Introduction
Scripture...
Turn to John 11 as we continue our series, "I Am the Resurrection..."
As we spend several weeks slowly working through this one chapter...
My hope is that you will discover just how much there is to see in God’s word when we slow down and dig deeper...
And that you will develop a greater hunger and confidence to study Scripture for yourself and on your own...
Every good story...
Have you ever noticed that just about every good movie or novel follows a similar pattern?
First, there is TENSION...
Something happens that creates a problem.
Questions are raised, but they are not answered.
And the tension keeps building.
Then comes the CRISIS...
This is the moment of greatest uncertainty.
Everything seems to be coming apart.
In a movie, this is usually where the music gets really intense!
Then comes the CLIMAX...
The decisive turning point in the story.
Something happens that changes everything.
And finally comes the RESOLUTION...
We see how everything works out and what happens afterward.
John 11 follows that same pattern...
Now, John 11 is history, not fiction, but it unfolds much like a dramatic story.
The tension begins to build...
Jesus gets word that his close friend Lazarus is seriously ill.
Jesus says that the illness will not end in death.
But instead of rushing to Lazarus, Jesus waits two more days.
And Lazarus dies.
Then Jesus announces that he is going to Bethany.
But the disciples are concerned because returning to the Jerusalem area could cost Jesus his life.
Then comes the crisis...
And that is where we are in our study today.
Jesus is about to arrive for a funeral that no one expected to happen.
Lazarus is dead.
His sisters are grieving.
And everyone has questions.
What is going to happen when Jesus arrives?
What is he going to say to this grieving family?
We know the climax of the story...
Jesus is going to raise Lazarus from the dead.
And then we will see the consequences of that extraordinary miracle.
But something extraordinary happens before the climax...
And that is what we are going to see today.
Before Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, he makes one of the most extraordinary statements he ever made.
And what Jesus says to Martha is going to teach us something important about Christian hope.
We are going to learn something about the theology of hope.
The biggest win of this message will be education.
I want you to know the theology and basis of Christian hope.
AND...
We will learn some practical encouragements about Christian hope...
Where our hope comes from...
What makes Christian hope different from the kind of hope those without Christ might possess...
And how we can have genuine hope even when life does not turn out exactly e way we expected.
Let us look at this together.
Scripture
John 11.17 | When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. (CSB)
Let us review what we have learned in the first sixteen verses of John 11...
Jesus gets word from a messenger that his close friend Lazarus is very ill.
John 11.3 | So the sisters sent a message to him: “Lord, the one you love is sick.” (CSB)
Jesus says the sickness will not end in death.
John 11.4 | When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (CSB)
But then instead of hurrying off to Bethany, where Lazarus lived, to help him before he dies from the illness, Jesus delays his departure by two days.
John 11.6 | So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was. (CSB)
Two days later, because Jesus is Jesus, he knows that Lazarus has died.
John 11.14 | So Jesus then told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. (CSB)
Jesus and the disciples then begin their journey to Bethany, Lazarus's home town.
John 11.15 | I’m glad for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe. But let’s go to him.” (CSB)
We have learned some important lessons along the way...
But now we come to a point of expected tension.
Jesus finally arrives in Bethany...
Perhaps two days later than they expected him...
And contrary to what people understood Jesus to have said...
Lazarus HAS died.
What is going to happen when Jesus meets Lazarus's family, especially his sisters, Mary and Martha, who were also friends of Jesus?
Notice an important detail at the end of verse 17...
Scripture
Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days...
What does this tell us?
First, you should know that in that area and day, burial (or entombment) generally happened very quickly, usually the same day.
(Unless the death occurred at night or on the Sabbath.)
(Even if someone died at 5:00pm, burial would generally happen the same day.)
The Jews did not practice any kind of embalming.
So, if Lazarus had been in the tomb four days that likely means that he had been dead for four days.
Secondly, four days clearly settled the death question...
There was a Jewish tradition that believed the a person's spirit stayed with the body for three days after death.
So, even though that was not true, by the fourth day, even these superstitious Jews would have seen any ordinary recovery or resuscitation as unthinkable.
There was also a belief that decay started after day three.
Of course, we know that decay begins immediately after death, but as we will see when we get to later parts of the account, stench generally got bad on day three.
The stench confirmed the decay.
John 11.39 | “Remove the stone,” Jesus said. Martha, the dead man’s sister, told him, “Lord, there is already a stench because he has been dead four days.” (CSB)
So, the four days magnified the eventual miracle of Jesus resurrecting Lazarus from the dead.
Third, just think about those FOUR LONG DAYS...
I think this is an important part of the drama...
Four days, and no one heard from Jesus...
Four days, and the finality of the situation is beginning to settle.
Four days, and hope has faded...
That is the situation to which Jesus arrives in John 11.17.
John 11.18 | Bethany was near Jerusalem (less than two miles away). (CSB)
Why do we need to know that Bethany, Lazarus's home town, was very close to Jerusalem?
For our purposes right now, it is a reminder that Jesus returning to metro-Jerusalem puts him in danger from those who had tried to kill him in John 8 and John 10.
Everyone knew this.
John 11.8 | “Rabbi,” the disciples told him, “just now the Jews tried to stone you, and you’re going there again?” (CSB)
John 11.16 | Then Thomas (called “Twin”) said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go too so that we may die with him.” (CSB)
John 11.19 | Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. (CSB)
This was a part of the custom of the day.
Bethany was a small village but the proximity to Jerusalem would have meant more friends and family coming to Martha and Mary for this time of mourning.
This will be important for our story in that this provides more witnesses of this incredible miracle.
The witnesses become central to both the spread of belief in Jesus and to the intensification of opposition against him.
John 11.45 | Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he did believed in him. (CSB)
John 11.46 | But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. (CSB)
John 11.53 | So from that day on they plotted to kill him. (CSB)
John 11.20 | As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, but Mary remained seated in the house. (CSB)
John 11.21 | Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.(CSB)
John 11.22 | Yet even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” (CSB)
Martha's temperament...
Martha is disappointed.
Lord, if you had been here...
The word "IF" is a big word...
Have you ever asked the IF question about God?
But, I do not think we should read this as Martha criticizing Jesus.
She is likely confused about...
The message from Jesus that the illness would not end in death...
Jesus's delay in returning...
Lazarus's death...
She is clearly broken hearted over the loss...
Martha's faith...
While she does not ask Jesus to do anything specific...
She still expresses confidence in him.
Her faith reaches beyond what she understands.
John 11.23 | “Your brother will rise again,” Jesus told her. (CSB)
John 11.24 | Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” (CSB)
What did Martha believe?
Martha seemed to hold the same belief as the majority of Jews in that day.
This is in keeping with the Pharisees but not the Sadducees.
The Sadducees did not believe in the resurrection of the dead.
Acts 23.8 | For the Sadducees say there is no resurrection, and neither angel nor spirit, but the Pharisees affirm them all. (CSB)
(That is why they were sad, you see...)
Actually, they were Sadducees because they identified with Zadok, a high priest under David and Solomon.
She believed there would be a future, bodily resurrection of the dead on the last day.
Daniel 12.2 | Many who sleep in the dust of the earth will awake, some to eternal life, and some to disgrace and eternal contempt. (CSB)
Isaiah 26.19 | Your dead will live; their bodies will rise. Awake and sing, you who dwell in the dust! For you will be covered with the morning dew, and the earth will bring out the departed spirits. (CSB)
Job 19.25 | But I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the end he will stand on the dust.(CSB)
Job 19.26 | Even after my skin has been destroyed, yet I will see God in my flesh.(CSB)
Job 19.27 | I will see him myself; my eyes will look at him, and not as a stranger. My heart longs within me. (CSB)
Martha was right to believe those things, but there was more...
She believed in the resurrection as something God would do someday...
What she did not yet understand was that she was talking with the one who WAS THE RESURRECTION.
Does that make sense?
JESUS WAS THE RESURRECTION...
How can a person BE THE RESURRECTION?
Hang on, it will by the end of this message!
John 11.25 | Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. (CSB)
Arguably, this is one of the most extraordinary claims Jesus ever made.
I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live...
This is either...
One of the most outrageous and ridiculous claims ever made by a human being...
Or...
These are the words of God and one of the most glorious revelations ever given to humanity.
This is one of seven famous "I AM" statements in the Gospel of John...
I am...
I am the bread of life.
John 6.35 | “I am the bread of life,” Jesus told them. “No one who comes to me will ever be hungry, and no one who believes in me will ever be thirsty again. (CSB)
I am the light of the world.
John 8.12 | Jesus spoke to them again: “I am the light of the world. Anyone who follows me will never walk in the darkness but will have the light of life.” (CSB)
I am the gate.
John 10.9 | I am the gate. If anyone enters by me, he will be saved and will come in and go out and find pasture. (CSB)
I am the good shepherd.
John 10.11 | “I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. (CSB)
I am the resurrection and the life.
John 11.25 | Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. (CSB)
I am the way, the truth, and the life.
John 14.6 | Jesus told him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. (CSB)
I am the true vine.
John 15.1 | I am the true vine, and my Father is the gardener. (CSB)
These saying do not just describe what Jesus does.
They describe who Jesus is.
The most noteworthy thing about this verse is that Jesus makes himself the object of faith.
One thing...
It is one thing to speak OF God.
It is one thing to point TO God.
It is a very different thing to say "I am God" and "I am the focus of all faith."
Jesus does not say...
The one who believes what I believe will live...
The one who believes what I teach about the resurrection will live...
The one who believes there is life after death will live...
Jesus says...
I AM the resurrection.
The one who believes in ME will live!
We clearly need to come back to this verse and spend more time, and we will in a moment...
John 11.26 | Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (CSB)
Paired with the last part of the previous verse, we get...
Scripture...
The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.
This might seem contradictory unless we read it carefully...
Jesus acknowledges that even believers die.
Even if he dies...
But he says that even then, that person will LIVE...
Will live...
Physical death is not the end of life.
For believers, death leads into life in the presence of Christ, with the promise of bodily resurrection.
So, he says, believers will never die.
Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die...
Death cannot ultimately destroy the life Jesus gives.
That is our assurance!
This goes way beyond just what the Pharisees believed about the resurrection.
The Pharisees believed that God would raise the dead on the last day.
Jesus is making a much bigger statement.
I am the resurrection and the life.
Those who believe in me possess a life that death cannot ultimately destroy.
John 5.24 | Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life. (CSB)
Martha believed in a future resurrection...
Jesus was telling her that the assurance of that resurrection was standing right in front of her!
What is mankind's greatest problem?
The greatest problem is death.
Really death is the consequence of our greatest problem which is sin.
But from our human perspective, our greatest problem is death.
Here Jesus claims that for BELIEVERS, death has been defeated.
Death still comes, but it does not have the final word.
The question...
Do you believe this?
We will come back to this important question.
Notice what has happened in this conversation...
It began with Martha grieving the death of her brother...
Now, Jesus has refocused the conversation on the source and foundation of life.
Jesus is speaking to a brokenhearted woman and seeking to give her real hope.
John 11.27 | “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who comes into the world.” (CSB)
Confession of faith...
This is one of the clearest confessions of faith in the New Testament.
Leon Morris wrote...
She brings out three points...
First, Jesus is “the Christ,” that is the Messiah of Jewish expectation.
Second, he is “the Son of God”.
Third, she speaks of Jesus as the one “who was to come into the world”, that is the long-awaited deliverer, the one sent by God to accomplish his will perfectly.
I do think it is significant to note that Martha made this confession while Lazarus is still dead.
Pastoral perspective
I can tell you from pastoral experience that one of the most strengthening things a believer can do in the midst of grief and mourning is to confess that Jesus is Lord.
I am not talking about trusting Christ for salvation for the first time.
I am talking about deliberately reminding yourself of who Jesus is and then putting that conviction into words.
Sometimes we need to say aloud what we know to be true, especially when our circumstances make it difficult to feel that truth.
There is something profoundly strengthening about confessing our faith in the middle of our pain.
Sometimes the HEART needs to hear the MOUTH confess what we know to be true about Jesus.
The Theology of Hope
How do the words of Christ to Martha give her hope?
What do those words teach us about the theology of hope?
I. Our hope is based on a person not merely a doctrine.
Martha already believed the correct doctrine of the resurrection.
She knew that God would resurrect his children in the end.
She would have rightly gained comfort from that doctrine.
But she needed more than that and Jesus is more than that.
What does Jesus say?
Notice Jesus does not say...
I bring the resurrection...
I point to the resurrection...
I will help you find the resurrection...
Jesus said...
I AM the resurrection...
Emphasis on "I"...
Jesus does not say...
I am optimistic about the resurrection...
I have heard about a resurrection...
I am encouraged by the possibility of the resurrection...
Jesus said...
I AM the resurrection...
Emphasis on "I"...
Difficult to explain...
(This is difficult to explain and I am trusting the Holy Spirit to give us all an appreciation of this truth as I am teaching it.)
But there is a difference between trusting in a teaching and trusting in a teacher.
Trusting in a map and trusting in a guide...
Trusting in a promise and trusting in the promise maker...
I went to Grapeland TX for a graveside funeral a couple weeks ago...
Do you know where Grapeland is?
You cannot get there from here.
Well, I plugged into my GPS before I left Nacogdoches.
The GPS guided me smoothly to the right spot.
But I did not have cell coverage to get directions home.
And I did not have my wife with me to give me constant driving directions.
So, I asked several people how to get back home...
I heard a lot of turn left, turn right, turn right a few more times, then two lefts, and on and on...
I really thought there was a good chance I would just have to live in Grapeland for the rest of my days.
I started wondering if there was a church there that would let me preach.
But then John Alvin Woods said, "Follow me..."
John did not just give me directions...
John was the directions...
Very fast driving directions, but he was the directions.
It was not that the directions everyone else gave me were wrong.
It was just that I needed more than a doctrine and a geography lesson.
I did not need the theology of East Texas road networks...
I NEEDED A GUIDE.
So, Jesus looks Martha right in her red grief-swollen eyes and says...
Martha, I AM the resurrection.
I AM your hope!
Do you know the difference between ordinary hope and Christian hope...
Difference...
Ordinary hope says...
I believe things will turn out well.
Christian hope says...
I believe in Jesus Christ, even when things do not turn out well in the short term.
So, when life does not turn out the way you hoped, run to Jesus.
He is our hope.
Review...
Our hope is based on a person not merely a doctrine.
II. Our hope is present not merely future.
Martha had a future hope.
Martha believed Lazarus would rise at some point in the distant future.
John 11.24 | Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” (CSB)
Future hope is good.
In fact, that will be our next point.
But the hope that Jesus gives us is much more than merely a future hope.
Jesus said...
I AM the resurrection and the life...
Emphasis on the "am."
When?
NOW!
Not "I will be..."
But, "I AM!"
Present or future "eternal life?"
The Bible teaches that eternal life is a PRESENT POSSESSION.
We have eternal life NOW...
John 5.24 | Truly I tell you, anyone who hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not come under judgment but has passed from death to life.(CSB)
Not will have, but HAS...
The believer has eternal life NOW...
John 6.47 | “Truly I tell you, anyone who believes HAS eternal life. (CSB)
Not will have, but HAS...
But we have not yet experienced everything eternal life includes...
We still face death...
We still experience suffering and sin...
Our bodies still await resurrection...
We live in the OVERLAP of the present age and the age to come...
Inaugurated eschatology...
Do you know what that is?
I heard Tom/Grant use that phrase last week so I looked it up... :)
Definitions
Eschatology...
The study of last things...
Think "end times" but more than just the return of Christ...
This includes the resurrection, final judgment, the new creation, and the ultimate completion of God's purposes for his people.
Inaugurated...
Think "inauguration..."
Something that has officially begun but has not yet reached its full completion.
Inaugurated eschatology...
Inaugurated eschatology means that the blessings God has promised for the end of history have already begun through Jesus Christ, but they have not yet been fully realized.
The East-Texas way of saying this is...
Already, but not yet...
We already possess the life of the age to come, but we have not yet experienced everything that life will become.
Inaugurated eschatology and our salvation...
In one sense, our salvation is already secure, and we are already citizens of heaven and heirs of God.
We have eternal life that cannot be taken away...
We have been fully forgiven...
We have been made spiritually alive...
We have the Holy Spirit...
In another sense, that has begun but has not been fully realized...
As we said before...
We still suffer...
We still struggle with sin...
We still die...
We still await our bodily resurrection...
So how do we live the ETERNAL LIFE TODAY?
Living Eternal Life TODAY...
As Christians, we must learn to live our eternal life TODAY.
We are not just waiting to begin our real life.
We already know God.
We already possess his Spirit.
We already belong to Christ.
We already have a life that death cannot destroy.
How do we do this?
A. We can enjoy fellowship with God today.
John 17.3 | This is eternal life: that they may know you, the only true God, and the one you have sent—Jesus Christ. (CSB)
B. We can begin experiencing transformation today.
2 Corinthians 5.17 | Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has passed away, and see, the new has come! (CSB)
C. We can face today's troubles with tomorrow's certainty.
Martha was thinking about what God would do someday.
Jesus wanted her to recognize what was ALREADY TRUE because of who he was.
And Christian, do not spend your entire life waiting to begin enjoying the life Jesus has already given you.
Eternal life does not begin when you die.
It begins when you believe.
John 10.10 | A thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I have come so that they may have life and have it in abundance. (CSB)
Review
Our hope is based on a person not merely a doctrine.
Our hope is present not merely future.
III. Our hope is for resurrection not merely consolation.
As we continue to study John 11 in the next few weeks...
Spoiler alert...
Jesus will resurrect Lazarus from the dead.
We will get there when we get there, but I want to briefly highlight that resurrection now...
Because of what Jesus says here...
I am the resurrection and the life...
The future resurrection is real!
Our hope is the actual, bodily resurrection of the dead and the complete defeat of death.
And the resurrection of Lazarus is just a preview to help us remember and better understand our own resurrection.
Lazarus's resurrection is an imperfect preview because he died again and we will not.
We will be raised to glorified, imperishable life.
Why does the resurrection matter?
Do not think of the resurrection as a consolation after death...
I read a news story about a man who was wrongly imprisoned for 20 years...
When he was released, they gave him a million dollars as a CONSOLATION...
That is nice, but it does not undo the twenty years lost in prison...
It does not erase the bad effects of the years in prison...
The future promised resurrection is an UNDOING OF DEATH.
It is like JRR Tolkein in the Lord of the Rings...
Sam awakens after the destruction of the ring...
"Is everything sad going to come untrue?"
Here is how Paul said it...
1 Corinthians 15.54 | When this corruptible body is clothed with incorruptibility, and this mortal body is clothed with immortality, then the saying that is written will take place: Death has been swallowed up in victory. (CSB)
1 Corinthians 15.55 | Where, death, is your victory? Where, death, is your sting? (CSB)
And John said it this way...
Revelation 21.4 | He will wipe away every tear from their eyes. Death will be no more; grief, crying, and pain will be no more, because the previous things have passed away.(CSB)
Tim Keller illustration...
Died in 2023, but served as a faithful Bible preacher in New York for a generation.
Tim Keller used to say that about once every year or so, he’d have a recurring nightmare that his wife said she felt very flattered by.
In this nightmare, his wife died.
Something has happened to her, Tim said, and in my dream I’m desperately trying to figure out how to make it without her.
My wife says she is flattered because the recurrence of this dream means that her death is obviously my greatest fear.
“But let me tell you something really weird,” he said: “I almost like having the nightmare now… Because the first minute after I wake up is so unbelievably great! To wake up and say, ‘Oh my, it was only a bad dream.
Everything bad I thought I was living through has come untrue.’
It is not like I’m awakened just to have someone give me something to make the pain better.
It is not like when I awake someone says, “Sorry your wife died. Here’s another wife.” (Like a consolation)
That would not have made it ok.
No. In waking up, the dream itself becomes untrue.
It is a wonderful feeling to say, “It is morning. It was only a bad dream!”
Dr. Keller then says: “Do you know what Jesus Christ is saying when he says, “I am the resurrection”?
He is not saying that he will give us a nicer place, like some kind of consolation for the pain.
No, he is going to make everything that happened in our pain seem like a bad dream.
HE WILL MAKE EVERYTHING BAD COME UNTRUE.
Jesus Christ is not giving us consolation, he’s giving us resurrection.”
Strengthening our hope...
When we see of the preview of the resurrection in Lazarus and the firstfruits of resurrection in Jesus's resurrection...
It should strengthen our hope!
Lazarus was raised, and that demonstrated the power of Jesus.
Jesus was raised, and that guarantees the resurrection of everyone who belongs to him.
So our Christian hope is not simply that death will be easier to endure.
Our hope is that death itself will be defeated.
Review
Our hope is based on a person not merely a doctrine.
Our hope is present not merely future.
Our hope is for resurrection not merely consolation.
IV. Our hope is grounded in faith not merely feelings.
The foundation of our faith...
But there is one more thing we must understand about Christian hope.
Our hope is grounded in faith, not merely feelings.
Notice how Jesus said it and then asked it...
John 11.26 | Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (CSB)
Jesus is not asking for a feeling...
Jesus does not ask how Martha is feeling...
Jesus centers on belief... faith...
Martha's response...
Scripture
John 11.27 | “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who comes into the world.” (CSB)
Her answer is not about circumstances or emotions...
Her answer is about Jesus...
GOSPEL PRESENTATION
And now Jesus's question comes to each of us...
Conclusion
Guided prayer...
Trust Christ for the first time...
For the Christian who needs greater and stronger hope...