John 11:38-44 “Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” This episode is about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Music:"Adding the Sun" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
Take Away The Stone
John 11:38-44 “Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
I am not sure how many of you listening to this know the story of Lazarus so I want to fill you in case you are not familiar with this story. Jesus is friends with this family. He has stayed at Mary & Martha’s house before when He has come through town. Mary and Martha are the two sisters and Lazarus is their brother. Jesus loves all of them. They are His friends. When Lazarus first got sick Jesus was out of town and Mary sent Him a note saying that Lazarus was sick and would die if Jesus did not come. Jesus replied in John 11:4-7 “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
That verse did not make a lot of sense to me when I first read it. Especially when it says, “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” I would think if He loved them He would have left immediately to go and save Lazarus. Also, Jesus says that this sickness will not end in death. Yet, when Jesus arrives back in Judea Lazarus is dead. He had been dead for four days by the time Jesus got there. How could Jesus say the sickness would not end in death, when Lazarus died?
Jesus could say that because death was not the end for Lazarus. Yes, he died and was even placed in a tomb, and then four days later Jesus came. This is where the verse for today picks up. It says that Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. Jesus felt for Martha and Mary. He was sad with them. It even says that Jesus wept. He knew the ending and He still wept with them. He could feel their pain. Once Jesus got to the tomb He told them to take the stone away. Then, Martha tells Jesus to be careful because after four days, Lazarus will not be smelling too great. Then Jesus says to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? Here Martha is, she just told Jesus a few minutes ago that even though Jesus wasn’t there to save Lazarus, the Lord would do whatever Jesus asked. She was basically telling Jesus she believed he could do anything. Then, a few minutes later, outside the tomb she starts to doubt.
Isn’t that just like us? We believe and then when it comes time to see our faith in action we doubt. We wonder if it will really work, if it will really happen. So Jesus reminds her to believe and she will see the glory of God. This is what Jesus meant in the earlier verse when he said, “No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s son may be glorified through it.” If Jesus would have gone back and saved Lazarus before he died, would God have gotten all the Glory? He may have gotten the glory, but then He might not have. People might have said Lazarus got better because of the medicine, or because of the doctor, or some other reason. However, with Jesus calling Lazarus out of the tomb, there is not mistaking who deserves the glory in this instance. There is no misunderstanding or claims of coincidence. Jesus brought Lazarus back from the dead. There is no disputing that it was witnessed by many.
I forgot to talk about one very important part of this verse. Right before Jesus calls Lazarus to come out of the tomb “Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”Before Jesus asked the Lord for anything He thanked Him. He didn’t wait until He saw Lazarus alive to thank the Lord. Jesus thanked Him before He even called for Lazarus to come out of the tomb. This is something that we get wrong a lot. We ask the Lord for a lot of things and we wait until we get them and then if we remember, we thank Him. Why is this? Why do we wait until we have it before we thank Him? Why do we so often forget to thank him? Wouldn’t it be great if we could ask for things with the confidence that He was going to answer our prayers and then thank Him for answering them? We can ask the Lord in confidence as He does always answer our prayers, just not always in the way we want Him too. Isn’t it good to get into the habit of thanking Him even if we didn’t get the answer that we wanted? Have you ever gotten a present for Christmas or your birthday and it wasn’t what you asked for? Did you still say thank you to the person who gave it to you? Then why aren’t we saying thank you to God.
In this verse Jesus says right after He thanks God that He knows God always hears him, but that He wanted all of those around Him to know that God sent Him. Isn’t it crazy how we have to see and hear with our own eyes to believe? Even though Jesus was about to bring Lazarus back from the dead, he knew if He wanted others to believe that God had sent Him then He needed to make sure people heard Him ask God and then Thank Him for answering His prayers. He wanted to make sure people knew that it wasn’t His own power but that God had given Him the power to raise Lazarus.
This is something that we need to all remember. God is still doing miracles every single day. He is still healing people and I have even heard of at least one case where someone was brought back to life just as Lazarus was. When we witness these things we sometimes want to praise the person that seemed to create the miracle. However, it was not through their own power that the person was healed. It was through the power of the Holy Spirit, and Jesus, and God all in one. We can’t heal people, only God can do that. What we can do is agree to be His hands and feet here on earth. We can say “Yes, Lord, use me.” We can ask the Lord to use us to help him in any way He needs us too. However, I caution you to not take those words lightly. If you ask the Lord to use you, He will. If you say yes, He will gladly accept the help. Just make sure you are ready to help as you never know what He will call you to do. He called Moses to talk to all the Israelites when Moses wasn’t a good public speaker. He called David to kill a giant when he was just a boy. Think about it and if you decide you are ready then say yes to the Lord, ask Him to use you. He may give you tasks that are outside of your comfort zone, but He will never ask you to do something and then not give you all that you need to do it. I heard a saying at a retreat once and it has given me a lot more courage to say yes to the Lord. We were told at the retreat that “God doesn’t call the equipped, He equips the called.” What this means is that if God calls you to something He will give you all you need to answer that call. All He requires of you is to say yes.
Dear Heavenly Father, I ask you to bless all those listening to this episode today. Lord, help us to believe even when we doubt. Help us to thank you for all that we ask for, and help us to do it right when we ask instead of waiting until we get what we want. Help us remember to thank you and not to forget. Lord, when we see amazing things happening here on earth help us to remember to give you all the glory. Lord, search our hearts and inspire those of us that are ready to say, Yes Lord, use me. I am yours for whatever you need. Help me be part of your army. Let me help spread the good news to all those I meet. Let us be your hands and feet Lord. We love you! You are so amazing and we ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus’ holy name, Amen.
Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. I look forward to spending time with you tomorrow. Have a blessed day!