Jesus Christ In The Writings Of John
JESUS THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE
Lesson Text:
John 11:17-44 (KJV) [also read 11:1-16]
Subject:
Jesus the Resurrection and the Life
Lesson Aim:
To show the love and power of Jesus Christ, realizing that this life is only the portal to our eternal life in Him.
Golden Text:
“Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection and the life.” (John 11:25)
Lesson Plan:
1. INTRODUCTION
2. “LAZARUS IS DEAD” (VS. 1-16)
3. “I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE” (VS. 17-27)
4. “JESUS WEPT” (VS. 28-37)
5. “LAZARUS, COME FORTH” (VS. 38-44)
6. CONCLUSION
Setting of the Lesson:
Time: January to February, A.D. 30, about two or three months before Christ’s own resurrection.
Place: Jesus was in Perea at Bethany (or Bethabara), beyond Jordan where John had baptized Him (compare John 10:40 with 1:28), when He received the message that Lazarus was sick at his home in Bethany, on the Mount of Olives, near Jerusalem.
Jesus: Thirty-three years old, having completed more than three full years of His ministry.
Place in the Life of Christ: In His Perean Ministry. Jesus had left Galilee. He now enters upon His last mission to the Jews in the closing months of His ministry.
Intervening History:
After the parable of the Good Shepherd at the Feast of Tabernacles in October, Jesus returned to Galilee. His stay there, however, was brief. Then making His final departure from Galilee (Luke 9:51), He sent forth the seventy into Samaria, where He soon
followed, journeying eastward, till He reached the Jordan. Crossing the river He turned to the south, and slowly moving toward Jerusalem, teaching and preaching as He went, He reached the city about the time of the Feast of Dedication, December, A.D. 29 (John 10:22). At this feast He spoke the words which in John follow our last lesson (10:22-39).
Then He retired to Bethabara (Bethany) in Perea, beyond Jordan, where we find Him at the beginning of this lesson (10:40). The large section of the Gospel, according to Luke included in chapters 9:51 to 17:10, together with John 10:22-42, contain the only record we have of these three busy months in the life of Jesus.
Research and Discussion:
The connecting history.
The Bethany family. Its contrasts.
Why Jesus delayed going there.
Why God permits sorrow and death.
The character of Thomas.
“Jesus wept,” Jesus “troubled.”
The cave and the stone.
How Jesus Christ is the Resurrection and the Life.
Proofs of our immortality.
The effect of this miracle on Jesus.
Inductive Study of the Lesson:
a. Other Instances of Raising the Dead: Jairus’ daughter (Matt. 9; Mark 5:35-42); the son of the widow of Nain (Luke 7:11-15); Lazarus of Bethany (John 11); Dorcas (Acts 9:36-41); and Jesus after His crucifixion (John 20).
b. Consider and study these. Regarding the ones mentioned in the Gospels: note the increasing difficulty of the work, the increasing importance of each one to the mission of Jesus as the Savior, and the progressive light thrown on immortal life.
c. Read the whole chapter, till you know the story clearly and can tell it your own words; its scenes visible in your mind’s eye as if you had actually seen them.
d. Next select, consider and study words and phrases having deeper meanings than appearing on the surface, such as “Therefore,” connecting vs. 5 and 6, “walk in the day,” Lazarus “sleepeth,” Thomas “called Didymus,” Jesus “wept,” and “groaned,” and “troubled Himself.”
e. Then note phrases and verses bearing upon the work and mission of Christ, and which are most helpful to our daily living.
f. Consider and study Jesus as the Resurrection and Life. Sum up the teachings of the following passages, and any others you can find: Personal (John 11:5: 21-29; 6:39, 44; 14:19; Rom. 8:10, 11; 1 Cor. 15; 6:14; 2 Cor. 4:14; 5:1-5; 1 Thess. 4:14-17; Phil. 3:21; 2 Tim. 1:10); Moral (Rom. 6:4-11, 13; 2 Cor. 4:10, 11; Col. 2:12; 1 Pet. 3:18-21; 2 Tim. 2:11, 12).
g. Light from other Scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15 gives a full discussion of the resurrection life.
h. Parable of redemption: Mankind – naturally dead in trespasses and sins; We cannot by our own power raise ourselves to life; Our only hope is in Jesus Who is the Life; We should go to Jesus in behalf of those we love.
Sometimes Jesus delays His answers to our prayers regarding the conversion of loved ones and friends, but always for some wise reason, and usually to grant us better
blessings in a better way.
But Jesus always comes to them in answer to our prayers.
Jesus weeps over those who are dead in sin.
Jesus sympathizes with us.
But we need more than sympathy; we need help, so Jesus gives us life.
Jesus calls, Come forth, but there is something for us to do – obey and come.
When we come into the new life, we are often bound with the grave-clothes of former habits, prejudice and ignorance of spiritual truths.
One of our duties is to “loose them and let them go.”
1. INTRODUCTION
The family that Jesus loved
At Bethany on the Mount of Olives, about two miles southeast of Jerusalem, lived a family of three – a brother and two sisters – with whom Jesus made His home when in that region. The family may have been prosperous because: of owning their home; of the high cost of the ointment Mary used on Jesus; of the number of Jews who came to
console the sisters on the death of their brother. Martha was apparently at the head of the household. She was an active, energetic woman, while Mary was more reflective and affectionate.1
As Jesus loved John most among the disciples, so this family was closest to His heart of all the families on earth. On this subject, Sadler points out that “this is one of the places which tell us how truly Jesus is our brother. The boundless love which dwells in the
Infinite God does not overwhelm or supersede the distinguishing affection of the human friend.”
Jesus in the home
There are many whose presence in our homes would be a perpetual benediction and inspiration; but none as much as Jesus, with His teaching, example, sympathy, love and counsel. We can have Jesus in our hearts and homes, if we:
Invite and welcome Him,
Put away all that is distasteful and opposed to Him,
Cherish all that He loves,
Listen to His Words,
Obey Him,
Love Him with all our hearts.
What a change His presence would make in our families.
Sickness in the Family
Lazarus, the brother, was dangerously sick while Jesus was at Bethabra, beyond Jordan 28 or 30 miles away.
Sending for Jesus
The first thought of the sisters, when all common means failed, was to send a message to Jesus that His friend was sick. No request was made. The message was itself a prayer. When we or our loved ones are sick, we should go to Jesus with our trouble; not to the neglect of available means, because whatever helps and cures is the gift of God’s love, but for His guidance, help and blessing.
Lessons about sickness:
a. All of us, rich and poor, are liable to sickness. Even the great Caesar had epileptic fits, and was stricken with a fever in Spain.
b. There are often reasons for allowing sickness, which to God’s mind are clear and wise, but a mystery to us. Christ says to us as He did to Peter, “What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.”
c. Sickness, especially in its convalescence, leads us to see this world, the spiritual world, and eternal things in a new and truer light, compelling us to rest and meditation. Many, like Jacob, from a pillow of stones in the night of sorrow, have seen visions of heaven and their Father, receiving the messages God’s angels have brought.
d. Sickness often prepares us to sympathize with others and help them. e. God’s glory in His goodness and love is manifested in His healing and helping us.
The Death and burial of Lazarus
Lazarus died soon after the messenger left, and as usual, was buried the same day. The sister’s hope was gone. Friends came to the house, condoling them in the affliction. Yet Jesus delayed two days before He set out to aid and comfort His friends – a delay full of
mystery, and yet for the glory of God and the blessing of those afflicted.
The mysterious delay:
a. Abbott points out that “this delay was necessary to complete the work in which Jesus was engaged, and from which He would not suffer Himself to be drawn away even by considerations of personal sympathy.” b. “He had taught at the first miracle (John 2:4) that the hours of His work were marked out by signs that He alone could read, but that every hour had its work, and every work its hour.” (Ellicott)
c. Abbott again points out that “this delay was necessary to the consummation of the miracle of the resurrection of Lazarus in such form as to forever prohibit the impression that death had not really taken place.”
d. The delay also developed and increased the faith and love of the Bethany family and the Lord’s disciples, giving them a vision of the future life and their Savior’s power, seen only from the mountain-top of sorrow.
e. Jesus Himself was soon to lie three days in the grave; if, therefore, He was able to raise up Lazarus after four days’ burial, they would have stronger faith in the resurrection of Jesus from His three days’ burial.
The Christian’s death – a sleep
Jesus taught His disciples a lesson about death, by comparing it to sleep. Because:
In both, the person is unconscious of the worldly activities around him. The soul continues to live, while the body is unconscious.
There is to be an awakening to new and fresh life. The very expression implies immortality.
Additional Introductory Considerations
I. Jesus teaching the doctrine of the resurrection (vs. 20-27).
Martha, learning that Jesus has come near the village, goes out to meet Him, expressing her disappointment that He had not come sooner. Then Jesus instructs her regarding the resurrection, and His power to raise the dead.
Note the facts:
There is a resurrection;
it is by the power of Jesus;
it is for those who believe;
new life, eternal life, implanted in the soul, is the condition;
Jesus always has this power.
Illustration of the change in the resurrection
A planted seed does not come up a seed, but a flower. Can we not likewise consider the future of our present body in light of what the flower is to the seed? In other words, as the flower is more beautiful than the seed that produced it; as it lives in an atmosphere of light, air and beauty, instead of underground darkness; as it has new powers, new fragrances, new privileges, beyond the imagination of one who has seen only the seed, so will be our new spiritual body, compared with this one.
Illustration of the fact that we are still the same though changed
Each flower – each plant – is the natural outgrowth of its particular seed. Each seed produces its own plant, and no other. We recognize an oak tree the moment we see the acorn. We see the flower in its seed, the seed in its flower. Likewise in heaven we shall be changed, but still the same person. In heaven we wish to see our own friends, those we love who have died. They may be as much changed as the loveliest flower is changed from its seed, as the mighty oak from the acorn. That which makes us ourselves, our innermost nature, will not be changed. In other words, we are not changed into someone
else, i.e., another person.
Compare this blessed assurance of immortality – the triumphs of Christians looking through the veil at death’s door – with the unbeliever’s hopeless look into the darkness of death and the grave, seeing nothing beyond.
II. Jesus at the grave (vs. 28-38)
Consider the tombs and manner of burial.
Note v. 28, applying the words “The Master has come and calleth for thee.”
Note v. 35, “Jesus wept,” and what it means.
III. Jesus gives a proof of His power to raise the dead (vs. 39-44)
Note that even Jesus must pray; He is ever in communion with the Father.
Illustration
An unbeliever once said, “When I was a boy, my mother taught me to say, ‘Our Father, who art in heaven; but, so far as I know, He has never left there.” This was just the contrary to Jesus, and should be to us.
Note that such mighty deeds as this were not without great cost to Jesus, Who bore our infirmities. All earnest doing of good has its cost.
IV. A parable of redemption
Apply the raising of Lazarus as an illustration of the raising of men from the death of sin to eternal life.
Introductory Conclusion
Like other sayings of Jesus, this one – that He is the resurrection and the life – is like a well-cut precious stone, its rays ever darting on many sides.
(a) The raising of Lazarus proved that the soul has an existence independent of the body, and that death does not end all life. Lazarus could not have been brought back to life had his soul gone out like an extinguished flame.
Illustration
Plato and the Greek philosophers debated over the famous question whether the relation of the soul to the body is that of “harmony to a harp,” the music ceases forever when the harp is broken, or of a “rower of a boat,” the rower surviving though the boat be destroyed. They decided in favor of the latter. The soul is not the product of the body, as harmony is of the harp, nor does it cease, as music, when the harp is destroyed, or as the flame when the candle is burned out. But the soul has an independent existence, as the rower’s existence is independent of the boat, and controls the body as the rower controls the boat.
Illustration
The fact of the separate existence of the soul from the body may also be illustrated by a watch, whose works are separate from the case and even with removed will keep going.
(b) This reinforces our assurance of immortality beyond the grave, which not only the teachings of Jesus, but the fact of His resurrection, give to us. Heaven and life forever are
facts. Thus comes the victory over the “Valley of the Shadow of Death,” the “Dark River,” and the “King of Terrors.” In the beginning God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light, light out of darkness, order out of chaos. In the Gospel Jesus said, “Let
there be life,” “Lazarus, come forth,” and there was life from the cave of death.
Illustration
“The submerged bud of the water-lilly struggling upward from the ooze, and groping dimly through the grosser element, is a prophecy of the light and air in which it is to open and flower.” (Trowbridge)
(c) The outlook into eternity, the hope of immortal life broadens the vision and enlarges the soul. No person can be narrow who lives in the present reality of two worlds, where every thought and act has a meaning beyond the grave.
(d) We find in this great comfort in the loss of loved ones. Mrs. Browning wrote, “Say not Good Night, but in some brighter clime Bid me Good Morning.”
(e) Jesus is the moral resurrection from the death of worldliness and sin to spiritual life. A good motto to live by: “Disce ut semper victurus, vive ut cras moriturus – learn as if you were to live forever, live as if you were to die tomorrow.”
(f) Only those who have eternal life while living here on earth can be sure of eternal life hereafter.
Through Lazarus’ glasses
Robert Browning, in his poem, An Epistle, supposed to have been written by an Arab physician who was visiting Palestine while Lazarus was still alive, described the way Lazarus looked at life after returning from his four days’ dwelling in heaven. Earthly cares and hopes were small and dim in that light. “How many cares and worries would disappear if viewed through Lazarus’ glasses.” “On the other hand, through these same wonderful glasses, how important and weighty is any seemingly slight occurrence if it plants the seed of vice or virtue in any human heart.” “We ought to test each event of life
through these glasses.” “Does it affect merely my material circumstances, or has it an influence on my character, my spiritual self, or on my friend’s character, my friend’s soul?”
SCRIPTURE READING (BEGINNING VERSES): JOHN 11:1-16
2. “LAZARUS IS DEAD”
This has been called “that most Divine chapter.” “Alike in its intrinsic importance, and in the effect it produced on the policy of the Sanhedrin, the raising of Lazarus may be regarded as the culmination of the Savior’s ministry” (MacArthur Study Bible). John
alone records it, probably because it happened in Judea, outside the other resurrection miracles which John omitted. Further, it may have been dangerous to relate the story during the lifetime of Lazarus, perhaps involving him in persecution. But when John wrote, Lazarus and his sisters were probably dead. Thus John alone names Peter as the
disciple who cut off the ear of the high priest’s servant.
A strange delay
Christ and His disciples were in Peraea, on the east of the Jordan, having been driven there by the hostility of the Jews, who were on the point of stoning Jesus because He claimed to be the Son of God (John 10:31). Mary and Martha sent word to Him, doubtless by the fastest runner they could find, telling Jesus, “Him whom Thou lovest is
sick.” Hearing this, Jesus remained in Peraea two days. He may have had special work to complete there, but the account shows that He purposely delayed in order that the event might give an opportunity for the manifestation of His wonder-working power. The
sickness and death of Lazarus was part of the material Christ used in building up His kingdom.
Lessons from the sickness of Lazarus:
a. Blessed is that home where Jesus loves the members of the family, and they love Him.
b. The true home is one where Jesus is one of the family, and where He loves to abide.
c. We may make our home His home, too, by: casting out every word and thought that would be unpleasant to Him; cultivating those qualities and actions which are congenial to Him, so that He will feel at home; loving Him; by inviting Him to come.
d. v. 2: One deed of self-sacrifice exalts the character forever.
e. Sickness and sorrow come to every household.
f. When they do come, go to Jesus for help, while using every means of health.
g. v. 4: If we trust Him, Jesus can and will make all suffering and trouble work out to our highest good, and God will be glorified in the loving kindness and tender mercies He shows us through our suffering and trouble.
h. v. 6: The mysterious delays of God are simply a part of His plan to bring higher good, and this will be especially manifested (v. 15) in larger faith, clearer views of God, in a better preparation for the work before us.
i. vs. 9, 10: There is a time to work, fulfilling our duties. While God continues to make the day shine, nothing can prevent our accomplishing His purpose.
j. We can do our work only in the shinning of God’s presence, spirit and help.
k. We should use all diligence because the night cometh, when no man can work.
l. The death of the Christian is like sleep. We shall see one another again in the morning.
m. v. 16: We should follow Jesus wherever He leads, through it be to die with Him.
Further lessons from sickness and death in the family:
a. God the reasons for allowing sickness, and they are clear and wise to Him, though a mystery to us. So, Jesus says to us what He said to Peter, “What I do thou knowest not now, but thou shalt know hereafter.”
b. Sickness, especially in convalescence, leads us to see this world, the spiritual world, and eternal things in a new and truer light, compelling us to rest and meditate. From a pillow of stones, in the night of sorrow many, like Jacob, have seen visions of heaven and
their Father, receiving messages from God’s angels.
c. Sickness often fits us to be sympathetic with others, better able to help them.
d. God’s glory in His goodness and love is manifested in His healing and helping us.
Illustration
Longfellow, in his “Hyperion,” compares the setting of a great hope to the setting of the sun. Though the darkness deepens, yet in time the stars of heaven shine out one by one.
Illustration
Christ did not come to the help of the disciples, storm-tossed on the Sea of Galilee, till the fourth watch of the night, when they were nearly worn out with rowing; and even then “He would have passed by them.”
Christ does not shield His followers form sickness, sorrow and death.
Death, a sleep
Christ’s delay was in the face of His supernatural knowledge that Lazarus’s sickness had been fatal. He said plainly, “Lazarus is dead;” but He was evidently unwilling to call death anything but sleep. To the Lord of life death was and is only a slumber from which He can arouse us. Before Christ many Hebrew, Greek, and Roman thinkers had called death a sleep. Our word “cemetery,” is from a Greek word meaning sleeping-place. “But at this time death among non Jews was generally conceived of as a sleep from which there was no awakening” (MacArthur Study Bible). Christ’s resurrection miracles and His own resurrection proved the glorious reality of immortality.
A hazardous journey
No wonder the disciples were amazed when Jesus declared His intention to return to the place of stoning. Likewise Paul, driven from Antioch and Iconium and stoned at Lystra, returned within a few weeks to the same cities. Sanders points out that “they think of the danger to Him, and are not without thought of the danger to themselves (v. 16).” In
answer our Lord repeats a thought we considered in our lesson titled, “Jesus the Light of the World.” His work was laid out for Him by His Father, and while He walked along that appointed way it was plain daylight, wherever the path of duty might lead. But if He should turn from that path by seeking His own safety, He would at once plunge into the darkness of night. Then Thomas spoke up. We might have expected Peter to express a courageous willingness to follow His Master, but perhaps Peter was not there, because the miracle is not mentioned in Mark or Peter’s account of the Gospel. At any rate Thomas was equal to the occasion. Though characteristically foreboding, he showed the
heroic stuff that was in him.
Illustration
Christ was the meekest of men, and also the bravest. Likewise the strongest and bravest of beasts of prey, the lion, is also the most patient and merciful. He knows his own strength and courage, and therefore does not need to show it off. The Bible calls Christ
the Lion of Judah; but it also calls our Savior the Lamb, dumb before the shearers.
SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 11:17-27
3. “I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE”
11:17 ... “When Jesus came [a journey of about twenty-five miles], He found that he had lain in the grave four days already.” “According to Jewish custom burial took place on the day of death, so that, allowing somewhat more than one day for the journey from Peraea, it seems probable that Lazarus died about the time the messenger reached
Jesus” (Expositor’s Greek Testament). The burial of Lazarus had, according to Jewish custom, no doubt taken place on the same day on which he died (Acts 5:6, 10).
The burial of Lazarus
“Lazarus was, as became his station, not laid in a cemetery, but in his own private tomb in a cave – probably in a garden, the favorite place of interment. Not only the rich, but even those moderately well-to-do, had tombs of their own, which probably were acquired
and prepared long before they were needed, and treated and inherited as private and personal property. The tombs were either rock-hewn, or natural caves, or else large-walled vaults with niches along the sides. In such caves, or rock-hewn tombs, the bodies were laid, having been anointed with many spices, with myrtle, aloes, and, at a later
period, also with hyssop, rose-oil, and rose-water.” (Edersheim)
11:19 ... “To comfort [R.V., “console”] them concerning their brother.” “Deep mourning usually lasted seven days, during which visits of condolence were received (Gen. 37:35; 1 Sam. 31:13; 2 Sam. 12:17; Job 2:13)” [MacArthur Study Bible].
“Feastings and wailings are the prominent characteristics of the funeral week . . . The tears of friends in a time of sorrow are peculiarly prized in the East; and they are sometimes caught as they fall, and preserved in little bottles of flasks. These tear-drops
are unearthed from ancient tombs in Egypt and Syria.” (Trumbull)2
11:20 ... “Then Martha [as the elder sister and mistress of the house] … went and met Him,” no doubt overpowered with grief. “After the body is carried out of the house all chairs and couches are reversed, and the mourners sit on the ground or on low stools.” (Edersheim)
At first Jesus did not come to the house, but some way let the family know that He was near the village. The reason was the presence of the Jews in the house (v. 19). Why? Because they would surely make it difficult for Him to say what He desired to share with the afflicted sisters; some might report His arrival to the Pharisees, thus interfering with His plans; and because, as Abbott points out, “the conventional mourning customs of oriental society were exceedingly distasteful to Him.”
“11:20 ... “But Mary sat still in the house.” Note the remarkable coincidence between this narrative and Luke 10:38, 39, regarding the two sisters. Even in the midst of her sorrow and occupied with attention to family concerns, Martha sees the messenger who announces the approach of Jesus. She goes forth to meet Jesus, outside the village (v. 30). “Absorbed in her grief, Mary hears nothing of the message: it is not until Martha returns to her that she learns that Jesus is near.” (Schaff)
11:21 ... “Then said Martha unto Jesus,” [No doubt sadly and not reproachingly] Lord if Thou hadst been her, my brother had not died.” Mary (v. 32) says the same thing later, showing that the two sisters had no doubt often said this to one another. “They should have said, ‘Lord, in these very chastenings of friendly love Thou hast been here – not to save me from sufferings, but to save me spiritually through and by them.” (Farrar)
Cook points out that “the words are a simple expression of faith and love, without complaint.” But they are also an expression of deep regret because of His necessary absence. She felt sure that Jesus would come as soon as He could, and that He who had healed so many strangers would not do less for His dearly beloved friends. Yet she could not hide her sorrow that He was unable to be present to help. Her language expresses the very essence of soul-torture at such a time. Sometimes we are slow to believe that our sorrow is “for the glory of God that the Son of God may be glorified thereby. “Even
though we believe we did the best we knew to do at the time, still it’s true that our afflictions often echo Martha’s “if,” and we find ourselves saying if we had not done this, or that; if it had not been for our blunder, or that of a friend or physician, our beloved would not have died. “Chance is the God of atheism, a comfortless God in the time of our trouble.” (Abbott)
“It is the bitterest drop in their whole cup of anguish that all this might have been otherwise.” (Trench)
11:22 ... “Even now … God will give it Thee.” Martha must have known that Jesus had raised the dead, even if such a miracle had not been performed in Judea; and even if she had not known, she had full confidence in His power with God.
“The words express a half-formed hope, which she dare not utter, perhaps dare not even think, that her brother may be restored to life again. Word had come to them from Jesus, telling that this sickness should not issue in death, but that it should further God’s glory
and glorify the Son. And now He is Himself present. His words cannot fail, and He Himself cannot be there without a purpose. She dare not say more; but she rests in this, that whatsoever He asks, God will give.” (Ellicott)
11:23 ... “Thy brother shall rise again.” These words might mean that her brother would be brought back to life again now, or they might be spoken for the purpose of giving her comfort in the assurance of immortal life through the resurrection – that she would meet her brother again. Jesus no doubt spoke this way to lead her to a higher faith.
11:24 ... “I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Martha had a theoretical belief in the resurrection, but not a practical one.
“There is ample evidence that the Pharisees believed in a future life and in a resurrection of the just” (Hovey). It is also possible that she may have learned more about it from Jesus Himself, in connection with his bringing the dead to life. But this hope was far off,
bringing little comfort to her suffering soul. Her heart was filled with want, need and love for her brother.
Abbott points out that “this statement of Martha’s faith is based on the belief of orthodox Jews, that all the dead have departed to Hades or the under-world, where they dwell in a shadowy prison-house – righteous in paradise, wicked in hell – awaiting the Messiah’s coming, calling all the righteous from the under-world, while the wicked shall be thrust back again. Martha believed that her brother had gone to this abode of the dead, awaiting a day of judgment and resurrection. However, she found little consolation in this faith. A beloved brother was no more – now dwelling among the dead. In her heart, the vague hope of a far-distant revival did not comfort her. It is in contrast to, and in correction of, this creed, that Christ utters the declaration of vs. 25, 26.”
The vague thought embodied in Martha’s words can hardly be understood by us today. Why? Because in us these words awaken memories of a resurrection in the past – our Lord, Jesus Christ. And that resurrection brings to us true knowledge of our resurrection at the last day. This moment of Martha’s greatest need Jesus chooses for the greatest revelation of Himself. “When all else has failed, He will comfort.” (Schaff)
Illustration
“A gentleman stepping into a poor woman’s house saw framed and glazed upon the wall a French note for a thousand francs. He said to the old folks, ‘How came you by this?’ They informed him that a poor French soldier had been taken in by them and nursed until he died, and he had given them that little picture when he was dying as a memorial of
him. They thought it such a pretty souvenir that they had it framed. They were greatly surprised when told that it was worth a little fortune. Do you not have certain words of Jesus Christ framed and glazed in your heart, yet never turning them into actual blessing?
If so then you have done as Martha did when she took the words, ‘Thy brother shall rise again,’ and put around them this handsome frame, ‘in the resurrection at the last day.’”(Spurgeon)
Then came Christ’s wonderful declaration – great words that have thrilled mourners for over two thousand years.
11:25 ... “I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead [R.V. “though he die”], yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die.” The “intention” of this saying seems to have been for the purpose of awakening faith in Martha that He could raise her brother from the dead. This Jesus
does by announcing Himself (it is the expressed emphatic personal pronoun – “I” and no other) as “the Resurrection” (meaning, that resurrection in the last day shall be only “by My power,” therefore I can raise now as well); more than that, the Life itself; so that “He
that liveth and believeth in Me shall not die forevermore,” i.e., faith in Me is the source of life, both here and hereafter; and those who have it, have Life, so that they shall “never die.”
“I understand these words as an embodiment of Christ’s creed respecting life and immortality. Jesus is the source of the resurrection, and the fountain of life. Whoever, therefore, by faith in Christ, has Christ in him the hope of glory, never knows death; to
him there is no Hades, no dark and dismal abode of the dead, no long and weary waiting for a final great jail delivery – a judgment and acquittal. He passes at once from the lower to the higher state: he has already come to the general assembly and church of the first-
born (Heb. 12:22-24). What we call death summons him simply to depart and be straightway with Christ (Phil. 1:23; Luke 23:43). The eternal life which Christ here and now gives to those who are by faith united to Him (John 5:24) is never suspended. Against the conception, common now as then, of death as a long sleep or a long and dreary waiting for a final resurrection, is Christ’s teaching here that ‘There is no death’; what seems so is transition.” (Abbott)
Ainger stated that “these words changed the whole current of world thought.”
Actually, for the Christian there is no vague, future resurrection; it is as definite and present as Christ. It makes death not just a sleep (v. 11), but Life. Immortality is no longer merely a doctrine – it is a Person; the resurrection is Jesus Christ Himself. “It is as though Jesus said, “In Me death is certain to live, and the living is certain never to die.” (Godet)
All true life is in Christ. In Him everything essential to life is lodged – its origin, maintenance and consummation; all conveyed to the obedient believer in union with Jesus Christ. Death does not affect this life.
“This statement of Christ is the great inheritance of the human family.” (Coffman)
a. Without disparaging Christian doctrine in any sense, we can say that it is faith in a Person, Jesus Christ that makes all the difference.
b. This means Jesus is God in human form. This truth He promptly proved by raising Lazarus. Coffman points out that “Jesus had claimed Godhood as Light of the world, the Good Shepherd, the giver of eternal life, the door of the sheep, as existing before Abraham was born, and in numerous other ways.” Here Jesus appears as Resurrection come in the flesh.
c. This means much more than an assertion of Jesus’ power to raise Lazarus, extending to all dead who ever lived (John 5:24-29). Again, Coffman points out that “the ‘Come forth,’ shortly to be sounded over Lazarus’ grave, is the same cry that shall awaken all the dead on earth.”
d. Herein is the meaning of “shall not see death.” Jesus Christ did not end physical death. He did end its significance, making it a beginning instead of an end. As Hunter said,” The Christian will of course pay the last debt to nature; but, because of that saving link with Christ, the physical death he must one day experience loses all reality.”
“And whosoever liveth,” etc. This truth is presented in two forms: resurrection and life. Some like Lazarus had believed and died; some like Martha live and believe.
Comforts and Blessings from Jesus as the Resurrection and Life:
a. We have assurance of immortal life. Death does not end all. Lazarus could not have been brought back to life if his soul completely gone out like an extinguished flame.
b. Only eternal life begun here gives any hope of eternal life beyond the grave.
c. We will be the same persons there as here, only changed; our bodies renewed, transformed as a seed is transformed into a flower. “I believe that someway and somehow our precious Savior will find a way for us to know our loved ones and friends, and they us, in that better world.” (Harrison)
d. The change will bring new powers, new developments, new sources of life and joy, as much beyond our present life as the life of a flower in the air and sunlight is above the life of the seed in the ground.
e. The resurrection is victory over death’s terrors – the agonies of separation from those we love, the dread of annihilation, of our lives being like the flame of a candle that death blows out, the destruction of our hopes and labors.
f. Jesus is the moral resurrection from the death of worldliness and sin to new spiritual life.
g. Having partaken of this moral resurrection, receiving life from Jesus – living this heavenly life with the same principles and virtues that make heaven – we have the assurance of rising again after natural death, living forever with Jesus in His heavenly home.
h. All these blessings can come only through Jesus Christ; through obedient faith in His name.
11: 27 ... “She saith unto Him, Yea, Lord: I believe that Thou art the Christ.” Martha does not say that she believes Jesus is the Life of death. This thought was no doubt too new and starling, requiring more time to think it out. But she does believe that Jesus is the Messiah, and in that faith she accepts whatever He tells her about Himself and His powers. This is a truly Christian faith.
The weight of her confession is colossal. In the words, “I have believed,” is the meaning that for an extended time she had believed and that she continued to believe in Jesus as a super-natural person. She called Him “Lord” and “Christ” and “Son of God” in a single
breath, adding that she meant the divine Messiah, the holy One foretold from of old as coming into the world from God. What a magnificent confession!
SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 11:28-37
4. “JESUS WEPT”
11:28 ... “When she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly.” She did it secretly because the interview with Jesus would be so much more free and blessed if it could be alone with Him, without unbelieving Jews around. “Lest some of the Jews who were present from Jerusalem might be unfriendly to Jesus and take
occasion to inform the rulers of His presence. The fear was well founded. See v. 46.” (Clark)
11:28 ... “The Master is come, and calleth thee.” Martha, having received comfort and hope, hastens quickly (v. 29) to impart the good news to her sister, who had remained at home unconscious of the arrival of Jesus. Jesus Himself asked her to go, so that He could
go with them to their brother’s grave. Martha carries the message that Jesus has come, and “calleth thee.”
The Master’s Call
He is our rightful Master and Teacher, having the right to call us.
Jesus Christ calls us:
By His noble, loving character;
By His words;
By kind acts toward us;
By His Holy Spirit;
By offering the supplies for all our wants;
By the invitations and exhortations of friends;
By Sundays and religious services;
By His providence;
By afflictions;
By our consciences.
Jesus Christ calls us:
To Himself and God;
To the resurrection of Life;
To higher and better lives;
To the satisfaction of all our needs;
To usefulness, to work for our fellow men;
To heaven, joy, love, every good.
11:31 ... “She goeth unto the grave,” according to the custom of Jewish women.
11:32 ... “Then Mary … fell down His feet.” Not so Martha (v. 21). Meyer noted that “Mary’s feelings were of an intenser and stronger kind, or she was more given to expression. She uttered the same words as Martha had done. They were doubtless an oft-repeated refrain . . . on the subject of their sorrow.” No further conversation with her is
recorded. Either the author would not repeat what had been said before; or Mary’s faith did not need the aids which Martha had received; or the presence of the Jews prevented.
Together they went to the grave, which was a hollow in the side of a rock, with a stone lying against it, serving as a door.
11:33 ... “He groaned in the spirit.” The word translated “groaned,” expresses indignation and displeasure, not sorrow (MacArthur Study Bible). Jesus was deeply agitated in His soul with indignant emotions, probably in view of the power of sin producing disease and death, an example of which was before Him. “He felt all that sin had wrought. He beheld the wages of sin” (Trench). He beheld death in all its fearfulness, as the wages of sin; and all the world’s woes, of which this was only a little sample, rose up before His eyes, along with all the mourners. He may have seen Satan, the great foe of the human race, perhaps combined with the thought that He would Himself soon pay the
penalty of death (Whiteclaw).
“Death itself caused this indignation . . . He saw all the agony of it in millions of instances. There flashed upon His spirit all moral consequences of which death was the ghastly symbol. He knew that within a short time He too, in taking upon Himself the sins
of men, would have taken upon Himself their death; and there was enough to raise in His spirit a Divine indignation, and He groaned and shuddered.” (Reynolds)
11:33 ... “And was troubled.” “‘Troubled Himself,’ the outward expression of the strong inward feeling causing Him to ‘groan in spirit.’ The word means to agitate, disquiet, as waters of the sea. He ‘troubled Himself,’ as a man ‘distressing Himself,’ or ‘troubling Himself,’ or ‘making Himself anxious.’” (Exp. Greek Test.) “His whole frame shuddered. A storm of wrath seemed to sweep over Him.” (Sanders)
11:35 ... “Jesus Wept.” Moffatt: “Jesus burst into tears.” The shortest verse in the Bible, and one of the most meaningful and beautiful. Our Lord knew that He would raise Lazarus from the dead, but He sympathized deeply with the grief of the sisters and their
friends. In other words, His knowledge of the future did not make Him indifferent to the present. Godet wrote that “the very Gospel, in which the deity of Jesus is most clearly asserted, is also that which makes us best acquainted with the profoundly human side of His life.” “Homer’s gods and goddesses weep and bellow when wounded, but are not
touched with the feeling of human infirmity.” (Vincent)
It is fitting that this short sentence is in a verse by itself. Why did Jesus weep? He wept in sympathy because of the sorrow around Him. His heart was full of sorrow, as He saw in this instance before Him one of multitudes of sorrows filling the earth.
Our Lord shed tears, wept silently, an entirely different word from the “weep” and “weeping” of the mourners in vs. 31, 33. This verse offers further expression of the intense and varied feelings of Jesus – indignation, grief and sympathy.
Christianity bids us weep with that weep. In the beautiful words of Leighton, that we “seek not altogether to dry the stream of sorrow, but to bound it, and keep it within its banks.” The emotions of Jesus express the heart of God and His loving kindness toward the children of men.
SCRIPTURE READING: JOHN 11:38-44
5. “LAZARUS, COME FORTH”
11:38 ... “Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the tomb.” His indignation was aroused this time by the willful unbelief of the Jews and their persistent attempts to discredit Him.
11:38 ... “Now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it.” The possession of a private burial place is another indication of the wealth of the family. The traditional grave of Lazarus, still shown at Bethany, is a subterranean vault with steps leading down to it. The stone before the opening was to keep our wild beasts.
11:39 ... “Jesus saith, take ye away the stone.” “The same voice whose mandate, ‘Lazarus, come forth,’ was obeyed by the issuing of the swathed form from its transient imprisonment, could likewise have bidden the stone to roll away, and it should have rolled – a lesser wonder fitly inaugurating the greater. But Jesus undertook to do only
what inferior power could not. What others could, He required that they should. Only when they could do no more, He did all the rest” (Dr. James M. Whilton).
11:39 ... “Martha the sister of him that was dead.” She was his sister and so would keep his disfigured body from public view. She was the practical sister, the one to think of such a matter.
11:39 ... “Saith unto him, Lord, by this time the body decayeth” “Lazarus had been dead four days; corruption had begun, dust was returning to dust. According to the measure of man’s extremity is the greatest of God’s opportunity” (William Arnot).
11:39 ... “For he hath been dead four days.” The daughter of Jairus comes back to life; but possibly that was a swoon, says unbelief. The son of the widow of Nain is made to rise from his bier; but that, too, may have been a case of suspended animation Lazarus, however, has been dead four days – dead and buried. The case is to be signal. There shall be no hinge or loop to hang a doubt on.
11:40 ... “Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee.” Perhaps Jesus refers to verses 25, 26, perhaps to some unrecorded conversation.
11:40 ... “That, if thou believedst, thou shouldest see the glory of God?” When Jesus first learned of the sickness of Lazarus (v. 4), He fortold that it would furnish an occasion for manifesting God’s glory. This word may have been sent back by the messenger.
11:41 ... “So they took away the stone And Jesus lifted up his eyes” The same verb in the Greek: “They lifted the stone, and Jesus lifted up his eyes.”
11:41 ... “And said, Father, I thank thee that thou heardest me” What was the prayer for having heard which He now thanks His Father? Surely He had spoken about bringing Lazarus back, and His Father had shown Himself of one mind with Him.
11:42 ... “And I knew that thou hearest me always.” “I do nothing of myself,” Jesus had said (John 8:28, 29); and He was always conscious of doing what pleased God. Of course God heard and answered His prayers.
11:42 ... “But because of the multitude that standeth around I said it.” He said it before the miracle rather than after it, for the crowd would be too excited then to give heed.
11:42 ... “That they may believe that thou didst send me.” Christ’s eagerness was never for His own glory but for the glory of His Father, to whom He attributed the wonder that was to come.
11:43 ... “And when he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice.” “A loud shout, symbolizing and anticipating that voice of the Son of God which shall echo one day through the sepulchers of the world.” (Dean Alford)
11:43 ... “Lazarus, come forth.” “Lasare, deuro exo,” “Lazarus, hither out!” “And out came the dead man” is the next sentence. The Greek original is very graphic.
11:44 ... “He that was dead came forth.” He returned from a better country, from a happier condition “It was hard upon Lazarus; he was better where he was; but he must come and bear the Lord company a little longer, and then he left behind with his sisters, that they and millions more like them might know that God is the God of the living, and not of the dead.” (George Macdonald)
11:44 ... “Bound hand and foot with grave-clothes.” “Some think that the grave-clothes were only swathed around each limb, leaving movement free. But it seems far more probable from our Lord’s command, ‘Loose him and let him go,’ that there was, as an old writer observed, a miracle within a miracle – that the form, swathed and confined, glided forth super-naturally from the tomb. And so the most ancient pictures represent it.” (Dean Alford)
11:44 ... “And his face was bound about with a napkin.” A cloth fastened under the chin to keep the lower jaw from falling. Who but an eye-witness would have introduced such details?
11:44 ... “Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.” This miracle is throughout an acted parable of the winning to life of a soul that is “dead in trespasses and sins.” “Loose him, and let him go” is Christ’s command to the living whenever the dead arise. Be swift, O Church of God, to help each newly risen soul that comes forth from the sepulcher of sin! By instruction, by encouragement, by sympathy, by counsel, by incitement to service, by removal of hindrance, loose him! Let the resurrection life have resurrection liberty.” (Herrick Johnson)
Result of the Miracle
We are told that many of the Jews who had come to weep with Mary and who were witnesses of the stupendous miracle, believed on Him. It is hard to see how it could have been otherwise. What joy and amazement must have filled the homes of Bethany that night.
“In Memoriam” Tennyson wrote, “From every house the neighbors met. The streets were filled with joyful sound, A solemn gladness even crowned The purple brows of Olivet.”
However, others went to the Pharisees with news of the miracle, and a meeting of the Sanhedrin was speedily called. Those sagacious rulers at once perceived that if Christ continued to work such miracles He would have the hearts of the people in His hand. “They will make him king,” declared the council, “and then the Romans will use the pretext to exterminate our nation.” So from that time they sought to put to death the One who had proved Himself to be the Life.
Our Immortality
“The resurrection of the dead is specially and emphatically a Christian doctrine. The servants of God under the old dispensation had intimations and hopes in regard to life after death, but it was not clearly revealed to them and proven as it is to us. The wisest of
philosophers and best of men among the ancient heathen were never able to reach the truth on this subject” (J. A. Spencer). In all history there is not a fact better attested than Christ’s resurrection, and our resurrection is based securely upon that great fact.
As we begin the 21st century, there are a few in the world of Science who do not deny a believe in immortality. A few of them are bold enough to be open about their believe in the immortality of the soul – not in the sense in which they accept demonstrable truths of science, but as a supreme act of faith in the reasonableness of God’s work; that existence is temporary; that our real existence continues without ceasing.
“As a sovereign confers a title in virtue of being the fountain of honor, so Christ confers life as being Himself the fountain of life. Victory over death is His personal work. Our hopes of immortality are centered in Christ. Christ is the fountain of immortality, and he that is united to Christ is partaker of His immortality.” (Thomas Majoribanks)
“Oh, come to the merciful Savior who calls you,
Oh, come to the Lord who forgives and forgets;
Though dark be the fortune on earth that befalls you,
There’s a bright home above, where the sun never sets.”
6. CONCLUSION
We learn from this verse:
a. That the most tender, personal friendship is not inconsistent with pure religion. Piety makes tender love’s emotions.
b. It is right, even indispensable, for a Christian to sympathize with others in their afflictions.
c. Sorrow at the death of friends is right. It is right to weep. All that religion does in that case is to ‘temper’ and chasten our grief, teaching us to mourn with submission to God, to weep without murmuring.
d. We have here an instance of the tenderness of the character of Jesus. The same Savior ‘wept’ over Jerusalem, and felt deeply for the poor dying sinners. Barnes noted that “to the same tend and compassionate Savior Christians may now come (Heb. 4:15); and to Him the penitent sinner may also come, knowing that He will not cast him away.”
e. The action of Jesus on this occasion, as well as others, shows that the working of these greater miracles brought an intense strain on His physical system. It was a part of His vicarious bearing of our infirmities. The good that He did was at a real cost to Him.
As He came to the tomb, we are told that “Jesus wept” (John 11:35). What compassion.What love. What empathy. What humanity. It has been said of this passage that “the evangelist describes His (Jesus’) sorrow in the tenderest description of His human nature to be found in all the Gospels, Jesus wept’” (Howard). To this we can say, “Amen!”
Jesus exhibited that He was truly human in His body and emotions. There was nothing “impersonal” about the humanity of Jesus. His manhood was not a clever facade. It was as real and true as His deity.
Footnotes:
1 See Luke 10:38-42; John 12:1-8.
2 See Psalms 56:8.
