Jesus Is The Resurrection (John 20:1-10; 11:1-53)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.560 --> 00:00:05.080 Please remain standing and turn to John Chapter Twenty. It's a little different than 2 00:00:05.120 --> 00:00:09.310 in your bulletins. John Twenty. Going to read a few verses here and 3 00:00:09.349 --> 00:00:14.310 then I'll have you see sit down and then we will read some more from 4 00:00:14.310 --> 00:00:27.339 John Chapter Eleven John Chapter Twenty. This is the word of your Lord. 5 00:00:28.620 --> 00:00:31.980 Here it with faith. Now, on the first day of the week, 6 00:00:32.020 --> 00:00:36.170 Mary Magdalen came to the tomb early, while it was still dark, and 7 00:00:36.329 --> 00:00:40.049 saw that the stone had been taken away from the tomb. So she ran 8 00:00:40.210 --> 00:00:44.049 and went to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one whom Jesus loved, 9 00:00:44.530 --> 00:00:47.850 and said to them they have taken the lord out of the Tomb and 10 00:00:48.450 --> 00:00:52.439 we do not know where they have laid him. So Peter went out with 11 00:00:52.560 --> 00:00:56.520 the other disciple and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were 12 00:00:56.560 --> 00:01:00.880 running together, but the other disciple out ran peter and reach the tomb first 13 00:01:00.560 --> 00:01:04.310 and, stooping to look in, he saw the linen clothes lying there, 14 00:01:04.989 --> 00:01:10.430 but he did not go in. Then Simon Peter came following him and went 15 00:01:10.469 --> 00:01:14.709 into the tomb. He saw he saw the linen clothes lying there and the 16 00:01:14.790 --> 00:01:19.060 face cloth which with which had been on Jesus's head, not lying with the 17 00:01:19.180 --> 00:01:25.260 linen clothes, but folded up in a place by itself. Then the other 18 00:01:25.379 --> 00:01:30.260 disciple who had reached the tomb first, also went in and he saw and 19 00:01:30.500 --> 00:01:36.250 believed, for as yet they did not understand that scripture that he must rise 20 00:01:36.329 --> 00:01:41.250 from the dead, and the disciples went back to their homes. You may 21 00:01:41.290 --> 00:01:53.200 be seated. Well, let's turn over to John Chapter Eleven now, and 22 00:01:53.359 --> 00:01:59.400 we hear are a story in which Jesus is opening up to us and to 23 00:01:59.519 --> 00:02:04.950 the people around him the meaning of this resurrection, as what it means that 24 00:02:05.390 --> 00:02:10.509 for us that he rose from the dead. And John Chapter Eleven, I'm 25 00:02:10.509 --> 00:02:15.659 going to read almost almost the whole chapter one through fifty three, we hear 26 00:02:15.780 --> 00:02:21.580 how Jesus raises a man named Lazars from the dead and what he wants us 27 00:02:21.580 --> 00:02:25.539 to think about it, about him, about ourselves. And so, with 28 00:02:25.819 --> 00:02:30.689 that little bit of orientation, let's give our attention to God's word in John 29 00:02:30.889 --> 00:02:38.770 Eleven. Now, certain man was ill Lazarus of Bethany, the village of 30 00:02:38.849 --> 00:02:45.400 Mary and his and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord 31 00:02:45.520 --> 00:02:50.080 with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair. whose brother Lazarus was ill. 32 00:02:50.960 --> 00:02:53.560 So the sisters sent to him saying, Lord, he whom you love, 33 00:02:53.719 --> 00:02:58.400 is ill. But when Jesus heard it, he said this illness does 34 00:02:58.479 --> 00:03:02.430 not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that 35 00:03:02.590 --> 00:03:08.389 the son of God may be glorified through it. Now Jesus loved Martha and 36 00:03:08.550 --> 00:03:14.020 her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he 37 00:03:14.180 --> 00:03:17.659 stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then, after this, 38 00:03:17.939 --> 00:03:22.460 he said to the disciples, let us go to Judea again. The 39 00:03:22.580 --> 00:03:25.099 disciple said to him, rabbi, the Jews were just seeking to stone you. 40 00:03:25.500 --> 00:03:30.250 Are you going there again? Jesus answered, are there not twelve hours 41 00:03:30.370 --> 00:03:34.729 in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble 42 00:03:35.090 --> 00:03:38.729 because he sees the light of this world, but if anyone walks in the 43 00:03:38.770 --> 00:03:43.319 night, he stumbles because the light is not with him. After saying these 44 00:03:43.360 --> 00:03:46.800 things, he said to them, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but 45 00:03:46.919 --> 00:03:51.479 I go to awaken him. The disciple said to him, Lord, if 46 00:03:51.479 --> 00:03:55.789 he's fallen asleep, he will recover. Now Jess had Jesus had spoken of 47 00:03:55.870 --> 00:04:00.509 his death, but they thought that he meant he was taking rest and sleep. 48 00:04:00.629 --> 00:04:05.909 Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus has died, and for your Sake, 49 00:04:05.949 --> 00:04:11.020 I am glad that I was not there so that you may believe, 50 00:04:11.659 --> 00:04:15.139 but let us go to him. So Thomas, called the twin, said 51 00:04:15.139 --> 00:04:18.019 to his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die with him. 52 00:04:19.660 --> 00:04:23.779 Now, when Jesus came, he found Lazarus had already been in the 53 00:04:23.860 --> 00:04:29.009 tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about out two miles off, 54 00:04:29.089 --> 00:04:31.730 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary a console them concerning 55 00:04:31.810 --> 00:04:36.050 their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and 56 00:04:36.170 --> 00:04:42.000 met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, 57 00:04:42.199 --> 00:04:45.360 Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 58 00:04:46.040 --> 00:04:48.319 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will 59 00:04:48.319 --> 00:04:55.230 give you. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha 60 00:04:55.310 --> 00:04:58.550 said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on 61 00:04:58.629 --> 00:05:02.670 the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the 62 00:05:02.949 --> 00:05:08.259 life. Whoever believes in me, though he died, yet shall he live. 63 00:05:08.899 --> 00:05:13.980 And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you 64 00:05:14.220 --> 00:05:17.540 believe this? She said to him. Yes, Lord, I believe that 65 00:05:17.620 --> 00:05:21.009 you are the Christ, the son of God, who is coming into the 66 00:05:21.129 --> 00:05:27.129 world. When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, 67 00:05:27.810 --> 00:05:30.970 saying in private, the teacher is here and is calling for you. 68 00:05:30.930 --> 00:05:34.370 And when she heard it, and rose quickly and went or and when she 69 00:05:34.490 --> 00:05:39.480 heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not 70 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:42.720 yet come into the village but was still in the place where Martha had met 71 00:05:42.759 --> 00:05:46.560 him. When the Jews who were with her in the house consoling her, 72 00:05:46.959 --> 00:05:49.949 saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she 73 00:05:50.029 --> 00:05:54.910 was going to the tomb to weep there. Now, when Mary came to 74 00:05:55.029 --> 00:05:58.790 where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to 75 00:05:58.829 --> 00:06:00.790 him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have 76 00:06:00.910 --> 00:06:06.060 died. When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her 77 00:06:06.100 --> 00:06:15.339 also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled, and 78 00:06:15.459 --> 00:06:18.449 he said where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, 79 00:06:18.689 --> 00:06:25.810 come and see Jesus wept. So the Jews said, see how he loved 80 00:06:25.850 --> 00:06:30.050 him, but some of them said, could not he who opened the eyes 81 00:06:30.129 --> 00:06:36.199 of the blind man also also have kept this man from dying? Then Jesus, 82 00:06:36.319 --> 00:06:41.560 deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave and 83 00:06:41.600 --> 00:06:46.639 a stone lay against it. Jesus said, take away the stone. Martha, 84 00:06:46.800 --> 00:06:49.110 the sister of the dead man, and said to him, Lord, 85 00:06:49.310 --> 00:06:54.709 by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four 86 00:06:54.750 --> 00:07:00.069 days. Jesus said to her, did I not tell you that if you 87 00:07:00.189 --> 00:07:03.300 believed, you would see the glory of God? So they took the way 88 00:07:03.339 --> 00:07:08.100 the stone, and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, father, I 89 00:07:08.300 --> 00:07:11.779 thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, 90 00:07:11.939 --> 00:07:15.699 but I say this on account of the people standing around, that they 91 00:07:15.850 --> 00:07:19.089 may believe that you sent me. When he said these things, he cried 92 00:07:19.129 --> 00:07:26.250 out with a loud voice Lazarus, come out. The man who had died 93 00:07:27.370 --> 00:07:31.160 came out, his hands and feet bound with the linen strips and his face 94 00:07:31.360 --> 00:07:36.759 wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them and bind him and let him 95 00:07:36.759 --> 00:07:42.480 go. Many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and 96 00:07:42.959 --> 00:07:46.589 had seen what he did, believed in him but some of them went to 97 00:07:46.670 --> 00:07:49.750 the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and 98 00:07:49.829 --> 00:07:54.670 the Pharisees gathered the counsel and saying, what are we to do? For 99 00:07:54.790 --> 00:07:58.069 this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, 100 00:07:58.230 --> 00:08:01.779 everyone will believe in him and the Romans will come and take away both our 101 00:08:01.860 --> 00:08:05.819 place and our nation. But one of them, Caiaphas, who was priest 102 00:08:05.980 --> 00:08:09.579 that year, said to them you know nothing at all, nor do you 103 00:08:09.620 --> 00:08:13.449 understand that is better for you that one man should die for the people, 104 00:08:13.970 --> 00:08:16.769 not that the whole nation should perish. He said this not of his own 105 00:08:16.810 --> 00:08:22.089 accord, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus would die 106 00:08:22.170 --> 00:08:26.009 for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather 107 00:08:26.209 --> 00:08:30.720 into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day 108 00:08:30.839 --> 00:08:37.639 on they made plans to put him to death. Sends the Reading of God's 109 00:08:37.679 --> 00:08:46.750 word. He blessed it to us. This is an amazing story in which 110 00:08:46.950 --> 00:08:52.750 we have this account of a of a resurrection from the dead, and one 111 00:08:52.870 --> 00:08:56.740 that you might recognize even as you read, or as as I read, 112 00:08:56.779 --> 00:09:03.779 a John Chapter Twenty twenty with you. The the details about the tomb and 113 00:09:03.860 --> 00:09:09.620 the stone, the details about the witnesses that are there, are the linens, 114 00:09:09.740 --> 00:09:13.850 the face cloth. In this we see that Jesus was, Jesus was 115 00:09:13.970 --> 00:09:18.889 buried in the same way that other people were, at least this way this 116 00:09:20.129 --> 00:09:26.639 man was. And it's more than just the linen cloths that we are to 117 00:09:26.919 --> 00:09:31.360 connect with these two things. It is about resurrection, it is about Jesus. 118 00:09:31.440 --> 00:09:37.399 It is something that he wants us to understand, that we might recognize, 119 00:09:37.480 --> 00:09:41.509 and the power that he has in raising people from the dead, in 120 00:09:41.710 --> 00:09:50.070 his own resurrection, the power of life. Andrew Lincoln wrote about Chapter Eleven. 121 00:09:50.110 --> 00:09:52.460 If it can be said that the Fourth Gospel is the gospel of life, 122 00:09:54.019 --> 00:09:56.860 then this episode is the Fourth Gospel in miniature. Now the words, 123 00:09:56.940 --> 00:10:01.620 all of the Gospel of John is right here in this chapter, and the 124 00:10:01.820 --> 00:10:07.370 resurrection included, and the promise of life is very much what we need in 125 00:10:07.490 --> 00:10:13.210 this world. Like Lazarus, we all face illnesses that threatened to and do 126 00:10:13.570 --> 00:10:18.289 in fact take our lives, and, like Mary and Martha, we must 127 00:10:18.289 --> 00:10:22.639 also suffer alongside people that we love, often and being unable to do anything 128 00:10:22.639 --> 00:10:28.679 other than watch and feel their stuff. Ring Matthew Henry absomberly observes this. 129 00:10:30.639 --> 00:10:33.720 The more friends we have, the more frequently we are thus afflicted by sympathy, 130 00:10:35.480 --> 00:10:39.309 and the dear they are, the more grievous it is. The multiplying 131 00:10:39.389 --> 00:10:43.029 of our comforts is but the multiplying of our cares and crosses. You know 132 00:10:43.269 --> 00:10:48.029 this, don't you to get close to someone means you will likely be hurt 133 00:10:48.070 --> 00:10:54.379 by them. It's a hard thing. But in the midst of all of 134 00:10:54.460 --> 00:11:00.019 the sadnesses of our lives, God himself is watching and with us and sympathetic. 135 00:11:00.659 --> 00:11:03.580 And we see that here, and you need to hear that here, 136 00:11:03.649 --> 00:11:07.450 as we see Jesus, the very son of God. He is not aloof 137 00:11:07.690 --> 00:11:13.850 over the death of this man. He feels these things deeply. He feels 138 00:11:13.929 --> 00:11:18.759 the pain of losing Lazarus. He knows the pain of suffering and loss. 139 00:11:18.600 --> 00:11:24.360 The Bible says twice that he is deeply moved by this. We read that 140 00:11:24.440 --> 00:11:30.840 when Jesus saw Mary weeping and the Jews weeping, he was moved in his 141 00:11:30.960 --> 00:11:37.190 spirit and greatly troubled. Perhaps you've experienced this. You there is a great 142 00:11:37.269 --> 00:11:39.669 sadness that you know and you hear about but then when you get among the 143 00:11:39.909 --> 00:11:45.950 people that are experiencing that, when you get alongside them and you see that 144 00:11:46.350 --> 00:11:50.059 tears and their eyes, the redness and their face, when you see the 145 00:11:50.179 --> 00:11:56.820 way that their houses and their friends are, it moves you. Jesus was 146 00:11:58.059 --> 00:12:03.090 knew this family, loved this family and was himself deeply, deeply moved. 147 00:12:05.370 --> 00:12:11.289 The word John uses to describe the tears of Mary is one that emphasizes the 148 00:12:11.490 --> 00:12:18.519 sound of crying, the sound produced by the sobs. Wailing or sobbing might 149 00:12:18.559 --> 00:12:24.759 be appropriate translations. According to Matthews testimony, was how Peter Cried when he 150 00:12:24.240 --> 00:12:30.029 remembered the saying of Jesus before the Rooster Crows. You will deny me three 151 00:12:30.110 --> 00:12:35.669 times. It's the same kind of crying. That the way the ESV translated. 152 00:12:35.789 --> 00:12:39.110 Some translates it as it says he wept bitterly. That's a kind of 153 00:12:39.230 --> 00:12:45.980 crying that Mary is doing here. That same word is used at Jesus is 154 00:12:46.100 --> 00:12:50.779 birth, when Herod goes out and kills, murders all of those baby boys 155 00:12:52.059 --> 00:12:58.730 hoping to eradicate Jesus among them. The Bible says, quoting the Old Testament, 156 00:12:58.850 --> 00:13:03.889 of voice was heard in Rama. Weeping is the word. They're weeping 157 00:13:03.049 --> 00:13:09.330 and loud lamentation. Rachel weeping for her children. She refused to be comforted 158 00:13:09.409 --> 00:13:13.360 because they are no more. This is Mary's weeping, and Jesus responds to 159 00:13:13.440 --> 00:13:18.320 that. He doesn't stand there aloof and say, well, all things are 160 00:13:18.320 --> 00:13:22.919 good in God or some other platitude. The Bible tells us weep with those 161 00:13:22.919 --> 00:13:28.629 who weep. God commands us, as we live our lives, to live 162 00:13:28.710 --> 00:13:33.629 them together, and Jesus does no less, though he himself sheds many tears. 163 00:13:33.870 --> 00:13:39.549 Jesus wept the word of God says. He knows the darkness, he 164 00:13:39.710 --> 00:13:43.179 knows the depth. He sympathizes with our pain. Indeed, as we see 165 00:13:43.259 --> 00:13:48.299 in the coming chapters, he experiences it himself. But unlike us, Jesus 166 00:13:48.340 --> 00:13:56.889 is actually capable of changing dark situations. We oftentimes sit by feeling frustrated, 167 00:13:56.970 --> 00:14:00.370 wishing there was something we could do, anything we could do to help. 168 00:14:00.809 --> 00:14:07.649 Jesus actually can help and does help. He can take any situation, even 169 00:14:07.730 --> 00:14:11.799 the darkest situations, and turn them for the better, as he does here. 170 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:16.320 Lazarus come out, he says to a man who has been dead for 171 00:14:16.559 --> 00:14:22.559 four days, lying in a tomb wrapped in the burial linen's Lazarus come out, 172 00:14:22.200 --> 00:14:26.110 he says, in a loud voice, so much that allowed, so 173 00:14:26.190 --> 00:14:30.110 that many can hear his words. And sure enough, Lazarus comes out of 174 00:14:30.190 --> 00:14:35.669 the tomb, back from the dead. What are we to make of this 175 00:14:35.830 --> 00:14:39.059 miracle? Well, we know that it's a true miracle because it was done 176 00:14:39.100 --> 00:14:43.940 publicly before many, even the enemies, were concerned. If he keeps doing 177 00:14:45.139 --> 00:14:48.059 things like this, we're going to be up a creek without a paddle. 178 00:14:48.059 --> 00:14:54.210 Lazarus wasn't just really sick who then got better. Lazarus died, he was 179 00:14:54.289 --> 00:14:56.129 wrapped in burial clothes, he was put in a tomb. He'd been there 180 00:14:56.169 --> 00:15:01.250 for four days and he been dead so long that Martha was worried that his 181 00:15:01.529 --> 00:15:09.000 body would be embarrassingly smelly by the time Jesus arrived. And this is, 182 00:15:09.080 --> 00:15:15.240 of course true. Sometimes, when we think of death, because we don't 183 00:15:15.279 --> 00:15:20.240 have much experience with death, we imagine Lazarus perhaps lying there calmly. Jesus 184 00:15:20.279 --> 00:15:24.909 calls him and he rubs his eyes and he wakes up, and there he 185 00:15:24.990 --> 00:15:31.470 is, awake. Now Jesus does compare it to being awakened from sleep because 186 00:15:31.549 --> 00:15:35.179 of the power which he has he's saying. This is as if I were 187 00:15:35.340 --> 00:15:39.659 simply waking with someone for sweep. He is dead, he tells them. 188 00:15:39.740 --> 00:15:45.419 Yes, he is dead. Don't be confused about that point. Being dead, 189 00:15:45.580 --> 00:15:50.090 though, is not just being asleep. Within minutes of death, the 190 00:15:50.169 --> 00:15:58.970 body begins a process called autolysis, or selfdigestion. When the immune system stops 191 00:15:58.090 --> 00:16:04.000 working, microbes are free to roam our internal organs. It's like a sheriff 192 00:16:04.080 --> 00:16:10.799 who leaves the town throws the the keys to the prisoners, and these little 193 00:16:10.840 --> 00:16:15.960 guys don't waste any time devouring whatever they can find, starting in the intestines 194 00:16:15.000 --> 00:16:19.070 and in the organs, moving on to the soft tissues. They work from 195 00:16:19.070 --> 00:16:23.990 the inside out and it doesn't take long for all of these is trillions of 196 00:16:25.190 --> 00:16:32.860 bacteria to begin breaking down the body into more than four hundred volatile organic compounds, 197 00:16:33.220 --> 00:16:40.139 many of which are gases. By about the second or third day after 198 00:16:40.179 --> 00:16:44.940 a body dies, the decomposition of the body reaches a stage the people call 199 00:16:45.139 --> 00:16:49.409 bloat. It's called that because these foul smelling gases can bloat the body, 200 00:16:49.529 --> 00:16:56.850 sometimes to twice its size. To get even a little grosser, there's a 201 00:16:56.090 --> 00:17:02.720 red brown liquid called purge fluid. That can sometimes be excreted from the mouth 202 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:07.880 and the nose when the body can no longer contain these gases, and it 203 00:17:07.000 --> 00:17:15.269 smells really bad, except to the flies, who very quickly come and lay 204 00:17:15.269 --> 00:17:21.430 hundreds and thousands of eggs all over the body. This happens within just a 205 00:17:21.470 --> 00:17:26.190 few days. Scientists who study this process are continuing to grow in their understanding 206 00:17:26.230 --> 00:17:32.500 of how it works, exactly how the what compounds there are, when they're 207 00:17:32.539 --> 00:17:37.299 produced, how and why. But the process of decomposition has never changed. 208 00:17:38.700 --> 00:17:44.809 It's very predictable, which is why we have forensic specialists and people that can 209 00:17:44.890 --> 00:17:51.130 identify the time of death. People die all the time and have been for 210 00:17:51.250 --> 00:17:55.609 a long time, and so we know it's basic stages, we know it's 211 00:17:55.690 --> 00:18:02.599 timing. These things are unforgettable. When so Martha's not making a big scene 212 00:18:02.599 --> 00:18:08.000 about nothing when she says, Lord, you know about the smell. She 213 00:18:08.400 --> 00:18:14.029 is a warrior, no doubt, but she's also a practical woman. She 214 00:18:14.230 --> 00:18:18.190 knows full well what they are going to find inside this tomb, what they 215 00:18:18.190 --> 00:18:22.230 are going to see, what they are going to smell. Lazarus is not 216 00:18:22.269 --> 00:18:30.460 lying there calmly and beautifully when Jesus calls him out of the Tomb. Jesus 217 00:18:30.539 --> 00:18:34.460 didn't just raise Lazarus from the dead, he raised Lazarus has bloated, foul 218 00:18:34.660 --> 00:18:41.019 smelling, maggot filled body out from the dead. This is where he would 219 00:18:41.019 --> 00:18:48.730 be at day. For something the scriptures make a particular point about. Well, 220 00:18:49.609 --> 00:18:55.799 how is that possible? The answer is very simple. God, who 221 00:18:55.799 --> 00:19:00.240 made the human body and all of creations, set in it certain rules and 222 00:19:00.559 --> 00:19:06.000 orders, but he reigns supreme over them and can change them as he sees 223 00:19:06.079 --> 00:19:10.069 fit. He's God, he can do what he wants. A man makes 224 00:19:10.109 --> 00:19:14.390 a watch, he might design its hands to sweep in a particular way across 225 00:19:14.430 --> 00:19:17.990 the face. That it may do that, it that way the whole time. 226 00:19:18.109 --> 00:19:21.430 But when the clockmaker decides that he wants to reverse the hands in the 227 00:19:21.470 --> 00:19:26.099 other direction, he can do so. Why? Because it's within his power. 228 00:19:26.140 --> 00:19:30.500 It's a capability. He's not a watch he's a watch maker. The 229 00:19:30.619 --> 00:19:34.339 watch might say, well, I don't believe there's a watchmaker. I believe 230 00:19:34.420 --> 00:19:40.289 that mechanical engineering determines the way my hands sweep, not God. But this, 231 00:19:40.410 --> 00:19:44.809 of course, doesn't change anything. To say that it operates based on 232 00:19:44.930 --> 00:19:48.009 the laws of nature is to say nothing about who made those laws or who 233 00:19:48.089 --> 00:19:52.440 controls them. It's like there's denying. It's like denying there's a king by 234 00:19:52.519 --> 00:19:59.680 pointing to the Constitution that he's written. It also doesn't change anything, because 235 00:20:00.079 --> 00:20:04.000 what is is what is. The clock may believe it's sprung from a flower 236 00:20:04.039 --> 00:20:08.230 or fell from a cloud or appeared randomly out of nothing. The watch can 237 00:20:08.269 --> 00:20:11.990 believe whatever it likes, but it doesn't change the fact that it's been carefully 238 00:20:12.150 --> 00:20:18.150 designed and put together by a man. It's like this with God, except 239 00:20:18.190 --> 00:20:22.660 our dependence on God is even more than the watch is dependence on the watchmaker. 240 00:20:22.980 --> 00:20:27.660 A watch confunctions somewhat independently, without the watchmaker once it's been made. 241 00:20:29.740 --> 00:20:33.740 Not so for us. Our birthdays, our death days, every day of 242 00:20:33.819 --> 00:20:38.369 our life is wrapped up in his will. We are, and always, 243 00:20:38.410 --> 00:20:44.289 in an every way, dependent, completely and entirely dependent on the one who 244 00:20:44.289 --> 00:20:48.529 made us. And that's why Jesus doesn't say to Martha I have the power 245 00:20:48.809 --> 00:20:53.240 of the resurrection the Oh, that's true. He says to her I am 246 00:20:53.519 --> 00:21:03.480 the resurrection. That's how closely life is connected to Jesus. Notice that when 247 00:21:03.200 --> 00:21:10.750 Jesus First Tells Martha your brother will rise again, she takes him to mean 248 00:21:10.950 --> 00:21:17.990 something true. Notice that. And she's right. There is a future resurrection 249 00:21:18.069 --> 00:21:19.940 coming. He says, your brother will raise from the dead, and she 250 00:21:19.980 --> 00:21:22.180 says, yes, I know, he will, let raise on the last 251 00:21:22.180 --> 00:21:32.500 day, right, we all know this. But well, so, there 252 00:21:32.579 --> 00:21:36.089 is this future resurrection, but it will be much greater than the and it 253 00:21:36.289 --> 00:21:38.849 and it will be much greater than than was one lazarus experiences here. Lazarus 254 00:21:38.930 --> 00:21:44.930 would live and die again. But when the Lord Jesus is, Jesus returns, 255 00:21:44.970 --> 00:21:49.160 he promises, as all explain more in tonight sermon, that all will 256 00:21:49.359 --> 00:21:55.119 rise from the dead, but this time to an eternal state, some to 257 00:21:55.359 --> 00:21:59.240 eternal death and some to eternal life. That's what Martha is thinking about. 258 00:22:00.119 --> 00:22:06.230 Martha's thinking about that future resurrection, but note this, note how little comfort 259 00:22:06.390 --> 00:22:11.950 she has in it. The resurrection of the future ought to bring us great 260 00:22:11.109 --> 00:22:18.140 hope, hope for those who have put their faith in Jesus. The resurrection 261 00:22:18.259 --> 00:22:22.819 and wit is the way in which the Lord Perfect becks our bodies, glorifies 262 00:22:22.900 --> 00:22:26.619 our bodies, makes them so that they can never perish again. Jesus, 263 00:22:26.740 --> 00:22:32.930 in our resurrection and the Final Resurrection, removes every effect of death. He 264 00:22:33.130 --> 00:22:37.569 seals off its work forever from us. The resurrection from the dead will be 265 00:22:37.690 --> 00:22:42.650 an amazing triumph of God as he spreads his angels out all over the world, 266 00:22:44.250 --> 00:22:48.680 sweeping off to the four corners of the world to gather up the elect 267 00:22:48.880 --> 00:22:52.400 separating the sheep from the goats. He will take the righteous up, he 268 00:22:52.480 --> 00:22:57.869 will cast the wicked down. Can you imagine what it will be like to 269 00:22:57.990 --> 00:23:03.029 be given a glorified body, to be risen up from the dead, with 270 00:23:03.789 --> 00:23:08.309 angels visible to you all around you, gathering people from all over the world, 271 00:23:08.549 --> 00:23:14.460 as the Lord Jesus and his kingly power descends on riding on the clouds? 272 00:23:15.940 --> 00:23:22.500 I don't know, sort of imagine it, but it will certainly be 273 00:23:22.900 --> 00:23:29.049 like no day I have ever experienced. Nothing can compare you for this, 274 00:23:29.130 --> 00:23:33.890 this body and soul together being ushered by the mighty servants of the Lord into 275 00:23:33.930 --> 00:23:38.730 his presence where, with our new bodies, we will see him face to 276 00:23:38.970 --> 00:23:45.079 face with our actual eyes and, as revelation twenty one four says, he 277 00:23:45.119 --> 00:23:49.839 will wipe away every tear from their eyes and death shall be no more. 278 00:23:51.400 --> 00:23:55.480 Neither shall be there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain any more. 279 00:23:55.640 --> 00:24:02.430 The former things have passed away. Why did that not bring Martha Hope? 280 00:24:03.950 --> 00:24:06.470 Why does she say, well, yeah, we all know there's going to 281 00:24:06.470 --> 00:24:11.539 be your resurrection. There are two simple reasons for this, I think, 282 00:24:11.700 --> 00:24:15.619 both which I would never want to chide her for, because I struggle in 283 00:24:15.660 --> 00:24:22.539 the same way. The first is that Martha disconnected the Lord's doctrine from the 284 00:24:22.660 --> 00:24:30.369 Lord himself. She believed in the resurrection, and good for her. That 285 00:24:30.569 --> 00:24:33.369 is a good thing, but she was in a way believing it in a 286 00:24:33.490 --> 00:24:41.599 way that it was disconnected from Jesus. Every spiritual blessing, God's word tells 287 00:24:41.640 --> 00:24:48.240 us comes to US only and always in Christ, and this is what Jesus 288 00:24:48.279 --> 00:24:52.069 reminds us, her and us of when he says I am the resurrection. 289 00:24:53.269 --> 00:24:59.029 When we disconnect our doctrine from the Lord who gives it, the wonderful truths 290 00:24:59.069 --> 00:25:07.140 of God become abstract, impersonal. They lose their comforting power. Our faith 291 00:25:07.180 --> 00:25:11.700 is in a way true, but also in a way misdirected and certainly weak. 292 00:25:12.180 --> 00:25:17.740 What does Jesus say? I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever 293 00:25:17.859 --> 00:25:22.970 believes in me, though he died, yet he shall live, and everyone 294 00:25:22.009 --> 00:25:26.569 who believes in and believe lives and lit believes in me shall never die. 295 00:25:26.730 --> 00:25:33.769 Do you believe this? That's what he says. If you find yourselves believing 296 00:25:33.849 --> 00:25:41.079 in truths but not trusting in Jesus, something's wrong and it might well explain 297 00:25:41.599 --> 00:25:48.160 a lack of hope. The second reason Martha struggles with her faith is that 298 00:25:48.319 --> 00:25:52.630 her brother has just died. She is feeling the loss of that, the 299 00:25:52.789 --> 00:26:00.549 trials of that, despair and grief. Jesus takes that seriously, and we 300 00:26:00.670 --> 00:26:03.779 ought to as well. We don't stand over Martha and her sister wagging at 301 00:26:03.819 --> 00:26:07.740 our fingers, wagging our fingers at them for their weakness. We ought to 302 00:26:07.859 --> 00:26:12.900 respond as the Lord does. He cries with them, he feels their loss. 303 00:26:14.019 --> 00:26:19.569 He has an infinitely vast capacity for compassion. We should ask him for 304 00:26:19.690 --> 00:26:25.450 grace that we might grow in this way as well. He brings them hope 305 00:26:25.690 --> 00:26:32.650 to by telling them to cling to him by faith. We likewise do well 306 00:26:32.769 --> 00:26:37.599 with those who mourn for our own souls. When are we ourselves needed comforting? 307 00:26:38.359 --> 00:26:44.160 We ought to speak to our souls and to comfort them with the grace 308 00:26:44.279 --> 00:26:48.789 of true sympathy and compassion and with this truth about Jesus. He is the 309 00:26:48.950 --> 00:26:55.069 resurrection in life. There is, there is life in him. He can 310 00:26:55.190 --> 00:27:07.539 make all things new. He can, and he does Lazarus come out well. 311 00:27:07.539 --> 00:27:11.859 I want to conclude with what will sound like a big question, but 312 00:27:11.940 --> 00:27:15.690 I think I can be a deal with it briefly. We'll give it a 313 00:27:15.769 --> 00:27:23.730 try. Here's the question. Why does Jesus wait? Why does he wait 314 00:27:23.769 --> 00:27:30.359 two days purposefully before coming to this family that he loves? If he has 315 00:27:30.480 --> 00:27:33.079 this power to save, if he has this resurrection power, if he is 316 00:27:33.119 --> 00:27:40.559 himself life and Resurrection, why doesn't he go? Or why doesn't he heal 317 00:27:40.640 --> 00:27:44.039 at a distance the on PA? There are there people here who say this. 318 00:27:44.119 --> 00:27:47.509 In the story he healed the blind man. Why couldn't he keep Lazarus 319 00:27:47.549 --> 00:27:53.589 from dying? This is not an unreasonable question. Or think about this. 320 00:27:56.109 --> 00:28:00.140 Why does he bring Lazarus back from the dead at all? Sure it was 321 00:28:00.180 --> 00:28:07.460 an exquisite joy for Mary and Martha, but maybe ourd thing for Lazarus to 322 00:28:07.619 --> 00:28:12.329 come back into a world of sin and suffering after finally leaving it. Lazarus 323 00:28:12.410 --> 00:28:19.009 would have to die again. How's that fair? What should the Lord do? 324 00:28:21.130 --> 00:28:26.640 Should he help Lazarus or Martha or Mary or his disciples who are wanting 325 00:28:26.720 --> 00:28:33.519 to understand and believe maybe we shouldn't be so quick to make all of God's 326 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:38.799 decisions for him or to make it more personal. Why does God allow you 327 00:28:38.880 --> 00:28:45.589 to suffer and wait when he has the power of the resurrection, when he 328 00:28:45.869 --> 00:28:49.630 is the resurrection and when he is life? Well, of course, an 329 00:28:49.670 --> 00:28:52.829 answering. Asking these questions, I can't help but notice I sound a little 330 00:28:52.829 --> 00:28:59.259 bit like impatient Martha and Mary. There's something about this that both believes and 331 00:28:59.539 --> 00:29:03.539 disbelieves. Jesus at the same time trusts and distrusts, believing, on the 332 00:29:03.619 --> 00:29:07.900 one hand that he's powerful enough to save and loving enough to do so, 333 00:29:07.140 --> 00:29:11.650 but on the other hand not fully believing either and some way feeling that we 334 00:29:11.769 --> 00:29:15.289 have a right to decide and make his decisions for him, that he doesn't 335 00:29:15.369 --> 00:29:22.210 perhaps quite know what's best. There's a weakness of faith there that I want, 336 00:29:22.250 --> 00:29:27.599 to be honest about it, even in myself. Here's the good news. 337 00:29:30.240 --> 00:29:33.039 The good news is that God is gracious and can give us even the 338 00:29:33.200 --> 00:29:38.390 greatest things, like resurrection life, to even the weakest of faiths. Now, 339 00:29:38.430 --> 00:29:42.990 I'm not saying that lacking faith or doubting God is good. What I 340 00:29:44.069 --> 00:29:52.190 am saying is that God is good and that's what we are doubting. We 341 00:29:52.309 --> 00:29:57.779 are not the watchmaker he is. He knows what's best and though he moves 342 00:29:57.779 --> 00:30:02.940 in mysterious ways, we ought to trust him. And what could be more 343 00:30:03.059 --> 00:30:07.849 mysterious than this? That he would come in the flesh, into the world 344 00:30:07.329 --> 00:30:15.009 to die himself for sins that he did not commit? That's pretty mysterious, 345 00:30:17.569 --> 00:30:26.319 that's pretty unexpected and surprising, maybe even confusing, but it's love and it's 346 00:30:26.440 --> 00:30:36.230 grace and it's good none the less. He entered into suffering and death himself 347 00:30:36.269 --> 00:30:42.069 so that he could overcome death. Jesus himself waited and suffered and died in 348 00:30:42.309 --> 00:30:51.140 order that we could live again. To give these things freely to us, 349 00:30:51.180 --> 00:30:56.420 Jesus has a plan. He has a plan for Lazarus, he has a 350 00:30:56.539 --> 00:31:02.619 plan for us, and this is why he waits, he tells them, 351 00:31:02.779 --> 00:31:07.130 he waits to that the glory of God might be revealed, so that the 352 00:31:07.289 --> 00:31:10.690 son might be glorified, so that we all might stand back and go. 353 00:31:11.289 --> 00:31:15.970 That is the resurrection in the life. That is my savior. I believe 354 00:31:15.009 --> 00:31:21.720 in him, so that our doubts and our wonders and our worries would be 355 00:31:22.200 --> 00:31:26.279 cast aside and the arms of faith would wrap a big hug around Jesus's neck 356 00:31:26.359 --> 00:31:33.710 and hold fast, fast, fast to him. Jesus tells them why he 357 00:31:33.869 --> 00:31:38.430 waits, so that we would believe in him and that by believing in him, 358 00:31:38.430 --> 00:31:44.230 we would have life in his name. It's for our good, it's 359 00:31:44.309 --> 00:31:48.259 always for our good that he waits. It's that simple. Jesus died and 360 00:31:48.339 --> 00:31:52.380 rose from the dead, victorious and living, so that all who trust in 361 00:31:52.500 --> 00:31:59.940 him would find this life in him as well. So I have to end 362 00:32:00.059 --> 00:32:05.369 even as Jesus ends his his question to her. He says simply to her, 363 00:32:06.730 --> 00:32:15.920 do you believe this? Do you believe this as you stand in that 364 00:32:15.160 --> 00:32:20.640 crowd watching Lazarus come out of the tomb, or as you stand with Peter 365 00:32:20.920 --> 00:32:24.079 and John, the other disciple? If as you stand with Mary and the 366 00:32:24.160 --> 00:32:29.599 other women and see Jesus risen from the dead, as you hear these words 367 00:32:29.720 --> 00:32:37.549 proclaim to you, do you believe? Please, there's life in his name, 368 00:32:38.829 --> 00:32:45.660 resurrection life, Eternal Life. Let's pray