John, pt. 68 | John 11:17-27

John 11:17-19 — Lazarus Dead for Four Days and the Setting in Bethany

If you will, at this time, take your copy of the Scriptures and turn with me to the Gospel of John, chapter 11. The Gospel of John, chapter 11, we will consider verses 17 through 27. Verses 17 through 27, and this is the 68th message in this glorious gospel.

The Gospel of John, chapter 11, verses 17 through 27. Allow me to open in prayer. Glorious God, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, Lord, we come to this portion of our service where we gather to hear from you.

No one has come here to see me. No one has come here to hear from me. I, with them, have come to hear from you. Oh, Lord, please, in the precious name of Jesus, and through the mighty work of the Holy Spirit, please feed us through this servant which you have chosen today.

I pray in the name of Jesus. Amen. Let's begin with the text. John, chapter 11, beginning in verse 17, we'll read to verse 27. Now, when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.

Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews who 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 have not died. But even now, I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give to 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. And Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he 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 the living God who is coming into the world. My theme for this Lord's Day is the theology of Martha.

The theology of Martha. And my proposition is this. The theology of Martha is the foundational to the Christian faith. The theology of Martha is foundational to the Christian faith. If anyone is to be a part of the Christian faith, they must have the same theology as Martha.

If it errs in any way of what we're looking at today, my dear friends, you're not a Christian. You're not a part of the faith. So I would challenge you today to listen to this message, to see if you have the same theology as Martha.

In our outline, we're going to look at the theology of Martha as seen in the text. Point number one, Martha believes in the resurrection of the dead on the last day. Point number two, Martha believes that Jesus is the Christ, the son of the living God.

And as we transition in verses 17 through 19, we're going to see that Lazarus was four days dead. We're going to see where Bethany is and the Jews who came to console Martha and Mary. So verse 17, Lazarus is four days dead.

It's pretty clear in the text. It says, now Jesus came and he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. If you remember last week, Jesus was with his disciples and a messenger came to them, whether it was given to them by word or by letter, that his friend, the one whom he loved, was ill.

Jesus arrives. There's a song out there called Four Days Late. His friend has been in the tomb for four days. This means that Lazarus died the same day that the messenger reached Jesus. Jesus stayed two more days and he got there on the fourth day.

Verse 18, where Bethany is. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off. Bethany, being about two miles from Jerusalem, was actually east of the Mount of Olives. If you've been a part of the Christian faith for some time or have read the Bible, the Mount of Olives should be familiar to you.

This is where we get the Sermon on the Mount from Matthew 5 -7. Jesus preaches this wonderful sermon, the greatest sermon ever preached. The sermon that most preachers who ever live cannot wait to walk through this section of Scripture.

And we find ourselves not doing justice because Jesus has already laid it out in such a way that all we really need to do is open the book and read it. Jesus is the greatest preacher to ever preach. He is the Word of God.

Verse 19 speaks about the Jews who came to console Mary and Martha. It said, and many of the Jews. Now, this portion right here, the Jews, for some reason, the way that John likes to write, when he's speaking of the Jews, he's actually somewhat speaking of the religious leaders, the religious Jews, not necessarily speaking of the common Jew at that time.

He's speaking to those who were caught up, surrounded by Judaism. And many of the Jews, the religious Jews, had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brothers. Not only was this family well known, but the death of Lazarus must have also been well known for the religious Jews to gather around this family, which is a good thing, right?

Like the religious Jews, like a lot of times we hear about them, we're like, well, no part of them. Even evil men care about someone, right? Just because you're a Christian don't mean you've just been given the gift to care about people.

They came to console them. They came to be with them in one of the hardest moments of their life, the death of their brother, their sibling. And I mentioned last week how I stand here today after losing my mother, my father, my brother, and my sister.

I know death. And it's a hard time to experience death. The death of my brother was one of the hardest things I've ever been through when I heard the news. I felt like my skeleton inside my body had left me, and it was just flesh collapsing.

It was the hardest news I've ever heard in my life. He was my best friend. And then the death of my sister here recently. Like nothing can prepare you for these moments. And I thought I was prepared for those moments because of the life they were living.

I was waiting for that phone call at any minute. And when I got the phone call, I was broken. I was shattered. Losing my parents was tough. Losing my siblings, it's tough.

It was tough.

Perry and Martha have just lost their brother.

He's four days dead.

And at this time, families would hire professional mourners. I know it might sound weird for us today, but they would hire professional mourners, and they would come, and they would weep violently for seven days.

And then for another 30 days, they would weep, but not so dramatic. When someone died at this time, people knew it.

Their brother had died.

And they're being consoled by the religious Jews.

And God bless them for it.

Also at this time, there was a superstition going around that they believed that the soul of a person would hover over the body for three days, waiting to see if it could return back to the body. Again, sounds weird, right?

Nothing weird about that, right? Yeah, right. But that's what this superstition was going around. And some people, some preachers, some pastors use this superstition to interpret why it is that Jesus waited to the fourth day to come and raise Lazarus from the dead.

However, the Bible speaks of no such interpretation, nor does it give us any reason as to why outside of what verses 5 and 6 tells us. Look at verse 5 and 6 of chapter 11.

It says,.

So this word here, so, this is a conjunction, right? So it can mean so or therefore or because of. He loved them so much when he heard that Lazarus was ill. He stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

He loved them so much that he wanted them to experience the death of their siblings. And we're over here in our mind thinking, what?

That's love? That's love?

Romans 8 .28 tells us that all things work together for the good of those who are called according to his purpose. That if you're in Christ, everything that's happened in your life, it's for your good and it's for his glory.

The death of my parents and my brother and sister was for his glory and it was for my good and I stand here today and I cannot tell you why. But I know it's true. I know it's true. He loved me so much that I've experienced these things.

And again, counterintuitive to our thoughts, to the way that we think here in America, Jesus waited because he loved them and it was for their good. From 24 hours to 72 hours after death, the initial organs begin to decay.

I mean the eternal organs, excuse me, the eternal organs begin to decay. At 24 hours, all the heat from Lazarus's body has left. Regimortis has set in, meaning all the muscles of his corpse have stiffened.

As hard as a rock. As we're easing our way to 72 hours, the muscles have began to soften due to the body decomposing. And here lies Lazarus. He is starting to soften. His body is decomposing. He's dead, dead.

He's not maybe dead. He's not. What's the princess bride saying? Where's my princess bride fans at? Yeah. What is it? He's not merely dead. What is it? What's the word? Come on, wifey. What's the word?

But he's dead. He's not.

He's not. He's dead. He's four days dead.

His body is decomposing. And in those days, unlike today, they didn't have the processes like we do, like with abominate, right? Lazarus would have been put in that tomb the same day that he died. They don't have a visitation like we have because they don't have the abominate process.

Once he's dead, he starts to decay. Regal mortis sets in. His body starts to stiffen. His muscles begin to soften. Like there's no waiting around. The day that he died is the day that he was put into the tomb.

And this tomb would have been carved out of a large rock. A lot of people don't know this about this, but these tombs would have been for families. So Lazarus didn't have his tomb, and then the sisters would have another tomb.

No, they would share a tomb. After Lazarus would have been dead long enough to be boned, someone would have opened the tomb, gathered his bones, and placed him in a drawer like a little smaller hoe inside of this tomb so the whole family could be a part of this area.

And this rock wall.

But Lazarus was dead.

The best that they could do is take ointments and spices and put it on his body to help the smell. And as we see in a couple weeks, or maybe this next week, the old King James says, Martha says,.

Oh, but he stinketh.

There's a smell at this moment. As he's decomposing, he stinks. And that's why they have to put him in the tomb that day.

Martha’s Faith in the Resurrection on the Last Day

So point number one,.

Martha believes in the resurrection of the dead on the last day. This is going to be taken from verses 20 to 26. Now, if you remember last week, I spoke about how the resurrection of Lazarus was a type of the resurrection of the dead and how a type points to the anti-type and how the anti-type is always greater than the type.

That the substance is greater than the shadow because the shadow leads to the substance. Now, would anyone like to argue with me that would say that my shadow, you see this shadow that's cast, that that shadow is greater than me?

Would anyone want to take that proposition in a debate? No one would want to take that kind of a proposition. The shadow is not greater than the substance. The substance casts the shadow. The shadow leads to the substance.

And I mentioned this last week also. When you go to a restaurant and you sit down at a table, they give to you a menu. And then if you're like me, I like pictures, right? I don't like just a bunch of words, right?

Maybe it's a southern street thing. I don't know. I don't like a bunch of words. Give me some pictures. I want to see what it looks like. So I find something that looks good and I order what I think I want, right?

So they take my menu from me. They go back, they cook my food, and they bring me back the menu.

No, they don't bring me back the menu.

They bring me back the food.

The menu is a type.

The meal that I order is the anti-type. The anti-type is greater than the type. The food is greater than the menu. And right here, we're seeing that the death of Lazarus and his resurrection is a type of the resurrection of the dead.

As glorious as this resurrection of Lazarus is, it does in this chapter, it pales in comparison to the resurrection of the dead because it is a type. We go into the Old Testament. We have the rock that Moses struck that brought forth water.

The New Testament tells us that rock was Christ.

Which is greater, the rock or Christ? Come on, which is greater?

Christ.

Or we have the Paschal lamb. Every year, they would slaughter this lamb and they would consume it and put the blood on the lentil in the doorpost. Which is greater, the lamb of Christ? Because John sees Jesus and he says, that's him, he's the one, the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world.

Which is greater, the lamb or Christ?

Christ.

Which is greater, the priest who interceded for the Jews or Jesus Christ, the high priest who intercedes for us?

Which is greater? Jesus Christ.

All these, listen, I could name, I could spend here, I could stand here and for three days and name off the types that leads to the anti-type, which is Jesus Christ.

He is greater.

None of these things can compare to him. They're just shadows, they're just types. He's the substance, he's the anti-type and in this chapter, we're seeing the death of Lazarus and Jesus is going to raise him from the dead and that raising of the dead is the type of the anti-type that every one of us who are in Christ will experience.

It fails in comparison. Beginning in verse 20.

Sorry.

So 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 would have been here, my brother would have not died. She knows there's power in Jesus.

But even now, I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. And Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Now listen to her theology. Verse 24. Mary said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.

Right here in the text, it is clear that Mary believed in the resurrection of the dead. She believed that her brother was going to rise on the last day. The resurrection of the dead is the belief that when Jesus Christ returns again at his second coming, that the dead in Christ will be raised.

The Nicene Creed calls this the resurrection of the dead while the Apostles Creed calls this event the resurrection of the body. They are the same thing. Job speaks about this event. In Job 19. If you know anything about the Bible, this is probably the very first book written in the Bible.

Job. Job 19, beginning in verse 25, says this. This is Job speaking. He says, for I know that my Redeemer lives. And at the last, now it doesn't say day here, but this is what it's speaking about, the last day.

At the last, he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh, I shall see God.

You hear that?

He is speaking about the resurrection of the dead. He knows that he is going to die because he's a sinner. The wages of sin is death, and so the sins will die. He knows that he's going to die. He knows that his flesh is going to rot off of his bones.

But he knows that there's a last day coming when his Redeemer, the Lord, will stand upon the earth and he will see him in his flesh. That's the theology of Martha. In our text, Jesus tells Martha that he is, this is present tense, the resurrection and the life.

Look at verses 25 and 26. Jesus said to her, I am. This is that egoime, right? This is Exodus 3, 15, 17. This is the declaration that he is God. I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.

Do you believe in Jesus today? When you die, it's not over.

You shall live.

And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. You're saying, hold on, Jeff. You just said that the so that sins will die. The wages of sin is death. We get what we deserve. And he says, do you believe this?

The resurrection of the dead happens on the last day. Now, I'm going to be going through a lot of text today, probably more than I ever have since I've been preaching. And these texts that I'm going through, if there's ever a time that you want your own copy, I would say, please go to Tony.

Tony has a real good study on this subject, OK? So, Tony, they're going to come to you, brother. So, turn with me to John chapter 6. And if y 'all don't know Tony, Tony is a fantastic teacher. He's one of our Sunday school teachers here.

John chapter 6. Let's begin in verse 37 for some context. John chapter 6, 37. Jesus speaking. He says, all that the Father gives me will come to me. If you've been given to the Son, guess what you're going to do?

You're going to go to him. All that the Father gives me will come to me. And whoever comes to me, I will never cast out. That means if you're in Christ, you're always going to be in Christ. For I've come down from heaven not to do my own will.

Notice here this word will. You can replace this word with purpose. Purpose. He came down to do, he didn't come to do his own purpose. He came down to do the purpose of the Father. What's the purpose of the Father Church?

Yeah, to save a people. God purpose to save a people. His Son comes into time, accomplishes the purpose through his death, burial, and life, death, burial, and resurrection. The Holy Spirit applies that purpose through the preaching of the gospel, which is why it's so important for us to preach the gospel.

That way the Holy Spirit can apply the purpose for which the Father purpose in Christ died for. All that the Father gives me will come. And whoever comes to me, I will never cast out for I came down from heaven.

Not to do my own will, but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me. But raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life.

And I will raise him up on the last day. When are people going to be raised up on? The last day. This is God's purpose. It's his will. If you're in Christ, you'll always be in Christ. And he will raise you up on the last day.

On the last day is when Jesus returns. And those who are in Christ will have a new body to live with Christ always. We're going to get a body prepared for eternity. And today, I plan to give you overwhelming evidence.

Hence, the whole bunch of scriptures. So I'm not going to be too preachy today. We're just going to let the... You're probably thinking, what do you call what you just did? I'm sorry. It is what it is.

I had to get it out. From now on, I'm going to try not to be too preachy. The resurrection on the last day both encompasses the coming... Excuse me. The resurrection and the last day both encompass the coming of the Lord.

So if you will turn with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 15. 1 Corinthians chapter 15. We're going to read verses 20 through 26. Paul's speaking. But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. The first fruits of those who have fallen asleep.

For as by one man, as by a man, speaking of Adam, came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead, speaking of Christ. Verse 22. For as in Adam all died, so also in Christ shall all be made alive.

But each in his own order. Christ the first fruits, then at his coming, those who belong to Christ. Then comes the end. When he delivers the kingdom of God to the father after destroying. Yes, this is what it says.

Destroying every rule and every authority and power. For he must reign until he has put all of his enemies under his feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death. Death is destroyed at the resurrection of the dead.

It's destroyed because all the dead will rise. There will be no more death.

There's no more death to die.

The purpose of Christ's coming is to remove that bite that Adam took from whatever fruit it was. Even now, as we speak, he is recreating the world through his life, his death, his burial, and his resurrection.

And his resurrection, this text says, is the first fruit of our resurrection. That's what's coming for us. And it's going to happen on the last day when all authority and power is put under his feet. We look around today and we think, oh, this is going to defeat the church.

No, it's going to be footstooled. He's going to footstool it. And he's going to footstool that thing that aches us all, the elephant that's in the room, which is death that no one's talking about because 54 million people die a year, 10 out of 10 people die, 150 ,000 a day, 100 per minute, almost two per second.

He's going to defeat that too. It's going to be put under his feet at the resurrection of the dead. Turn with me to, I got preachy, sorry. 1 Thessalonians 4, beginning in verse 13. 1 Thessalonians 4, beginning in verse 13.

Again, Paul speaking. He says, we do not want you to be, excuse me, we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep. So remember what he says to his disciples, Lazarus is asleep, which meant that Lazarus died.

Death would be the death of the body when it speaks about it in our chapter, and that this death comes from the Greek word thanatos, which is the encompassing of the death of the body, that death is not going to be victor here.

So Jesus, Paul is speaking about those who are falling asleep as those who are in Christ. So let's start over with that again. But I do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, those that are died, that you may not grieve as others do.

Why? Remember when I said all things work together for the good for those who are called according to his purpose, who have no hope. For since we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so through Jesus, God will bring with him those who have fallen asleep.

For this we declare to you by a word from the Lord, that we who are alive, who are left until the coming of the Lord, will not precede those who have fallen asleep. Meaning, the dead are going to rise, they're going to come before we experience what we're going to experience.

Verse 16, For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a cry of a command, with the voice of the archangel, and with the sound of the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.

And so we will always be with the Lord. Now, a lot of people, they use this as a pre-tribulation rapture passage. But if you study the history of this, whenever a king would go off to war, I'm sorry, I'm going to preach for just a second.

When a king would go off to war, a kingdom would have walls, and they would always have people on the walls looking for people who are coming to attack them. But if their king was at war, there was someone up there particularly looking for their king.

And when they saw their king coming back to the kingdom, the whole kingdom, all the people in the kingdom, would go out and meet their king as he's approaching this kingdom. And then they, with their king, would return to their kingdom.

I believe that's what Paul has in mind as he's speaking about what's happening. The second coming of Jesus, Jesus, his feet plant on the earth. And this is going to be at the last day. Turn with me to 1 Corinthians 15 again.

This time, let's read verses 50 to 53. It's going to answer some of these questions that you might have had in your head as I was reading that last portion of Scripture. 1 Corinthians 15, 50 to 53, Paul again writes, I tell you this, brothers, flesh and blood, right here, what we have here, flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God.

Speaking about this coming kingdom. Like right now, it's here, but it's not, right? His kingdom is here, but it's not here. We're in it, and yet we can't see it unless you're born again. It's here, but it's not tangible.

I cannot lean on the kingdom wall, right? It's here, but it's not. The part that's not, flesh and blood cannot inherit. It says, nor does the perishable inherit imperishable. Behold, I tell you a mystery.

We shall all not sleep. But I just said this, so that sins will die. The wages of sin is death. Right here, it's saying that not all of us are going to experience some kind of a death. But we shall be changed in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet, this trumpet of God that we saw in 1 Thessalonians.

For the trumpet will sound, and this is what happened, and the dead will rise imperishable. Their body decay, begin to decay after 72 hours. And right now, if you was to go back to any of the Old Testament prophets,.

They're dust, they're dust.

And it's saying that they're going to come forth imperishable. And we will be changed. For this perishable body, body must put on imperishable. The mortal body must put on immortality. You see, this body right here, this flesh and blood, it cannot be in the presence of God.

God is a consuming fire. The Bible says that He dwells in unapproachable light. That means you cannot approach Him. He had to condescend. We can't get to God. God came to us. And my dear friends, this right here, this sinful nature that I have here, cannot be in the presence of God.

He has to change us, and it will be in the twinkling of an eye. Something is going to happen. The Bible doesn't tell us how it's going to be, but something is going to happen. I wish I could tell you what, because I'm excited about it.

But on that last day, not also will that take place, but also the judgment of unbelievers. John chapter 12, verse 48 says this, the one who rejects me, Jesus speaking, the one who rejects me and does not receive my words has a judge.

The word that I have spoken will judge him on the last day. There's a lot going to happen on the last day. The words that they rejected is going to judge them on that last day. Listen, if you're here today and you're not a Christian, these words that you're rejecting is going to be what judges you on the last day.

Turn with me to the Gospel of John chapter 5. In this, we're going to see both regeneration and the last day. John chapter 5, look at verse 25, Jesus speaking. Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming.

Now, right here is what tripped you up. And now is. This right here is the already and not yet. Just like I said a moment ago that the kingdom is here, but it's not yet.

It's already here.

Jesus said, unless you're born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God. So if you're born again, you can see the kingdom of God. You know that you're in it, but yet it isn't tangible. Can't touch it.

He says it's in that same sense. He's speaking about regeneration. Look again. Verse 25, truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now here. It's coming, but it's here. When the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live.

Now, I believe this is talking about regeneration. Ephesians chapter 2 tells us that we are dead in our sins and trespasses. We're slaves of the devil. Second Thessalonians chapter 2. I mean, second Timothy chapter 2.

Our deadness and sins is speaking about us being slaves to the devil. We're carrying out his will, thinking all the while we're doing what we want to do. We're carrying out the will of the devil. John chapter 10 says that for his sheep, when he calls his sheep by name, they follow him.

This is what's taking place here in John chapter 5 too. John's just building up on the same old arguments. He's got three or four arguments throughout this whole book that he's just building upon. And this is one of them was speaking about regeneration.

And when you hear the gospel, God calls your name and you though dead will come to life and follow him. Look at verse 26. For as the father has life in himself, so he has granted that the son also have life in himself and he has given him authority to execute judgment because he is the son of man.

Speaking about his kingship, his deity, his king, him being king. Do not marvel at this. For an hour is coming. It doesn't say and now is. For an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs, speaking of your grave, all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out.

And those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. Look back real quick at John chapter 11 where we were in our passage. Look at verse 25.

Jesus told her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. Remember, do you believe? On that last day is going to call your name and you're going to come out that grave.

Look at verse 26. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? Right now, if you believe in Jesus Christ, you have eternal life. And when you die, you will go to glory to be with God.

You will be as those who are asleep. Those who are going to return with Christ in perishable. And those back what it says right here, it says, do not marvel at this. I'm back in chapter five. For an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out.

And those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment. We pass out of judgment. Turn with me to Romans chapter two. Just to clearly hammer this in real quick, because the resurrection of judgment is for those who are not in Christ.

Romans chapter two, we'll read verses five through eight. Romans chapter two, verses five through eight. Again, Paul speaking. Paul wrote 14 letters in the Bible. Thirteen named, one unnamed, which is Hebrews.

He says this, verse five. But because of your hard and intensive heart, you are storing up wrath for yourself on the day of wrath when God's judgment will be revealed. And he will render to each one according to his works.

To those who by patient and well-doing seek for glory and honor and immortality, he will have eternal life. But to those who are self-seeking and do not obey the truth, but obey unrighteousness, there will be wrath and fury.

My dear friends, the resurrection of judgment is for the unbelievers to face the wrath of God. And you might be talking about, but it's talking about good works and stuff here. My dear friends, listen.

The Bible tells us that when we receive Christ, he gives us his Holy Spirit. And one of the purposes of the Holy Spirit is to cause us to keep God's law. It's not a checklist. Well, did I lie today? Nope.

Did I steal today? Nope. Did I look with lust today? It's not a checklist like this. New Testament gives us, it says, It says that we are to believe in the name of the Son, Jesus Christ, 1 John chapter 3, beginning in verse 23.