Make your changes and save. Deleting removes it from the archive for good.
Title:
Slug:
Content type: Sermon Poem / Prayer Service / Tribute Incomplete Biography
Body: Cane Creek Friends Meeting 04/06/25. Jesus' greatest miracle was at the grave of Lazarus; the miracle that pointed to the resurrection of the Lord Jesus. Pray. “At the Grave of Lazarus” **John 11:25-44** **John 11:25-27** (NKJV): 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" 27 She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world." I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE We see several things here: First, Jesus makes an emphatic declaration of His deity: I AM THE RESURRECTION and THE LIFE. There is no life apart from Him. Time holds no restrictions on the Lord Jesus because He is the Creator, God, who created mankind and did so IN TIME. He is Lord of Life and Lord over “time” and beyond: Time is not a barrier to the God of all eternity. Secondly, Martha affirms her personal faith in the Lord Jesus. Jesus comes to His chosen ones personally and reveals Himself as Savior and Lord. Jesus moves Martha into making a profession of her faith in Jesus’ Life and Work for her, BEFORE He even finishes His Work here on earth. We continue in verse 28: And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, "The Teacher has come and is calling for you." 29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the town but was in the place where Martha met Him. 31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, "She is going to the tomb to weep there." 32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." 33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 34 And He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!" 37 And some of them said, "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?" 38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. WEEPING OVER SIN’S DEADLY EFFECTS This is probably one of the most touching scenes in Jesus’ ministry. Verse 35 “Jesus wept.” So often we explain His weeping in terms of his human nature, but the text does not really tell us that. Jesus does not weep like human mourners with no hope: He weeps **for the mourners** who are wailing uncontrollably as if there is no hope after death. If most of the people gathered there truly believed who He claimed to be, they would not be mourning but rejoicing in the presence of the One who had just made the declaration that HE IS THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE and if WE WOULD BELIEVE IN HIM, WE WOULD NOT TASTE OF DEATH. Jesus weeps over the deadly effects of sin: If man had not sinned, he would never have to face this horrible, fatal event and everything that it entails and includes: Grief, separation, hurt, heartful pain, and for those who are steeped in their willful unbelief….eternal condemnation by God which is a never ending life of “GRACELESSNESS”. As Jesus “groaned” in His spirit”, or “was deeply moved in His spirit” He was actually filled with anger and emotional indignation over the disposition of the mourners: they basically acted as pagans who had no hope of the resurrection from the dead. It was not that Jesus did NOT feel sympathy toward Mary and Martha in their loss; He DID because Jesus was altogether acquainted with grief as “THE MAN OF SORROWS” described in **Isaiah 53:3**. He loved Mary and Martha and He loved Lazarus, but in Christ, who is the Resurrection and the Life, death does not have the final word. Death is not victorious, but CHRIST IS VICTORIOUS! Jesus’ weeping has the connotation of silently bursting into tears. Have you ever had that where the hurt inside just builds in your inner being and you swallow and swallow again, but it will not settle down…and finally your tear ducts just begin flowing…you don’t need to say anything. His tears were not on account of mourning because Jesus KNEW why He was there and what He would do. The tears of Jesus are contrasted from those of the mourners. Now let’s look at verse 39-41: Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying.” Maybe it is just me, but have you ever asked yourself why Jesus had **them** roll away the stone? I mean He could have vaporized it. He could have had it land in the Temple courtyard or in the High Priest’s backyard. He could have spun it in the air so fast that it turned to sand. Why have the people roll it away? It is simple. They could do it. They could not raise the dead, but they could roll away the stone. I think this is a valuable lesson in God’s interaction with us. He never asks us to do what we cannot do unless He is giving us power through the Spirit to do it. However, He will not do what we can do for ourselves. We feed babies until they can take a bottle and then we take the bottle when they can handle utensils. As they can do more for themselves, we do less for them. That is a natural part of growth and development. In our spiritual growth, we go through the same process. When we are first saved, God just does all kinds of things in our lives that require no effort on our part at all. We are literally borne about by the Spirit like newborn babies. Then He starts backing that off and allows us to encounter situations where we need to make choices or seek His Word for wisdom. We must think and do. We get into problems where we must learn where we are responsible for the solution and where He is responsible. There is also an aspect of participation. If Christ had done everything, those present would just be spectators. By rolling away the stone, those folks participated in the miracle. It was a small part, but it was more than those who just stood around and wondered or doubted. Others could say that they witnessed Lazarus being raised from the dead, but these lads could say, "Yes, I was there and saw it! I rolled away the stone!" Jesus wants us to participate and share in the miracles and blessings that He brings into our lives. He wants us to be responsible for what we can do and trust Him for what we cannot do. The next time you get into a situation where it does not seem to help to pray, apply the Lazarus principle. Ask yourself, "Where is my stone?" While the situation may be completely hopeless like you trying to raise the dead there still may be something God is waiting for you to do or to get out of the way before He will work. A coworker once asked his friend to go to his church with him and pray for him while he went up to request healing for his blood pressure in a **James 5** service. He agreed. The next day at lunch he ordered a big greasy hamburger and fries. He then poured what seemed like the whole shaker of salt on his fries. His coworker told him that he believed that God could heal, but in this case, it would be good if you helped God a little. Pray for healing but go easy on the fried foods and salt. Do not expect God to get you out of financial distress by giving you the winning lottery ticket. Tear up your credit cards and tighten your belt. Do what you can. Roll away the stone and God will raise the dead. COMMANDS AND COMFORTS THE GRACE Notice the steps that Jesus takes: It’s almost as if He is adding a bit of intrigue to the situation by first giving the command to TAKE THE STONE AWAY. Martha objects in her doubt because Lazarus had been dead for four days. The Jews did not embalm their dead and they also did not tightly wrap their dead like the Egyptians. They entombed their dead with various spices between several layers of wrappings, which is why Lazarus could not walk out until some people unwrapped him. Again, Jesus reminds Martha: "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" BELIEVING at the grave of Lazarus is the great emphasis by Jesus. He mentioned believing in verses 25-27: 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" 27 She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world." Mary and Martha would see that faith (believing) is first of all TRUSTING, and when you trust in Jesus you will see and understand His very Divine essence and nature; you will grasp the magnitude of His Earthly Mission and Love. The last part of verse 41 continues: And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42, And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me." Why do you think that Jesus prays at this point? It is not because He lacks the power to raise Lazarus: He prays for the benefit of the hearers. He prays in order that WE MAY BELIEVE that He is the Christ and that He is from all eternity. He prays to assert and solidify His emphatic declaration that HE ALONE IS THE RESURRECTION and the LIFE. He prays that all those who hear His voice might believe in Him as the Savior and Messiah sent from Heaven in order to overcome sin and death! We conclude this section with verses 43 and 44: Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go." Can you imagine that tremendous command of Jesus as He calls into the open grave: “LAZARUS, COME OUT!” Appropriately, the name “Lazarus” means, “God is my help”. The fact that Jesus chose to raise Lazarus also tells us that Lazarus was a man who understood that “GOD INDEED is my ONLY help.” It is only those whom the Father calls who possess a humble heart, who will believe, and it is only those who believe who will hear the voice of the Good Shepherd and follow Him. He is the One who calls the dead to life in Him. This command is a preview of the last day when the voice of the LORD will thunder out across the whole earth, commanding people to come forth from their graves. In **John 5:28-29** we hear Jesus’ promise: “An hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment.” Believing on the works of Jesus alone leads to godliness. Rejecting the Son and hating the Light of the World will naturally result in spiritual deafness and a total inability to respond to the voice of Jesus. Lazarus could only respond because Jesus had given Him life. The fact that Lazarus was unable to free himself from the bonds of the grave clothes shows that we are unable to do anything at all without the power of God. Living and walking with the Lord after He gives us new life is also by the command, will and power of God. Jesus is only days away from His own death and resurrection, but He would rise by His own power, and no one had to assist Him out of His grave clothes, because death could not hold Him in its clutches. The stone was rolled away for Him and all who believe in Jesus for forgiveness and life will also walk out of their graves and leave death behind. We have already experienced victory over sin and death when we received life from our merciful God by faith as a graceful/generous gift. Paul put it this way in **2 Corinthians 5:17-18**: Therefore, if anyone is IN CHRIST, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself.” May we proclaim this Good News this Easter season: Jesus has come that we might have forgiveness and life in His name to the Glory of God. He has given us His written word as a witness “so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in His name. “(**John 20:31**) What area of your life do you see hopelessness, despair or darkness? God can bring life and light to that area. What is your stone? Roll it away and watch what power God has as you see a tomb become empty in your life. He emptied His tomb and Lazarus’ tomb. He **will** do it for you. Roll, My Friends, Roll!
Sermon date:
Author:
Location:
Status: Published Draft Needs Review Confirmed Duplicate
Topics:
Scripture: