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      "Victory Over Death"
      John 11:1-16
      Theme:       God sovereignly works in all things to provide us opportunity to glorify His name.

      1. The Appeal for God’s Intervention – 11:1-3

        1. The Introduction of the Family – vv. 1-2

          1. In this section Jesus is within about two months of His own death (most likely these events took place in early February of the year AD 30).
          2. The Jews who refused to believe either His words or His works had clearly rejected Jesus.
          3. Jesus is in the midst of the "Perean Ministry" a time of relatively private instruction of the disciples in final preparation for His death.
          4. Jesus had performed six signs recorded by John – all designed to demonstrate that Jesus Christ was the Son of God:
            1. Water to wine – (2:3) illustrating the lack of joy outside of God’s provision
            2. Healing the Nobleman’s son – (4:46) illustrating that sin is a disease that has robbed men of original health of the soul
            3. Restoring the lame man – (5:7) illustrating that sinners are without strength to help themselves
            4. Multiplying the loaves & fish – (6:5) illustrating that men are dependent on God to impart the resources for spiritual strength
            5. Walking on the Sea – (6:18) illustrating the dangerous condition men are in without Christ
            6. Giving sight to the blind man – (9:1) illustrating that sinners are altogether incapable of perceiving either his own wretchedness and danger, or the One who alone can deliver him.
          5. As miraculous as these signs are, the final sign of Christ’s ministry is that which caused the most inarguable certification of who He is – the raising of a man who had been dead for 4 days.
          6. This man is introduced appropriately by a name that means "he whom God helped" – "Now a certain person was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, of the village of Mary and Martha her sister."
          7. We are given an editorial comment as John, many years later, looks back at the significance of what was about to happen and how it impacted both Lazarus’ family – especially Mary – "It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick."
          8. This anointing doesn’t happen until six days before Jesus’ betrayal and crucifixion – but is caused by the events surrounding Lazarus’ resurrection from the dead – and is therefore understood as an expression of gratitude.

        2. The Intercession for the Feeble – v. 3

          1. This family was close to Jesus as can be seen from the message they send to Jesus – "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."
          2. The urgency of their appeal is seen in the term "behold" – literally it says: "look!"
          3. They also use a term for "sickness" that means that he was gravely ill – emphasizing the effects of the sickness – weakness and exhaustion suggesting that Lazarus had struggled about as much as he could and was near the end.
          4. They model the appropriate approach to God – not dictating to Him as though He were ours to instruct – but merely appealing to Him to do what seems best.
          5. They had such confidence in the heart of the Lord, that they knew He would do what was best for them in the situation – and all they felt necessary was to inform Him.
          6. They based their plea neither on their brother’s love, nor even their own love, for the Lord - but only on the Lord’s love for their brother.
          7. There are great lessons to be learned from the example of approaching the Lord in this text.

      2. The Awareness of God’s Intention– 11:4-6

        1. The Comprehension of the Purpose – v. 4

          1. It is understood that Lazarus probably died while the messenger was in route to Christ – this allows for the ultimate four days of burial
            1. The first day is the day that it took for the messenger to leave Bethany and find Jesus.
            2. Days 2 & 3 are the two days He waited before He begins the trip to Bethany
            3. Day 4 is the day He took to travel to Bethany.
          2. Jesus responds when He heard of the serious condition of Lazarus that "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."
          3. Jesus comments were not that Lazarus will not die, but the ultimate end would not be death.
          4. Jesus was aware of what God’s purpose was in this event – aware of the glory God wanted to receive by means of providing His Son the opportunity to perform His mightiest miracle of all.
          5. Essentially, Jesus sees this event as the most defining moment of His revelation of Himself as the messiah – the 7th sign of His ministry .

        2. The Compassion for the Participants – vv. 5-6

          1. It is interesting to watch the way Scripture portrays the heart of the Lord here: "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus." (Imperfect indicative)
          2. Humanly speaking it was most difficult for Jesus to stay away – knowing that people He cared about were suffering and agonizing over the death of Lazarus.
          3. However, we are told that it was because of His love for them that caused Him to stay away: "So when He heard that he was sick, He then stayed two days longer in the place where He was."
          4. God’s purpose for the raising of Lazarus was to bring glory to God by allowing the identity of Christ to be inarguably proven through this powerful miracle.
          5. Although healing Lazarus would have duplicated other healings, and raising him immediately would have duplicated other resurrections (Jairus’ daughter & the widow’s son at Nain), allowing Lazarus to be dead four days would discount any question and make the miracle all the greater.
          6. Jesus’ interest in the strengthening of the faith of Mary & Martha caused Him to delay to allow them to experience the bitterness of death in order to heighten the subsequent joy of the miracle of resurrection.

      3. The Allegiance to God’s Influence – 11:7-16

        1. The Confidence in God’s Protection – vv. 7-10

          1. It was probably difficult for the Lord, humanly, to know that people that He cared about so much were suffering.
          2. However, his allegiance to the plan of God and what God desired to do was so intense that He maintained His distance.
          3. "Then after this …" that is, when sufficient time had transpired to guarantee the fulfillment of God’s glory, "He said to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judea again’."
          4. As soon as He suggested this, the disciples who were still looking over their shoulders for those following them after they left Judea (cp. 10:39-40) protested: "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?"
          5. Jesus response shares how confident He is in the sovereign protection provided as one follows the will of God:
            1. First, he states: "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."
              1. The span of a day is measured – and fixed – it doesn’t expire before the number of hours by which it is measured have completed their course.
              2. In the same way, Jesus had been given a work to do by the Father and had set the time of His crucifixion (repeatedly referred to as "the hour" that has not yet come)
              3. Jesus says that as long as they are walking within the light of God’s plan, they had nothing to worry about and they are free to go wherever the will of God would take them.
            2. Then He states a warning of sorts: "But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."
              1. By this Jesus is warning the disciples that to step out of God’s will – ie. Walk in the night – then he is vulnerable to stumbling.
              2. If they refused to walk with Him to perform the will of God, then "stumbling" was inevitable
          6. Thus, Jesus indicates that God is able to keep them from that which would negate their ability to perform the work of God – cp. Jude 24-25.

        2. The Commitment to God’s Provision – vv. 11-16

          1. Jesus then informs the disciples why it is the will of God that they go – "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep."
            1. He indicates "our friend Lazarus" to provide an awareness of the fact that they all had benefited from their fellowship and friendship with him.
            2. "… fallen asleep …" is a euphemism referring to death – used only of those who are among the redeemed, conveying the benefit of dying: "asleep to the world which it has left (Job 7:9-10; Isaiah 63:16; Ecclesiastes 9:6) but awake with respect to its own world (Luke 16:19-31; Luke 23:43; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:21-23; Revelation 7:15-17; 20:4).
          2. However, they miss the analogy and in their desperation to avoid going back into Judea argue that sleep is good – "The disciples then said to Him, ‘Lord if he has fallen asleep, he will recover’."
          3. The implication is that Lazarus will recover without us if he is able to just get some rest – "Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep."
          4. Jesus, knowing that the disciples themselves needed their own faith strengthened as well informs them of the fact that "Lazarus is dead."
          5. He then shares that it is good that it has happened and that positive results would spring out of this: "… and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him."
          6. The disciples are still not sure what is happening – they only know that their confidence in Christ was so strong that it might result in their own harm – "Therefore Thomas, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, ‘Let us also go, so that we may die with Him’."
          7. Thomas was probably very sincere in his commitment and intention to die with Jesus, but his courage failed him when death actually seemed to threaten.

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