The Gospel of John. Resurrection Life? ~ Part 3 John 11:1-54

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1 The Gospel of John Resurrection Life? ~ Part 3 John 11:1-54 A S SOON AS THE MEN in the Chamber of Hewn Stones came to order, the high priest announced his reason for convening the council again under unusual circumstances. Jesus of Nazareth, he said. This Jesus of Nazareth is seizing the imaginations of the people. Tens of thousands say they belong to him. Actually, they say they believe in him. They love the signs, they marvel at his wonders, and now it is reported that he has raised a man from the dead. Dead for four days, his soul surely gone from the body, yet so these enthusiasts say Jesus of Nazareth gave him life again. He is here, sirs. Right now the dead man is walking the streets of Bethany, and people can go and see the proof for themselves. So, then, said a member of the council, what are we going to do? Another man, a Pharisee, said, It isn t these signs only. It s his rhetoric, too. Jesus of Nazareth denounces us wherever he goes. Not the Romans, but us, his own people. He s a Galilean, isn t he? said a third. How many messiahs have come out of Galilee in the last years? It s a cauldron of revolution. But this one damns us in public and the people love it! His language is fiery. His effect is frightening. What are we going to do about him? If we let him go on like this, soon the whole country will be chasing after him. And if he appears at Passover this year, he could tear the city apart with riot. Yes, and then what? Why, the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation. What are we going to do? I think we should murder the fellow he raised from the dead. 1 VII The Christ Revealed to Israel Chapter 2:1-12:50 S. The Restoration of Lazarus Chapter 11: Christ s Power Verses Epilogue Verse 45 T. The Reaction to Lazarus Restoration Verses Introduction: We have seen and discussed the impact of grief last week and both Martha and Mary turned to Jesus in their grief over the death of their brother Lazarus. We saw that Jesus grieved for their pain, even knowing that He was to restore Lazarus to life. The one thought that kept coming from all concerned was, if Jesus had simply come earlier He could have healed Lazarus. It s amazing how even some in the crowd voiced this. And of course the statement was a valid one. It s similar to ones we ve all heard. Why did God allow this to happen? And implicit in that is the same point. God/Jesus has/had the ability to intervene. Why didn t He? 1 Wangerin Jr., Walter; The Book of God, Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, MI, 2010, p

2 Of course Jesus gave one answer to His disciples when He explained to the disciples why He had waited to go to Bethany, why He allowed Lazarus to die. Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe (John 11:14 15 ESV). And so last time we left Jesus, Martha and Mary, the disciples and the crowd on their way to the burial site of Lazarus. The group also included a crowd of mourners from Jerusalem had come along. As for the disciples they were about to learn just what Jesus meant when He said this was for their sakes. Finally keep one important point in mind as Jesus prepares to act. The shadow of the cross hangs over all these events. It is only a matter of days before a stone will be place over Joseph of Arimathea s tomb and inside the crucified Christ. When it was evening, there came a rich man from Arimathea, named Joseph, who also was a disciple of Jesus. He went to Pilate and asked for the body of Jesus. Then Pilate ordered it to be given to him. And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen shroud and laid it in his own new tomb, which he had cut in the rock. And he rolled a great stone to the entrance of the tomb and went away (Matthew 27:57 60 ESV). 5. Christ s Power: So let s rejoin the party just outside Lazarus tomb. John again reminds us that Jesus was greatly impacted by the grieving and pain of those around Him. The easiest way to bury someone in that area was to place them in an existing cave and throw a stone in front of the entrance. This was then the final resting place of Lazarus. So it was a surprise to all when Jesus said to remove the stone from the front of the cave. It is here we see an example of just how down to earth the Bible in comparison to so called holy books. As soon as Jesus asked for the stone to be removed Martha, the practical person saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days (John 11:39 KJV). And Jesus response is a bit like His last interaction with Martha. Martha, you re missing the point. This isn t about how much Lazarus stinks, its about God s glory. Martha, Martha, you are anxious and troubled about many things, but one thing is necessary. Mary has chosen the good portion, which will not be taken away from her (Luke 10:41 42 ESV). Jesus reminds Martha, Did I not tell you that God was to be glorified? 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 ) 282 (

3 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. (John 11:23 27 ESV). So, in spite of Martha s concerns the stone is removed from the cave. And I would guess an extremely unpleasant odor wafted out of the cave. Immediately Jesus offers up a pastoral prayer. The reason I call it that is because it is less about His conversation with God than using it as one more teaching tool for the benefit of those in attendance. His point is, everything He does is in direct dependency on and connection with God the Father. He wants to make sure the people understand exactly who He is and on what basis He functions whether they believe Him or not. By now the people are holding their breath, both figuratively and probably literally. Much to their surprise, because they probably assumed Jesus wanted to go into the tomb to see Lazarus body, Jesus calls Lazarus to come out of the tomb. The sense is that of a command. Jesus orders Lazarus to come out of the tomb. WHAT! Had Jesus grief caused Him to go mad?! Or were they going mad? They heard a rustling coming out of the opening. It almost sounded as if someone were moving around inside the tomb. Of course that s impossible. But suddenly there is a white shape upright in the darkness. How can this be? Look, a figure is moving out of the entrance into the light. It is wrapped in burial cloth. It can only be Lazarus! The people are frozen in place. Jesus has to snap them out of it. He instructs them to release Lazarus from the burial bindings. And so the miracle has occurred. Jesus has restored Lazarus to life. In seeing Lazarus now restored from the dead I want to end this section with a quote from John MacArthur. It has often been observed that the Lord s power is so great that had He not addressed Lazarus by name, all the dead in all the graves would have come forth. One day in the future, that is precisely what will happen. Earlier in John s gospel Jesus said, Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice, and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment (5:28 29). Jesus raising of Lazarus was a preview of the divine power He will display when He raises all the dead on the last day. 2 O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? (1 Cor. 15:55 ESV) 6. Epilogue: And not unexpectedly quite a few of those who had come up from Jerusalem to mourn with and comfort the two sisters believed in Jesus. Which of course was going to be just one more problem for the powers that be. Apparently raising someone from the dead does cause some strong reaction. Remember when Peter raised Tabitha back in Acts 9? I guess raising the dead is pretty hard to argue with. We read 2 MacArthur, John, The MacArthur New Testament Commentary, John, Moody Press, Chicago, IL , p ) 283 (

4 And it became known throughout all Joppa, and many believed in the Lord (Acts 9:42 ESV). And so we have now seen the last of the seven miracles recorded in John. Just as a reminder these are Changing water into wine in John 2:1-11 Healing the royal official's son in Capernaum in John 4:46-54 Healing the paralytic at Bethesda in John 5:1-18 Feeding the 5000 in John 6:5-14 Jesus' walk on water in John 6:16-24 Healing the man born blind in John 9:1-7 Raising of Lazarus in John 11:1-45 T. The Reaction to Lazarus Restoration: And so many people believe in Jesus. His fame continues to spread. More people come to accept who He is. Pretty some most accept and turn to Him, right? Hardly! The word of this latest miracle gets back to the Pharisees. And they immediately call a meeting with the Chief Priests. This was probably the council that was the Sanhedrin or at least of the anti-jesus contingent. It would have also included the Sadducees which proves the enemy of my enemy are my friends axiom. John allows us to sit in on the discussion. We can see what their concerns are. They certainly realize that with this miracles that more and more individuals are going to desert them and follow after Jesus. This would be devastating for the following reasons. 1. Rome will remove the leadership of Judea. So it appears first and foremost they were concerned about themselves. 2. Judea would loose it privileged nation status becoming just one more subservient nation under the thumb of Rome. It s hard to say just how valid these concerns were. If there was a major political upheaval within the nation it isn t unreasonable to believe that Rome wouldn t have wanted to deal with the hassle. Accordingly, it might reduce the nation to the status of being just one more slave state to Roman expansionism. Keep in mind, these fears were valid and supported by the history of Rome. What happens next is fascinating. It is a reminder that God is in control of all of this no matter how it looks. The current High Priest, Caiaphas, steps forward and under the leading of the Spirit not only predicts the death of Christ but the substitutionary nature of that death. MacArthur takes the position that Caiaphas was talking about expediency. Killing Christ would prevent the dangers they were concerned about: losing their positions and the nation to the Roman authorities. So it was better that He die to prevent the chaos. But it was the Holy Spirit who took these words and invested them with prophetic power. The Spirit turned the expedient view of Caiaphas with the profound truth of God. ) 284 (

5 John, again parenthetically, notes that Jesus death was not only for the Jew but for the children of God scattered through out the world and brought into one body. Now consider the doctrinal truths presented here. 1. Jesus death is substitutionary. He is the propitiation for our sins, and not for ours only but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2 ESV). 2. It is first to the Jews For I am not ashamed of the gospel, for it is the power of God for salvation to everyone who believes, to the Jew first (Romans 1:16 ESV). 3. It is next to the Gentiles and also to the Greek (Romans 1:16 ESV). 4. The two will come together and form the Church For he himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility (Ephesians 2:14 ESV). 5. These Gentiles are predestined to be saved because they are called the children of God prior to the cross. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified (Romans 8:29 30 ESV). We don t know what the response of the group was to Caiaphas saying You don t get it and the prophetic statements that followed. But we do know what their response to the situation was. If there was any doubt previously these men now knew what they had to do. Jesus had to die. Somehow Jesus got the word that a death warrant was now on His head. He therefore went into hiding. He went to Ephraim. Oh and by the way the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well (John 12:10 ESV). What comes next? It s Passover week, the last Passover. In the first eleven chapters of John he covers almost the full three years of Jesus ministry. Now in the remaining ten he presents one week, Passion Week. And we will pick up at that point next time. Conclusion: What have we seen here? We ve talked a lot about grief and hope over the last few weeks. This time I want to focus on a more difficult reality: with obedience comes cost. And none are exempt. Jesus brought the dead back to life. He demonstrated He and the Father were truly One. As a result many came to believe on Him. And yet there was a death warrant was on His head. This was also a direct result of His obedience to the Father. The question is, how can we expect to serve and walk through life unscathed? ) 285 (

6 If the world hates you, know that it has hated me before it hated you. If you were of the world, the world would love you as its own; but because you are not of the world, but I chose you out of the world, therefore the world hates you. Remember the word that I said to you: A servant is not greater than his master. If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. But all these things they will do to you on account of my name, because they do not know him who sent me (John 15:18 21 ESV). But we do not need to be fearful. After all we have seen just to want degree God is in control. Caiaphas cynically talked about killing Jesus. Yet his very words were used by the Holy Spirit to present a great prophetic truth. This should serve as a great comfort. In him we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to the purpose of him who works all things according to the counsel of his will (Ephesians 1:11 ESV). Finally, though it may not feel like it, suffering for Christ is an opportunity to both bless and be blessed. So let us follow the example of the Apostles who where also persecuted by the Sanhedrin. when they had called in the apostles, they beat them and charged them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. Then they left the presence of the council, rejoicing that they were counted worthy to suffer dishonor for the name. And every day, in the temple and from house to house, they did not cease teaching and preaching that the Christ is Jesus (Acts 5:40 42 ESV). And so knowing that God is with us, strengthening us, encouraging us, and finally taking us home to be with Him Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven (Matthew 5:12 ESV). ) 286 (

7 The Gospel of John Resurrection Life? ~ Part 3 John 11:1-54 VII The Christ Revealed to Israel Chapter 2:1-12:50 S. The Restoration of Lazarus Chapter 11: Christ s Power Verses Epilogue Verse 45 T. The Reaction to Lazarus Restoration Verses Introduction: (John 11:14 15; Matthew 27:57 60) 5. Christ s Power: (John 11:39; Luke 10:41 42; John 11:23 27; 1 Corinthians 15:55) 6. Epilogue: (Acts 9:42)

8 T. The Reaction to Lazarus Restoration: (John 12:10) Jesus death is (1 John 2:2) 2. It is first to the (Romans 1:16) 3. It is next to the (Romans 1:16) 4. The two will come together and form (Ephesians 2:14) 5. These are predestined to be saved because they are called prior to the (Romans 8:29 30)

9 Conclusion: (John 15:18 21; Ephesians 1:11; Acts 5:40 42; Matthew 5:12) Personal Application: As you think about Jesus willingness to stand for Truth how does this impact your view of your responsibility as a believer in the world around you? Prayer for the Week: Father God, help me to grow in being the testimony You desire me to be. In Christ s name, Amen.