John 11 - Do You Believe This?
- Chad Werkhoven
- 1 hour ago
- 5 min read
Sometimes Jesus allows pain in your life BECAUSE He loves you!!
Gospels: Week 6 - Confession, offense, glory, and resurrection power
CONTEXT: Jesus has been called to his sick friend Lazarus by his sisters Mary and Martha, but he ended up dying before Jesus arrived.
John 11 (NASB95)
1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, which was the village of Mary and her sister Martha...
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3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
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5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.
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17 So when Jesus came, He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.
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20 Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. 21 Martha then 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 will 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 will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will 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.”
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32 ...When Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, 34 and said, “Where have you laid him?”
They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”
35 Jesus wept.
36 So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?”
38 So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus said, “Remove the stone.”
Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 “I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.”
43 When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.”
44 The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Belgic Confession
Article 26: The Intercession of Christ
We believe that we have no access to God except through the one and only Mediator and Intercessor: Jesus Christ the Righteous.
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For neither in heaven nor among the creatures on earth is there anyone who loves us more than Jesus Christ does.
Summary
John wants us to know for certain that Jesus' friend Lazarus wasn't just mostly dead, telling us specifically that by the time Jesus arrived, He found that Lazarus had been in the tomb four days. According to rabbinic teaching of Jesus’ era, when someone died, their spirit remained near the body for three days, hoping to reenter it, but after three days the spirit departed and resuscitation became impossible.
So four days after Lazarus had died, his sisters both greet Jesus at different times with the same piercing accusation, saying, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But Jesus lets what could have been a relationship ending insult roll off like water from a duck. Instead, He recognized the immense pain lying behind their outbursts and entered into it with them. When Jesus saw her weeping... He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled.
As they took Jesus to Lazarus' tomb, we read a verse that, although is the Bible's shortest, is also one of the Bible's most profound statements: Jesus wept. He wasn't just upset His friend had died, He was overwhelmed "by the sight of the havoc wrought among people through sin and death in this world" (source).
Those two words - Jesus wept - remind you that no matter how it is that you've been impacted by the havoc brought about by sin and death, Jesus knows how you feel because He's felt it. And as we continue to read in today's passage, you can know that He has power over it.
Dig Deeper
Jesus, of course, didn't show up four days late because circumstances beyond His control held Him up. Mary and Martha had sent word to Jesus, telling him that Lazarus was sick, yet Jesus purposefully stayed put. John adds an interesting wrinkle to the story as to why He stayed:
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was.
In other words, it was because Jesus loved Mary and Martha so much that He let their brother die!!!!
Keep this in mind the next time you face trouble and turmoil. It might feel like God has abandoned you or just doesn't care. That's exactly how these two sisters felt about Jesus four days after their brother died.
Of course John makes it clear why Jesus waited. He wanted these beloved sisters and all of the people standing around to believe that God sent Him. Jesus wanted them to know that He alone is the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Him will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Him will never die.
Sometimes it's only in times of extreme grief and pain like what these sisters experienced that we can truly answer the question Jesus asked Martha: Do you believe this?
ACKNOWLEDGE WHO GOD IS: Our Father, who always hears our prayers;
ALIGN YOUR LIFE WITH GOD'S WILL: Pray that when turmoil comes that your faith will be strengthened as you remember Jesus' love for you;
ASK GOD FOR WHAT YOU NEED:
