Latest / Bayside Davis Podcast / The Gospel of John | John 11

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The Gospel of John | John 11 · Bayside Davis Podcast

0:04
SPEAKER_00: Welcome to the Bayside Davis podcast.
0:07
SPEAKER_00: You are now listening to our current teaching series in the Gospel of John.
0:16
SPEAKER_00: We are still in the book of John, and I can give you a little recap for those that have not been here throughout the summer to see where we're at at this point.
0:28
SPEAKER_00: Essentially, Jesus has done many, many things in the Israel at the time.
0:36
SPEAKER_00: He turned water into wine.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: He healed a dying little boy from a distance.
0:41
SPEAKER_00: He got a lame to lame man to walk.
0:44
SPEAKER_00: He fed a crowd of over 5,000 people.
0:47
SPEAKER_00: He walked on water.
0:49
SPEAKER_00: He healed a blind man.
0:51
SPEAKER_00: Through all these various miracles, amazing things that happened, he was essentially trying to reinforce the claim that he is the Son of God.
1:03
SPEAKER_00: Some people were like thrilled, like, oh yes, our Messiah is here.
1:07
SPEAKER_00: Let's follow him, let's believe in him.
1:09
SPEAKER_00: But also there were some that were not necessarily thrilled about all the things that he was doing.
1:16
SPEAKER_00: So basically, this is the little context, and now we're kicking off John chapter 11.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: The title of my message is When Jesus Delays.
1:28
SPEAKER_00: And with that being said, let's pray.
1:32
SPEAKER_00: Jesus, we thank you for today.
1:35
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for the breath in our lungs.
1:38
SPEAKER_00: Thank you for the ability we had to come this morning, move, drive, walk, and be here in your presence.
1:50
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I pray that you would fill the room.
1:52
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I pray that you would speak through me.
1:55
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I pray that I will decrease so that you increase and that we're all able to receive something out of this message.
2:03
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I pray that you will lift our hearts.
2:05
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I pray that you would lighten our loads.
2:08
SPEAKER_00: Lord, I pray that we will get to connect with you in a deeper way today.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: We praise you, we love you in Jesus' name.
2:16
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
2:18
SPEAKER_00: Okay, so John chapter 11 kicks up with a family that we've heard about before: Lazarus, Martha, and Mary.
2:27
SPEAKER_00: For those that don't necessarily know much about their story, a little couple chapters ago, Jesus visited their home, and Martha being, I guess, maybe the head of household, she was like busy getting everything ready.
2:40
SPEAKER_00: Everybody has grapes, everybody has water, making sure that she was being a good host.
2:46
SPEAKER_00: And Mary, on the other hand, she was just chilling at Jesus' feet and listening to what he was saying, to what he was teaching, and all the things.
2:55
SPEAKER_00: So we already see that dynamic, but ultimately that was a family that Jesus loved very, very much.
3:04
SPEAKER_00: Now, in our passage today, Lazarus is sick.
3:11
SPEAKER_00: And like, it's the kind of sickness, it's not a flu, it's not a cold.
3:15
SPEAKER_00: Oh, you know, I can fight it off, it'll be fine.
3:17
SPEAKER_00: It was like sick, sick, like the kind of sickness that can lead to death.
3:22
SPEAKER_00: And because they were concerned about their brother, they were like, Oh, bro, we we know Jesus.
3:27
SPEAKER_00: Jesus has done amazing things that we've seen, that we've heard about.
3:30
SPEAKER_00: Let's just send word to him so that he will come and hopefully do something for Lazarus, our brother.
3:37
SPEAKER_00: So they sent word to Jesus.
3:40
SPEAKER_00: Verse 4 says, When he heard this, Jesus said, This sickness will not end in death.
3:50
SPEAKER_00: No.
3:51
SPEAKER_00: It is for the glory of God, so that God's Son may be glorified through it.
3:57
SPEAKER_00: Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
4:02
SPEAKER_00: So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.
4:12
SPEAKER_00: That's a little odd.
4:15
SPEAKER_00: Feels like Jesus knew something that we didn't know, that they didn't know at the time.
4:20
SPEAKER_00: The text literally said, John made sure to reference that Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus.
4:29
SPEAKER_00: But then he chose to delay.
4:32
SPEAKER_00: Not just a couple of hours, two days.
4:36
SPEAKER_00: That's kind of crazy.
4:37
SPEAKER_00: I feel like for us now, it's like if you were to hear that your loved one is not doing well, it's like you would just pack everything and just go immediately and get there as soon as possible.
4:48
SPEAKER_00: I remember when my housemates and I we got into the hospital because of um carbon monoxide poisoning.
4:57
SPEAKER_00: Like it happened like very, very late in the night.
4:59
SPEAKER_00: And as soon as Uncle Carl, Bethany's dad, he heard that we're in the hospital.
5:03
SPEAKER_00: My guy drove at midnight from Walnut Creek to Davis, Sutter Davis, to see how we're doing, to check upon us, to even take us home when we're discharged.
5:13
SPEAKER_00: Like he went above and beyond, right?
5:16
SPEAKER_00: So you would think Jesus would do the same because it is somebody that he loves.
5:20
SPEAKER_00: I mean, once somebody we love is worried, it's like you you're panicked, you're stressed, you're scared, and you're trying to get to their side as soon as possible.
5:29
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus didn't do so.
5:35
SPEAKER_00: And imagine this is a very hot situation.
5:38
SPEAKER_00: They're already panicking and they're already stressed because Lazarus is sick and he doesn't seem like he's getting better.
5:45
SPEAKER_00: And now they're waiting for the Lord Jesus to come and hopefully save the day, but even then he's not coming.
5:50
SPEAKER_00: So now they're like facing the pain and the uncertainty and probably like early grief because he's probably gonna die.
5:58
SPEAKER_00: And I'm like, if Jesus doesn't come now, then what do we do?
6:04
SPEAKER_00: But then all those things do not negate what John said that Jesus loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus very much.
6:17
SPEAKER_00: Jesus delayed because he knew something they didn't.
6:21
SPEAKER_00: He delayed because God was gonna use this opportunity to bring glory to his name.
6:30
SPEAKER_00: All the while, Mary and Martha were probably in agony, but Jesus chose to delay.
6:38
SPEAKER_00: If you're taking notes, here is our first point.
6:42
SPEAKER_00: God's delay doesn't mean he doesn't love you.
6:48
SPEAKER_00: The passage was very clear.
6:50
SPEAKER_00: John made sure to mention that Jesus loved Mary and Martha and Lazarus.
6:56
SPEAKER_00: But then verse 6 says he delays.
6:58
SPEAKER_00: He didn't hurry, so we assume, even though we assumed that he would, as soon as he heard.
7:05
SPEAKER_00: But sometimes God's greatest work happens while we're waiting.
7:12
SPEAKER_00: Plus, this is not the first time Jesus delays.
7:15
SPEAKER_00: It's happened before.
7:17
SPEAKER_00: In John 2, 1 to 11, during the wedding at Cana, Jesus' mom came to him like, son, there's no more wine.
7:26
SPEAKER_00: This is this is a crisis.
7:28
SPEAKER_00: And he's like, Woman, please, it's not my time yet.
7:31
SPEAKER_00: But then eventually he turns the water into wine.
7:34
SPEAKER_00: We don't necessarily know the time frame, but then eventually he does turn the water into wine.
7:40
SPEAKER_00: In John 7, verse 1 to 10, Jesus' brothers were arguing for him to leave for the Jewish festival of tabernacles.
7:50
SPEAKER_00: Jesus said, Bruh, it's not my time yet.
7:53
SPEAKER_00: But then he eventually left for that festival after his brothers have left.
7:58
SPEAKER_00: We don't know the time frame.
8:00
SPEAKER_00: It could have been a couple hours, it could have been the next day, we don't know.
8:04
SPEAKER_00: What do we see from these two passages?
8:08
SPEAKER_00: He has his own timing.
8:10
SPEAKER_00: He cannot be rushed, he doesn't care.
8:14
SPEAKER_00: It will happen in his timing when he's ready.
8:18
SPEAKER_00: We can try to rush, you can try to cry, you can be like, please, I'm like, Jesus, please, please, please.
8:25
SPEAKER_00: But he functions on his own timing.
8:31
SPEAKER_00: How many times has that happened to you?
8:36
SPEAKER_00: Where you were waiting for something, you're like, Jesus, now, please, now, not tomorrow or the day after, but now.
8:45
SPEAKER_00: I don't know about you, but me want too many times, too many times.
8:50
SPEAKER_00: I don't necessarily like it, but you know, what can I do?
8:56
SPEAKER_00: I'm not God.
8:58
SPEAKER_00: Um, and waiting is hard.
9:00
SPEAKER_00: It's very hard because, at least for me, it makes me question everything.
9:04
SPEAKER_00: Like, does he not care?
9:07
SPEAKER_00: Does he not see what I'm going through?
9:09
SPEAKER_00: Like, is he not gonna do something like right now?
9:13
SPEAKER_00: Like, does he not see how bad it is?
9:15
SPEAKER_00: Does he not see the internal struggle I'm going through?
9:20
SPEAKER_00: But we can see that at first, for the three examples that we have, Jesus didn't grant their request, but later on fulfilled them in his own timing, in his own will, not ours.
9:38
SPEAKER_00: His delays are not denials.
9:43
SPEAKER_00: I'm gonna say that again.
9:45
SPEAKER_00: His delays are not denial, his delays are not absence, they are only meant to bring glory to God.
10:00
unknown: G.
10:00
SPEAKER_00: Kimball Morgan says, so we may learn that he often permits us to pass into profounder darkness and deeper mysteries of pain in order that we may prove more perfectly his power.
10:18
SPEAKER_00: As plain as it is, it's just for him to show off, pop off, do his thing, you know.
10:24
SPEAKER_00: Only he can do it.
10:26
SPEAKER_00: So, like I said, remember, delay is not denial, delay is not absence, it is not rejection.
10:38
SPEAKER_00: Most times it is preparation.
10:41
SPEAKER_00: In verse 11, Jesus said, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up.
10:50
SPEAKER_00: At this, the disciples were trying to stop him and by bro, they almost told you last time you were there.
10:55
SPEAKER_00: Why are you trying to go back?
10:56
SPEAKER_00: Do you want to die?
10:58
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus is like, No, we gotta go.
11:00
SPEAKER_00: There's something that I need to do.
11:02
SPEAKER_00: And actually, I'm gonna go wake him up, but then they were like, bruh, if he's sleeping, then he should be fine.
11:08
SPEAKER_00: Like, you know, when you're sick, you just have to sleep more because your body needs to rest and all the things.
11:12
SPEAKER_00: And it was like, bruh, you guys are not understanding.
11:15
SPEAKER_00: The guy is dead, but it is good that he died because I am not there, so that you guys' faith can be restored.
11:28
SPEAKER_00: It was for them, it was for the people that were gonna witness what was gonna happen.
11:35
SPEAKER_00: It was for their sake, so that they would believe in him, so that they would believe in who he said he was, the son of God.
11:43
SPEAKER_00: So they journeyed to Bethany where the siblings were.
11:46
SPEAKER_00: Upon arrival, Jesus learns that Lazarus had been dead for four days.
11:53
SPEAKER_00: For four days.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: Do you know why that matters?
11:57
SPEAKER_00: Well, according to Jewish folk tale, superstition type of things, when somebody dies, the soul hovers around the body for three days in hopes to reunite with the deceased.
12:13
SPEAKER_00: But then by the time the fourth day comes, by popular belief, oh, it's done.
12:18
SPEAKER_00: Like that person is dead, dead.
12:20
SPEAKER_00: There's no hope.
12:21
SPEAKER_00: Let's just forget about it, let's just continue with our lives, it's done.
12:26
SPEAKER_00: But then also, you have to understand over there it's very hot, it's very humid.
12:31
SPEAKER_00: So the decaying process is going, you know.
12:35
SPEAKER_00: So, with that, everybody knew that by the time the fourth day comes, that person is dead, there's no hope, and we move on.
12:44
SPEAKER_00: So, yeah.
12:47
SPEAKER_00: But then here's a little segment, little gem for you guys.
12:53
SPEAKER_00: What Mary, as you can see, when Jesus came into the town to see them, and Martha and Mary were at home, and they had a lot of people that were there visiting them, being with them.
13:06
SPEAKER_00: Mary and Martha were surrounded.
13:10
SPEAKER_00: They had community.
13:12
SPEAKER_00: They did not isolate, they were not just by themselves trying to process the grief by themselves.
13:18
SPEAKER_00: They had their community to carry them, to probably even like help cook the food, to you know, take care of the house while they were probably like in a very, very ragged state.
13:31
SPEAKER_00: I understand that y'all Americans like your individuality.
13:36
SPEAKER_00: It makes sense.
13:37
SPEAKER_00: Like for me coming from a collective culture, there are certain aspects that I actually appreciate about that individuality because sometimes, man, they be doing the most.
13:50
SPEAKER_00: But at the same time, the Lord created us as social beings.
13:55
SPEAKER_00: You can try and do your own thing, me, myself, and I, but it doesn't work.
14:00
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't.
14:02
SPEAKER_00: For your mental health, for your heart, for your body, for any, it doesn't work.
14:06
SPEAKER_00: So you just have to suck it up.
14:08
SPEAKER_00: When you're going through something hard, you have to let the people know.
14:13
SPEAKER_00: We are not mind readers.
14:15
SPEAKER_00: I wish I could read minds.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: Hello, I wish, but I can't.
14:18
SPEAKER_00: So if you don't tell me, how am I supposed to know?
14:22
SPEAKER_00: If I don't tell you, how are you supposed to know?
14:25
SPEAKER_00: We need one another.
14:27
SPEAKER_00: So put your pride aside and text somebody.
14:32
SPEAKER_00: You're going through something hard, let somebody know.
14:36
SPEAKER_00: You're not an island.
14:39
SPEAKER_00: We're on this world together.
14:40
SPEAKER_00: I mean, people can go to the moon, but even then, they go two by twos.
14:44
SPEAKER_00: So, anyways, all that to say, you need somebody in your corner.
14:50
SPEAKER_00: You can't do this life by yourself.
14:52
SPEAKER_00: It's already hard enough.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: So, please, please, and of course, as the great Bill Withers said in this iconic song, Lean on Me.
15:10
SPEAKER_00: I was gonna sing it, but I'm laughing too much now, so I don't think it's gonna come out to it.
15:25
SPEAKER_00: It sounded much better in my head.
15:27
SPEAKER_00: Um, yeah, no, let's move on.
15:32
SPEAKER_00: Maybe, maybe later.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: I I can't, I can't right now.
15:36
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
15:37
SPEAKER_00: But anyways, lean on me when you're not strong, I'll be your friend, I'll help you carry on, for it won't be long till some till I'm gonna need somebody to lean on.
15:48
SPEAKER_00: So, you know, you scratch my back, I scratch yours.
15:53
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
15:57
SPEAKER_00: Verse 20.
15:59
SPEAKER_00: When Mortha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
16:09
SPEAKER_00: Do you see that?
16:10
SPEAKER_00: One made haste to meet Jesus while the other stayed behind.
16:17
SPEAKER_00: And let's just establish this right now.
16:19
SPEAKER_00: Mortha was the logical, intellectual, you know, let's get things done type of person.
16:24
SPEAKER_00: Mary, bro, she's an empath.
16:26
SPEAKER_00: You know, let's let's let's sit down, let's chill, let's, you know, just let's just be with Jesus and just hear him talk, and you know, that's about it.
16:34
SPEAKER_00: So remember those two characteristics about them.
16:39
SPEAKER_00: Verse 21 Lord, Martha said to Jesus, if you had been there, my brother would have would would not have died.
16:49
SPEAKER_00: Martha expressed her disappointment in Jesus' late arrival with honesty.
16:57
SPEAKER_00: She knew that he had the power to heal her brother while he was still alive, but he didn't.
17:06
SPEAKER_00: He didn't come on time.
17:08
SPEAKER_00: But then she still some she still said something that was very powerful in verse 22.
17:14
SPEAKER_00: But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.
17:22
SPEAKER_00: So I mean, the girl is down, she's disappointed.
17:25
SPEAKER_00: Her friend Jesus, she called for him, he didn't come.
17:28
SPEAKER_00: But then she knows that even then he could do it if you know the Lord has a will for that.
17:39
SPEAKER_00: She decided to trust him despite her disappointment.
17:45
SPEAKER_00: She still had faith.
17:48
SPEAKER_00: Faith and disappointment are not mutually exclusive, they can be experienced at the same time.
17:57
SPEAKER_00: Second point, faith can coexist with painful emotions.
18:04
SPEAKER_00: Faith and disappointment, faith and confusion, faith and anger, faith and distrust, faith and grief.
18:13
SPEAKER_00: They don't cancel each other out, they don't make you weak, they don't make you less of a Christian.
18:20
SPEAKER_00: They just make your faith honest.
18:24
SPEAKER_00: And it sucks to feel like that, honestly.
18:26
SPEAKER_00: It really sucks.
18:27
SPEAKER_00: It sucks.
18:27
SPEAKER_00: I don't I hate it, I don't like it.
18:30
SPEAKER_00: But let's consider this.
18:35
SPEAKER_00: We can only cling to Jesus when we know what death feels like.
18:41
SPEAKER_00: Not like literally, but you know, maybe literally, but also like figuratively.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: We can only cling to him because we know what death feels like.
18:50
SPEAKER_00: We can only treasure him more because we know what it feels like to not have him in our lives.
18:56
SPEAKER_00: Lazarus had to die in order for the miracle to mean something.
19:02
SPEAKER_00: Remember the four days?
19:03
SPEAKER_00: If he was within the three-day window and Jesus came and resurrected Lazarus, they would have been like, oh, he probably wasn't really dead.
19:13
SPEAKER_00: It had to be on the fourth day when it was like, oh yeah, the guy is dead, dead.
19:17
SPEAKER_00: And then Jesus is like, no, actually, there he is.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: He had to die in order for the people to believe in Jesus.
19:24
SPEAKER_00: He had to die so that people would see the miracle and be like, Wow, who is this dude?
19:30
SPEAKER_00: I have to die so that I can only cherish Jesus even more.
19:34
SPEAKER_00: You have to die so that you can cling onto the light that he brings.
19:38
SPEAKER_00: The darkness and the death that we experience are very much there and present, and they suck.
19:44
SPEAKER_00: But then it's because we know what it feels like that we cling to Jesus with everything that we have, everything that we are.
19:55
SPEAKER_00: To know Jesus and to really cling on to him is because we know what death feels like.
20:02
SPEAKER_00: We know what pain's pain feels like, we know what grief feels like.
20:07
SPEAKER_00: You wouldn't, you wouldn't, you wouldn't see the benefit of Jesus if you were never even tasted and see what he was about.
20:16
SPEAKER_00: You can stay in the darkness and say, oh, that's all I know, and then be content with him.
20:20
SPEAKER_00: But like once you get that little glimmer of hope, once you get to taste him and feel him just a little bit, all the things that you experience, you're like, wow, something is very wrong.
20:36
SPEAKER_00: And innately, whether you recognize it or not, you know that there is something better out there.
20:43
SPEAKER_00: And his name is Jesus, it's not the universe.
20:45
SPEAKER_00: Please and thank you.
20:50
SPEAKER_00: His name is Jesus.
20:52
SPEAKER_00: You can try and do all the other stuff, and like you know, do you, but at the end of the day, he's the only one that can satisfy.
20:59
SPEAKER_00: The only one.
21:02
SPEAKER_00: The sooner you put your pride aside, the sooner you put your intellectualism aside and choose him, not to say that life is gonna be all rosy gardens and all the things, but it will be a little bearable.
21:19
SPEAKER_00: The Buddhas and the all the things, they can do that for you.
21:23
SPEAKER_00: Straight up, they have nice methods to help, but then they don't satisfy the root of the problem, and only Jesus can do so.
21:40
SPEAKER_00: So, but even then, even though we don't feel we still feel the darkness, we still feel the icky, all the things, we have to know that because Jesus Eventually conquered death and everything that came with it.
22:05
SPEAKER_00: We have prevailed.
22:07
SPEAKER_00: Even though the prevailing doesn't necessarily, you might not feel it in the moment, you might not feel it as of right now.
22:13
SPEAKER_00: You might not feel it maybe even tomorrow.
22:16
SPEAKER_00: You're like, bro, when my where where is that little um relief?
22:22
SPEAKER_00: You might not even feel it at all, but you have to know in your heart of hearts that you have prevailed because he has prevailed for you.
22:31
SPEAKER_00: And the prayer is that we get to experience that that victory, that prevailing, that overcoming on earth as it is already is in heaven.
22:44
SPEAKER_00: Jesus continues his conversation with Martha by stating that her brother will rise again.
22:54
SPEAKER_00: And intellectually and theologically sound, Martha was like, Yeah, of course he's gonna rise again.
22:59
SPEAKER_00: At the last day, you're gonna raise all the saints, and we're all gonna be with you.
23:02
SPEAKER_00: I understand that.
23:03
SPEAKER_00: I guess I'll have to say, I'll see him, you know, later when that happens.
23:06
SPEAKER_00: But then Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.
23:13
SPEAKER_00: The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.
23:19
SPEAKER_00: And whoever lives by believing in me will never die.
23:25
SPEAKER_00: Do you believe this?
23:27
SPEAKER_00: Jesus wanted her to understand that resurrection wasn't just an event that is promised to happen, that resurrection was right in front of her.
23:35
SPEAKER_00: Resurrection was somebody that she could touch, that she could see, that she could hear.
23:40
SPEAKER_00: I mean, she was lucky.
23:41
SPEAKER_00: I wish I could see him right now.
23:43
SPEAKER_00: Hello.
23:44
SPEAKER_00: But for us, we have to trust that we feel him, we have to trust that we we understand him, we have to trust that we can hear him through the word.
23:52
SPEAKER_00: We have to believe that I'm not just talking to myself and I'm crazy in the head.
24:00
SPEAKER_00: She was lucky, she was very lucky.
24:03
SPEAKER_00: But ultimately, we too can experience the resurrection and the life today because Jesus is available to all of us.
24:17
SPEAKER_00: We don't have to split him in however many halves so that everybody can have a peace.
24:22
SPEAKER_00: He's everything everywhere all at once.
24:25
SPEAKER_00: We just have to say yes to him.
24:30
SPEAKER_00: Third point Jesus is the resurrection and the life.
24:37
SPEAKER_00: Jesus isn't simply the giver of resurrection, he is the resurrection.
24:45
SPEAKER_00: Martha was waiting for something that Jesus could do, but then he was just like, it's me.
24:53
SPEAKER_00: It's me.
24:54
SPEAKER_00: He revealed himself to her.
24:56
SPEAKER_00: I am what you're seeking for.
24:58
SPEAKER_00: Not just what I can do, but I am.
25:02
SPEAKER_00: In Isaiah 55, 8 to 9, it says, For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord.
25:14
SPEAKER_00: As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.
25:23
SPEAKER_00: In Revelation 22, 13, it says, I am the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end.
25:33
SPEAKER_00: He knows the whole story because he's the one writing the book.
25:38
SPEAKER_00: He sees everything, nothing is a surprise to him.
25:41
SPEAKER_00: There's no cliffhanger, there's no like plot twist, because bro, he is the plot twist.
25:47
SPEAKER_00: He is in control, he is infinite.
25:50
SPEAKER_00: We are finite.
25:51
SPEAKER_00: I can only see the situation that I'm going through right now.
25:55
SPEAKER_00: I can't see beyond that, unfortunately.
25:57
SPEAKER_00: I wish I could, but I cannot.
26:01
SPEAKER_00: Would you consider his version of resurrection and trust that he, what he has in store for you, is good, that it is the best outcome possible.
26:15
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes I find myself wrestling, it's like, are you sure you're good?
26:19
SPEAKER_00: Because it's like, why are you letting this happen to me?
26:22
SPEAKER_00: But then that doesn't negate the fact that he's good, even though things right now suck.
26:27
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't change his goodness, it doesn't change his love.
26:45
SPEAKER_00: Maybe the situation you're going through doesn't change.
26:49
SPEAKER_00: Maybe the diagnosis doesn't change.
26:53
SPEAKER_00: Maybe the heartbreak stays and stays and stays.
26:58
SPEAKER_00: Maybe, I don't know, fill in the blank.
27:01
SPEAKER_00: You know what's happening in your life.
27:04
SPEAKER_00: Maybe having a relationship with him is all the resurrection that we need to go through this life.
27:15
SPEAKER_00: In an ideal scenario, my version of resurrection would be to say bye-bye to the world and be gone to heaven right now.
27:26
SPEAKER_00: Lord, just take me.
27:27
SPEAKER_00: The amount of times I have prayed, I'm like, Lord, just take me now.
27:30
SPEAKER_00: I'm done.
27:31
SPEAKER_00: I'm done.
27:32
SPEAKER_00: I'm tired.
27:32
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to see this anymore.
27:34
SPEAKER_00: Like, this is ghetto.
27:35
SPEAKER_00: Like, no, I'm too, I'm too, I'm too, I'm too, I'm tired about this.
27:40
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm tired.
27:41
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to see it anymore.
27:42
SPEAKER_00: I don't want to be here.
27:43
SPEAKER_00: I hate it here.
27:44
SPEAKER_00: I really do.
27:46
SPEAKER_00: But maybe his version of resurrection for me is to walk step in step with him, knowing that he's right there beside me.
28:00
SPEAKER_00: I still don't like that, but you know, what can I do?
28:05
SPEAKER_00: I have to take it.
28:07
SPEAKER_00: But I also have to trust that he knows what's best because he sees the full picture.
28:15
SPEAKER_00: And to the statement that Jesus said that I am the resurrection and the life.
28:20
SPEAKER_00: Do you believe?
28:21
SPEAKER_00: Martha said, Yes, without fail.
28:26
SPEAKER_00: Verse 28 Martha went and told Mary Jesus was asking for her.
28:32
SPEAKER_00: Remember, Mary, the impact, she stayed behind.
28:36
SPEAKER_00: She didn't leave when Martha left to go meet Jesus.
28:40
SPEAKER_00: Why do you think that is?
28:43
SPEAKER_00: Like, really think about it.
28:44
SPEAKER_00: Like, why do you think she stayed behind?
28:48
SPEAKER_00: The text doesn't necessarily tell us in detail, like, what were the things that were going through through her mind.
28:55
SPEAKER_00: But if I were to try putting yourself in her shoes, try putting yourself in her shoes.
29:01
SPEAKER_00: Like, why do you think she would like not want to go meet Jesus?
29:05
SPEAKER_00: Maybe she wasn't ready to face him.
29:09
SPEAKER_00: Maybe she was still trying to make sense of all the emotions that she was feeling all at once.
29:16
SPEAKER_00: The Jesus she gave her love and devotion and attention to did not show up when she needed him.
29:25
SPEAKER_00: And as a result, her brother died.
29:30
SPEAKER_00: But then that same Jesus asked for her, sought her out, wanted to speak with her.
29:42
SPEAKER_00: In verse 29, it says, As soon as Mary heard Jesus was asking for her, she quickly went to meet him.
29:52
SPEAKER_00: Verse 232.
29:54
SPEAKER_00: 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.
30:09
SPEAKER_00: Mary also had faith, but it didn't discount the grief and the disappointment she was feeling.
30:19
SPEAKER_00: Verse 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.
30:33
SPEAKER_00: Upon seeing the grief on the faces of Mary and all the people that came with her, Jesus was moved and troubled.
30:42
SPEAKER_00: He asked where they laid Lazarus and then Jesus wept.
30:50
SPEAKER_00: Verse 35.
30:55
SPEAKER_00: He cried.
30:57
SPEAKER_00: Fourth point.
30:59
SPEAKER_00: Jesus meets us where we are.
31:04
SPEAKER_00: Did you guys notice how differently Jesus interacted with the sisters?
31:09
SPEAKER_00: Martha, she needed truth.
31:12
SPEAKER_00: Mary needed tears.
31:15
SPEAKER_00: Jesus didn't love one more than the other.
31:18
SPEAKER_00: He met each of them exactly where they were.
31:22
SPEAKER_00: He doesn't do one type at all.
31:25
SPEAKER_00: It's a very personable approach.
31:27
SPEAKER_00: The same way that he talks to me is different than how it talks to Jane, it's different than how it talks to Ashley, and so on and so forth.
31:35
SPEAKER_00: The word weeping that was used in verse 33 for Mary describes a loud wailing.
31:42
SPEAKER_00: She was like going crazy because she was in grieving.
31:47
SPEAKER_00: In contrast, the word wept to describe Jesus' expression of grief in verse 35 indicates a quiet weeping.
31:59
SPEAKER_00: Tears were probably just like coming down his eyes.
32:03
SPEAKER_00: Probably wasn't saying much.
32:05
SPEAKER_00: I feel like the the the you know the pain is real wins, you're not even making a sound.
32:11
SPEAKER_00: That's when he really hit he really hits.
32:15
SPEAKER_00: He wasn't allowed on the creek like other people.
32:18
SPEAKER_00: Mind you, in that time they used to hire mourners too.
32:21
SPEAKER_00: So those mourners, they bro, they will be paid to go crazy.
32:24
SPEAKER_00: Like everybody in the town must know that you're going through grief right now because somebody that you love died.
32:30
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus, he was quiet on the creek.
32:33
SPEAKER_00: He was very demure.
32:38
SPEAKER_00: He was greatly moved by the grief, but he was not out of control.
32:46
SPEAKER_00: He knew the amazing miracle he was about to perform.
32:49
SPEAKER_00: He knew he was gonna meet Lazarus in a couple moments, but he still took the time to grieve the friend he lost.
32:58
SPEAKER_00: He still took the time to grieve alongside Mary.
33:02
SPEAKER_00: He still took the time to, I don't know if he sat next to her or something, but he still took the time to be with her as she was grieving.
33:10
SPEAKER_00: I don't see Buddha doing that.
33:13
SPEAKER_00: I don't see the universe doing that for you.
33:17
SPEAKER_00: As amazing as they are, are they in your room when you're crying out of despair, or are they in the bathroom with you when you're like under the shower and just like crying, letting the water like just like pour over you?
33:29
SPEAKER_00: Are they there with you?
33:30
SPEAKER_00: I don't think so.
33:32
SPEAKER_00: But Jesus, as high and mighty as he is, he is the resurrection and the life.
33:37
SPEAKER_00: Everything that we see is in his hands, but he went to her and he cried with her.
33:49
SPEAKER_00: Thank you.
33:53
SPEAKER_00: Jesus mourns with those who mourn.
33:58
SPEAKER_00: Jesus saw their tears.
34:00
SPEAKER_00: He was touched by their tears, he remembered their tears, and God would soon dry their tears.
34:11
SPEAKER_00: That is the same for you.
34:13
SPEAKER_00: I don't know what's happening, but know that every tear that has fallen counts.
34:21
SPEAKER_00: It's not forgotten.
34:23
SPEAKER_00: And he will dry your tears.
34:25
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully on this side of heaven, but definitely on the other side of heaven.
34:34
SPEAKER_00: Jesus was also troubled.
34:36
SPEAKER_00: Mind you, I feel like our Bible doesn't necessarily convey the troubling that Jesus was going through.
34:42
SPEAKER_00: If you look at the Greek and all the things, you know, Wesley is like, he's a fiend for that.
34:46
SPEAKER_00: I don't really care.
34:47
SPEAKER_00: But what you need to understand is the word trouble that they used was essentially my guy was angry.
34:54
SPEAKER_00: He was furious at the destruction and the pain that he saw Mary and the others experience.
35:01
SPEAKER_00: He was mad.
35:04
SPEAKER_00: He was mad that death would take so much from people.
35:08
SPEAKER_00: But then he said, Not for long.
35:13
SPEAKER_00: He was biding his time.
35:15
SPEAKER_00: In my end, at this point of the message, I'm like thinking, Jesus is like, watch me.
35:20
SPEAKER_00: I'm about to do something.
35:23
SPEAKER_00: Moving on, Jesus arrives at the tomb and makes the unusual request to take away the stone.
35:34
SPEAKER_00: Now everybody's confused.
35:35
SPEAKER_00: It's like, sir, the guy is dead, and it stinks very much so.
35:42
SPEAKER_00: So why are you trying to like no sane person would willingly want to open the thing and let all the orders just like propagate in the air?
35:52
SPEAKER_00: It's like, brother, what are we doing?
35:54
SPEAKER_00: And then he tells Martha, did I not tell you to believe so that you will see the glory of God?
36:03
SPEAKER_00: In my head, I can imagine like that, shut her up quick.
36:07
SPEAKER_00: Sorry, God, my bad.
36:10
SPEAKER_00: Do your thing.
36:11
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry.
36:12
SPEAKER_00: People roll away the stone for him.
36:15
SPEAKER_00: So after a simple and public prayer of thanksgiving to God, the Father, for the sake of the people that were witnessing, Jesus called in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out.
36:34
SPEAKER_00: And he did, covered in grave clothes.
36:38
SPEAKER_00: I'm visualizing mommy meets the walking dead in this scene, but then he looks normal, just wrapped up in mummy clothes, I guess.
36:48
SPEAKER_00: And just like that, Jesus resuscitated Lazarus from the dead.
36:56
SPEAKER_00: He's so cool.
37:00
SPEAKER_00: Our last point hope is found in Christ, not merely in change of circumstances.
37:12
SPEAKER_00: Yes, Jesus raised Lazarus, yes, he performs miracles, yes, he heals, yes, he enters prayers, yes, he still does it today.
37:23
SPEAKER_00: But even if his timing looks different than ours, our hope is ultimately rooted in who he is, because he is the resurrection and he is the life.
37:39
SPEAKER_00: As a result of this miracle, many more people came to believe in Jesus, many more people were following him wherever he was going.
37:46
SPEAKER_00: But then some interesting people decided to go snitch to the religious leaders and be like, yo, you guys have to watch out for this Jesus dude because he's becoming very famous.
37:57
SPEAKER_00: And then the religious leaders were like, uh oh, we might have to be doing something about this.
38:04
SPEAKER_00: And then that's how they started plotting to want to kill Jesus.
38:10
SPEAKER_00: And they even sent the word out that, oh, if anybody knows where Jesus is, report it back to us so that we can arrest him.
38:22
SPEAKER_00: From that point on, Jesus was kind of like laying low until he knew his time was coming, but that's a different story.
38:30
SPEAKER_00: What can we take away from this chapter today?
38:37
SPEAKER_00: Is not denial.
38:41
SPEAKER_00: Faith and disappointment can coexist.
38:46
SPEAKER_00: Faith and fill in the blank can coexist.
38:52
SPEAKER_00: Show up honestly before God.
38:54
SPEAKER_00: Take everything that you're feeling and just put it at his feet.
38:58
SPEAKER_00: He can handle it.
39:00
SPEAKER_00: Bro, even if you're mad and you're saying all kinds of words, he can take it.
39:06
SPEAKER_00: Don't do life alone.
39:11
SPEAKER_00: Jesus meets us where we're at.
39:17
SPEAKER_00: God's version of resurrection is greater than ours.
39:25
SPEAKER_00: Jesus is our ultimate hope.
39:32
SPEAKER_00: In full transparency, I wish I could come like stand here and tell you that I'm Martha.
39:38
SPEAKER_00: Logical, rooted in the word, all the things, but because of the past three weeks as a family, I'm very much like Mary.
39:49
SPEAKER_00: I know who Jesus is, but then am I standing ten toes down on that?
39:57
SPEAKER_00: Not quite.
40:30
SPEAKER_00: There's nothing I can do.
40:33
SPEAKER_00: Like trying to keep it together, making sure I don't cry in front of, like, yes, like I will go into the shower and then just let the water pour.
40:42
SPEAKER_00: As dramatic as that sounds, but that was the only way for me to try to like compose myself.
40:51
SPEAKER_00: I'm just like, bro, do you not care?
40:53
SPEAKER_00: Do you not see how I feel?
40:55
SPEAKER_00: Are you not gonna do something about this?
40:58
SPEAKER_00: Because ultimately it's like I know he's the only one that can do anything about it.
41:02
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, bro, can you now, yesterday, the day before, maybe even before I was born?
41:08
SPEAKER_00: Like, please, please.
41:12
SPEAKER_00: But then I have to hang on to the truth that his delay is not denial.
41:20
SPEAKER_00: I have to hang on to the truth that his delay doesn't mean that he doesn't love me.
41:28
SPEAKER_00: I have to del I have to trust that he is there with me through everything, that he's not absent, that he doesn't care, that he's not there.
41:38
SPEAKER_00: He's like, oh bro, I'm I'm just having some tea right now, do your thing.
41:42
SPEAKER_00: I have to believe that he's not doing that.
41:45
SPEAKER_00: I have to believe that even when he feels like nothing is happening, everything is happening, I just don't see it.
41:53
SPEAKER_00: And I have to pray to hopefully see it.
41:57
SPEAKER_00: Then it's hard because mind you, we were preparing for the retreat last week for Sassam, Summer School of Ministry, and the theme was joy, and I was just like I'm like, okay, fine.
42:11
SPEAKER_00: But then Wesley he sends us a text, he's like, Okay, I have prayed, and the Lord put these verses on my heart for you guys, especially.
42:19
SPEAKER_00: And I was just like, Me too.
42:22
SPEAKER_00: I'm like, Lord, is this a joke?
42:24
SPEAKER_00: Like, what joy?
42:25
SPEAKER_00: You want me to talk about joy?
42:27
SPEAKER_00: Where is the joy?
42:28
SPEAKER_00: I don't see the joy, I can't even grasp it, I can't touch it.
42:32
SPEAKER_00: Like, what do you mean you want me to talk about joy?
42:38
SPEAKER_00: But I think as I was preparing for that diva, it wasn't necessary for them, for the people that was that heard it, but I think it was for me.
42:48
SPEAKER_00: The main point is I had to fight to keep that joy, I had to fight to hang on to it at all costs.
42:58
SPEAKER_00: Because that's the only way that I have hope.
43:04
SPEAKER_00: Trials and tribulations and hard seasons do not mean that he doesn't love you.
43:14
SPEAKER_00: They are to bring glory to his name.
43:21
SPEAKER_00: Hang on to that.
43:24
SPEAKER_00: Even though the situation is dragging and it very much feels like you're you're you're dragging yourself every single day.
43:31
SPEAKER_00: It's hard to wake up in the morning, you're like, when is this gonna stop?
43:36
SPEAKER_00: Hang on to the fact that it's only temporary, whatever temporary means, honestly.
43:42
SPEAKER_00: I wish it was just a couple of hours, maybe minutes, a day or two.
43:47
SPEAKER_00: But honestly, in his sense of time, temporary is I don't know.
43:53
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes it doesn't really make sense to me, but you just have to take it.
43:59
SPEAKER_00: But just know that it is temporary because he has overcome death.
44:03
SPEAKER_00: So even if whatever you're praying for, whatever you're asking for, whoever you're praying for, and other things like even if it doesn't happen now or tomorrow or 10 years from now, hopefully it happens on this side of heaven and we're able to see it.
44:20
SPEAKER_00: But even if it doesn't, it'll happen on the other side of heaven because he keeps his word, it's just the timing that we're trying to understand, and we're probably never gonna understand, but he has overcome death so that we too can overcome, and the internal life that he promises after death is beautiful and different, it's not the world as we see it, it's something that we've never we can't even imagine, and it will be without all the aches and pains and shenanigans and that we see in this world.
45:06
SPEAKER_00: So hang on to the fact that you have a relationship with Jesus because that is what you need.
45:14
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it is all the resurrection that we need.
45:27
SPEAKER_00: More than we can ever ask or imagine.
45:30
SPEAKER_00: Hopefully, we get to see those things here on earth while we're still here.
45:35
SPEAKER_00: When even if we don't, we'll see it on the other side, because the other side is promised.