Jesus Handles the Death of a Loved One

For a time of study in God's word, I wanna have you turn to John chapter 11. John chapter 11, thank you so much for choosing to worship with us today. It's great to see all of you. Here this morning. John chapter. 11, we I guess if you wanna give a title to the message this morning, it would be Jesus handles the death of a loved one. Jesus handles the death of a loved one and we'll be looking at, most of verses 1 through 53 this morning, but we will be skipping over parts of this chapter just for the sake of time. On the evening of September 14th of last year, My wife and I received a phone call. Informing us that Donna's dad was dying and had perhaps just hours to, to live. And I've never seen my wife weep the way that she wept in those moments, and her pain was not simply over the fact that her dad was dying, but it was over the fact that she was 2000 miles away from her dad while he was breathing his final breaths in Indiana. Within 30 minutes of that phone call, around 8 p.m. That evening, we were informed that Donna's dad had passed away. And at 9 In the morning, the following morning, 13 hours later, Donna and I were lifting off the runway at LAX. On our way to Indiana to be with Donna's dad. And, or to be with her family. No one needed to ask Donna and me to come. It was automatic. Mine and Donna's world had come to a stop and everything else in our life took a back seat. To us getting to Indianapolis to be with our family. Many of what I'm talking about because what happened to us has happened to you as well. While we were in Indiana, almost our entire family came together at the funeral. We saw family and we also saw friends that we had not seen in years, sometimes, in some cases, decades. It was a massive reunion. Everyone kept rejoicing in the fact that we were all together while at the same time, Everyone was expressing regret over the circumstance that brought us all. Together. We laughed and we cried, memories were revisited, places in our hearts got touched that had not been touched in years. Most importantly, we all rejoiced. that Donna's dad was a born again believer in Jesus and that he was with the Lord in heaven and that he would be raised in the last day on the day of resurrection. And we had this comfort in our moments of grief and sorrow. Because Jesus himself was raised from the dead on this Sunday of the year, almost 2000 years ago, and because of a text like John chapter 11. In which Jesus promises resurrection. To all those who believe in Him, and he demonstrates his power to raise the dead in this chapter. Nonetheless, As we were gathered there at the funeral and then moved to the graveside service, after the graveside service had been conducted for Donna's dad, we all stood together and we watched the casket be hoisted by a scissor lift. And then rolled into the mausoleum chamber. Donna's mom was standing next to us while we watched this take place and she felt unsettled at the thought of her husband cooped up in a dark compartment until the day of resurrection. But then she said, well, he always did like caves. So I guess he'll be OK. And with that, we turned and we walked to our car and we drove away, leaving Donna's dad. Behind. Death cuts. Like an unforgiving knife. Through human history and there is no family. No person that survives the cut. It disassembles everything and it separates us from our loved ones. Some of you have experienced the loss of a parent or the loss of a spouse. Some of you have experienced the death of a child, perhaps even before that child could be born. Some of you have lost siblings or dear friends to death. Some of you right now are experiencing the pain. of a loved one who is in the throes of death. Some of you are dealing with a diagnosis that might be putting you closer to death's door than you had once thought. The truth is that every one of us in this room will breathe our last and die eventually, separating us from those that we love and everyone we love, if the Lord does not return, everyone we love will eventually breathe their last and die and be separated. From us Death is the great separator. And it spares no one. When my wife and I were in Washington DC. Last week, we went to Arlington National Cemetery and visited the grave of my uncle Roy. Who died in 2004. While we visited his grave site, we prayed. At the grave and we thanked God for my uncle, my mom's brother. We ask God to help us to number our days and to live each day the way that we will wish we had lived when the time comes for us to be separated from our loved ones through death. Death is a stubborn reality that comes to us all, and there's not a single area of our life that is unaffected by the ravages of death. And because of this, Any would be savior who would present himself as our Savior and offer himself to us saying, let me be your savior, must be able to manhandle death. And if he can't, then in my opinion, That person is not even worthy of the title savior. And in our passage today, we're going to see how Jesus handles death when death comes to a family that he loves. And what we find here in this chapter, John 11 is a savior that is worth believing in. A savior who is both tender and powerful and fierce in the way that he handles. The death of a loved one in this chapter. The way we'll break down our look at this chapter is we'll observe 6 truths regarding Jesus' handling of the death of a loved one. And the first truth that we observe here in this chapter, as the narrative unfolds is that he allows his loved one to experience death. He allows someone that he loves to experience death. Observe what happens beginning in verse one. Says now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. So the sisters sent word to him saying, Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick. Notice that there's no explicit request for Jesus to come. But the rest of the story makes clear that embodied in this information that they are passing on to Jesus was a very definite request for him to come to Bethany and to heal Lazarus before he died. If you read chapter 10, you learn that Jesus is right now away from Bethany, obviously, and he's right now in the region just beyond the Jordan River, about a day's journey away from Bethany. So Jesus receives this word that Lazarus is sick. How does he respond? Look at verse 4. And following in verse 4, it says, but when Jesus heard this, he said, this sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it. In other words, he's saying when the story is finished, the ultimate outcome of this sickness will not be death. It will be life and God getting glory for himself and the Son of God being glorified as well. So observe what happens next, and I'm gonna let you tell me. If the wording of verses 5 and 6 goes the way that you would have expected it to go. Verse 5, the text says, now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that he was sick, he then stayed 2 days longer in the place where he was. That's not what you would have expected. Is it? According to verse 6, it was because Jesus loved Lazarus and Mary and Martha that he delayed coming to Bethany for 2 days. Apparently in the mind of Jesus, the more loving thing for him to do was to delay his trip to Bethany by 2 whole days. What is that about? That was strange. What's going on here is the fact that Mary and Martha are hoping for Jesus to come and do a miracle of healing. But Jesus is wanting to do something greater than a miracle of healing. He wants to raise Lazarus from the dead. Little do Mary and Martha know that in a few days they will be the recipients of the most astounding miracle. Of Jesus' entire public ministry. Mary and Martha, yes, they wanted something great. What they were about to receive was something greater, and that greater thing would have never happened if Jesus had not delayed. So can, can we learn something from this? I think so. Many times we have ideas of what we want God to do. We think that God is supposed to show up now, today, this minute. And do the thing that we want them to do, but He delays. And he delays because he loves us. He delays because he intends to do a greater thing than the thing that we We're hoping for. Anyway, after staying for 2 extra days, Jesus then decides to go to Bethany. Look at verse 7. And we'll skip some verses here, but just capture the gist of this. Verse 7, then after this, Jesus said to the disciples, let us go to Judea again. Verse 14, Jesus said to them, Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there so that you may believe, but let us go to him. Jesus, we're told, was told by messengers that Lazarus was sick. But no one told him that Lazarus had died. It seems that Jesus knew this supernaturally. Regardless, Jesus obviously didn't view Lazarus dying as posing any a problem for him. When he initially heard the news that Lazarus was sick, he wasn't thinking, oh my goodness, I'd better hurry and get back to Bethany. So that I can heal Lazarus before it's too late. I have healing powers over sickness, but if Lazarus dies on me, then he will then be beyond the reach of my powers. No, Jesus is not afraid to let Lazarus die. He's not even afraid to let Lazarus be dead for a few days. Jesus is in total control and death obviously poses no problem for Jesus. In fact, he says in verse 15 that he's glad for the disciples' sake that Lazarus is dead because it sets the stage for them to get to see a display of Jesus' power that will enrich. Their faith In Jesus, the fact that Jesus talks this way and that he's so confident. In this situation speaks volumes about his power over death. That's not all that Jesus does when death comes to This family that he loves. This brings us to the second truth regarding how he responds to the death of a loved one. Number 2, he claims to be the resurrection in life for those who believe in him. This is one of the great I am statements that we have in the gospel accounts. Look at what happens beginning in verse 17. Says, so when Jesus came, in other words, when he came to Bethany, he found that he had already been in the tomb for 4 days. Lazarus has now been in the tomb for 4 days. Martha, therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet him, but Mary stayed at the house. Martha then said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now, I know that whatever, literally whatever things you ask of God, God will give you. What Martha is saying is, I still believe in you, Jesus. I'm confused and I'm disappointed in my faith, but I still believe in you. Jesus responds in verse 23. Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. There's the promise of what he's about to do. In saying this, Jesus is essentially promising that Lazarus is going to be raised from the dead very shortly through a wonderful miracle that Jesus is going to perform. Martha's faith, though, is too weak at this point to even understand Jesus in this way. Her response in verse 24. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection in the last day, and that is true. What she knows to be true. Here in verse 24 is really true. But she's missing the more immediate promise contained in Jesus' words. Jesus doesn't press the point for now. His actions later will speak for themselves, but he does direct Martha's attention to himself and to the truth about himself in her moment of grief and confusion. Look at what he says about himself in verse 25 and 26. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. In calling himself the resurrection and the life, Jesus is not merely saying that resurrection and life come from Him. He's saying that resurrection in life is his identity. It's who he is. It's what he wants to be known for. It's central to his reputation. What Jesus is saying here is an assurance that when all is said and done, everyone is going to look at Jesus and see that he is truly the resurrection and the life. And being the resurrection of the life, Jesus is basically saying, He who believes in me may experience physical death in the here and now, but he will live on the other side of death. Such that one can say that he will never die in an unrecoverable way. In the end, everyone who connects to me by believing in me will live forever. Not just spiritually, but in a physical embodied existence. And Jesus then asked Martha, do you believe this? And Jesus looks at you this morning. And he asked you, do you believe this? Do you believe what I just said about me and about those who believe in me? Jesus is speaking to every person in this room this morning and he says to you, if you believe in me, You will be triumphant over death, and you will live forever. And Jesus says to you, I can make that promise to you because I am the resurrection and the life. Do you believe Jesus? When he speaks this way. Does Martha Look at verse 27. She said to him, Yes, Lord, I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, even he who comes into the world. This is about as rich of a confession of faith that anyone could have uttered at this point. In human history. There's a lot that Martha does not know, but she knows who Jesus is, and in her moment of confusion and disappointment and grief, she's confessing three things to be true about Jesus. Number 1, Jesus is the promised Messiah. Number 2, he's the very Son of God, the one who uniquely has God as his father and who is destined to rule as King. And number 3, Jesus is the one who has come from heaven into this broken world to be our savior. In her moment of grief, Martha is uttering a rich confession of faith. In Jesus and in the process she shows her true measure. As a woman You can tell the true measure of a person by what they know to be true and confess to be true. When they are in their moments of deepest grief. Disappointment And confusion. What are the things when it seems like you don't know anything else? And everything you expected has gone the opposite. And you're grieving, you're confused, you're reeling. What do to be true? In those moments. This is what Martha knew to be true. In her moment of grief. As soon as Martha utters this confession of faith, observe what she does next. Verse 28, when she had said this, she went away and called Mary, her sister, saying secretly, the teacher is here and he's calling for you. And this brings us to the 3rd truth that we observe about how Jesus responds to the death of a precious loved one. Number 3, he weeps with his loved ones who are touched by death. He weeps. With his loved ones who are touched by death. Look at what happens beginning in verse 29. And when she, Mary, heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house and consoling her when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Therefore, when Mary came where the Lord Jesus was, she saw him and fell at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Exactly what Martha had said. Mary too is disappointed that Jesus did not arrive sooner. But look at what happens next, verse 33. When Jesus, therefore saw her weeping. And the Jews who came with her also weeping. He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled and said, Where have you laid him? And they said to him, Lord, come and see. Jesus. Wept So the Jews were saying, see how he loved him. The flow of the narrative up to this point. has led us to expect that when Jesus arrives on the scene here in Bethany, there would be a raw demonstration of miraculous power. On Jesus' part over death. And so we're surprised, are we not, at the vulnerable turn. That the story takes in verse 35. In verse 35, John tells us that Jesus wept. This is the shortest verse in the Bible. If you're looking for a verse of the Bible to memorize and get credit for, this is the verse to memorize. It's the shortest verse in the Bible, but it is among the deepest. The word translated wept is simply the verb form of the Greek word for tears. So it means to shed tears or to burst into tears. Mary and the others were sobbing in the loud and the noisy style of Middle Eastern mourners. Jesus, it seems, wasn't doing that, but he is joining them and shedding tears. Which is stunning when you think about it. if this story were made up, I don't think anyone would have written a made up story this way. Jesus knows that he's going to be raising Lazarus from the dead. In just a few minutes, he knows that within the hour, everyone who is now weeping is going to be out of their minds with joy. He knows that their mourning is about to be turned into dancing, and with the certain knowledge of this, Jesus could have remained emotionally detached from the griefs of those around him. But he does not do this. He lingers in the moment and grieves with everyone as they grieve before he performs the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. Through the whole process, Jesus gives to everyone who is present two very precious gifts. A resurrected Lazarus. And the unforgettable experience of the savior, the Messiah, grieving with them in their grief. Before that miracle is performed. I'm guessing that these people, Mary and Martha and the others who were gathered, never wept again for the rest of their lives without being comforted in the knowledge of Christ's sympathetic union with them and their griefs. Verse 33 tells us that Jesus saw her weeping. And the Jews who came with her also weeping, and then that Jesus wept. This teaches us that Jesus sees us when we weep. And he weeps with us in our weeping. If you cried this week for any reason at all, even if no one else saw you weeping, Jesus saw you weeping. And when Jesus sees a Christian weeping, he does not say, what are you crying about? Soon you will be in heaven and have nothing to weep over. He doesn't do that. Even if Jesus knows that your sorrow will be lifted tomorrow morning. He will still weep with you today. That's the savior he is. He enters our sorrows and our griefs and weeps with us as we experience the pains of life in a, in a broken world. And this tells us that John 11 is not just some story about the power of Jesus over death, but it's also a true story about how he opened his heart. To this family and allowed himself to be made vulnerable to their sorrows and their griefs. As Timothy Keller says, we would never imagine that such a divine person would get sucked into Mary's agony and just stand there weeping. Why would he be so strong one minute and so vulnerable the next? But this is the heart of Jesus for us. He is a sympathetic sovereign who makes himself vulnerable to our griefs. But Jesus feels more than simply grief. When People die When his loved ones are touched by death, this brings us to the 4th truth about how Jesus responds to the death of one of his loved ones. And that is number 4, he groans with indignation against death. He groans with indignation against death. This is amazing. Observe again what happens starting in verse 33. When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled. So, and then verse 38, so Jesus again being deeply moved within came to the tomb. The word that is translated troubled means literally that Jesus was shaking. Some writers say that this should be translated, he shook himself like someone would shake with rage or with deep emotion. In verse 33 and then again in verse 38, we're told that Jesus was deeply moved. And the Greek word that is translated deeply moved speaks of anger. DA Carson in his commentary on this passage, Say that this particular Greek word when speaking of horses can refer to the snorting of horses. And then he says, as applied to human beings, it invariably suggests anger, outrage, or emotional indignation. So evidently, Jesus isn't just grieving here, he's angry. Which raises the question, what is he angry at? I would agree with those commentators who suggest that Jesus is angry here at death. He's angry at Satan. He's angry at sin, which has plunged the human race into death. BB Warfield says it this way, it is death that is the object of Jesus' wrath. And behind death, him who has the power of death and whom Jesus had come into the world to destroy. Tears of sympathy may fill Jesus' eyes, but this is incidental. His soul is held by rage. To get the full import of this Greek word, we should understand that the word conveys the idea of feeling anger to such a point that you audibleize that. Somehow, with a groan or with a sigh, even with a roar. Timothy Keller joins other commentators in taking this word to mean that Jesus is bellowing with rage. He is roaring. Keller goes on to say Dylan Thomas was right. Do not go gentle into that good night. Rage, rage against the dying of the light. Jesus is raging against death. He doesn't say, look, just get used to it. Everybody dies. That's the way of the world, resign yourself. No, he doesn't do that. Jesus is looking squarely at our greatest nightmare, the loss of life, the loss of loved ones and of love, and he's incensed. He's mad at evil. And suffering And I am so glad that we have a sovereign. King who feels such passionate rage against sin and against death, that hurts us so. Such rage is a true indication of the depth of his love for us. But it also informs us of what our perspective should be. Regarding death. Speaking to the Stanford graduating class of 2005. Steve Jobs. said some pretty helpful things about death. But one of the things he says about death in that speech is, quote, death is very likely the single best invention of life, unquote. Jesus would never put such a positive spin. On death. Jesus would tell us that death is most unnatural to the human condition. It's an intrusion. It's an ugly one at that. Death came into the world through Adam and Eve's sin in the garden, and through them death passed to all people as a result of sin. Jesus would never tell someone to make peace with death. Because he's not gonna do that. Jesus is the sworn enemy of death, and he will not be content until the day comes that death is destroyed. So here in John 11, death is lurking at the tomb of Lazarus, and one look at Jesus' face would tell death the awful truth that this confrontation that is about to happen is not gonna go well for death. If looks could kill, Then the look that Jesus gives death in this moment. would kill. In fact, written all over the countenance of Jesus in this moment is the ultimate fate awaiting death. In 1 Corinthians 15, we're told that the last enemy that will be destroyed is death. And that death will in that day be swallowed up in victory, and that future outcome is written all over the countenance of Jesus right now in John 11. So verse 38 tells us that Jesus approaches the tomb of Lazarus, as John Calvin puts it, Jesus advances to the tomb as a champion prepares for conflict. Our great enemy. Death stands at the tomb to guard over his prey and Jesus approaches the tomb to take on death. And this brings us to the 5th truth about how Jesus handles the death of a loved one. And that is he raises his loved one to life even though dead for 4 days. Look at what happens starting in verse 38. So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, remove the stone. Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to him, Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead 4 days. Jesus said to her, did I not say to you that if you believe you will see the glory of God? So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but because of the people standing around, I said it so that they may believe that you sent me. When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus. Come forth Jesus, guys, simply speaks a command. To a person who has been dead for 4 days, and look at what happens in verse 44. The man who had died came forth bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, unbind him and let him go. And with that, Jesus accomplishes the greatest miracle. Of his public ministry. There were other occasions when Jesus raised somebody from the dead earlier in his ministry, but in each of these cases, the person had Just died But John 11 provides us with a description of the only occasion in which Jesus raised someone from the dead after they had already been buried and been buried for 4 days at that. After decomposition had started to set in. In Jesus' contest with death here. Jesus spotted death for days and still triumphed. With a simple command. Come forth. Speaking personally, my heart has been resonating all week. With the words that Martha speaks to Jesus, Jesus says, remove the stone, and Martha thinks that Jesus doesn't really understand what he's getting himself into. She actually tries to protect Jesus and says, Jesus, my brother has been dead for 4 days. By this time, There will be a stench. Jesus, I'm not sure you understand how hopeless this situation is. My brother stinks. By now There's actually a sense in which Martha is trying to protect Jesus. From getting in over his head on this. She's afraid that Jesus may end up embarrassing himself by trying to tackle a miracle of this size. Imagine that Jesus hears Martha's protest. And says, oh, I didn't realize that 4 days. He stinks. OK, well, yeah, keep the stone in place. Maybe this is too much for me to handle. Who did I think I was? Right Imagine that he had responded. That way I am so glad the story doesn't end this way, and I'm equally glad my story with Jesus doesn't end. There too. No one is ever too far gone for Jesus, and that means you. And that means me Sometimes I tend to think that Jesus got in over his head when he chose to save me. Sometimes when he commands that a stone be removed from a part of my life, I'm afraid. I fear that the stench will prove too much for Jesus, and he'll take one look at me and say, oh yeah, I I really underestimated the depth of the need here. And this is out of my league. Maybe you worry about that thing also. Maybe that keeps you from coming to Jesus. Maybe you think you're too far gone for Jesus, maybe you think the stench of your life. is just too much for him. But it's not It's not. If a man who had been dead for 4 days was not too far gone for Jesus, then neither are you. And neither is that wayward soul that you're praying for. Day in and day out. If you're here today and you have never believed in Jesus, What that means is that you are spiritually dead. You're spiritually dead in your sins, and you are in need of a resurrection. You don't need reformation, you need a resurrection, and Jesus is the only one who can accomplish this resurrection. Of you And you need to know that this room this morning is full of people who were once Spiritually dead. And beyond all hope. whom Jesus raised to life. With a single command. And brought us into a relationship with himself. Here at Cornerstone, that's all we are. We're no better than anyone else. We're just a bunch of people who once were dead, whom Jesus spoke to and brought us to life. And to him be the glory, not to us. And I pray that you would let Jesus do the same in your heart this morning, just as he did for Lazarus. Today, if you hear his voice speaking to you and calling to you, don't harden your heart, repent of your sins, believe in Jesus Christ, call upon him as your Lord and Savior and rise from your tomb. And come forth And follow him Let's observe one final truth about how Jesus responds to the death of a loved one. Number 6, he raises his loved one to life knowing it will bring about his own death. Think about this, guys, this is the subplot in the story. Of this point of the Gospel of John. When Jesus told his disciples that he wanted to go back to Bethany for Lazarus' sake, after he heard that he was sick, the disciples actually protested Jesus going to Bethany. In John 11:8. It says the disciples said to him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you and are you going there again? If you read chapter 10, you'll understand where they're coming from with their protest. You learned that a few months prior, the Jews in Jerusalem had picked up stones to stone Jesus for claiming to be God. We find that in Jesus' claim. In verse 33. So in the minds of the disciples, for Jesus to go to Bethany, which was just 2 miles away from Jerusalem. was to walk into certain death. This was their thinking to such an extent that when Jesus insisted that they go back to Bethany for the sake of Lazarus, In verse 16, Thomas said to his fellow disciples, let us go also so that we may die with him. In the mind of Thomas, for Jesus to even go to Bethany was a daring act that meant probably certain death for Jesus. For Jesus to go to Bethany, and to raise Lazarus from the dead in such close proximity to Jerusalem was basically to pour gasoline on a fire that was already burning in the hearts of his enemies in Jerusalem. And that's exactly what ends up happening if you keep reading. The narrative. Some of those who witnessed the miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus, they reported to the religious leaders in Jerusalem and listen to how the religious leaders in Jerusalem respond. In verse 48 of John 11, they say, if we let him go on like this, all men will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. And so look at what they resolved to do in verse 53. So from that day on, they planned together to kill him, speaking of Jesus. According to verse 53, Jesus raising of Lazarus from the dead is the final straw. It's the catalyst that causes the die to be cast and Jesus' own fate. To be sealed In fact, in the very next chapter, we read of Jesus. Shortly thereafter, returning back to Bethany on the week of his death. And when he returns to Bethany, he stays at the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus. It's the week of Passover, so many Jews had come to Jerusalem for the Passover celebration. And in John 12:9, look at what we're told, we're told that a large crowd of the Jews then learned that Jesus was there, and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom he raised from the dead. Lazarus himself has become a star. Having been raised from the dead by Jesus. And in the very next verse, John 12:10, it says, but the chief priest planned To put Lazarus to death also. They didn't just want to kill Jesus. They wanted to kill Lazarus. Also, because of all of the positive press. that his resurrection was providing for Jesus. And guys, None of this takes Jesus by surprise. He knew and predicted that all of this would happen leading to his death. In fact, I'll take you back to verse 4, when Jesus first heard that Lazarus was sick. He told his disciples that Lazarus's sickness and death was brought about so that the Son of God may be glorified by it. What glory is he talking about? He's talking about the glory of the cross. And we know this because in the very next chapter, right on the threshold of his suffering, Jesus says in John 12:23, the hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified, and he's speaking of the cross. William Barclay, the commentator, explains the connection between glory and the cross in this way. He says when Jesus said that the cure of Lazarus would glorify him, he was showing that he knew perfectly well that to go to Bethany and to cure Lazarus was to take a step which would end in the cross as indeed it did. With open eyes, Jesus accepted the cross to help his friend. He knew the cost of helping. And was well prepared. To pay it what this means? This means that you and I are in the story in John 11 also. Being moved by love for Lazarus and being moved by love for us, Jesus embraces his fate and performs the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead, knowing that it would ultimately bring about the opportunity for him. To die on the cross for our sins. Think about it this way. If Jesus wanted to avoid being crucified on the cross for our sins, if he wanted to avoid the cost of being our savior, he would have left Lazarus in the tomb. The people who saw Jesus weeping. Said, behold how he loved Lazarus. But as we see Jesus weeping and as we see him raising Lazarus, our response should be to marvel at how he loves us too. And embraced his own dying. So that he might save us and raise us to life again. You see, as impressive as this story in John 11 is, it leads to the greater story of Christ's death on the cross, and then his own resurrection from the dead, 3 days after his crucifixion, just like he predicted again and again. In fact, in the very next chapter in John 12, listen to what Jesus says. He says, I lay down my life that I may take it again. No one has taken it away from me, but I lay it down on my own initiative. I have authority to lay it down and I have authority to take it up again. That's power. This is the power of Jesus. He willingly died upon the cross, and then 3 days after he died, he took up his life again by his own authority. The full fury of evil was unleashed upon Jesus at the cross. Satan hurled everything he could at Jesus on the cross, until there was nothing left to hurl. And Jesus succumbed to death. And on the 3rd day after being buried, He took up his life again by an act of his own authority. What more can death do? After this. Nothing And this is why we put our trust in Jesus as the one who has power. over death and has the power to make all things right. All of the truths that we see in John 11 this morning demonstrate the fact that Jesus is ultimately worthy of My trust and of your trust. He's the one that has power to fix all that is broken in me and in you, and to make us right and whole again. He is a sovereign of raw unbridled power, yet he is a sovereign who is immensely sympathetic. With us and our brokenness. He is a sovereign who possesses a passionate rage against the sin and the death that works against us, and he actually has the power to do something with that rage. He can do something about it. And he can defeat death. He does here and he does later when he's raised from the dead and in the future, on the day of resurrection. He will utterly defeat and destroy death. What more do we want from a savior than this? This is why we believe in Jesus. This is why we as Christians are confident that Jesus will raise us to life on the day of resurrection because he has power over death. Death is no match for Jesus. So whatever Jesus says about death, whatever he says about the afterlife, whatever he says about the resurrection, We go with what he says. Right? Stephen Hawking. died, I think March 14th, 2.5 weeks ago. In his final interview, days before his death, he was talking about his beliefs about death and The afterlife and among the things he said was this, he says, I regard the brain as a computer which will stop working when its components fail. There is no heaven or afterlife for broken down. Computers. That is a fairy story for people afraid of the dark. Our response To what he says would be to say that belief in the afterlife did not originate from the hearts of people afraid of the dark. As a way of comforting themselves. These beliefs about the resurrection and about the afterlife came to us from Jesus, who's not afraid of the dark at all. He's the one who himself has conquered death and who has power to raise the dead with just a simple command. And he's the one who teaches us. About the afterlife and about death and about resurrection, he himself experienced death on the cross by his own initiative and then was raised on the 3rd day. By his own authority. This is why we believe what we believe as Christians. This is why my wife's family could grieve her father's passing. Yet at the same time have the joy of knowing that her dad, being a believer in Jesus will be raised from the dead in a future day. But I ask you this morning, how will you respond to this picture of Jesus, the savior as he is presented in our passage today? How will you respond to this miracle that Jesus performs in raising Lazarus from the dead? We're told in verse 45 that many of the Jews who saw what he had done, believed in him, but then later we're also told that some people responded to this miracle by resolving to kill him. So we have one miracle provoking two very different responses. And even in this room. There will be two categories of responses to what we've looked at today. Some will believe And others will refuse to believe. And seek to eliminate any thought of Jesus from their life. What will your response be? If Jesus is truly speaking to you this morning through this passage, And calling To you today, do not harden your heart to his voice. Today is the day of salvation. Repent of your sin, look to Jesus as your Lord and Savior, call upon his name. Respond to his call and come forth from your tomb. And follow Him. Let's pray together. Lord, we live in a world of many saviors. People and things that offer themselves to us. To deliver us. They offer to be our guide through life and Lord, our response to any potential would-be savior. should just be to ask, can this would-be savior manhandle death the way that Jesus does. And if the answer is no, then, all right, I'm not gonna give that person. And their voice, the place in my life that I only give to Jesus. Or I'm just stunned at, at the raw power. That you possess And yet the tenderness. That you display all combined in one beautiful person. What is not to love about a savior like you? I pray, Lord, that Your spirit would just go through this room and just melt away. Any resistance to you and remove scales from our eyes and help us to see you and all of your beauty more vividly than we've ever seen you before and may we see the beauty of your person, the power and the glory of your person and, and may we consider it an intolerable suffering to go one more minute apart from you. And if there's any in this room this morning, Lord, that have never put their trust in you, even now where they're seated. Lord, bring them to life and enable them to respond to you in faith. And look to you as their Lord and Savior. You've done that in so many of our lives, and we know that you can do that, and that's why we're asking. For these miracles. You're a good God, and we thank you for your word. And the picture of our Savior that this text provided us today. Thank you for this opportunity, Lord, to give of our offerings to you. Receive these funds, do much with all that is given in this offering today for the glory. Of this Jesus, whom we have beheld today. In Christ's name we pray, and all God's people said,