Latest / A Chapter a Day Bible Reading / April 7 - John 11

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April 7 - John 11 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean here. It's Monday, it's the 7th of
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  April. Had to work out which month
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  we're in, but here we are in April, and this means it's only
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  two weeks to go until we reach Easter.
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  Wow. This year has flown by already,
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  and we're just around the corner from Easter.
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  I hope your Lenten season is going well.
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  And over the next two weeks, my prayer for you and for me,
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  friends, is that you can find some time.
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  We can find some time to stop and reflect on the enormity of
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  the journey that we are on, heading toward that hill on
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  Calvary and an empty tomb. And this week as we read through
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  the book of John, our journey kind of mirrors our Lenten
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  journey. And today, today is the most
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  significant of Jesus miracles, which really kind of tightens
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  the spotlight, focuses. That's the word I'm after, the
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  spotlight on Jesus and the plot to end his life.
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  Yes, this is that marvellous, marvellous story of Jesus
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  raising his friend Lazarus from the dead.
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  So let's read together John Chapter 11.
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  A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his
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  sisters Mary and Martha. This is the Mary who later
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  poured the expense of perfume on the Lord's feet and wiped them
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  with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was sick.
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  So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him,
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  Lord, your dear friend is very sick.
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  But when Jesus heard about it, he said Lazarus's sickness will
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  not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of
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  God, so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.
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  So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus, he stayed
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  where he was for the next two days.
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  Finally he said to his disciples, let's go back to
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  Judea. But his disciples objected.
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  Rabbi, they said only a few days ago the people in Judea were
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  trying to stone you. Are you going there again?
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  Jesus replied. There are 12 hours of daylight
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  every day. During the day, people can walk
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  safely. They can see because they have
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  the light of this world. But at night there is danger of
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  stumbling because we have no light.
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  Then he said, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I
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  will go and wake him up. The disciples said.
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  Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better.
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  They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus
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  meant Lazarus had died, so he told them plainly, Lazarus is
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  dead and for your sakes, I'm glad I wasn't there.
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  For now, you will really believe.
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  Come, let's go see him, Thomas, nicknamed the twin, said to his
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  fellow disciples. Let's go too, and die with
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  Jesus. When Jesus arrived at Bethany,
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  he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for
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  four days. Bethany was only a few miles
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  down the road from Jerusalem, and many of the people had come
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  to console Martha and Mary in their loss.
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  And Martha got word that Jesus was coming.
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  She went to meet him, but Mary stayed in the house.
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  Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if only you had been here, my
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  brother would not have died. But even now I know that God
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  will give you whatever you ask. Jesus told her, Your brother
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  will rise again. Yes, Martha said, he will rise
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  when everyone else rises at the last day.
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  Jesus told her I am the resurrection and the life anyone
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  who believes in me will live even after dying.
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  Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never, ever
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  die. Do you believe this Martha?
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  Yes, Lord, she told him, I have always believed you are the
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  Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from
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  God. Then she returned to Mary.
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  She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her the
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  teacher is here and wants to see you.
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  So Mary immediately went to him. Jesus had stayed outside the
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  village at the place where Martha met him.
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  When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her
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  leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus grave
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  to weep, so they followed her there.
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  When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said,
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  Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.
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  When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing
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  with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply
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  troubled. Where have you put him?
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  He asked them. They told him, Lord, come and
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  see. Then Jesus wept.
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  The people who were standing nearby said, See how much he
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  loved him. But some said, this man healed a
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  blind man. Couldn't he have kept Lazarus
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  from dying? Jesus was still angry as he
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  arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its
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  entrance. Roll the stone aside, Jesus told
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  them. But Martha, the dead man's
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  sister, protested. Lord, he has been dead for four
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  days. The smell will be terrible,
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  Jesus responded. Didn't I tell you that you would
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  see God's glory if you believe so?
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  They rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven
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  and said, Father, thank you for hearing me.
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  You always hear me. But I said it aloud for the sake
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  of all these people standing here, so that they will believe
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  you sent me. Then Jesus shouted, Lazarus come
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  out. And the dead man came out, his
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  hands and feet bound in grave clothes, his face wrapped in a
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  headcloth. Jesus told them, Unwrap him and
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  let him go. Many of the people who were with
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  Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen, but some went
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  to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.
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  Then the leading priests and Pharisees called the High
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  Council together. What are we going to do?
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  They asked each other. This man certainly performs many
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  miraculous signs. If we allow him to go on like
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  this, soon everyone will believe in him.
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  Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our temple and
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  our nation. Caiaphas, who was the high
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  priest at the time, said. You don't know what you're
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  talking about. You don't realise that it's
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  better for you that one man should die for the people than
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  for the whole nation to be destroyed.
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  He did not say this on his own. As high priest at that time, he
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  was led to prophecy that Jesus would die for the entire nation
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  and not only for that nation, but to bring together and unite
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  all the children of God scattered around the world.
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  So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus
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  death. As a result, Jesus stopped his
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  public ministry among the people and left Jerusalem.
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  He went to a place near the wilderness to the village of
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  Ephraim and stayed there with his disciples.
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  It was now almost time for the Jewish Passover celebration, and
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  many people from all over the country arrived in Jerusalem
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  several days early so they could go through the purification
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  ceremony before Passover began. They kept looking for Jesus, but
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  as they stood around in the temple, they said to each other,
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  What do you think? He won't come for Passover, will
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  He? Meanwhile, the leading priests
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  and Pharisees had publicly ordered that anyone seeing Jesus
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  must report it immediately so they could arrest him.
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  My Lord, as we read this story, it's easy for our hearts to
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  despair as we hear of these plots thickening against Jesus,
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  as we know the challenges and the terrible Rd that lies ahead
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  for him. But at every stage we hear that
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  this is indeed your plan, that Jesus did not come here just to
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  preach the good word or to live a good life.
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  But ultimately, you sent Jesus here so that he could, by his
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  death and resurrection, redeem us and find a way that we could
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  come back to your side to be reunited with you and drawn into
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  your family, perfect and blameless in your eyes, thanks
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  to Jesus. And so we thank you for Jesus.
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  We pray that we would get to know Him better every day
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  through Your spirit in US. We pray all of this in His
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  saving name, Amen.