We’ve entered into John 11 today. Jesus and His disciples had left Jerusalem where they had been for the Feast of the Dedication. Jews there had pestered Him with the question of Him being Christ. (John 10:24) They claimed they were interested to know if He was. Interesting to note the blind man Jesus had healed in John 9 knew He was the Christ and was kicked out of the Temple for professing that. I do believe that what these Jews were angling for was Jesus to claim the truth of what He is, so they could convict Him of blasphemy. They ended up with stones in their hands (John 10:31) but Jesus eluded their grasp (John 10:39) and traveled to the place where John the Baptist first started his ministry. The scripture states that many believed in Him there. (John 10:42)
What do you think of when you hear the name Lazarus? Does it bring you back to Sunday School? My wife and I along with Carol, Ronda and Leighton and many others of the family were at Beckville Church on Friday. A member of Cordes’ side of the family had passed away, that being Mary, who was a sister of Randy, who is our Brother in Law, and this was the day of her funeral. Paula and her family had grown up in that church and her Sister Patti took Paula down into the basement of the church and they remembered Sunday School that had been held there. It was a dark and dingy place and something you’d imagine more a home for spiders than kids learning about God. But we weren’t as prissy about things back in that day.
Getting back to our Bible Study, there was a man named Lazarus who lived with his sisters Mary and Martha, in a place called Bethany. It is now called al-Eizarya which in Arabic, means “Place of Lazarus”. It is a couple of miles East of Jerusalem, on the road to Jericho, in the foothills of the Mount of Olives. This village could be called the Judean home of Jesus, as He appears to have preferred to lodge there rather than in Jerusalem itself. This place is also where the feast at the house of Simon the leper occurred (Matthew 26:6-13, Mark 14:3-9, John 12:2-8) and most notably, Christ ascended unto Heaven. (Luke 24:50) Lots of history at this place.
Jesus was sent a message, a certain man was sick. (v. 1) As mentioned, Lazarus had two sisters, Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, (Luke 7:37-38) and Martha who worried over her sister not helping her when Jesus came to visit. (Luke 10:38-42)
The sisters had sent word to Jesus saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” (v. 3) As mentioned above, Jesus had spent time with this family, and liked to stay at their home instead of Jerusalem. This is one of those ironic circumstances where the disciple that Jesus loved is writing about a man that Jesus also loved. Love is what I think of when I think of Jesus. (John 15:9) Even when He was talking sternly to the Jews, he loved them and wanted to gather them in, like a mother hen with its chicks. (Luke 13:34) 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.” (v. 4) This is very similar to John 9:3 when the disciples ask Him who had sinned. Jesus answered “Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.”
We were created to glorify God. The way most people act, it would appear that they have not accepted that lesson. Darkness does not understand light. (John 1:5) We live in a pagan nation, it may have not always been so, but it is so now. Do not fool yourself in thinking you can run with the pagans and not have it rub off on you. The word Holy, means separation. God told us to be Holy because He is Holy. (1 Peter 1:16) And He sent His only begotten Son down to us, to minister to us, and by us I mean man who was created by Him. Our ancestors. We, for the most part, ran with the pagans, not accepting that He was I AM. We crucified Him in spite of what He said to us and His wonders. To the pagan world’s amazement, He rose again and ascended unto heaven and His disciples, now with the Holy Spirit indwelling them, went about and created His Church. Along the way, this handy book came along that I am teaching from and trying to get you to read and obey it. It’s a lot like the old saying, “You buy ‘em books and they just chew the covers” , but I still have hope. Here’s a tip from the book, when God said be Holy for I am Holy, it wasn’t just a suggestion. Deuteronomy 11:1 Love the LORD your God and keep his requirements, his decrees, his laws and his commands always. Also not a suggestion.
As I said, when I think of Jesus, I think of the love He had for the people. He loved Mary, Martha and their brother Lazarus. (v. 5) When He heard that Lazarus was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was. (v. 6) This at first seems a bit strange and out of character for Jesus. If you are just skimming the text, you might have missed verse 4. Jesus would use this to glorify God and also to Himself as the Son of God. This once again brings to mind that we are here to glorify God. He then tells the disciples “Let us go to Judea again.” (v. 7) This was not with happiness. The disciples *said to Him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?” (v. 8) These disciples were still learning. They had been with Jesus around two and a half years and still not understanding the lessons given. 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. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” (vv. 9,10)
From MacArthur’s Study Bible commentary: During the light of the sun, most people did their work safely. When darkness came, they stopped. The proverbial saying, however, has a deeper meaning. As long as the Son performed his Father’s will, this during the daylight of his ministry when he is able to work safely. The time would soon come, that being night time, when by God’s design, his Earthly work would end and he would stumble into death. Jesus was stressing that as long as he was on Earth doing God’s will even at this late date In his ministry, he would safely complete God’s purposes.
To explain better to these men of His, standing there with questioning looks on their faces, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.” (v. 11) But it really did not help much: “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” (v. 12) You would think by now that they would understand what manner of speech their Rabbi was using. It should given to us, that chew the covers of this book, hope that our ignorance and rebellion would be transformed through obedience of His will and Faith in Him who was crucified so that we might live.
Jesus ended up telling them plainly “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.” Believing is essential, but it takes Grace to get there, Grace of the Father to draw us, and to the Son to keep us that none will be torn from His grasp. Thomas, doubting Thomas as he’s know today, also known as Didymus spoke for them all when he said “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.” (v. 16) A noble sentiment. It reminds me of my Grandmother, who from the time I could remember, said “I just want to go home with Jesus.” I do too, Grandma, I do too.
So, where are you at in your life? Are you a doubting Thomas, or are you ready to go home to Jesus and if you are, are you sure you are ready to go home to Jesus? Meaning, have you accepted that you are a sinner, have sinned against God in thought, word and deed? Have you then repented those unfortunate facts not just once, but daily? Do you love God with all your heart, soul, mind and strength and are you obedient to His will and commands? Do you love your neighbor as yourself and are you at peace with all men and women? Do you accept that you are a work in progress and not a done deal? If we are truthful, of all those things mentioned, some days are better than others, but through the Grace of our Lord, we shall prevail. Now stop prevaricating about the bush and read this book, the whole thing and no cheating. How are you going to know the truth of all that listed above if you don’t read it for yourself. Get busy and no excuses.