John 11:1-35 Now a certain man was
sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It
was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His
feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore the sisters
sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” When Jesus
heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for
the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 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. 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?” 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 one walks in the night, he
stumbles, because the light is not in him.” These things He said, and
after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that
I may wake him up.” Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get
well.” However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was
speaking about taking rest in sleep.
Then Jesus said to them 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.” Then Thomas, who is called the Twin,
said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” 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 concerning
their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went
and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. 21 Now Martha said to
Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But
even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” Jesus
said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to
Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last
day.” 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?”
She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You
are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” And when
she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her
sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” As soon as she
heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. Now Jesus had not
yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met
Him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her,
when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed
her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.” Then, when Mary
came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to
Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Therefore,
when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned
in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, “Where have you laid
him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept.
This last Sunday, Pastor
Kyle continued in our church’s Sermon series through the Gospel of John with
the eleventh chapter. Every God-Believing person understands and knows that
Creator God commands life, death and resurrection. Pastor Kyle communicated
five observations about how God works His resurrection power from the story of
Lazarus. Firstly, Divine delays are not always Divine denials. Jesus was making
sure that Lazarus was truly dead before coming, so that His resurrection power
was unmistakably a supernatural miracle of God. In our life application, our
lives are full of delays. It’s the nature of life. During that time of waiting,
we are allowed to examine and think through our desires and petitions. A delay
in receiving what we wish, hope and pray for may be teaching us patience and
deepening our faith. Knowing that God is good, how long shall we wait on the
Lord? The Christian life is a race to the finish line, which builds us up along
the way. We are taught along the entire path, so keep running the race.
Secondly, pain may be
present, but with God it is not permanent. Pain is real and God has compassion
for us. Jesus wept with Mary and Martha at Lazarus’ death. We need to weep with
those who weep also. We know that part of us goes with the dead to the tomb in
our hurt and loss. But, we must always keep in mind that death is a passage way
to eternity of the soul.
Let's continue Pastor Kyle's message on "Resurrection Power" in the next post.
In Christ, Brian
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