Sign up to save your podcasts
Or
Share The Raising of Lazarus
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Share to email
Share to Facebook
Share to X
Or
The Raising of Lazarus
Shaun Rossi // The Gospel of John
In His resurrection, Jesus deals with death as the last enemy, to vanquish it, and to gain a victory over it for all who believe in Him.
“1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” 17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” 28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
— John 11:1-44
Sermon OutlineI. Jesus Deals with Suffering
“The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:26
“7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
— 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
— Isaiah 55:8-9
II. Jesus Deals with Lazarus’ Death III. Jesus Deals with the Spiritual Death
““And you were dead in the trespasses and sins”.”
— Ephesians 2:1
god is sovereign over suffering
The Bible repeatedly affirms that God is in control of all things, including suffering, evil and tragedies (See: Job 42:2, Psalm, 115:3, Isaiah 46:10, Ephesians 46:10). This is particularly evident in todays text through Lazarus death and being raised to life.
There are however evangelicals who deny the clear teaching of Scripture that God is sovereign over evil or suffering, their view is called “open theism” and it is a view that is growing in acceptance in Finland. John Piper, in his book The Hidden Smile of God, quotes John Sanders an open theist, on his view from his book The God who Risks: A Theology of Providence:
“God does not have a specific divine purpose for each and every occurrence of evil…. When a two-month-old child contracts a painful, incurable bone cancer that means suffering and death, it is pointless evil. The Holocaust is pointless evil. The rape and dismemberment of a young girl is pointless evil. The accident that caused the death of my brother was a tragedy. God does not have a specific purpose in mind for these occurrences.”
— John Sanders
The open theist view not only denies what the Bible repeatedly affirms, namely, the absolute sovereignty of God, it robs believers of the comfort of knowing that God is in control of all our circumstances, even when we can’t make sense out of them. As we see in todays text, Jesus was in control of Lazarus’ death. He deliberately remained two days longer where He was, resulting in Lazarus’ death, so that this miracle would display God’s and His own glory and so that His followers would grow in their faith (vv 11:4; 15). So even though we often don’t understand the reason for our trials, we can know that the Lord wants us to trust Him and to gain a bigger view of His glory.
book Recommendation: “Joni”In her very popular book Joni, Joni Eareckson Tada tells of the tragic diving accident that left her paralyzed from the neck down. She chronicles the agony she went through in the aftermath and how eventually she came to trust in Christ and submit to Him. She ends the book by telling of speaking at a rally to hundreds of young people and her hope that scores of them would come to faith in Christ. Then she adds, “But I will be pleased if only one person is drawn to Christ. Even one person would make the wheelchair worth all that the past eight years have cost.” That was many years ago and she is still using her suffering to bring others to faith in Christ.
Joni’s testimony teaches us that the Lord allows those He loves to suffer. Also, we can’t always know the “why” of our sufferings, although we sometimes can figure out “what” God wants to teach us or “how” He can use the suffering for His glory.
“God engineered the circumstances. He used them to prove Himself as well as my loyalty. Not everyone had this privilege. I felt there were only a few people God cared for in such a special way that He would trust them with this kind of experience. This understanding left me relaxed and comfortable as I relied on His love, exercising newly learned trust. I saw that my injury was not a tragedy but a gift God was using to help me conform to the image of Christ, something that would mean my ultimate satisfaction, happiness—even joy.”
— Joni Erikson Tada
small group study Getting Started (3 min)
We all experience pain and difficult times in our life. What is the most painful or difficult thing that you have experienced? Did you question God’s love for you during that time? Why or why not?
Understand the Text (25 min)1. What is the key word John uses to describe the relationship Jesus had with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus in John 11:3 & 5?
When the sisters send word to Jesus that Lazarus is ill, what did they expect Jesus to do? Is this a normal expectation?
How long did Jesus delay after learning that Lazarus was ill? Why did Jesus choose not to go immediately to see Lazarus? Read John 11:4.
Have you ever found yourself living within the mystery of God’s delays? What was it like? What did you learn?
2. When Jesus arrives in Bethany, how long had Lazarus been dead? Why is this significant? At this point had people given up all hope of Jesus arriving and performing a miracle?
When Martha hears that Jesus has arrived, what does she do? What does she say to Jesus? Is she blaming Jesus for the death?
How does Jesus challenge Martha’s faith? Does she fully understand what Jesus is about to do?
What does Jesus tell Martha about himself in verses 25-26? Why is this a significant statement about who Jesus is?
How does belief in Jesus change your perspective on life and death? What kind of hope do you have because of your belief in Jesus as the Son of God?
3. After challenging Martha, Jesus comforts Mary:
What does Mary say to Jesus? Read John 11:32. Is she blaming Jesus for the death?
How does Jesus respond to Mary’s statement? Read John 11:33-36. What does this tell you about the humanity and compassion of Jesus? (See: Hebrews 4:15)
When you go through pain and suffering in your life, do you gain strength and comfort knowing that Jesus sympathizes with you?
4. When Jesus arrives at the tomb, what is his request? How does Martha respond?
When the stone is rolled away, what does Jesus say to Lazarus? What is the result?
Did Jesus know from the beginning of this situation that he would raise Lazarus from the dead? How many times did Jesus allude to the fact that he would raise Lazarus before the miracle took place? Read John 11:4, 11, 23, and 40.
5. Like all the miracles of John’s Gospel the raising of Lazarus is described as sign. Which is to say that it has significance beyond itself. Since the raising of Lazarus is the crowning miracle in John’s Gospel it is meant to be a sign of supreme importance. What two important things is the miracle a sign of? Or what truths does it point us to?
Apply the Text (5 min)1. Do good things ever come as a result of living through difficult or painful situations? Read Romans 8:28. Is there sometimes a higher purpose or bigger picture to the pain and suffering we experience?
2. How has God used your difficult situations to bring about good in your life or in the lives of others?
3. Have you ever thanked God for a difficult or painful time in your life because of the good that came as a result of the pain?
4. Ecclesiastes 7:2 says “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.”
What good or growth can come from thinking about our human mortality as the verse says?
Do you fear death? How has todays text, particularly v 25 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, “ helped you?
Back to Bulletin
View all episodes
By United Community ChurchShaun Rossi // The Gospel of John
In His resurrection, Jesus deals with death as the last enemy, to vanquish it, and to gain a victory over it for all who believe in Him.
“1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” 17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” 28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
— John 11:1-44
Sermon OutlineI. Jesus Deals with Suffering
“The last enemy to be destroyed is death.”
— 1 Corinthians 15:26
“7 So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelations, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. 8 Three times I pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me. 9 But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me. 10 For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong.”
— 2 Corinthians 12:7-10
“For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. 9 For as the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
— Isaiah 55:8-9
II. Jesus Deals with Lazarus’ Death III. Jesus Deals with the Spiritual Death
““And you were dead in the trespasses and sins”.”
— Ephesians 2:1
god is sovereign over suffering
The Bible repeatedly affirms that God is in control of all things, including suffering, evil and tragedies (See: Job 42:2, Psalm, 115:3, Isaiah 46:10, Ephesians 46:10). This is particularly evident in todays text through Lazarus death and being raised to life.
There are however evangelicals who deny the clear teaching of Scripture that God is sovereign over evil or suffering, their view is called “open theism” and it is a view that is growing in acceptance in Finland. John Piper, in his book The Hidden Smile of God, quotes John Sanders an open theist, on his view from his book The God who Risks: A Theology of Providence:
“God does not have a specific divine purpose for each and every occurrence of evil…. When a two-month-old child contracts a painful, incurable bone cancer that means suffering and death, it is pointless evil. The Holocaust is pointless evil. The rape and dismemberment of a young girl is pointless evil. The accident that caused the death of my brother was a tragedy. God does not have a specific purpose in mind for these occurrences.”
— John Sanders
The open theist view not only denies what the Bible repeatedly affirms, namely, the absolute sovereignty of God, it robs believers of the comfort of knowing that God is in control of all our circumstances, even when we can’t make sense out of them. As we see in todays text, Jesus was in control of Lazarus’ death. He deliberately remained two days longer where He was, resulting in Lazarus’ death, so that this miracle would display God’s and His own glory and so that His followers would grow in their faith (vv 11:4; 15). So even though we often don’t understand the reason for our trials, we can know that the Lord wants us to trust Him and to gain a bigger view of His glory.
book Recommendation: “Joni”In her very popular book Joni, Joni Eareckson Tada tells of the tragic diving accident that left her paralyzed from the neck down. She chronicles the agony she went through in the aftermath and how eventually she came to trust in Christ and submit to Him. She ends the book by telling of speaking at a rally to hundreds of young people and her hope that scores of them would come to faith in Christ. Then she adds, “But I will be pleased if only one person is drawn to Christ. Even one person would make the wheelchair worth all that the past eight years have cost.” That was many years ago and she is still using her suffering to bring others to faith in Christ.
Joni’s testimony teaches us that the Lord allows those He loves to suffer. Also, we can’t always know the “why” of our sufferings, although we sometimes can figure out “what” God wants to teach us or “how” He can use the suffering for His glory.
“God engineered the circumstances. He used them to prove Himself as well as my loyalty. Not everyone had this privilege. I felt there were only a few people God cared for in such a special way that He would trust them with this kind of experience. This understanding left me relaxed and comfortable as I relied on His love, exercising newly learned trust. I saw that my injury was not a tragedy but a gift God was using to help me conform to the image of Christ, something that would mean my ultimate satisfaction, happiness—even joy.”
— Joni Erikson Tada
small group study Getting Started (3 min)
We all experience pain and difficult times in our life. What is the most painful or difficult thing that you have experienced? Did you question God’s love for you during that time? Why or why not?
Understand the Text (25 min)1. What is the key word John uses to describe the relationship Jesus had with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus in John 11:3 & 5?
When the sisters send word to Jesus that Lazarus is ill, what did they expect Jesus to do? Is this a normal expectation?
How long did Jesus delay after learning that Lazarus was ill? Why did Jesus choose not to go immediately to see Lazarus? Read John 11:4.
Have you ever found yourself living within the mystery of God’s delays? What was it like? What did you learn?
2. When Jesus arrives in Bethany, how long had Lazarus been dead? Why is this significant? At this point had people given up all hope of Jesus arriving and performing a miracle?
When Martha hears that Jesus has arrived, what does she do? What does she say to Jesus? Is she blaming Jesus for the death?
How does Jesus challenge Martha’s faith? Does she fully understand what Jesus is about to do?
What does Jesus tell Martha about himself in verses 25-26? Why is this a significant statement about who Jesus is?
How does belief in Jesus change your perspective on life and death? What kind of hope do you have because of your belief in Jesus as the Son of God?
3. After challenging Martha, Jesus comforts Mary:
What does Mary say to Jesus? Read John 11:32. Is she blaming Jesus for the death?
How does Jesus respond to Mary’s statement? Read John 11:33-36. What does this tell you about the humanity and compassion of Jesus? (See: Hebrews 4:15)
When you go through pain and suffering in your life, do you gain strength and comfort knowing that Jesus sympathizes with you?
4. When Jesus arrives at the tomb, what is his request? How does Martha respond?
When the stone is rolled away, what does Jesus say to Lazarus? What is the result?
Did Jesus know from the beginning of this situation that he would raise Lazarus from the dead? How many times did Jesus allude to the fact that he would raise Lazarus before the miracle took place? Read John 11:4, 11, 23, and 40.
5. Like all the miracles of John’s Gospel the raising of Lazarus is described as sign. Which is to say that it has significance beyond itself. Since the raising of Lazarus is the crowning miracle in John’s Gospel it is meant to be a sign of supreme importance. What two important things is the miracle a sign of? Or what truths does it point us to?
Apply the Text (5 min)1. Do good things ever come as a result of living through difficult or painful situations? Read Romans 8:28. Is there sometimes a higher purpose or bigger picture to the pain and suffering we experience?
2. How has God used your difficult situations to bring about good in your life or in the lives of others?
3. Have you ever thanked God for a difficult or painful time in your life because of the good that came as a result of the pain?
4. Ecclesiastes 7:2 says “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting, for this is the end of all mankind, and the living will lay it to heart.”
What good or growth can come from thinking about our human mortality as the verse says?
Do you fear death? How has todays text, particularly v 25 “Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, “ helped you?
Back to Bulletin