July 20th, 2025
GOD PART:
JOHN 11
The Death of Lazarus
1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
2 It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
They appealed to Jesus based on his love for Lazarus!
4 When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
6 So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.
7 Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”
8 The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
10 But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”
12 Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.”
13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.
14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.
15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”
16 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”
I Am the Resurrection and the Life
17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.
18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away.
19 And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. 21 Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
22 But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
She goes From complaint to confession so quickly.
What did Jesus say or do or his look.
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
In- apart of or included with
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
Jesus- REZ IS ME
26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
The drama of this, Jesus says this in the middle of a cemetery.
Do you believe this?
Jesus is saying he’s the Lord of the cemetery even death!
27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
Evidently, all Jesus needed was a mustard seed confession, and he was off and running!
Jesus and Death, the Last Enemy
28 And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.”
29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.
30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him.
31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”
32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.
34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?”
They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”
35 Jesus wept.
Wept
Why?
Is Jesus sorry for them?
Are they tears of anger they don’t have faith?
Maybe he’s mad at death and the grave and it’s control over them.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
37 And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”
Lazarus Raised from the Dead
38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.”
Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?”
This is very personal – do you believe?
41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.
Jesus practiced prayers of gratitude and Thanksgiving in impossible situations.
If Jesus did this, this might be the key to resurrection life when we think all is lost.
42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.”
43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”
Jesus issued a command- not an invitation.
He issued an imperative-not an idea.
Jesus issued a summons-not a suggestion.
JESUS…
“cried with a loud voice” (NRSV),
“roared with a great voice,”2
“shouted as loudly as he could” (GOD’S WORD).
ROMANS 14: 9 For to this end Christ died [a]and rose and lived again, that He might be Lord of both the dead and the living.
44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
An encore is scheduled one day
Lazarus was but a warm-up.
Jesus will someday shout, and the ingathering of saints will begin.
Graveyards, ocean depths, battlefields, burned buildings, and every other resting place of the deceased will give up the dead in whatever condition they might be found.
They will be recomposed, resurrected, and re-presented in the presence of Christ.”
TAKE AWAY:
John 20
That You May Believe
30 And truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book;
31 but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.
That we might believe
Why these miracles…
water-to-wine miracle? So WE would believe that Jesus can restore what life has taken.
the faith of a nobleman? That WE might believe Jesus hears our prayers though you think he doesn’t.
the lame man who took up his mat?That WE might believe in a Jesus who sees a new version of us.
the blind man who washed the mud from his eyes? That WE might believe in a Jesus who gives new vision to us.
walking on water? That WE would believe God still stills the storms of life.
feeding the thousands? That you would believe God still solves the problems of life.
Why raise the dead? That WE would believe God still brings the dead to life.
The hope of John, the hope of his book, indeed the hope of God, and the hope of this book.
That we would believe:
not in our power-
not in humanity’s ability to help itself,
not in tarot cards or good fortune,
not in good looks or good luck.
But that we would believe in Jesus.
Jesus as:
the Christ
the Messiah
the Anointed One
the Son of God.”
Next time you’re in a cemetery:
1 THESS 4:
16 For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first. 17 Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And thus we shall always be with the Lord. 18 Therefore comfort one another with these words.
GOD WANTS US TO KNOW:
I know everything about you (Ps. 139:1).
I know when you sit down and when you rise up (Ps. 139:2).
I’ve numbered the hairs on your head (Matt. 10:29–31).
I’ve adopted you into my family (Rom. 8:15).
Before you were the size of a freckle in your mother’s womb, I knew you (Jer. 1:4–5).
You are my idea, and I have only good ideas (Eph. 1:11–12).
You won’t live a day longer or less than I intend (Ps. 139:16).
I love you as my own child (1 John 3:1).
I will take care of you (Matt. 6:31–33).
I love you with an everlasting love (Jer. 31:3).
I can’t quit thinking about you (Ps. 139:17–18).
You are my treasured possession (Ex. 19:5).
Let’s do great things together (Jer. 33:3).
Nothing will ever separate you from my love (Rom. 8:38–39).”