Lazarus, Come Forth John 11:17-27 Part Three We are continuing our study of the resurrection of Lazarus in John 11. So how far have we gotten? We have gotten through the first sixteen verses, which we entitled the preparation for the miracle (John 11:1-16). Hopefully you remember in these verses how Mary and Martha had sent a message to Jesus that their brother Lazarus was sick, simply informing Him of the situation without making a request. After Jesus told His disciples that the sickness of Lazarus was not unto death but for the glory of God that the Son of God might be glorified by it, they waited two more days before Christ disclosed to His disciples His intent to go to Judea. His disciples resisted this since they believed that returning to Judea would result in certain death, but after Jesus proved determined to go we found Thomas, the courageous pessimist, exhorting the disciples to go with Christ so that they might all die with Him. This is where we left off, which completed our study of the preparation for the miracle. We are now moving on to the next section of verses in our study that I have entitled the arrival of Jesus and His disciples in Bethany (John 11:17-27). We will break this set of verses into two different parts. One part will deal with Christ s encounter with Martha and the second part will deal with Christ s encounter with Mary. So who was the first sister to encounter Jesus? Martha was the first of the sisters to encounter Jesus (John 11:17-24). I would hope our study of this encounter would help us to see that as long we are looking to Christ there will always be hope no matter how hopeless we might think our situation to be. I would like to think that all of us will find this passage encouraging and perhaps there may even be some who will find this passage life changing. Let us read John 11:17-24. So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. (18) Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off; (19) and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. (20) Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him; but Mary still sat in the house. (21) Martha therefore said to Jesus, Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. (22) Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You. (23) Jesus said to her, Your brother shall rise again. (24) Martha said to Him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. (25) Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies, (26) and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this? (27) She said to Him, Yes,
Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world. So how does this passage begin? It begins with these words, So when Jesus came. When it says Jesus came, it appears most likely that He came with His disciples to the outskirts of Bethany and not into Bethany proper. And then what does it say? Let us continue to read. So when Jesus came, He found that he [Lazarus] had already been in the tomb four days. Now why would the Spirit of God lead the apostle to tell his readers that when Jesus arrived Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days? I believe that the Spirit led the apostle to include this information in the text to make sure that his readers understood that Lazarus was truly dead and not simply in some type of coma. Why would I say this? There was a well known Jewish belief that the soul of a dead person remained in the vicinity of the body hoping to reenter it for three days, but once decomposition set in the soul departed. In light of this belief, the information that the apostle supplied about Lazarus being in the tomb four days clearly communicated what the apostle wanted to communicate and that was that Lazarus was truly dead and the miracle that Christ was about to perform should not and could not be construed as a resuscitation. So, what other information does the apostle give us? Let us continue to read but this time we will read John 11:18-19. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off; (19) and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. These verses tell us that while Jesus and His disciples were on the outskirts of Bethany, not far from Jerusalem, there was a great deal of activity taking place at the home of Martha and Mary. And what was that activity? The passage tells us that many family and friends had come there to console them. So how would these family friends have been consoling Martha and Mary? Based on Mark 5:38 there probably would have been a great deal of wailing and crying. Based on Luke 18:13 and 23:48 some of them may have been beating their chests in grief. And based on Matthew 9:23 there may even have been flute players present. So when I say that while Jesus and His disciples were on the outskirts of Bethany that a great deal of activity was taking place in the home of Martha and Mary, I don t believe I am overstating what was taking place. So, what happens next? Let us now read John 11:20. Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him; but Mary sat in the house. This is a very interesting verse. How did Martha find out that Jesus and His disciples had arrived at the outskirts of Bethany? Why did she go to meet Jesus without Mary? These are interesting questions, but there are really no concrete answers. If I were to take a guess, I would believe that Jesus was orchestrating the events that took place. Jesus most likely had instructed someone He had met on the outskirts of Bethany to go to the house where this large group of people had gathered and invite Martha to meet Him on the outskirts of Bethany. I believe that He would have invited Martha instead of Mary because He respected her position as the older sister and the role that she was presently fulfilling in her family. Now why did Martha, as we will discover, not choose to tell Mary that she was leaving to meet Jesus. I would again imagine that Jesus had orchestrated this.
Now as Martha was approaching Jesus you can imagine what must have been going through her mind. She must have been filled with all kinds of thoughts and feelings. So, what will she say when she finally has the opportunity to speak to Him? Let us now read John 11:21. Martha therefore said to Jesus, Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. So how should we view this remark by Martha? Should we view this remark as a form of rebuke? Martha s initial greeting in John 11:21 should not be viewed as a rebuke. We know this because Martha would have known that Jesus did not have enough time after receiving the message about her brother s illness to travel to Bethany and heal him since Lazarus had died so quickly after she and her sister had sent the message. Therefore, if she was going to blame anyone for the death of her brother, she only had herself to blame for waiting so long to send the message telling Christ of her brother s illness. So if this is true, that her initial greeting was not a rebuke, then how should we view her greeting? Martha s greeting in John 11:21, though filled with grief, was an expression of faith. Her greeting communicated that if Jesus had been present her brother would not have died. But this is not all that she said. Let us go on to read John 11:22. Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You. Martha, after declaring what she believed Jesus could have done, if He had been there when her brother was sick, goes on to speak of her continuing faith in Jesus and His ability to do miraculous things. Should we assume that this continuing faith in Jesus to do miraculous things would have included the ability to raise Lazarus from the dead? Though John 11:22 expressed Martha s continuing faith in Jesus to perform miracles, we should not, based on her words, conclude that she was entertaining the thought He could raise Lazarus. Why? We know this because of subsequent verses. If you are familiar with the story of the raising of Lazarus you will remember that later in this story Martha tried to keep Christ from having the door of her brother s tomb opened saying to Him, Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days. This certainly does not sound like a person who was anticipating that Christ would use His miraculous power to raise Lazarus from the dead. In light of this, when we read the words of Martha in John 11:22, Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give you, we know these words were limited in their scope. Yes, she continued to believe that Christ had the power to heal, but it certainly appears that she, at least at this point in the narrative, did not have the faith to believe that Christ could raise Lazarus from the dead. So, though the faith of Martha was present, it still was not fully mature. This is not so different from ourselves is it? It is very likely that every one of us, as professing believers, may find it very easy to trust Christ with certain things but fail to trust Him with other things simply because our faith is not yet fully mature. This explains why so many Christians continue to struggle with various anxieties. One of the reasons why they struggle with various anxieties is because they are unable to believe that Christ is able to actually do something about the problem or problems they are facing.
And because they lack this faith they simply do not ask Him for help. This is unfortunate, but it is perfectly understandable when a person s faith is immature, which was the case with Martha. So how did Jesus respond to Martha s immature faith? He responded to her immature faith in the same way He will respond to our immature faith. He attempted to stretch it. This process of stretching begins in John 11:23. Let me read this verse for you. Jesus said to her, Your brother shall rise again. Of course we know exactly what Jesus meant by these words since we know the story of Lazarus, but unfortunately, since Martha had not yet lived the story, she did not know what Jesus meant. So let me now read for you her response in John 11:24. Martha said to Him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. So what do we learn from this response? Though Martha did not believe that Jesus could raise Lazarus after four days she, like many other Jews, believed in a future resurrection that would take place on the last day (John 11:24). So where did her knowledge of this future resurrection come from? One source of Martha s knowledge about the future resurrection she referred to in John 11:24 was the Old Testament Scriptures (Daniel 12:1-3). Listen to the prophet Daniel and what he said about this resurrection in Daniel 12:1-3. Now at that time Michael, the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people, will arise. And there will be a time of distress such as never occurred since there was a nation until that time; and at that time your people, everyone who is found written in the book, will be rescued. (2) And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. (3) And those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever. This resurrection spoken of here by Daniel is referring to the resurrection of Israel, which will take place at the end of the tribulation just prior to the Millennial Kingdom. And it was this resurrection that Martha referred to in verse 24. But the Old Testament was most likely not her only source of knowledge. Another source of knowledge about the resurrection she referred in John 11:24 would have been the teachings of Christ (John 5:25-29). Let me read for you what Jesus taught the Jewish multitude not far from the house of Martha, Mary and Lazarus in John 5:25-29. Truly, truly I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear shall live. (26) For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; (27) and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man. (28) Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear His voice, (29) and come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. Though this teaching of Christ in John 5 may not be strictly applied to the resurrection of Israel at the end of the tribulation, and may also include another resurrection at the end of the Millennial Kingdom associated with the Great White Throne judgment, it still is loaded with information that would have been available to Christ s disciples and certainly would have filtered down to Christ s close friends, Martha, Mary and Lazarus.
When we combine all the knowledge about the resurrection that Martha had available, it would appear that she knew Christ would play a major role in that future resurrection. So now we come to an amazing irony. It is ironic that Martha likely knew that Christ would play a major role in Israel s future resurrection, but she could not believe that He could raise Lazarus from the dead after four days. Do you believe that God will at the time of your death release your spirit from your mortal body so that you can enjoy fellowship with Him for all of eternity? Hopefully your answer is yes! Do you believe at the time of the rapture that Christ will then join your spirit to your body if you had died at an earlier time, even though that mortal body may have turned to dust or may have been burned to ash, and fashion it after His own glorified body? Hopefully your answer is yes! Do you believe that Christ will not only be able to accomplish this with respect to yourself but also in respect to every person who has come to faith in Christ? Hopefully your answer is yes! If we believe Christ is able to accomplish all these future things, then why do so many Christians find it so difficult to believe that Christ is able to just as dramatically impact their present if He chose to do so? And of course the answer would be that they shouldn t find it so difficult to believe that He could dramatically impact their present. Martha needed to appreciate this. She needed to appreciate the fact that if Christ could facilitate a future resurrection on the last day, then certainly He could facilitate the resurrection of Lazarus who had only been dead a measly four days if Jesus, in fact, wanted to do so. So what was Jesus secret? How could He pull off a future as well as present resurrection? This is something Jesus wants Martha to understand. So let us begin to read John 11:25. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. What does He mean when He says this? When Jesus said, I am the resurrection and the life, He was saying that He, like His Father, is the source of all life, whether physical or spiritual. This is very similar to the thought He shared in John 5:26 when He told the Jews, For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself. So how do we see this truth about Christ working itself out in the lives of those who believe? First of all, we see its impact on the future prospect of our body. Because Christ is the resurrection, those who believe in Him can be assured that if their body dies it will be resurrected (John 11:25). Jesus stresses this at the end of John 11:25. Let us continue to read. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies [or in other word, dies physically]. Will those who place their faith in Christ be resurrected even if they die? Absolutely! Will they be resurrected to a resurrection of judgment? No! They will be resurrected to a resurrection of life.
How else do we see this truth being worked out in the lives of those who believe? We not only see its impact on the future prospect of our body but we also see its present and abiding impact on our human spirit as well. Let me read for you John 11:26. And everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Because Christ is the life, those joined to Him by faith share His life and will never die in a spiritual sense, because they will never be separated from Him in a spiritual sense (John 11:26). When we come to understand the words of Jesus, embrace the words of Jesus by faith that He is the resurrection and the life, our lives will be forever changed. We are ushered into a life of rich fellowship that is without end and gain the certain prospect of the future resurrection of our body. But Jesus had one more thing to say to Martha and we should have anticipated this. Let us read the last part of John 11:26. Do you believe this? When Jesus asks Martha Do you believe this, He is not asking if she believes that He is about to raise her brother from the dead, but rather if her faith can go beyond the quiet confidence that her brother will be resurrected at the last day to a personal trust in Jesus as the resurrection and the life, the only person who can give spiritual life and promise the transformation of resurrection. So, what was her response? Let me read for you John 11:27. She said to Him, Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world. Martha s response introduces more than a confession of the points Jesus has raised, but a personal confidence in Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. Her confession is neither mere repetition nor the meandering response of someone who has not followed the argument. Martha s reply in John 11:27 in effect said, since you are the resurrection and the life, you must, by virtue of that fact, be God s promised Messiah. This interaction with Jesus certainly had stretched Martha s faith, but it still had not stretched it enough. She still did not see how Christ could raise her brother after he had been dead for days. This seems bazaar, but it shouldn t surprise us for I am sure that we often times fall into the same traps. May God stretch our faith to such an extent that we might able to see the fullness of what He can do in our lives, not only in the future but also in the present.