The Shepherd-King Cries Out

[0:00] Starting at verse 38, we read, Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. Deeply moved again. So we have to go look back at verse 33. Look at verse 33.

[0:17] When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, Jesus was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

[0:27] And that's the first observation I want to point out to you. The shepherd king who cries out with power, he is deeply moved. And he is greatly troubled. Deeply moved, strong feeling.

[0:41] Moved and stirred to anger. It can also be used to say a stern admonishment. Now this is in Greek, and I want you to picture Alexander the Great, spreading the Greek culture across the known world.

[0:56] And his famous horse was Bucephalus. So in the Greek, this word greatly, I'm sorry, the word deeply moved. It's also used to describe the snort of a war horse.

[1:09] Can you picture Alexander the Great on his great war horse? That word to describe his horse getting ready to charge into battle. That's the same word used here to describe Jesus facing his enemy.

[1:23] And he was greatly troubled, verse 33 says. Now in Daniel chapter 11, verse 30, we told that the Messiah will be greatly troubled.

[1:36] He will be troubled over the suffering of his people at the hands of their enemy. And Daniel chapter 11 says he will return and become indignant at the Holy Covenant and take action.

[1:47] And what will be the great Messiah's action? He will come back and show regard. He will show favor for those who forsake his Holy Covenant.

[1:58] The very ones who forsook his covenant, broke his law, were banished and exiled to Babylon. He will come back indignant to show them favor and fulfill his Holy Covenant to them.

[2:14] Brian Voss, a pastor, pointed out that with this language, John is pushing us to see Jesus not as some weak, helpless, sobbing man.

[2:25] But instead, it's language of war. Jesus here is the all-powerful, almighty, death-defeating, Satan-conquering, sin-crushing champion of God.

[2:39] 1 Corinthians 15 says in verse 26, the last enemy to be destroyed is death. Jesus has set his sights on death, looking at the grave, the tomb where Lazarus was buried.

[2:52] This is his father's world, and he's coming back to claim his own. Jesus sees the wages of sin, which is death, and the death of his good friend Lazarus.

[3:06] And he has mounted his war horse. He will bring the free gift of eternal life. You know, when Jesus cleansed the temple, he was filled with a righteous, holy zeal.

[3:21] And that same zeal for the holiness of God consumes him here again, his heart, soul, and mind, to the point that he's deeply moved, greatly troubled, and going on the offensive.

[3:34] In the context of John chapter 10, we could say that the shepherd king, he sees one of his beloved lambs in the fangs of the wolf, and it's war.

[3:45] Before we move on, I want to encourage you, because this very moment, we just sang the song.

[3:57] Our Lord Jesus, he pleads for you. He lives to intercede for his people. And he is deeply moved. The wrath of God consumes our living Lord.

[4:11] When we're offended, or when someone hurts our loved ones, our family, we see the injustice, and we feel that. That wrath against sin, it burns.

[4:24] That's who God is. He will make all things right. We have this promise in Isaiah 5.16. The Lord will be exalted. How? In judgment.

[4:35] God will show himself holy in righteousness. So Christ is not passive. He watches the world as Lord over all.

[4:48] His sword is unsheathed, and by his holy covenant, he will save his own. Behold him. Second thing I want to point out to you is that our shepherd king, he keeps his promise.

[5:09] Look at verse 38. We read that it was a cave, and a stone lay against it. I want to read a cross-reference that I would have not made this connection, but a pastor named Sam Ranahan pointed this out.

[5:26] I would just want you to hear this. You can turn there, if you like, to Nahum, and I want you to listen to the similarity in language, and see if there's a biblical theology here. See what you think.

[5:38] Turn to Nahum, chapter 2, verse 9, if you like. The context of this prophet is that Nineveh, the great capital of Assyria, taking all the northern tribes into exile.

[5:54] They broke their covenant with the Lord. He's banishing them from the land. And in Nahum, chapter 2, verse 9, he says, Nineveh is like a pool.

[6:08] In verse 8, all the waters are running away. That great capital city has become nothing. Nahum, chapter 2, verse 9, Plunder the silver.

[6:18] Plunder the gold. There is no end of the treasure or the wealth of all the precious things. Now, the other verse will make it more clear, but even with this imagery of plundering, these treasures that are put away.

[6:35] In the ancient world, when you collect plunder from attacking another kingdom, where would you hide that plunder? You would put it in caves. You'd bury it, or maybe both. And now look at what he says in verse 12.

[6:48] Nahum, chapter 2, verse 12. The lion tore enough for his cubs and strangled prey for his lionesses. He filled his caves with prey and his dens with torn flesh.

[7:01] What the lion, the enemy of God's people, has stored away in caves as his loot, as his treasure, it's in these dark caves buried.

[7:16] The enemy is destroyed. Jesus Christ and his kingdom advances. He will plunder that cave. He will take out of it the precious treasures that the enemy has hidden.

[7:29] They belong to him. Now look back at John 11 and verse 39. Jesus said, Take away the stone.

[7:46] In verse 40, Jesus said to her, I told you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God. Jesus keeps his promise.

[7:59] He's referring to what he had told her back in verse 15. For your sake, he said, I am glad that I was not there so that you may believe. See, it was for love that Jesus delayed.

[8:10] It was for love that he stayed two more days. And that when he would raise Lazarus from the dead, he would be in there four days. It was out of love. He never for one moment, one moment would he ever consider not keeping his promise.

[8:28] Now look at verse 23. John chapter 11, verse 23. Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. In verse 24, Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.

[8:42] And Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Jesus told her plainly, Lazarus is dead.

[8:56] You know God's promises. We know many of them. And maybe you need that simple truth that the shepherd king keeps his promises. But he does so on his own divine timetable.

[9:09] And he does that so that he will be glorified. And so that you will believe. And your belief is tied to his glory. The more your belief and your faith grows, the more God is glorified.

[9:23] So yes, he could have been there before Lazarus died. Or he could have been there on the first day, the second day, the third day. But his time was perfect to maximize their belief and his glory.

[9:35] He is the resurrection. Look at verse 40. For you see the glory of God. It's for you to see the glory of God that he will do this.

[9:46] Now in John's gospel, he works with the number seven, a sign of completeness. He also says at the end, the Lord did many more signs. There aren't even enough books to capture all of them. But the number seven represents completeness.

[9:58] And this is the seventh sign. However, as important as this is, even for our faith and our hope in the resurrection one day, this is not Christ's greatest display of his own glory.

[10:09] Look to John chapter 17. Turn just a few pages forward. He promises here that they will see his glory.

[10:24] And in John 17, verse 1, our Lord Jesus Christ lifted up his eyes to heaven and he said, Father, the hour has come. Glorify your son that your son may glorify you.

[10:39] John 17, he's praying moments before he's carried off to lay down his life for his sheep. It will be through the death, the burial, the descent to hell, the resurrection, and the ascension of Christ that he will be glorified.

[10:57] He will be lifted up. So Jesus was showing them with Lazarus, one soul. He was showing them his power over death, the death of one of his precious lambs on earth.

[11:09] But he was doing it to prepare his disciples then and to prepare you and me now as his disciples to see the power of the lamb of heaven over death.

[11:22] Mary, Martha, Lazarus, and over 500 other eyewitnesses saw the glory of Christ on full display in his glorified body as he ascended to the right hand of his father.

[11:35] From there he will come to judge the living and the dead. So our shepherd king, he keeps his promise. And he promises that when you too, when you walk through the valley of the shadow of death, he will be with you.

[11:52] He will keep you. And he will comfort you. Trust him. The third observation is that our shepherd king, when he prays, his prayers are heard.

[12:11] They happen. Look at verse 39. Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, Lord, by this time there will be an odor for he has been dead four days.

[12:23] There's a scientist at the U.S. National Lab that helped me with this. And you can talk to him afterwards.

[12:35] Most of you know Brandon. If you don't, you need to meet him. I'm going to read what a scientist wrote here. In the first 24 to 72 hours after a person's body dies, medically is dead.

[12:49] That's the first day, the second day, the third day. Here's what happens. And just beware, this is going to be very gross. Excess carbon dioxide creates an acidic environment causing membranes and cells to rupture.

[13:06] The membranes release enzymes that begin eating the cells from the inside out. On a cellular level, that's what's going on. On days three and four, those leaked enzymes from the first stage begin producing many gases.

[13:23] Due to the gases, the human body can double in size, giving it that bloated look. It gets worse. Sulfur-containing compounds that the bacteria release also cause skin discoloration.

[13:40] The microorganisms and bacteria produce extremely unpleasant odors called putrefaction. By day four, the bacteria inside the stomach eats up the intestines and then it begins eating all the internal organs.

[14:01] So on the fourth day, the internal organs are all decomposed and the blood-containing foam leaks from the mouth and the nose. And that's why Martha said in words that only the new King James could get just right, he stinketh.

[14:21] Every sister has thought that of her brother after a sports game, but she said it with more good reason. You see, what's the problem here? So a Jewish funeral lasted seven days of mourning and grieving.

[14:36] This procession, every time they go to the tomb, they're singing the saddest dirge you could write in Hebrew and minor keys and they're barefoot, they're wearing sackcloth, they have ashes on their head, they're fasting, they're wailing and weeping.

[14:52] And Jesus is going to recreate life. Remember how John introduced our Lord Jesus in John chapter one? This is the word of God.

[15:03] This is God who was with God and who is God and through whom all things were made that were made. This is our Lord Jesus Christ, the living word of God.

[15:16] Now look at verse 41. So they took away the stone. Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. See, Jesus doesn't even ask the Father.

[15:27] He just thanks him because he knows, he knows. Look at verse 42. I knew that you always hear me, but I said it that they may believe that you sent me. Before the throne of God above, I have a strong and perfect plea.

[15:46] A great high priest whose name is love, whoever stands and pleads for me, my name, just like Lazarus is called by name, your name.

[15:58] The shepherd calls his sheep by name, and your name is written on his hands and it's written on his heart. What a great comfort we have, as J.I. Packard put it, no matter how impossible the odds seem like Lazarus' decaying body, you and I will lack nothing in this life that will detract you from any eternal joy that we have promised to us in sharing in Christ's resurrection.

[16:31] He prays, he pleads for you, and his father always hears him because his word recreates life. So believe him.

[16:50] The fourth thing I want you to see starting in verse 43 is that our shepherd king loudly cries out. Verse 43, when he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out.

[17:10] John Calvin makes that connection that as God's great champion, Jesus is storming the final citadel. He is confronting the last great enemy by the power of his word.

[17:23] he cries out. It's the strongest verb you could use. It's used only eight times in all of the New Testament, six of those by the same author here, John, and four of those times where we're in the crowd of sinners are crying out, crucify him.

[17:40] The same word. While the sinners were about to cry out, crucify him, our Lord Jesus, the only sinless one, he cries out to bring the dead to life.

[17:54] Listen to how Ezekiel 37 verse 24 describes this Messiah. My servant shall be their king, their one shepherd, their prince forever. I will make an everlasting covenant of peace with them.

[18:08] They shall walk in my rules and obey me. They will dwell in my kingdom and I will set my sanctuary in their midst forever. Do you hear that?

[18:18] My king will be their shepherd, their one prince. It will be his kingdom where they rest at peace and I will set my sanctuary where they will worship me within his kingdom.

[18:32] Our shepherd king cries out still today. Turn to Isaiah with me. Isaiah chapter 49. This is one of our great servant passages.

[18:43] Isaiah 49. The context of Isaiah is a prophecy about the servant of God.

[19:06] The father promises a people and a reward to this servant. He will be the light of the nations we're told. His salvation will extend to the very ends of the earth.

[19:19] That's who this servant is. Isaiah 49 verses 8 and 9. Thus says the Lord, I will keep you and give you as a covenant to the people to establish the land, to apportion the desolate heritage.

[19:36] Now listen to verse 9. Saying to the prisoners, what are the next two words? Come out to those who are in darkness appear.

[19:48] Now listen, what happens when he calls them out of darkness and says, come out. They shall feed along the ways and on all the bare heights shall be their pasture.

[20:01] The powerful king attacks the enemy. He calls them out and then he feeds them on green pastures. He is the shepherd king. Now, when Lazarus dies, his soul left his body.

[20:17] And this was before Christ himself had died and descended to hell. And the scriptures are not as clear as regarding the believers in the old covenant, the old testament.

[20:28] We do know his soul would have been in a place of care and comfort. The focus though on John, you notice it's not on Lazarus at all. Other accounts say like when God did a miracle, here's what this person did next.

[20:40] There's nothing about Lazarus. The focus is on the Lord Jesus Christ. Out of that dark cave appeared, look at verse 44 back in John 11, appeared the man who had died.

[20:54] He came out. Why did he come out? Because Jesus is the good shepherd and his sheep hear his voice and follow him.

[21:06] Matthew Henry pointed out it's a good thing that Jesus commanded Lazarus by name to come out because otherwise all the dead would have come out from the grave. All the dead would have come forth because there is such power in the voice of Jesus, the great shepherd king who is Jesus to you.

[21:28] To Lazarus, he was the shepherd king that he could not deny. How could he not obey? He's the one, the one who calls, the one who recreates and when he calls you obey, you follow his voice.

[21:45] Hear him. well, the fifth observation, our last verses here is that our shepherd king, he unbinds, he unbinds and calls you to life when he raises you from the dead.

[22:06] Look at verse 44. Lazarus came out, but his hands and feet were bound with linen strips and his face was wrapped with a cloth and Jesus said, unbind him. Now notice the next words, these are familiar, let him go.

[22:22] The enemy of our soul is not a man, it's not a nation, it's not an ideology or a political party, the enemy of your soul is what leads you to death, it's sin, it's Satan, it's worldliness that tempts your flesh, and it's wolves that want to peel away God's lambs to devour.

[22:46] And to God's enemy, he says, let him go. In Exodus chapter 8, verse 1, thus says the Lord to Pharaoh, let my people go.

[22:59] Why? That they may serve me. When Jesus summons Lazarus commanding death to unbind one of his sheep and let it go, he's saying sin that leads to death has no longer a claim on those who belong to the good shepherd.

[23:17] Brian Voss again pointed out Jesus summons death to come forth and bind him, tie him up in order to unbind his sheep.

[23:31] There's no other way for his sheep to be spiritually unbound from the curse of sin unless Christ himself be bound in their place. Jesus summons death to bind him so that you and I will forever be unbound.

[23:49] We've been let go. We are not prisoners of sin and Satan. He commanded death to claim him, take my life so that my sheep can live and have life forever.

[24:04] Unbind him and let him go. Release my prisoner. Psalm 107 verse 16 says that he shatters the doors of bronze and cuts into the bars of iron.

[24:17] It could be that God has brought you here in his providence to hear this truth that if you are entangled in sins of the flesh but you have heard your shepherd's voice just as powerful as his word is to recreate Lazarus' physical body, it's just that powerful to recreate your life in Christ.

[24:43] You are not bound to sin. He says, let them go, they belong to me and in me they have life and it's a life that is abundant. Romans 8 21, we have this promise that there will be a great day when the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God.

[25:08] What will that day be like? How can we even picture our risen Lord and his glorified body? Well, listen to the description of this same author, John, in Revelation chapter 1, verse 10.

[25:22] He's bearing witness as an eyewitness again. I, John, was in the spirit on the Lord's day and I heard behind me a loud voice like a trumpet. In Revelation 1, verse 15, he says, his voice was like the roar of many waters.

[25:39] When I saw him, I fell at his feet as though dead. But he laid his right hand on me saying, fear not, I am the first and the last and the living one.

[25:53] I died and behold, I am alive forevermore. And I have the keys to death in Hades. When a soldier hears the bugle sound at the crack of dawn, he gets up early, falls in line, and is prepared for war.

[26:15] When Christ's own, hear his powerful voice of the shepherd king, we obey. I want to wrap this up by simply letting you know that this same shepherd king from John 11, he cries out loudly to you.

[26:35] And he says, I came to seek and save the lost. Luke 19, whoever believes in me has eternal life. Whoever does not obey me will not see life, but the wrath of God remains on him.

[26:49] John 3, I am the shepherd king, my sheep, hear my good voice and follow me. So if you hear him today, he's crying out your name, follow him.

[27:03] Obey his call on your life. We believe that there are still some trapped inside the gates of hell right here where God has planted our congregations.

[27:14] And when they hear the gospel, they will believe. They will go to King Jesus and they will follow him. And his promise is that my blood cleanses you from all sin.

[27:26] First John 1, Jesus said, look unto me and be saved. Who? All the ends of the earth for I am God and there is none else. Isaiah 45, 22.

[27:38] Because Christ lives, the promise to you and to me is this, that Isaiah 26, 19. Each one of us here has probably lost a loved one, but listen to this promise.

[27:50] Just like Lazarus, your dead shall live. Their bodies shall rise. You who dwell in the dust, praise and sing for joy for your due is a due of light and the earth will give birth to the dead.

[28:07] God, the good shepherd does not leave a single one of his lambs lost. He goes and finds you and he brings you back to him and no one can snatch you out of his hands because he has destroyed death by his own death and resurrection and he has conquered the grave.

[28:28] He has risen. And our King Jesus, our great shepherd King, he lives. Behold him, trust him, believe him, hear him, obey him.

[28:46] Let's pray. From Isaiah 25, verse 8. O Lord, you swallowed up death forever.

[29:00] You, O Lord, you promised that you will wipe away the tears from all the faces of your people. Cause us to trust in you, our everlasting rock, our Lord, our God, today and forever more.

[29:16] May you be glorified in all the earth for Christ's sake. Thank you for Jesus. Thank you for how he rules over his church by his spirit.

[29:28] And may the spirit bear the fruit of your eternal kingdom in our lives more and more each day until you come back. And please come quickly, Lord Jesus, we ask. Amen. Amen.

[29:56] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.

[30:11] Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen. Amen.