THE MIRACLE OF A DEAD MAN WALKING PART I

JOHN 11:1-44

INTRODUCTION

          Death and dying is a subject that is always on the back burners of everyone’s mind from preschoolers to the oldest adult. Some nine-year-old children were asked what they thought of death and dying. Jim said, “When you die, they bury you in the ground and your soul goes to heaven, but your body can’t go to heaven because it’s too crowded there already.” Judy said, “Only the good people go to heaven. The other people go where it’s hot all the time like in Florida.” John said, “Maybe I’ll die someday, but I hope I don’t die on my birthday because it’s not fun to celebrate your birthday if you’re dead.” Marsha commented, “When you die, you don’t have to do homework in heaven, unless your teacher is there too.”

I would like to share with you on the subject: “The Miracle of a Dead Man Walking.”

I.      THE ANNOUNCEMENT OF LAZARUS’ ILLNESS VV. 1-6

          To be able to expound all the aspects of the great miracle of resuscitation of Lazarus[1] in this miracle told with matchless simplicity, clarity and fullness by John’s Gospel would require a book by itself. This is the last of the seven miracles, which John has carefully designated them "signs." In the Gospels Jesus raised three people from the dead, including this one. However, the raising of Lazarus from the dead is the most remarkable of all His mighty works. The miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead foreshadows Jesus’ own resurrection and also makes a profound impression in Jerusalem, but it brings the Sanhedrin to its final decision to seek the death of Jesus Christ.

          We do not know how often Jesus visited the Bethany home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, but we know that it was ever a sweet spot and one of the few places on earth where He was loved and understood and where His wounded spirit found rest. Probably their parents were dead, and Lazarus and his sisters constituted a delightful home circle. These three loved each other, each one had faith in the despised and rejected Messiah, and in turn Jesus loved them equally.

          The first and second verses of this chapter draw our attention to the fact that illness has visited the home where Jesus often found peaceful rest. Lazarus the brother of Mary and Martha was sick. In order to avoid confusion with the other Marys of the New Testament, the Apostle John carefully states that this Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair. Now sickness has invaded this close-knit family home. The only brother of these two sisters has taken ill. Therefore, the sisters turn in their need to Jesus. They sent a messenger to inform Jesus what has happened. I can discern from the text that the sickness of Lazarus was not a minor one, but very critical.

          When word reaches Jesus of the serious nature of Lazarus’ sickness, He does not go into panic attack as some of us do when we hear such news. When Jesus receives the news of the serious nature of the illness, He calmly says, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of Man may be glorified by it.” In the sixth miracle in John 9, when the disciples were arguing the source of the man’s congenital blindness, Jesus told them that it was for the glory of God (9:3). This does not mean that Lazarus would not die. Rather, it means that the ultimate reason for this sickness would not be death. Instead, it would be for God’s glory. God’s glory does not consist in sparing His children’s life from difficulties. In other words, the fact that you are a Christian does not mean that you are immune or shielded from suffering. If somebody told you that you would not fall sick when you became a Christian, I want to submit to you that the person lied to you. Lazarus was a friend of Jesus and yet he fell ill. And not only that, he also died.

          The Bible does not tell us the nature of Lazarus’ illness. In our inquisitive mind, we always want to know the nature of a person’s illness though we are not medical doctors, who can diagnose sickness. The anxious sisters felt that the sad message to Jesus required no addition, and that there was no necessity for a prayer to help. Do you notice in this text that Mary and Martha do not ask Jesus to come to Lazarus’ aid? All they did was to inform Jesus; He who loves should know what has happened. Jesus loved them all and they also saw Jesus in different light. To Lazarus, Jesus was the mighty Lord; to Martha, Jesus was the eternal Life; and to Mary, Jesus was the incarnate Love. Thus Jesus dealt with each of them according to temperament. Martha was the active, practical keeper of the home, a strong and robust woman with more strength than pathos. Mary was of a contemplative cast, spiritual, and gifted with insight and sympathy. Lazarus was a man of few words, quiet and unobtrusive. All of them were devoted to Jesus and appreciated Him in their own way.

          What might been hard to understand was the delay of Jesus. Although Jesus loved Lazarus, He permitted his illness to linger and finally took its toll on him; Lazarus eventually died. Did Jesus’ delay mean that He did not care for this family? Did His delay mean that Jesus was insensitive to human suffering? Yet these two distressed sisters were to learn that Jesus’ delays are not denials. How often love permits pain! There are some latent qualities in our lives that suffering alone can perfect. The Bible says that Jesus learned obedience by the things that He suffered” (Hebrews 5:8). Jesus does not rush to the bedside of Lazarus because the Father is orchestrating an incredible moment and needs time to set the stage. And since a corpse must be center stage before this drama can begin, Jesus must wait until Lazarus dies before He can make His entrance.

          However, Mary and Martha cannot see backstage in heaven. All they can see is an expansive, black curtain drawn across their lives. They sit at home, despondent, as in an empty theater, their tearful prayers returning to them like hollow echoes off indifferent walls.

II.   THE ARRIVAL OF JESUS AT BETHANY VV. 7-27      

          From these verses we can deduce that Lazarus probably died the moment the messengers left Bethany to bring the news of his illness to Jesus. Jesus being omniscient knew that Lazarus was already dead. However, we cannot think that Jesus made His friends Mary and Martha to suffer bereavement simply in order that He might perform a more spectacular miracle. It is more likely that the Word of God wants us to see that Jesus is not moved by external forces, but solely by His determination to do the will of His Father.

          As Jesus leaves for the sorrowing home of Mary and Martha at Bethany, He provides His disciples a beautiful description of death. He knows that Lazarus has died and He said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go so that I may awaken him out of sleep.” His disciples were thinking that Jesus was referring to natural sleep, and that Lazarus after a good sleep would recover from his sickness. Then Jesus speaks plainly, “Lazarus is dead.” In the Bible, sleep is the euphemism for death. Christians must learn to see death with the eyes of Christ. To be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord. When Jesus tells the disciples that they have to return to Judea, they were troubled. They were troubled because it was not long ago when the Jews had wanted to stone Him (John 10). However, when Jesus gave them the rationale of their return to Judea, Thomas said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.” Thomas who has received a lot of flak (harsh criticism) from many people shows his devotion and boldness to Jesus in this passage. We often remember Thomas as “the doubter,” because he doubted Jesus’ resurrection. But here he demonstrates love and courage. The disciples knew the dangers of going with Jesus to Jerusalem, and they tried to talk Him out of it. Thomas merely expresses what all of them felt. When their objection failed, they were willing to go and even die with Jesus. They may not understand why Jesus would be killed, but they were loyal. There are unknown dangers in doing God’s work. However, God takes care of His own people. There is one thing Thomas and the rest of the disciples did not know. That one thing is this: until Jesus has finished His earthly ministry, nobody can take His life. The same principle applies to every believer who is busily serving the Lord. Until you have completed your God-given mission, you are invincible to death. You are immortal until you have finished the work God has ordained you to do. Therefore, you need to find out what God wants you to do for His kingdom and begin doing it.

When Jesus finally arrives at Bethany, Lazarus has been dead in his grave four days. It was a common Jewish idea that the soul hovered about the body until the third day, when decomposition or decay began, and then it took its flight.

          It has been four days since their brother died, but a mountain of grief still looms before Mary and Martha. It is a steep climb for the two sisters, and they feel they will never get over. As Jesus approaches the outskirts of the city, a disillusioned Martha rushes out to meet Him. Martha says, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Martha was saying if you were here on time, You would have prevented the death of my brother. Perhaps Martha has seen Jesus healed the sick but she has not seen Jesus raised the dead. Besides, since the creation of the world nobody has seen or heard of one who has brought back to life the corpse that had lain in the tomb for four days, never. She also knew that God the Father would grant to Jesus any request, but she did not think that Jesus could bring her dead brother back from death to life. It has never happened before therefore to her it was an impossible task. After Martha has exhausted her logical reasoning, Jesus said, by the way your brother will rise again. Martha in her limited perception of Jesus thought that Jesus was referring to the future resurrection of the believing community of Christ.

          Then Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?”  These words provide a foothold for Martha. Martha’s confession of faith in Jesus Christ is what God requires from every person. For the Bible teaches that if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is the Christ and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you shall be saved (Rom. 10:9-10). Jesus has power over life and death as well as power to forgive sins. This is because He is the Creator of life (John 14:6). He who is life can certainly restore life. Whoever believes in Christ has a spiritual life that death cannot conquer or diminish in any way. When you realize His power and how wonderful His offer is, how can you help but commit your life to Him. To those of us who believe, what wonderful assurance and certainty we have. Jesus said, “Because I live, you will live also” (John 14:19).

          We consider Martha as a busy woman who would not sit at the feet of Jesus to listen to the words of life. However, in this text we see her as a woman of deep faith. Her statement of faith is the exact response that Jesus wants from you. Therefore, the question is, “Have you have a saving encounter with Jesus Christ?” In other words, have you received Jesus Christ as your Lord and personal Savior? The decision is yours to make.

          We will conclude the rest of this biblical text next week, God willing. That would be the last installment of our series on "The Miracles of Jesus in the Gospel of John." We will then begin the "I AM" statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John. Until then keep up the faith.

---

[1]Lazarus is the short form of Eleazar. The name “Lazarus” means, “God has helped.”