We live in a world where dead people have come back to life. I’m not talking about video games, or zombie movies, or horror novels, or adventure fantasies. I’m not even talking about a resuscitation on an operating table. On this planet that we live on, there have been people who have really died, been buried, and a few days later, have come back out of the grave alive. Not as a magic trick, nor an allusion, or some other deception, but truly and really came back from the dead. We live in a day in age in which people do not believe that dead people can come back to life, or that they have in the past. That is because, at least for one, our society today has been thoroughly washed and catechized into naturalistic Darwinian humanistic rationalism, that denies the possibility of the supernatural, unless we’re talking about aliens and UFO’s. By way of merely anecdotal observation, it seems as if when modern Christians share the gospel, we simply talk about the death of Christ, while far too often leaving off the bit about His coming back from the dead. We talk about how Jesus died for sin and we must believe that Jesus died for our sin and trust Him to forgive us, and that’s good and essential, but it’s not the whole story. We can’t stop with “Jesus died.” Because Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 that it is of first importance that Christ died for sin, was buried, and rose on the third day in accordance with the Scripture. And I am afraid that the reason some Christians may conveniently leave off the resurrection in their gospel sharing, is because it might make us blush a little bit. It’s easy to talk about how Jesus died, because everyone knows that He did, and that everyone dies. But most people don’t come back from the dead and walk the earth to tell about it. And that part of the gospel is going to be a little bit harder (at least in your mind) for that humanistic rationalist you’re talking to to believe. And you know, that as soon as you begin to talk about the resurrection of Christ from the dead, you are no longer talking as a modern naturalistic rationalist. And the thing about this modern way of thinking is that they view anyone who believes in the supernatural or mystical as someone from the dark ages and we all know that we are way smarter now than those people were. And so, when you begin to share about the resurrection, you’ve left the common ground that you wrongly thought you had with this person and he’s now looking at you like you have a third eye, and that’s embarrassing. But, when we realize that the thing about modern Darwinian naturalism, is that it is modern, rebellious, and doomed for failure anytime now, we will grow less and less embarrassed and begin to see them as the backward ones, and they are. As Christians we must embrace, without embarrassment, the supernatural view of the world that the Bible presents to us, because it is true and it is actually rational.
One benefit of this is that the more confidently we believe that Lazarus literally came back from the dead, Peter really walked on water, Moses really parted the Red Sea, an axe head really floated on water, a donkey really talked because an angel was in his way, and giants really roamed this earth, the more easier it is to say to our modern counterparts, “Yes, there are only two genders. Yes, homosexuality is a sin. And yes, you should’ve known that, because we Christians still believe that straight people fornication is still a sin.” Now what is the connection between dead people coming back to life and biblical morality, you might ask? Because if the moderns can make us embarrassed about one area of the Bible, it will be much easier to get us embarrassed about another part of the Bible when the time comes. You see, it may seem like no big deal to say that the miraculous events contained in the Old Testament were just easily explained natural phenomena, or just moral tales made up to pass on to their children, not meant to be taken as literal history. After all, we can concede those points and still not deny any of the central tenets of the gospel message, or so we think. And so we think very wrongly. For the gospel message is not merely a set of propositions to nod our heads to. It is a story as well, and a story that is of the same kind that the Bible is filled with. It is a story about a man who died, came back to life, walked through walls, and ascended into heaven with his disciples watching him go.
So when it comes to our passage in John 11 today, there are people who would like to say that is not a real historical event; but rather a story designed to simply make a spiritual point or a spiritual analogy. Those who say this, do not say so because of any solid exegetical ground. Because while this story is certainly filled with spiritual analogy, symbolism, and things like that, it is overwhelmingly obvious that the account of this event gives incredible detail that testify to its historical accuracy. We are told in verse 1 the name of the historical village this took place in (Bethany) along with certain family relations of Lazarus; which we see in verse 2, the identification of Lazarus’ sister Mary identifies her with another historical event in which there are no miracles performed. This validates Lazarus as a real historical man who had sisters known during this time. It is also repeated multiple times, first appearing in verse 3 that Jesus loved this family, thus establishing a prior relationship between them. In verse 6-16 Jesus tells his disciples he wants to return to Judea. The disciples protest because there are Jews there who want to stone Him. We are also told the amount of days Jesus stayed where he was and that Lazarus has died, before Jesus left. So again we are given a historical time table, location, and other historical actors involved, namely the disciples and the Jews who sought to stone Jesus. In verse 17 we are given the specific detail of Lazarus being in the tomb for 4 days. In verse 18 we are again given details as to the location. In verse 19-27 we are told of another historical event involved in the details of this story, namely the interaction of Jesus and Martha with dialogue. In verse 28-37 more characters are brought in, in other words, more witnesses, that being Mary and the Jews with her. In verse 38 we are given the detail that the tomb was a cave with a stone in front of it. In verse 39 there concern that Lazarus will stink because he has now been dead 4 days. Jesus then, with many witnesses as we are told in verse 45 that many Jews saw what He did, raises Lazarus from the dead. The results of this are that many believed in Jesus, as well as the Jews, now wanting to kill Jesus even more after what they have seen. And in verse 45 and following we see a discussion among the Jewish leaders about the political ramifications that this could have if all the people start believing this Jesus because of what He has just done; which of course roots this historically very well. And then later on in John we will actually see that these Jews want to kill Lazarus as well.
So, whether you like it or not, whether it fits within the modern’s worldview or not, we live in a world, on a planet, in which people have come back from the dead. Now, living in a world in which people have come back from the dead, namely the Lord Jesus Christ Himself, is not without its implications. (And cats out of the bag there, the raising of Lazarus is, among other things, a foreshadow of the raising of Jesus from the dead.) So I say to you that when the power of resurrection was implemented in this world through Christ, it was cosmic. It altered the course of history, and the way man thinks and lives. Because we know that this power is real, we will live in light of it, and view the world in light of it. There are a million different implications of this we could discuss, but I want to spend the rest of our time just considering some of those that we see in our passage this afternoon.
(1)Because we live in a world where dead people come back to life, Death is put into perspective.
What is the perspective of death in this passage? Jesus tells His disciples in verse 11, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” Now the disciples are confused because they are trying to get Jesus not to go there, because there are Jews there who want to stone him, and so if he is just asleep, why does Jesus need to go? Verse 13, “Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus has died…’” So for Jesus, sleep and awakening is a metaphor for death and resurrection. Jesus is basically saying, “What I’m about to will be like waking someone up from their sleep.” That’s how simple raising the dead is for the Son of God, it’s like waking someone up from their sleep. Jesus raised Lazarus the same way you’d wake someone up from sleep, you know, you cry out in a loud voice, “get up!” What we see here is that with Christ, death is like sleep. When we die, we are just awaiting resurrection day, and of course our spirits go to be with the Lord in the meantime. That’s pretty nice. With Christ, death is like sleep. It’s only temporary, it’s nothing to be afraid of, and it’s necessary.
Now, we know why sleep is necessary, but why is death necessary? Well, death is necessary for resurrection. You have to have death in order to have resurrection. You see, Jesus had to wait for Lazarus to die and start stinkin’ before He could go and raise Him to the glory of God that those who saw it might believe. Before someone comes back to life, they first have to lose their life. Jesus had to die in order to rise again. We can’t have Easter without Good Friday first. With Christ, death precedes resurrection. You see, this is Jesus’ perspective from the start: that death is like sleep because He is going to resurrect him, for which Lazarus must first die. The purpose of the sickness was not death, but resurrection. And so in order to get to the resurrection, it had to go through death, but since death was just a means to resurrection, it made death nothing more than sleep. (I’m sure some of you get so tired from life and busyness and kids that you could use four straight days of sleep).
(2)Because we live in a world where dead people come back to life, Death can be faced. As we’ve noted in verse 7-16 the disciples do not want Jesus to go back to Judea because of the Jews there who wanted to stone him. Nevertheless Jesus insists that they will be going back. Then in verse 16 Thomas tells his fellow disciples that they must go with Jesus, that they may die with him. We don’t know the exact demeanor or attitude behind this statement, Calvin thinks it was a statement of despair, being so certain in their death, which did not happen. Thomas was certainly at that point not thinking in terms of worldview implications of resurrection, but it remains a good illustration to us, that because of Christ, who is the resurrection and the life, they were able to go into a situation in which they believed they would face certain death. Pessimistic though the disciples may have been, I do take this statement as a statement of faith, being that one of the points of this whole event is that they would believe, and many times in this narrative it is noted when people believe or that is stated as the purpose. And we of course see later on, as this statement from Thomas foreshadows, the disciples did go to die for Jesus, as they took the gospel to the nations and faced martyrdom. Whether that is the type of death that lies ahead of us, or whether it’s in a hospital bed, car accident, or in our sleep, we can face it with Jesus, because we live in the world in which He came back to life.
(3)Because we live in a world where dead people come back to life, This does not mean we do not still mourn death. Martha believes that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. She believes that her brother will rise again on resurrection day. Yet she and her sister mourn the death of their brother. We see Mary throwing herself at Jesus’ feet and weeping. And even our Lord, who knew that Lazarus was just sleeping and knew that He would bring him back to life, when He saw Mary and the Jews with her weeping, it deeply moved His spirit and He also wept. Now the weeping of Jesus is amazing because He’s not necessarily weeping at Lazarus’ death, but Jesus is moved when He sees those whom He loves weeping. Some of us may experience a similar thing. There are times when we see someone we love hurting and sad, and the thing they are sorrowful over isn’t something that necessarily affects us, but it hurts us to see them hurting, and thus it is how we weep with those who weep. Often with this text, people will emphasize Jesus’ humanity because even He weeps over death. And I don’t take away from that observation but I think the greater emphasis here is the Savior’s love for those who are hurting. So notice His love. He does not ridicule them for mourning. He does not tell them to cheer up because He’s going to raise Lazarus from the dead. He sympathizes with their pain. He recognizes that death is something to mourn over, because death wasn’t supposed to be. Death is a reminder of sin and the wages thereof. It is a reminder of the curse and the fall and all that we lost therein. So yes, it is still right to mourn over death. We just do not mourn as those who have no hope.
(4)Because we live in a world where dead people come back to life, Death is undone. When Jesus went to Lazarus’ tomb with his weeping loved ones, Jesus lifted up His voice to Heaven and cried out to Lazarus, “Come forth!” It wasn’t so much a command for dead ole Lazarus as it was a command for death to let him go. And it did. Jesus’ words of life are more powerful than the words of death. And when Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead He was showing His hand to death. He was telling death, “here is what I am going to do to you, and there’s nothing you can do to stop it. And when I rise from the grave I will procure eternal life and resurrection for all my people, and untie your knots – you will be undone!” This is the principle of the world that we live in: Resurrection and Life is more powerful than death and dying. Resurrection and Life is more powerful than death and dying. The reason for this is because Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. These are not just ancillary benefits that Christ gives apart from Himself. This is the giving of Christ Himself. And since Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life, we live in a world where Resurrection and Life has and will defeat death and dying. That may be hard to believe when we look at the condition of our world and see death and destruction just about everywhere. But our faith is not in sin and death to destroy, it is in Christ who is Himself the Resurrection and the Life. Sin and death will not have the last word. They are undone. Resurrection will defeat death. 1 Corinthians 15 tells us that Jesus must reign until all His enemies are put under His feet and then the last enemy to be defeated is death. So as history progresses and the kingdom of God advances and even as Christendom rises again, there will still be death among us. It will still bring cause for tears. But death’s days are numbered. It too shall be put under Christ’s feet and be no more. It is a defeated enemy. Death is undone. When Jesus rose from the dead, He took death’s stinger with Him. It lost its sting, and every since that moment around two thousand years ago, it has been whimpering around taking people without a sting. Christians can now sing at funerals. Christians can now smile at funerals and be comforted in Christ. You see when Lazarus came forth from the tomb he was bound in his grave clothes, and Jesus told them to unbind him, which was symbolic of deaths unbinding – it’s being undone.
(5)Because we live in a world where dead people come back to life, God is Glorified. Jesus said that this illness leads to the glory of God. Jesus tells Martha that if she believes she will see the glory of God. God is glorified in raising the dead. Because this world is one in which dead people are raised to life, it is a world in which God is glorified in Jesus Christ. Lazarus is not the hero of this story. People weren’t bowing at Lazarus’ feet when he came out of the grave, they believed in Jesus. God is glorified in raising the dead, and not just physically. This of course is a great illustration of what we know from Ephesians chapter 2, that apart from Christ we are dead in trespasses and sins. We are spiritually dead until God, being rich in mercy, makes us alive together with Christ. Thus is our spiritual condition. And so when Christ calls sinners to faith through the preaching of the gospel, He is calling the dead to come to life. Thus in our spiritual resurrection God is glorified. No one is a hero when coming to Christ, Christ is, for working a miracle of resurrection. And this happens all the time all over the word. Thus we live in a world where God is constantly being glorified, because dead people come to life in this world.
Application
I began today with an application to embrace the supernatural view of the world we live in without embarrassment, that it is a world in which dead people come to life. And now let me leave you with another application. Since we, as Christians, have been spiritually raised from the dead in this world, we now live in light of that. And that means we have been made new. What death took, resurrection makes new. Thus, as new men and women, we put to death the deeds of the old man. We have been crucified with Christ, and resurrected with Christ, and we should leave our sin there. Yet it’s true that we still sin. The old man still tries to hang on. Yet we are not without power over it. Just as resurrection defeats death, so confession defeats sin. As new people, we have new words to say. The words of confession defeat the words of sin. The Bible tells us that if we confess our sins He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness. Of course I do not mean to say that our words forgive us in themselves, but true words of confession are uttered in faith, by which we are united to Christ, who forgives and makes new. So as Christians we can confess our sins, thus in a sense wielding a power over sin. But also as Christians we can forgive sins. We can’t make people right with God, but we can forgive others when they sin against us. Thus also neutralizing sin, as it were, and displaying a power over it. And when the two sides of confession and forgiveness are combined, as Christians are required to do, reconciliation occurs, which defeats and overcomes sin, as the relationship is made new. Thus we see that reconciliation is a metaphor for resurrection. When reconciliation occurs, the relationship is made new, brought back from the damage done, thus showing us that reconciliation is a type of resurrection. And thus resurrection defeats death. Christian, may our lives be filled with little resurrections all the time, and be a testimony to the world that this world is one in which dead people come back to life.
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