This series: Baptism, Sermon on the Mount, The Transfiguration.
Today, Jesus’ miracles.

There are so many to highlight, but we are going to focus on one specific one today.

The resurrection of Lazarus was a big deal because we see a turning point in Jesus’ ministry at this moment.

Every miracle points to purpose.

“Jesus’ miracles did not merely show off the naked fact of Jesus’ power; they revealed the redemptive purpose of His power.”

So let’s look at this miracle of Lazarus’ resurrection and allow the Holy Spirit to speak to us.

John 11:1-6
1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

This messes with our theology of the caring, kind, loving, compassionate Jesus that best suits us. In one sentence, the Bible is revealing Jesus’ sincere love for Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, but in the very next we see Jesus tarrying where he was. Jesus had gone across the Jordan in John 10 after the Pharisees tried to stone him. He was at the place where John was baptizing before called Bethany Across the Jordan (Ref. John 1:28)

Lazarus had died in Bethany just two miles outside of Jerusalem.

Jesus was in one Bethany when Jesus was needed at another Bethany.

Have you ever been in a situation with Jesus like this? You are there in the middle of a dark hour and it seems that Jesus is no where to be found? he's in the wrong Bethany?

Matthew Henry
“If he loved them, now was a time to show it by hastening to them, for he knew they impatiently expected him. But he took the contrary way to show his love: it is not said, He loved them and yet he lingered; but he loved them and therefore he lingered; when he heard that his friend was sick, instead of coming post to him, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. He loved them, that is, he designed to do something great and extraordinary for them, to work such a miracle for their relief as he had not wrought for any of his friends; and therefore he delayed coming to them, that Lazarus might be dead and buried before he came. If Christ had come presently, and cured the sickness of Lazarus, he had done no more than he did for many; if he had raised him to life when newly dead, no more than he had done for some: but, deferring his relief so long, he had an opportunity of doing more for them than for any.”

If you feel you are in the midst of turmoil and Jesus seems to be tarrying elsewhere, I want you to understand:
- This might be his plan to use this turmoil to deal with sin and change your heart.
- This might be a plan to build you and grow your faith so that you can not only endure the road ahead, but help others as well.
- This might be a plan to do something in your that you could never even imagine.

Whichever it is - he has a plan.
Do you trust him enough to wait on his timing and endure?

John 11:7-10
7 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.”

That last part is puzzling. What is he talking about?

You can either walk in the light of God’s divine purpose for your life, or you can stumble in the darkness, fearing what you don’t know.

He’s asking them whether or not they trust God’s plan for their lives. This is the same question that Mary and Martha had to face. This is the same question we have to face.

Are we going to trust God and walk in the light,
or are we going to reject God and stumble in the darkness?

John 11:11-16
11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Remember, the religious leaders up to this point had only talked about killing Jesus. Now they’d actually tried to stone him, and after Lazarus was raised, you see a shift in the religious leaders’ motives to stop just talk about it, but now to actually plot his death.

Can I take a moment and tell you that not everyone has your best interest in mind? I wish I could tell you the opposite, but not everyone is after your best. If Jesus had those who were trying to eliminate him, don’t think for a second that if you are about Jesus’ plan for your life, you aren’t going to have opposition.

The opps will come out of the woodwork to try to discourage you, tear you down, beat you up, hold your past over your head, and try to stop God’s plan in you.

This is a part of why Jesus clapped back at them with the talk of light and dark, night and day.

Are you willing to walk his path knowing you will face opposition?
We love when Jesus moves the mountains and raises the valley, but are you willing to sign up for the pain and the struggle, the desert and tribulation for the sake of what he’s called you to?

Jesus never promised you happiness. The Bible says just the opposite. We will face tribulation (John 16:33), walk through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23:4), experience temptation (James 1:2). We are warned, “do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you” (1 Peter 4:12).”

Matthew 10:32-39
32 …everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven, 33 but whoever denies me before men, I also will deny before my Father who is in heaven. 34 “Do not think that I have come to bring peace to the earth. I have not come to bring peace, but a sword. 35 For I have come to set a man against his father, and a daughter against her mother, and a daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law. 36 And a person's enemies will be those of his own household. 37 Whoever loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me, and whoever loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. 38 And whoever does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. 39 Whoever finds his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it.

Does Jesus really mean he came to divide families?
Of course not! He is using this as an example to tell you that you are going to have to decide whether or not you are going to follow him whole-heartedly or not.

Are you going to cling to me when everyone else around you turns against you?

This is a hard teaching, yall, but this isn’t the only hard teaching in the Bible. In John 6 Jesus is teaching some very hard to hear things and in verse 60, the Bible tells us many stopped following him after that.

John 6:66-67
66 From that time many of His disciples went back and walked with Him no more. 67 Then Jesus said to the twelve, “Do you also want to go away?”

John 6:68-69
68 But Simon Peter answered Him, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. 69 Also we have come to believe and know that You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

THAT’S the question.

Jesus is calling you into a mission, not a vacation.
He’s calling you into purpose, not pleasure.

Romans 8:31-37
31 What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us? 32 He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things? 33 Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. 34 Who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us. 35 Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? 36 As it is written: “For Your sake we are killed all day long; We are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.” 37 Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.

The miracle is on the other side of your obedience, no matter the cost.
No matter the path.
No matter the storm.
No matter the resistance.
No matter the naysayers and opposition.

John 11:17-20
17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 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 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.

I want to pause here just to mention something interesting.

Luke 10:38-42
38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!” 41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

Previously, Martha stayed back and Mary rushed to Jesus, but now Martha rushed to Jesus and Mary stayed behind. Remember this.

John 11:21-32
21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from 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. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Mary knew Jesus had arrived, and I can see why she stayed back. It would be easy to make a quip here about how Mary may have sat at the feet of Jesus but her trust was broken because Jesus didn’t do what she wanted, and she needed to put her trust in Jesus no matter what. That is low hanging fruit. What is the second story here?

She was heart-broken. Not only had her brother died, but Jesus didn’t come help. Lazarus only hope was Jesus. He was Mary’s only hope, too.

She’d done the right thing before and sat at the feet of Jesus. Why didn’t he do the right thing and rush to her aid?

But then we see Jesus call for Mary, and she rushes out to him and did what? She fell at the feet of Jesus. Before she was attentive and hopeful. Now she was broken and hopeless.

John 11:33-35
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept.

I need you to see that Jesus didn’t like the pain Mary and Martha were in. He didn’t delight in their brokenness. He didn’t take joy in their heart ache. He joined them in it.

Listen, God may have allowed the trial that you have walked or are walking through, but don’t think for a second he delights in the pain you are feeling.

This week at baseball practice, I saw my son in a painful moment. Not only did he get beaned with the baseball every at bat, but when it came time to play in the field, the coach sent him to the outfield when all he’d played was third base. He was heart-broken. He did his best to hide it, but it hurt.

Now I realize this isn’t the same level of despair as Mary and Martha were feeling, but my point is that I felt pain for him. I remember being his age and not being a coach’s kid. I remember having to prove myself on the field. I remember feeling EXACTLY like he felt. I know it will make him stronger. I know it will make him work harder and get even better, But the sight of my little boy in pain pained me.

I know you have thought to yourself, “Jesus all you have to do is snap your finger and this thing would be fixed,” but that isn’t what’s happening.

I want you to know he doesn’t delight in your pain. He feels it, too.

The shortest verse in the Bible can give us in this moment the most encouragement. Jesus wept. He feels what is breaking your heart.

But in the midst of that pain, don’t forget he has a plan.

John 11:23-25
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. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.

Remember from the Sermon on the Mount: It isn’t about living. Jesus wants you to come alive. He wants to give you his life, which is life that even death cannot kill.

Even so, he knows what you are going through and is right there with you in it.

John 11:36-37
36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

Haters gonna hate…

Amazing how they could see him open the eyes of the blind yet they themselves were blind.

For Jesus to do what he was going to do, it took Lazarus dying. There might be something God wants to do in you but it will require something dying. Maybe a sin, a thought process, a generational curse, maybe an excuse you’ve been giving him, but until that thing dies, the miracle can’t happen.

The Jews questioned why Jesus cold heal the blind but not keep Lazarus from dying. Your flesh is just like those Jewish leaders, thinking only how to keep the flesh alive.

Losing your life is how you gain it.Saving your life is how you lose it.
But what does that even mean?

A yes to Jesus means a no to something else.

What do you need to say no to so that you can say yes to Jesus?

And now we are to it:

John 11:38-40
38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.

Foreshadowing…

39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

Jesus said move the stone. Martha said no.
Jesus told you to join a DGroup. You said I have no time.
Jesus told you to forgive. You said you can’t let go.
Jesus told you to to serve. You said I only have time for one service.
Jesus told you to come closer to him. You said I just can’t focus.
Jesus told you to lay down your life. You said no.

We are all Martha at some point.
We want to believe, we want to obey, we want to see the miracle, but there’s always something that’s keeping us from just saying yes no matter the situation.

Listen to me church:
The same God who said if you’ll confess me and believe you’ll be saved
is telling you now, no matter how bad it looks or how impossible it seems,
JUST TRUST ME.

John 11:41-44
41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, 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 out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

I want to give you three quick thoughts about this moment and we’ll close.

1. This moment showed Jesus’ power over death.
Jesus raised a ruler's daughter (Matt 9:23–25).
Jesus raised a widow's son (Luke 7:11–17).

They hadn’t been buried yet. In fact, during Jesus’ time, a body was almost always buried within 8 hours of death. The first two resurrections could have been misdiagnosed death. The fact that Lazarus had been dead for days guaranteed he was fully dead.

Jesus’ power was enough to triumph over the physical.

Acts 2:24
But God raised him from the dead, freeing him from the agony of death, because it was impossible for death to keep its hold on him.

Romans 6:9
For we know that since Christ was raised from the dead, he cannot die again; death no longer has mastery over him.

2. This moment points to Jesus own resurrection.
This was more than foreshadowing with a cave and a stone rolled away. Jesus had the power to triumph over physical death, but he was about to triumph over spiritual death as well.

Colossians 1:18
18 …He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in everything he might be preeminent.

Others had been raised from the dead before, so how was Jesus “firstborn from the dead? Remember, life isn’t having air in your lungs and a heartbeat. Life, to God, is relationship with him. Colossians 3 - When Christ, who is your life…

Jesus was the first one to be raised to true life, that restored relationship with God.
He was the first to benefit from his own sacrifice,
He was the first to be raised from spiritual death.

Because he has power over both physical and spiritual death, we too can experience the power of real life through Jesus.
1 John 5:11-12
11 And this is the testimony, that God gave us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. 12 Whoever has the Son has life; whoever does not have the Son of God does not have life.

3. This moment points to your resurrection.
I spoke before about how the miracle couldn’t happen without Lazarus dying, and how there are things that need to die in us so the miracle can happen.

Now let me flip the coin and simply say to you:

There are things in you that have died.
Some of those things died of natural causes.
Some of them were sacrificed on the Cross.
Some of them you had to put to death with great struggle.
Some of those things died due to sin in your life.
Some of those things were murdered in you by others who didn’t value you.

There are things in you that have died and have been buried.

I believe the Lord is saying the same thing to you now that he said to Martha 2000 years ago: Take the stone away.

I believe God is calling that thing in you that died, and no matter how it died or who killed it, God is calling that thing back to life!

Come Forth!

This moment was life changing for Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. It was life changing for the disciples and those watching. And as a result of that moment, there were those who sought to destroy what God was doing in the earth.

John 12:19
19 So the Pharisees said to one another, “You see that you are gaining nothing. Look, the world has gone after him.”

You are in that same moment right now.

God is resurrecting those dead things in you and it is going to change lives.

It is going to cause people to throw off restraint and chase after the Lord.

They’ll see what God has raised in you and marvel at what God has done.

But it REQUIRES you to answer the Lord as he calls you to come forth right now in this moment!

Would you close you eyes for a moment.

What is he wanting to resurrect in you today?

Jesus is calling you to come forth.
Jesus is calling that which has died in you to come forth.

Are you going to listen and respond?
Lazarus did and he lived.

Listen to his voice now. Respond.

What is the Holy Spirit saying to you through this message?

How does he want you to respond?