The Resurrection and the Life
Passage John 11
Speaker Hugh Bourne
Service Evening
Series I Am sayings
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11 Now a man named Lazarus was ill. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay ill, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love is ill.’
4 When he heard this, Jesus said, ‘This illness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.’ 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go back to Judea.’
8 ‘But Rabbi,’ they said, ‘a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?’
9 Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the day-time will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.’
11 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.’
12 His disciples replied, ‘Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.’ 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14 So then he told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’
16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 ‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.’
23 Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’
24 Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’
25 Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?’
27 ‘Yes, Lord,’ she replied, ‘I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.’
28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. ‘The Teacher is here,’ she said, ‘and is asking for you.’ 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 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.
32 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.’
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 ‘Where have you laid him?’ he asked.
‘Come and see, Lord,’ they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’
37 But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 ‘Take away the stone,’ he said.
‘But, Lord,’ said Martha, the sister of the dead man, ‘by this time there is a bad odour, for he has been there four days.’
40 Then Jesus said, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?’
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.’
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ 44 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 grave clothes and let him go.’
45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
‘What are we accomplishing?’ they asked. ‘Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.’
49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, ‘You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realise that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.’
51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life.
54 Therefore Jesus no longer moved about publicly among the people of Judea. Instead he withdrew to a region near the wilderness, to a village called Ephraim, where he stayed with his disciples.
55 When it was almost time for the Jewish Passover, many went up from the country to Jerusalem for their ceremonial cleansing before the Passover. 56 They kept looking for Jesus, and as they stood in the temple courts they asked one another, ‘What do you think? Isn’t he coming to the festival at all?’ 57 But the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him.
Holy Bible, New International Version® Anglicized, NIV® Copyright © 1979, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
This transcript has been automatically generated, and therefore may not be 100% accurate.
I think our culture has a problem with death now. I mean, obviously we have a problem with death. We all die. That's a problem in itself. But we have a problem with thinking about death and how we talk about death.
Lots of people want to cheat death. You may know that there's at least 500 people around the world who are cryogenically frozen, waiting for one day to be brought back to life. I kind of think if that's going to happen, that we're all going to get killed by Jurassic park first, if that's the kind of technology we've got. But 500 people are waiting for that. Or you might have come across a chap called Brian Johnson.
He's a biohacker. What he does is he lives off blood transfusions from his son. So he takes his blood out and gets his younger son to put his blood in. Yuck. But he thinks by doing that, he's going to prolong his life.
If I put the blood of a younger person into me, I'm going to live longer. Biohacking. Do you know that was a thing. Or even some of the latest stuff we're seeing in this country around assisted dying. It's wanting us to be in control.
Actually, death, we find, is out of our control. So we want to be in control. I take lots of funeral services. I took a funeral service this week, actually. I got an email.
This is unrelated to anything. I got an email from the family and they said, thank you so much for your wonderful singing.
Anyway, that's beside the word. One of the things I hear at funerals lots is poems. People often aren't quite sure what. What to do in that situation. It's a tricky time.
There's all sorts of emotions and poems are a way that people try and explain to themselves what's going on. But a lot of the really popular poems people pick don't like to talk about death or try and minimise it. One famous one begins with the word death is nothing at all. I've just gone into the next room. Another one says, do not stand at my grave and weep.
I am not there. I did not die. Now, of course, in that situation, I want to be really kind and loving and help a grieving family. But we also want to see if that's. That's not quite true, is it?
The reason we're here is because someone has died. Our culture doesn't really know how to talk about death. And that's why Jesus words tonight are so helpful, so comforting, so countercultural, because Jesus speaks About death. Jesus shows us insights into death. And we're going to look more about that tonight.
We've been going through John's gospel, looking at Jesus' I am sayings. And our I am saying tonight comes in verse 25, where Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. I am the resurrection and the life. And we're going to look briefly at three things that we see Jesus do in this passage. The first thing comes before our reading tonight, and it's this.
Jesus waits. Jesus waits. You may have noticed that when our reading starts in verse 17, on his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now, if you read that, you might think, fair enough. But if you go back and look at the start of chapter 11, it says now, a man named Lazarus was ill.
He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. So the sister sent word to Jesus, lord, the one you love is ill. When he heard this, Jesus said, this illness 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 ill, he stayed where he was two more days.
He's heard his friend's ill. He's heard the one he loved is ill. So what does he do? Verse 6. He waits.
He stays two more days. What was he doing that was so important? But what was he doing that was so important that his dying friend would have to wait? We're not told exactly what he was doing, but nevertheless, Jesus waits. Why?
Well, there. It's there in verse four, isn't it? No, it is for God's glory, so that God's Son may be glorified through it. It's quite striking words, isn't it? Jesus saying that Lazarus illness isn't the main thing here.
Lazarus' death isn't the main thing here. Now, what's the main thing? God's glory. That God's Son may be glorified through it. A little bit later on, verse 11, Jesus says, and after this he had said this, he went on to tell them, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep.
He knows he's died, but I'm going there to wake him up.
And then look on to verses 14 and 15. So then he told them plainly, lazarus is dead, and for your sake, I'm glad I was not there so that you may believe. But let us go to him. It's quite a contrast, isn't it? Because when Martha first meets him, Jesus, she says, lord, if you'd been here, my brother would not have died.
And Jesus says to his disciples, it's good I wasn't there.
How do we explain what's going on here? Why? Why does Jesus wait? Why does he delay? We've seen the first answer, haven't we?
For God's glory. So that somehow, through this God and God's Son, the Lord Jesus might be glorified, might be held up for everyone to see how wonderful they are. And there, in verse 14, 15, so that they might believe, he speaks to his disciples. So that you may believe. He wants the disciples, through Lazarus death, to believe in him.
Why is it? How does that happen? Well, I think sometimes we think of Christianity, the Christian life. We think of the gospel as kind of a straight path. Here I am and heaven's over here.
And it's a journey of glory. Become a Christian, know God, enjoy him, get his glory. But that's not how any of the Bible works. Glory always comes through suffering. That's always the pattern in the Bible.
Glory here comes through Lazarus's death. Glory for Jesus comes in his death. When John's Gospel talks about the glory of the Son, it's pointing to Jesus death and resurrection. That's how we will know the glory of Jesus, through his suffering. You can think of other Bible stories too, can't you?
Think of the story of Joseph, how through his suffering, he was able to know more of God's glory, His plans, his purposes. Think of Ruth's story that we looked at a few months ago. Through famine, through death, through suffering, she came to experience God's glory.
Good things, God things come through suffering. And if you haven't yet experienced this in the Christian life, you will. You will see that God works through trials and sufferings to display his glory, to change you.
Most of you will probably know that my son Harry broke his leg a couple of weeks ago. It's been quite a couple of weeks. We had six nights in hospital, which was great fun. Thank you to the NHS for looking after us. And he is.
He's now home, but he's. He's in a wheelchair for six weeks. And one of our big prayers for Harry, who, if you know, Harry's got struggles beyond having a broken leg. And some of our big hopes for him have been that he grow in independence, that he grow in kind of social skills to be able to relate to more people, that he'd have confidence to go out with different members of the family. And this has been one of our prayers, one of Our hopes.
And in order to get there, I wouldn't have seen Harry break his leg. That's not a good thing. That's suffering for him. It's been suffering for us. But even through these last few weeks, we've seen Harry growing as he's had to engage with different people at the hospital, sorts of doctors and nurses and physio.
If you've seen Harry over the last few weeks, he's been more engaged with people, partly because he can't run away.
He's had to face it. He's been going out with different members of the family because we can't take him out every day. You know, some of the very things we were praying for and hoping for, even two weeks in, we're seeing fulfilled.
When we prayed that prayer, when we. We hoped that hope, we didn't want him to break his leg. But incredibly, God's using this trial, this circumstance to do things in Harry that we. We hoped and dreamed he would. God's glory comes through suffering.
That's how he works.
Jesus waits. It seems a ridiculous thing to do, but he does it so that they might see his glory, that they might believe. Here's the second thing Jesus does. Jesus speaks. Jesus speaks.
Verse 25. Jesus said to her, he's talking to Martha. There I am, the resurrection of life. The one who believes in me will live even though they die. And whoever lives by believing in me will never die.
Do you believe this? Jesus speaks words of truth to Martha. Look what else he says. Verse 23. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again.
Look at Martha's response. Verse 24. Martha answered, I know he will rise again in the resurrection, the last day. Martha, she's got great hope, hasn't she? She's got great faith.
She's got great trust. She's got great trust in what Jesus will do, even though Lazarus has died. She says, I know that God will give you whatever you ask for. She. She's got great trust.
But Jesus speaks words beyond that, words beyond Martha's faith. Martha's got hope for the future. I know you can do something in the future, Jesus. I know at the last day my brother will rise. I've got a hope for the future.
But Jesus speaks into the now. He says, I am the resurrection, the life. He's saying to Martha, the resurrection is here. I'm here. Life is now.
Eternal life begins today.
Jesus here presents himself to Martha not only as a future hope, but a present hope. Someone once said to me that the gospel isn't just pie in the sky when you die, it's steak on the plate while you wait. It's good news for today. It's not just a future hope, something to cling onto as a distant possibility. It's hope and good news for today.
So Jesus says to Martha, do you believe this? Not just. Do you believe your brother will rise at the end of time? Do you believe that I'm the resurrection and the life? Do you believe that I'm here with you now?
Jesus isn't just for the future, he's for today. And he gives this hope that actually eternal life begins today when we trust in Him. I wonder if that's you. Actually. It's easy to be like Martha, isn't it?
To have a future hope. I know it will be all right in the end. I know that at the end God will fix the world and it'll be all right. I believe in a heaven in the future. I've got that hope.
But Jesus says, do you believe in the present hope? Do you believe he's good news for today? Do you believe he cares about what you're going through today? That he's got power to hear and answer your prayers? That he cares about what you're going through?
That he can use your suffering for his glory? Today, Jesus comes and says, I am the resurrection, the life, not just a future hope, but here for you today, Jesus speaks. Here's the third thing that Jesus does. Jesus weeps. Then verse 35, shortest verse in the Bible, Jesus wept.
And as Jesus weeps, you might just be thinking, ah, more tears. I mean, a lot of tears. In this passage at verse 19, you get this little bit on, it says, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. These are probably people coming as like, professional mourners almost, people coming to show their tears as their way of support. And here Jesus does that too.
He weeps. He cries with them. Verse 36, the Jews say, see how he loved him. Tim Keller writes on this passion, he's got this really helpful observation that as Jesus ministers to the two sisters, Martha and Mary, he comes to Martha with words of truth, and he comes to Mary with tears, somehow expressing both his divine nature, I am the resurrection of life, and his human nature. He cries with Mary.
Jesus weeps, but he does more than weep. He's not just there to cry tears of support. Look at verse 38. With me, Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb.
Most of the people who've written on this passage, at any kind of Academic level. So this is probably the worst translation in the Bible. Deeply moved. Deeply. It's very passive and deeply moved.
The better translation might be something like Jesus bellowed with anger. The word used is the word for a horse snorting. It's outrageous, is anger. He's livid. Not just deeply moved, he is angry.
There is a. There's another poem that's sometimes used at funerals, which is probably more appropriate at this point. It's a poem by Dylan Thomas, the Welsh poet. I don't know if you know it. Do not go gentle into that good night.
Old age should burn and rave at close of day. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Here Jesus rages, rages at death. He's angry. Death is an intruder, an imposter.
Death does not belong here. In the presence of the resurrection, alive. He's angry at the presence of death itself. But I think too, he's angry at that sense of unbelief. Here we are gathered at the tomb.
Everyone's crying and they can't see who it is who's standing there with them. Life is here. What are you crying for? Resurrection is here. Why are you crying?
Jesus is here. Death has no place when Jesus is around.
But you might well question what Jesus is doing here. In fact, that's what the Jews do in verse 37. But some of them said, could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying? What are you doing, Jesus? You healed the blind man.
We saw what you did. And now here you are, four days on, and the tomb smells.
Verse 38. 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, by this time there is a bad odour, for he has been in there four days.
Why did Jesus wait? Why did he leave it four days? I think part of it was that people would know Lazarus was really dead. They could smell him. He really was dead.
Jesus wasn't just coming to wake him up from an actual sleep, wasn't just coming to resuscitate him. No. He was coming to bring him back from the dead. A powerful miracle, a powerful sign. Jesus says again, doesn't he?
Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? He's about to show them. He's about to show them God's glory. And he prays to his father. Martha's already said that, hasn't he?
Whatever you ask your Father, for I know he'll do. And so he asks his father. Verse 43. When he had said this, Jesus called out in a loud voice, lazarus, come out. The dead man came out.
His hands and his feet wrapped with strips of linen and cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, take off the grave clothes and let him go.
Jesus, the one with power over life and death. Power over the grave. There was a comment made by a 19th century preacher, Charles Spurgeon. He made the point, he calls the name Lazarus to stop everyone else coming out from the grave. Lazarus, come out.
Just you. He's got the power to raise everyone from the dead. But Lazarus, just you today. And it is just Lazarus today, isn't it? Because this is a sign.
John's Gospel is full of signs. There's seven big signs in John's gospel and this is the seventh. This is the climax. What's Jesus all about? What's this sign all about?
Jesus is the one with power over life and death. He's the one who can call people out of the grave. He's the one who can call you out of the grave. Because he is the resurrection life. And to this amazing event, we see all sorts of responses.
We've seen Martha's Response in verse 27, I believe you're the Messiah, the Son of God. She believes. She believes Jesus can do it. We've seen Mary's response in verse 32. She fell at his feet and said, lord, if you'd been here, my brother would not have died.
He fell at his feet. She worshipped him. Mary knew who Jesus was. Then we see, looking on, the response of the different Jews. Verse 45.
Some believe some became disciples that day when they saw what Jesus had done. Others in verse 46 rejected him. They went and told the Pharisees and they plot to kill Jesus. It's a ridiculous irony, isn't it? Jesus, the resurrection of life brings the man out of the grave.
They say, what should we do? Kill him?
Let's kill the resurrection of life. There's another response in chapter 12. That's the response of Lazarus. We see Lazarus in the next chapter. He's having a meal with Jesus and what's he doing?
He's testifying. This is the man who brought me out of the grave. I was dead. I was in there for four days. He saved me.
He rescued me. But the only response that really matters is your response.
Verse 26. Do you believe this? Jesus puts the truth out there. I am the resurrection of the life. He gives everyone a sign to see it as he calls Lazarus out from the grave.
And there he is in the next chapter, living proof. And then he does it again with himself. Jesus goes into the tomb, bearing on him the weight of sin. The punishment for everything we've done wrong puts him in the tomb. If it was us, we'd be dead and buried.
But not with Jesus. Not with the resurrection, the life. It's not just that he's got the power to do it for others. It's that he's got the power within himself. I am the resurrection of life.
Jesus has life and he gives life to others. Do you believe this? I'd love just to close with a spoken word. Not by me. I'm rubbish at that kind of stuff.
But we're going to watch a little video from our friend Glenn down in Eastbourne. Who's done a poem based on this passage.
If you'd been here, my brother would not have died. If you'd tried. Were you otherwise occupied? Were you hiding? Biding your time?
For what? A deeper challenge? A grander entrance? A brighter glory? A better story.
The nick of time is a good story. That would do. 11th hour you'd come through. Midnight you were due now. Tapas two.
Where were you?
If you'd been here, my brother would not have died. You were meant to ride in on the white horse. Enter the fray the dragon slay, save the day. Did you hear us pray?
Did you want it this way? If you've been here to stop him dying, why are you crying? You're meant to be death defying. Why are you sighing? At the tomb decrying mortal wound, why in God's name are you curing?
For the same, you're commander in chief. We demanded relief. Now you landed beneath all our sorrows and grief. Now it's you on your knees, empty handed bequeathing is none of our pleas. Is this what you chose to bring?
Only tears? We got plenty of those.
Why are you here? You say to draw near and then to sink like a stone past the brink of the chasm we desperately fear. In darkness unfolded our terrors you shouldered while pierced by the nails and the spear. You have been here, you've stooped far below all depths that we know. Engulfed in our weeping and woe.
Submerged in the grave, then risen to save. Upending assumptions we'd made.
See if you had been here the way that we prayed, we'd only succeed in death's delayed. We'd only evade the reaper for now, but soon we would bow. Soon we'd be ploughed in the ground with no one to please. Yet through you, death's a gardener and we are the seed. This is the path Resurrection decreed.
If you will be here, drawing near, that will do for now. To know you, in your grace, we can face what is true. As in Adam the world dies, so in Christ all will rise when you appear, my brother too, you wipe away tears when darkness clears, when morning has cheered, when joy swallows fear. Here's how we'll cope this out. For love you will be here.
