Valley Bible Church Sermon Transcript

Transcription

1 Lazarus, Come Forth John 11:7-16 Part Two This weekend we will have the opportunity to look at a man we might think we know very well. And who is that man? This weekend we will have the opportunity to look at Thomas. Perhaps you might know him better as doubting Thomas. Even though we may have heard people refer to him as doubting Thomas, this probably is not the most fitting label for him. It probably is fair, however, to say that Thomas was a somewhat negative person. He was a worrywart. He was a brooder. He tended to be anxious and angst-ridden. He was like Eeyore in Winnie the Pooh. He anticipated the worst all the time. Pessimism, rather than doubt, seems to have been his besetting sin. Yet despite his pessimism, there are some wonderfully redeeming elements of his character that hopefully will come alive for us this weekend, elements of character that hopefully will not only be convicting but inspiring. We are presently considering the Apostle John s account of the resurrection of Lazarus in John 11:1-57. We have broken this account of the resurrection into four different parts. We are now considering the very first part: The preparation for the miracle (John 11:1-16). In attempting to break these sixteen verses into bite size chunks, we have isolated four different sets of characters. We have already considered two of these sets. The first character was the critically ill man (John 11:2). Let me read for you John 11:1-2. Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (2) And it was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. In these verses we not only learned the identity of this critically ill man but we learned where he lived, the identity of his two sisters and how close this group of siblings was to Christ. The second set of characters was the concerned sisters (John 11:3-6). Let me read these verses for you. The sisters therefore sent to Him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick. (4) But when Jesus heard it, He said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it. (5) Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. (6) When therefore He heard that he was sick, He stayed then two days longer in the place where He was. In these verses we considered how the sisters of Lazarus, rather than appealing to Christ to do something, simply and humbly informed Jesus of their brother s illness, casting their care upon Him knowing that He cared for them. How did Jesus respond to their message? Jesus, in response to their message, informed the disciples that the purpose for Lazarus current illness was not death but

2 rather the glory of God and consequently the glory of the Son. We are not told specifically how the disciples understood Christ s words, but based on the verses that follow, they most likely understood Christ to mean that Lazarus would not die from his current illness. This, of course, was a misunderstanding. We know that it was a misunderstanding because we know the story. And because we know the story, we know that when Christ told His disciples that the sickness of Lazarus was not unto death, He meant that the death of Lazarus would not be the final outcome of his illness. Jesus certainly did not mean that Lazarus would not die. This misunderstanding by Christ s disciples leads us to the third set of characters. The third set of characters is the cringing disciples (John 11:7-10). Let me read for you John 11:7-10. Then after this He said to the disciples, Let us go to Judea again. (8) The disciples said to Him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again? (9) 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. (10) But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. Let us begin by looking at verse 7. How does it begin? It says, Then after this. When John says then after this, he is referring to the two days in verse 6 that had just passed since Jesus had gotten the message that Lazarus was sick. So what happened after these two days had just past? John goes on to say, Then after this He [Jesus] said to the disciples, Let us go to Judea again. Notice Jesus did not say let us go to Bethany to the home our friends. No, this is not what He said, rather He said to them, Let us go to Judea. So, how will the disciples respond to this stated intention by Christ? Let us read John 11:8. The disciples said to Him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again? The attempted stoning they are referring to is the attempting stoning recorded for us near the end of John 10 at the feast of the dedication. The disciples were confused about Jesus intentions. They didn t understand why He wanted to return to Judea, the very place He had just escaped from. And they probably also did not understand why He would want to leave a place on the east side of the Jordan River where their ministry was presently so effective, based on John 10:42. It appears from their comment that it made much more sense to them to build up their new area of ministry in the area east of Jordan rather than to go back to Judea and very likely be stoned. So, how will Jesus respond to His cringing disciples? Let us now read John 11:9-10. 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. (10) But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. Obviously Christ is trying to minister to the fear of His disciples, but what did Christ mean by these words? What was Jesus trying to communicate to His disciples?

3 Let us, first of all, consider what Christ meant when He referred to there being twelve hours in the day in verse 9. When Jesus referred to there being twelve hours in the day, He was speaking of the ordinary Jewish workday, which extended from morning to evening and was then divided into twelve hours. Then what did Jesus say? Let us continue to read. If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. This makes sense. If an individual were walking in the light of this world, when the sun is shining brightly in the heavens, then, of course, you would not expect them to stumble. Now, how should we understand these words in light of the context? Is He only speaking of a normal Jewish work day that is governed by the light of the sun, or is He speaking of some deeper spiritual truth that should be obvious to us in light of the context. I believe, because of the context, Jesus is speaking of a deeper spiritual truth. Jesus had just announced His intention of returning to Judea. He had announced His intention to return to a place that His disciples believed not only put His life in danger but their lives as well. It was as if the disciples believed that the length of Christ s life and their lives would ultimately be determined by the actions of men rather than by the sovereign plan of God. Their fear had to be addressed. And Jesus did in verse 9, when by speaking of the Jewish twelve-hour workday, spoke of a deeper spiritual truth. And what was that truth? When Jesus referred to the normal Jewish working day, He referred to the specific amount of time that God allotted to each man to serve Him and to accomplish His purposes. Each one of us only have so much time, or in other words, so much light that has been given us by God, and the actions of men will not be able to increase or decrease that amount time, or in other words, the actions of men will not be able to increase or decrease the amount of light that God has fixed according to His eternal plan. So what happens when our allotted amount of time, or in other words, our allotted amount of light runs out? Let me read for you John 11:10. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. When the allotted amount of time, or in other words, the allotted amount of light that God has given us runs out, Jesus describes us as walking in the night. What is the significance of walking in the night? Those who are described as walking in the night stumble, or in other words, those who are described as walking in the night have died and have come to the end of their life s work. There is only a brief period of time that God has allotted to each of us to carry out His work and that period of time has been fixed by God. We cannot alter it, and neither can the enemies of Christ alter it. This is the point that Christ is making to His cringing disciples in John 11:9-10.

4 He has no fear in going to Judea, because He knew that His enemies would not be able to extinguish His light, or in other words His life (until His Father s purpose for sending Him into this world had been completed in the amount of time that He had been allotted). He may be in the twelfth hour of His work day, but His twelve-hour workday was not going to be cut short simply because He intended to go to Judea, and neither would His disciples twelve-hour workday. This truth has implications for us as the disciples of Christ. Disciples of Christ need to be more concerned with doing the work of God than extending the length of their lives. I am not saying that you should not try and eat right. I am not saying that you should not try to exercise. I am not saying that you should not seek to have regular physicals. I am not saying that you should not avoid as many dangerous situations as possible. I am not saying any of those things. But I am saying this: since we cannot add or subtract from the allotted amount of time that God has given us to do His work, we should be more concerned about doing His work than extending the length of our lives. Having addressed His disciples misplaced fear about going back to Judea in John 11:9-10, Jesus then goes on to tell them why He wants to return. So, we go from the cringing disciples in John 11:7-10 to the fourth set of characters. The fourth character is the confident Christ (John 11:11-16). Let us now read John 11:11. This He said, and after that He said to them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, that I may awaken him out of sleep. So, there is the explanation. He is now telling them why He wants to go back to Judea even in spite of the danger. The reason why Jesus needed to go back to Judea was because He had work to do there. He needed to wake Lazarus out of sleep (John 11:11). Did His disciples have any clue what He was talking about? No! Let me read for you John 11:12. The disciples therefore said to Him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. The disciples understood Christ s reference to Lazarus sleep as a literal sleep, most likely associated with his illness that they believed he would recover from (John 11:12-13). But then Jesus then clarifies for them exactly what He meant. Let me read for you John 11:14. Then Jesus therefore said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead. Christ clarified for His disciples that when He told them Lazarus was asleep He meant that he was dead (John 11:14). The disciples were probably shocked by Christ s clarification since they most likely had expected, based on the earlier words of Christ, that Lazarus would recover. But the shock of the disciples would have stood in stark contrast to the confidence of Christ. Christ was confidant He would raise Lazarus from the dead, and his resurrection would have a greater impact on the faith of His disciples than if He had healed Lazarus earlier (John 11:15). Let me read for you John 11:15. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe, but let us go to him. Christ s point was that if He had been in Bethany earlier when Lazarus was ill He certainly would have healed Lazarus. But obviously He had not been in Bethany earlier, and this was not by accident. He didn t just want His disciples to see Him as a healer but also as the resurrection and the life.

5 So, did the disciples get Christ s point? Did they understand that Christ was going to Bethany, not to wake Lazarus out of literal sleep but out of death itself? I sincerely doubt it. They still did not have the sufficient faith to understand the meaning behind the words of Christ. So, how did they respond? Perhaps it would better for me to ask how did Thomas respond? Let me read for you John 11:16. Thomas therefore, who is called Didymus [or twin], said to his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with Him. Now that is a pessimistic response, don t you think? Christ had just explained to them how nothing was going to happen to Him or to them before the time allotted by God had been fully expended. He had just spoken about the waking of Lazarus out of the sleep of death which was a clear reference to the miracle of resurrection, and all Thomas could think about was Christ s impending death. But if that was what Christ was determined to do then Thomas was grimly determined to go and die with Him. You have to admire his courage. It is not easy to be a pessimist. It is a miserable way to live. An optimist might have said, Let us go; everything will work out. The Lord knows what He is doing. There still seems to be plenty of light left for us to do the Lord s work. We will not stumble. But the pessimist says, He s going to die, and we re going to die with Him. But there is something very special about this. Thomas had the courage to be loyal, even in the face of his pessimism. It is much easier for an optimist to be loyal. He always expects the best. It is a hard thing for a pessimist like Thomas to be loyal, because he is convinced the worst is going to happen. Thomas was devoted to Christ. He may have been the equal to John in this regard. When we think about someone who loved Jesus and was intimate with Him, we usually think of John, because he was always near Jesus. But it is clear from this account that Thomas also wanted to be near even if it meant his death. He did not want to live without Jesus. If Jesus was going to die, Thomas was prepared to die with Him. In essence he says, Guys, suck it up; Let s go and die. Better to die and be with Christ than to be left behind. Thomas was an example of strength to the rest of the apostles. It appears that they collectively followed his lead at this point and said, Okay, let s go and die. And how do we know this? They did go with Him to Bethany. Thomas obviously had a deep devotion to Christ that could not be dampened even by his own pessimism. He had no illusion that following Jesus would be easy. All he could see were the jaws of death opening to swallow him, but he followed Jesus with an undaunted courage. Thomas preferred to die with Christ than to be left behind while Christ went on to Bethany without Him. As I shared with you at the beginning of this message, I hoped that if we would begin to see Thomas as more of a pessimist than as a doubter, that the Lord might use this new way of looking at Thomas to convict us and to stretch us. So, let me ask you a question. Should the disciples of Christ anticipate easy times or hard times as they look to the future in terms of what they might have to suffer as they try and stay close to Jesus and follow in His footsteps? The answer is what? Hard times!

6 Let me read for you Philippians 1:29. For to you it has been granted for Christ s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake. Forgiving people, as Christ wants us to forgive people, is not easy but hard. Serving people, as Christ wants us to serve people, is hard. Giving our financial resources to people, as Christ wants us to give our financial resources to people, is hard. Proclaiming the gospel, as Christ wants us to proclaim the gospel, is hard. Staying close to Jesus and walking in His footsteps is not easy, so when we look to the future, we should not anticipate that our lives will be easy. We, like Thomas, in terms of this life, should actually anticipate the worst. And as we consider the cost of following Jesus closely, should we shrink back in fear or should we press forward with courageous pessimism? Hopefully we will be so much in love with Jesus and desiring to be close to Him that we will press forward with courageous pessimism and encourage others to press forward as well. I don t want to be a fair-weather disciple. For to you it has been granted for Christ s sake, not only to believe in Him, but also to suffer for His sake.