Lazarus: The Resurrected Life
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Today we will be studying John 11:1-44. This is the account of when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead. John alone records this account of Jesus life.
We are going to read through the passage and study it as we go. At the end, we want to draw some applications for our lives today, about the resurrected life.
Pray
Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
(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.)
So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
So, Lazarus, a friend of Jesus’, was ill. And His sisters sent word to Jesus.
John mentions that this Mary is the one who anointed Jesus’ feet. We will read about that in John 12.
Now, to understand this passage, we have to keep in mind the geography and culture of the day.
Where were Lazarus and his sisters? Bethany.
Where was Jesus?
John tells us in John 10:40.
Then Jesus went back across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. There he stayed,
Earlier in his gospel, in John 1:28, John tells us where this was.
This all happened at Bethany on the other side of the Jordan, where John was baptizing.
Two Bethany’s. Not uncommon to have towns of the same name. Let’s look at this on the map.
Where Jesus was located was likely 20+ miles from Bethany, where Lazarus was sick. How did the sisters send word? Well, there was no Cell service. No landlines for telephones. No Western Union for telegraphs. The only way they could send word to Jesus was by a messenger.
How did the messenger travel those 20+ miles and locate Jesus? He would have had to walk. It was not like today when I travel 20 miles to stores in Dickson City, or Walmart in Tunkhannock in about 25-30 minutes from my home. We can travel quickly with our automobiles. But this man had to walk through mountainous terrain, cross the Jordan at the river crossing, and then on to Bethany across the Jordan, where he had to locate Jesus. Of course they were used to walking like that, and he likely made it in about a day. This is significant. We must keep in mind the setting of the situation to fully understand what comes later.
Let’s continue reading.
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.”
By the time the messenger got to Jesus, Lazarus was dead. How do we know? Because we see later that Lazarus was already dead and buried 4 days when Jesus gets there. We will see that later in the account.
Jesus was told that Lazarus was sick. But I believe Jesus knew that Lazarus was already dead when He said that this will not end in death. God is going to turn this whole situation around for His glory.
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days,
and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
Interesting how this reads, isn’t it? Because Jesus loved Martha and Mary, he stayed two more days. In my mind, if you love someone, you go right away. But Jesus waited two days? Why?
Jesus knew what He was doing. He was waiting so that when He arrived, He could raise Lazarus. But for the miracle to bring God the most glory, and the most encouragement to Martha and Mary, He needed to wait. Hmm… Let’s keep reading.
“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”
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.
It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”
In merely human perception of things, this was unwise for Jesus to return to the area where the Jews were trying to kill Him. They just tried to kill Him three times over the preceding months.
Jesus uses an illustration of walking in the light.
It is much easier to walk in the light, isn’t it? Have you tried walking in the dark? It is hard. We tend to trip over little things, or stumble in little holes. We need light. That is why they invented flashlights!
In the same way, Jesus was walking in the light of His fellowship with God. He knew what God had for Him to do. So He walked in that light.
As long as He walked in the light of what He knew God wanted Him to do, He could not stumble. He would succeed in what God wanted to do for His glory.
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.”
His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.”
Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead,
and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
Jesus tells His disciples that Lazarus has died, but He uses the idiom of sleeping. The disciples don’t get it, so Jesus makes is plain to them.
I love the idiom of sleeping. Because it reminds me that loved one who died are only temporarily away from me.
Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
What an attitude! But they went to be with Jesus.
On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.
Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days.
This is what I mentioned earlier. Lazarus was sick. It got so bad that the sisters sent for Jesus. The messenger leaves, and while he was traveling, Lazarus dies.
He travels for 1 full day to find Jesus. Day 1.
Jesus waits for 2 days. Days 2 and 3.
Jesus travels back, which is another full day’s journey, and Lazarus has been in the tomb for 4 days. This was on Day 4 since the messenger left.
Let’s keep reading.
Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem,
and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
It was cultural to have days of mourning when someone died. People would come and wail loudly and be with the family.
Martha hears that Jesus is coming, and she goes out to meet Him.
“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
Some people have read this as Martha blaming Jesus. I really don’t believe that is what is going on here.
If anything, I think Martha and Mary feel guilty because they waited to long to send for Jesus. They know that Lazarus died shortly after they sent for Jesus. Why did we wait so long? If Jesus was here, He could have healed Lazarus!
Have you ever felt guilty because if you would have acted, it may have prevented something bad from happening?
Martha was not blaming Jesus. If anything, she blamed herself, because she truly believed Jesus could have healed her brother. And she still believed in Jesus now.
But what was she believing He could do?
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Martha did not expect Jesus to raise Lazarus that day. She thought Lazarus would raise on the last day, as foretold in Daniel 12.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die;
and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
My favorite verses of this passage. This bring us hope when we lose loved ones who believe in Jesus. Read it again.
Answer the question, “Do you believe this?”
“Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
Martha believes that Jesus is the God who came into the world. She believes He is the resurrection and the life.
After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.”
When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.
Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.
When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
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.”
Mary as well feels guilty for not sending for Jesus. She knows if they would have sent sooner, Jesus could have been there to heal Lazarus.
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
“Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
Jesus wept.
Jesus did not wail loudly as a show. He wept quietly. Why? The pain and separation that sin brings. It is because of people’s rebellion against God that death is a part of this world. It causes so much pain and suffering. It is not how God created us to be.
Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
The people begin muttering about Jesus being able to heal. Why wasn’t he here?
Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.
“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.”
Again, John is reminding us by what was said that this has been four days.
The Gospel according to John 2. Jesus’ Meeting with Martha (11:17–27)
There was a Jewish belief that the soul stays near the grave for three days, hoping to be able to return to the body.40 But on the fourth day it sees decomposition setting in and leaves it finally. If this view was as early as the time of which we are thinking (it is attested c. A.D. 220 but is probably a good deal earlier) it will mean that a time had been reached when the only hope for Lazarus was a divine act of power.
That divine act of power is about to take place, and God will be glorified!
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
What a miracle! the result is that many people who were there believed in Jesus, who indeed is the Resurrection and the Life. He brings the dead to life! When all hope is gone, there is Jesus, doing what He alone can do!
Can you imagine the elation of the sisters? They had their brother back.
Application for us today:
Walk in the Light
Walk in the Light
We need to walk in fellowship with God as Jesus did. When we walk in fellowship with God, we can be confident in all we do. We don’t have to live in fear of what may come. We can have confidence in the Lord, come what may. Like our brothers and sisters in Christ who are facing persecution around the world. Let’s pray for them to walk in the Light, and for us to walk in the light as well.
Trust in the Lord
Trust in the Lord
The sisters were feeling guilt and shame. They were worried.
Jesus came, at just the right time and told them to believe. He would work through even this situation for God’s glory. He would turn things around. All He wanted from them was that they would trust Him.
What is going on in your life today? Will you trust Him? He promises to work all things together for good for those who love Him? Will you believe?
Live the Resurrected Life
Live the Resurrected Life
When Jesus raised Lazarus, how do you think he came out of the grave? He had died four days prior. His body had started to decay. He stank!
When Jesus raised him to life anew, Lazarus was healed. His body restored. There was no more decay.
Do you think he went back to his sick bed? “Thank you for raising me Jesus. But as you know, I was sick. So I have to get back to bed now.” Do you think he just dwelt on what had happened prior to his resurrection? Well, this is what I was before… This is what happened to me before, so I need to live in this sickness. NO!
There was no more of the sickness that killed him. He was raised to new life! Lazarus did not live in the past. He lived in the Resurrection!
The death he died, he died to sin once for all; but the life he lives, he lives to God.
In the same way, count yourselves dead to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus.
Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.
Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.
For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.
Live in the Resurrected Life
Live in the Resurrected Life
You do not have to live a life of defeat. Too many people live in the guilt and shame of the past. Did Lazarus live in the stench of his past? It was awful. I was so stinky, even my own sister didn’t want to remove the stone. No. Lazarus did not live in the stink of his past. He lived in the light of his Resurrection! He looked ahead to what God had for Him to do now!
I also love when Jesus told them to take off the grave clothes.
The grave clothes identified him as someone who died. Grave clothes were wrapped tightly to keep the body from being contorted by death. The grave clothes kept him bound.
When he shuffled out of the grave, Jesus commanded the people around him to remove the gave clothes!
We need to help people around us know that they do not need to be bound by their past; either the past of what was done to them, or the past of what they had done.
The world tells us to look at our past. And I have to tell you, there is nothing but hurt that comes from that. Dwelling on past hurts is like living in grave clothes. The past is the grave in which we were before Jesus came and resurrected us. The gave clothes are the things that happened to us, and that we did to others. As long as we keep looking to the past, and living in those grave clothes we will be bound.
Don’t look to your past! Jesus brought you out of that grave!! Look to Jesus and live in the Resurrected Life!
And take off those grave clothes. Those are the old ways of living in the grave of the past. Colossians describes it this way:
Since, then, you have been raised with Christ, set your hearts on things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God.
We have been raised to a new life in Christ. We need to stop looking our past, and look to the One who brought us out of that grave!
He goes on to say,
Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.
Because of these, the wrath of God is coming.
You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.
But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.
Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices
and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator.
We need to take off the grave clothes, the things that keep us bound up: Anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language, lies, etc.
The anger we hold onto because of things that were done to us binds us up from the resurrected life God has for us.
The guilt and shame of our past actions keep us bound.
Jesus brought us out of the grave. He wants us to stop looking to the grave, and take off the grave clothes that have us bound!
He wants us to have life, the Resurrected Life! He wants us to believe Him that we have been raised! We have been forgiven. We have been purified!
He wants us to not look to our past, but Him, the One who brought us out of the past into a bright future!
As we look to Him, we can start living in light of His great love,
Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you.
And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity.
We can live a victorious Resurrected Life that brings true peace and fulfillment in life as we take off the grave clothes, and put on the new clothes of compassion, kindness, humility gentleness, patience and forgiveness. The very clothes that Christ Himself wears.
Let’s stop living in the graves clothes, and live in His clothing this week.
Let’s go out and live the resurrected life!
Homework:
Read John 11:1-45. How many times does the word, or some form of the word, ‘believe’ occur in this passage? Why is this word repeated so many times? What is God trying to teach us? Have you ever been in a difficult situation and wondered how you would get through it? The sisters were in that situation. On top of the difficulties of losing their brother who supported them, they felt the guilt of not acting sooner. What does Jesus want them to do? How would belief help them in their guilt? How will you trust the Lord the next time you are in difficult situations, or feeling guilty? How does this account encourage you?
Read John 11:9-10. Read 1 John 1:5-10. What does it mean to walk in the light? What does it mean to walk in the darkness? If we confess, and begin to walk in the light, what happens to all of our sin? Is there any way in which you have been walking in darkness while claiming to walk in the light? Are you ready to be rid of the guilt and shame? Write out a prayer of confession. Read these verses again, and revel in the purification and forgiveness that He brings to you. How will you now walk in the light?
Read John 11:20-32. Knowing the background that Lazarus died right after they finally sent a messenger for Jesus, why would Martha and Mary both express that if Jesus had been there Lazarus would not have died? Notice how Martha also says that even now she knew that God would give Jesus whatever He asked. Did they lose their faith or get angry with Jesus because of losing their brother? Reality is that bad things happen in this world because of mankind’s rebellion against God. How can we be like Martha and Mary and hold onto our faith in God in the midst of bad circumstances? Who is the real ‘bad guy’? God, or sin which results in bad things? Who sinned? How can we be like Martha and Mary and the Psalmists who repeatedly relayed the trials of life, yet kept their faith in God? Consider Psalm 42, especially verse 6.
Read John 11:38-44. Lazarus was dead. His body was rotting away. There was a stench about him. How is that like us? Read Ephesians 2:1-10. Lazarus was dead physically, and raised to life. We were dead how, and raised to life? What is the significance of this? When Lazarus came back to life, was part of his body still rotted away? No. Lazarus was restored. His body was made whole. Lazarus did not go back and lie in his sick bed. He did not keep the grave clothes. He went and lived life anew with Jesus! Jesus brought you to life, and made you whole. The past is gone. The new has come. Read 2 Corinthians 5:17. The world wants us to look to our past and live as victims. How does God want us to live? Looking to our past? Looking to our past hurts? Or, looking to the cross and the empty grave? Jesus brought us to life so we could live, not in the stench of death and decay, but in the newness of life! How can you put behind your past, and live in the newness of life today? Where will you put your thoughts today? What will you allow to fill your mind?
Read Philippians 3:4-16. How will you follow Paul’s example to forget what is behind and strain toward what is ahead, pressing on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called you? Write out things in your past to which you look, things which you allow to control and influence you today—both good and bad. Now, write out what Jesus has given you when He raised you from the dead spiritually. Use verses as you are able. Has He brought you through all the horrible things of your past to bring you to Himself, today? YES! Has He brought you forgiveness? YES! Has He given you new life? YES! Burn the past. Mount the list of what Jesus has given you in your new life in Him. Meditate on these things. What is the goal He has for you? What is your calling? How will you begin to think on these things, and live for that goal and calling? Put it into practice.
Read Colossians 3:1-17. When Lazarus came out of the grave, Jesus told them to take off his grave clothes. Too many Christians are raised from the dead, but we live in our grave clothes. We live in the grave clothes of anger, rage, malice, slander, filthy language, lies, … Jesus wants us to take off the grave clothes. He wants us to put on the new clothes of compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, patience, long-suffering, forgiveness and love. The old clothes focus on ourselves: They hurt me. I will get revenge. They are not doing what I want. etc. The new clothes are focused on loving God and others. How can I serve God instead of myself? How can I show love and compassion to others like God has shown me? How can I forgive them? Are you living in the grave clothes, or the resurrection clothes? Confess, and change your clothes!