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Lazarus - The Gospels · Bible in a Year with Jack Graham

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  Speaker 1: Let us pray. And when he thus had spoken, he
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  Speaker 1: cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. John
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  Speaker 1: 11.43 Thank you, God, that the story of Lazarus serves
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  Speaker 1: as a reminder that death no longer has power over
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  Speaker 1: my soul. Through the life of Jesus, you continually display
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  Speaker 1: for me the fact that I can no longer that
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  Speaker 1: I can conquer anything, including the Goliath of death. Therefore,
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  Speaker 1: I will not be afraid to live my life to
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  Speaker 1: the fullest, because I know that I will not die,
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  Speaker 1: but I will simply transition into my heavenly home when
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  Speaker 1: my time comes. I declare that I will not live
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  Speaker 1: with regret or remorse, but instead I will maximize every
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  Speaker 1: opportunity that I'm given. I will love with an intense
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  Speaker 1: and compassionate heart, and I will live out the purpose
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  Speaker 1: and plans that you have for me, Lord. In the
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  Speaker 1: same way, Jesus, that you called forth Lazarus from the tomb,
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  Speaker 1: I now call forth from the tombs in my life
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  Speaker 1: the dreams and visions that have died because of fear
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  Speaker 1: and doubt. I thank you, Lord, that as I place
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  Speaker 1: them in your hands, you will breathe new life and
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  Speaker 1: new strategy into every dream and vision you've given me.
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  Speaker 1: In Jesus' name, amen. Thank you for praying with me today.
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  Speaker 1: Continue listening for an incredible Bible story brought to you
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  Speaker 1: by BibleInAYear.com.
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  Speaker 2: Lazarus. In our last story, we learned about Jesus' stories
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  Speaker 2: of thankfulness and humility. Now we see Jesus weep at
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  Speaker 2: the sting of death. However, death would not have the
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  Speaker 2: final word against Jesus. Through his friend Lazarus, Jesus would
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  Speaker 2: display ultimate power over death itself. Inspired by the Gospels.
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  Speaker 3: Hello, this is Jack Graham with today's episode of the
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  Speaker 3: Bible in a Year podcast. In our last episode, we
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  Speaker 3: discovered the importance of gratitude when Jesus healed the ten
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  Speaker 3: lepers and one man returned to give thanks. As a result,
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  Speaker 3: the thankful man received a greater, deeper spiritual restoration and
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  Speaker 3: not just the healing of his body. We also heard
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  Speaker 3: what Jesus says about prayer, both the value and the
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  Speaker 3: necessity of persistence in prayer, trusting God to always hear
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  Speaker 3: us when we cry out to him, but also that
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  Speaker 3: we would pray with humility as we approach God. Today,
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  Speaker 3: we'll hear how Jesus experiences grief when his dear friend
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  Speaker 3: Lazarus dies. But in this time of sorrow, we see
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  Speaker 3: how Jesus demonstrates his power over death because only Jesus
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  Speaker 3: can raise the dead, the one who is the resurrection
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  Speaker 3: and the life. His friend lives again, and it's one
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  Speaker 3: of the most powerful stories in all of the Bible.
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  Speaker 3: So let's listen now.
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  Speaker 2: It was late, and the winter air bit like a
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  Speaker 2: snake in the night. Coughing in his bed lay Lazarus.
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  Speaker 2: His once happy and bright demeanor was replaced by a
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  Speaker 2: pale shell of his former self. Beside one side of
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  Speaker 2: his bed was his sister, Mary, the woman who had
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  Speaker 2: once wiped Jesus' feet with ointment and tears. On the
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  Speaker 2: other side was Martha, his other sister. They tended to
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  Speaker 2: their brother, exchanging concerned looks and tears of worry. We
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  Speaker 2: should send for him, Mary whispered. Martha nodded and went
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  Speaker 2: downstairs to send one of her teenage sons. Go and
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  Speaker 2: find Jesus, she ordered. Do not rest until you find him.
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  Speaker 2: The boy nodded and ran into the cold winter darkness.
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  Speaker 2: A day had passed and Jesus was ministering in a
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  Speaker 2: town over thirty miles away from Bethany where Lazarus lay
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  Speaker 2: sick in his bed. Jesus was just about to enter
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  Speaker 2: into a synagogue when a boy bumped into him. The
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  Speaker 2: boy staggered back, then looked to see that he had
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  Speaker 2: found Jesus. My Lord, he shouted out of breath. Lazarus,
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  Speaker 2: your dear friend is sick and dying. Jesus nodded and
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  Speaker 2: sent the boy on his way. Then he began to
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  Speaker 2: go back into the synagogue. His disciples stopped him and asked, Jesus,
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  Speaker 2: why don't you go to heal Lazarus? Because this illness
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  Speaker 2: does not lead to death. It leads to the glory
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  Speaker 2: of God, Jesus replied. Two days passed and the disciples
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  Speaker 2: were packing up their things to follow Jesus. We are
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  Speaker 2: going back to Judea, Jesus said plainly. The disciples were
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  Speaker 2: confused since many of Jesus' enemies were in Judea. Rabbi,
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  Speaker 2: the religious leaders are waiting for you there to stone you,
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  Speaker 2: they warned. Jesus slung his pack over his shoulder and
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  Speaker 2: began walking. He waved for the disciples to follow. Hurry,
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  Speaker 2: he said. Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. We are
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  Speaker 2: going to wake him up. The disciples were confused. Lazarus
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  Speaker 2: has died, Jesus said plainly, and for your sake I
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  Speaker 2: am glad I did not heal him, for now you
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  Speaker 2: get to see what happens next. So Jesus kept walking.
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  Speaker 2: The disciples were frozen. There were many violent men in
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  Speaker 2: Judea waiting to harm them. Thomas grabbed his walking stick, sighed,
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  Speaker 2: and began walking after Jesus. Well, I guess we are
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  Speaker 2: going to die with him. The men chuckled and followed
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  Speaker 2: Jesus to Judea. After a few days' journey, Jesus had
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  Speaker 2: made it to Bethany, which was a small town near Jerusalem.
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  Speaker 2: By that time, Lazarus had been dead for days. Jesus
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  Speaker 2: walked closer to the home of Mary and Martha. He
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  Speaker 2: saw them weeping outside the house. Martha and Mary saw
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  Speaker 2: Jesus approaching, and Martha ran out to him.' If only
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  Speaker 2: you had been there,' she wept.' He would have—' Martha
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  Speaker 2: could not contain her tears.' Even now I know that
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  Speaker 2: you do the will of God.' and whatever you ask
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  Speaker 2: of God will be given to you. Jesus hugged Martha
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  Speaker 2: and allowed her to cry for a while. He led
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  Speaker 2: her to the bench where Mary sat silently. Your brother
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  Speaker 2: will rise again, Jesus said in a comforting tone. Martha
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  Speaker 2: wiped her eyes and said, Yes, of course. We know
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  Speaker 2: that he will have a life after this one. The
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  Speaker 2: day of the resurrection will come for him. I am
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  Speaker 2: the resurrection and the life, Jesus said. Whoever believes in me,
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  Speaker 2: even though he may die, will experience life everlasting. Do
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  Speaker 2: you believe this? Martha nodded.
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  Speaker 3: Yes, Lord, I.
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  Speaker 2: Believe you are the Christ, the living Son of God.
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  Speaker 2: Jesus gave a brief smile and walked to Lazarus' tomb.
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  Speaker 2: Jesus placed his hand against the large stone blocking the
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  Speaker 2: entrance to the tomb. Its cold surface sent chills down Jesus' spine.
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  Speaker 2: He thought of his friend Lazarus. He thought of his smiles.
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  Speaker 2: his gifts, his personality. Jesus slammed his fist against the
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  Speaker 2: stone and wept. Tears streamed down his cheeks as he
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  Speaker 2: fell to his knees beside the tomb. Jesus wept with
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  Speaker 2: the sorrow of a God who created life. It was
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  Speaker 2: not supposed to be this way. Mankind was supposed to
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  Speaker 2: experience life, not death. Death was the true and final enemy,
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  Speaker 2: an enemy Jesus was determined to defeat. Jesus stood to
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  Speaker 2: his feet, His eyes were filled with holy fury and purpose.'
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  Speaker 2: Roll away the stone,' he ordered to the servant.' But, Lord,
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  Speaker 2: the rotting body will surely stink!' Mary yelled. Jesus' eyes
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  Speaker 2: darted backwards.' Did I not tell you that if you
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  Speaker 2: believed in me you would see the glory of God?'
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  Speaker 2: Jesus turned to the servant and said,' Please, roll away
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  Speaker 2: the stone.' The heavy stone was rolled away and a
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  Speaker 2: devastating odor seeped from the cave entrance. The disciples and
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  Speaker 2: others stepped back and covered their noses, but Jesus lifted
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  Speaker 2: his eyes to heaven. Father, thank you that you have
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  Speaker 2: heard me. You always hear me. Then Jesus fixed his
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  Speaker 2: gaze on the cave and yelled, Lazarus, arise! Jesus spoke
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  Speaker 2: with a voice like the wind. The same breath that
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  Speaker 2: breathed life into mankind spoke into the cave. And like
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  Speaker 2: the Adam so many generations ago, Lazarus emerged from the dust.
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  Speaker 2: He was covered in cloth and bound at his arms.
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  Speaker 2: Jesus ordered for him to be untied, and the sisters
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  Speaker 2: ran towards him in joy. Jesus came so that all
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  Speaker 2: would have life and live more abundantly. Like Moses against Pharaoh,
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  Speaker 2: Samson against the Philistines, and David against Goliath, Jesus saw
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  Speaker 2: death as an unwelcome adversary. He would go against it
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  Speaker 2: with purpose. It would be his joy to endure the
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  Speaker 2: sting of death so that no one would ever have
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  Speaker 2: to again.
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  Speaker 3: In today's reading, we meet a man and his family
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  Speaker 3: by the name of Lazarus. He had two sisters by
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  Speaker 3: the name of Mary and Martha, and they were close
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  Speaker 3: friends of Jesus. Lazarus was dying in bed, so they
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  Speaker 3: sent word to Jesus that his friend, Lazarus, was deathly sick.
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  Speaker 3: Jesus was at least one day's journey away. But when
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  Speaker 3: the messenger arrived and gave him the news, Jesus was
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  Speaker 3: not alarmed. He sent the boy back with encouraging words. Lazarus'
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  Speaker 3: sickness was not leading to death, but for God's glory. Jesus'
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  Speaker 3: words are a reminder to trust God in his plan
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  Speaker 3: and his timing, even when he seems to delay and
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  Speaker 3: things don't get better. He could have simply spoken a
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  Speaker 3: word and Lazarus would have been immediately well. But because
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  Speaker 3: he knew there was a greater purpose unfolding, Jesus did
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  Speaker 3: not rush to heal or to raise his friend from
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  Speaker 3: the dead. He remained where he was for two more days.
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  Speaker 3: Then he told the disciples that they were going to
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  Speaker 3: Judea to Lazarus and his sisters. This was a dangerous decision,
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  Speaker 3: and the disciples knew it. They reminded the Lord that
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  Speaker 3: there were people in Judea who wanted to kill him.
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  Speaker 3: Why would we go back? Here we see something that
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  Speaker 3: was always characteristic of Jesus. He was courageous and compassionate,
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  Speaker 3: and he always moved according to plans. There are no
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  Speaker 3: accidents or coincidences with God, and he is God. We
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  Speaker 3: saw this when he walked through the Samaritan town and
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  Speaker 3: encountered the woman at the well. We saw it again
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  Speaker 3: with his intentional desire to cross into Galilee and heal
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  Speaker 3: a man possessed by a legion of demons. From an
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  Speaker 3: outsider's perspective, his actions, his timing, his direction sometimes seemed ill-advised.
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  Speaker 3: But Jesus always moved on God's timetable according to divine plan.
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  Speaker 3: He was never in a hurry and he was never late.
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  Speaker 3: And he wasn't afraid. He was there to do the
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  Speaker 3: will of the Father, that God would be glorified in
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  Speaker 3: him and through him. He and the Father worked in
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  Speaker 3: perfect unity and concert. Jesus then tells his disciples to hurry.
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  Speaker 3: saying that their friend Lazarus is asleep and they need
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  Speaker 3: to go and wake him up. They didn't understand what
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  Speaker 3: he was talking about, so he made it very plain
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  Speaker 3: to him. Lazarus is dead. But then he says he
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  Speaker 3: is happy for this because it will help the disciples
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  Speaker 3: to believe. Now, how is this possible? How could the
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  Speaker 3: death of this man, his dear friend, a loss like this,
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  Speaker 3: lead to faith and belief? When we face sickness or
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  Speaker 3: illness or death, trials and challenges that come our way,
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  Speaker 3: we are often tempted to pray that all the bad
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  Speaker 3: things would just go away or of course never happen.
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  Speaker 3: But as Jesus' words remind us, there is a purpose
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  Speaker 3: in our pain, in God's divine plan. And always, when
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  Speaker 3: we face trials and tests and dark times and even death,
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  Speaker 3: we may experience the power of God. After a couple
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  Speaker 3: of days of walking, Jesus and his disciples were met
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  Speaker 3: outside of town by Martha, the sister, who gave him
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  Speaker 3: the news that indeed Lazarus was dead. She wept. She
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  Speaker 3: mourned that if only Jesus had been there, her brother
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  Speaker 3: would not have died. But she also demonstrates her faith
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  Speaker 3: in him, saying that she knows that even now God
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  Speaker 3: will give Jesus whatever he asks of him. Jesus tells
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  Speaker 3: Martha that her brother will rise again. She misunderstands and
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  Speaker 3: is even skeptical, thinking that Jesus is speaking of the
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  Speaker 3: resurrection in the future. She wasn't expecting Jesus to actually
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  Speaker 3: raise her brother from the dead. But Jesus says to
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  Speaker 3: her in John 11, 25 and 26, I am the
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  Speaker 3: resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die,
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  Speaker 3: yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes
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  Speaker 3: in me shall never die. Do you believe this? Martha
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  Speaker 3: professed her faith then and there, saying that he is
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  Speaker 3: the Christ, son of the living God. So she went
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  Speaker 3: and called her sister Mary. Jesus went with the two
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  Speaker 3: sisters to the tomb where all the mourners were gathered
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  Speaker 3: in great sorrow. Lazarus had been dead for close to
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  Speaker 3: four days, and this was significant. To the Jews, that
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  Speaker 3: meant that this man's spirit was no longer in his body.
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  Speaker 3: In other words, he was dead, dead, and dead some more.
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  Speaker 3: What really happened in the text now is powerful. When
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  Speaker 3: Jesus saw the tomb and witnessed the sorrow of those
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  Speaker 3: who had lost a friend, a brother, a neighbor, he
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  Speaker 3: was moved to the point of his own tears. Jesus wept.
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  Speaker 3: And why did he weep? Well, he certainly is weeping
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  Speaker 3: for Mary and Martha and his friends and all who
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  Speaker 3: wept that day. But in effect, Jesus is showing his
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  Speaker 3: compassion and shedding his tears for the love of God
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  Speaker 3: that he feels for all people. He sees and knows
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  Speaker 3: your heart. When you sorrow, when you grieve, when you're hurting,
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  Speaker 3: in your pain, Jesus knows when you cry and hears
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  Speaker 3: every cry to him. Then Jesus did something supernatural, startling.
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  Speaker 3: He asked for the stone to be rolled away from
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  Speaker 3: the tomb, despite the protest of Mary, who knew the
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  Speaker 3: decomposing body would smell by now. But Jesus then prayed
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  Speaker 3: to the Father and thanked him for hearing his prayer.
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  Speaker 3: Then he spoke to Lazarus, saying out loud, Arise, come forth.
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  Speaker 3: And his friend walked out of the tomb to the astonishment,
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  Speaker 3: to the amazement of everyone there. It was clear that
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  Speaker 3: there was no force, no power over which this man, Jesus,
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  Speaker 3: did not have authority. For even a dead man whose
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  Speaker 3: spirit had left his body could be brought back to vibrant,
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  Speaker 3: abundant life at the command of Jesus. Jesus is the
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  Speaker 3: resurrection and the life. Soon it would be Jesus himself
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  Speaker 3: who died and was buried behind a stone in a tomb.
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  Speaker 3: But Jesus, the resurrection and the life, would conquer the grave.
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  Speaker 3: There is no grave that could hold our Lord, and
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  Speaker 3: he came out alive conquering sin, death, and hell, and
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  Speaker 3: conquering death for all who will believe in him. For
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  Speaker 3: we can have eternal life by putting our faith in Christ.
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  Speaker 3: Dear God, we thank you for today's tremendous story that
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  Speaker 3: you have such power over death. And you call us
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  Speaker 3: like Lazarus to rise and come to you. And we
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  Speaker 3: come to you, Lord. We come to you in faith
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  Speaker 3: and belief because you are the resurrection and the life.
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  Speaker 3: Amen and amen. Thank you for listening to today's Bible
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  Speaker 3: in a Year. I'm Pastor Jack Graham from Dallas, Texas.
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  Speaker 3: You can download the Pray.com app and make Bible study
• 16:26
  Speaker 3: and prayer the priority of your life. And if you
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  Speaker 3: appreciate this podcast, please share it with someone else. I
• 16:34
  Speaker 3: also want to encourage you to go to JackGraham.org. That's JackGraham.org,
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  Speaker 3: for we have resources that are free and available for
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  Speaker 3: you so that you may know Christ and grow in Him.
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  Speaker 3: God bless you.
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  Speaker 1: This episode is sponsored by MediShare, an innovative healthcare solution
• 16:57
  Speaker 1: for Christians to save money without sacrificing quality.
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