Can you imagine Jesus who is 100% God and 100% human walking into the middle of a situation that would, to most people, seem completely hopeless? Hearing the wailing of friends and family over Lazarus’ death, then listening to Martha and Mary express their heartache? They were so disappointed that He did not come early enough to heal their brother and now their brother is dead.
Yet in the midst of disappointment and despair, Jesus makes the declaration, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha probably thinks Jesus is simply consoling and comforting her about the future resurrection, but Jesus is not talking about the future life that He has guaranteed, but the present promise of life He now possesses. He states in the present tense:
I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:25)
Jesus was saying that for those who believe in Him, even when they die physically, their spirit will go to be with God and then wait until the final resurrection. On that day, Jesus will resurrect a new glorified physical body and then unite this physical body with the spirit making the person whole again. Here, Jesus is asking Martha a personal question. “Do you believe that I am the resurrection and the Life and everyone who places their trust in Me will live right now?
Martha responded: “I have believed” - Martha’s faith in Jesus was not vague - she knew He was the Christ and that He had come from God to redeem the world and give people resurrection life in the future. But there was much more she and her sister needed to learn about Him and trust Him for beyond saving faith and future events.
Jesus asked her in the present tense, do you believe I am the resurrection and the life right now, that I have the power to give life right now? To prove His point, He asked them “Where is the body?” They said “come and see.” We can tell by these conversations; they were only expecting Jesus to visit the grave. The last thing on their minds was that Jesus would bring their brother back from the dead. Let’s look at John 11:38-44.
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 four 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. And Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. But I knew that You always hear Me; nevertheless, because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”. Out came the man who had died, 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.”
When they arrived at the tomb Jesus was:
Moved within
Moved from above
Moved to action
1. Moved within
Jesus saw their situation and He felt their anguish. The Greek brings out that Jesus was deeply moved in His emotions with great frustration because their attitude towards death was so final. He didn’t view death in defeat and despair because He was God incarnate. He is the resurrection and the life. John Calvin said:
Christ does not come to the grave as an idle spectator, but like a wrestler preparing for a contest. Therefore, no wonder that He groans again, for the violent tyranny of death which He had to overcome stands before His eyes.
Jesus isn’t indifferent or apathetic to our personal circumstances or challenges, nor is He ever overwhelmed by them. In fact, nothing overwhelms the Lord, and nothing can ever diminish His power or His love towards us. When Jesus saw the situation and saw everyone mourning, He was moved within and to Martha’s astonishment, He commanded that they (whoever they were) remove the stone from the mouth of the cave and don’t put it back.
Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days and by now the condition of his dead body would have been in pretty bad shape because the Jews didn’t embalm the dead. Martha cautions Him about the obvious, “Lord there will be a stench.” Maybe she didn’t want him to be defiled by touching a dead body, maybe she just didn’t think it was a good idea. It was reasonable that she questioned Jesus’ decision to remove the stone from the tomb but in this case her natural reasoning or opinion was trying to hinder what Jesus was about to do.
Jesus countered her natural thinking when He said, “Didn’t I say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” He had a purpose behind everything He did and said. He didn’t just come to the grave simply to remove a stone from its place or just to comfort them in their grief. He was there to show them the glory of God, to reveal His incredible visible splendor.
Jesus knew what He was doing, He knew what He had come to accomplish, and knew that this and other miracles would manifest the power He has over sickness and death. Martha was so focused on the problem and not the promise, so focused on death and not on the Deliverer. “Martha, it is not the length of days your brother has been dead or the problem of the stench, nor the weight of the stone that would hinder me from doing a miracle. I am the resurrection and the life; I am greater than any of these things.
Jesus saw the problem, was moved within and gave the command to remove the stone from the grave. We see in v. 41 that even though all their natural instincts would tell them to leave the stone where it was, out of obedience to Him, they rolled that stone away. They had to take a step of faith and trust the Lord to see what He would do. God was not asking them to raise the dead, He was simply telling them to remove that stone. This is all He is asking us to do, to take a step of faith.
When the Lord moves us to take the step of faith, to trust Him and obey Him - then we will see what God can do, we will see the glory of God. Jesus was saying to Martha, “You say you have believed, but right now it’s time for you to put your money where your mouth is” - put what you say you believe into practice and expect to see the glory of God. Jesus moves within us and then calls us to obedience even in the midst of storms so that He can take us to the other side and accomplish the impossible. It’s when we trust Him in seemingly hopeless situations that His faithfulness, His goodness, His kindness, His mercy, His deliverance, and His providence is manifested in and through these times. We may not see miracles every day but the more we place our trust in Him, to the degree we take steps of faith, is the degree we will see His glory. Are you waiting for God to supply all your needs before you obey Him or are you going to trust Him to supply all your needs as you walk in obedience to Him? Jesus was not only moved within, He was...
2. Moved from above
In verse 41, after the stone was removed, we read:
And lifted His eyes towards heaven and prayed out loud. He said: “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.”
John brings out that everything Jesus says and does has a purpose, everything He prayed for was to bring God glory. He was in constant contact with His Father, He knew His Father’s will, and He knew that His Father always heard Him. He prayed with absolute certainty that this was His Father's plan and knew that the answer to the prayer would bring His Father glory. Jesus didn’t have to pray out loud, He already had the answer, but He did so that those listening would believe that He was sent by God.
The people needed to hear Jesus’ prayer because He was showing them that He and God the Father were so one in everything they did, and that God hears and answers prayers. He wanted to make it clear to the onlookers that what He is about to do is not something done “on His own,” but something the Father is accomplishing through Him. His goal is that they might “believe” as Martha had done (verses. 27, 40), not simply as a miracle worker, but as the Messiah who came from God.”
This verse really made me think about my own prayer life. When I pray, what is my purpose? Am I moved from above and praying for an answer that would bring glory to God? Do I really want to see God’s will be done on earth? Do I want to see what He can do or am I afraid of praying for something too big in front of others and risk being embarrassed? Do I only ask for things I want to accomplish and can accomplish naturally-speaking or do I depend on Him to accomplish His will in my life?
A. C. Dixon said:
When we depend upon organizations - we get to see organizations can do, when we depend upon education, we get to see what education can do, when we depend upon people, we get to see what people can do but when we depend upon God in prayer, we get to see what only God can do.
After Jesus prayed to the Father out loud, He raised His voice and specifically called Lazarus by name saying, “Lazarus - you come out.” And what happened? Lazarus immediately responded to Jesus’ voice and came out. Not sure how Lazarus got to the mouth of the cave, but I can imagine how stunned everyone was, shocked at this manifestation of God’s visible splendor.
Now Lazarus was simply resuscitated, not resurrected with a new glorified body so when he came out, he was still wrapped up and his face was still covered. Jesus then commanded the people watching to unwrap him, to take those death clothes off him - to set him free. He is literally “loosened” or set free, restored, and received back into everyday life for a few more years. Even though he will one day die, he still has eternal life and lives with the assurance of eternal life forever in the age to come. I wondered what would have happened if Jesus would have listened to Martha's natural reasoning and didn’t have the stone removed? Would the family and village have seen His glory?
If we are waiting for the right conditions before we trust God for something big, if we are hesitant to roll away a stone in our lives or someone else’s life because we are afraid of a possible stench, we will continue living with a secular, humanistic viewpoint and never see God’s glory. In fact, you will never know what could happen in your life until your faith is…
3. Moved to action
I was thinking about how this scene would apply to our lives. What is Jesus saying to us today? Do we really believe He is the resurrection and the life in the present tense? You say you have believed, you have trusted Him as your Savior, you believe you are going to heaven one day but what about right now? It’s time for us to be moved to action and put what we believe into practice. Do you really want to see God's visible splendor in your life and in the church? Then roll that stone away! The stone of natural reasoning, of unbelief, disappointment and despair.
We’ve probably all heard this saying, “Jesus loves us just the way we are, but He loves enough not to leave us the way we are.” There are things in our lives that the Lord is waiting to change, heal, to redeem. He wants to transform these areas more than we do. Whether it’s something that I have struggled with, something in my past that was never really settled, never reconciled but only buried, maybe we wrapped it up and rolled a heavy stone over it.
Maybe there are things behind that stone that we have intentionally hidden from the Lord and other areas we know we are not being honest with God about. We all have issues, past and present, that we have covered over with a heavy stone because we believe that we can do nothing about it. Even if we try to forget about it, we know where these things are buried and try to avoid the tomb because it’s too painful or shameful to go there. We have those skeletons in the closet that we hope no one will ever see or that we will never have to face. It's the place of the dead and not of the living.
These are areas the Spirit of God continually convicts you about because they are destructive to your life, rob you of your joy, and affect your relationship with God and your fellowship with other believers. Allow the Spirit of God to speak to it, to call it out and cleanse it. Maybe it is the root of bitterness, anger, unforgiveness, or disappointment. It could be jealousy, lust, the love of money, the need for security or an inordinate need for the love of and acceptance. We hesitate to openly confess these areas to the Lord and are afraid to let Him roll away that stone because they do create a stench and we’re not sure of how Jesus or others will respond. But Jesus wants to bring His light and life to these areas. He tells us to roll that stone away so that He can free us from the bondage of death. The more we bring Jesus to the tomb, the more we roll the stones away, and the more He transforms the grave into a garden. All that was behind those stones will be cleared away.
When the psalmist tried to hide his sin from God, it affected him physically and emotionally because it was a heavy weight to carry. But then he said: I acknowledged my sin to You, And I did not hide my wickedness; I said, “I will confess [all] my transgressions to the LORD”; And You forgave the guilt of my sin.
The Lord not only forgives the sin, but He also removes the effect of that sin which is guilt and shame. It’s no longer there.
The question is: Do you want to see God’s glory manifested in your life? Then invite Jesus to the tomb. He will not be shocked or dismayed, He will ask us to roll that stone away! On another level, are there tombs in the church that need God’s light and for Christ to bring life to? Do you want to see the glory of God in this church?
There may be those who do know the Lord the way you do. Are you willing to roll away the stone in other people’s lives and let God’s healing power come in? Are you willing to unwrap others who are covered in grave clothes? Is there someone that you know of that has areas in their life they want to deal with but don’t know how?
“are there tombs in the church that need God’s light and for Christ to bring life to? Do you want to see the glory of God in this church? ”
I have a non-Christian friend here in Vienna who I have known for many years. He just recently started telling me about his skeletons in the closet and it literally took years before he shared any of these things with me. I tried not to look shocked as he relayed all these things to me but then I realized this was an opportunity to speak about the Lord and bring Jesus to the tomb. I told him about God’s forgiveness and the intensity of His unconditional love. That nothing is beyond God’s power to change and heal. No one is beyond God’s power to save. And more and more my friend is listening to God’s viewpoint.
Is there someone you know who needs to meet Jesus and have their stone rolled away? Take that step of faith, share Christ with them, pray for them and witness what God will do.
DQs:
Why is it important that we know Jesus as the resurrection and the life in the present tense?
In what ways do you think Lazarus’ death & resuscitation bring glory to God?
What can you observe from Jesus’ prayer life?
In what ways has your natural reasoning/rationalization hindered you from taking steps of faith?
How has this passage of Scripture challenged you to take steps of faith?
Can you share about a stone that was rolled away in your life and where God’s visible splendor was revealed?
