Introduction to John 11:37-44

SPIRITUAL DIARY FOR 8/26/2016 9:44 AM

My Worship Time                                                                Focus:  Introduction to John 11:37-44

Bible Reading & Meditation                                     Reference:  John 11:37-44

            Message of the verses:  “37 But some of them said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?" 38 So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 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." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" 41 So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 “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." 43 When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth." 44 The man who had died came forth, 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.’”

            We have not looked at the purpose as to why John wrote his gospel in a while and so I want to begin with that today:  “30 Therefore many other signs Jesus also performed in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; 31 but these have been written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing you may have life in His name.”  John writes his gospel to show that Jesus Christ is indeed God who came in the flesh, and John uses eight miracles to prove this, with the last one of the upmost importance was His resurrection from the dead. 

            God had told Adam and Eve that if they ate of the fruit of the tree that they were not suppose to eat from that they surely would die.  We know the story that once they ate of that tree that they died spiritually and eventually died physically.  There was also a promise given to them that the seed of the woman would produce the coming Messiah (Gen. 3:15).  The sin nature was passed through the man, but the Messiah was born of a virgin, a woman who had never had sexual relations, thus the seed of the woman and the Holy Spirit brought about the Messiah, the Lord Jesus Christ. 

            Paul writes that death is an enemy and that the resurrection of Jesus Christ took care of that enemy.  When Cain killed Able, Adam and Eve got their first look at physical death, and knew at that time that a resurrection would be needed so that Able would live once again.

            Jesus Christ came to earth to provide that miracle of the resurrection and chapter eleven of John’s gospel gives us a picture of the resurrection that Jesus Christ would have three days after He died.  As Jesus began His ministry He did many miracles to prove that He was who He said that He was, and perhaps the most powerful miracle that He did, other than His own resurrection was bringing Lazarus back to life again as we will see in this section.  John MacArthur writes “The entire eleventh chapter of John’s gospel revolves around Christ’s claim to be the resurrection and the life (vv. 25-26).  He, not Lazarus, is the primary focus of the passage.  The resurrection of Lazarus was not an end in itself (even Lazarus, who had to die again); the goal was that Jesus and the Father would be glorified (vv. 4, 40).  This passage is the third of four sections into which the account of Lazarus’s resurrection may be divided:  verses 1-16 recount his illness and his sister’s message to Jesus; verses 17-36 described Jesus’ arrival in Bethany; and verses 45-57 will relate the aftermath of the miracle.

            “The dramatic account of the actual raising of Lazarus in verses 37-44 unfolds in five scenes:  the perplexity, the problem, the promise, the prayer, and the power.”  So we have our outline as to what we will be looking at as we continue through this 11^th chapter of John’s gospel.

            Now we know that the main character in this chapter is the Lord Jesus Christ but I want for a moment think about Lazarus.  We don’t know much about this man, other than he was the brother of Mary and Martha, and that they probably had material blessings from the Lord.  We don’t know how old he was when he died or what was the cause of his death other than it was to bring glory to the Lord.  So just put yourself in his sandals for a moment and what it was that he went through.  If we think about the parable of the rich man and Lazarus (another Lazarus) we know that he would have gone to “Abraham’s bosom, as described in the parable given in Luke.  We have to believe that he was happier there than he was when he was alive on planet earth.  He was there four earth days, but time is not involved where he was.  All of a sudden he is back in his old body, alive as he hears the call of Jesus to bring him back to life again.  I for one would have loved to sit down and talk to him about his experiences, and I am sure that he must have related his experiences to his sisters and also to some of his friends.  He probably talked to Jesus about it too, and he probably knew that he would die again, but this time he would go to heaven for the next time he died all of those who had died and were in Abraham’s bosom would have gone to heaven because of what Christ did for them on the cross.  One more thing that I think about when I think about Lazarus and that is the next time that he died there would probably not be one bit of fear, in fact I believe that he looked forward to it.  Paul wrote to the Philippians “21 For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. 22 But if I am to live on in the flesh, this will mean fruitful labor for me; and I do not know which to choose. 23 But I am hard-pressed from both directions, having the desire to depart and be with Christ, for that is very much better; 24 yet to remain on in the flesh is more necessary for your sake. 25 Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all for your progress and joy in the faith, 26 so that your proud confidence in me may abound in Christ Jesus through my coming to you again (Phil. 1:21-26)”

            Spiritual meaning for my life today:  “55 “O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR VICTORY? O DEATH, WHERE IS YOUR STING?" 56 The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law; 57 but thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.  58 Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your toil is not in vain in the Lord (1 Cor. 15:55-58)

 My Steps of Faith for Today:  I desire to continually be used of the Lord.

Memory verses for the week:  (Romans 6:8) “8 Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we shall also live with Him,”

Answer to yesterday’s Bible question:  “Lydda” (Acts 9:32-33).

Today’s Bible question:  “Who named Moses?”

Answer in our next SD.