John 11:1-46
Anyone who has lost a loved one knows the pain of how death seems to reach up from the grave and suffocate us.
The loss of a loved one is life’s most stressful event and can cause major emotional crisis…when a death takes place you may experience a wide range of emotions even if the death is expected…then after the death of someone you love, you experience bereavement, which literally means “to be deprived by death.”
In John the eleventh chapter we see the effects of death on Jesus…his friend Lazarus had died and as a result Jesus wept and was “greatly disturbed” noting that death even affected God Himself.
So, even Jesus was not exempt from the human emotion of grief…it may be a surprise to know that the Bible records three separate times that Jesus was so overwhelmed with emotion that he broke down in tears [John 11:35; Luke 19:41; Hebrews 5:7-9]
Jesus wept bitterly and loudly at times.…He experienced the same inner turmoil and tension that we often experience in life…He faced real anxiety and anguish on many occasions.
In John chapter 11 is the last of the seven ‘signs’…it’s the story of Lazarus’s funeral, a story that many of you are probably familiar with…but despite the long narrative, the actual raising of Lazarus is contained in only two verses [43-44].
As you might recall Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha were dear friends of Jesus…in fact Scripture says it was more than just a friendship relation…the Bible says, ‘Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus’ [5].
Jesus had been across the Jordan River when He received word that his dear friend Lazarus was gravely ill and despite the sister’s plea that Jesus immediately return to Bethany, He does not go right away…in fact…He delayed for another two days [6].
He intentionally waited before going to see his sick friend…after waiting two days He makes the two-mile walk [18] from Jerusalem to Bethany to get to where Lazarus was at…when Jesus arrives Lazarus has been dead for four days [17].
Here’s what’s interesting about this miracle as opposed to His previous miracles… the healing at Bethesda and the blind man…after each miracle they were followed by a dialogue…in the case of the
…Healing at Bethesda…Jesus elaborates on being the Son of God who only does what He see the Father doing…with respect to the
…Healing of the man born blind…Jesus again elaborates on and affirms His deity.
The events, discussion, and details occur after these two miracles…but in the raising of Lazarus from the dead John comments on the miracle before it happens… he gives this long narrative before Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead…why is the structure changed for this last miracle?
It seems that what comes before the miracle is just as important as the miracle itself…in this miracle Jesus reveals in the fifth I AM statement… something He has said previously but now discloses in unprecedented clarity.
When you read this account, it is obvious from what He told the disciples that Jesus knew all along that Lazarus would die before He arrived. That was part of His plan.
John records that upon His arrival in Bethany, Martha was the first one to greet Him…Martha heard that He was coming and goes out to meet Him…as soon as she sees Jesus, she says…‘Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died’ [21].
How many times have we said those same words when praying to God…Lord, if only you would have done something…but what may have been even more difficult was to hear Martha’s suggestion that Jesus had been insensitive in His efforts to hurry back…especially in knowing the love Jesus had for Lazarus.
Then just a few moments later Mary runs to Jesus but she doesn’t go to Jesus until after Martha summons her to do so [28] …she also is seeking comfort and compassion…it’s striking that Mary says the exact same thing that her sister said to Jesus: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” [32]
In essence Mary and Martha are asking… ‘Where were you? Why weren’t you here? Why didn’t you do anything? How could you let this happen?’
How many times have we blamed Jesus/God for not doing something…not realizing that His plans include something much bigger than we are able to see on the surface?
Mary utters the exact same words as Martha…essentially saying…Lord if you’d just done something…but there’s a noticeable difference in meaning…notice what Mary doesn’t say…she doesn’t follow up her statement the way Martha did, with the words, “But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you” [22].
Mary just says that Jesus could have prevented Lazarus’s death — period…now he’s dead, so that’s that. There is no hope.
Notice Jesus’s response to Mary in contrast to His response to Martha…remember Martha ran to Jesus…Mary didn’t go until she was called by Jesus to do so.
Jesus comforted Martha with the hope in the promise that ‘your brother will rise again’ [23] whereby she affirms her belief that ‘You are the Christ, the Son of God’ [27].
But look at His response to Mary…there’s no words of comfort…there’s no theological promise that Lazarus would rise from the grave…just her question of ‘what took you so long to get here’ …not realizing that His plans included something much bigger than she was able to see on the surface.
So…why was there a delay…why wouldn’t Jesus go immediately to be with His friend… why the wait…because He wanted to make sure that Lazarus was good and dead…sounds like a rather cold statement to make…but it has to do with Jewish belief.
That’s why the narrative that set up Lazarus coming out of the tomb is significant… Jewish understanding was that the decomposition of a corpse begins after the third day of death…so for Jesus to raise Lazarus before the fourth day would have only proven that Jesus really hadn’t raised him from the dead…because he wasn’t dead.
Unlike Martha, Mary was of the opinion that Jesus could do nothing now that death has come…He might be able to heal the blind…turn water into wine…and even prevent death…but no one can do anything about death once it comes.
On the surface it’s apparent that both women believed that Jesus could have restored health to Lazarus but now it’s too late…it’s been four days and by now his body has begun to decompose…his sisters had no reservations about him being dead…concluding ‘there would be a stench’ [39].
Here’s something they both didn’t realize and it’s revealed in the southern gospel song you may be familiar with…it was applicable then and it’s applicable today… it’s called Four Days Late:
“And isn’t it great
When He’s four days late
He’s still on time”
Time was not a factor in raising Lazarus…whether it was four days or four weeks… it had nothing to do with Jesus’ ability to bring him back from the dead.
The questions the ladies were asking are the same series of questions asked by probably everyone at one time or another when tragedy or catastrophe strikes, we wonder, ‘Where is God!?’… where is God when bad things happen? Where is God when life is unfair.
The Bible says when Jesus saw Mary weeping, and the Jewish women who had come along with her also weeping He felt her pain…English translations soften what John records was Jesus’ actual reaction to Mary’s weeping.
The more acceptable translation is that Jesus: was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled [33] …that’s not what it says in the Greek.
Many times translations…not wanting to reveal the true meaning of a verse, offer a more toned-down version.
Here the single word used in the Greek (ἐνεβριμήσατο) we translate as ‘He was deeply moved” doesn’t reflect Jesus’ true feelings…the original meaning of the word is: “to snort like an angry horse with rage” expressing a vehement agitation.
This is more defining of Jesus’ actual feelings…which is not entirely one of sorrow …in the English translation it comes across like that…but in the Greek it is more intense.
Why such a strong reaction? What is the cause of this intense emotion? We’re seeing a side of Jesus that most people shy away from…it makes us feel uncomfortable…those words are expressing Jesus’ reactions to mockery and hypocrisy.
These people who are weeping over the death of Lazarus…they are the same people who in just a few short weeks are wanting to kill Jesus [John 12:10]. Anyone see the irony in this charade?
These are the same people who sought to stone Jesus…who will cry out to crucify Him…who sought to cut Him off from all religious interactions…with hearts full of hatred they profess to be comforters mingling their tears with Mary…but in reality, they’re hypocrites.
That is why in the Greek the wording regarding Jesus’ feelings is so intense…God hates hypocrisy because hypocrisy misuses religion…taking advantage of it for self-advancement… hypocrites want religion—but only for the advantages they gain from it…they fail to truly turn their hearts to God.
Some of Jesus’ harshest words in the entire New Testament make it clear that God’s most severe judgments are reserved for hypocrites.
In all the Bible Jesus never spoke in more severe or harsher terms than He does [Matthew 23] where He gives a scathing condemnation of the religious authorities because of their hypocrisy.
This is exactly what aroused Jesus’ anger…people wanting the blessings of God and the approval of men, without actually turning their hearts to God and submitting their lives to His rule.
People who worship but only do so to look good in the eyes of others…they don’t want to change their lives, their habits, their affections to conform to God’s will…their intent is to appear to be righteous…to seek the approval of people so they can be thought of as being earnest Christians.
But at the same time…it’s important to understand what hypocrisy is not…it’s not the difference between what we are and what we long to be…hypocrisy is appearing outwardly righteous while actually being full of self-indulgence—failure to practice what you preach.
So what we have is the result of three emotions:
…one is indignation and anger at the hypocrisy of those wanting to appear sincere
…one is the actual result of Mary’s sorrow…Jesus feels Mary’s pain.
…one could be Jesus’ anger with Mary herself…she’s grieving as one without hope
Let me just say something about that…grieving as one without hope…because it can be a misleading statement…First, it is ridiculous to say that Christians should not grieve…it is like telling people that we should not breathe. Grief is human. Grief is normal.
But here’s a difference in how we grieve…Christians don’t grieve as those with no hope not knowing what the future will be…we grieve as those with hope knowing what the future will be…instead of the hopeless and empty grief that death brings to those who have no hope…our promise is one day our pain will be over!
So…as a result of Mary’s sadness…sorrow…grief…and heartache…and possible lack of faith in Jesus raising Lazarus…Jesus was moved to tears. He wept [33].
After taking time to weep with Mary and Martha Jesus asks them to show Him to the tomb…it was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance just like the tomb Jesus Himself would soon occupy.
We have the benefit of knowing how the story ends…neither Mary or Martha know the end of this story, as we do…neither one has any idea of what Jesus is about to do…they don’t expect Jesus to raise Lazarus from the dead.
The only hope Martha has is in her belief that even after death there will be a resurrection…Jesus adds to that belief when He comforts her by saying, ‘your brother will rise again’ [24].
He tells Martha exactly what He plans to do but Mary doesn’t get the full meaning of what Jesus is referring to…she misunderstands.
Being a good Jewish woman, Martha’s knowledgeable about the general resurrection that will take place on the last day [Dan. 12:1-2 / John 5:28-29] …so she took Jesus’ statement to mean Lazarus would rise again someday…a truth she believed was an event in the far-off future…not realizing He’s talking about today.
Martha viewed Lazarus’ resurrection as something distant and removed so she responds: “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day” [24] …but that’s not what Jesus meant.
Jesus had something far greater in mind…a concept that was unimaginable…Jesus takes Martha’s belief in the resurrection at the last day and redirects it toward himself.
Here’s something I include in every funeral I preach…I tell the family in advance what I’m going to say…if that’s unacceptable they are free to find another pastor.
Jesus makes a statement that is the single most profound statement in the entire Bible that defines Jesus as God…it demands that people know this.
Jesus tells Martha something that no other religion…or religious leader of any so-called religion can make…it’s a statement only Jesus can make…He looks at her and makes the fifth I AM statement: I am the Resurrection.
In that one single statement Jesus defines Himself as the God-Man…He is the sole reason that death has no hold on us…He is declaring Himself to be the Resurrection …revealing I am not tied to the last day…I have the power when I please to raise the dead.
That ought to be a source of unspeakable comfort to us…that Christ is the resurrection and the life…a promise made to all of His true disciples…to them that believe in Jesus as their Savior…this is as critical as the miracle itself.
The Bible says, ‘Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb’ [38]. There’s that Greek word again meaning ‘expressing a vehement agitation’ …so what causes Jesus to be agitated this time… [37] their evil thoughts…they’re openly saying that if Jesus would have come earlier He could have kept this man from dying …causing this new emotion of anger.
Now Jesus is standing before the tomb, an air of authority swirled around Him as He commands to ‘Roll the stone aside’ [39].
But Martha protests…she had no idea what Jesus was about to do…she should have…earlier Jesus comforted her by telling her: ‘Your brother will rise again’ [23] …then Jesus states a further promise… ‘he who believes in Me will live, even though he dies [25].
The promise ‘he who believes in Me will live, even though he dies’ is a promise that God makes to only those who believe in His Son…a promise so we won’t grieve like those who have no hope…not knowing what the future will be.
It’s the promise of eternal life that every person who has trusted in Jesus as their Savior and is now dead is seeing and experiencing first hand…and will continue to do so forever.
So how is Lazarus raised? By hearing Jesus…like the sheep that recognize the voice of the shepherd who calls them by name [10:3] Lazarus hears his name being called and recognizes the voice of the shepherd…a dead man walks out of a tomb because only the shepherd can lead his sheep out.
As Christians we are part of the fold…and here’s what’s really exciting about being part of Jesus’s flock…the magnitude of this verse gets overlooked far too frequently:
and the sheep hear his voice and he calls his own sheep
by name and leads them out [3].
All of Jesus’ metaphorical references to sheep are personal:
His own sheep [10:4],
My sheep [10:14],
I have other sheep [10:16].
And He calls then by name…Lazarus heard his name called and He arose…one day Jesus WILL call us out of the world in the same way…calling us personally by name.
That might be at the Rapture or at the resurrection…but regardless whether I’m in this body…or at the resurrection…I believe that—he calls his own sheep by name and leads them out.
The promise is that, one day, if you are one of his sheep two things are certain:
First…He knows you personally by name.
Second…After He calls every believer by name, He will lead them to heaven.