Sermon: Trusting Jesus When We Don’t Understand – Jn 11:1–6 (10/11/26)
Introduction
Scripture
Turn to the gospel of John 11.
What do you think Jesus is actually like?
We say these things often in this church:
Trust Jesus.
Follow Jesus.
Love Jesus.
Obey Jesus.
Build your life around Jesus.
And we should.
But think about what we are asking you to do.
Trust him with your marriage.
Trust him with your children.
Trust him with your future.
Trust him with your peace.
Trust him with our deepest hurts.
Trust him with your life.
And trust him when that life comes to an end.
That is a lot of trust.
What is he like, the one we are trusting with all of that?
How does he respond when people he loves are hurting?
What does he do when they question him?
What brings him to tears?
What matters most to him?
And when we come face to face with death, what can he actually do?
Does our struggle move him emotionally and affect him in some way, or are we just another problem to solve?
How does he respond when our faith is real, but fragile?
John 11 brings us close enough to watch.
In this chapter, we will hear Jesus speak to people whose hearts are broken.
We will watch him respond to questions that come through tears.
We will see his tenderness, his purpose, and his extraordinary power.
We will see him stand at a grave and weep because his heart is broken...
And then speak with an authority that even death itself must obey.
If you want to know what Jesus is like, spend some time here.
And that is what we are going to do.
For the next six or seven weeks, we will take a slow walk through this chapter, commonly known for the raising of Lazarus.
As your pastor, my prayer is that you will...
Come to know Jesus more deeply...
Love him more fully...
And trust him more confidently.
Because there will be moments when you cannot make sense of what he is doing.
In those moments, you need to know the one you are trusting.
And that is where this John 11 account begins.
A family Jesus loves needs his help very badly.
They reach out and send for him.
And Jesus makes a decision that is very difficult for them to understand.
But this is a good word...
Scripture
John 11.1 | Now a man was sick—Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (CSB)
Lazarus...
Spoiler alert...
Many of you will know the story of Lazarus...
And if you do, you know that Jesus raises him from the dead...
But I'm going to ask you to put that out of your mind until we get to that part of this historical account.
I want us to take a slow walk through John 11 over the next six or seven weeks.
I want us to experience these events as they unfold.
We know how the story ends...
Mary and Martha did not...
I want us to slow down enough to feel what they felt before they knew what we know.
So, all we need to know about Lazarus right now...
He lives in Bethany, near Jerusalem...
He has two sisters, Mary and Martha...
He is gravely ill...
Where is Jesus as John 11 begins?
We know that Jesus was ministering to many people across the Jordan in a place where John the Baptist had been baptizing earlier.
(Important to note that this is John the Baptist not John the one who penned the Gospel of John...)
Scripture
John 10.40 | So he departed again across the Jordan to the place where John had been baptizing earlier, and he remained there. (CSB)
John 10.41 | Many came to him and said, “John never did a sign, but everything John said about this man was true.” (CSB)
John 10.42 | And many believed in him there. (CSB)
But that still leaves two main proposed locations...
Option one is near Jericho, east of the Jordan.
This would put Jesus about a day’s journey from Bethany, where Lazarus and his sisters lived.
The other option is farther north, in the region east or northeast of the Sea of Galilee.
This would put Jesus approximately four days’ journey from Bethany.
Keep those locations and distances in mind.
It will matter when we consider Jesus’ response to the sisters’ message and the exact timing of the death of Lazarus.
Who are Mary and Martha?
Let us see...
John 11.2 | Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick. (CSB)
The one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair...
John identifies this Mary by something he will describe in the next chapter...
She is the Mary who anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped them with her hair.
John 12.3 | Then Mary took a pound of perfume, pure and expensive nard, anointed Jesus’s feet, and wiped his feet with her hair. So the house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. (CSB)
Friends...
We will see some of the evidence of this in the next few verses, but there was a close relationship between Jesus and Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
These were dear friends of Jesus.
Jesus had been welcomed into their home.
In the next few verses, the sisters will call Lazarus “the one you love.”
John will tell us that Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus.
Jesus himself will call Lazarus “our friend.”
John 11.11 | He said this, and then he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I’m on my way to wake him up.” (CSB)
John 11.3 | So the sisters sent a message to him: “Lord, the one you love is sick.” (CSB)
The sisters sent a message to him...
I love that when Mary and Martha had a need, they sought the Lord.
There is a lesson to learn there!
This reminds me of Psalm 46.1...
Psalm 46.1 | God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble. (CSB)
Notice the basis of their plea...
The one you love is sick...
This will be very important to something we will learn in a few minutes.
Read between the lines...
What do you think they expected Jesus to do?
I believe the honest answer is that they expected Jesus to do something about it.
Jesus could race off to Bethany...
Jesus could heal from afar...
As he did in John 4 and other places.
Jesus could at least send instructions...
But what will Jesus do?
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)
Two things to consider...
What would Someone who heard this think Jesus had said?
What did Jesus actually say?
What would Someone who heard this think Jesus had said?
What do YOU think?
How would you have heard this?
To most people it sounds like...
Sounds like Jesus is saying that Lazarus will not die from this illness.
Sounds like Jesus is saying that Lazarus will experience a recovery or healing that will glorify the Lord.
I think that is how the messenger would have heard it...
The disciples...
Eventually, Mary and Martha...
What did Jesus actually say?
Jesus said this sickness had a purpose.
And that purpose was that somehow and some way God would be glorified through it.
And Jesus said the END of the illness would not be death.
There might be death in the interim.
Jesus did not say Lazarus would never pass through death.
But there would not be death in the end.
Some of that points to later sermons in this series of messages on John 11.
John 11.5 | Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. (CSB)
Before John tells us what Jesus did, he makes sure we know whom Jesus loved.
Notice that all three siblings are specifically included and named...
John 11.6 | So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was. (CSB)
Stayed two more days...
That was an unexpected move!
Could we go so far as to say that is disappointing?
Why did Jesus not hurry to Bethany to be with his friends and maybe intervene in the illness?
Some have suggested that Lazarus had already died by then and Jesus was aware of that.
Maybe already dead...
Some Bible scholars make this argument based on Jesus's location being near Jericho (which is a day's travel from Bethany) and then adding up travel days into the rest of the narrative.
This is a possibility because this is "across the Jordan" and a place where John the Baptist baptized people.
But maybe not already dead...
Jesus may have been much further away from Bethany...
Perhaps northeast of Sea of Galilee which would have been four days journey to Bethany near Jerusalem...
This is would also be a place "across the Jordan" where John the Baptist baptized people.
And Jesus's later statement that Lazarus has died could be viewed as marking the actual time of Lazarus's death.
John 11.11 | He said this, and then he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I’m on my way to wake him up.” (CSB)
John 11.12 | Then the disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.” (CSB)
John 11.13 | Jesus, however, was speaking about his death, but they thought he was speaking about natural sleep. (CSB)
John 11.14 | So Jesus then told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. (CSB)
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)
I really lean toward this second option, but let me show you why it really does not matter...
We know a few things for certain...
Because of his OMNISCIENCE, Jesus knew every unfolding detail of Lazarus's illness and death.
Jesus was not caught in a bind where he could not get back to Bethany in time to help.
Jesus was aware as soon as Lazarus was ill and could have left immediately even before the messenger arrived.
Because of his OMNIPOTENCE, Jesus could have healed Lazarus from a distance.
He had done this before.
John 4.46–54
Jesus was in Cana, while the sick boy was in Capernaum.
Jesus told the father his son would live.
The father later learned that the fever left at the very hour Jesus spoke.
Scripture
John 4.46 | He went again to Cana of Galilee, where he had turned the water into wine. There was a certain royal official whose son was ill at Capernaum. (CSB)
John 4.47 | When this man heard that Jesus had come from Judea into Galilee, he went to him and pleaded with him to come down and heal his son, since he was about to die. (CSB)
John 4.48 | Jesus told him, “Unless you people see signs and wonders, you will not believe.” (CSB)
John 4.49 | “Sir,” the official said to him, “come down before my boy dies.” (CSB)
John 4.50 | “Go,” Jesus told him, “your son will live.” The man believed what Jesus said to him and departed. (CSB)
John 4.51 | While he was still going down, his servants met him saying that his boy was alive. (CSB)
John 4.52 | He asked them at what time he got better. “Yesterday at one in the afternoon the fever left him,” they answered. (CSB)
John 4.53 | The father realized this was the very hour at which Jesus had told him, “Your son will live.” So he himself believed, along with his whole household. (CSB)
John 4.54 | Now this was also the second sign Jesus performed after he came from Judea to Galilee. (CSB)
So, Jesus's delay was intentional and purposeful.
What is the connection between verses 5 and 6?
Verse 5 tells us that Jesus loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.
Scripture...
John 11.5 | Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. (CSB)
Verse 6 then begins with SO...
SO... he stayed two more days...
The word translated SO (οὖν with the ψιλή) is very important.
It is really a shocking word the way it is used here.
It places Jesus's love and Jesus's delay side by side.
It carries the weight and meaning of THEREFORE.
Essentially...
Jesus loves Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, THEREFORE he waited to go to their rescue.
J. D. Greear wrote, "That’s like saying, 'I love my wife so much, so I forgot to get her something for her birthday.'”
Seems like a very odd thing to say!
This verse does not say...
Jesus loved them DESPITE choosing to wait to go to their rescue.
Rather, this verse says...
Jesus loved them BY choosing to wait to go to their rescue.
THAT IS CURIOUS.
Let us quickly read two more verses just to give us context.
These verses take place AFTER the two additional days...
John 11.14 | So Jesus then told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. (CSB)
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)
Although we cannot be certain, I believe this was likely the point at which Lazarus actually died.
And Jesus reemphasizes that there was a good purpose in him not being there to intervene in the illness.
Imagine this...
The scene back at Bethany as I imagine it...
Imagine the messenger hurrying back to Bethany with Jesus's reply...
"Jesus said the illness will not end in death!"
He is excited to bring the good news to Mary, Martha, Lazarus and the whole Bethany community...
"Jesus said the illness will not end in death!"
He finally arrives back to Bethany...
He sees the mourners...
Everyone is crying...
The grief is thick...
He quickly asks someone what has happened...
They say, "Lazarus has died."
The messenger is struck to the heart.
He does not understand...
"Jesus said the illness will not end in death!"
Mary and Martha notice him standing in the doorway...
They wipe away tears and quickly run over to the messenger...
Martha asks, "What did Jesus say?"
The messenger does not know how to respond...
He pauses and says...
"Jesus said the illness will not end in death!"
Mary and Martha and the messenger just look at each other in stunned silence.
Finally Mary breaks the silence with three words...
"I DON'T UNDERSTAND!"
Friends, we will all stand exactly there at some time in life...
And this biblical account gives us not only the question...
It also gives us the answer...
Let us learn how to trust Jesus when we do not understand by letting this passage answer four important questions.
Trusting Jesus When We Do Not Understand
I. What was the basis of the sisters' request?
Did you notice how the sisters worded the message and low-key request of Jesus?
I am not sure many of us would have worded that message the same way.
And I think there is a subtle but important lesson in the way Mary and Martha chose to word it.
The sisters' message:
John 11.3 | ...Lord, the one you love is sick.
Notice what they did not include in the message...
They did not mention how much Lazarus loved Jesus...
They did not mention the times they had welcomed Jesus into their home...
They did not mention anything about how devout or spiritual or sacrificial they lived...
What does that tell us?
The basis of their request was not the degree of THEIR LOVE of Jesus...
The basis of their request was not on THEIR worthiness...
It was not based on any merit on THEIR part...
The basis of their request was JESUS'S LOVE for them (specifically for Lazarus).
FUNDAMENTAL THEOLOGICAL TRUTH
The kindness, grace, and mercy the Lord shows to us is never based on our merit.
It is always based on HIS character.
That does not mean we should not strive to honor and please the Lord.
We should.
But we should understand that striving as motivated by his love not the other way around.
1 John 4.19 | We love because he first loved us. (CSB)
Imagine the absurdity of this scene...
Scene...
You go to Lowes and pick out a few hundred dollars in power tools.
You take your selection to the check-out.
They sales clerk rings you up and says you owe $354.60.
You pay the money.
The clerk bags up your merchandise.
Then the clerk hands you the bag and says, "here you go."
Then you break out in a big grin...
Thank you, thank you, thank you!
Thank you for your generosity and kindness!
Thank you for loving me and caring for my needs!
And then you give the sales clerk a giant bear hug and kiss...
What is wrong with that scene?
Well, you are actually not thankful for the generosity of Lowes and the sales clerk because they did not do anything for you.
I mean, they may have provided good customer service and you should appreciate that.
But they did not give you the tools.
They SOLD them to you.
You simply got what you paid for.
So, your attitude and gratitude towards Lowes and the sales person is pretty non-existent.
When God shows you kindness...
NEVER see that kindness as a function of YOUR merit or worthiness.
If you do, you will never truly have a GRATEFUL HEART.
Always see the kindness as a function of his loving character and his love for you.
That is TRUTH...
And that is a LIFE CHANGING truth...
Getting this mixed up is the confusion that obscures the gospel...
It obscures it...
It obscures it in the minds of those lost in their sins...
It obscures it in the minds of genuine Christians who continue to struggle with worthiness, self-forgiveness, and condemnation...
Stop thinking that the gospel is about you living up to a standard that gains the approval of the Lord.
Embrace the truth that the gospel is about knowing that...
Jesus lived that standard for you...
That is the basis of God's approval!
Jesus obeyed where we have failed.
Jesus died for our sins.
Jesus rose again for us.
God loves you because of who he is not who you are...
His character is the basis of God's kindness!
The sisters' request...
Like Mary and Martha, may we come to Jesus with our needs because of HIS love, not because we have made ourselves worthy of his help.
II. Why did Jesus delay when someone he loved was dying?
The shocking part...
The shocking part of this historical account is that when Jesus heard his close friend was deathly ill, he deliberately delayed his going and help.
Why would he do that?
Did he not care about Mary, Martha, and Lazarus?
John goes to great lengths to make sure that is not the conclusion we draw here.
John 11.5 | Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. (CSB)
Faith grows under stress...
The Bible makes clear the importance of us having strong faith.
A strong faith is the key to everything...
Joy in adversity...
Great prayer life...
Effective ministry...
Fruit of the Spirt...
Christian maturity and strength...
And much more...
So, how did Jesus's delay strengthen the faith of Mary and Martha and everyone else in this story?
Jesus allowed a tension between his promise and his provision.
That tension strengthened their faith because they had to stretch to trust God in the in between and uncertain time.
Jesus was going to reveal something about himself they could not have learned from this situation through an immediate healing alone.
They would see him raise a man who had been DEAD FOUR DAYS.
The waiting was painful, but it was part of a larger purpose to deepen their faith.
Imagine a parenting style where mom and dad remove every hardship and every delay of full satisfaction...
You give your little kids whatever they want whenever they want it...
You solve every problem and frustration as soon as it arises...
You...
Clean their rooms...
Wash their clothes...
Do their homework...
No chores...
How will little Johnny or little Janey grow up?
They will be weak, anemic, and unable to thrive in real life.
Mary and Martha were not asking for something selfish.
They just wanted their brother healed.
But even a good and loving request does not mean we can see everything our Father intends to accomplish.
The Lord loves us and blesses us by creating TENSION between his promise and his provision.
When you find yourself in this tension...
Embrace it...
Thank the Lord for it...
And tell him honestly how much it hurts.
Learn from it...
Persevere through it...
What does God's lovingkindness look like?
Sometimes it looks like generous blessing and extraordinary kindness...
But sometimes it looks like two more days...
John 11.6 | So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was. (CSB)
III. Why didn't Jesus just tell the sisters the whole plan?
Wouldn't it have been easier on everyone if Jesus would have given more information?
Jesus said...
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)
Admittedly, that is somewhat vague.
What if Jesus would have said...
I know Lazarus is sick.
He is going to die tomorrow.
But I'll be there four days later.
And will raise him from the dead.
And then we will sit down and have "Martha's Famous Hot Wings!"
It seems like that would have avoided much heartache and confusion.
Why Jesus said what he said?
The answer is in his words...
[It is] for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it...
The mystery was so God would be glorified as the details unfolded.
Mary and Martha needed to experience the hopelessness and the finality of death.
Jesus needed to weep with Mary and Martha...
Jesus needed to have a conversation with Mary and Martha about the reality of physical versus spiritual resurrection...
The crowds needed to see and experience the fullness of Christ's miracle...
Through it all, they would all see more of who Jesus is!
All of this was designed to bring maximum glory to the Father and the Son.
His glory and his love for us are not competing purposes.
But his love does not mean he will explain every single step.
He has told us enough to trust him without telling us everything he intends to do.
Here Is the Lesson I Sometimes Struggle to Learn...
Everything is not about me and my comfort...
God is not here for my ease in Zion.
I am here for his glory in the world!
This kind of correction is much and often needed!
I want enough information to feel in control.
Jesus calls me to trust him when I am not.
I am here for his glory, even when I do not understand his plan.
IV. What were they supposed to think when Lazarus died anyway?
Let us go back to the earlier narrative...
Previous
Mary and Martha notice the messenger standing in the doorway...
They wipe away tears and quickly run over to the messenger...
"What did Jesus say?"
The messenger does not know how to respond...
He pauses and says...
"Jesus said the illness will not end in death!"
Mary and Martha and the messenger just look at each other in stunned silence.
Finally Mary breaks the silence with three words...
"I DO NOT UNDERSTAND!"
What do you do when you cannot reconcile what God has said with what you see?
What do we do when God’s promises seem unfulfilled?
Examples...
You prayed for wisdom, as God invites you to do, but the decision in front of you still seems painfully unclear.
James 1.5
God promises to provide for his children, but you have been faithful, and you still don’t know how you will pay the bills.
Matthew 6:25–34
God says he will never leave you, but in your grief, you have never felt more alone.
Hebrews 13:5
God says he works all things together for the good of those who love him, but you look at what has happened to your family and cannot see anything good coming from it.
Romans 8:28–29
Jesus promises rest to those who come to him, but you have come to him, and you still feel exhausted and burdened.
Matthew 11:28–30
God promises forgiveness to those who confess their sins, but you have confessed yours, and you still feel condemned.
1 John 1:9
Jesus says he has overcome the world, but everywhere you look, evil seems to be winning.
John 16:33
Jesus promises that those who believe in him will live even though they die, but you are standing beside the grave of someone who loved him.
John 11:25–26
You raised a child in the admonition and training of the Lord but they have not come back to the faith.
Proverbs 22.6
You sacrificed greatly to honor the Lord, but the consequences have all been negative and the Lord does not seem to be coming to your rescue.
Sometimes...
Sometimes God has not yet fulfilled what he promised.
Sometimes he is fulfilling it in a way we cannot yet recognize.
Sometimes we have mistaken our expectations for his promises.
What to do?
Trust what God has actually promised, even when his timing does not match your expectations.
Make a conscious choice:
Will I treat my present circumstances as the final word?
Or will I trust that God’s word remains true in the middle of all of the circumstances?
Know that faith does not require me to pretend that the pain is unreal.
It calls me to believe that the pain has not made God’s promise untrue.
Conclusion
Let us make this very practical this morning...
Let me guide you in prayer...