All right, amen, and good morning.
If I've yet to see you and say so to you,
! Please take your copy of God's Word and join me in John chapter 11.
Our text for today is John chapter 11, verses 18 through 37.
Last week, as we began John 11, we saw something about the love of Jesus that is profoundly comforting,
although at first it can be difficult to understand.
Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus, and because he loved them, he waited.
He received word that Lazarus was sick.
He knew exactly what was happening in Bethany.
He possessed both the authority and the power to prevent Lazarus from dying,
and yet, rather than immediately traveling to Bethany or just speaking a word where he was,
Jesus remained where he was for two more days.
And the point John forces us to confront is that the delay of Jesus was not a contradiction of his love.
Somehow, mysteriously but unmistakably, the delay was an expression of his love.
Jesus loved them, so the text tells us.
He waited.
Because the love of Christ is aimed at something greater than our immediate comfort.
Christ loves us too much merely to arrange our circumstances according to our preferences.
He intends instead to reveal his glory, strengthen our faith, loosen our grip on this dying world,
and teach us to trust him when we cannot understand what he is doing.
By the time Jesus arrives near Bethany, Lazarus has been in the tomb four days.
From the perspective of Mary and Martha, Jesus appears to have arrived too late.
Lazarus' sickness has run its course.
The funeral has already taken place.
The stone rolled over the entrance.
The mourners have gathered.
Lazarus is most assuredly dead.
And yet, as we said at the conclusion of the sermon last week,
Jesus is never late.
He may not operate according to our timetable.
He may not intervene at the moment we would have chosen.
He may allow circumstances to deteriorate until every human possibility has disappeared.
But he is never late.
Because the Son of God does not merely react to circumstances.
He governs them.
Rules over all things.
And now, beginning in verse 18,
John takes us from the delay of Jesus to the arrival of Jesus.
And what follows is one of the most beautiful passages in all of Scripture.
Because in the space of only 20 verses,
we see both the incomparable majesty and the astonishing tenderness of our Savior.
And so we'll look together at verses 18 through 37.
I will begin reading in verse 1, however,
set the context,
and in case you weren't with us last week.
Before I do any of that,
let me lead us in a prayer for our benefit.
Father God, thank you for your word this morning.
We are always in some state of frailty.
There are times when we feel it more than others.
I can humbly say before you that I'm feeling my frailty today.
The frailty of my preparation.
Certainly the frailty of my delivery.
And all of us, if we're honest,
are frail in our hearing and understanding.
We're easily distracted.
Lots on our minds.
Exhaustion often sets in on Sunday morning.
So we ask that you'd help us to be attentive this day.
Take up your word together that we would rightly see Christ in it.
We would behold him as we should.
That our affections would be turned and set on him.
We would see ourselves in the text.
And see our need of this great Savior.
The Lord Jesus Christ.
It's in his name that we pray.
Amen.
John 11, beginning in verse 1.
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany,
the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment
and wiped his feet with her hair,
whose brother, Lazarus, was ill.
The sister sent to him, saying,
Lord, he whom you love is ill.
But when Jesus heard it, he said,
This illness does not lead to death.
It is for the glory of God,
so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
So when he heard that Lazarus was ill,
he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
But after this, he said to the disciples,
Let us go to Judea again.
The disciples said to him,
Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you,
and are you going there again?
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.
But if anyone walks in the night,
he stumbles because the light is not in him.
After saying these things, he said to them,
Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,
but I go to awaken him.
The disciples said to him,
Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.
Now Jesus had spoken of his death,
but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep.
Then Jesus told them plainly,
Lazarus has died.
And for your sake, I am glad I was not there,
so that you may believe.
But let us go to him.
So Thomas called the twin,
said to his fellow disciples,
Let us also go that we may die with him.
Now when Jesus came,
he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.
Bethany was near Jerusalem,
about two miles off,
and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary
to console them concerning their brother.
So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming,
she went and met him,
but Mary remained seated in the house.
Martha said to Jesus,
Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.
But even now I know that whatever you ask from God,
God will give you.
Jesus said to her,
Your brother will rise again.
Martha said to him,
I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.
Jesus said to her,
I am the resurrection and the life.
Whoever believes in me,
though he die,
yet shall he live.
And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.
Do you believe this?
She said to him,
Yes, Lord,
I believe that you are the Christ,
the Son of God,
who is coming into the world.
When she had said this,
she went and called her sister Mary,
saying in private,
The teacher is here and is calling for you.
And when she heard it,
she rose quickly and went to him.
Now Jesus had not yet come into the village,
but was still in the place where Martha had met him.
When the Jews who were with her in the house,
consoling her,
saw Mary rise quickly and go out,
they followed her,
supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him,
she fell at his feet,
saying to him,
Lord,
if you had been here,
my brother would not have died.
When Jesus saw her weeping,
and the Jews who had come with her also weeping,
he was deeply moved in his spirit
and greatly troubled.
And he said,
Where have you laid him?
They said to him,
Lord,
come and see.
Jesus wept.
So the Jews said,
See how he loved him?
But some of them said,
Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man
also have kept this man from dying?
All right.
I have three points for us this morning
to consider this text.
The first,
Jesus' arrival.
We'll look at a considerable bit of the text
at this point.
Notice that he goes to Bethany,
this town that Lazarus is from,
and it's near Jerusalem,
about two miles off.
And the nearness to Jerusalem
highlights the danger
that concerned the disciples
earlier in the chapter.
Previously,
Jesus has worked in Judea,
in Jerusalem.
He's healed a blind man,
and they are seeking his death.
The presumption of the disciples
is that they're going with him
to his death
as he arrives in this place
to teach them something
of the resurrection.
And we note as he arrives there,
in the previous verse,
it's already been four days
that Lazarus has been in the tomb.
And many of the Jews,
verse 19 tells us,
had come to Martha and Mary
to console them,
to comfort them
concerning their brother.
Because of the nearness to Jerusalem,
many of the Jews are able to come
and to mourn with Martha and Mary.
Two things are notable here.
First,
the family of Lazarus
possesses some level of prominence
evidenced by this many visiting
to mourn his death.
We don't know a lot about this family,
but they must have had
some degree of prominence
and by later evidence
that they had some financial means
because Mary anoints Jesus' feet
with expensive ointment,
something she couldn't have afforded
otherwise.
We will note later in the chapter
that this miracle
is the final inciting incident
that would lead to Jesus' crucifixion.
John chapter 11
and verse 53.
This news goes out.
It's carried back to the Pharisees,
John tells us,
and verse 53 says,
so from that day on,
they made plans
to put him to death.
Jesus knows exactly
what he's doing.
He's going to raise Lazarus
from the dead
to teach something
of the resurrection
and that this incident
will forward,
press on God's plan
for his crucifixion.
Secondly,
I've noted before
that John uses the phrase
the Jews
in various forms
throughout his gospel
and that he most regularly
uses the phrase
to refer to the Jewish leaders
who are antagonistic
toward Jesus.
But in this case,
we have no reason
to believe
that is what he means.
This is one of those instances
where he likely
doesn't mean that
because some of these Jews
go and report
to the Pharisees
who are particularly
antagonistic
toward him.
The text seems
to communicate
that these are
well-meaning people
who know this family
and that they are grieved
alongside them
for their loss.
So they're gathered there
in Bethany
some days later
comforting Martha
and Mary
and grieving the loss
of this man.
Lazarus.
And then verse 20
tells us that
Martha hears
that Jesus is coming,
that he's on the road
and so she gets up.
Mary stays behind
but she gets up
and she goes
to meet him.
There's no need
to read anything
into this private meeting
or the one
that Jesus will attempt
to have with Mary
and there is speculation
concerning this.
But we ought to assume
that Martha
merely wants a moment
alone with Jesus
before having to return
and serve as the hostess
to the crowd
at her house.
If you've ever
been to a funeral
or participated
in the loss
of a near and dear one,
you've either
or you've watched
somebody else
have to host people
even in the midst
of your own grief.
So she steals away,
I think,
all that's happening here.
She wants a moment
with Jesus
before he arrives
with all of the other mourners.
Now,
before we get into
the details
of the rest
of the text
and this conversation
that they have,
I genuinely believe
that we'll be well served
by looking
at its literary structure.
I received a text
this week
that said
chiasms are important.
Don't let people bully you
into not pointing them out.
We have read
the text together.
I sure hope
you have a copy
of it sitting
in front of you.
If you don't,
the bulletin you were handed
has all of the text
found in it
and I would assume
that two phrases,
if you're paying attention
at all,
rightly,
two phrases
leapt off the page
at you.
The first,
these are the two
I'm assuming,
the first,
Jesus says,
I am the resurrection
and the life
in verse 25.
That leapt off.
I tried to read it
with some measure
of emphasis
as I read the text
to you.
I am the resurrection
and the life.
The other,
I'm assuming,
is verse 35.
It states simply,
Jesus wept.
These are not
unimportant phrases.
So don't hear me say
they're unimportant.
They are significant
phrases in this text.
But neither of them
are the chiastic
center
of the text.
We're going to talk
about chiasms.
If you are new here,
chiasm is a literary
structure found
all throughout literature.
It is found a lot
in the Bible.
And I've been arguing
in our study of John
that John uses
chiasms quite often
to draw our attention
to particular parts
of text.
It's a mnemonic device
meant to help people
remember stories.
Early church,
many of these stories
would have just been spoken.
So it's being used
in that way.
But even as we have
the written text
in front of us,
it's meant to help us
draw some emphasis,
give us a lens
by which we look at
the rest of the text.
So the word chiasm
comes from the Greek
letter for X,
chi.
And what it says to us,
and I always plot it out
and sometimes I do for you
in your bulletin,
is that the first part
of the text
corresponds to the last
part of the text
and so on.
So it feeds into a center,
a cross point,
so to speak.
So let me take a few moments
and show you
the chiastic structure
of this text.
I think it's really
going to help us see
what John's communicating here.
So notice first,
verse 18 and 19,
which corresponds
to verse 36 and 37.
You could underline
these things
in your bulletin
if you would like.
Notice that
Jesus travels to Bethany
near Jerusalem
and the Jews,
many Jews,
come to Mary and Martha
to console them
in verse 18 and 19.
And then you see
this speaking of the Jews
at the end,
verse 36 and 37.
So the Jews said,
but some of them said,
verse 37.
The next step in on this,
right, corresponding,
is verses 20 through 24,
corresponding with verses 28
through 35.
Bigger passages, right?
Notice the main thing
going on here
is Martha coming to Jesus
and then Mary,
along with the other mourners,
coming to Jesus.
Note the similarity
in their words.
Martha said to Jesus,
Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not
have died.
Mary in the same way.
Verse 32,
Lord, if you had been here,
my brother would not
have died.
Some significantly
different things
happening
with Martha
and with
Mary.
But these two things
correspond
to one another.
Then the next step in,
verse 25 and 26,
corresponds to verse 27.
Verse 25 says,
Jesus said to her,
and then verse 27,
she said to him.
And at the center
of all of this structure,
I will argue to you,
is the question
that Jesus asks.
Do you believe this?
I'm going to show you
how the two things
fold on top of each other
and lay as we go on.
But notice at the center
of this,
do you
believe this?
What is he referring to?
His statement
that he has made,
I am the resurrection
and the life.
Whoever believes in me,
though he die,
yet shall he live.
And everyone who lives
and believes in me
shall never
die.
Do
you
believe this?
And then her response,
yes, Lord,
I believe that you
are the Christ,
the Son of God,
who is coming
into the world.
So,
if we pick that up
as a lens,
I hope
it will help us
think the way
we should be
interpreting
Jesus' words
and then
his response
to the grieving
later on.
Now,
verse 21,
Martha
said
to Jesus.
Remember,
she is eager
to go meet with him,
to have this private
moment with him,
and she begins
with the word,
Lord.
Lord,
if you had
been here,
my brother
would not
have died,
but even now
I know
that whatever
you ask
from God,
God will give you.
Note the faith
of Martha.
She begins
with Lord,
and then
adds to the request,
the same request
that Mary makes,
she adds to that,
but even now
I know
that you can
raise Lazarus
from the dead,
is what is implied
in this statement.
And so,
Jesus
says to her,
in a measure
of ambiguity,
your brother
will
rise again.
And she
responds
with some
confusion,
I know
that he
will rise
again
in the
resurrection
on the
last day.
Now,
Martha,
because of
this declaration,
is showing
herself to be
of the
Pharisee
camp.
Theologically,
she believes
in the
resurrection.
There was
two major
groups in
this day,
the Pharisees
and the
Sadducees,
and they
had many
other
differences,
but the
primary
theological
debate that
they had
was whether
or not
there
would
be
a
resurrection.
In the
last day,
there would
be a
resurrection
from the
dead.
The
Pharisees
were more
conservative.
They were
the Bible
people of
the day.
The
Sadducees
tended not
to be.
And they
would have
taken up
a text
like Daniel
12,
too,
which says,
and many
of those
who sleep
in the
dust of
the earth
shall
awake,
some to
everlasting
life,
and some
to shame
and everlasting
contempt.
And believe
it.
And believe
that there
will in
fact be
a resurrection
on the
last day.
So Martha's
saying to
Jesus,
as he says,
your brother
will rise
again.
She's saying,
I know,
I know
someday he
will rise
again.
And in my
imagination,
she might have
gone on to
say,
but does that
give me hope
now?
Is that
something I
ought to
hang on to
now?
I'm feeling
the grief
of his
loss
now,
but Jesus
gets right
in front
of her
and says,
I am
the resurrection
and the
life.
Now,
this is the
fifth of
Jesus'
I am
statements,
right?
Connecting
himself to
the Godhead.
This chapter
is not the
first we have
heard Jesus
speak of
resurrection.
In chapter
five,
he has
stated that
he,
along with
the father,
raised the
dead.
Just of a
little
interesting
note,
there is
also a
chiastic
structure
between
chapter
five and
all the
way to
chapter
11.
And you
can guess
chapter
five and
chapter
11 do
in fact
correspond
with each
other.
In chapter
five,
he has
said,
in verse
21,
for as
the father
raises the
dead and
gives them
life,
so also
the son
gives life
to whom
he will.
In the
verse 25
and following,
truly,
I say
to you,
an hour
is coming
and is
now here
when the
dead will
hear the
voice of
the son
of God
and those
who hear
will live.
For as the
father has
life in
himself,
so he has
granted the
son also
to have
life in
himself.
He has
given him
authority to
execute
judgment
because he
is the
son of
man.
Do not
marvel at
this,
for an hour
is coming
when all
who are in
the tombs
will hear
his voice
and come
out,
those who
have done
good to the
resurrection
of life
and those
who have
done evil
to the
resurrection
of judgment.
So Jesus
has said
already and
not long
ago that
he has
the authority
over life
and death
and the
resurrection.
Here he is
drawing Martha
to see that
a belief in
resurrection is
not some
abstract thing
to believe
in,
but that the
very one
who provides
it is
standing
right.
in front
of her.
That's what
he's doing.
He says,
I am the
resurrection
and the
life.
I have the
power to
execute it.
It is
found in
me.
Christians
do not
just believe
in what
has been
promised by
faith in
Christ,
but in
Christ
himself.
Not just
what is
promised,
but in
Christ
himself.
here we
say again
and again
in presentations
of the
gospel that
we are to
repent,
that is,
turn from
our sin,
recognize that
it is an
offense against
the holy
God.
The word
repent means
literally to
change your
mind,
to not see
this as a
path we
ought to
pursue,
but to
see it as
a path
that should
be rejected,
discarded,
because it
is offensive
to God,
and to
turn by
faith in
Christ to
his
person
and his
work,
to who
he is
himself,
and to
all that
he has
accomplished
on our
behalf.
Both of
those are
very key
to understand.
So Jesus
says,
I am the
resurrection
and the
life.
There is no
resurrection nor
eternal life
outside of
the Lord
Jesus Christ.
He does
this similarly
in other
places,
like in
John chapter
6.
He talks
about food
that doesn't
perish.
Verse 27,
do not work
for the food
that perishes,
but for the
food that
endures to
eternal life,
which the
Son of Man
will give
you,
for on
him God
the Father
has set
his seal.
So Jesus
will give
us the
sustenance
that endures
to eternal
life.
And then he
says in
verse 35,
I am
the bread
of life.
It's me.
I will
give you
myself.
Whoever
comes to
me shall
not hunger
and whoever
believes in
me shall
never thirst.
That's what
Jesus is
doing for
Martha,
whom he
loves.
She's
looking to
this abstract
future reality
that,
yeah,
Jesus,
I know
Lazarus will
be raised
in that
final day
and he's
saying,
no,
I'm
standing
right in
front of
you right
now.
I am
the
resurrection
and the
life.
I'd
suggest to
you that
Martha has
faith and
Jesus is
bolstering her
faith with
this statement.
He goes on
to say,
whoever believes
in me,
though he
die,
yet shall
he live.
And everyone
who lives
and believes
in me
shall never
die.
He plays
with this
language.
Whoever
believes in
me,
who has
taken me
up,
we will
go through
an earthly
death,
but we
will live
spiritually
forever.
And the
one who
lives
spiritually
even now
will never
die
spiritually.
And then
he asks
the question,
do you
believe this?
Do you
believe this?
There should
be no
question to
us why
John might
structure this
text in
this way.
You've
heard me
say,
John chapter
20,
verse 30
and 31,
why did
John write
this gospel
account?
He says
there,
now Jesus
did many
other signs
in the
presence
of the
disciples,
which are
not written
in this
book.
But some
are,
are they
not?
Here in
John chapter
11,
we are about
to see
Jesus do
this work,
this sign
raising
Lazarus
from the
dead.
Verse 31,
John 20
says,
but these
are written
that you
may believe
that Jesus
is the
Christ,
the Son
of God,
and that
by believing
you may
have life.
in his
name.
Well,
I want us
to be the
kind of
people that
when we
read in
John chapter
11,
this statement
of our
Lord,
do you
believe this,
that our
minds are
triggered?
John chapter
20,
right?
That's why
John wrote
this.
Look at
what he's
doing as
he constructs
this text
under the
power of
the Spirit
to ask
the question
of us
today.
Jesus is
the
resurrection
and the
life.
Do you
believe this?
And she
responds,
yes,
Lord,
I believe
that you
are the
Christ,
the Son
of God,
who is
coming
into the
world.
Now,
notice with me
second,
so this is
Jesus'
arrival,
notice
secondly,
Jesus'
anger,
verses 28
through 33.
Now,
why would I
draw your
attention to
this portion
of text
by titling
it,
Jesus'
anger?
I hope
that was a
little bit
shocking to
you.
Because of
the phrase,
he was
deeply moved
in his
spirit and
greatly
troubled.
Now,
you may
have in
your Bible
a footnote
following
the first
part of
that phrase
that reads,
or was
indignant.
So it
could read,
he was
indignant
and greatly
troubled.
So what
are we
meant to
make of
this?
I use
the word
anger
first because
of its
alliteration
with my
other points.
Helpful
sometimes,
and I like
to do it
when I
can.
But,
more
importantly,
because I
think it
gets at
what John
is showing
us here.
This
Greek
root,
this is a
single word,
is used
only twice
in this
chapter and
four other
places in
the Gospels.
In those
places,
it's
translated,
sternly
warned,
or in the
case of
Mark,
chapter 14
and verse
5,
the
disciples,
a record
of Mary
anointing
Jesus
with the
ointment.
There are
14, 5,
it says,
for this
ointment
could have
been sold
for more
than these
hundred
denarii
and given
to the
poor,
and they
scolded
her.
That's the
same verb
root
found
there.
This is
not a
soft
word.
I think
deeply
moved is
a fair
translation,
but it's
deeply moved
in a
particular
way.
Deeply
moved,
indignant,
angered in
his spirit
inside of
him,
and,
John adds,
greatly
troubled.
Now,
I think
what translators
are trying to
do is
they're trying
to connect
to this
idea of
Jesus
weeping.
How does
all of
this come
together?
He doesn't
say things
loudly.
There's not
rebuke that's
following here.
They're trying
to help us
wrap our
minds around
what's
happening,
but I
think it
comes up
short.
I'm thankful
for the
footnote,
at least
in my
Bible,
that says
was
indignant.
Additionally,
recall our
literary
structure,
and how
it's supposed
to help
us think
of the
rest of
the text.
Do you
remember,
right?
Do you
believe
this?
And we
have this
correspondence
between
Martha,
who comes,
expresses a
great measure
of faith,
Jesus,
asks the
question,
and then
Mary,
who is
delayed,
Jesus has
to request
that she
come to
him,
verse 28,
right?
Martha goes
back,
says to
Mary,
the teacher
is here
and is
calling for
you.
She gets
up quickly,
she goes,
the mourners
follow,
and when she
arrives to him,
she says the
exact same
thing that
Martha
said.
Lord,
if you had
been here,
my brother
would not
have died.
And then
John tells us
in verse 33,
there's no more
talking at this
point.
When Jesus
saw her
weeping,
and the Jews
who had come
with her also
weeping,
he was
deeply moved
in his spirit
and greatly
troubled.
I think
what John
is communicating
to us,
you see on
the one
side of
the literary
structure,
belief,
and on
the other
side,
unbelief.
Not just
grief,
but grief
without
hope.
So,
what is it
that Jesus
is angry
at?
D.A.
Carson
writes this,
quote,
some think
that Jesus
is moved
by their
grief,
and is
consequently
angry with
the sin,
sickness,
and death
in this
fallen world
that wreaks
so much
havoc
and generates
so much
sorrow.
Others
think that
the anger
is directed
at the
unbelief
itself.
The men
and women
before him
were grieving
like pagans,
like the
rest of men
who have
no hope,
1 Thessalonians
4.13.
Profound
grief
at such
bereavement
is natural
enough.
grief
that
degenerates
to despair
that pours
out its
loss
as if
there
was
no
resurrection
is an
implicit
denial
of that
resurrection.
Those are
the two
options.
And the
D.A.
Carson
says,
perhaps
these two
interpretations
are not
irreconcilable.
And I
think that
this
is right.
What Jesus
feels here
is a
righteous
anger
at
unbelief
and all
the problems
it has
caused,
starting all
the way back
in the
garden
and still
causes
today.
perhaps
you felt
this kind
of
righteous
indignation
at the
trouble
that is
experienced
in this
world.
We see
things be
not as
they ought
to be,
brought about
by that
original
unbelief
in the
garden
and
perpetuated
on by
unbelief.
and we
are
grieved
by it.
Greatly
troubled,
moved
within.
You don't
feel this
at the
tragedy
of this
world.
I think
that you
should.
I know
that I
do.
It's so
often
expressed
in me
when I
hear the
news
come across
my table,
whether that's
out there
somewhere
or within
our own
congregation.
I just
go,
come Lord
Jesus.
I need
the hope
of the
resurrection
in those
times.
I need
to believe
this.
Jesus is
the
resurrection
and the
life.
We have
hope in
this world.
We do
not grieve
as those
without
hope,
but those
with
hope.
I think
this is
what troubles
him.
these two
things.
Sin has
caused so
much and
it was
started with
unbelief and
then the
unbelief
carries on
in the
world.
Notice
lastly,
Jesus'
affection.
There's our
final A.
Jesus'
affection.
And he
said,
this is his
response to
this grievous
grieving that's
going on.
Where have
you laid
him?
They said
to him,
Lord,
come and
see.
Jesus
wept.
What's
happening
then here?
Jesus is
angry.
Why is it
that he
is weeping?
I think
he also
grieves.
Now,
the Jews
said,
see how
he loved
him.
And this
is a
misunderstanding
because
Jesus
certainly
loved
Lazarus.
Chapter 11,
verse 5,
tells us
this very
thing.
When he's
told to
come,
the one
whom you
love
is sick.
But Jesus
knew full
well that
he was
about to
see him
again.
The glorious
thing that
he was
about to
do.
So I
don't think
that Jesus
is weeping
over the
loss of
Lazarus.
this often
gets preached
that way.
I've heard
it time
and time
again.
I don't
think that's
what's going
on here
at all.
Another
misunderstanding.
Some of
them said,
could not
he who
opened the
eyes of
the blind
man also
have kept
this man
from dying?
There's a
faith being
expressed here
in the works
but not
in the
person.
On the
one hand,
it can be
read as an
honest question
but note
that Jesus'
response in
verse 38
he is
deeply
moved
again.
Once again
indignant,
righteously
angry.
So I
think verse
35 when we
read that
Jesus weeps
we're meant
to see him
righteously
angry at
this hopeless
grief and
broken hearted.
An affection
for people
who will
not take
hold of
him as
the Christ.
A broken
heartedness,
a desire
to see
them.
He's right
there in
front of
them.
He's about
to do
this thing,
this miraculous
thing,
and yet
confused
about who
he is.
I'm going
to see
next week
some of
them are
going to
go off
and report
in order
to get
him in
trouble
about this
thing
that he
has done.
And so
this all
begs the
question,
do you
believe
Jesus
is the
resurrection
and the
life?
Because if
he is,
everything
changes.
If Jesus
is the
resurrection
and the
life,
then the
worst thing
this world
can do
to you
is not
the ultimate
thing.
If God
is for
us,
who can
be against
us?
If Jesus
is the
resurrection
and the
life,
then death
does not
own the
Christian.
If Jesus
is the
resurrection
and the
life,
then a
cemetery
is not
a permanent
residence
for the
bodies
of believers.
If Jesus
is the
resurrection
and the
life,
then every
Christian
funeral
takes place
under the
promise
of a
coming
resurrection.
We
grieve
with
hope.
One day
Christ
will speak
and the
dead
will
rise.
The
same
Jesus
who
will
stand
in front
of
Lazarus'
tomb
and cry,
Lazarus,
come out,
will one
day issue
a summons
heard by
every
grave.
The
dead
in Christ
will rise.
That is
not wishful
thinking,
that is
Christianity.
So
Christian,
you may
grieve.
You
will.
grieve.
Your
life may
not have
experienced
grief
yet,
but you
will
grieve.
Do
not imagine
that strong
faith
requires
stoicism.
There
will be
days
when you
cry,
days that
demand
tears.
There
will be
empty
rooms that
hurt to
enter.
There
will be
anniversaries
that reopen
wounds.
There
will be
moments
when a
smell,
a song,
a photograph,
some ordinary
object suddenly
brings back
the weight
of someone's
absence.
Grief is
real.
Jesus
wept.
But we
do not
grieve
without
hope.
We
hope in
Christ,
the
resurrection,
and the
life.
let's
pray
together.