Sermon Tone Analysis

Looking forward to Sunday, March 30, 2008

*Trusting Christ on a whole new level*

John 11:1-17

/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.”

/John 11:11 NIV

*-----------*

In *preparation for Easter*, we spent some time in the *Gospel of John*, chapters 17 and 18, taking particular note of *Christ’s prayer for the fulfillment of His ministry assignment*.

In essence, Christ was to *become united with a band of men* who would *believe in Him* and then *become an extension of His ministry in the world* so that every person could *place their hope and trust in Christ*.

That was *the assignment* God the Father gave to His Son, Jesus Christ.

Now, for our *sermon texts*, *we are dropping back to chapter 11* of John’s Gospel and *the plan is* to work our way *back up to chapter 17.*

The *advantage* *we have now in this* is that *we better understand the purpose and mission* *of Christ* and the events leading up to His crucifixion and resurrection.

I know *for me personally*, the study of Christ’s life *from the perspective of the Apostle John* has been both *encouraging and challenging*.

I have seen Christ *move forward in obedience with His Father* with *intention* and *focus*.

And, as a result, I am having to *re-evaluate my own life and ministry* in this context.

So, may God *bless His word* as we again dig into the Gospel of John.

Have you ever set for yourself *a great plan and schedule for your day*, only to have someone else’s emergency *break in and destroy that plan*?

Well, that’s *a rather silly question*, isn’t it, since all of us have *experienced those disruptive moments*.

Parents are given that *opportunity routinely by their children* – children who have developed the *habit of procrastinating on assignments*.

In these cases, *a wise parent communicates to his or her child *that “a lack of planning on your part, does not constitute an emergency on mine.”

In our story today *from John 11*, we do wonder if *this was the response of Jesus to His dear friends, Mary and Martha*, *when they had an emergency* but it didn’t translate into an emergency for Jesus.

Let’s get right into the text.

*John, chapter 11.*

Now, the best that I can tell, *these events, centering in the town of **Bethany**,* are happening in the range of 2 to 3 months *prior to crucifixion* of our Lord.

And *that impending reality* is really the primary context of chapter 11.

The story of the *raising of Lazarus* from the dead is a *sub-plot* in the larger story of the *growing opposition to Jesus that will lead to His death*.

Seldom do *events that we are engaged in* happen in isolation.

We all live with *multiple currents of circumstances and pressures* that constantly test our resolve *to live by priorities*.

This is no less true for Jesus *as He seeks to fulfill His mission assignment* from His Father.

John indicates that *Jesus was having a successful ministry on the east side of the **Jordan* in Perea.

The last verse of chapter 10 says: John 10:42 (NIV) /42 //And// in that place many believed in Jesus./

So, *what we read in the opening verses of chapter* *11*, is indeed an interruption to a good thing – it *interrupts a momentum of evangelism*.

Picture, if you would, that *on a certain Sunday morning* we’re nearing the end of the service and *an altar call has just been given and several people are responding*, coming forward to pray to *confess sins and receive God’s forgiveness*.

Others are coming to *place their trust in Christ for the very first time*.

And, while this is going on, *someone bursts into the sanctuary and shouts*, “You’ve got to come now.

*My friend’s brother is deathly ill and may not make it another hour*.

Will you *come right now*, please?”

O.K., should we *take a vote*?

O, *not on what the majority of us would do in such a case*, but, rather on *what would Jesus do*?

And realize, *we all know the person who is ill*.

He’s a close friend of ours.

He’s *like a brother* to several of us.

So, *what would Jesus do* in such a case?

O, I fully realize that there may be some *very significant details that we are unaware of* that would impact *the decision that Jesus makes*.

But, this isn’t the first time we are surprised *by Jesus’ response to an emergency*.

Here’s what we know.

*John 11:1-17 (NIV)*

/1 //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 //Jesus loved// Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

6 //Yet (so) when He heard that Lazarus was sick, *He stayed where He was two more days*.

/

If you just followed that, *I can’t imagine that you are not asking,* “what’s with this *two day delay*?”

So, let’s *try to* *answer* *that*, first by looking at *the relationship Jesus had* with this family in Bethany.

*Well, there’s very little data from which we can draw our conclusions* about the relationship that Jesus had with *Mary and Martha and Lazarus*.

But there is little doubt that *their home was a fine example of hospitality*; a home where *Jesus felt very comfortable hanging out* for a time of rest and relaxation; and for a time of *great conversations around food* and *good friends*.

We don’t know *how often* this happened, but for such a special relationship to have developed, *it likely happened often*.

John, the writer of this book, who *frequently spoke of himself as* “the one whom Jesus loved,” *shared that designation* with this household of *siblings*.

And that could be a *clue to the intimacy of friendship* that Jesus had with them.

John *leaves no doubt in our minds* that this foursome, Jesus, Mary, Martha and Lazarus, *were bonded in love for each other*.

In both cases where *the word /love/* is used *in this paragraph,* *the word used for love *is /agape/, the most selfless of all loves.

Though there is *no direct indication* in the Biblical text *that these sisters were among the women who traveled with Jesus and the disciples*, it would *not* be hard to imagine *that they were included* and *were at the cross* when Jesus died.

And this only *heightens the perplexity of Jesus’ response* in verse 6.

And please note, *a more accurate translation of the first word of verse 6* is “*so*” or “therefore” and not the word “yet,” as the NIV has it.

The word communicates *purpose and intention*.

This was *a decision Jesus made* to delay.

It was *not* a case of *being hindered* or *distracted* or *uninterested*.

He made *a deliberate decision to delay*.

And, it was *done in love*.

*From a child’s perspective*, delay does not equate with love.

Am I right?

In fact, what we hear from children when we *don’t give them what they want when they want it* is that we *don’t love them*.

I suggest to you that we have *an indication of the maturity* level of Mary and Martha in *how they respond to this delay*.

And, I’d like for you to *look for that as the story continues, *particularly into *next week’s text*.

So, *why do you suppose Jesus delayed two days* in going to Bethany?

Well, I’ve already *hinted at one possibility* in my introduction.

Jesus was in the midst of an evangelistic crusade, *people were coming to Him for salvation* and He deemed it to be *a higher priority* to save people *from eternal death* than to save one man *from physical death*.

A second possibility is that *He had been given a word of knowledge from His Father* that Lazarus was already dead or would *be dead before He would get there*, even if He left immediately.

*If this is true,* and I believe it is, then we have to *deal with His camouflaged statement* to His disciples that Lazarus’ sickness *would not end in death*.

I mean, *how is that not a direct contradiction* to what He knew to be the case?

*Lazarus’ sickness would indeed end in death*.

Is He *playing with the word “end”* to say, look, *what you call* and mean by “the end” is *not what I mean by* “the end”?

And I don’t know that I can give a *satisfactory answer* to this.

We do know that *Jesus had made a practice of* speaking in *parables* so that His truth would *only be understood by those who really wanted to believe*.

That’s a *bit of a corollary* to my point from *last week* that those who *want to believe in Christ* will be *given* sufficient *evidence* in order to believe.

You see, belief *requires desire*.

And, without it, all the *evidence* in the world *does no good*.

Clearly, *the disciples understood Jesus to be saying* that Lazarus was *not going to die*; that *he would get well*.

And, they *also heard Christ correctly* when He said that *He would be glorified* through Lazarus’ sickness.

There are *other possible reasons for the delay*.

It is possible that Jesus *wanted certain persons to be in **Bethany* to witness the resurrection of Lazarus *so that the plans to execute Him would be firmly set*.

Recall that I said that the story of the *raising of Lazarus* from the dead is a mere *sub-plot* in the larger story of the *growing opposition to Jesus that will lead to His death*.

So, it was *important that Lazarus die* and that *mourners** from **Jerusalem** come to **Bethany** to pay their respects *and then *witness the powerful miracle* of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.

So as this story unfolds, *look for who is among those mourners in **Bethany**.*

You may have *other suggestions* about why Jesus *deliberately delayed two more days* in going to Bethany, but I’ve given you *my top three*.

So, *what happened when those two days were over*?

/7 //Then He said to His disciples, “Let us go back to //Judea//.”

/

/8 //“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews tried to stone You, and yet You are going back there?”

/

/9 //Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight?