Lazarus: God is My Help
By
Jeff Chacon

• Introduction
• Sermon series: “Encounters with Jesus”
• Two weeks ago = Jesus and Peter
• Today = Jesus with Martha, Mary and Lazarus
• Let’s turn to John 11…
• Title of the lesson = “Lazarus: God is My Help”
• (We’re just going to read and preach through John 11…)
• Vs. 1a = “Now a man named Lazarus was sick…”
• “Lazarus” means “God is my help”
• Q: So, if Lazarus’ name means “God is my help” and the first verse of the story says “Lazarus was sick”, we’re going to see Jesus heal him, right?
• Let’s see what happens…
• Vs. 1a-2 = “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.)”

• One: Mary, Martha and Lazarus are siblings
• Two: Mary is the same one who pours perfume on Jesus’ feet and wipes them with her hair in John 12:1-8
• (Occurs after this story.)
• Vs. 3 = “So the sisters sent word to Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love is sick.’”
• “the one you love” is quite a phrase.
• Not just:
• “One of your friends”
• Or even, “one of your best friends”
• But “the one you love”.
• In fact, Jesus loved all three of them in a very personal way:
• Vs. 5 = “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus”
• M.P. = Martha, Mary and Lazarus were some of Jesus very closest personal friends.
• So, the sisters didn’t even need to ask Jesus to come.
• All they had to do is say, “Lord, the one you love is sick”, and they knew he would come running!
•  “C.F. Andrews tells of two friends who served together in the First World War.  One of them was wounded and left dying helpless and in pain in no-man’s land.  The other, at peril of his life, crawled out to help his friend; and, when he reached him, the wounded man looked up and said simply: ‘I knew you would come.” (William Barclay)
• This is the kind of confidence the sisters had that Jesus would drop everything and come to Lazarus’ aid immediately!
• Vs. 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 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick…”

• Q: How will this sentence end?
• Obviously: “So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, (Jesus came rushing to Lazarus’ side and healed him.  That is why Lazarus’ name means ‘God is my help’, because God always comes to his rescue JUST IN TIME!)”
• This is how we would write the Bible!
• This is how all good stories go!
• And this is exactly WHAT WE EXPECT GOD TO DO FOR US – BECAUSE… HE LOVES US! …DOESN’T HE?...
• Transition =) Let’s see what happens next…
• Vs. 6 = “So when he heard that Lazarus was sick he stayed where he was two more days…”
• What?!
• “Divine delays” are some of the most frustrating and misunderstood experiences in the Christian life!
• We think: this can only mean one of two things:
• Either Jesus doesn’t really love him (J. is unloving).
• Or Jesus is unable to heal him (J. is unable).
• This is the conclusion we draw when we’re in need and God doesn’t come running! (wax!)
• God is either:
• Unloving
• Or Unable!
• But this story is going to give us several other options, and Jesus begins to hint at two of them in verse 4:
• Vs. 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.”
• One: God views physical death differently than we do.
• Two: God sees human suffering and death as opportunities to display his glory.
• Quote John 9:1-3 = “As he went along, he saw a man blind from birth. 2 His disciples asked him, “Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?”

   3 “Neither this man nor his parents sinned,” said Jesus, “but this happened so that the works of God might be displayed in him.”

• We understand this when the person healed.
• Q: But what about when the person dies?
• That too is an opportunity to glorify God.
• Vs. 7 = “And then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

• Vs. 7-8 = It was dangerous for Jesus to go back to Judea
• (Bethany was only 2 miles from Jerusalem – the hub of his adversaries)
• Re-read vs. 9-10
• Jesus’ response: (explain)
• “We all know that it’s safe for people to work during the day, but at night, all work must stop (no electrical lighting back then).
• In the same way, God has given me enough time to accomplish my mission (allegorically, a full 12 hour day), during which time, I am safe.  Darkness will come (my arrest and crucifixion), but until then, I am walking by the light of God and therefore unafraid of harm.
• In other words, no harm will come to me (or you) until my mission is accomplished.
• Vs. 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.”

12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.”
13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead…”

• This is not semantics – this is perspective.
• Jesus saw death as sleep – a gateway to the next life.
• That’s why he can say what he says next…
• Vs. 15 = “…and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe…”
• Q: How can Jesus be glad that he was not there in time to heal Lazarus?
• A: Because then he could raise Lazarus from the dead and more people would believe.
• Belief is the road to eternal life.
• So, if a miracle helps them believe, then physical death is okay.
• Humans fear physical death, but what we ought to fear is spiritual death!
• Luke 12:4-5 = “I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more. 5 But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him.” (preach!)
• Vs. 16 = “Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
• This is probably not faithfulness, but resignation.
• Thomas’ character was to doubt (Refer: John 20).
• Vs. 17 = “On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.”
• Writer John includes this detail so we see the power of the miracle coming…
• Vs. 18 = “Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.  21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
• Vs. 21 = Martha saying: “Lord, I know you can heal (able) but why didn’t you come (love)?”
• Q: Don’t you care, Lord?
• Same thing we think when tragedy:
• “I’ve prayed about this for days, weeks, months, years – why didn’t you come when I needed you?!  I thought you cared – but obviously you don’t!”
• This was Martha’s character:
• Luke 10:38-40
• “…Don’t you care…?”
• Some of us have Martha’s character, and are more prone to this kind of questioning and doubting…
• But as we’ll see (vs. 32), even Mary (who sat at Jesus’ feet and was more spiritually minded) struggled with this same question.
• Point: when a loved one dies, even the most spiritual among us can doubt and question God’s love for us…
• (God’s big enough to handle complaints.  Just don’t stay there…)
• Vs. 22 = “But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
• Martha NOT saying: “I believe you can raise Lazarus from the dead.”
• (We know that based on vs. 39.
• Vs. 39 = “Take away the stone,” he said.

   “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this   
     time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”)

• She probably means: “I know God answers your prayers, and that some good can come from this sad event.”
• Vs. 23 = “Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

 24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
 27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

• The word, “believe” occurs frequently in this passage, and in the book of John.
• Greek word “pisteuo”, which means “to place our trust in another”.
• Important, because our English word, “believe” means “accept something as true”; i.e. “an intellectual agreement”.
• But this is very different than “trust”.
• Story of Tightrope walker:
• Q: Do you believe I can walk across this high wire? (Yes!)
• Q: On a bike? (Yes!)
• Q: With a wheel barrow? (Yes!)
• (Q: Who wants to get in?...)
• M.P. = Intellectual agreement is different than trust. Jesus wants us to not only believe in him, but to “trust in him”…
• Jesus’ point here:
• One: Believe (trust) in me
• Two: See death as merely sleep
• Vs. 28 = “After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

 32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

• Even Mary (the spiritually minded one) was struggling with Jesus’ delay…
• Q: So, what’s Jesus going to do? Rebuke her for being so earthly minded?
• Let’s see…
• Vs. 33 = “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.

   “Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
 35 Jesus wept.
 36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”

• Q: Why does Jesus weep here?
• A: He’s grieving with his friends.
• M.P. = Just because Jesus sees death as sleep, doesn’t mean he doesn’t grieve, nor feel deeply with us when we grieve! (preach!)
• Vs. 37 = “But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
• Here is the classic human reasoning:
• We can see that he loves.
• So he must not have been able.
• M.P. = Wrong because:
• God’s values are not our values
• God’s timing is not our timing
• God’s ways are not our ways
• Isaiah 55:8-9 = “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. 9 “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”
• M.P. = Don’t judge God.  We have no basis for judgment.
• Vs. 38 = “Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.

   “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
 40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
 41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

• Notice again what Jesus’ main concerns are:
• God’s glory
• Our belief (leading to eternal life)
• John 20:30-31 = “Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31 But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
• Vs. 43 = “When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

   Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
 45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.”

• Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead!
• Paraphrase of Greek = “Lazarus, this way out!” as if leading him out of a dark room.
• Four days of death and decay are miraculously reversed:
• The heart starts pumping!
• The brain starts receiving electrical impulses!
• The decaying flesh is revitalized and made new and supple again!
• It’s a foreshadowing of the resurrection on the Last Day!
• John 5:28-29 = (Jesus speaking) “Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice 29 and come out—those who have done what is good will rise to live, and those who have done what is evil will rise to be condemned.”
• We are all Lazarus…
• Jesus will call us out of our graves: “(Your name), come out!” (“This way out!”).
• Because Jesus is Lord of the living and the dead!
• Q: Do you believe (trust) in him?
• Close
• In the end:
• Martha and Mary received back their brother.
• They got a lesson about spiritual thinking and God’s priorities and timing that they probably never forgot.
• Mary goes on to anoint Jesus’ feet with oil and wipe them with her hair (showing humility and gratitude).
• God was glorified (by the miracle)
• And more people believed (leading to eternal life)
• In retrospect, no wonder Jesus could say in vs. 14-15, “…Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.”
• Q: Can WE get to that point?
• Q: Do WE believe (trust) in God that much?
• The name “Lazarus” means “God is my help”.
• M.P. = God IS OUR help!  God DOES care!
• The question is: Do WE believe (trust) in Him?