[MUSIC PLAYING] Welcome to Expound our verse
by verse study of God's word. Our goal is to expand your
knowledge of the truth of God by explaining the word of God
in a way that is interactive, enjoyable, and congregational. When I was growing up,
funerals creeped me out. My mother told me that it was
because when I was quite young I had a classmate die. And we went to his funeral. And I was like in grade
school at that time. My first experience with
somebody that I knew, a classmate, especially, dying. And it was very unnerving. And to make it worse,
for whatever reason, they made all of the students
parade up to the open casket and see the dead child
inside that coffin. And that can be quite unsettling
for a child's first experience of death. To see somebody he or
she knew as a classmate, and then now in that condition. The music was creepy. The flowers smelled bad. The lighting was weird. So those are the
reasons I grew up just having an aversion to funerals. Now, I'm a pastor
so I do funerals. And I don't mind doing them. I love walking with people
through the stages of life and being a comfort to them. But there have been some
strange funerals that I've done. And I won't go
into it more detail than to say one
funeral that I did was a strange funeral
because a gal came up to the casket, the open casket,
and lifted the loved one out of the casket to give
it a final embrace. And it was just really awkward. And of course the corpse
wasn't cooperating in terms of being bendable
and hugging the person back. So we sort of had
to rush the casket to get her to
release the corpse. And it's an odd way to
start a funeral service. I did a little reading
and found an article about the weirdest funeral
services on record. And I tell you, funeral
directors can tell you stories. One funeral director
said that he has known families who have
requested that their loved ones not be in a casket,
but assuming a pose that they would have
seen in real life. So for instance, one
gal sitting in her chair with her sunglasses on, with
a cigarette in her hand, and a wineglass off to one side. Just sitting in this position
in a chair with a table. Imagine coming into a
room and seeing that. That'll wig you out. One funeral director
said the strangest request I ever got
was a wife who asked me to duct tape that casket. On top of closing it,
to duct tape it shut. And the funeral
director asked why, and he goes I don't want
that creep to get out. [LAUGHTER] What do you say to
somebody like that? We enter a funeral
service in John 11. But you know, whenever Jesus
went to a funeral service, it ends up very different. The dead people don't
have a chance around Him. And it's the story,
a familiar story, one that is shared
at many funerals, one that I have shared
at many funerals. And it's going to end up
very, very differently than how it begins. It's the funeral service
of Jesus' close friend, good friend in
life, named Lazarus. He has two sisters
Mary and Martha. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus
were a close knit set of siblings who lived
in a house close to Jerusalem in a
town called Bethany. Now some who have been to
Israel go Bethany, Bethany. I don't think you took
us to Bethany, Skip. I wish you would have. Well, when you stand
on the Mount of Olives and you look toward Jerusalem,
that's where everybody looks. If you were to stop
dead in your tracks-- sorry to use that dead in
your tracks thing-- and then turn backwards, do a
180 and look behind you. As the Mount of Olives
slopes toward the east side, down toward the Jordan
Valley and the Dead Sea, just on the other side of the Mount
of Olives facing the east would be the little
village of Bethany. It was Jesus' home
away from home. We know that Jesus'
home was in Nazareth. And then His next
home was in Capernaum that's where His
headquarters was in living with Peter in his house. But while He was
in Jerusalem, He stayed on the Mount of
Olives with His friends Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. They were close friends. And Jesus is not
there at the time that the death takes place. This miracle sets Jesus
apart from everyone else. Now Jesus has healed
other people who are dead. He has raised them
from the dead. But they were all
different than this. You go, how different? Once you're dead, you're dead. They were different in this. When He raised the
daughter of Jairus, Jairus the ruler of the
synagogue up in Galilee, when He raised the daughter
of Jairus from the dead, she had just died. When Jesus raised the son of
the widow of Nain in Galilee, he had just died, because they
buried the same day as death. The funeral service
was going on. But by the time Jesus
gets to this funeral, he has been in the
tomb four days. Decomposition has
already set in. That was Martha's
complaint when Jesus will say roll away the stone. And Martha will
say, and you really have to read it in
the old King James to get the flavor
and the punch of it. Martha said Lord,
by now he stinketh. In other words, that
process has set in. It's nasty business
to open the tomb. The decomposition
has done its work. And there is a mighty stench. So the others, they died. But Lazarus has
been dead four days. This separates anything that
could be considered as a parlor trick to something that was
legitimate in anybody's eyes. Everybody knew
Lazarus has been dead. He's been dead
now for four days. Whereas, before they could say
well maybe that child wasn't dead all the way,
maybe he was just dying or on its last breath. But Lazarus, the decomposition
process had set in. Now where we pick up
in chapter 11 verse 1, is somewhere between
December and April. How do we know this? We know this because
the Feast of Dedication, which we read about in
the previous chapter takes place in December. We know that in chapter 12, it
will be the Feast of Passover. That is April. So somewhere between December
and April, Lazarus gets sick and he dies. Jesus is down by the Dead
Sea, we read last time in chapter 10 verse 40. He goes back to the
place where He had been baptized by John the Baptist. So He's there with
His disciples. He's in that place
until the Passover. But He will get word about
this sick friend of His. Now I just want you
to grasp something. What chapter are we in? 11. How many chapters are there
in the Gospel of John? OK, well you could turn
the page and find that out. 21. So we're about halfway
in the book, right? The very next chapter
of chapter 12, it's already the last
week of Jesus' life. So that should give you an
indication of how the Gospel writers did their work. Let me frame it for you. If you were to tally up the
number of chapters in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
last count that I counted was 89 chapters in
those four gospels. 89 chapters. Of the 89 chapters that present
the life and ministry of Jesus, 85 of the 89 are focused
on the last three to 3 and 1/2 years of
Jesus' ministry. Of those 85 chapters,
27 deal only with the last eight
days of his life. And the reason for
that is quite clear. The whole purpose of the Gospel
is to tell you the Gospel. That Jesus died, was
buried, and rose again. So you're going to
find the Gospel writers focus in on that. Those are the high points. That's the big stuff, His
atonement, his suffering, His death and His resurrection. So how Jesus spent
his child years isn't important to the authors. What is important
is what He said and what He did,
especially when it comes to His death and His
burial and His resurrection. So here we are halfway
in the Gospel of John. And John will spend as much time
on the last week of Jesus' life as he did on the first
33 years of Jesus' life. That's the focus. That's the emphasis. So it says in verse 1
"No a certain man was sick Lazarus of Bethany the town
of Mary and her sister Martha." Let me refresh your memory. The most famous story we
have of Martha and Mary comes from Luke 10. It says that Jesus came
to their house for dinner. Martha welcome Jesus in. And it says Martha was serving
while Mary sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word. You remember that story? And it says Martha
was distracted with her much serving. And she came to Jesus
with a complaint. She said Jesus, my sister
is just sitting around. And I'm doing all the work. She has left all of
the serving to me. Tell her to help me. And you know, our Lord
responded and said to her Mary has chosen the
better part which will not be taken away from her. Martha you are distracted and
troubled with much serving. And Mary has chosen
the better part. That is not to say that
serving the Lord is wrong and sitting around is better. Some people like that
story for that reason. And you can make anything
a proof text in the Bible. In fact, I like Martha. I like the fact that she's
on her feet serving the Lord. I like people who are
active serving the Lord. Anybody can pontificate
and be an armchair pastor. Well, you know, if I was
in charge, I would do this. Well there you are sitting
on the couch eating your Fritos get up
and do something. Armchair quarterbacking
happens every week when there's a football game. Stupid player. When was the last time
you tried that run on the football field, buddy? So it's not that Martha's
serving was wrong and Mary what she did was
the best apart from serving. I see a combination of both, a
balance of both, as important. Jesus' point was this. I'm here. Martha I'm here. And while I'm here, that's
where your sister is. She's worshiping me. She's hearing what
I have to say. But if you can strike
a balance in your life between serving the Lord
and sitting with the Lord and hearing His word,
it's a good balance. That's the most
famous story and so they're brought up because
that's a point of reference. "It was that Mary--"
verse 2, "who anointed the Lord
with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair
whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore, the sisters
sent to Him saying, Lord, behold he whom
you love is sick. When Jesus heard that
He said this sickness is not into death but
for the glory of God that the Son of God may
be glorified through it." Tragedy has pushed its
way into this family. We don't know what it is. We don't know what
the sickness was. But some sickness happened. And immediately the
girls thought of Jesus. Bring Jesus here. If Jesus were here, He
could take care of this. He would take care of this. And of course, it was awesome
to be around Jesus, was it not? Think of all the
things Jesus did that blew his disciples away. And so you're always
on the winning team when Jesus is there. I love the story in Galilee
when they were collecting taxes. And Peter says, Lord,
we have an emergency. They are collecting taxes. We don't have any
money to give them. Jesus said sure you do. Go down to the lake. Pull out a fish. And the first fish you pick
up will have a coin in it. Go pay your taxes with it. Handy guy to have
around, especially around April, tax season. But Jesus is not there. They're distressed. Their answer? Go get Jesus. And notice, notice the
basis of their appeal. Lord, the one whom
you love is sick. Hey, that's a good model
for you when you pray. If you're sick, say Lord, the
one whom you love is sick. Don't you love that? That's how you want to view it. The one whom you
love, Lord, is sick. We know that John calls himself
the disciple whom Jesus loved. He refers to himself as that. Here, these girls say the
one whom you love is sick. It's not John. This is Lazarus. Which gets me to think that
Jesus probably often said to people you know I love you. You know I love you. And so they refer to him as
the one whom you love is sick. So I love the basis
of their appeal. It's not Lord, we who love you
or he who loves you is sick. The basis for their
appeal is not well, you know, Lord, whenever
you're in Jerusalem you do stay at our
house quite often. And we do feed
you lots of meals. That's a lot of food
at our own expense. We never charge you for a room. And you know, the gals
they listen to everything you've said and taught. So we think you owe us one. It's simply, Lord, your
property is in danger. The one whom you love is sick. And I love the basis
of that appeal. And it could be that they
were surprised, behold, like, hey, somebody
that you love is sick. Now I want you to notice this. Because some of you
may be suffering from a wrong theology that
says if Jesus loves me and I love Him, I as
a Christian believer should never
experience sickness. That is a popular teaching. It has been for years. So here we see it's possible
for Jesus to love someone and for that someone that Jesus
loves to actually experience physical sickness. It's important that
you realize that. Sickness happens to
all people, all people. Even faith healers who say,
if you have enough faith, you never have to
be sick, Hallelujah. But just follow
them and watch them and find out what they die of. Everyone dies of
their last disease. There's some condition that
the medical record would have as to why that person perished. They didn't just
float up to heaven with a smile on their face. Everybody experiences death. The rain falls on the
just and the unjust. People that Jesus
love, they get sick. Tragedy happens to them. Jesus heard that. "And He said this
sickness is not unto death but for the glory of
God that the Son of God may be glorified through it." Verse 5. "Now Jesus loved
Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus." Lord, this guy that
you love is sick. Well, Jesus loved Lazarus
and Martha and Mary, loved them all. Now you notice the word
love is used twice. There are two different
words here for love. The first word, the word they
use in the letter to Jesus to summon Him is the
word [NON-ENGLISH], which means friendship love. The word where John says
Jesus loved Lazarus and Martha and Mary is a different
word it's [NON-ENGLISH]. It's a divine, unconditional,
godly, incessant, sacrificial love. OK? And that second the
use of the word love is in the imperfect tense
in the Greek language, which means it is unending. It is never ceasing. It is ongoing. So let me translate it for you. They sent Him a
note, or a messenger comes, Lord your good
buddy, your friend, the one that you are fond
of in a friendship manner, he is sick. Now Jesus, continually,
incessantly, loved with a sacrificial deep
love Lazarus, Martha, and Mary. OK? So that's important. Look at verse 6. "So when He heard
that he was sick, He stayed two more days in
the place where He was." The word so could be
translated therefore. Now listen to how this sounds. Jesus with that ongoing,
sacrificial, incessant God-like manner loved these
people, therefore, He didn't come when
they called Him. Therefore, He stayed
put for two more days. That doesn't make sense to us. We think it ought
to read something like since Jesus
loved them so much, He immediately did what
they asked and went to the aid of Lazarus to make
sure he wouldn't die or get sicker. No. It's because Jesus
loved them, His delay is tied to His love for them. Here's what you need to know
God's delays are not denials. In fact, if you start evaluating
a delay from God-- first of all that's a misnomer,
there are no delays from God. What you perceive
as a delay from God doesn't say anything
about His timing. It says a lot about yours. God is never late. You're early. He's always on time. Peter said the Lord is not
slow concerning His promise as some men count slowness. He does things with
a perfect timetable. So He loved them in
an imperfect tense, or an ongoing, incessant,
unconditional manner. Therefore, He stayed two more
days, stayed where He was. "And then after this, He
said to His disciples, let us go to Judea again." He wanted to make sure
the Lazarus was not just dead, but good and dead. Really dead. Not mostly dead, all dead. Right? Mary and Martha are going
to get angry when they see Jesus, especially Martha. Mary not so much. I'll show you why. But Martha will. She'll be angry. And you'll hear it in her voice. And here's her mistake. And I wonder if it's yours. It's sometimes mine. We have a tendency to
interpret the love of God through our circumstances
rather than interpreting our circumstances
through the love of God. You see what I'm saying? Well, Jesus didn't show up. He must not love me. No, no, no. He loves you and so
he's going to delay. Learn to interpret your
circumstances always through the lens
of the love of God. God loves you. Therefore, He's
allowed this to happen. Well, why would He
allow this to happen? This is bad. Oh, be careful what
you assign as bad. It actually may be good. You don't know the whole story. You don't see the big picture. They didn't see the big picture. What they wanted was a
resuscitation of Lazarus. Jesus wanted a
resurrection of Lazarus. Which do you think is better? Yeah. I mean which is like super cool? A resuscitation, well
that would be awesome because he'd never die. Woo hoo. Awesome. But a resurrection,
that's the big picture. I was watching-- I was channel
surfing, I don't really watch. So I was channel surfing. And something
caught my attention. So I decided to watch it for
a minimal amount of time, longer than my quick perusal. And it was an artist
with a blank canvas. And he was going to paint
a picture for the audience very quickly he said. Well he started putting
paint on this canvas. And he put these
colors on in blotches. And honestly, I looked at it. And I thought, as he was
doing it, I could do that. He just phut, phut. It's like you're taking up
television time to do this? I just thought it
was not really good. Well as I waited a little
longer, and he moved quickly, suddenly I saw trees. I saw a lake. I saw more trees and mountains. And then light filtering
its way into the picture and highlighting
certain objects. And at the end I went, wow. Now what I discovered is the
artist saw that going in. That's what it revealed to me. He knew what he
was going to create at the beginning with just
the blotches on the canvas. I didn't. I had to wait and see it. And so often, life is like that. We see a blotch here
and a blotch there. And I say boy my life
is pretty blotchy. Yeah, but wait for it,
wait for it, wait for it. Foom. Wow. I didn't expect that. Of course, you didn't. You couldn't see it. The artist, God, you are
His workmanship, His poema. He sees the big picture. You and I don't. That's why we have to trust. That's why we wait. The Lord is never late. Perfect timing when He shows up. So Jesus says "Let us go
to Judea again," verse 7. Verse 8, "The
disciples said to Him, Rabbi lately the Jews
sought to stone You and You are going there again?" Now that brings up
what we read last time and a couple times before. Twice in the last few
chapters, one in chapter 10, when Jesus said before
Abraham was, I am. And then Jesus said I
and my Father are one. Both times they picked
up stones to kill Him. And the last time
in chapter 10, He said what good work
do you stone Me for? And they said not
for a good work, but because You being a man
continually make yourself God. So they left. They're down by the Dead Sea. And between December
and April, that's where you want to hang out. It's like going to Palm Springs
or Phoenix in the winter time. It's nice and warm
and dry and mild. Anyway, I digress. They remember the incident. They remember the
stones being picked up. They remember how close
it seemed in Jerusalem. And so they protest. Rabbi they wanted to stone You. They're going to
stone You there again. Verse 9, "Jesus answered, are
there not 12 hours in the day? If anyone walks in
the day, he does not stumble because he sees
the light of this world. But if one walks
in the night, he stumbles because the
light is not in him." The Jewish day was
divided into two segments of 12 hours and 12 hours. And in the highlight of
the summer, the middle of the summer,
there are 12 hours of daylight, 12
hours of darkness. So it's an even split. So that's how they kept time. As it's getting nearer
Passover, there is literally that 12 hours and 12 hours. So the day was divided that way. And Jesus is simply saying while
it's daylight you do your work. Once you don't have light
to see what you're doing, you don't do the work
anymore, you can't do it. They didn't have
flashlights like we have. And they didn't go out
and work with lanterns. They called it quits. He's referring to
His own ministry. He knows that His
hour is coming. Very shortly, next few
months, it'll be Passover time and He will go to the cross. He has a limited amount of time. It is daylight. It is the prescribed day
of the Lord in the sense that He is there as the
Messiah to work these works. And the night is coming. Beyond that, there is
a principle for us. You and I have a
task, a life task. You and I have a life
work, a calling from God. Some of you don't
know that yet, or you haven't discovered
what that calling for your life in particular is. But you have one. I'm convinced you have one. You have a task that only
you can fulfill very uniquely in the body of Christ. And the reason God
has you in the world is to fulfill that task. Your joy, your fulfillment,
your satisfaction is directly proportional
to your discovery of that task and your
obedience to that calling. Find out what it is. Because you have
a day to work in. You can't extend the
day longer than it is. You can't say, well, today
I want 14 hours of sunlight. You can't do that. You have a prescribed period
of time to live on this earth. Today may be your last
night for some of us. Might be my last night. I never know. We never know, correct? So we have to work
while it's light. As Jesus, in another
place, said the night is coming when no man can work. So he's going to
go up to Jerusalem. He's going to perform in Bethany
and perform this resurrection. He uses this metaphor of
I have a time that is set. But so do we. I believe, I believe
that you are invincible. That nothing can happen to
you until God's done with you. And then, when the day is
done, your day, whatever day, whatever time, that
when your day is done, who wants to hang here anyway? Once it's done, once you've
fulfilled what God has put you on Earth to do, who wants to
let it linger on past that time? Some people will
say, oh, he died. And he's in heaven enjoying God
forever and ever, how horrible. They won't say that, but-- When I'm done, man, I'm done. I'm ready. I'm ready for the new life
with the Lord in His presence. And you're invincible
until that time. You say, you use
that word invincible, I don't think you know
what that word means. Well in Revelation 11, there
are two characters known as the two witnesses. Are you familiar with them? And do you know that
it says God says, I will give power
to my two witnesses that they can
prophesy 1,260 days. So a time limit is given to
them to prophesy 1,260 days. They have the power
to shut up heaven so it doesn't rain during
the days of their prophecy. They have the power to
turn the water into blood. And it says and when
their prophesying is over, when they're done. It says then, the beast
comes out-- you know what? Sometimes you try to quote
it and you should just read it because you
don't get it all the way. So here it is. Right here. "When they finish
their testimony, the beast that ascends
out of the bottomless pit will make war against them,
overcome them, and kill them." Now when will that happen? When they have finished their
testimony, not until then. It's not, well, they almost
finished their testimony, but the devil got them. No. They will prophesy 1,260 days. And when they're done,
as God calls it done, finished their testimony. Then the beast ascends
out of the pit, makes war against
them, and kills them. Then and only then. So you and I have a life task. Find out what it is. Get engaged in it. Get fulfilled by doing it. "These things He said. And after this He said to them
our friend Lazarus sleeps. But I go that I may wake him up. And his disciples said to
Him, Lord, if he sleeps, he will get well. However, Jesus
spoke of his death. But they thought he was speaking
about taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus said to them
plainly Lazarus is dead." When Jesus said
Lazarus is sleeping, He did not refer to soul sleep. I don't know if you've
heard that term. But there's a belief that when
a person dies, a believer dies, that their soul kind of
goes into a suspended state. Their soul is unconscious. They're asleep for thousands
of years until the end times. Not so. To be absent from the body is
to be present with the Lord. Amen. So that doesn't happen. He's not referring to that. He's referring to the
appearance of the body at death. If somebody dies
in front of you-- and I've watched people die--
the appearance is their body goes limp at first
is they're sleeping. It's what it looks like. And so that's a euphemism. It is used in the scripture. In the Old Testament,
it says and they slept with their fathers. It is used in the New
Testament of Stephen after he was martyred
in Jerusalem. It says and he fell asleep. And that term is used not
because it's soul sleep, but that is the appearance,
physically, of the body. In cultures where death was seen
out in the open, not like ours, they use language like this. I've been to India where
death is a part of life. And if you walk down
the street in some of the villages in southern
India, you'll see casket shops. And they'll have the caskets
right out on the Main Street, just sort of propped
up, different sizes, different lengths, different
widths, different materials. And the idea is that
you go shopping. And you just sort of size it up. I went there one time and said
can you find one to fit me? And they go ooh. Yeah, You're a little tall
for anything they had there. So it just fascinated me
that these caskets, which would creep us out to see them
just sort of at a-- here's a shop where you
buy gum and then there's caskets
right next to it. And it's just so people,
they got time, they look it. And they go, yeah, I'm
kind of getting up there. You pick a casket, put it
on a layaway plan, I guess. And then they will lay
you away in that casket when your time comes up. But when a person dies
and the funeral service is conducted out in the streets,
like it was in Israel in ancient times, very
similar to that, the body is placed
up on a cot or a mat and carried through the streets. And the appearance is
that of somebody sleeping. And so they thought
Jesus was at first, just talking about he fell asleep. He took a nap. He's sick. And he's kind of in a long
sleep so he'll wake up. But Jesus was speaking
euphemistically. So he just made it really
plain, so they wouldn't misunder-- they're fishermen. So He goes he's dead. Oh. OK. Now they got it. "Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your
sakes that I was not there." That's an interesting
thing for Jesus to say. He's dead and I'm glad
that I was not there. You wouldn't picture Jesus,
or think of Jesus saying, he's dead and I am glad
that I was not there. But He is glad that He was
not there for your sake He said "that you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go to him. Then, Thomas, who is
called the twin--" Who is he the twin of? Me, you. You've been just
like him before. So have I. We've reflected
much of what he thinks in our own thoughts at times. "Thomas who is called the twin
said to his fellow disciples let us also go that
we may die with Him." I have often called Thomas
the Eeyore of the disciples. If this were Winnie
the Pooh, he is Eeyore. He always sees the
dark side of things. You know they want
to kill you up there. Let's go, and
we'll die with Him. Oh, thanks, Tom. You know, Thomas,
doubting Thomas, we always call him
doubting Thomas. And we refer to people who
doubt as doubting Thomases, because Thomas is like the
patron Saint of all skeptics. He saw the dark side of things. If Thomas would have
had personalized license plates on his chariot, they
would be Missouri plates, the show me state. He was the show me disciple. Yeah, I don't
believe it, show me. When Jesus rose from the dead. Peter and John said
He's alive, He's risen. He goes, I'm not
going to believe it. I have to put my fingers, my
hand--I've got to touch those wounds. I have to see this for myself. Yeah, but but Peter
and John saw it. Yeah, but I know those guys. I need to see it for myself. Now he does see the dark side. He is the doubter. He is the skeptic. But at the same time, I've
just got to be honest with you, I like him. What I like about him is
he's loyal, number one. If indeed they thought
they were going to die, he's loyal enough to say
well let's go die with Him. That's loyalty. Instead of I'm
feeling a little sick. I'm going to stay behind. So he's loyal. He's courageous to say this. And he's also honest. What I love about Thomas more
than any other attribute is he was honest. If he didn't get
something, he wouldn't just try to act really spiritual
and go oh, that's cool. He would just say
I don't get it. So in John 14, that
very famous passage, let your hearts be troubled
Jesus said, you believe in God, believe also in Me. In my Father's house
are many mansions. If it were not, so I
would have told you. I am going to prepare
a place for you. And if I go, I will come again
and receive you to myself that where I am there
you may be also. And where I'm going you know. And the way you know. Thomas said, I don't
know where you're going. I don't know how to get there. [LAUGHTER] Don't you love that? I'm sure the other
disciples are kind of just like Jesus is talking. They're nodding their heads
going, yeah, that's good. That's really good. Thomas goes I don't get it. And I'm sure the other disciples
thought we don't get it either, but we don't want to
say we don't get it. At least we're going
to act spiritual and go yeah, mane, amen. And I am so glad that
Thomas said that. Don't know where you're going. Don't know how to get there. I'm glad he said that. You know why? Because after that
Jesus answered it with one of the greatest
proclamations ever that may not have been in the
scripture unless he said that. Because right after
that, Jesus said I am the way, the,
truth the life. No man comes to the
Father but by me. Thomas thank you for
bringing up that objection so Jesus could say that. [APPLAUSE] So I don't know about
y'all, but I like him. "Let's go that we
may die with Him." So when Jesus came, He
found that he had already been dead in the tomb, or
already been in the tomb four days. "Now Bethany was near
Jerusalem about two miles away. And many of the Jews
had joined the women around Martha and
Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. Then, Martha, as soon as she
heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him. But Mary was
sitting in the House now Martha said to Jesus,
Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." Can you hear the
disappointment in her words? "If You would have been here,
my brother wouldn't have died." Now I have to say there's
a statement of faith there. The statement of faith
is had You been present, You would have healed him. That's faith. You would have healed him. So it's a statement in
the ability of Jesus to perform miracles. At the same time, it's
a limiting statement. If You have been
here, in other words, You could have done
something four days ago. Window of opportunity is gone. You can't do anything
now, he's dead. So there's a statement of
faith, but there's also a statement of limitation
in what Jesus is able to do. Now when a person dies,
during a period of grief at a time of loss,
the people left behind go through a gamut of emotion. If you've taken counseling
courses in grief, this is basic,
this is Grief 101. Years ago Elisabeth
Kubler-Ross, her seminal work on grief and grieving,
she noted and-- others have noted-- that a person
during a time of loss goes through five
distinct stages of grief. First one being denial,
you hear something that something bad happened. Your loved one died. You go no. Must be a mistake. Not true. I think you didn't
get your facts right. Go check again. Must be somebody else. Denial. That's the first
initial reaction. The second one is anger. People get angry at doctors
for not saving their loved one, angry at a nurse
for not being there, angry at themselves. Why did I do this? I could have prevented this. Anger at God. Third stage bargaining. Lord, please, please,
please, please. I'll do anything. Please don't let this happen. Don't let this be true. You start going through
a bargaining stage. Then, the next
stage is depression. A person after it all sets in,
they just sink to such a low. So dark they can't see
any light at the other end of that tunnel. It's just so bad, so bleak. The fifth stage, says Ross
and others, is acceptance. You finally come
to terms with it. You deal with it. It's still painful. But you come to accept
it, talk about it, work your way through it. When a person is going through
grief, at whatever stage, what they say and how they act
is completely unpredictable. Unless you are an
unshockable person and you've had
experience in this, you could actually
be detrimental. As somebody would just lash out
and go why would God do that? I don't love God. Or whatever they would say,
they could say certain things based out of anger. And you might go ooh, I
can't believe you said that. And you could actually
start rebuking them. Wrong. Bad form. Go somewhere else. Have a Hershey bar or something. But don't be here. You're not helpful. So she says if You
would have been here, my brother wouldn't have died. "But even now I know that
whatever you ask God, God will give You." I think she's kind
of going between this is how I really feel. Oh, wait a minute, this is
probably what I should say. Oh, wait a minute. I'm really angry. Oh, but praise God. And notice verse 23,
Jesus said to her "Your brother will rise again." Jesus doesn't rebuke her. He gives a short,
positive little statement. Just a little your
brother will rise again. He could have rebuked her, but
again He wouldn't because He knew what was going
on inside of her. He could have said I can't
believe you would say that. I was going to raise your
brother from the dead, but I don't think
I'm going to do now. None of that. Just this little
positive affirmation, your brother will rise again. "Martha said to
Him, I know that he will rise again in the
resurrection at the last days." She knew Daniel 12. She knew her scriptures. She knew enough of
her Hebrew theology to say I believe in
the resurrection. Yeah, in the sweet by and
by, one day, I get all that. I get all that. Can I just state for
the record if one day you hear that I am dying
or even that I have died, don't you
dare pray me back. Because I'll come to
get you if you do. Now we're going to go
through this story. And we're going
to probably-- well we are going to
finish it next time-- but you know let's say
I was to die tonight. And for four days, I'm dead. And you have a prayer meeting. And you pray me back.
now for four days, I've just been in heaven. I'm going wow, wow, wow. That's probably my most used
words for the first four days. Wow, I'm seeing everything. This is awesome. And then, God would say, yeah,
but we have a little problem. There's a group
down there that's been praying that
you'd come back. Well you told them, no, right? No. I'm going to answer this one. You're going back. No, no. Yes. You're leaving heaven. And you're going
back to New Mexico. [LAUGHTER] You get my drift, right? I'm coming after you, man. That's why I always thought
reincarnation it's such a drag. So many people believe
in reincarnation. What a horrible
theological stance to take. Amen. There's a lot of stuff I don't
want to go through again. Fifth grade rejected
by Patti Quinn. I don't want to go
through that again. High school English. Don't want to do that again. Braces aah. No, thank you. OK. I digress. Back to the story. "Martha said to
Him, I know that he will rise again at the
resurrection of the last day. Jesus said to her--" here it is. Here it is. This is the nugget. "--I am
the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me though
he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes
in Me shall never die." [APPLAUSE] It's the fifth I am statement
of Jesus in the Gospel of John. Powerful statement. Proclaiming His Deity. I am the resurrection
and the life. Interesting. Because resurrection
is an event. But here Jesus takes it
from the event status and assigns it to
the person status. Instead of saying resurrection
is an incident that happens to people,
resurrection is a person that happens to people. I am the resurrection
and the life. Wherever I am, I bring life. So whether it's at Lazarus'
death or your death, He is the resurrection
and the life. And notice, "whoever believes
in me, though he die, he will live. And who ever lives and
believes in me will never die." One day, when you hear the news
report that Skip Heitzig died, don't believe it. Not true. He's taking a little nap. He'll awaken on
resurrection day. He's very alive in
the presence of God. Don't say he died. Here's the accurate
statement, he moved. He moved. It's inaccurate to
say somebody died. Jesus said you'll never
die if you believe in me. I love Christian
funerals because I get to say that at a funeral. This person isn't dead. He just moved. He got a transfer. OK? He got a promotion. He left the tenement. Don't pray him
back to New Mexico. He's in heaven. He's alive. And then Jesus asks
a question to her. Do you believe this? Isn't that good? Now this is the truth. This is the statement I am
the resurrection and the life. And whoever believes
Me will never die. I know that to be true
because Jesus is Jesus and He made a true statement. But after the true statement,
He brings a question. Do you believe this? Whenever I do a funeral-- and
I often preach on this text-- I ask this question,
and I deliberately look into the audience. Now, when I look
into the audience-- like I'm looking
at you right now-- I see very different
faces at a funeral. But when I share the Gospel,
I say do you believe this? And I can see in
their eyes if they do. Their eyes answer
me back if they do. Their eyes, though
all tearful, all sad, some of them their eyes are
like glazed over all this truth is just like it's out there
just kind of hovering around, but they don't get it. They don't see it. They have no belief system
that's of any real value. So it's just like buzzzzch. Other people, you
look in their eyes, you know they're
filled with sorrow. But it's not like a
sorrow without hope. They have hope built
into that sorrow. And they are being
I believe this. I believe this. I believe-- makes all the
difference at a funeral, at a death. You can really tell who a person
is whenever there's a death. Have a person stare
into the face of death and you'll get a real read on
what that person believes in. They can say Hallelujah
all their lives, at death that will
be the litmus test. Do you believe this? Jesus asked. "She said to Him,
yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ,
the Messiah, the Messiah, the Son of God who is
to come into the world. When she said these
things, she went her way and secretly called
Mary her sister saying, the Teacher has come
and is calling for you. As soon as she heard that, she
arose quickly and came to Him. Now Jesus had not yet
come into the town but was in the place
where Martha met Him. The Jews who were with her in
the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary
rose up quickly and went out followed her saying, she's
going to the tomb to weep there. Then when Mary came where
Jesus was and saw Him, she fell down at His
feet--" we always see her at the feet of Jesus--
"saying to Him, Lord, if You had been here, my
brother would not have died." Now what they said
sounds the same. But there's a difference. Can you detect the difference? Martha went out
being the one who stood up to serve in
Luke 10, comes out and-- I can't prove it. But just because Mary
fell down at the feet, Martha stood there. I'm picturing she
stood like this. Or maybe like this,
like in the pictures. I don't know. Anyway, just kind
of stood there. If You would have been here,
my brother wouldn't have died. Mary says the thing same
thing, but she's down at the feet of Jesus. It's where she always is. She's worshipping. Now listen to this. When life was calm,
when life was good, when there's a dinner
party and Jesus is there, Mary's at the feet of Jesus. When life is calm, but
when life is a calamity, she's also at the feet of Jesus. Broken hearted, yes. Same questions, yes. But in worship. How you face death
will be determined by what posture and position
you take before Jesus. Will you worship
Him and praise Him even though you don't
understand this? Even though this
is a heart break? Even though you lost someone and
this is pulling your heart out? But I'm at your
feet where I belong. And I worship you. That's the safest place. It's the place of
comfort that I know. Or will you stand
and accuse Him. If you would have been here. True. But, there's worship here. "Therefore, when Jesus saw
her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping,
He groaned in the Spirit and was troubled." There's several things about
this story that are odd. This is one of them. It says He groaned
in the spirit. OK. So listen to this. This word, in the
Greek language, this word groaned is only
found a couple of times in the Greek New Testament. The literal meaning of the word
means the snorting of a horse. [SNORT] It is a word used
in other places-- I mentioned just a
couple of times-- for a scolding or a
strong stern rebuke. But, literally, it means
the snorting of a horse. It's funny. When I first married Lenya
and she got frustrated, she would use the word
that I only saw written out in cartoon captions. The word G-R-R-R-R-R-R,
grrrrrrr. She'd go grrrrrr. And I remember going did
you just say the word grrrrrr like a cartoon word? And I've seen people who get
angry and they go grrrrrr. So that's the idea. Jesus stood there
and He was grrrrrr. It's a word that denotes
a response of anger. He's angry at something. Jesus is troubled in spirit
and He groaned hmmmm. Why? We beg to know why? We wonder why. Why is He troubled? What is He angry at? He's angry at death, I believe. He's looking at,
and he's involved in this experience,
this human experience, come from heaven to the earth. He's watching what
never should have been part of the experience in life. This was not part of the plan. Death was never in
the design of God. It was always life,
life, life, life. What happened in the
garden brought death. That is not God's design. He is angry at death
caused by sin that brings this kind of deep loss. He's angry at what He sees. You know, death makes us angry. Makes us spooked
out, if you're a kid. Makes us angry as an adult. No. This shouldn't have happened. Man, I got ripped off. I'm disappointed by it. Jesus agrees with you. He enters into your experience. Our problem is we are powerless
to do anything about it. He will do something about that. But His first is an emotional
response where He grieves. "He groaned in the
spirit and was troubled. And He said where
have you laid him? They said to him,
Lord, come and see. Jesus wept." Shortest verse in the Bible. Charles Spurgeon said it's a
verse that you can't just read, you have to feel. He preached two
sermons on this verse. He says there's
more in this verse than could ever be
contained in two sermons. He could have preached more,
but he preached two sermons on Jesus wept. Two distinct messages. What is there? What is the meaning of this? That's what we're going
to take up next time. Oh! [LAUGHTER] Now, now, now. Wait till you see
the big picture. [MUSIC PLAYING] If you've missed any
of our Expound studies, all of our services
and resources are available at expoundabq.org.
