John 11:25 Jesus is the Resurrection and Life

Transcription

1 John 11:25 Jesus is the Resurrection and Life It never fails to amaze me how Jesus introduced himself in John s Gospel he saw himself as the great I am in other words, he is the God of all our yesterdays, he is the God of all our tomorrows, and he s also the God of today, the God of this very moment, he is the God of the now the I am God. It adds a sparkle to the verse in Hebrews 13, where we read that: Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. It seems to me there are echoes from the Old Testament in that choice phrase, the I AM God... you ll remember that s how he revealed himself to Moses at the Burning Bush. Here is a God who is not past his sell-by date, he s not a has-been God, but he is one who is timeless and eternal. He is the present-tense God. You have well called your series of Saturday evening studies: Our Wonderful Lord! The reason why is fairly obvious he is wonderful and he certainly lives up to his name. In the best sense of the word, he is full of wonders. Up to this chapter, four times Jesus has said I am one, I am the bread of life, he sustains us on the journey of life; two, I am the light of the world, he illumines our path; three, I am the door, he s the one and only way in to the near presence of God; four, I am the good shepherd, he leads us and guides us; then, right here, in verse 25, we read that he is the resurrection and the life yes, he gives us hope in a world where hope is at a premium; two more will follow, I am the way, the truth, and the life for he gives added meaning to the daily grind of living; then we have the final I am saying in John 15:1, where Jesus said: I am the true vine, that is, he supports us and enables us to live a fruitful life. Before we get into John 11 and start to unpack some of these life-changing truths, let me give you a general overview of the chapter. It s a moving story of one family a family that has encountered loss, a family where hearts are grieving and tears flow freely. It could be any one of us, for death intrudes into all of our lives at one time or another. It comes knocking at the front door of every home at some point... that said, it s also a story of bright hope in the midst of despair. We re so privileged, we re able to look behind the scenes; it s a peek behind the curtains, as it were; we re given a glimpse into the village home of two sisters who are devastated, two sisters for whom the bottom has fallen out of their tiny world; but that is not all, we re also given a glimpse into the heart of the Lord Jesus. And, you ve guessed it, Jesus is the one who makes a world of difference indeed, he makes all the difference in the world. I think this seventh and last miracle in the gospel of

2 John offers proof that Jesus is not just Lord of this world, but also Lord of the next. He is not just Lord of today, but also Lord of the most distant tomorrows. Yes, he is there when we need him most! You see, because he s been there and done that, it means he is one who can be trusted in the good times as well as in the bad times. This Jesus is one who confronted death, he is one who challenged death, and he ultimately conquered death. When we start to unpack the story, it seems to me there are three great reasons why we should not fear death number one, we die within the circle of God s love. Back in the Bethany bungalow, things were going pear shaped Lazarus has taken seriously ill. His two sisters are taking it really bad I mean, they re struggling to cope, they re finding it tough to get a handle on things. We don t know for sure, but I reckon Lazarus was their little brother and, girls being girls, they probably pampered him. They spoiled him rotten! Now he s sicky bad, no well and they don t know what to do. They re in a bit of a tizzy. They do the first best thing they send word to Jesus, in verse 3: Lord, the one you love is sick. The immediate response of Jesus is breathtaking, especially in light of the strong links he had with the family... we read that he 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. That s ok, in fact, that s a huge plus so far as Lazarus is concerned; he may appear to be on the blink, but it s not the end of the road. He ll bounce back! On a human level, it didn t quite work out that way, for we know what happened next we have the benefit of 20/20 vision in hindsight. He died, but Jesus worked a miracle and the rest is history. John inserts a kind of throwaway comment in verse 5 when he informs us that Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. To put it simply, these were very special folks, their home was an oasis for Jesus on many occasions the kind of place he could throw off his sandals and let his hair down; a place where he could relax and unwind. It was a real home from home. It was a bolthole, a haven, away from the demands and pressures of life on the outside. Thank God for places just like that! It s worth noting that Jesus loved Lazarus, sure he did, but that did not prevent Lazarus from going through some pretty tough times in his life it certainly didn t mean a storm free passage on the sea of life. It didn t mean an easy ride if anything, it was a rollercoaster of highs and lows. It does mean, however, a safe landing. Just because we pass through deep waters doesn t mean that God loves us any less the fact is, his love for you and me is unchanging; how true it is that he can t love us any more and he won t love us any less!

3 It amazes me that Jesus didn t cut short what he was doing on the other side of the Jordan. Why didn t he make a beeline as fast as he could to Bethany they needed him there, and he was their very best friend. Why did he stay where he was for an extra couple of days? I don t know, but what I do know is this, the Lord has his own way of doing things he has his own time table, he has his own schedule; and he never gets it wrong. When the messenger got back to Bethany and told the sisters what Jesus had said, the chances are that Lazarus was already dead at that point it must have thrown them into a tailspin. Jesus said one thing, yet their brother has breathed his last, he s out cold. It didn t seem to make sense; it must have left them mystified and totally confused big questions in their mind... but we can t always unravel the mystery of God s ways. Yes, when our time comes, we die within the circle of God s love; but... we also die within the circle of God s providence. The unmistakable fact is this, the Lord knows what he is doing, not just some of the time, or most of the time, but all the time. His finger is always on the pulse or to change the analogy, the Lord never takes his eye off the ball. Why did Jesus not spare Martha her bitter tears? Why was he not moved to action by the sorrow that threatened to break the tender, soft heart of Mary? Why did he not go from A to B and save the family any more anguish and agony? Why did he put them through such an emotional tsunami? Why? Well, why not? We need to remember that Jesus is not in the business of causing any one of us a needless tear, but he is keen to strengthen our faith he does not shield us from the trials because he wants to use them to teach us so much more about himself. Not unlike the testimony of David in Psalm 119 his one liner says it all: It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees (verse 71). The story is told of the preacher Phillips Brooks, he s the man who wrote the Christmas carol, O Little Town of Bethlehem. He was nervously pacing the floor of his study, he was like a caged lion. When a friend asked him what was troubling him, the preacher replied: The trouble is that I m in a hurry and God isn t. He not only sees today as the I AM, he also sees what will happen tomorrow for he is focused on the big picture. The delays of Deity are not because he is insensitive to our present needs, but because he is tuned in to our ultimate needs. There are immense benefits and blessings in those tears. He not only sees us as we are, he sees what we can become... that s where his grace is just what we need, when we need it; that s when he sculpts us, like clay in the potter s hand. When the news got out that Jesus was close to Bethany, dear Martha ran out to meet him. Basically, she needed to clear her chest her

4 first words to Jesus give us an idea of what made her tick: Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Did you catch that Lord, IF YOU... Jesus told her a few things in verse 23, but Martha didn t put two and two together their lines were crossed. That s when Jesus said what he did in verse 25: I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Those words touch both time and eternity. After this brief encounter, Martha went back home and hailed for her sister Mary. And guess what happened... Mary s first words to Jesus were: Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. There she is down at the feet of Jesus, a place of submission, a place of worship and adoration; even there, she can t understand why the Lord didn t intervene and answer her prayers the way she wanted them answered. Isn t it true, folks any funerals I ve been to, and even when they have left my front door, the questions fly around from all angles but, more often than not, there is the big Why? It s a question we often ask, it s something we often say, if only. If only I hadn t... if only I had... if only... I am reminded of the words of the anonymous poet when he said... it is Not till the loom is silent and the shuttles cease to fly, will God unroll the canvas and explain the reason why, the dark threads are as needful in the weaver s skilful hand, as the threads of gold and silver in the pattern he has planned. I don t have any pat answers, but I do know that this is where the providence of God enters the frame. God makes no mistakes, he is too wise for that; he knows the end from the beginning; he sees when a tiny sparrow falls to the ground and how much more is his care and compassion for you and me. It seems to me that we are safe and secure in the arms of Jesus, nothing can move us from his heart no one can separate us from his love, so declared Paul with gusto and confidence in Romans 8. We see something of the awesome sympathy of Jesus in verse 35 where we read that he wept. That s the shortest verse in your Bible and mine the shortest verse in English, but not in the Greek translation. This God of stunning, sensational power is not a dry-eyed God; he s a man, a man who genuinely feels for us, a man who wears his feelings on his sleeve someone who is not ashamed to shed litres of holy water. There are those times when silence is golden, when the voice is silent, when tears are the language of the heart and soul. Tears in such moments speak volumes... They came to the tomb, they rolled the stone away, but it was the Lord who raised Lazarus from the dead. He is all that he claims to be he is the resurrection and the life! Yes, there are things we can do, but there are some

5 things that only God can do. As they say, blessed are those who can tell the difference! That s when Jesus prayed a prayer of thanksgiving; a prayer that tells me that God is not deaf for his ears hear every cry; a prayer that reveals that the two of them are singing from the same song sheet they are one in heart. Then the magic moment, when Jesus shouted: Lazarus, come out! And guess what happened he came out! Yes, he did! As large as life. John says, the dead man came out... well, it seems to me if he could walk out of that tomb then he wasn t a dead man! He may have had all the garments of a dead man, but he was never more alive! For the world, seeing is believing for those who trust Jesus, believing is seeing! Hey, if he hadn t have singled Lazarus out he would have emptied the entire cemetery! The message at the end of verse 44 is clear: take off the grave clothes and let him go. Well, I reckon that s the mega challenge for you and me this evening we need to get rid of the grave clothes and put on the grace clothes... we need to be loosed and let go! What was Lazarus thinking? One minute he was in Paradise, now he s back in Bethany! The reality is, he d have been far better off where he was one day he would go through it all again! The lesson is, the God by whose providence he died is the God by whose providence he lives. The final thought is, when our number is called, we die within the circle of God s purpose. Because Jesus is who he is, he did what he did! Jesus proved that he has the power to reverse the process of death. Paul posed the big question in 1 Corinthians 15: Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? This is what leaves people gasping, with open mouths they stand in awe of him! You see, if Jesus had healed Lazarus as the sisters wanted him to do sure, that would have been a great miracle, no doubts about that; but a resurrected Lazarus is an even greater miracle. In one swoop, death has been conquered. It reminds me of the words in the Stuart Townend song, See what a Morning, where he writes: Death is dead, love has won, Christ has conquered. I can t explain it, but I know it s true another purpose is that Jesus desired to build faith in the lives of his followers. He was glad for what the sorrow accomplished, we see that in verse 15 it proved that he was as good as his word. In a sense, death is our ultimate opportunity to glorify the Lord. We want to go out with a bang, not a whimper. Yes, we long for a triumphant entrance, a royal welcome, on the other side. It s not just about you and I living well, it s when the crunch comes, we want also to die well! The final purpose is that it substantiated the claim of Jesus he is the resurrection and the life! When we die, our body goes to dust, it

6 wastes away but we re very much alive. In fact, it was D L Moody who said: Someday you will hear that Moody is dead. Don t you believe it. I ll be more alive than I ever was. One day in the plan of God, we too shall rise, not with a body like Lazarus, but with a glorified body like Jesus. John jumps on the bandwagon when he writes these magnificent words: We shall be like him for we shall see him as he is. The resurrection proves that for us, death is transitional, not terminal. We re going home! It s a stepping stone to eternity in the presence of the One whom we love it s the gateway to God s heaven! Hey, because of what he did for a man called Lazarus, we take heart, because we know that we are pilgrims bound for the heavenly land; our journey is not a ride into the sunset, but into the sunrise! I take heart from the words penned by William Cowper: God moves in a mysterious way, his wonders to perform; he plants his footsteps in the sea, and rides upon the storm. Ye fearful saints, fresh courage take; the clouds ye so much dread are big with mercy, and shall break in blessings on your head. His purposes will ripen fast, unfolding every hour; the bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower. That s it the bud may have a bitter taste, but sweet will be the flower! Just like Aaron s rod that budded... there s life in all its fulness in the Lord Jesus! You ask me how I know he lives well, he lives within my heart; and, come to think of it, I talked with him this morning!