John 11

The Raising of Lazarus

A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.”

But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of god so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days. Finally, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”

But his disciples objected. “Rabbi,” they said, “only a few days ago the people in Judea were trying to stone you. Are you going there again?”

Jesus replied, “There are twelve hours of daylight every day. During the day people can walk safely. They can see because they have the light of this world. But at night there is danger of stumbling because they have no light.” Then he said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but now I will go and wake him up.”

The disciples said, “Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better!” They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died.

So he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. And for your sake, I’m glad I wasn’t there, for now you will really believe. Come, let’s go see him.”

Thomas, nicknamed the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go too—and die with Jesus.”

When Jesus had arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem, and many people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss. When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”

Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”

“Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.”

Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will Iive, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”

“Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.” Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “the Teacher is here and wants to see you.” So Mary immediately went to him.

Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had only been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. “Where have you put him?” he asked them.

They told him, “Lord, come and see.” Then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!” But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”

Jesus was still angry when he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them.

But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”

Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, unwrap him and let him go!”

The Plot to Kill Jesus

Many people who were with Mary believed in Jesus when they saw this happen. But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. The the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council together. “What are we going to do?” they asked each other. “This man certainly performs many miraculous signs. If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation.”

Caiaphas, who was high priest at the time, said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about! You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.”

He did not say this on his own; as high priest at that time he was led to prophesy that Jesus would die for the entire nation. And not only for that nation, but to bring together and unite all the children of God scattered around the world.

So from that time on, the Jewish leaders began to plot Jesus’ death. As a result, Jesus stopped his public ministry among the people and left Jerusalem. He went to a place near the wilderness, to the village of Ephraim, and stayed there with his disciples.

It was now almost time for the Jewish Passover celebration, and many people from all over the country arrived in Jerusalem several days early so they could go through the purification ceremony before Passover began. They kept looking for Jesus, but as they stood around in the Temple, they said to each other, “What do you think? He won’t come for Passover, will he?” Meanwhile, the Pharisees had public ally ordered that anyone seeing Jesus must report it immediately so they could arrest him.

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”

“Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”

“Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them.

Time and time again we question God and what his plans are for our lives. When bad things happen, when we go through the worst things life can throw at us, we fail to see what God could possibly do through our trials. We tend to forget who God is—we forget that he has led us through the wilderness before, and he will again. God welcomes our doubts and questions, and I’d even venture to say that God thrives in our doubt. Jesus took all the doubt, tears, anger, and faithlessness that the village of Bethany had, and showed them that without a doubt, he is the Messiah they had so long waited for. He continues to remind them that no matter the circumstances, God will be glorified. If we believe, we will see God’s glory. That is a promise from our Messiah and Savior, and one we overlook far too often.

There was great doubt inside of Mary, Martha, and the village of Bethany, and Jesus was all too aware of this. You can see it in his prayer: “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” Their doubt didn’t stop at Jesus’ ability to resurrect and heal Lazarus, it continued to the core of who Jesus is. We find ourselves here a lot, and we fail to admit it. It’s scary to admit that we struggle with who Jesus is, but I think it’s okay. God is a big guy—he can handle any and all of our doubts, even the most serious ones. I’m going to be one-hundred percent transparent; I’ve wrestled with this thought before and still do sometimes. But I know one thing is for sure, and something that will never change is that Christ has changed my heart so that even in my doubts, I am able to find him. He doesn’t do this for just me, he extends this grace—this resurrection power to everyone who believes in him. He did it for the village of Bethany, he does it for me, and he does it for you. I can say with full certainty that the same power Jesus used to resurrect Lazarus that day is the same power that he uses to change our hearts.

If there is one thing that is certain in life, it is that God has a plan, and it’s probably not what we have planned. But the Good News is that that’s a good thing. Because of this plan God has, we get to experience the full grace and glory of our Father, if we choose to believe in him. Having doubts is not the absence of belief. Doubt is one of the best places for our faith to be bolstered. The people of Bethany doubted Jesus cared enough about Mary and Martha and Lazarus to save him, and he showed up in the biggest way possible. God will show up in big and small ways. He may not answer our prayer the way we think he ought to, but he does what he knows will put us in the best position to glorify him, which is really what our purpose as Christ-followers is. As we come to this time of year, we always find ourselves in a place where we emphasize our thankfulness. This year, especially this year, I want to challenge you to thank God for the doubts you have, and that he is still with you in the middle of these doubts. Thank God that he is with us in the storm, because we would not make it without him.

Think about the joy Mary and Martha experienced when their brother walked out of that tomb. We share in this joy today because even with all that we have gone through, Christ walks with us. He brings us out of that tomb.

1. What doubts, if any, do you struggle with?

2. Look back at the times of great doubt in your life; can you see God working somewhere you didn’t before?

3. Can you look at your current circumstances, good or bad, and see God working in a way you might not have thought about until now?

4. Say a prayer now. Thank God for being with us, even when we can’t see him. Thank him for being with us in the storm. Thank him for bringing us out of the tomb of our doubts and trials. Ask him to give us the strength to glorify him even in times of tragedy.

John 11

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John 11

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