John 11:28-44

28 Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.” 29 So Mary immediately went to him. 30 Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. 31 When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. 32 When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. 34 “Where have you put him?” he asked them. They told him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Then Jesus wept. 36 The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!” 37 But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?” 38 Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. 39 “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.” 40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” 41 So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. 42 You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” 43 Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

It’s here in John 11 that we see not only the sorrow of the two sisters but also the sorrow of the:

1. Savior

“Jesus wept” is the most condensed verse in the bible but it’s one of the most comforting.  Jesus took time for tears, because he understands our hearts and our hurts. Do you believe that Christ cares about you, do you believe that he not only hears your hurts but wants to heal them? You see when it came to Christ’s care the crowd was divided. Some people saw Christ as compassionate while others saw him as calloused and uncaring. Instead of believing they chose to blame. What side are you on, are you a believer or a blamer? Are you amazed at God or angry with God? One of the challenging questions that confronts our hearts with here is what are we crying over? Are we crying over the loss of stuff or the loss of souls? Am I burdened about the things that break the heart of God? When was the last time you wept over the brokenness of humanity? Is your heart heavy because of the hurts you see around you? Where is the church at today, are we crying like Christ or have we become so comfortably complacent or worse calloused to the cares? It’s here in the midst of the heartache that we hear Christs:

3. Call

Christ commands them to roll back the stone. To the crowd this would have come across as a very uncaring command. But Jesus wanted to remove anything that would have prevented the people from witnessing the wonder of the resurrection. So let me ask you what are the stones in your life that cause you to miss the miracles? What is it that’s blocking the blessings? What is it that needs to be rolled away in your life so you can witness God’s wonder? For Martha it was her fear, she was reluctant to roll the stone away because she didn’t believe. Faith follows God and obeys but fear will cause us to falter and focus on the obstacle. But belief is not just an attitude it’s an action, belief should cause us to boldly obey. You will either agree with God and obey or argue with God and object. While Lazarus was bound by death, the disciples were bound by doubt. So Jesus reminds them of the goal, God’s glory. Rolling the stone away comes down to whether you believe in rotting or in raising. Jesus was giving them a glimpse of what was to come on that Easter morning just around the corner. The simplest meaning of Easter is that we are living in a world in which God has the last word. On Friday it seemed like wickedness was winning but on Sunday we see God triumph over the grave. But what about Saturday, that in-between time of uncertainty, sandwiched between disaster and deliverance? Are you going to believe or are you going to bail? As they remove the obstacle to belief Jesus gives the order for Lazarus to live. Why does the Savior shout the command, because He is in charge. This is the miraculous moment when Jesus defied death and they discovered that death can’t separate us from the Savior. It is here that we see despite all the obstacles Lazarus rise in obedience. But it wasn’t just Lazarus that was commanded to obey, Jesus invites the disciples to join Him in the joy of freeing Lazarus from his grave clothes. Jesus invites us to join Him in the privilege of partnering with God. How do you think they felt about getting to unwrap Lazarus? Do you think they were merry or mad? Partnering with Jesus is a privilege not a pain. Look Jesus has done all the work, He paid the price we just get to unwrap the present. If you have responded to salvation, and have gone from being dead in your sins to saved then you can’t keep wearing you grave clothes. Sadly many Christians today look more like Lazarus as he came out of the grave bound up in his grave clothes. They have life but not liberty; they have forgiveness but not freedom because they want to keep on wearing their old grave clothes. It’s time to strip of the old clothes of death and exchange them for Christ’s clothes of life.  To stop being defined by death and start being defined by deliverance. What about you have you responded to Christs call to come out of the grave and live for God, or are you still stuck in the dead life of serving self instead of the Savior? Sadly many Christians today instead of dressing to serve dress to show off. But Christians don’t dress to impress, they dress to express the Glory of God.

John 11:17-27

17 When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. 18 Bethany was only a few miles[d] down the road from Jerusalem, 19 and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss. 20 When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” 23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.” 25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.”

It is here in the midst of the crisis that second we see:

2. The Comfort

As Jesus goes to Bethany, He is closing in on the cross and is less than 2 miles from Jerusalem. While He is aware of the cross and the coming pain he is focused on the plan. Many of us choose to focus on the problems and the pain and we miss God’s plan. Instead of focusing on a problem free life start seeing God’s plan for life. Now when it comes to comfort the first thing I want you to see is the:

1. Supporters

It’s in the sorrow of life that we can come alongside to console and comfort others. Sorrow provides an opportunity to serve and support. Instead of seeing sorrow as an obstacle and a problem we need to start seeing it as an opportunity to serve. Many of us miss opportunities to serve in the midst of sorrow because we focus on our comfort instead of our call. Nobody likes sorrow but it is a part of life and when you start viewing it as an opportunity to serve instead of making it about our comfort we make it about caring. Second we see the:

1. Sisters

Look how differently they responded to the Redeemer, when they heard that Jesus was coming, Martha went to meet Him while Mary stayed home. How different from the time before when Jesus showed up and Mary sat at His feet while Martha was too caught up to take the time. It is here that we see their different personalities, which respond differently depending on the situation. The let’s get down to business type A personalities, can get so caught up in the job that they miss Jesus. While type B personalities are more driven by being than with business. But notice when you change the situation, from Jesus coming to dinner to Jesus coming because of death, there is a flip in response. Now its Mary who misses out and Martha who meets with Jesus. I believe many pastors have done a great disservice to Luke 10:38-42 where we find Mary sitting at the Saviors feet while Martha gets worked up and worried. Unfortunately what many have communicated is that we need to be more like Mary. We have used this passage to praise one personality while putting down another. So why don’t we come to John 11 and tell Type B personalities off? The truth is every strength has a backside weakness. There are positives and problems to every personality. It’s here that we see Martha’s type A business personality shine as she seeks the Savior, while Mary’s Type B more contemplative personality gets caught up in the sorrow and misses the Savior. The point is it’s not about changing your personality or trying to be more like a Mary or a Martha, it’s about being aware of your weaknesses, and being on guard so you don’t miss God. I can get so busy that I don’t take time to be, but some get so busy being that they don’t get busy with business. Sometimes we need to slow down and sit on the couch with Christ, but there are also times when we need to get busy and get off the couch so we don’t miss Christ. Every personality has weaknesses where they are prone to miss the Messiah. One got caught up in the dishes the other in distress. One got caught up in making sure everything was good the other in grief. We need to be careful that we don’t praise one personality while poisoning another. We need to guard ourselves against responding solely based on our personality and preference. Here is the point regardless of your present situation or your personality you need to pursue Christ because it’s not about your personality but His presence. As Martha comes to Christ her first statement reveals the roller coaster of belief that many of us go through. She starts with blaming and ends with believing. This is not the first time Martha has complained to Christ, she complained over her sister and now her brother. There are lots of things we could complain about but here is the greater question, are we going to spend our time complaining or communing with Christ? Now I want you to notice that Jesus didn’t chastise her for complaining He comforted her and gave her hope. In her pain he reminded her of His power. Because our pain can distort our perspective and prevent us from seeing God’s power and what is really possible. Instead of resting in his power and having peace we become restless in the pain and resentful. Look at how Jesus answered Martha’s agony, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die.” Jesus said, “I AM” – these are the words that God used to reveal His identity when Moses asked for words to reassure the people that he was truly sent from God. The words “I Am” mean “the one who is, was and always will be.” This was a direct statement of Jesus deity, he was reassuring Martha that He was indeed God in the flesh. Jesus didn’t just give her an answer he said I am the answer! Jesus then turned to Martha and asked not only a pointed question but a personal one: “Do you believe this?” He didn’t ask her how she felt; he asked her if she believed. It’s not based on feeling it’s based on faith. I love what the Apostle Paul says of his own life and faith in 2 Timothy 1:12, “… I know whom I have believed and am persuaded that He is able to keep what I have committed to Him until that Day.” Martha revealed that she did believe in Jesus. In the midst of the crisis she has the courage to believe Jesus, but what about you, do you believe in Jesus? Do you believe that Jesus is the Resurrection and the life? Do you believe that Jesus is the way (the only way) to eternal life? The Answer wasn’t just for Martha, Jesus also wanted to speak to Mary, so he sent Martha as the messenger. Sometimes God using mourning as the vehicle to bring us His message. It’s here that we see Martha go from sorrow to serving. When we come to Him we find hope and healing, and our despair is replaced with direction. As believers we don’t have to be stuck in the sadness, because Jesus is greater than any situation or struggle. Because of Him we can go from hopeless to helping. But when we get caught up in the things of life we tend to miss the Lord. Martha got caught up in making the house look good Mary got caught up in grief, not bad things just not God things. Christ wants to comfort us but we have to come to Him. So what is it that is keeping you from coming to Christ?