Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.
So the sister sent word to Jesus, Lord, the one you love is sick.
When he heard this, Jesus said, this sickness will not end in death.
No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it.
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.
And then he said to his disciples, let us go back to Judea.
But Rabbi, they said, a short while ago, the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you're going back?
Jesus answered, are there not twelve hours of daylight?
Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world's light.
It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.
After he had said this, he went on to tell them, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up.
His disciples replied, Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.
Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
So then he told them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.
But let us go to him.
Then Thomas, also known as Didymus, said to the rest of the disciples, let us also go, that we may die with him.
On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.
Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
Lord, Martha said to Jesus, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.
Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again.
Martha answered, I know he will rise again in the resurrection of the last day.
Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.
The one who believes in me will live, even though they died.
And whoever lives by believing in me will never die.
Do you believe this?
Yes, Lord, she replied.
I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.
After she had said that, she went back and called her sister Mary aside.
The teacher is here, she said, and he is asking for you.
When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.
Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.
When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out,
they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
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.
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping,
he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
Where have you laid him? he asked.
Come and see, Lord, they replied.
Jesus wept.
Then the Jews said,
See how he loved him.
But some of them said,
Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?
Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb.
It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.
Take away the stone, he said.
But Lord, said Martha, the sister of the dead man, but at this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.
Then Jesus said,
Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?
So they took away the stone.
Then Jesus looked up and said,
Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the peoples.
I am standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice,
Lazarus, come out.
The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen and a cloth round his face.
Jesus said to them,
Take off the gray clothes and let them go.
Let's pray together.
Father, we thank you for the Bible,
and because from this passage we can so clearly see that you are a God who cares and listens.
We thank you for you and for all the work he has put in the preparation for this message this morning.
We ask that you will use the things he will say for your glory
and that more people will see and believe in your son Jesus
and we'll declare that he is indeed the resurrection and the life.
Well, friends, good morning and let me invite you to keep your Bibles open to the Gospel of John and chapter 11.
Before we begin our study this morning, let me just bring a personal greeting to you all.
You may have heard, but Helen and myself and the children are moving up to the Highlands
and we leave in July.
So this is really the last opportunity I have to bring that greeting before we move.
But on behalf of our family and the Holyrood Evangelical Church family,
I just wanted to thank you for your partnership in the Gospel during recent years.
We have benefited enormously from being part of the East of Scotland Gospel Partnership
in which Graham and before him John have shown tremendous leadership.
We as a church are very conscious of your prayerful support
and we are grateful that you enabled us to use this building, this wonderful property,
to hold our prayer meetings during those years when we were looking for a property of our own.
And we thank you that in recent months you have shared with us your preachers
and you have sent both Graham and Alistair to preach to us.
And so we rejoice in our partnership
and I pray that partnership between these two church families will continue
in the months and the years ahead.
Let's now look together at John chapter 11 and the raising of Lazarus.
This is a very well-known account in the Gospel.
It's a text that is known even to the wider culture and the world outside of the church.
David Bowie, the musician, wrote a musical called Lazarus.
And you would expect people to understand what he meant by that
because the story of Lazarus is widely known outside of the church.
So it's a very well-known account and it's a very important event in John's Gospel.
It is the last of Jesus' miraculous signs before his crucifixion
and the one in which he demonstrates his authority over the last enemy, death itself.
And ironically, it is the resurrection of Lazarus that persuades Jesus' opponents
that he must be put to death.
11 verse 53.
So from that day on they plotted to take his life.
Jesus' life was already in danger at the beginning of the chapter
but by the end it's the final straw and there is a price on his head, so to speak.
So death casts its long shadow over the pages before us, over this entire chapter.
At the beginning, at chapter 11 verse 1, we learn of this man Lazarus.
He's sick and it looks likely he's going to die of natural causes.
And at the end of this section, chapter 12 verse 10,
we find that there is a plot to put Lazarus himself to death.
The chief priests made plans to kill Lazarus as well.
So at the beginning he's facing a natural death, at the end he's facing a violent death.
Death casting its long shadow over the events of this chapter.
But in the middle of this account, we have the wonderful light of the gospel breaking in
and these glorious words in verse 25,
I am the resurrection and the life.
Lazarus is delivered from the grave
and the Lord reminds us that the last enemy will not have the last word on the last day.
So we want to look at this passage together under three headings.
Firstly, verses 1 to 16, the sister's request.
Secondly, verses 17 to 37, the Lord's sympathetic response.
And thirdly and finally, verse 38 to 45, the supernatural resurrection.
Firstly then, the sister's request.
Chapter 11 verse 1 to 16.
You may have heard the name of Nabel Qureshi,
who was a convert from Islam
and he became a passionate Christian believer, a passionate evangelist.
He spoke at university campuses all over the world.
He wrote a best-selling book, Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus.
He was a talented writer and speaker, a father and a husband.
And in his early 30s, he was diagnosed with stomach cancer
and people followed his illness with prayerful interest.
And during a very serious episode in his illness,
he recorded a video message from his hospital bed
asking that people might pray for a miracle
and that he might be healed.
He recognised the urgency of the situation.
He said it needs to happen in the next few days.
And no doubt people all over the world were praying in their thousands.
But only a few days later, Nabel died,
leaving his wife a widow and his toddler daughter fatherless.
What are we to think when the Lord does not do the miracle
we ask for and long for?
And that is the situation here with Lazarus.
Jesus was friends with Mary and Martha,
who we meet elsewhere in the Gospels.
And they have a brother who is also a friend of the Lord.
In verse 5, we're told Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
But Lazarus is taken unwell and word reaches the Lord
that he's perhaps about to die.
And what happens next?
Does the Lord drop everything
and travel through the night to reach him?
Well, we're told in verse 6,
when they heard that Lazarus was sick,
he stayed there two more days.
By the time he arrives in Bethany,
where Lazarus is, verse 17,
we're told that he had been dead for four days.
So the Lord knew his friend was sick.
And yet he did not rush to his bedside.
It took him at least six days to travel to his home.
And the situation is more complicated than that.
If we think back to John's Gospel, chapter 4,
you recall the miracle of the official who had a son
who was at the point of death.
And this official pleaded with the Lord, saying,
Sarah, come down before my child dies.
And the Lord replied, your son will live.
And when the official returned home,
he discovered that his son was alive and had recovered.
So the Lord could heal at a distance,
and yet he chose not to.
The Lord could have travelled quickly to Lazarus' side,
and yet he chose not to.
And it took him six days at least to arrive in Bethany.
Why did he not do the miracle everybody longed for,
and the sisters were hoping for?
Well, we're going to think about that in our third point.
But just notice a few clues were given.
Verse 4, when Jesus heard this, he said,
Verse 11, these enigmatic words,
Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep.
And verse 14, the Lord says to his disciples,
Let's hold these thoughts in our mind,
but let's notice that Lazarus died before the coming of the Lord.
And that is the experience of many Christians.
In 1 Thessalonians 4, Paul writes that wonderful chapter about the coming of the Lord.
And he says this,
Brothers and sisters, we do not want you to be uninformed about those who sleep in death,
so that you do not grieve like the rest of mankind who have no hope.
What Paul recognised, what the early church experienced,
was that many Christians did die before the coming of the Lord.
Many Christians do fall asleep,
despite the earnest pleas and prayers of their loved ones,
before the Lord comes for them.
There are, of course, sometimes remarkable deliverances from death.
In January, I spoke to a colleague in ministry
who was taking part in a race
and suffered a cardiac arrest and collapsed.
And one of the other people in the competition was a doctor
who immediately began to resuscitate him.
And his life was saved.
But very often our experience might seem
more like that of Martha and Mary.
The Lord not doing the miracle
perhaps we pray for and long for.
So that was the sisters' request.
And secondly, we see the Lord's sympathetic response,
verses 17 to 37.
He interacts with the two sisters.
And we notice that they both make the same remark to him.
Martha says,
Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
And Mary later says the same.
And yet the Lord responds in two quite different ways.
To Martha, he gives a theological answer.
Verse 23,
Your brother will rise again.
And Martha acknowledges this.
She says,
I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
Martha knew her Old Testament.
She knew the glimpses of hope of the life to come
which she read there.
The faith of the psalmist that God would take him into glory
and that he would dwell in the house of the Lord forever.
Or the promise given to Daniel
that those sleeping in the dust of the earth would awake.
A couple of weeks ago I was reading Isaiah
in my quiet time
and I encountered chapter 26, verse 19.
A verse I don't recall reading before
or certainly not with
the impression it made upon me that day.
And this verse says,
But your dead will live,
Lord.
Their bodies will rise.
Let those who dwell in the dust
wake up and shout for joy.
Your dew is like the dew of the morning.
The earth will give birth to her dead.
And all through the Old Testament
these hints and foreshadowings
of the resurrection.
And Jesus says that he is the resurrection.
Verse 25,
I am the resurrection and the life.
Whoever believes in me,
though he die,
yet shall he live.
So he gives to Martha
a theological answer
reminding her
of the promised resurrection,
pointing her to himself
as the one
who is the resurrection
and the life.
And Paul says the same
in 1 Thessalonians 4.
For the words we read,
not wanting to be uninformed
about those who sleep in death,
that we might not grieve
like the rest of mankind
who have no hope.
For we believe that Jesus died
and rose again
and so we believe that God
will bring with Jesus
those who have fallen asleep in him.
The last enemy
will not have the last word
on the last day.
And that changes
our understanding
of an experience
of death.
Charles Spurgeon,
the 19th century preacher,
wrote these words,
I will not fear you, death.
Why should I?
You look like a dragon,
but your sting is gone.
Your teeth are broken.
Oh, old lion,
why should I fear you?
I know you are no more
able to destroy me,
but you are sent
as a messenger
to conduct me
to the golden gate
wherein I shall enter
and see my saviour's
unveiled face forever.
The Lord gives to Martha
a theological answer.
But his response
to Mary is different
and she makes
the same remark.
Lord, if you'd been here,
my brother would not have died.
But to her,
he gives no theological answer,
but instead demonstrates
a moving pastoral response.
And we have in that response
the shortest sentence
in the Bible,
1135,
Jesus wept.
Jesus wept at the death
of a friend he loved.
He wept that death
should ever have invaded
and polluted the world he made.
And the Lord grieved.
Our majesty,
the queen,
in a televised address,
once said that grief
is the price we pay
for love.
And the Lord
loved Lazarus
and his sisters
and so he grieved
to hear
of his loss.
And as Christians,
we will grieve.
Paul has just said
the same
in 1 Thessalonians 4.
He wants us
not to not grieve,
but not to grieve
like the rest of mankind
who have no hope.
As Christians,
we will weep
when we lose
those we love.
We will weep
with those who weep
as we are commanded to.
And we will weep
as Jesus wept
at the loss
of friends
and of family.
The Lord manifested
a sympathetic pastoral response.
A very good friend of mine
last year
lost his sister
in adulthood
and he wrote
and spoke
about his experience
of this.
And one comment
which kept
coming back
to him
was the importance
of empathy.
And what made the difference
during those difficult months
was people
who were just willing
to be with him
and his family
and to sit with them
and to listen with them.
empathy
shown
to those
bereaved.
And that's what the Lord
does here
as he weeps
with those
who weep.
So the Lord
gives to Martha
a theological answer.
He demonstrates
to Mary
a very sensitive
pastoral response.
And may we
as Christian people
as we minister
to one another
seek to strike
that same balance.
The Lord's
sympathetic
response.
Thirdly,
verses 38
to 45
the supernatural
resurrection
of Lazarus.
And the story
is told
so powerfully
from verse 38.
Jesus,
deeply moved,
comes to the tomb
and commands
the stone
to be rolled away.
Martha
objects.
There is a bad
odour.
He's been there
four days.
But then Jesus
says,
did I not tell you
if you believed
you would see
the glory of God?
And so they
take away the stone
and he prays
to God
his Father.
And in verse 42
he says,
I said this
for the benefit
of the people
standing here
that they may
believe that
you sent me.
And after that
he cries out
to Lazarus
in a loud voice,
Lazarus,
come out!
And the dead man
comes out,
his hands and feet
wrapped with strips
of linen
and a cloth
around his face.
And the Lord
commands the grave
clothes
to be taken
from him
and for him
to be let go.
And it's just
a wonderful
reunion,
isn't it?
In recent weeks
we've seen
the restrictions
being eased
and people can now
begin to meet
their friends again.
Grandparents
can once more
hug their grandchildren.
children.
And haven't
these been
wonderful,
emotional,
joyful reunions
to hug those
perhaps you haven't
seen or touched
for three months?
How joyful
it must have been
for these sisters
to embrace
Lazarus
who they thought
they would never
see again.
The last enemy
is not the last word.
But why did it
have to happen
this way?
Well Jesus says
in order that
he might be
glorified,
that if you believed
you would see
the glory of God
in order that
others might put
their faith in him.
I say this
for the benefit
of the people
standing here
that they may
believe that
you sent me.
And that is
what happens
verse 45.
Many of the Jews
who'd come to visit
Mary and had seen
what Jesus did
put their faith
in him.
When they saw
the power of Jesus
at work
in Lazarus
in his death
and in his
resurrection to life
they believed
that Jesus
was the resurrection
and the life.
And isn't it often
the case
that when people
see the power
of Christ
during an illness
or a bereavement
that they themselves
come to put
their faith in him.
Nabi Al Qureshi
in that video
I mentioned
he asked for
prayer that he
might be healed
but he acknowledged
in that video
that God
was sovereign
and he said
whatever happens
I will love you
and trust you.
And that video
at the time
I viewed it
had been watched
almost one and a half
million times.
It was perhaps
not the answer
Nabi Al
himself would have
wanted
but one and a half
million people
have heard his
testimony
and seen
his faith
and seen
him committing
himself
to the will
of his
father in
heaven.
And it's often
the case
isn't it
that when people
see a Christian
suffering or
facing death
that they
themselves
come to Christ.
A famous
preacher in
Scotland was
moved by the
death of his
Christian brother
and that caused
him to reflect
upon his own
Christian faith.
death.
A friend
ministering in
East Asia
used to say
that people
would come to
funerals of
Christians in
that land
that continent
and say
oh I wish I
could die like
a Christian.
John Wesley
said of the
Methodists
our people
die well.
The Son of God
glorified
as Christians
face illness
and death
in faith.
Others
coming to
believe
when they
see the
power of
Christ at
work in
their lives.
But it's
also a picture
of what will
happen when
the Lord
comes again
when he
returns.
Paul speaks
about those
who sleep
in death
and he talks
of the
resurrection
that Jesus
died and
rose again
so we believe
that God
will bring
with Jesus
those who
have fallen
asleep in
him.
The Lord
will come
from heaven
with a loud
command,
the voice
of an
archangel,
the trumpet
call of
God and
the dead
in Christ
shall rise
first and
we will be
with the
Lord forever.
Lazarus
was woken
by the voice
of Christ
calling his
name.
Jairus'
daughter
in Mark's
gospel heard
the Lord
Jesus whispering
to her
Talitha
little girl
I say
to you
wake up
and one
day
those who
sleep
shall hear
the voice
of Christ.
John 5
25
a time
is coming
and has
now come
when the
dead will
hear the
voice of
the Son
of God
and those
who hear
will live.
Some
commentators
have remarked
that's why
Jesus had to
specify
Lazarus
in verse
43.
For if he
simply said
come out
the entire
graveyard
would have
risen to
life.
That's what
will happen
one day
as the
Lord calls
out our
names
and restores
us to
life once
more.
And it's
only possible
through him.
You see
at the beginning
of the chapter
the Lord
Jesus risked
his life
to save
Lazarus
from death.
He knew
he was
in danger
and yet
he went
to his
friend.
But at
the end
of the
chapter
he speaks
to us
not of
Lazarus'
burial
but of
his own.
And in
verse 7
of chapter
12
Jesus speaks
about his
own burial
his own
death.
And this
time he's
not risking
his life
to save
a friend
from death
he's giving
his life
to save
his people
from
death.
John
Owen
the Puritan
theologian
spoke of
the death
of death
in the
death
of Christ
and that
is the
New Testament
witness.
Paul in
2nd
Timothy
Jesus Christ
has destroyed
death
and brought
life and
immortality
to light
through the
gospel.
The writer
to the
Hebrews
since the
children
have
flesh
and
blood
he
shared
in their
humanity
so that
by his
death
he might
break
the power
of him
who holds
the power
of death
that is
the devil
and free
those who
all their
lives were
held in
slavery by
their fear
of death
the death
of death
in the
death
of Christ
so the
Lord Jesus
has the
victory
life
conquering
death
and what a
wonderful
hope
that is
we live in
this unprecedented
time and
every day
we're told
of the
tens of
thousands
around the
world
getting sick
or dying
from the
coronavirus
we're given
detailed figures
of the
excess deaths
in our own
countries
never before
have we
been bombarded
so often
with reports
of death
statistics
each day
and what a
wonderful comfort
it is
to have the
words of Jesus
in verses
25 and
26
I am the
resurrection
and the
life
he who
believes in
me will
live even
though he
dies
so friends
we saw
the sisters
request
they prayed
that Lazarus
might live
and Lazarus
did live
though not
perhaps how
they might have
expected
yet it was
necessary for
this to happen
that the
Son of God
may be glorified
and that others
would come to
believe in him
and believe
that God
had sent him
sometimes the
Lord doesn't
answer our
prayers in the
way we expect
but like
Nabeel Qureshi
we are to
trust him
and love him
and trust him
for the future
the Lord
manifested a
sympathetic
response to
the bereaved
and as
Christians we
are to do
the same
we will grieve
but we do
not grieve
as those
who have
no hope
we must
remember the
theological
truths of
the resurrection
on the last
day but we
must show a
wholehearted
pastoral response
and to weep
with those
who weep
and we saw
finally the
supernatural
resurrection
the Lord's
power and
glory that
foretaste of
what he will
do for each
and everyone
who believes
in him
when he
calls our
names
and wakes
us from
our sleep
that we
might be
with him
forever
oh death
I know you
are no more
able to
destroy me
but you
are sent
as a
messenger
to conduct
me to
the golden
gate
wherein I
shall enter
and see
my saviour's
unfailed
face
forever
what a
comfort
that is
for us
but also
what a
challenge
and if
you have
been viewing
these
broadcasts
and we're
very glad
that you
have
but you
wouldn't
yet identify
yourself
as a
Christian
can I
direct your
attention to
verse 26
and the
words of
Jesus when
he says
do you
believe
this
and maybe
you've
tuned in
and you
enjoy the
music
the wonderful
music
and you
enjoy the
Bible
readings
and listening
to the
prayers
and today
the Lord
Jesus says
to you
do you
believe this
do you
believe that
he is
the resurrection
and the
life
do you
have hope
and security
in him
well friends
today might
be that day
when you
move from
darkness
to light
when you
cross over
from death
to life
and you
find in
Christ the
resurrection
and the
life
and find
in him
your hope
and security
in this
life
and in the
world to
come
well friends
thank you for
the invitation
may God bless
you and
may God
keep you
until we
meet again
Amen