Latest / Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons / The Resurrection and the Life (John 11:1-45)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple

Transcript

The Resurrection and the Life (John 11:1-45)- Pastor Kenneth Collins Maple · Fairview Presbyterian Church (PCA) Sermons

0:00
If you would, please open up your Bibles to John
0:07
chapter 11. John 11, today we're going to look
0:13
at verses 1 through 46 as we continue in our
0:19
sermon series through some, not all, but some
0:22
of the miracles of Jesus and no doubt the one
0:27
that we come upon today. is a miraculous miracle.
0:31
It is a miracle that prepares us for what Jesus
0:35
will do when Jesus will lay down his life and
0:40
then take it up again. And so let's look at this.
0:45
John chapter 11, 1 through 46. Now a certain
0:54
man was ill. Lazarus of Bethany, the village
1:00
of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who
1:05
anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his
1:08
feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was
1:12
ill. So the sisters sent to him saying, Lord,
1:16
he whom you love is ill. But when Jesus heard
1:20
it, he said, this illness does not lead to death.
1:24
It is for the glory of God so that the Son of
1:29
God may be glorified through it. Now, Jesus loved
1:34
Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he
1:39
heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days
1:43
longer in the place where he was. Then after
1:47
this, he said to the disciples, let us go to
1:49
Judea again. The disciples said to him, Rabbi,
1:53
the Jews were just now seeking to stone you and
1:56
are you going there again? Jesus answered, are
2:01
there not 12 hours in the day? If anyone walks
2:04
in the day, he does not stumble because he sees
2:07
the light of this world. But if anyone walks
2:10
in the night, he stumbles because the light is
2:14
not in him. After saying these things, he said
2:17
to them, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep.
2:20
But I go to awaken him. The disciples said to
2:25
him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.
2:30
Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought
2:33
that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus
2:37
told them plainly, Lazarus has died. And for
2:41
your sake, I am glad that I was not there. So
2:44
that you may believe, but let us go to him. So
2:48
Thomas called the twin. said to his fellow disciples,
2:52
let us also go that we may die with him. Now
2:57
when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already
3:00
been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near
3:03
Jerusalem, about two miles off. And many of the
3:07
Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them
3:10
concerning their brother. So when Martha heard
3:13
that Jesus was coming, she went and met him.
3:17
But Mary remained in the house. Martha said to
3:20
Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother
3:24
would not have died. But even now I know that
3:27
whatever you ask from God, God will give you.
3:31
Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again.
3:35
Martha said to him, I know that he will rise
3:38
again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus
3:41
said to her, I and the resurrection and the life.
3:46
Whoever believes in me though he die yet shall
3:50
he live and everyone who lives and believes in
3:53
me shall never die Do you believe this? She said
3:58
to him. Yes, Lord I believe that you are the
4:02
Christ the Son of God who is coming into the
4:06
world When she had said this she went and called
4:10
her sister Mary saying in private the teacher
4:12
is here and is calling for you And when she heard
4:16
it she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus
4:20
had not yet come into the village, but was still
4:23
in the place where Martha had met him. When the
4:26
Jews who were with her in the house, consoling
4:29
her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed
4:32
her, supposing that she was going to the tomb
4:35
to weep there. Now when Mary came to Jesus, to
4:39
where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his
4:42
feet saying to him, Lord, If you had been here,
4:46
my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw
4:50
her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her
4:53
also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit
4:58
and greatly troubled. And he said, where have
5:03
you laid him? And they said to him, Lord, come
5:06
and see. Jesus wept. So the Jews said, See how
5:13
he loved him But some of them said could not
5:16
he who opened the eyes of the blind man also
5:18
have kept this man from dying Then Jesus deeply
5:23
moved again came to the tomb. It was a cave and
5:26
a stone lay against it Jesus said take away the
5:30
stone Martha the sister of the dead man said
5:33
to him Lord by this time there will be an odor
5:35
for he has been dead four days Jesus said to
5:39
her Did I not tell you that if you believed you
5:42
would see the glory of God? So they took away
5:45
the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said,
5:50
Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I
5:53
knew that you always hear me, but I said this
5:56
on account of the people standing around, that
5:59
they may believe that you sent me. When he had
6:02
said these things, he cried out with a loud voice,
6:05
Lazarus, come out. The man who had died came
6:09
out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips
6:13
and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said
6:17
to them, unbind him and let him go. Many of the
6:22
Jews therefore who had come with Mary and had
6:25
seen what he did believed in him. But some of
6:28
them went to the Pharisees and told them what
6:32
Jesus had done. This is God's Holy Word, let
6:39
us pray. Holy Spirit, as you have inspired the
6:47
words of the text of the Bible, these words,
6:53
we also ask that you would open up our hearts
6:56
and our minds to understand what is here, to
7:00
apply this text to our lives, and to more and
7:03
more follow after Jesus. with complete trust,
7:08
these things we ask in his name. Amen. There
7:15
was once a Sunday school teacher, a class with
7:23
a bunch of small children. And on this particular
7:27
day in this class, the teacher was going over
7:31
some facts from the Bible, some Bible trivia,
7:34
if you will. And so the teacher asked the students,
7:39
how many books of the Bible are there? And the
7:40
kid screamed, 1 ,000. She said, no, no, no. There's
7:45
66. And she said, can anyone tell me who was
7:50
it that was in the den with the lions? And the
7:53
kid screamed out, it was David. She said, no,
7:56
no, no. It was Daniel. Can anybody tell me what
8:00
happened in the book of Jonah? Don't know and
8:07
the teacher began to get exasperated. Why don't
8:09
these children know anything? She said I she
8:14
said to herself. I'll give them a softball question.
8:16
I'll give them an easy one What's the shortest
8:20
verse in the Bible and all the kids screamed
8:23
Jesus wept Why is it that we remember that fact
8:32
So much so over other things I can remember being
8:36
a boy and knowing that Jesus wept being the shortest
8:39
verse in the English Bible I probably knew that
8:43
before I ever knew that there was a book called
8:45
Philemon in the Bible I Think that we know this
8:51
one because it's short But we need to know more
8:56
than just the trivia We need to know the context
9:00
we need to understand why Jesus wept. And so
9:05
for this, we have this amazing text. Now, it
9:10
is a longer text, and so I want to break this
9:14
up into three parts so maybe we can understand
9:17
it better. I want us to look at the sickness
9:20
of Lazarus from verses one to 16, the sorrow
9:25
over Lazarus in 17 through 37, and the summoning
9:30
of Lazarus. in 38 through 45. Let's start with
9:34
the sickness of Lazarus. You can see within this
9:37
text that Jesus really loved Lazarus, and he
9:41
really loved Mary and Martha, but they are in
9:45
Bethany. And when Lazarus gets sick, Jesus is
9:50
not there, right? Where is Jesus? Well, if you
9:53
look in the context in chapter 10, you can see
9:56
that he was elsewhere. He was doing his work.
9:59
Verse 42 of chapter 10 says, and many believed
10:02
in him there. So Jesus is doing a wonderful work,
10:05
but he's not in Bethany. And yet when he gets
10:10
word that Lazarus is sick, what does he do? According
10:13
to the text, he does not go immediately to Lazarus,
10:17
does he? You might say, why not? Why doesn't
10:21
Jesus hustle to the side of his dear friend?
10:26
Look in verse six. When he heard that Lazarus
10:30
was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place
10:34
where he was. We're reading this, and if you
10:37
didn't know the context, if we hadn't read all
10:39
of this, you might be thinking, Jesus, how is
10:41
this friendship? How is this love and kindness?
10:44
Get there, right? But Jesus has a special purpose.
10:50
for not being there right then. And you can see
10:55
the purpose statement that's written in verse
10:58
four. When Jesus heard it, meaning Lazarus's
11:03
illness, he said this illness does not lead to
11:06
death. It is for the glory of God so that the
11:11
Son of God may be glorified through it. And so
11:15
what is on the line with this story? It is the
11:20
very glory of God. And yet, you see what Jesus
11:24
says here. For when God is glorified, the Father
11:28
glorified, so is the Son. Why? Because the Son
11:32
and the Father, they're on the same page, aren't
11:35
they? Conversely, when those do not honor the
11:39
Son, do not honor the Father. And we can see
11:43
from this text, because it says it over and over
11:45
again, that God the Father glorified when people
11:51
believe in God the Son. God is surely glorified
11:57
by this. You remember other texts that tell us
11:59
that there is a celebration in heaven when people
12:02
believe and no doubt as people believe in this
12:05
text we can expect that same sort of celebration.
12:10
But you can see in the beginning of this as Jesus
12:13
is talking to his disciples they don't fully
12:16
understand everything do they look down in verse
12:22
14 Jesus here speaks to them plainly Lazarus
12:30
has died and for your sake I am glad I was not
12:34
there so that you may believe the disciples at
12:40
first think that Jesus is just talking about
12:43
Lazarus sleeping Jesus puts it, as I said, very
12:46
plainly for them. He's not just sleeping. He
12:49
is really dead. Friends, we're like the disciples,
12:58
aren't we? Sometimes we just don't know everything.
13:02
Sometimes we don't understand what is God doing?
13:06
Why am I suffering like this? Why am I going
13:09
through this? Why would God put me through these
13:11
things? Sometimes we just don't know. or waiting
13:14
for something to happen and it just never seems
13:17
to get there. We can take heart from this passage
13:21
that everything that God ordains is right even
13:25
when we don't understand it. We can take comfort
13:29
in the fact that God's timing is always perfect.
13:32
I don't know what you're waiting for. I don't
13:35
know what you're waiting on. But you can trust,
13:38
you must trust that his timing is perfect. Jesus
13:43
had a perfect timing. He had purpose to his delay.
13:47
And you can see that everything worked out perfectly.
13:51
Now, as I said, these disciples don't understand
13:54
everything that's going on, but they are committed,
13:57
aren't they? Look at what Thomas says. I think
14:01
it's in verse 16. So Thomas called the twin,
14:06
said to his fellow disciples, let us also go
14:09
that we may die with him. Again, they don't understand
14:13
everything, but they are committed. Thomas is
14:16
saying, hey, we're going with him. If he's going
14:18
to die, we're going to die with him. And Thomas
14:21
doesn't know how right he is, does he? For we
14:24
know this about the disciples, right? That excluding
14:29
Judas, of course, and excluding John, they were
14:32
all martyred. And so Thomas, while they're not
14:35
going to be killed at the same time as Jesus,
14:37
they will be. And so Thomas is very, very right.
14:41
For this reason and many more, I hope that the
14:44
doubting Thomas nickname that he has, I hope
14:47
that that is gone in glory. I am certain it will
14:50
be because he shows commitment to Jesus here.
14:55
Well, as I said, we also want to look at the
14:57
sorrow of the passage. Not just the sorrow of
15:01
Jesus, but let's start with the sorrow of Martha
15:05
and then Mary. we said Jesus delays coming to
15:11
Bethany and Martha is the first one to go to
15:15
Jesus and it's four days it's on the fourth day
15:20
since Lazarus died you might think why four I
15:25
thought three was the biblical number right well
15:30
according to some sources in rabbinical teaching
15:34
the teaching of rabbis in Jesus's day that a
15:38
person's spirit hovered over them for three days.
15:42
But after three days, the spirit was gone, meaning
15:46
that there was no opportunity to revive the person.
15:51
This was the teaching of rabbis at the time.
15:55
Sproul says here, by delaying his return, Jesus
15:58
let enough time pass to make it absolutely certain
16:02
that the raising of Lazarus was completely against
16:06
nature. and could not be seen as anything other
16:10
than a miracle. And so, as this is a sermon series
16:15
on the miracles, how perfect is this? And so,
16:19
Martha comes to Jesus first. Look in verse 21.
16:23
She says these agonizing words here. She says
16:27
to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother
16:31
would not have died. And Mary, utters a very,
16:36
very similar thing in verse 32. This is what
16:42
Jesus has to hear, if you would have just been
16:44
here. But verse 22 also shows us that Martha
16:48
believes that Jesus can do all things. And so
16:52
he's talking to her about this and look in verse
16:55
24. After Jesus says, I know your brother, he
16:59
says, your brother will rise again. Martha says,
17:02
I know. He will rise again in the resurrection
17:05
on the last day. And so she's thinking about
17:09
the return of Jesus here. I would like to say
17:12
this. Martha has really good theology. Many people
17:17
in Jesus's day did not believe in the resurrection
17:20
of the dead. The Sadducees, notably in Matthew
17:23
22, reject the resurrection of the dead. Martha
17:26
has good theology. She just doesn't know exactly
17:30
what Jesus is going. to do here. And it's the
17:35
same with us. We have good theology, prayerfully,
17:40
we're giving ourselves, committing ourselves
17:42
to the teaching of the Bible, but we don't know
17:45
all things. Just this week I've been asked questions
17:48
about the hardening of Pharaoh's heart. And then
17:51
I was asked about free will versus sovereignty.
17:54
And then I was asked about polygamy. And then
17:56
I was asked what in the world is going on in
17:58
Romans chapter nine. We have a lot of questions,
18:01
don't we? But we must seek the answers in faith.
18:09
And that's what I believe Martha is doing here.
18:14
Jesus makes it plain again. Look in verses 25
18:18
and 26. this incredible line from Jesus. I am
18:26
the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes
18:29
in me, though he die yet, shall he live. And
18:33
everyone who lives and believes in me shall never
18:36
die. And then he asked this question that I ask
18:38
all of you today. Do you believe this? Do you
18:45
believe? Nod your heads. that Jesus is the resurrection
18:50
and the life. He is. Praise God. Jesus had to
18:55
come to die in order to be raised. A friend asked
18:58
me not too long ago, why did Jesus have to be
19:01
raised? And I said, so that you will be. Jesus
19:05
goes before us. And he is raised. And he demonstrates
19:10
this through this miracle with Lazarus. But also,
19:17
please see this, Jesus is not giving a lecture
19:21
here. He's not just dispensing information, is
19:25
he? We can see this because you have Martha crying.
19:33
You have Mary. They're both so burdened, right,
19:37
for Lazarus. But Jesus also is burdened too,
19:44
isn't he? And that takes us to that trivia question,
19:48
the shortest verse in the English Bible, Jesus
19:51
wept. Please see that Jesus is fully God and
19:59
fully man. And how remarkable is it that Jesus,
20:04
who knew what he was going to do, he knew that
20:08
he was going to raise Lazarus, and yet he still
20:13
weeps. over his friend. Jesus demonstrates that
20:17
line, weep with those who weep. This is Jesus
20:22
with his friends. And so please understand this.
20:27
Your Savior is not distant. Your Savior is not
20:32
aloof. Your Savior sympathizes with your weaknesses,
20:37
right? Your Savior is Emmanuel. God with us.
20:46
Look in verse 37, though. People are wondering,
20:50
what do we do with this weeping rabbi? Some of
20:54
them said how he loved him. And others said,
20:58
could not he who opened the eyes of the blind
21:00
man also have kept this man from dying? Remember,
21:05
though, the purpose of all of this so that people
21:09
would believe. So in verse 38 Jesus begins the
21:14
miracle look there Jesus deeply moved again came
21:18
to the tomb And it's a cave and a stone lay Against
21:23
it and we are reminded here that Lazarus has
21:26
been dead four days and then look in verse 40
21:30
Jesus said to Martha did I not tell you that
21:35
if you believed you would see the glory of God
21:37
so just a reminder I'm doing the very thing that
21:40
I told you I would do, showing you the glory
21:43
of the Father. And then what does Jesus have
21:47
done? He has the stone rolled away, not so that
21:51
Jesus could go in, but so that Lazarus, the dead
21:55
man, could come out. This demonstrates the power
22:01
of Jesus to command life, the man who was really
22:05
dead. for four days comes walking out, wrapped
22:10
up, just as he had been placed into the tomb.
22:14
And this is amazing. And it has many witnesses,
22:18
right? That here comes the dead man. And really
22:21
what this illustrates, what this story illustrates
22:24
is exactly what God does in us at conversion.
22:29
Go back earlier into John, chapter five, verse
22:34
25. to see what happens in us when Jesus makes
22:39
us spiritually alive. John 525, truly, truly
22:47
I say to you, an hour is coming and is now here
22:52
when the dead will hear the voice of the Son
22:56
of God and those who hear will live. This is
23:02
getting at something that Reformed Christians
23:07
like to call the effectual call the Holy Spirit
23:11
awakening those who believe in Jesus with the
23:15
gift of faith Friends, you know this we cannot
23:20
save ourselves For without the work of the Holy
23:24
Spirit regenerating us. We are spiritually dead
23:28
But with faith given to us by God we are made
23:33
spiritually Alive and that's one of the reasons
23:36
that I think that this miracle stands out so
23:39
beautifully Because it demonstrates not just
23:43
Jesus's power over the grave But it reminds us
23:46
what God does in our hearts that Jesus does something
23:49
that we could not do That Jesus saves us from
23:54
eternal death and gives us eternal life This
23:59
also demonstrates the very sovereignty of God
24:02
look in verse 45 Many of the Jews, therefore,
24:07
who had come with Mary and had seen what he did,
24:09
believed in him. But some of them went to the
24:13
Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
24:18
And so you see the whole purpose of this that
24:21
started kind of small with the disciples and
24:24
Mary and Martha just keeps getting bigger as
24:27
more people believe and yet not everybody believes,
24:30
right? And what all of this is doing is showing
24:35
us that, yes, this is an incredible miracle,
24:38
but it's also designed to do something else.
24:41
It sets the ball in motion for Jesus to lay down
24:47
His life. Look in verse 53. I know that's outside
24:51
of our reading today. Verse 53, it says, So from
24:56
that day on they made plans to put Him to death.
25:01
So because of what Jesus does with Lazarus, the
25:06
people make plans to put him to death. This shows
25:09
that faith is a gift, and God is sovereign over
25:13
all, right? And yet we know this. Jesus had to
25:18
go to the cross for us. Jesus had to die for
25:21
us. This is what Jesus does for us that is great
25:24
as this miracle is. Death. would come again for
25:29
Lazarus. There would be more tears shed for Lazarus.
25:33
Friends, it's not just enough to stay alive.
25:37
We need eternal life, for you know what happened
25:41
in the fall. You know that Adam, as our representative,
25:45
disobeyed God when he ate the fruit and brought
25:48
sin to every person who is conceived in natural
25:52
generation. And so from then on, death reigned
25:58
For the wages of sin is death but thanks be to
26:02
God Jesus on the cross Exclaims it is finished
26:07
and he defeats death and the devil and sin What
26:13
he does when Jesus goes to the cross is he undergoes
26:19
Everything for us as our substitute the story
26:22
doesn't end even with death Even with Jesus'
26:27
death, because he undergoes resurrection for
26:29
us too, so that one day when death comes for
26:32
us, when our days are up, they have really just
26:37
begun. Puritan Thomas Watson said this, we are
26:44
more sure to arise out of our graves than out
26:48
of our beds. Think about that. We are more sure
26:53
to arise out of our graves than out of our beds.
26:58
This is the truth for Christians raised to everlasting
27:02
life, not to everlasting death, that though we
27:05
weep now, Jesus will dry our eyes in the resurrection.
27:12
I begin to close here with this. Perhaps you
27:15
know this passage from Revelation chapter 21.
27:21
Verse 4 He will wipe away every tear from their
27:26
eyes and death shall be no more Neither shall
27:31
there be mourning nor crying nor pain anymore
27:35
For the former things have passed away Church
27:40
family take heart Jesus's comment about being
27:45
the resurrection and the life And the fact that
27:48
he was raised, Jesus was raised himself, gives
27:51
you the surety, the certainty to know that one
27:56
day you, just like Jesus, will also be raised
28:01
to eternal life with him. Thanks be to God. Let
28:06
us pray.