I Am the Resurrection

I tell you this, brothers, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does the perishable inherit the imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery. We should not all sleep, but we shall all be changed in a moment in the twinkle of an eye at the last trumpet for the trumpet will sound and the dead will be raised imperishable and we shall be changed for this perishable body. must put on the imperishable and this mortal body must put on the immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written. Death is swallowed up in victory. Oh, death, where is your victory? Oh, death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin. The power of sin is the law. The thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain. Every Lord's Day we gather for the same purpose, to remember that Christ is dead and he is risen. He is alive. This is our hope. He has conquered our enemies, death and sin. We're free. This morning, we'll be remembering this very explicitly as we look to John chapter 11. We continue in our study in John and we hear that great declaration from Jesus Christ in the midst of death, in the midst of sorrow, in the midst of grief. I am the resurrection and the life. If you're with us and you have a Bible, please feel free to use the Pew Bible in front of you and take it with you. We'll be on page 897, John chapter 11. Where we're at in our study, if you've been with us or if you're new, is this is a key transition in the Gospel of John. We could call this the hinge chapter where we're turning from one section to the second, the first half to the second half. In chapter 11 is significant. It's the last sign that John gives us. The first sign was turning water into wine at the wedding of Cana, declaring Jesus the bridegroom. Here, the last sign is a sign that points to the ultimate reality that the dead shall rise again in Christ. We turn to what we call the passion. We'll be turning now after chapter 11 to Christ's passion that refers to his suffering. It begins with a triumphal entry and then he's betrayed and then there's a trial, then he's mocked, beaten, spat upon, put to death in a shameful and cruel cross. And then he will rise again. Well, what's amazing, if we're here, we're in chapter 11. The first 10 chapters have covered three years of Christ's ministry. Everything that follows is a week. The suffering of Christ, what he has come to do, the final end, the hour has arrived, once we turn to chapter 12, this is a significant moment. It's the turning of the book, everything in the first half pointed that Jesus, he's the son of God. The building up of Jesus as authority because he's been sent by the father, the second half, he's a son of God who will send the spirits. The first half builds up his ministry and his authority. The second half shows he will accomplish what he has been sent to accomplish. Chapter 11 is one of the most significant and most well-known miracles. It's the raising of Lazarus from the dead. It's foreshadowing the end in numerous ways. It reveals Jesus' great love for his friends. It reveals his power over death, his power of resurrection. It prepares us for his own death and his own resurrection. Now, I have to remember that John's given us his purpose. I am telling you all these things. I've selected very specific things. I haven't told you everything I could tell you. No one could ever write all the things that Jesus said and done. I've chosen these specific things so that you will believe that Jesus is the son of God. And here we see his power of the resurrection leads us from fear to faith that Jesus is the son of God. Now, if I were to write this sermon after thinking about the order of it this morning, the order would be frailty, fear and faith. This morning I had a great clear way of outlining the text, but it was too late to reorganize. So, we could see it as frailty, fear and faith. It would be Lazarus and his sickness. The fear of the disciples and the faith of Martha. And we would see, I believe the main point of John 11 would be this. Is this? God reveals his glory in our frailty to remove fear and build up our faith. God reveals his glory in our frailty to remove fear and build up our faith. This morning, the way I'll walk through the text is by asking questions as we we go through. We have specific characters. We have Lazarus. We have Martha. We have Jesus. And the first question we need to ask is who is Lazarus? Who is this man who is sick? First, we can see in verse one numerous things, there are four specific things. Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So first, he's from Bethany. That may seem insignificant, but if you turn back to chapter 10, Jesus says his life's in danger. He had to flee Jerusalem. He's gone across to Jordan. Bethany is getting closer to Jerusalem. And we'll see the significance of this as Jesus says, we're going to go now to Lazarus. And we're going to hear the disciples say, well, our lives will be in danger. This is getting closer to the danger that's waiting for Jesus in Jerusalem. And he knows he should be going closer because his hour is about to come. So where he is from is significant in the flow of the story. Who is his family? He's the brother of Mary and Martha. Now, John's already going to tell us who this family is. He's going to explain the details of the anointing of Jesus's feet or his head with the ointment in John chapter 12. But he's already reminding us this is the family. This is a significant family, a close family to Jesus that loved Jesus and he loved them. What is his condition? He's sick. He's sinking. He's going downhill fast. And he has been sent for because they know he has the power to heal. The fourth thing. So he's from Bethany. He's a brother of Mary and Martha. He's sick. What really matters most, the most significant fact we know about Lazarus, he's beloved by Jesus. Look at verse three. So the sisters sent to him saying, Lord, He whom you love is ill. This is the most important truth we know about Lazarus. He is loved by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ said, you are my friend. He's decided, I have set my affection upon you. I love you. I am for you. And if God is for you, who can be against you? We see here a picture of friendship with Jesus. He's friends with Lazarus. And it's amazing to see what he does as a friend. Friendship is a theme that is in Scripture throughout. Abraham was called a friend of God by grace. Here, this man is a friend of Jesus by grace. And Jesus loves his friend and he does what's best for his friend. And as we'll see, what he decides is best for his friend is that his friend tastes and see. And so he will treasure the glory of God. This is what a Christian friend is. A Christian friend desires what is best for the other friend. And what is best for our friends is to glory in God. So I might ask, who is your friend? Who is helping you glory in God? Who are you a friend to in seeking the glory of God in their life? Now, the big question isn't this that he was who he is, but why was he sick? Why is this man sick? Because this is a significant turning point in the story. It's a very important change in the story. He's sick for two reasons. He's sick for God's glory and he's sick for our faith. He is sick for God's glory and he is sick for our faith. Let me begin reading in verse three. So the sisters sent to him saying, Lord, He whom you love is ill. But when Jesus heard it, he said, this illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God. So the Son of God may be glorified through it. Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this, he said to the disciples, Let us go to Judea again. His disciples said to him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you. And are you going there again? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of the world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. After saying these things, he said to them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. The disciples said to him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. Now, Jesus has spoken of his death, but they thought he was he meant taking rest and sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus has died. And for your sake, I am glad that I was not there so that you may believe. But let us go to him. So Thomas, called the twins, said to his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die with him. The first thing we see is very clear in verse four. There is sickness that is for the glory of God. The sickness of Lazarus was to bring glory to God, the Father and glory to the Son. This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so the Son of God may be glorified. Now, one of the most startling verses, one of the most startling declarations is when Jesus says, we're not going to go yet. Look at verse six. So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer. He doesn't rush to heal him. He knows that he's sick. He knows that he's dying. He knows he will die. He doesn't rush. to fix him in his physical well-being, because he has a greater purpose for this sickness. He has a greater purpose for Lazarus. It's that he would be used, this occasion would be used as an opportunity for the glory of God and for Lazarus himself to be able to treasure the glory of God. Now, this is an instance, this is a helpful point here to explain. This is why we're not a prosperity gospel church. We're not. We do not believe that Scripture is declaring that what God is for is our health, wealth and happiness. What God is for is his glory. That is greater than our health and our wealth and our happiness. The whole purpose of what God is doing is his glory. That means everything that is happening to us can be and should be used for his glory. Now, this is good news. Sickness, pain, and suffering are not meaningless. They have a purpose. Therefore, his glory, our weakness, our frailty, our sickness and even our death are opportunities and occasions by which we can know God's glory and demonstrate God's glory. Jesus is glorified in the death of Lazarus because he shows that he has the power of resurrection. The father is glorified because he grants Jesus the authority to raise him from the dead. Both are glorified together because they have the same intention. Look at Lazarus contribution. He's weak. He's sick and he's dead. His weakness is the occasion by which God uses him for his glory. We see this as a foretaste of what Christ will do. He glorifies the Father the most when he is obedient to death, even death on the cross. The supreme moment of glory is when Christ is hung on a cruel and lonely, shameful cross. The fact that he is willing to do whatever the Father tells him to do for God's people. Now, we think about this, how do we glorify God? Is it in our strength and prosperity when Jesus, our mediator and forerunner, glorified God in suffering? This seems unlikely, and we can see this in Peter and Paul, 1 Peter 4, 13, but rejoice insofar as you share Christ's sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed. For you are insulted for the name of Christ, you are blessed. Because the spirit of glory and of God rests upon you, Philippians 310, that I may know him and the power of his resurrection and may share his suffering, becoming like him in his death. But by any means possible, I may attain the resurrection from the dead. See, for the beauty of the gospel is that it's in our weakness. It's in our suffering where God is most glorified. It's the conflict of fighting against sin. It's the difficulty that comes with when Satan is attacking because we're putting pressure upon his domain of darkness. So ask, do we only serve God when we get some of the glory? Will we only serve God when we get to keep our glory? According to Philippians 1, Paul says there's a way to preach and teach and serve that brings us glory. Are we willing to serve God when there is no glory for us, when our weakness is exposed, when our lack of glory, our lack of health, wealth and security and comfort and pleasure, when those are taken away, will we still glorify God? We must see that God uses our weakness, our sickness, and our frailty for His glory. This is seen dramatically in chapter 11. Before we move on, hear what Paul says in 2 Corinthians 12. On my behalf, I will not boast except of my weakness. Though if I should wish to boast, I would not be a fool, for I would be speaking the truth, but I refrain from it, so that no one may think more of me than he sees in me or hears from me. So to keep me from becoming conceited because of the surpassing greatness of the revelation, a thorn was given me in the flesh, a messenger of Satan to harass me, to keep me from becoming conceited. Three times I've pleaded with the Lord about this, that it should leave me, but he said My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly of my weakness, so the power of Christ may rest upon me for the sake of Christ. Then I am content with weakness, insults, hardships, persecutions and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong. This is the beautiful freedom of the gospel. We don't have to be afraid of our weakness. We can boast in them, because when we talk about our weakness, when we talk about our our sin and our our frailty, we can make much of Christ. That's the beauty of the Gospel. It's free to quit putting on the facade that we've got it all together. We can quit masquerading as if we're strong and have it right. We can say, I'm wrong. I've sinned against you. We forgive me and glorify Christ in that confession. This is the beautiful life, the free life that Christians get to enjoy. It's not only for Christ's glory, but it's to help our faith, and we have to see these two are connected. When God is glorified, our faith is built up. When we see God's glory, our faith is strengthened. Look at verse 14. Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus has died. And for your sake, I'm glad that I was not there so that you may believe. Now, if we go back to verse seven, you're going to hear the disciples, his closest friends, disagree with him. How are we going to go back there? They just tried to stone you. Why are we going to go back to the danger zone? Why would we go back to where our lives are in danger? And then Jesus tells them, he uses a metaphor. Rabbi, the Jews were seeking to stone you. Jesus says, are there not 12 hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him. Now, there's three things we need to explain about this particular teaching. First, the Romans had a 12-hour day. They just measured 12 hours. That was considered the day, 12 hours the night. Now, obviously, during different seasons, the daylight was shorter or longer than 12 hours. But they would always count 12 hours day, 12 hours night. Jesus using this way of measuring daylight and dark to say, when I am in my father's light. I cannot stumble if I am doing what my father wills, nothing can happen to me that I'm going to be afraid of. I can walk straight into the hornet's nest. But if it's what the father has told me to do, I know that I should do it and that it is good and right. The third thing we see is that this is a teaching moment for the disciples. They themselves will have to do the will of God. They themselves, like us, will have to go and do difficult and danger and uncomfortable things because it is the will of God. But we have the assurance that if we are in the light, we will not stumble. Verse 11, he declares determination, we will now go up. Now, notice they get confused about the metaphor. Now, we know that sleeping was oftentimes used as a metaphor for death. It obviously isn't used all the time in that way, because here they're confused. Well, he's getting his rest. Good. He'll recover. No, Jesus says, he's dead. And notice what he says also. I will make him alive again. He will be awakened by me, Jesus says. That's the very end here. He tells us for their faith that they will see this and we'll see this next week as we actually look at the resurrection. But notice Thomas. He gets the last word and I. Well, like many of us, it's probably one that he regrets when we get the last word. So Thomas, called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, let us go also that we may die with him. I sense sarcasm here. I sense a dissatisfaction that their master is going to lead them into death. Remember, this is doubting Thomas. This is the one, this is the disciple who had heard the report, he's alive, but says, I will not believe until I see it for myself and I touch him. He has the last word. They're still wondering what is this life that they've been called to. They still have fear. You see, Thomas is controlled by fear, fearful of his own life, fearful of what his life will mean. A couple of applications. Proclaiming the gospel of Jesus Christ is a dangerous calling. Living the Christian life is a dangerous calling. They hated him. If we're doing the works of the life that Jesus was hated for, will the darkness not also hate us? Safe Christianity is ineffective Christianity. Think about it, if God didn't want danger to be marked by the people marked by danger, Jesus would have never died on the cross. The apostles would have never preached the gospel. We would have never heard it. Danger is not an excuse to not be obedient. Fear must be overcome by faith. I wonder, are we functioning more from fear or faith? Are we more fearful of our circumstances or do we trust God and his glory and his purpose? Are we avoiding danger and discomfort? Are we driven more by our glory or God's. Fear of losing comforts of this world should not keep us from stepping out in faith. Fear of insults should not keep you from sharing the gospel. Fear of sickness should not keep you from Ethiopia. Fear of failure should not keep you from pursuing Christ and the life He has commanded. If He has called you, He will equip you. He will bewind you. He will empower you. As I think about who this Jesus is, who calls us to dangerous things, let's ask the question, who is Jesus? Look at verse 17. We now change the conversation. It was with Jesus and his disciples about the brother who's now dead. And now it's with Martha. Verse 17. Now, when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him. But Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. Jesus said to her, Your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet he shall live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to him, Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, who is coming into the world. We see here the conversation has changed, the setting has changed. Jesus has started to come into Bethany. Martha, who is the active one, remember Mary is the one who wants to sit at Jesus' feet. Martha is the one who's always active and doing something. She can't sit still knowing Jesus is coming, so she has to run out of the house. She comes. She says, if you only had been here. She has faith in Christ. She's seen him heal. But apparently there's some block. She knows he can heal. Does she not know he can raise the dead? We know this isn't the only resurrection Jesus has performed. Jesus declares to her, your brother will rise again, verse 23. It's beautifully vague because there's a resurrection that is in the future. That's how she interprets it. Whenever Christ comes back, whenever the final trumpet sound, she knows that there is a resurrection to come. She thinks it's what he means, but he has a more immediate declaration. I know he will rise again, she says. But Jesus says to her, I am the resurrection of life. He is Lazarus's only hope. He will demonstrate this claim, which is very bold in the next week's chapters or verses. There's three key claims here. First, Jesus is declaring that he is divine, one of the I am statements. Second, he is declaring he will raise us up from the grave. Third, he is claiming that he is the new life that God has sent for us. First, I am the resurrection. This is one of the many I am statements. And I am is a reminder of the Jews. It would remind them quickly of Yahweh, the covenant name. I am who I am. This is who God said he is. Jesus is identifying himself again as God. But notice something last time he did this, he said, I before Abraham was I am. And they picked up stones. When he tells it to Martha, she believes. There's two ways of responding to Jesus. He declares he is God and we either seek to kill him and hate him for that because it's an authority over us or we believe him and we worship him as Martha does. So the first claim is simply that he is Almighty God, the author of life. The second two promises connected to the I am. I am the resurrection. I am the life. They could refer to the same thing. Obviously, resurrection is life. It's life again. This could be good parallelism. It's referring to the same thing, but I think it's unlikely because of the construction. The resurrection has a qualifier. He shall die and yet live again. Life, he shall never die. The resurrection is pointed to the fact that there will be a physical death and there will be a physical resurrection. The new life, he says, will never die. Now, what do these two things mean side by side? Jesus will rise from the dead. This is our hope. This is our foundation. If he isn't risen, we're to be pitied more than anyone else. But if he is risen, he is Almighty God and everything he said he did, he did. Everything he said he was, he was. He is the resurrection, which means when we all physically die, which we all will physically die unless Christ comes before we die. There will be a resurrection. There will be a bodily resurrection from the grave. You will receive a new glorified body. You will be connected to God without the taint of sin. You will see him with your physical eyes in all of his glory. He's saying there is a future resurrection that he will bring about. What is the new life? I believe this refers to the regeneration that he brings about now. The new life he gives you that cannot be taken away. The resurrection may be referring to our body, and that would mean the life refers to our soul. The new life that he brings whenever the Holy Spirit descends and regenerates that dead heart and makes it alive again because Jesus Christ died in your place for your sins and he rose again and now shares with you his life. The new life we have with God, it never ends. Remember this chapter before, I came to give life and life more abundantly. The life we refused, the life we rejected, the life we rebelled against that God gave us. Jesus came to renew that. Now, in order to really appreciate this, we have to recognize something. Without Jesus, we're dead. We're not just going to physically die. Without Jesus, we're dead. We're numb to the things of God. We cannot respond to the things of God. We're not truly living because we're not living with God. We're fighting against God. We're dead to God. We're dead in our transgressions. We're condemned. But when Jesus renews the heart, when the Holy Spirit comes and does a work that Jesus accomplished on the cross and applies it to our heart, we're given new life. We're given life in Christ. Are we celebrating that life? Are we enjoying that life? The before us is the Lord's Supper. It's a reminder of the new life we have in Christ and the hope we have in Christ. He died so that we can hope for that day where it won't just be a taste. It'll be a wedding feast. The wedding feast of the land, there will be one day when we will be there in the presence of God. No more sin to taint the way we see God, the way we see ourselves. We'll see God face to face. We're looking forward to that hope and it tells us today. If you repent of sin. If you stop loving sin and you begin loving God, you can see him now. We can now live. Notice, Martha demonstrates how we should respond. Do you believe, Jesus asks. Verse 27. Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into this world. I just want to point out something in Scripture. The disciples throughout the Gospels never get it. They're fearful. I mean, Thomas, he's complaining that they're going to go up in their death. Here's this woman of faith. Praise God for women of faith. She believes she knows who he is. She knows what he's done. She recognizes this must be the son of God. This must be the Messiah. He's the only one I can trust. He's the one I will believe in. Let me say this very clear, I think, from this text. There's a black-and-white decision we have to make. It's something that's very clear. Either Jesus is God and worthy to be believed in and worshipped, or He's just a man and we should ignore Him. Either Jesus is risen from the grave, or He's dead, and all we have is this life here. Either life is found in Him, or right now is all we've got, and we should live it up the best we can. Now, that choice is very clear. Either he's God and risen or he was deceived and deceitful. That's a clear choice. We can't make Jesus into something between those two. He's either God and must be believed and worshipped. Or he was just a man. That's a clear, easy, hard truth. It's either or. When it comes to our subjective faith, it's a lot more complicated, isn't it? We ask, do I believe in Jesus? Is my faith genuine? That's a very difficult question. That's a much more complicated issue because there is genuine faith and there's false professions of faith. I ask you this, these are the marks of a genuine faith. Are you convinced you're a sinner? Are you convinced that there's a holy and righteous God and that you've sinned against him? That makes you a sinner. Secondly, are you convinced Jesus died for sinners? and rose again. Are you convinced that God took your sin account and placed it upon Jesus Christ and crushed him so that he died in your place? He was condemned for your sin. And then he rose again to give new life. Thirdly. Are you convinced there is no other way to God to be restored to him? If you believe these three things, these are three marks of genuine faith. See, a lot of folks, they'll question their salvation, they'll question their relationship to Christ because they see they don't have the faith they wish they had. The good news of the gospel, it's not the quality of your faith that saves you. It's the quality of Christ and what he accomplished. The agnews were just here. And I asked them, what's the best thing you like about Canada? These are some members of Jefferson Park who are in Canada for a season. They said ice hockey. They love playing ice hockey on all the frozen ponds. Well, this took me back to my foolish days. I grew up in South Carolina, and one morning, school was canceled, so some friends and I decided we would go down to the pond. And I was challenged to try to get across the frozen pond in South Carolina, not Canada. Of course, being a foolish adolescent, I tried. I fell in about in the middle and had to break my way out. Now, I was confident I was going to make it across. I was a foolish juvenile delinquent. I was confident about everything I did. I was confident. I did not lack faith in my ability to get across the pond. The problem was that my faith would not help me get across that pond. It was too weak. The ice was not strong enough. Friends, it's not the quality of your faith that causes you to fall in. It's not the quality of your faith that keeps you when Jesus Christ is what you're believing in. The quality of the thickness of the ice is what would keep you up if you walk on a lake. For what keeps you in salvation is the quality of the foundation of who Jesus Christ is. It's what he has done. It's the quality of his death and the quality of his resurrection. Yes, you have to truly believe, but it's not your power of faith. Saving faith isn't like that arrogant, foolish young man who runs out on the ice. I think June of Faith is more like a child whose dad takes him by the hand and starts walking out on the edge of the ice. And they realize this, as my father, the one that I trust, it's thick, it's heavy. That child, they're not going to run up the middle and start jumping up and down in the center, because there's still fear. But they've decided, I'm going to believe, I'm going to trust that this is trustworthy. And as they walk more on that ice, as they walk more on that foundation, they realize how sturdy and thick it is. Friends, when we begin to trust Christ, we're like a child. There's lots of fear. There's going to be falling. There's going to be failing. But the beautiful thing about believing in Jesus Christ, you'll never fall through because that foundation is thick. It's trustworthy. He will not fail you. You might fall. You will fall. You will fear, but he will never fail you. The ground will never come up from underneath you. True belief is recognizing that he is reliable. He is sturdy. He is the one foundation that takes away my sin and gives me life. It's not the quality of your faith that saves you. It's a genuine trust that he can do everything he said he would do. Believe in him and trust him. As we close, hear this from Romans 14. For if we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord. So then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For this end, Christ died and lived again that we might be that he might be both Lord of the dead and of the living. We pray with me. Father, we thank you that you have sent your son. To be like us in every way, except for sin, so that he could take our sins and he could take our condemnation and give us new life. Help us to trust you. With that new life, help us to know that you are trustworthy. As we are reminded by the Lord's Supper. You. Have sent your son. Now there is no condemnation for those who believe in him. Our position is clear, our position is secure. Because Jesus Christ took our wrath and has given us his life. In Jesus name, we pray. Amen.