Book of Luke - Ch. 16, Vs. 19-32 (09/13/2020)

Let's take a moment and go to the Lord in prayer. Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, and thank you for giving us the opportunity to meet again in person, so that we may get the interactions that you want us to have.

Thank you for giving us the Holy Spirit to guide us. Thank you for giving us your son who died for us.

Thank you for giving us this place and this time to come together to worship you. Go with us through the day.

Provide us our needs. Take us to the places you want us to go.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well, where we're gonna go first is

Luke chapter 16, verse 19. And we're gonna begin, I'm gonna read that verse and then we're going to continue on.

There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day.

Jesus is now in the process of revealing the parable of Lazarus and the rich man to show the

Pharisees that rich was not the same as righteous. That's what they thought.

They thought that the Lord's favor was shown by abundance on the earth.

And Jesus is telling them that that's not necessarily so. Verse 20, and there was a certain beggar named

Lazarus who was laid at his gate full of sores. Lazarus was laid at the gate of the rich man and Lazarus was ill, full of sores.

John MacArthur says this, clearly this is not the same Lazarus as we read about in John 11, who died at a much later time.

And also is the only character in any of Jesus' parables ever given a name.

Therefore, some have speculated that this was no imaginary tale, not a parable as such, but an actual event that really took place.

Now my personal take is this, that this is in fact an actual event.

But keep in mind Acts 17 and 11, that tells us they received the word with all readiness of mind and searched the scriptures daily whether those things were so.

So you can take this parable either way as a true parable or as an actual event.

But if we take it as a actual real event, we need to be careful not to spiritualize it too much or to symbolize the application.

If this is a real event, then it's a real place that Jesus is talking about. And if it's a real place, then it's an actual destination.

Now you need to consider that a minute. If this is real, then there is a real place where Lazarus is, and there's a real place where the rich man is.

Much of what we know about life after death, we glean from this parable.

Now, there are a few things I'd like us to consider before we go on. Is there any significance to the fact that we know

Lazarus' name, but not that of the rich man? Anybody got any thoughts on that?

Why we know the name of Lazarus and why we don't know the name of the rich man? Well, don't you think it's odd that we'd know the name of the beggar, but not the name of the rich man?

Maybe because the beggar wasn't being shamed, where the rich man really was being shamed for his lifestyle.

Okay, but this is the events in the parable, but why do you think the

Lord didn't give us the name of the rich man in the parable? He didn't know him.

He didn't know him. Or it didn't matter. Well, I think I'd almost agree with that.

He didn't know him in the sense of, he didn't know him in an intimate sense, but he didn't know about him.

He didn't know who he was. He knows all of his creation, the good, the bad, and the ugly.

That sounds like a title for a movie, doesn't it? Yes, ma 'am. I think maybe it was just to show importance where was the importance.

Maybe who was important to God, who was important to God and who was not important to God. I think you may be on to something.

I think that's what Dave was saying. Okay. I've never known you. Yes, known in the sense of an intimate relationship, known about, known in the sense of knowing that that person exists, did it, but never having a relationship with him.

I think that's right. Another thing to consider, the rich man while alive probably didn't know the name of the beggar who was laid at his gate.

Do you think he had known what the name of the beggar was? I think that it probably wouldn't have much to do with him.

Although Diane said, when we went over this, he did show some compassion. He didn't have the beggar thrown out, taken away from the gate.

He allowed the beggar to stay. He allowed the beggar to eat off the scraps of his table. So in some sense, he was more compassionate than maybe many of the rich people were.

Maybe he had some compassion, but just because he had some compassion doesn't mean he had an intimate relationship with God.

The rich man probably while alive didn't know the name of the beggar who was laid at his gate each morning, but he will come to know the name of the beggar.

And now one final contrast in the two men. The rich man fared sumptuously every day.

Not only was he well -dressed, well -comforted, but he was well -fed.

He ate the best of things. Lazarus desired to be fed with the crumbs that fell from the rich man's table.

And point of fact, Lazarus was probably starving to death at the gate of the rich man.

Not because he didn't eat off the scraps of the rich man's table, but because there probably was not enough scraps to sustain.

But maybe he wasn't starving. Maybe he just died of some other cause. Okay, verse 20.

And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate full of sores and desiring to be fed with crumbs which fell from the rich man's table.

Moreover, the dogs came and licked his sores. Now, if you want the perfect trifecta for the

Pharisees, consider this. He was poor, he was full of sores, and dogs licked him.

I mean, the three things that the Pharisees would all despise.

John MacArthur said this. The mention of table scraps, sores, and dogs all made this poor man appear more odious in the eyes of the

Pharisees. They were inclined to see such things as proof of divine disfavor.

They would have viewed such a person as not only unclean, but as despised by God.

So that speaks to the answer to the other question. Why did Jesus identify Lazarus by name, but not the rich person?

To show that he did not despise Lazarus. In fact, he held him in high esteem, as we will certainly see.

But he was highly despised by the Pharisees. He was unfit to even touch the rich man.

And ironically, this beggar who ate crumbs from the rich man's table, and was full of sores, and was licked by the dogs, who was unfit to even touch the rich man, is the same man that the rich man would beg to be sent to him with just a drop of water on his finger so he could lick it off.

I think he probably did know Lazarus' name because he later asked for him by name.

He did ask for him by name. But that was after he was dead.

He knew Abraham by name, too, when he saw him. So I don't know that he knew him by name in the first place or not.

Maybe he did. Maybe he did, maybe he didn't, but the point is, the beggar was in the life on earth, unfit to even touch the rich man.

It's interesting how we come down on Indian society because of the untouchables.

Yet, in biblical society, they had the same things. They did, they had the untouchables, that's right.

But he's not gonna be untouchable a little bit later. He's going to be someone that Lazarus, that the rich man is gonna beg to come and allow him to not only touch him, but to lick the water off his finger.

What a change in status for both of them. In the next life, both will have a huge change in status.

They're gonna have a change in status in our lives. That's right. And it came to pass that the beggar died and was carried by the angels into Abraham's bosom.

Coley, the rich man, also died and was buried. The first thing to be aware of is how each man got to his destination.

How did Lazarus get to his destination? He was carried by angels. How did the rich man get to his destination?

He was buried. Angels had nothing to do with him. The second thing to be aware of is the destination itself.

Lazarus was taken to a place of honor. Not just heaven, but an honorary, high esteemed place in heaven,

Abraham's bosom. He was sitting right next to Abraham in heaven.

An honored place. The rich man's destination was hell, also described as Hades in the

Greek, the abode of the dead. A third thing to be aware of is

Lazarus was righteous, not because he was poor, but because he was dependent upon God.

God had to supply everything for Lazarus when he was on this life and in the next life as well.

The fourth thing to be aware of is the rich man was not condemned because he was rich.

He was condemned because he didn't use his resources properly. After all, Adam was

Adam. Abraham was an extremely wealthy man. Probably among the most wealthy men of his time.

Wealthy enough that he could raise an army large enough to defeat a country just out of his household servants.

That's some wealthy man. That's wealthier than Bill Gates.

And yet he was not in torment in hell, but he was in heaven.

And he was in even a higher place of honor than the beggar, the beggar was in a high place of honor because he was close to Abraham.

Abraham was in a very high place of honor. And he was rich, but rich has had nothing to do with it.

Verse 23, in hell or in Hades, he lifted up his eyes being in torment, this is the rich man, and seeth

Abraham afar off and Lazarus in his bosom. Now, if he didn't know the name of Lazarus in the life on earth, he knows it now.

Now, even though the rich man is in hell, he can see and recognize both

Abraham and Lazarus. So apparently people in Hades can see and recognize people in heaven.

That might not be true in the final destination in the lake of fire prepared for the devil and his angels, that everybody that is in hell now will be cast into in the end times.

That might not be true for them. They might be totally isolated and not able to see anything anywhere at any time.

I don't know about that. But at this point, apparently, the rich man can look over into heaven and see

Lazarus and Abraham. Now, John MacArthur also added this, the suggestion that a rich man would be excluded from heaven would have scandalized the

Pharisees. Especially galling to them was the idea that a beggar who ate scraps from the rich man's table was granted a place of honor in heaven next to Abraham.

Now, I'm gonna add this. Hades was the Greek term for the abode of the dead. In the

Old Testament translation, the Septuagint, I think is what it's called, the word

Hades was used to translate the Hebrew word Sheol, which referred to the realm of the dead in general without necessarily distinguishing between righteous and unrighteous souls.

However, in the New Testament usage, Hades also always refers to the place of the wicked prior to the final judgment.

And the second thing, and this is what I really wanted to get to, the imagery that Jesus uses in this parable was used to fit the rabbinical idea that Sheol had two parts, one for the souls of the righteous and the other for the souls of the wicked, separated by an impassable gulf.

Now, MacArthur points out that was an erroneous image. That's not what it was really like.

But there's no reason to suppose, as some do, that Abraham's bosom spoke of a temporary prison for the souls of the

Old Testament saints who were brought to heaven only after he had actually atoned for their sins, after Jesus was died, crucified, and resurrected.

Scripture consistently teaches that the spirits of the righteous dead go immediately into the presence of God.

And we have three or four instances of which I'm gonna read for you. One is in Luke 23, 39.

You'll recognize it as soon as I start, but this takes place at the cross while Jesus and two thieves are hanging on the cross.

And the two thieves are talking to Jesus in the presence of one another.

One of the malefactors, one of the thieves, which were hanged, railed on him, on Jesus, saying, if thou be

Christ, save us and thyself. But the other answered, rebuking him, saying, dost not thou fear

God? Seeing thou art in the same condemnation? You're on the cross too, fellow.

And we indeed justly, for we receive the due reward of our deeds, we're here because we belong here.

We're here because we deserve to be here. But this man has done nothing amiss.

And when he said unto Jesus, Lord, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom.

And Jesus said unto him, Verily I say unto thee, today shalt thou be with me in paradise.

So Jesus is gonna die this day, and so is the thief. And the thief that asked for Jesus to remember him is going to be in the presence of Jesus immediately upon his death.

Second Corinthians confirms that. Second Corinthians five, verse eight.

We are confident, I say, and willing rather to be absent from the body, that's to say be dead, and be present with the

Lord. So he says, it's better for me if I were dead, because I would then be with the Lord. And in Philippians he verifies that.

I'm a dire strait between two. Having a desire to depart, he wishes he were dead, and to be with Christ, which is far better.

He says, I would be better off if I were dead and with Christ. Than alive on the earth doing

Christ's will. But he is perfectly willing to do Christ's will, and stay on the earth, and do the things he needs to do, until it's time for him to leave.

MacArthur goes on to say, and the presence of Moses and Elijah on the Mount of Transfiguration, relies the notion that they were confined in some compartment of Sheol, until Christ finished his work.

Christ hadn't finished his work at the time of the Mount of Transfiguration, but Elijah was on the earth, as was

Moses, to meet with Jesus on the mountain. In any case, we're gonna go back now to Luke 16, and pick it up at verse 24.

And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me. Send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water and cool my tongue, for I am tormented in this way.

So now he's ready to have contact with Lazarus. Now here's some things you need to know.

The rich man was in torment, and he knew he was in torment. He could experience the pain of the torment.

He was aware that he was in torment. He was also aware that Abraham was not in torment, nor was

Lazarus. But he still seemed to view Lazarus as an inferior to him.

He still seems to view Lazarus as a servant to him, because he asked

Abraham to send Lazarus to bring some water to him, that it might quench his tongue. Low enough to be a servant, but not so low as to preclude him from taking a drop of water from Lazarus' finger to cool his tongue.

Something that would have been unthinkable while they were both alive. But Abraham said, son, he's talking to the rich man, remember thou in thy lifetime receiveth thy good things, and likewise

Lazarus evil things. But now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.

And besides all this, between us and you, there is a great gulf fixed, so that they which would pass from hence to you cannot.

Neither can they pass unto us that would come from this.

He's saying their assignment's permanent. You're not assigned to heaven one minute and to hell the next minute.

You're not assigned to heaven, I'm sorry, you're not assigned to hell, and there be some events that can take place on the earth that can change your assignment from heaven to hell.

And there's nothing that can change your assignment from hell to heaven. I think I got that all cluttered up.

There's nothing that can be done to change your assignment. If you're assigned to heaven, you'll remain in heaven.

If you're assigned to hell, you'll remain in hell. And there's nothing at this point that can be done about it.

Did I get it clear enough that time? That kind of belies the idea of praying one's relatives out of purgatory, doesn't it?

I was not gonna bring that up, but it just kind of happened. Some have been assigned to heaven, and some have been assigned to hell.

So then the rich man goes on to say, then said he, I would pray thee therefore, father, thou would send him to my father's house.

Now, why in the world would he do that? Why would the rich man pray to Abraham that he would send

Lazarus to the rich man's father's house? He doesn't want his family to go through this.

He doesn't want his family to go through what he went through. He has now come to terms with the fact that he is there forever, but he has five brothers.

And he doesn't want them to go to the same place he is.

Well, he says it in the next verse. For I have five brethren that he, that's

Lazarus, the man that they saw and knew, the beggar at the gate of his house,

I have five brethren that he may testify unto them, lest they also come into this place of torment.

So he has some compassion for his brothers. He's not a totally, I guess he is.

We're all totally depraved. I'm not one to even say that. He is totally depraved. Not only does the rich man see and recognize

Lazarus and Abraham in heaven, he is also aware of his five brothers that are on earth.

So when someone is in heaven or hell, they are aware of the people that remain behind on the earth.

Abraham said unto him, they have Moses and the prophets. Let them hear them.

And he said, nay, father Abraham, but if one went unto them from the dead, they would repent.

He's thinking, if Lazarus comes from the dead and speaks to my brothers, then they will understand how serious this is and maybe they will change.

And Abraham says back to him. And he said to him,

Abraham said to the rich man, if they hear not Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded, though one rose from the dead.

Now, that's the end of chapter 16 and the story of Lazarus and the rich man.

But we're not through because we're going to look at another Lazarus.

It's also the sequel that Jesus rose from the dead and they don't listen to him either. The one that Jesus rose from the dead and they don't listen to him either.

That's exactly right. What I said was interestingly enough, another man named

Lazarus did rise from the dead. And what was the response of the chief priest and the

Pharisees? It was to kill Jesus. So we're going to take a little time and explore the story of this

Lazarus. So we're going to do two Lazaruses today. The one we just talked about and this one.

Now, there was a nice, this is John chapter 11, verse one.

John chapter 11, verse one. I'll give you a chance to get there because we'll stay here for the rest of the time that I have.

Can I ask one more question, Lord Bill? Yes. Yes. What, a minute ago when you gave those three verses, it was, you know, the point was that when someone dies they're immediately in the presence of God.

Remember those three? Yeah, I'm going back to look at them. So what, I forgot, I must have missed kind of what got into those three.

Was that a John MacArthur, part of the John MacArthur commentary of the reason why he thinks that that's a parable?

No, this is part of his commentary about the difference between hell in the sense that the rabbis viewed it and hell in the sense that it really is.

And what they thought is, it was a holding place for the two. The good guys were in one holding place, the bad guys in another holding place and they stayed there until the

Lord summons them or put them in the place they belong. But what he was saying is, when a person dies he doesn't go into a holding place.

He goes immediately into the presence of God. Well see, the reason I ask is because, the reason

I ask is because I was under the impression that before, you know,

Christ died and stuff, it was the way the old rabbis thought, which is where there was a holding place, one for the good, one for the bad.

And so I was just, I was just interested because of that, I thought that's where those went. But the verses that he was using to kind of say otherwise,

I thought were interesting because, one, that the very first one, where Jesus was on the cross, the reason why

I think that still doesn't necessarily mean that the thief on the cross went directly to what we now know as heaven, is because when

Jesus, and again, this is the way I viewed it, like the way that I thought it happened, was when

Jesus was saying, today you'll be with me in paradise is, you know, Jesus, after he died on the cross, which was the same day that the thief would have died on the cross, he went down to this place,

Abraham's bosom, with him. So that's the paradise where the thief on the cross went along with Jesus while he ministered to the

Old Testament saints before, you know, Christ went and turned the judgment seat to the mercy seat and ushered them all into heaven.

And then the other two verses were both, were both later on in the New Testament after Christ had died anyway.

Does that make sense? Am I making any sense at all? Yes, and I'm not totally 100 % convinced either that that was not the case in the

Old Testament. Although I do believe that in the Old Testament, they went straight into heaven and that Adam's, Abraham's bosom was a euphemism for that.

But I may be wrong about that. And it's not necessary that they be one here and one there to be able to look across and see.

They can look across time and across space and see. And I think that's what it is, but I'm not certain.

Well, the only reason I brought it up because I'm not saying I'm certain either, but just those three particular verses that MacArthur is using,

I just, I felt like they weren't necessarily proof of the otherwise because one of them, you know, was before, like I always pictured the thief going with Jesus to paradise, which is what

I pictured Abraham's bosom being. And then the other two were after the cross.

So I think, yes, they would have, it makes sense that they would go straight to heaven after that. Well, one of, and I apologize.

I thought I was talking to Dave Huber instead of Ben. Oh. And that's why when you were making, I didn't want you doing because I thought

I was talking to a different person. I totally apologize. Oh, you were making hand signals. Yeah, yeah.

Yeah, okay. Now I understand you were saying, it is me that you're talking to. Yeah, now in both, in every case,

I'm sorry, in the case on the cross, Jesus was not, had not gone and presented his blood on the mercy seat.

So he had not yet atoned for the sins. So the fact that the thief on the cross was promised that that day he would be with Jesus in paradise would fit here,

I think. Okay? Okay. And again, it may not be totally,

I may not be totally accurate on that. I haven't thought all of that through. I do know that,

I was aware of the passage in Peter that said he went down into the pit and talked to the clarion victory, but I didn't really dwell on that.

Okay, so now we're back to the other Lazarus. And a certain man was sick named

Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.

It was that Mary which had anointed the Lord with ornament and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother

Lazarus was sick. Therefore his sister sent unto him saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.

When Jesus heard that, he said, this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the son of God might be glorified thereby.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.

Now, why do you think Jesus didn't hurry back? To demonstrate the glory of God?

And how is he gonna do that? By letting him die and then raising him from the dead.

And he's gonna let him lay there dead for how many days? Well, three is the normal day, but he's gonna let him lay there four days.

One for good measure. One just to make sure everybody understands that he's not just dead, he's just not good and dead.

He is dead and far gone. He is four days in the grave. We'll see that in a minute. What I said is, maybe

Jesus didn't need to hurry back. Then after that, he said unto his disciples, let us go into Judea again.

And his disciples said unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee.

And goest thou thither again? And Jesus answered, are there not 12 hours in the day?

If any man walk in the day, he stumble if not, because he seeth the light of this world.

Now that confused me. I didn't understand what that was doing here anyhow.

So what is that doing there? Well, John MacArthur explained that to me as well. During the light of the sun, most people did their work safely.

If it were daylight, you could do what you did, and you could do it safely. When darkness came, they stopped.

So the old proverb was kind of like this. They make hay while the sun shines.

Do what you gotta do in the daylight where you can see to do it, for the night time comes when you can't do your work.

But here, the saying has a deeper meaning. As long as the sun, as long as Jesus, the son of God, performed his father's will.

Now, how long would he do that? How long would Jesus perform his father's will?

All the time. He never failed once to perform his father's will. Not even when the father's will was that he died.

That is to say, during the daylight period of his ministry, when he is able to work, he was safe.

There was nothing that anybody could do. The Jews seeking to stone him didn't make a bit of difference.

He is not going to die by stoning of the Jews. There've been many a time earlier than this when he was in the midst of them, and they sought to kill him, and they just walked through their midst, and they couldn't see him.

He is perfectly, 100 % safe until his duty, until his deeds that he is assigned to the earth to do are finished.

He's kind of like Stonewall Jackson was, who rode the white horse and charged back and forth across the enemy lines.

And they said, aren't you afraid that somebody will shoot you? And he said, my day is the day that the

Lord assigns me to die. And when that happens, I'll die. And until then, I can't. A few days later, he was shot and killed, not by the enemy shooting at him, but by a misfire of one of his own men.

That was the Lord's way of shortening the Civil War, I believe. But in any case, that's neither here nor there.

As long as Jesus was doing the will of God, he was perfectly safe until the work was done.

Now, MacArthur goes on to say, the time would soon come, the night time, when by God's design, his earthly work would end.

And he, that is Jesus, would stumble in death. Jesus was stressing that as long as he was on the earth doing

God's will, even at this late time in his ministry, he would safely complete

God's purposes. That's what this is in there for, to give us assurance that if we're doing

God's will, we will last as long as the Lord wants us here to do his will. And when he gets through with us, he'll take us home to what

Paul said was a better place. And we'll go immediately there to him. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbles, because there is no light in him.

These things said he, and after that he saith unto them, our friend

Lazarus sleepeth, but I go that I might wake him out of the sleep. Then said his disciples,

Lord, if he sleep, he will do well. They're saying, if he's asleep, he's resting, he'll get better. How be it

Jesus spake of his death, Lazarus' death. But they thought that he had spoken of taking a rest and sleep.

So then Jesus tells them plainly. Then said Jesus unto them plainly,

Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there. Now, brother

Huber, Dave senior, why is he glad that he was not there? It would not have shown the glory of God.

He was glad that he was not there so that they can witness the glory of God. Why do you think they need to witness that right now?

Why do you think that the disciples need to witness the glory of God right now? In a week, in less than a week,

Jesus is gonna be on the cross and they're gonna need all the strength they can summons, all the faith they can summons, and you will see that they falter for a bit, but they don't falter forever.

So let's go on. So why was he glad for your sakes that I was not there?

He was glad that he was not there so that they could see the miracle and that their faith would be strengthened for the coming days.

To the intent that ye may believe, nevertheless, let us go unto him. Now, this

I thought was so ironic. Then saith Thomas, which is called

Didymus. You know which Thomas this is? This is the Thomas that we refer to as Doubting Thomas.

Unto his fellow disciples, let us go also, that we may die with him.

Doubting Thomas, ready to go to his death, full of bravado now, but in a few days, he, like Peter, and all the other disciples except John, will flee.

They will desert Jesus for a time, but only for a time, because the grain has been planted in them, the faith has been strengthened, and they will return to Jesus.

They can't help but return to Jesus because they belong to Jesus. Then when

Jesus came, he found them that had laid in the grave four days already, four days. Now, Bethany was nigh unto

Jerusalem, about 15 furlongs off, that's about two miles, and many of the

Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. It was not far to walk down from Jerusalem to Bethany, and so they did, and they were comforting

Mary and Martha. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him, but Mary sat still in the house.

Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died, but I know that even now whatsoever thou wilt, ask of God, God will give it to thee.

And Jesus said unto her, thy brother shall rise again. And she misunderstood, and Mary, Martha said unto him,

Lord, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last time. And Jesus said to her,

I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, shall yet live, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.

Believest thou this? And she said unto him, yea, Lord, I believe that thou art the

Christ, the Son of God, which should come unto the world. And when she had so said, she went away and called

Mary her sister secretly, saying, the master's come and calleth for thee.

So she goes, tells her sister, and they both head out. As soon as she,

Mary, heard that, she arose quickly and came unto him. Now, Jesus was not yet come into town, but was in that place where Martha had met him.

Now, look at verse 31. The Jews, then, which were with her in the house, with Mary in the house, and comforted her when they saw

Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, she goeth unto the grave to weep there.

Then when Mary was come where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying unto him,

Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. Exact same words that Martha said.

When Jesus, therefore, saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping, which came with her, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled.

And he said, where have you laid him? And they said unto him, Lord, come and see.

And Jesus wept. Now, why is Jesus weeping? He's weeping out of consideration and compassion on all the

Jews and Martha and Mary who were weeping. Then said the

Jews, behold, how he loved him. And some of them said, could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, that even this man should not have died?

Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that not even this man should have died?

They're saying, if only he'd have been here, the man wouldn't have died. And the answer is he could have if he wanted to, but he didn't want to because he wanted him to die so they could raise him to the dead so that the disciples and they could see the miracle.

Not only did the close disciples see the miracle, but all these Jews that are comforting Mary saw the disciples saw the miracle as well.

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

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 has been dead four days. She didn't want the grave opened.

And Jesus said unto her, said I not unto thee that if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God?

Okay, so then they take away the stone from the place where the dead lay.

And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.

Put a little qualifier on here. And I knew that thou hearest me always, but because the people would stand by,

I said that they may believe that thou hast sent me.

And when he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.

And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with grave cloths.

And his face was bound about with a napkin. And Jesus said unto them, loose him, that he may go.

Now, Brother Otis always would say, if he hadn't called Lazarus by name, everybody would have come out of the grave.

And I don't know whether that's true or not, or whether the Lord could have directed that only Lazarus come out of the grave.

But in any case, that's what Brother Otis said, and I thought that was kind of cute. And I thought I'd throw that in. That's free for nothing.

And many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which

Jesus did, believed on him. It says many. It doesn't say all.

What did the rest do? But some of them went their way to the Pharisees, and told them what things

Jesus had done. Then gathered the chief priests and the Pharisees of counsel, and said, watch, do we, for this man doeth many miracles.

And if we let him alone, all the men will believe on him, and the Romans shall take away both our place and our nation.

The real concern was not the nation or the place, it was that they would lose their power. And one of them named

Caiaphas, being the high priest that same year, said unto them, ye know nothing at all, nor consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and that the whole nation perish not.

This he spake not of himself, but being a high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for that nation, and not that nation only, but also that he should gather together all the children, in one, all the children of God that were scattered abroad, all the nations.

Then from that day forth, they took counsel together for how to put him to death. Okay, having been informed of the miracle that Jesus did, their first reaction is to seek a way to put

Jesus to death, and therefore Jesus walked no more openly among the Jews, but went thence into a country near the wilderness, into a city called

Ephraim, and there continued with his disciples. I want to scroll down just a little bit, because I told you at one point that they also conspired to kill

Lazarus, and I'm gonna go down to Luke, John, rather, chapter 12, verse nine.

Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there, and they came not for Jesus' sake only.

I'm gonna try that again. Much people of the Jews therefore knew that he was there, and they came not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might see

Lazarus also, whom he had raised from the dead. So many people came to see

Jesus, some to see Jesus, but not to see Jesus only, but also to see

Lazarus that Jesus had raised from the dead. So now the religious leaders have two problems, Jesus and Lazarus, and their solution, to kill them both.

But the chief priest consulted that they might put Lazarus also to death, because by that reason, many of the

Jews went away and believed on Jesus. So they were concerned that too many people were believing on Jesus, and they had to do away with Jesus and Lazarus, and they were successful in killing

Jesus, but not successful in killing the cause. So I've run over,

I'm going to close with a quick word of prayer. Most gracious Heavenly Father, thank you for this day, and thank you for all our many blessings.

Thank you for giving us this understanding, your understanding. Thank you for providing us voice of the

Holy Spirit. Go with us today, go throughout all the services. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.