The Resurrection & The Life

Truly Jesus did many other signs in the presence of His disciples, which are not written in this book; but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name. (John 20:30–31)

The vast majority of Americans believe in some kind of life after death—but Jesus alone declares, "I am the resurrection and the life."

Seven Signs, Seven Sayings

This summer we have been studying the "I am" statements of Jesus in the Gospel of John. The book is constructed around seven such statements, but also around seven signs—seven miracles. John tells us there were many other miracles Jesus did that are not written in this book, but these are written for a purpose: that you might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you would have life in His name.

A fascinating thing emerges as you study John: many of the "I am" statements correspond with the signs. In John 6 Jesus says, "I am the bread of life," and in that same chapter He miraculously feeds the multitudes. In John 8 He says, "I am the light of the world," and in John 9 He heals a man born blind, giving him sight. Last week Pastor Mark taught from John 10, where Jesus says, "I am the Good Shepherd," and the Good Shepherd lays down His life for the sheep—fulfilled later at the crucifixion.

The Signs Authenticate the Sayings

As we come to John 11, we'll see that the "I am" statement here corresponds with the seventh sign Jesus performs. Why does it matter that the signs match the sayings? Because the signs of Jesus authenticate the sayings of Jesus. The message—"I am the bread of life," "I am the light of the world"—is validated by the miracles Jesus performs.

This last miracle becomes a tipping point. Throughout John we've watched the religious leaders' anger grow. It begins in John 2 when Jesus cleanses the temple. It intensifies in John 5 when He heals the lame man at the Pool of Bethesda on the Sabbath. By John 11 they reach a breaking point:

Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, "What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation." (John 11:47–48)

They cannot disagree that Jesus works miracles. Their fear is the loss of their power. Then Caiaphas, the high priest that year, told them, "You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people." From that day on these religious leaders—men appointed to lead Israel in righteousness—plotted to put Him to death. But what pushed them there?

It Is Good to Pray for Those in Need

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (John 11:1)

These names stand out because we've met them before. John reminds us this is the same Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair—context his readers, who had likely already read Luke's Gospel, would recognize. Lazarus, her brother, was sick.

Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." (John 11:3)

Do you know what that is? That's prayer—supplication, petition, intercession. It brings us to a simple point: it is good to pray for those in need. There's nothing profound about it, but the Scriptures reveal it repeatedly, and we see it lived out in churches everywhere. Every week our church receives a large stack of prayer cards. Our staff divides them on Tuesday mornings and prays for every need; a group gathers Wednesdays at noon to pray as well. When we pray, we pray with expectancy, with hope, in faith that God hears and that God answers. Poll after poll shows the majority of Americans pray, hoping God will hear and respond.

God's Concern for His Glory

But there's a problem in this passage.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. (John 11:5–6)

That does not seem to fit. We expect verse 6 to say, "So He dropped everything and went up to Bethany." The word for love here is the highest form of love in the New Testament. Yet when He heard Lazarus was sick, He stayed two more days. Have you ever felt that Jesus is too busy to deal with your issue—that He's delaying, not listening?

We assume that if God truly loves us, He will intervene the moment we call. I've had many conversations over the years like the one with a man who is now an atheist. He told me, "My dad had cancer. I prayed. He died. So God didn't show up—either He's not there or He's a jerk."

But notice verse 4: "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it." This brings point number two, and you may not like it: God has more concern for His glory than for my immediate well-being. Part of us struggles with that, because my biggest concern is my immediate well-being. Our problems consume our attention. You might share a burden with me; I'll express concern and even pray—but within twenty minutes I may have forgotten, because now I'm hungry or tired.

God's Hierarchy of Values

Does this mean God doesn't concern Himself with us? No. The Scriptures reveal Him personally engaged in our lives, concerned for the things that concern us. But in the hierarchy of God's values, His glory is chief. Below that is His concern for my eternal position, and then His concern for my well-being in the moment. It ranks lower on the list, and that's hard for us.

So this pressing situation will be used for two things. First, to bring greater revelation of Jesus's true nature—the very purpose of John's Gospel. Second, to glorify Jesus's great power. When you're in a pressing situation—work, marriage, children, your health or a loved one's—and you wonder where God is, at the very least you must ask: Is God seeking to reveal something of His nature to me or through me? How might He glorify Himself in this?

I was reminded this week of a preacher's saying: God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him. Generally I find I'm most satisfied in my comfort, my happiness, my momentary well-being. When my flight gets delayed in Newark, my countenance changes. I'm learning to be most satisfied in Him, not merely in the benefits and blessings of knowing Him. That's a hard lesson.

"Lazarus Is Dead"

Many of you know the outcome—spoiler alert: Lazarus dies. That's an issue, because Jesus said this sickness is "not unto death." Either Jesus was wrong, which I can't accept, or—speculating, not interpreting—perhaps it wasn't the sickness that killed him, but the treatment, or the lack of treatment because they expected Jesus to come. More likely, Jesus has a longer view: He knows what He's going to do, so in the larger sense this illness is "for the glory of God and the revelation of the Son of God."

Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?" (John 11:7–8)

A little geography helps: Bethany is two miles east of Jerusalem, which sits in the county of Judea. Jesus was out in the wilderness near the Jordan, where John the Baptist had ministered. The disciples drag their feet—have you ever felt the need to remind Jesus of things? "They want to kill You."

Jesus answers with words about there being twelve hours in the day and walking in the light. There's much speculation about these verses, and honestly, I think the disciples were thinking, "What is He talking about?" Then He says plainly, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go to wake him up." They take Him literally: "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well." Finally Jesus says plainly, "Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him."

Difficult Circumstances Stretch Our Faith

This brings point number three: Jesus allows difficult circumstances to stretch and strengthen our faith. I've experienced that, and I know many of you have too. Let me be candid: I do not always like Jesus's methods. I like the outcomes, but I'm not fond of His plans and ways. So I find myself fairly regularly complaining about His methods in prayer—very spiritual complaining, but complaining. I read Israel's murmuring in Exodus and Numbers and think, "That's me."

The disciples were like us—not super spiritual. Read the Gospels and it becomes clear: Peter, James, John, Thomas, and the rest were often cynical and skeptical. That comes out here:

Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him." (John 11:16)

Church tradition says Thomas was called the Twin because he looked a lot like Jesus. There are two interpretations of his words: the super-spiritual one—"Let us go die with Him"—and the cynical one I lean toward—"I look just like Him; let's go get killed too." I suspect that because I'm skeptical and cynical, and that's what I might say. There's real danger here. When things don't go as we expect, we slide easily into cynicism, skepticism, and pessimism. Let me say plainly: doubt, pessimism, cynicism, and skepticism are not spiritual. They are not Christian hallmarks—they are evidence of my fallen, sinful nature. Those in ministry especially must guard against it.

God Delays on Purpose

So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them. (John 11:17–19)

He shows up, but seemingly late—well past any "expiration date." Yet He delays on purpose: "I am glad I was not there, for your sakes." I've found over time that God delays often. There's a saying: God is never late, but He's rarely early.

Recently, talking with pastors in Scandinavia, I kept hearing myself say the same thing about our church: "Nothing ever seems to happen at the speed I'd like it to." By the third time it came out of my mouth, the Lord seemed to catch the word for me—"Really?" My timetable is not how God measures time. So I'm challenged to leave it with Him and say, "Lord, Your timing is best."

"I Am the Resurrection and the Life"

Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him... "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." (John 11:20–21)

Have you ever prayed that prayer—"Lord, if only You had..."? It's the waving-finger prayer. Her words express faith—she believes He had the power to heal—yet they're mixed with unbelief, because now he's dead. That's all of us. Then she adds a statement of faith: "But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."

Jesus says, "Your brother will rise again." Martha replies, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." Like most in first-century Israel, she believed in some form of afterlife but was unclear about it. The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection (that's why they were "sad, you see"). The Pharisees, the larger group, believed in a coming resurrection but understood little about it. Today over 80 percent of Americans believe in an afterlife without clear details—exactly where Martha was, and where most of your neighbors and coworkers are.

Remember the purpose: to reveal Jesus's true nature. So He clarifies what was unclear:

Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" (John 11:25–26)

Jesus Tests Our Faith to Reveal His Greatness

Point number four: Jesus tests our faith to reveal His greatness. To reveal that He is the resurrection and the life, He had to bring Martha to the place of hoping for a resurrection that wasn't fully clear—and the only way was to let her brother die, when it seemed beyond all possibility.

She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world." (John 11:27)

That is the very theme of John's Gospel: these things are written that you may believe that He is the Christ, the Son of God. This brings point number five: the greatness of Christ's power is accessible by faith—which is why Jesus asks, "Do you believe this?"

"Lazarus, Come Forth"

Martha then secretly called Mary, who rose quickly and came to Him, falling at His feet with the same words: "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews weeping with her, He groaned in His spirit and was troubled.

Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!" And some of them said, "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?" (John 11:35–37)

Again groaning, Jesus came to the tomb—a cave with a stone against it—and said, "Take away the stone." Martha objected, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" They removed the stone, and Jesus lifted His eyes:

"Father, I thank You that You have heard Me... but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me." Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes... Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go." (John 11:41–44)

The works of Jesus authenticate the word of Jesus: "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live."

A Striking Connection to Luke 16

Here's an interesting sideline. In Luke 16 Jesus tells of a rich man and a beggar. The rich man was clothed in fine linen and purple—linen marked the priests, purple the royalty—so he represents the royal priesthood, the high priest. He fared sumptuously every day; the beggar waited at his door for scraps. Both died. In the afterlife the rich man was in torment in flame, the beggar comforted by Abraham, with a great gulf fixed between them. The rich man begged that the beggar be sent back from the dead to warn his brothers. Abraham refused. And the beggar's name? Lazarus.

In Jesus's story, the rich man insisted, "If one goes to them from the dead, they will repent." So how did the chief priests respond when a man named Lazarus was actually raised from the dead? They determined to kill Jesus—and to kill Lazarus again, so there would be no evidence. The wrong response.

Do You Believe This?

Jesus said, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he were dead, yet shall he live, and whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die." That's the question we wrestle with: Do you believe this? Most Americans believe in an afterlife. Jesus says He is the way, the door, the path, the Shepherd who leads to it. Do you believe this? That's the question our culture must answer.

Closing Prayer

Father God, we come and stand before You now having received from Your word, and we pray that You would cause Your word to have its work in us. The Scriptures say Your word will not return void but will accomplish what You set it to do. Use the word we've looked at today to encourage and strengthen those wrestling with some difficulty—a health problem, a family issue, a financial burden. Help them to cast their care upon You, because You care for us and have a purpose and plan in whatever we're going through.

Lord, I trust there are some here today who realize they have not yet trusted in You as the resurrection and the life. As You are lifted up, draw those people to Yourself now. If you've never put your faith in Jesus, or you've strayed because it felt like Jesus didn't show up, know that God has a bigger plan in view for your life than you realize. He says, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall never perish." Do you believe this?

If you would like to put your trust in Jesus, pray this with me: Dear Jesus, I know I need You. I realize I'm far from You. I pray that You would come and restore my life, fill my heart, forgive me of my sin, and help me to follow You by faith, trusting in You, Jesus. Amen.