written in
a book. When we know Him by faith and are in His family, we need not fear
the shadow of death.
When we are sick, we want a doctor and not a medical book or formula.
When we are being sued, we want a lawyer and not a law book. And when we
face our last enemy, death, we want a Savior!
The words in verse 26 in the Greek form a double negative: "never
die!" Those who are in Christ don't die, spiritually. They live in
eternity with God.
When we trust in Jesus, we enter into two new relationships:
1. We enter into a new relationship with God. When we believe that God
is as Jesus told us that He is, then we become absolutely sure of His
love; we become absolutely sure that He is above all a redeeming God. The
fear of death vanishes, for death means going to the great lover of the
souls of men.

2. We enter into a new relationship with life. When we accept Jesus,
when we take His commands as our laws, and when we realize that He is
there to help to live as He has commanded, life becomes a new thing. It
is clad with a new loveliness, a new winsomeness, a new strength. And
when we accept Christ's way, life becomes so lovely a thing that we
cannot conceive of it ending imcomplete.
Martha did not hesitate to affirm her faith: {27} "Yes, Lord," she
told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to
come into the world." The words "I believe" are in the perfect tense,
indicating a fixed and settled faith. And she immediately went and found
her sister: {28} "And 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."
Why did Martha call Mary secretly? Possibly because of the danger
involved: they knew that the Jewish leaders were out to arrest Jesus.
When Mary went to meet Jesus, her friends misunderstood her actions and
thought she was going to the tomb to weep:
"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."
Her first words echoed what Martha had already said (vs. 21): "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 and Martha were weeping, and her friends joined in the weeping,
as Jewish people are accustomed to do. The response of Jesus is quite
graphic in the original language: {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."
The word used was to groan within and "be moved with indignation."
Jesus became angry! Why? Because of what sin and death was doing to the
people. Death is an enemy, and Satan uses the fear of death as a terrible
weapon.
One writer put it this way: "The words denote indignation rather than
sorrow. As He looked upon the cemetery at Bethany, a silent memorial to
the devastation that death had wrought on the human race, He was angered
against man’s great enemy. Death to Him was not an impassable enemy, but
a call to battle."
The identical Greek root word is used in the following ways: Matthew
9:30: "..and their sight was restored. Jesus warned them sternly, "See
that no one knows about this." Mark 1:43: "...Jesus sent him away at once
with a strong warning..."
This concept also gives us an image of the extend of His care for us:
Hebrews 2:14-18: "Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared
in their humanity so that by his death he might destroy him who holds the
power of death--that is, the devil-- {15} and free those who all their
lives were held in slavery by their fear of death. {16} For surely it is
not angels he helps, but Abraham's descendants. {17} For this reason he
had to be made like his brothers in every way, in order that he might
become a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God, and that he
might make atonement for the sins of the people. {18} Because he himself
suffered when he was tempted, he is able to help those who are being
tempted."
The next two responses by Jesus are interesting: one is surprising and
the other expected: {34} "Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and
see, Lord," they replied. {35} Jesus wept."
The surprise? Why did Jesus have to ask where the tomb was located? He
knew that Lazarus had died, but didn't know the burial place. The answer?
Our Lord never used His divine powers when normal human means would
suffice.
"Jesus wept" is a short statement but very deep in nature. His was a
silent weeping (the Greek word is used nowhere else in the New Testament)
and not the loud lamentation of the mourners.
There are other occasions when Jesus was troubled by sin and unbelief:
- He grieved at the unbelief of the Jews in Mark 3:5
- He was troubled at the last supper over the one who was about to
betray Him in John 13:21
- He was troubled of soul when the Greeks were brought to Him and He
was made vividly aware of the cruel suffering He was about to endure in
John 12:2.7
But why did He weep at all? He had known for some time that Lazarus
was dead...and He knew He was about to raise him up! It reveals to us the
humanity of Jesus; He was entering into all of our experiences and knows
how we feel. We see in His tears the tragedy of sin but also the glory of
heaven.
Some have suggested that perhaps He was weeping because He was about
to call Lazarus back into a wicked world.
The friends saw His tears as an evidence of His love: "Then the Jews
said, "See how he loved him!" Others felt He could have prevented the
death, since He'd had the power to open the eyes of the blind man: "But
some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man
have kept this man from dying?" Apparently they had said things similar
to that of Mary and Martha.

* THE GREAT ACT (11:38-40)
"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 believed, you would see the glory of
God?""
One thing seems to be certain: no one present really expected a
miracle...except Martha! Notice: she knew here that Lazarus was about to
come out of the grave and he would smell! Whether or not she knew he'd
come out alive is questionable!
Jesus gently reminded her of the message He had sent at least three
days before (vs. 4), and He urged her to believe it. True faith relies on
God's promises and it releases God's power. Martha relented, and the
stone was rolled away: "So they took away the stone."
Of all the "signs" recorded in the Gospel of John, none was greater
than what happened at Lazarus' tomb. Three times in chapter 11 Jesus
claimed that these events took place so that people might see "the glory
of God" (11:4, 15, 40). Each step of the way we have seen the glory of
God in Jesus' teachings and miracles; but up to this point in the Gospel
of John, the raising of Lazarus is where the glory of God--the presence
of God in Christ--shines most brilliantly. It is as if we have been
reading this Gospel by a lamp with a switch which is able to make the
light brighter or dimmer. The farther we go in John, the brighter the
light becomes. When we reach chapter 11, the light becomes almost
blinding. We have seen the glory of God in many ways already; we see it
most powerfully in the next few verses.
'As a side note to Martha's confession, Leon Morris (The New
International Commentary on the New Testament [Grand Rapids, Mich.: Baker
Book House, 1986], 551) noted how unfortunate it is that Martha is most
famous for her busyness (Luke 10:41) rather than for her remarkable
confession.

* THE JEWS (11:41-57)
The emphasis from this point on was on the faith of the spectators,
the people who had come to comfort Mary and Martha. Jesus paused to pray:
"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."
He thanked the Father that the prayer had already been heard...but
when had He prayed? It's likely that it was when He was told that His
friend was sick (11:4). The plan was likely revealed to Him, and He
obeyed His Father's will. His purpose now was clear: He wanted the
unbelieving spectators to know that His Father had sent Him.
A quaint Puritan writer said that if Jesus had not named Lazarus by
name when He called out, He would have emptied the whole cemetery!
He called out His name and he came out: "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."
It was an unquestioned miracle that even the most hostile spectator
could not deny! "Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary,
and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him."
The resuscitation of Lazarus could not properly be classed as a
resurrection, some feel, because he resumed the same status that he had
before his illness.
As with previous miracles, the people were divided in their response.
"But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had
done. {47} 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 miraculous signs. {48} If we let him go on like this,
everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away
both our place and our nation."
It was necessary that the Sanhedrin meet to discuss what to do with
Jesus. Caiaphas was a Sadducee, not a Pharisee (Acts 23:6-10), but the
two factions could always get together to fight a common enemy. Caiaphas
certainly uttered a divine prophesy: Jesus would die for the nation so
that the nation would not perish.
"Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke
up, "You know nothing at all! {50} You do not realize that it is better
for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation
perish." {51} He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that
year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, {52} and
not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to
bring them together and make them one. {53} So from that day on they
plotted to take his life."
The official decision that day was that Jesus must die (see
Matt.12:14; Luke 19:47; John 5:18; 7:1, 19-20, 25). The leaders thought
that they were in control of the situation, but it was God who was
working out His predetermined plan. Originally, they wanted to wait until
after the Passover, but God had decreed otherwise.
"Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the Jews. Instead
he withdrew to a region near the desert, to a village called Ephraim,
where he stayed with his disciples. {55} When it was almost time for the
Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their
ceremonial cleansing before the Passover." {56} They kept looking for
Jesus, and as they stood in the temple area they asked one another, "What
do you think? Isn't he coming to the Feast at all?" {57} But the chief
priests and Pharisees had given orders that if anyone found out where
Jesus was, he should report it so that they might arrest him."
Ephraim was about 15 miles north of Jerusalem. The crowd was gathering
for the Passover feast, and the pilgrims were wondering if Jesus would
attend the feast even though He was in danger. He was now on the "wanted"
list, because the council had made it known that anyone who knew where
Jesus was must report it to the officials.
A point we need to make here: the rich man in hades had argued that
"if one went to them from the dead, they will repent." (Luke 16:30).
Lazarus came back from the dead,and the officials wanted to kill Him!
And what about today? Jesus, too, has come back from the dead! The
stage has been set for the greatest drama in history, during which man
would do his worst and God would give His best!
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I do not know how Jeremiah did it! Almost every time the Old Testament
prophet stood up to preach, his congregation got smaller. Because of the
time in which he lived, the truth he was called to preach was almost all
bad news. Israel had descended too far into wickedness, and God had
decided to send them into captivity in Babylon.
Jeremiah's message to Israel was to "take their medicine" and
peacefully accept their judgment. As a result, the people hated him and
wished that he were dead!
This study from John 11 can make the teacher today feel a little like
Jeremiah. While this passage contains some wonderfully good news, it
requires that we first face something we may not want to face.
The painful truth is that we will all die! Life is fatal. However
young, strong, and healthy we may be at this moment, someday we will die!
It may be today or tomorrow or eighty years from now, but we all will
die.
We try in many ways to avoid having to face this terrible truth. We
try to convince ourselves that if we exercise enough, eat the right
foods, wear our seat belts, drink purified water, and put on sunscreen
when we go outside, then we will be protected from death. In the end,
nothing can protect us from the fact that the death rate in this world is
100 percent!
You are probably thinking, "I do not want to hear this today! I have
had a hard week, and now I am being reminded that I will die!" I would
not bring up such a painful, distressing subject if the gospel did not
provide the answer to it. Jesus, in the marvelous story in John 11,
proclaims to people of all time, "I am the resurrection and the life." It
is wonderful news, but we had to be reminded of the bad news first in
order to appreciate it.
Funerals have a way of reminding us that our best efforts cannot
protect us from the crushing power of death.
The story of Jesus at Lazarus' tomb helps us to confront our own fears
of death. Because of what Jesus did then and still does today, we do not
have to deny the reality of death in order to be happy in this life.
As Christians, we do not run from death; we face it. We do not pretend
that it will not happen to us; we proclaim to the world that we have an
answer to it. This new attitude is seen in the following two examples
from the writings of Paul: (Rom. 8:38-39) "For I am convinced that
neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present
nor the future, nor any powers, {39} neither height nor depth, nor
anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love
of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
(1 Cor. 15:54-55) "When the perishable has been clothed with the
imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is
written will come true: "Death has been swallowed up in victory." {55}
"Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?""
John Donne, a seventeenth-century poet and preacher, chose for a time
to sleep in a coffin in order to discipline his mind and soul about the
greatest issues of life and death.
A few years ago a preacher I know had a somewhat similar experience.
Unable to find sufficient time for study and prayer because of the
constant noise and activity around my office, he mentioned my problem to
a good friend who runs a local funeral home. A short time later he told
me he had thought of a solution to my dilemma. You can imagine my
surprise when he took me to the second floor of the funeral home and
showed me where he was having a small study built for me--it was in the
back corner of his casket warehouse!
It was one of the most wonderful gifts I have ever been given, and it
became the one place in town where I could get away from everything to
study, think, and pray. (After all, no one is going to bother a person in
a casket warehouse!)
Since that time I have often wondered if perhaps all sermons should be
written in a funeral home, the shadow of life's most difficult reality.
Having to walk past the embalming room and through a room filled with
caskets reminded me that my main mission is not to help people lead more
pleasant lives; it is to help people find real life. It is not to remove
all grief from their hearts; it is to show them the way past grief to the
resurrection. It is not just to help them face the pressures and stresses
of the world; it is to prepare them to meet their God (Amos 4:12).

SOME CLOSING LESSONS
Faith is like love in that it, too, is always beginning. For example,
in the Gospel of John, the disciples had already come to have faith in
Jesus by the time we reach chapter 11.
Andrew believed on the day when he left John the Baptist to follow
Jesus (1:41), Philip believed on the day when Jesus called him (1:45),
and Nathanael believed when Jesus said He had seen him under the fig tree
(1:49).
The disciples who attended the wedding feast in Cana believed when
they saw that Jesus had turned the water into wine (2:11). We are told
that Peter and the other disciples who witnessed the feeding of the five
thousand and heard the Bread of Life discourse also believed (6:69). Even
after all of these statements of faith, Jesus told His disciples that He
was glad for the opportunity to raise Lazarus so that they might believe
(11:15)!
Faith is like that--always beginning.
Many of us already believe, at least to some degree. Then, one day, we
face something that is so lifechanging that we never look at faith in the
same way again. This encounter may be a blessing or a trial, the birth of
a child or a fifty-foot fall. Suddenly, we see everything differently,
and it seems that faith is beginning all over!
Today the Gospel of John calls us to believe (20:31). Many of us hear
that call and think, "I already believe." However, if we will listen and
seek and follow, we may find that faith is only beginning in us!

FAITH IS FULL OF PROMISE
When Martha met Jesus outside of Bethany, her brother had been in the
tomb for four days. She lamented that if Jesus had only been there, her
brother would not have died.
In response to her grief, Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the
life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, and everyone who
lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (11:25,
26).
Jesus' words provide a powerful motivation to believe. Faith is hard
work, and a lazy person will simply not put forth the effort. We do not
believe just because we want to believe, but we will never believe if we
do not want to believe. Faith involves dedication, obedience, sacrifice,
and, oftentimes, tears. However, a rich promise is made to all who will
believe.
In this respect, faith is like hard work in college; the student does
it because of the promised payoff of getting a good job. Working hard at
one's career is rewarded with a good paycheck or promotion. Make no
mistake about this: Faith does not earn a reward, but God's promises are
what motivate us to continue down the long, difficult, sometimes trying
road to faith.

FAITH IS FOCUSED ON JESUS
John's faith moves us toward faith in Jesus. What we need is not faith
in parents, faith in the apostles, faith in other Christians, faith in
the church, or even faith in faith. Rather, we need faith in Jesus.
In Martha's powerful statement of faith, she told Jesus, "... I have
believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into
the world" (11:27; emphasis mine). When Jesus, His disciples, Martha,
Mary, and the crowd of mourners were later gathered outside Lazarus'
tomb, Jesus prayed to the Father, saying, "And I knew that Thou hearest
Me always; but because of the people standing around I said it, that they
may believe that Thou didst send Me" (11:42).
This is consistent with the rest of the Gospel of John, where the
purpose is to produce faith "that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God"
(20:31).
John Paton was a missionary to Africa who taught and baptized a large
number of people. Because the Bible was not available in the language of
the people he was teaching, Paton began the long and difficult work of
Bible translating.
The task went fairly smoothly until he began trying to translate the
word "believe." As strange as it may seem, there was no word in this
language for "believe." How could one possibly translate the Bible
without a word for "believe"?
Then, one day as Paton was struggling with this linguistic problem, a
Christian man from the village came to visit him. This man had been
working hard all day and was exhausted.
When he sat down in a chair he gave a weary sigh of relief and said,
"It is so good to lean your whole weight on something." Paton realized
that he had found an expression for "believe": To believe is to "put your
whole weight on Jesus."' Faith is focused on Jesus and nothing less.

FAITH IS DIVISIVE
As the people stood outside Lazarus' tomb and saw him walk out alive,
they were presented with an unavoidable fork in the road. They had seen
Lazarus dead, had prepared him for burial, had placed him in a tomb, and
had placed a stone over the mouth of the cave.
They were eyewitnesses to these events. Then, because of Jesus'
miracle, these same people had become witnesses of Lazarus' rising! Would
they believe? They could not avoid making a decision.
John recorded the division that took place among the observers of the
miracle that day:

"Many therefore of the Jews, who had come to Mary and beheld what He
had done, believed in Him. But some of them went away to the Pharisees,
and told them the things which Jesus had done" (11:45, 46).
Amazingly, these people all witnessed the same events but reacted in
opposite ways. Some saw that they were in the presence of the power of
God, so they placed their faith in Jesus that day. Others only "saw" a
juicy piece of gossip and scurried off to Jerusalem to tell the Jewish
leaders about the stir created by Jesus.
The division among the people that day is no insignificant part of the
story. On the contrary, division is the very nature of the story of
Jesus: When people hear about Jesus, they are forced to make a decision,
one way or the other, about His true identity. There is no neutral
ground.
Jesus and the apostle John both push us relentlessly toward a
decision. Is Jesus the Son of God, or was He a fraud? Either He is
divine, or He was a blasphemer deserving death. What is your decision?

FAITH IS THREATENING
Some of those who had witnessed Lazarus' resurrection went to the
chief priests and the Pharisees in Jerusalem to tell them what the
teacher from Nazareth had done.
As they made their report, they complained, "If we let Him go on like
this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away
both our place and our nation" (11:48). They realized that faith in Jesus
would change lives, change families, and even change a nation. They
realized--perhaps better than most Christians today--· just how
"dangerous" faith is.
An old song says about love that "it will lift you up, never let you
down, take your world and turn it all around. The same should be said
about faith in Jesus.
The tendency today is to expect too little in regard to faith. Many
Christians have made faith too easy, too soft, too undemanding.


Wilbur Pees expressed this tendency in the following sarcastic
paragraph: I would like to buy $3 worth of God, please, not enough to
explode my soul or disturb my sleep, but just enough to equal a cup of
warm milk or a snooze in the sunshine. I don't want enough of Him to make
me love a black man or pick beets with a migrant. I want ecstasy, not
transformation; I want the warmth of the womb, not a new birth. I want a
pound of the Eternal in a paper sack. I would like to buy $3 worth of
God, please"
The faith to which Jesus invites us may well change our entire lives.
John wanted to make sure that we understand the possible costs involved
in following Jesus. We may suffer, we may be persecuted, and we may lose
everything we own. Compared with the rich promises of faith, the costs
seem strangely insignificant!

Last modified: April 18, 2006