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An Apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God, according to the promise of life that is in Christ Jesus, to Timothy, my beloved child. Grace, mercy, and peace from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord.
I thank God whom I serve, as did my ancestors with a clear conscience, as I remember you constantly in my prayers night and day. As I remember your tears, I long to see you that I may be filled with joy.
I'm reminded of your sincere faith, a faith that dwelt first in your grandmother Lois and your mother Eunice, and now, I am sure, dwells in you as well. For this reason, I remind you to fan into flame the gift of God, which is in you through the laying on of my hands.
For God gave us a spirit not of fear, but of power and love and self-control. Therefore, do not be ashamed of the testimony about our Lord, nor of me, His prisoner, but share in suffering for the Gospel by the power of God, who saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but because of His own purpose and grace, which He gave us in Christ Jesus before the ages began, and which now has been manifested through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the Gospel, for which I was appointed a preacher and apostle and teacher, which is why I suffer as I do.
But I am not ashamed, for I know whom I have believed, and I am convinced that He is able to guard until that day what has been entrusted to me. Follow the pattern of the sound words that you have heard from me in the faith and love that are in Christ Jesus.
By the Holy Spirit who dwells within us, guard the good deposit entrusted to you. You are aware that all who are in Asia turned away from me, among who are phagellists and homogenies. May the Lord grant mercy to the household of one syphilis, for he often refreshed me and was not ashamed of my chains.
But when he arrived in Rome, he searched for me earnestly and found me. May the Lord grant him to find mercy from the Lord on that day. And you well know all the service he rendered at Ephesus. Let's pray.
Our gracious Heavenly Father, we thank you, Lord, that before creation, before the world began, you set your love upon us in Christ Jesus. Lord, we thank you for the covenant of redemption. We just thank you, Lord, that all of this is your doing.
And we pray, Lord, that we would remember that when things get difficult in our lives, that you sustain us, that our life is in you, it is in Christ Jesus. And Lord, we rejoice that we know you. We rejoice that we have a relationship with you through the Lord Jesus Christ.
And we pray, Lord, that as Paul wrote to Timothy, that we would also entrust and guard this good deposit that has been entrusted to us. We pray that we would hold fast the gospel of truth, that we would lift it up high in our lives, that we would proclaim it, that we would live it in our lives.
And we pray, Lord, that all of this would be done to your glory. So, Lord, be with us now as we open up your Word and as we continue our worship. We pray, Lord, that we would learn something new about who you are, about what you've done, and that you would help us to apply it to our lives.
Help us to live in light of your truth. Thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen.
All right, let's turn in our Bibles once again to John chapter 11. This is the second occasion that we are considering this account before us of Jesus raising Lazarus, his friend, from the dead. And although we call it a resurrection, really it was a resuscitation to life, wasn't it?
But in it, we have a beautiful portrayal of not only the resurrection of Jesus Christ himself, but also of us on the last day. Now, the narrative unit encompasses the entire chapter, all of John chapter 11.
And we set forth in introducing this episode last Sunday that there are four discernible parts in a narrative unit, say, within the gospel narratives. And these include the following. We have first an introduction or setting of the episode present.
And this was in verses one through 16, and we addressed this last Lord's Day. And the location, setting, and people are identified that will be spoken about throughout the episode. And then commonly, the second part of a narrative episode is the conflict that's set forth.
And here, the conflict is not just the death of Lazarus, but also the threat to the faith, or the troubled faith of Lazarus' sisters, Martha and Mary. And this is the bulk of the passage, verses 17 through 37.
And then we have a third portion of this narrative unit, the resolution of the conflict, which of course would be the raising of Lazarus from the dead, but also Jesus exhorting the sisters to full faith in him.
And then lastly, we have a conclusion and generally an interpretation of the event. And the result of course is great glory is given to Jesus Christ by some, and yet there's this great opposition of others, even in the presence of this great miracle that was performed.
And so again, last Lord's Day, we addressed the introduction or the setting of this episode in the first 16 verses. In those verses, we learned of the ones involved in the account beside the Lord Jesus and his disciples were Lazarus, Martha, and Mary, a brother and two sisters.
They were very good friends of Jesus. In fact, we read in verse five that Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. Lazarus, of course, had been sick, quite deathly ill apparently, for his sisters had sent for Jesus that he would come and heal their brother.
Jesus and his disciples were some distance away, at least one journey, probably two days journey from Bethany, which was just near Jerusalem. And the Lord purposely delayed his coming for two days. And it was after Lazarus had died that Jesus then purposed to travel to Bethany with his disciples.
And that Bethany, of course, was in Judea, just right at Jerusalem. And so traveling there would have brought them into great danger due to the Jewish leaders that were in Jerusalem who were hostile toward him and desired to put him to death.
And so now we arrive at the second unit, as it were, or second section of this episode. And this is, again, is the most lengthy of the four parts. And it's contained in verses 17 through 37. Today we'll address, Lord willing, verses 17 through 27.
And within this conflict stage of the narrative, you really have two dialogues. The first is a dialogue between Jesus and Martha. And then the second section of this portion of the unit is a dialogue between Jesus and Mary.
And so we'll give attention to the dialogue between Jesus and Martha today. And so here is John 11, 17 through 27. So when Jesus came, he found that he had already been in the tomb four days. Now, Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away.
And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went, we better turn on this. The lapel mic is failing up here.
But Mary was sitting in the house. And now 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 of God,.
God will give you.
And Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live.
And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? And she said to him, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, who has come into the world. And so again, this first portion of this conflict section of the narrative unit is a dialogue between Jesus and Martha concerning her brother who had died.
In verse 17, we read that Jesus arrived at Bethany. So when Jesus came, he found that he had already been in the tomb four days. It's significant that Lazarus had been in the tomb four days. This detail will become more significant as the account unfolds, but the primary significance of this detail would have confirmed to everybody present Lazarus was dead.
There was no question about it. No one would be able to deny the miracle that Jesus would perform by claiming that Lazarus had not really died. He'd been in the tomb four days. And so as one wrote, there's no room for the swoon theory here.
And of course, the Jewish leaders would do everything they could to try and refute or deny that this miracle took place. In fact, we'll see later on that the Jewish leaders even conspired to kill Lazarus because the witness of him being alive was so powerful on behalf of Jesus in that region.
But the fact that Lazarus had been in his tomb for four days served to dismiss a popular belief that was held by the Jews in that day. They thought that up until the time the body began to decay, which was after three days that the soul would hover about the body, perhaps desiring or hoping to reanimate that physical body that had been buried.
But after three days, the soul departed never to return. And apparently what would move this soul to depart, now this is Jewish myth, of course, this is what Jews believed, is that when the soul witnessed it was evident the body was decaying, that's when the soul departed finally.
And so as one explained, although raising Lazarus from the dead one day after his burial would not have been less of a miracle than after four days. Most expositors refer at this point to an idea among the Jews that for three days after death, the soul of the deceased returned to the grave and then leaving the body for good because then the process of decay became obvious.
And so four days was significant. But this detail of the body of Lazarus having been in the tomb for four days has also served to thwart and discredit the efforts of those skeptics who've attempted to explain away this miracle as being a non-miracle, that Lazarus had not really died, but that a hoax was perpetrated by the followers of Jesus in order to promote his cause.
And I've always appreciated the classic work of Alfred Edersheim, he was a Jewish man, converted to Christianity in the 19th century, and he wrote the two volume classic work, The Life and Times of Jesus, the Messiah.
And although it's a dated work, there's ones more up to date that is more full of information, nevertheless, it really yields great riches to the reader and it's online, I downloaded both volumes this week.
But in addressing the details of this episode, Edersheim also wrote of the importance that this miracle has had through history, church history, in the validation of the Christian faith. Here are Edersheim's words.
The raising of Lazarus marks the highest point, not in the manifestation, but in the ministry of our Lord. It is the climax in a history where all is miraculous, the person, life, words, and work. As regards himself, we have here the fullest evidence alike of his divinity and humanity, as regards those who witnessed it, the highest manifestation of faith and of unbelief.
Here on this height, two ways finally meet in part. From this high point, not only from the resolution of the Sanhedris, that would be the Jewish leaders, but from the raising of Lazarus, we have our first clear outlook on the death and resurrection of Christ, of which the raising of Lazarus was a typical prelude.
In other words, it pictured or portrayed or foreshadowed the death and resurrection of Christ himself. And from this height also, we have an outlook upon the gathering of the church at his empty tomb, where the precious words spoken at the grave of Lazarus receive their full meaning, till death shall be no more.
But chiefly, do we now think of it as the miracle of miracles in the history of Christ. He had indeed before this raised the dead, but it had been on far off Galilee. And in circumstances essentially different, but now it be one so well known as Lazarus at the very gates of Jerusalem in the sight of all men and amid surroundings which admitted not a mistake or doubt.
If this miracle be true, we instinctively feel all is true. Everything is true. And Spinoza, and he was a noted skeptic and denied the historicity of the Bible. Spinoza said if he could believe the raising of Lazarus, he would tear to shreds his system and humbly accept the creed of Christendom.
That's important, how important this event is. And again, the skeptics are stymied when you take into account the details of Lazarus dying, being buried in a tomb for four days. Well, next we read in verse 18 of the location of Bethany with respect to Jerusalem.
Now, Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. And it's translated that way in our English translations here in the ESV or New King James version for our better understanding. But actually in the Greek text, the distances is quite detailed, quite precise.
Bethany was 15 stadia from Jerusalem. That would have been a Roman measurement. One stadion in English measurement was 202 yards and nine inches. That's how precise their measurement was. And so 15 stadia was 1 .72 miles from Jerusalem.
It's mentioned about two miles, which is a truism of course. We then read of what was taking place with respect to the two sisters of Lazarus and the others that were still mourning his death. And so verse 19 records, and many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother.
What may be gleaned from the details of verses 18 and 19, Donald Carson, I think said it well. The implication is that the many Jews who came to comfort Martha and Mary were from Jerusalem, which in turn suggests the family was rather prominent.
Although comforting the bereaved was almost universally regarded as a religious and social responsibility, not every villager would have been consoled by many Jews from the nearby city. The same suggestion of prominence is supported by the expense of the perfume lavished on Jesus by Mary.
That's in the next chapter, John 12. The many Jews become witnesses of the resurrection of Lazarus. Mention of the proximity of Jerusalem also heightens the reader's awareness of the immense risks Jesus is taking by coming so close to the capital and thus anticipates death.
And so the reader of the gospel understands the peril that Jesus and his disciples were encountering by making this trip to the town of his friends. I think it betrays, of course, the great affection he had for his friends and concern that he had for the sisters as well as for Lazarus himself.
We read that the sisters learned that their friend Jesus was coming and Martha immediately went to him while Mary stayed at home. That's an interesting detail. Verse 20, then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him and Mary was sitting at the house.
It would seem that their personalities were different. Oftentimes you have that, sisters say in one family. Martha seemed to be more active and maybe more assertive than her sister Mary. I think that was suggested in the account we read last week in Luke chapter 10.
Martha was encumbered by serving while Mary sat at the feet of Jesus. And Jesus said that Mary had chosen the better part. I appreciated what Matthew Henry wrote about these sisters and their natural tempers and how the natural temper of Martha served her well in one situation, but not so well in another.
And the same with Mary. Her temper served her well in Luke chapter 10, but not necessarily well here in John chapter 11. This is interesting. Look at this. Comparing this story with that of Luke 10, 38, we may observe the different tempers of these two sisters and the temptations and advantages of each.
Martha's natural temper was active and busy. She loved to be here and there and at the end of everything. And this had been a snare to her when by it she was not only careful and encumbered about many things, but hindered from the exercise of devotion.
That was of course referenced to Luke chapter 10. But now in a day of affliction, this active temper did her a kindness, kept the grief from her heart and made her forward to meet Christ. And so she received comfort from him the sooner.
In other words, the sooner than Mary. On the other hand, Mary's natural temper was contemplative and reserved. This had been formally an advantage to her when it placed her at Christ's feet to hear his word and enabled her there to attend upon him without those distractions with which Martha was encumbered.
But now in the day of affliction, that same temper proved a snare to her, to Mary. Made her less able to grapple with her grief and disposed her to melancholy. But Mary sat still in the house. And then Matthew Henry made this application.
See here how much it will be our wisdom carefully to watch against the temptations and improve the advantages of our natural temper. We tend to be different, don't we? And we act and react to different situations.
And some of us may rise to some situation where we may have others rise better in other situations. Now we read that when Martha approached Jesus, she expressed a note of sorrow as well as giving forth a word of faith and hope.
Verse 21. Now Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Her first comment to Jesus seems to express a measure of regret and sorrow. She knows that Jesus could have prevented Lazarus from dying.
And so we see in this first statement, there was an expression of faith. She knew and believed Jesus could have healed her brother of whatever it was that afflicted him and had brought death to him. And so she had faith in the power of Jesus to heal her brother of his sickness.
She also had faith in the pity of Jesus that he would be willing to come and raise up her brother. And yet her words also reveal a weakness in her faith. She thought that it was too late. For although Jesus could have prevented his death, once death had occurred, particularly after he'd been buried for four days, it was now past possibility.
It did not occur to her that Jesus might even now have the power to raise her brother from the dead. As one wrote, Martha, in her complaint, looked back reflecting with regret that Christ was not there.
For then, thinks she, my brother would now be alive. Now listen to this. We are apt in such cases to add to our own trouble by fancying what might have been. When I read that, several individuals came to mind, not necessarily in this church, but are plagued because of events in the past and that's what they're looking to rather than looking forward to the promises that God has given us in Christ with respect to the future.
And Matthew Henry pointed this out. Some add to their own trouble by fancying what might have been. Christ directs Martha and us in her to look forward and to think what shall be for that is a certainty and yields sure comfort.
Thy brother will rise again. Note, it's a matter of comfort to us when we buried our godly friends in relations to think that they shall rise again as the soul at death is not lost but gone before so the body is not lost but laid up.
Think you hear Christ saying, thy parent, thy child, thy yoke fellow shall rise again. These dry bones shall live. That's a good word of counsel, by the way, when you're attempting to help those that are grieving greatly over their loss.
Look to the promises of God and the certainty of what will take place in the future. Now Martha's statement to Jesus need not be understood as a veiled rebuke of him. Jesus, if you'd only been here, this wouldn't have happened.
We shouldn't think perhaps in those ways although a casual reading of Martha's statement might suggest that. Rather, on the whole, as one wrote, it's more likely that her remark expressed regret rather than rebuke and I think that's right.
It had probably echoed what she and Mary said often to each other over the previous few days. If only Jesus could have been here, our brother wouldn't have died. But notice Martha addresses Jesus as Lord.
Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died. And in this context, she's not confessing Jesus as God but rather as master. She's confessing that she is his disciple and that Jesus is her master.
Now verse 22 is somewhat enigmatic. Again it reads, but even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. What was Martha saying by this statement? It may seem at first, reading that Martha was affirming she knew that Jesus was able to raise her brother from the dead even then and there.
If you'd been here, you could have healed him, he wouldn't have died, but even now I know whatever you ask of God, God will grant to you. But it's clear she wasn't anticipating or thinking that Jesus could raise her brother from the dead.
And later in the passage, that becomes quite clear. For when Jesus tells the people to roll the stone away.
Of whom it was said he and Isaac should be called,.