I Am the Resurrection and the Life - Part 4

Temple Baptist Church - 10-11-2023

John 11:21-44

Introduction: 

A.  Tonight, I want to continue with the statement “I Am The Resurrection and The Life.”

 

B.  Tonight, I probably will not wrap these verses up so we will see how it goes.

 

C.  I want to pull a verse out of context tonight and make an application that I believe will help God’s people today. 

 

1 Corinthians 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world are come.  (The Bible was written thousands of years ago and is filled with admonitions to us who live in these last perilous days.)

 

D.  All these people in this story were more than likely saved by faith in their Messiah.  John 11:27  She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

 

E.  I believe that the message that we need tonight is one of our imperfect faiths.  In these verses, we find an “across the board” failure in the faith of God’s people.  Look at these verses:

 

John 11:21  Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

 

John 11:24  Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

 

John 11:32  Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

 

John 11:37  And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?

 

John 11:39  Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.

 

John 11:42  And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

 

F.  An epic failure of faith.  Lord, if you had been here, you may have been able to help but now the death and burial of Lazarus are outside the realm of your power. 

 

Psalms 62:11  God hath spoken once; twice have I heard this; that power belongeth unto God. 

 

G.  We need to reestablish the fact that our God CAN do anything, everything, anywhere, everywhere, for anybody!  His power is not limited because it is limitless! 

 

H.  Within this context, we find that Jesus groaned in His spirit, was troubled, and wept.

 

John 11:33  When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned (to be heavily burdened) in the spirit, and was troubled (a show of concern),

 

John 11:35  Jesus wept.

 

John 11:38  Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.

 

J.  These verses answer the question: “Does Jesus care?  Oh yes, He cares!” 

 

1.  On His human side, Jesus weeps with them because He loved this precious family, and it was a time of extreme sorrow. 

 

2.  On His divine side He weeps because He is touched with the feeling of their infirmity. 

 

K.  We have looked at several things thus far:

 

1.  The answer to the question of why the Lord was purposely late.  To glorify God and strengthen Martha and Mary’s faith.

 

2.  To allow both these two ladies and the crowd that gathered understand that Jesus was the resurrection and the life.

 

L.  Verses 34-44.  Now the Resurrection and the Life comes to the grave of a dead man in a display of power unknown to mortal man.

 

1.  Four days have now passed since the death of Lazarus and burial rituals done and burial taken place. 

 

2.  The mourners have gathered around Martha and Mary to comfort. John 11:33  When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,

 

3.  All hope is gone but the Saviour is there!

 

4.  This is the only time that our Lord opened a grave as all other resurrections were done before burial.  John 11:43  And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

 

5.  Our Lord called one name, and emptied one grave whereas later He would empty all of them.  John 11:43-44  And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. (44)  And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.

 

6.  I love this last verse as our Lord said, “Loose him and let him go!”

 

7.  There have been, are, and will be times when—in our humanity—our faith begins to waver.  We are but flesh and blood, dust of the ground, born into sinful bodies, but a people who love God and the Lord Jesus Christ!

 

8.  But in our failures of faith, as with these people our Lord loved, He will manifest Himself to us in His time and will.