Lesson from the Resurrection of Lazarus
An Amish boy and his mother were visiting a mall. They were amazed by almost everything they saw, but especially by two shiny, silver walls that could move apart and back together again. The boy asked his mother, "What is this, Mum?" The mother responded, "Son, I have never seen anything like this in my life, I don't know what it is."
While the boy and his mother were watching wide-eyed an old man, , a bit unshaven, slightly balding, wearing glasses, wearing clothes whose colours did not match- you know the type- leaves the toilet seat up etc etc walked up to the moving walls and pressed a button. The walls opened and the man walked between them into a small room. The walls closed and as the boy and his mother watched small circles of lights w/numbers above the walls lit up. They continued to watch the circles light up in the reverse direction. The walls opened up again and a handsome young man stepped out in a perfectly fitted suit!
The mother said to her son, "Go get your father."
If ever you want to see a miracle I guess raising a dead person back to life must rank right up on top of your list? Today we are going to have a closer look at the resurrection of Lazarus in John 11. But you probably know that Lazarus was not the first person Jesus raised from the dead. We see in Luke 7:11 Jesus went to a town called Nain, where he raised a widow’s son from the dead. And before that in the Old Testament Elijah and Elisha had raised people from the dead. But when we look at this account we will see that it is quite different from the other accounts of people being raised from the dead, particularly in terms of the significance to the Jewish religious leaders. Also we see it is only mentioned in the Book of John and none of the other gospel writers?
So lets look at a few lessons I’ve learnt from this study.
Firstly about God’s timing.
John 11:1-7 The Death of Lazarus
11 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
So Jesus delays going back and when He does finally arrive, Lazarus has been in the tomb 4 days! (John 11:17)
Now if you have ever been impatient waiting for someone to arrive or do anything, just think about Martha. This was a life and death matter and Jesus just did not arrive on “time”!
John 11:2121 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
(Sometimes I think I will die of old age waiting for Di to finish at the shops- people come and brush cobwebs off me while I sit there waiting! )
But sometimes in life, we think nothing is happening, we have prayed and prayed , asked God to do something so many times and nothing seems to be happening. Sometimes, we think it’s too late now, its irretrievable, the horse has bolted. Sometimes what you have feared has come about and we like Martha say to the Lord – “if only you had been here to change the situation” But we need to learn that God’s glory will be shown in its time- not according to my schedule.
And as I was meditating on this, this word came to me that “the Lord will go forth and glorify His name, He will uphold the cries of the righteous and judge those that come against Him.” Nothing and no one can make our God stumble. He can fold up time and pack it away into any box He likes. And He can unpack it if He wants to! When we think of the miracle of changing water into wine, a process that takes a long time, We see that God has complete control over the dimension of time.
So why did Jesus delay- He could have done it instantly. The mentioning of the 4 days is significant because the Jewish religious teachers of the time, believed that a persons spirit would linger for 3 days before leaving the body or when decomposition set in- a false teaching. And so they believed that no one could be raised from the dead at that point after 4 days, except through a Messianic miracle and by God. So by waiting. Jesus was giving them the clearest sign possible that he was the Messiah, the Son off God! And they still rejected Him, particularly the High Priest Caiaphas.
John 11:48-50
48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”
49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
So while Martha and many did not understand why there was a delay, this delay was very, very important and sent the clearest message to the Jewish leaders when Lazarus was resurrected, that Jesus was who He said he was. Sometimes we just don’t understand why Jesus has not responded yet, or what is taking so long, but we need to know and remember that God has not forgotten you and there is a bigger and better plan. Bigger and better than you could have ever imagined!
B. Secondly when we face death
John 11:7-16
7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”
11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
So there they are about to face a dangerous and life threatening journey and as Thomas says “Lets us also go that we may die with him
We all at some stage will take a journey where we face death, serious sickness, or loss. Some will face death sooner than others. We don’t know who. But look what Jesus says John 11:9
Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light
So the Jesus tells us when we do face these times –walking in the valley of the shadow of death-to walk in the light, not in the darkness of despair, depression or fear or anxiety…. to look to the light, to draw even closer to Jesus, who is the light. “ Remember His promises in these times….” do not fear for I have redeemed you, I have called you by name and you are mine, and when you walk through the fire you will not be burned, the flames will not set you ablaze. Your flesh and the heart may fail, but God is the strength of your heart and your portion forever, so set your eyes on not what is seen but unseen, on what is eternal.” Draw close to the light. And Jesus goes on to say
“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die”. So get close to the light, so even though you die you will not stumble.
The point I am making is this, I encourage you to memorise some scriptures, which have deep meaning to you, so that when you get to these times, you have the light of the Word of God to strengthen you and you will not stumble. How do I know this- because I’ve been there. Even if it’s the Lord’s Prayer or Psalm 23 draw close to the word of God in these times.
C. Thirdly why is this miracle not in the other gospels?
The one thing that got my attention as I read this account in John was the fact that none of the other Gospel writers recorded it? For some reason, Matthew, Mark, and Luke don’t mention it? It was such a major event so what happened? There is a theory which people have called “protective anonymity”, which I am not totally convinced about that says “ [events],people are left anonymous or unmentioned because if their names got back to the Jerusalem authorities, they could be implicated as accomplices in Jesus’ “revolt.””
Their lives certainly were in danger, but they could have left out names and places if they were worried about this? My personal feeling is that the disciples just weren’t there at the time and just did not see it first hand? We read in Luke 19 that Jesus sent some disciples ahead to find the colt , on which He would ride into the Mount of Olives, so they probably weren’t there at the time? Don’t know. In Luke on the other hand Jesus tells a very interesting parable that may well have something to do with the resurrection of Lazarus. It is the only parable where a person’s name is mentioned, the name of a person who was a friend of Jesus’ and who He loved, a friend who came back from the dead. It seems to me that Jesus was teaching a spiritual lesson from a real life event? Lets look at that parable.
Luke 16:19-31 The Rich Man and Lazarus
19 “There was a rich man who was dressed in purple and fine linen and lived in luxury every day. 20 At his gate was laid a beggar named Lazarus, covered with sores 21 and longing to eat what fell from the rich man’s table. Even the dogs came and licked his sores.
22 “The time came when the beggar died and the angels carried him to Abraham’s side. The rich man also died and was buried. 23 In Hades, where he was in torment, he looked up and saw Abraham far away, with Lazarus by his side. 24 So he called to him, ‘Father Abraham, have pity on me and send Lazarus to dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, because I am in agony in this fire.’
25 “But Abraham replied, ‘Son, remember that in your lifetime you received your good things, while Lazarus received bad things, but now he is comforted here and you are in agony. 26 And besides all this, between us and you a great chasm has been set in place, so that those who want to go from here to you cannot, nor can anyone cross over from there to us.’
27 “He answered, ‘Then I beg you, father, send Lazarus to my family, 28 for I have five brothers. Let him warn them, so that they will not also come to this place of torment.’29 “Abraham replied, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them listen to them.’
30 “‘No, father Abraham,’ he said, ‘but if someone from the dead goes to them, they will repent.’31 “He said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.’”
If this was in fact the Lazarus that was resurrected, it implies that his death was the result of neglect, indifference, lack of care by those who held no value in human life except their own. The rich man could have made a difference and saved Lazarus’ life, but he didn’t care enough- his dogs were treated better! Keep that in mind as we look at Johns account of the resurrection.
John 11:32-40 32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.35 Jesus wept.36 Then 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 have kept this man from dying?”38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
If you look at the those two words, ”deeply moved” and “troubled”, the Greek word for deeply moved is enebrimesato, which means to be indignant or to have feelings of anger, very different to being a sympathetic word. And the Greek word for troubled is etaraxen, which means agitated or stirred up. So strong words. But they tie in with the “Rich man parable” and they also gives you an idea for another reason why Jesus wept, the pain, the disappointment in seeing His friend treated like that to the point of death. This besides the empathy in seeing your friends in such grief and hurt is enough to make one weep. So Luke may well have written a Lazarus account froma different perspective.
Finally I would like to look at this fellow Caiaphas the High Priest at the time. I know we hold Pontius Pilot accountable for a lot, but this chap is another league. It seems to me that he was the one that really pushed for the death of Jesus. And in something that reminds me of Balaam and the donkey in Numbers 22, he prophesies in an amazing and true prophesy something that he sees is favourable to him, but turns out to be the exact opposite to what he expected.
Just have a look at this prophesy which we don’t often take note of.
John 11:49-53
49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life.
So Caiaphas plotted to kill Jesus to save his lifestyle. Little did Caiaphas realise that Jesus would die to save the whole world. Caiaphas has very little excuse about been ignorant of Jesus being the Messiah because we read in Mark 14:61-64
Mark 14:61-64
Again the high priest asked him, “Are you the Messiah, the Son of the Blessed One?”
62 “I am,” said Jesus. “And you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of the Mighty One and coming on the clouds of heaven.”
63 The high priest tore his clothes. “Why do we need any more witnesses?” he asked. 64 “You have heard the blasphemy. What do you think?”They all condemned him as worthy of death.
And so we end with the realisation and knowledge that those around us can be faced with the most blatant of truths and facts and no matter what you do or say nothing will change their minds.
I think only God can solve that problem, but I believe that if we put them in God’s hands, “I believe and am convinced that He is more than able to guard what I have entrusted to Him for that day”. A wonderful strategy to live by.
Lets entrust our families and our lives to Him- Amen