Study the Bible
      with Pastor Gregory
      ByronBible Home

      Would you like to ask Pastor Gregory a question?


      "Victory Over Death" - Part 3 (week 4)
      John 11:28-44
      Theme:       God’s earnest desire is that sinners be delivered from death.

      1. The Conflict Within the Son of God – 11:28-37

        1. The Devotion to Those Suffering – vv. 28-32

          1. Jesus brought Martha to a place of renewed confidence and hope in the previous section.
          2. He now clearly compels Martha to return to her sister whose suffering we have already seen was quite intense – Mary most likely having had secreted herself away in the midst of her pain.
          3. Martha goes to her: "And when she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, ‘The Teacher is here and is calling for you’."
          4. This is how we know that Jesus bid Martha to "fetch" Mary – to which she immediately and boisterously responds – "And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to Him."
          5. We are told that Jesus was outside the village – possibly near to the cemetery – waiting to have opportunity to bring comfort to Mary – "Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him."
          6. Mary had been struggling so, that those who had come to Bethany from Jerusalem were unable to ease her suffering – their understanding of her action was that she needed to go back to the tomb – "Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there."
          7. Mary melted in tremendous emotional exhaustion when she saw Christ – letting out her deepest turbulence: "When Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, ‘Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died’."
            1. The two sisters had approached the Lord using the very same words – only in a different order.
            2. Mary demonstrates a greater emotional turbulence in implying that a part of her died with her brother by moving the pronoun "my" (mou ajpevqanen oJ ajdelfov") ahead of the verb when Martha had left it at the end of the sentence (ajpevqanen oJ ajdelfov" mou)
            3. Martha’s word order demonstrates a greater objectivity that allowed Jesus the opportunity to dialogue with her and renew her faith.
            4. Mary’s word order demonstrates a grief that had overwhelmed her and provided no point in teaching – only sympathizing and acting.
          8. Notice the difference in Jesus response – how Mary’s grief touches His own heart – "When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled."
          9. Jesus’ love for Martha and Mary caused His own heart to rend as He observed their suffering and pain – a beautiful demonstration of what we see genuine love producing between believers when we "weep with those who weep" and "mourn with those who mourn" – Romans 10:15

        2. The Distress because of Sin – vv. 32-37

          1. The term that is used in v. 33 "deeply moved" carries some interesting nuances.
          2. The term is ejnebrimhvsato - meaning "to be moved with anger; to admonish sternly" thus demonstrating that Jesus’ emotions were not merely empathetic toward Mary, they were angered by the whole situation.
          3. John goes on to describe Jesus as "troubled" – a term that means "to be stirred up" – thus He was grieving within Himself because of the cause underlying the sorrow – filling with an overwhelming comprehension of the impact of sin.
          4. His immediate response to this is to do something about it – "… and said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to Him, ‘Lord, come and see’."
          5. As they proceeded to the place we are told that "Jesus wept" – a wonderful demonstration of Jesus’ empathy toward those He loved and sorrow regarding the cause of death – sin.
          6. It is heartwarming to see the intensity of Jesus’ emotions – impressing the crowd who observed it as indicative of the intensity of His love for Lazarus – "So the Jews were saying, ‘See how He loved him!’ But some of them said, ‘Could not this man, who opened the eyes of him who was blind, have kept this man also from dying’?"

      2. The Concern of the Son of God – 11:38-42

        1. The Presentation of the Glory of God – vv. 38-40

          1. Jesus tremendous burden over sin and His indignation over its impact in the lives of men caused Him great emotion – "So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it."
          2. The only One who could do something about sin and its consequences death was poised to act – "Jesus said, ‘Remove the stone’."
          3. We are coming now to the point of this account – the ability that this death provided for the Son of God to be glorified as the glory of God is manifest in Him – cp. v. 4
          4. In response to Jesus command, Martha demonstrates that her focus was not yet on the Lord of Life and protested – "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’."
          5. Jesus response to her indicates that the message given back in Perea (v. 4) was still the agenda: that the Son of God was going to display the glory of God’s grace -"Did not I say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"
          6. He would do this by removing the wages of sin, and undoing the work which death had accomplished by conquering him that had the power of death and swallowing up death in victory – He would raise Lazarus from the dead.

        2. The Provocation of Faith – vv. 41-42

          1. The reason He did this was to bring glory to the Father, reveal Himself as the true Messiah and to provoke those in attendance to genuine saving faith.
          2. We are told that as a result of Jesus command, "they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me." – that is, in the moments of great agony of heart over the consequences of sin
          3. There had already been communion between God the Son and God the Father – and that the purpose both were now committed to was the instigation of saving faith in the hearts of those present: "I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me."
          4. He speaks in such a manner – as though what He is about to do has already occurred – even going so far as to thank God, because it was a matter that brought the purpose for Christ’s coming to earth into focus.
          5. "… that they may believe" is an "ingressive aorist" meaning: "…that they may come to believe."
          6. Jesus was now going to fulfill the will of the Father and display God’s glory by raising Lazarus from the dead and thereby call men to faith in Him.

      3. The Command of the Son of God – 11:43-44

        1. The Authority of the Savior – v. 43

          1. Jesus displays His authority over death by commanding life – "When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come forth’."
          2. To cry "out with a loud voice" is not necessary to "wake the dead," but Jesus cried forcibly so that all in the crowd might be aware that it was to His word that even the enemy of death could not ignore.
          3. It displays the command and authority that belongs solely to God – cp. Matthew 27:46, 50; Luke 23:46; 1 Thessalonians 4:16
          4. We have here a miniature of what will happen on resurrection day – that all graves would have opened had not Jesus specifically focused on "Lazarus"

        2. The Advantage to the Sinner – v. 44

          1. We are told that immediately, "He who had died came forth …"
          2. Lazarus was brought back to life at the command of God – quickened as it were from a dead condition by the marvelous grace of a loving Lord
          3. Christ’s authority over death and the grave provides us the awareness that it cannot control us – He controls it – cp. Romans 6:23
          4. Those who are in Christ by faith are children of resurrection.
            1. In one sense we have already been quickened from the deadness of our spiritual state and made alive together with Christ – Ephesians 2:5-6
            2. In another sense, we will be guaranteed future resurrection wherein we will be granted the full inheritance of eternal life.
          5. There is a great analogy able to be made here in the life of Lazarus – he came forth "bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth."
          6. This could compare to the way that when people are born again, they often possess the garb of worldliness and death – adorned with the world’s garments.
          7. Even as believers are told to make disciples by, in part, "… teaching them to observe whatsoever I have commanded you," these people were told to "Unbind him, and let him go."
          8. There is a beautiful parallel between our being raised from the spiritual deadness of our depravity and enabled to find freedom from our sin and Lazarus’ resurrection and his freedom from the adornment of death.

        BCBC Home Page