back to index2021-04-17 Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life
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As you guys know, we had a very busy week this week, starting from Palm Sunday. 00:00:09.520 |
We were walking through the last day of Jesus' life on earth before he goes to the cross. 00:00:17.960 |
We went through devotions of what Jesus did, cleansing the temple and cursing the fig tree. 00:00:23.840 |
Tuesday we got together and we ran through what Jesus was teaching, the condemnation 00:00:28.480 |
of the leaders of Israel, and a warning and giving hope to the disciples about his second 00:00:35.000 |
Thursday, Wednesday, we talked about the betrayal and the preparation for Judas to betray Christ. 00:00:46.960 |
The Passover meal was celebrated to prepare us for what happened on Friday morning when 00:00:56.480 |
Early this morning we had the early rise service together and now we'll continue in our service 00:01:05.720 |
All throughout the world this morning, in different time zones, all the believers in 00:01:10.480 |
Christ in various denominations have gathered together and are continuing to gather together 00:01:18.120 |
Every Sunday is important, but especially this Sunday, because our faith rises and falls 00:01:23.960 |
based on the validity of the historical resurrection of Jesus Christ. 00:01:33.760 |
In 1 Corinthians 15, 17, 19 it says, "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith 00:01:39.720 |
You are still in your sins, and those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. 00:01:44.920 |
If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are all men most to be pitied." 00:01:49.040 |
Again, this is coming straight from the Bible. 00:01:52.160 |
If somehow you're able to emphatically disprove that the resurrection did not take place, 00:02:05.740 |
You know, we'd be very concerned if a family member came back and said that they joined 00:02:10.220 |
some cult and they're making these requirements on their life and we would do everything in 00:02:17.840 |
If the resurrection didn't take place, we're nothing but a cult. 00:02:26.700 |
But if the resurrection did happen, what does that mean? 00:02:30.580 |
This morning, my goal is not to exposit and to give you an apologetics information about 00:02:41.920 |
If you are interested, we have maybe about 15 of these books, "Who Moved the Stone?" 00:02:47.420 |
And it kind of gives a journalistic perspective of digging through the proof of the resurrection, 00:02:54.260 |
why it is reasonable to believe that Jesus was actually resurrected from the dead. 00:03:01.780 |
So after the service, if you are interested in getting one of these, the first 15 that 00:03:05.800 |
runs over there and gets it, okay, let's see who's really hungry for God and let's see 00:03:18.400 |
So after the service, there is a table that's set up there from the outreach team, and they 00:03:23.420 |
have another book that they're going to give you about the gospel, and it gives a clear 00:03:28.400 |
presentation of the gospel along with this book. 00:03:32.900 |
So if you get out there first, they'll give you one. 00:03:35.140 |
And Pastor Mark and our outreach team will be out there, and they'll be explaining. 00:03:40.640 |
If you have any questions, if you come here because a friend or family member has invited 00:03:44.860 |
you and you have some questions to ask, Pastor Mark and the team will be able to give you 00:03:49.940 |
a brief presentation and then answer any kind of questions that you have. 00:03:55.580 |
But this morning, my goal is not to get into the information in this book, but to take 00:04:02.260 |
some time to walk through John chapter 11, because the foreshadowing of why Jesus had 00:04:08.220 |
to die and be resurrected is stated clearly in this text in John chapter 11. 00:04:13.660 |
This event takes place a few days before he actually gets into Jerusalem. 00:04:17.860 |
And so what he does with the raising of Lazarus, he spells out that this is the reason why 00:04:24.780 |
So let me pray for us, and then we'll jump into the text afterwards. 00:04:28.940 |
Heavenly Father, we pray for the anointing of your Holy Spirit that we may more than 00:04:36.700 |
just understand the facts, but that your Spirit would illumine us, that we may see a greater 00:04:44.480 |
glimpse of the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ. 00:04:48.940 |
That as the scripture says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," that 00:04:54.100 |
that glory may be restored, that we may be able to worship you in spirit and in truth. 00:04:59.180 |
So we pray for your anointing and your Spirit's power. 00:05:04.500 |
So let's begin in John chapter 11 verse 1, which kind of sets up the background behind 00:05:12.380 |
It says, "Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany." 00:05:15.980 |
Bethany is about two miles away from Jerusalem. 00:05:18.580 |
And he says, "Lazarus was sick, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 00:05:25.420 |
It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother 00:05:31.060 |
So the sisters sent word to him, saying, 'Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick.'" 00:05:35.940 |
So first and foremost, the background that is set up before here is that this is not 00:05:41.580 |
Lazarus, Mary, and Martha are very prominent figures in the New Testament. 00:05:46.300 |
Martha, if you remember in Luke chapter 10, is the one who is running around and trying 00:05:55.200 |
And Mary is the one in John chapter 12 who anoints Jesus' feet with the oil and wipes 00:06:02.520 |
it off with her own hair, which would have been a humiliating act for a woman to do for 00:06:09.640 |
But she is known for that, not knowing that possibly that she is anointing him for his 00:06:15.800 |
So it repeats several times that Jesus loved this family. 00:06:22.920 |
So Jesus, obviously, was very gracious and generous and he healed many people, but in 00:06:28.600 |
particular here he said this is a family that he loved, had an intimate relationship and 00:06:35.200 |
It says in verse 4, "But when Jesus heard this, he said, 'This sickness is not to end 00:06:40.440 |
in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.'" 00:06:46.180 |
Now again, I want to highlight that Jesus is not surprised by this news. 00:06:50.520 |
You would think that if they said that this is a family that he loves, Mary, Martha, and 00:06:57.400 |
Now they didn't just come to him because he was sick and had a cold. 00:07:00.520 |
Where Jesus was on the other side of Jordan would have been at least one day's journey, 00:07:05.760 |
which means that the people who came to tell Jesus about Lazarus' sickness thought that 00:07:10.720 |
this was serious enough that they would have to travel a whole day's journey just to tell 00:07:19.280 |
Thinking that if you tell him it's Lazarus, it's Mary and Martha's brother, that he would 00:07:24.840 |
But Jesus' response here is he is not surprised. 00:07:31.580 |
This is not going to end in death, but for God's glory. 00:07:37.040 |
Jesus is not shocked, he's not surprised, he doesn't react. 00:07:39.760 |
He says this is God ordained and he calms them down. 00:07:42.240 |
And in verse 5, and I want you to pay very close attention to what he says in verse 5 00:07:47.200 |
and 6, because if you don't dissect this passage, you're going to miss a huge part of what's 00:07:54.320 |
Verse 5, "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, so when he heard that he was 00:08:01.240 |
sick, he then stayed two days longer in the place where he was." 00:08:11.000 |
He says, it emphasizes that he loved Martha, her sister, Lazarus. 00:08:20.800 |
But he doesn't say, but rather, instead of jumping, he says, "because he loved them," 00:08:29.720 |
"So when he heard that he was sick, he then stayed two days longer in the place where 00:08:34.680 |
So you would think that if there's an emphasis that Jesus really loved them, so that you 00:08:40.320 |
would think he got up, quickly packed up his bag, whatever he was doing, he dropped and 00:08:46.160 |
That's what you would think would happen, especially after emphasizing how close they 00:08:52.880 |
But he says he loved them, and because he loved them, he says, he stayed two more days. 00:09:00.240 |
In other words, just like he said in the previous word, this is God ordained. 00:09:10.120 |
Our natural inclination is to think that when hardship and difficulty comes, that maybe 00:09:20.840 |
I remember as a young Christian, when I first became a Christian, even when I stubbed my 00:09:25.320 |
toe, my first thought was, what did I do wrong? 00:09:33.620 |
Something would happen, or I'd get a flat tire, or I'd get pulled over by the police, 00:09:42.280 |
The first thought was, did I not do quiet time today? 00:09:50.840 |
How many of you, when you are stuck in a situation, or sadness, or difficulty, or something seems 00:09:54.840 |
to go wrong, the first thought that comes to your mind, maybe, am I not living obedient? 00:10:08.260 |
But here it says, He allowed them to experience this pain, this sorrow, this death. 00:10:25.620 |
When you study the book of Job, we study the suffering. 00:10:28.560 |
Typically, whenever somebody wants to give a sermon about suffering, we go into the book 00:10:33.100 |
of Job, because this man has suffered more than any average person would understand. 00:10:43.640 |
Because in the book of Job, the beginning starts by saying, here's this righteous man. 00:10:49.440 |
That you survey all the land, and this righteous man stands out among all the others. 00:10:55.320 |
And because of his righteousness, he gets targeted. 00:11:03.680 |
Because of the love of God, he got targeted, and he experienced all the suffering in his 00:11:08.720 |
We have a natural tendency to think that when something goes wrong, that if we, maybe the 00:11:14.960 |
circumstance can be fixed, if we do this, if I pray hard enough, we can come out of 00:11:18.320 |
here not realizing that sometimes God leads us into hardship because He loves us. 00:11:26.300 |
That hardship may be there because He loves us. 00:11:29.920 |
You see, in verse 7, it says, "Then after this, He said to His disciples, 'Let us go 00:11:37.060 |
The disciples said to Him, 'Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you. 00:11:43.980 |
Jesus answered, 'Are there not twelve hours in a day? 00:11:46.540 |
If anyone walks in a day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 00:11:51.220 |
But if anyone walks in the light, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.'" 00:11:59.540 |
They're concerned because right before in chapter 10, the Jews were ready to kill him. 00:12:05.760 |
And the epicenter of where their power is, is near that area. 00:12:11.340 |
And if we go to Judea, if we go to where they are, you're making yourself an easy target. 00:12:19.580 |
And Jesus says, "Well, if you walk in the light, there's twelve hours in a day. 00:12:22.460 |
If anyone walks in the light, you're not going to stumble." 00:12:27.780 |
Was He telling His disciples that, "Don't worry, you're not going to get harmed"? 00:12:33.900 |
Remember, Jesus kept on repeatedly telling His disciples that He was going to get harmed. 00:12:40.740 |
That He said, "If we go to that area, He's going to get captured. 00:12:45.940 |
And then He's going to be tortured and crucified on the cross." 00:12:51.460 |
So when He says here, "If we go to that area, you're not going to stumble." 00:12:56.740 |
It means that if you walk in the light, even if hardship comes, you don't need to worry. 00:13:05.920 |
Even if the storm comes, you don't need to worry. 00:13:08.680 |
As long as you are walking with Me, as long as you are in the light, I have you. 00:13:15.020 |
Whether you live or die, whether you suffer, whether it ends in illness or whatever may 00:13:20.540 |
happen, as long as you're in the light, you're good. 00:13:24.860 |
Our natural tendency is to think if we're sick and God heals us, praise God. 00:13:31.620 |
If we have financial problems and finances appear, God is blessing us. 00:13:37.260 |
So our natural instinct is when the storm comes to look for the calm. 00:13:42.500 |
But sometimes when we anchor in Christ, it is right in the middle of the storm. 00:13:48.740 |
Our tendency is to look for the calm waters and to run to the calm waters, not knowing 00:13:54.540 |
that the calm waters may take you deeper into the ocean where you may die. 00:14:07.860 |
Let's say as an example, if you're in Disneyland and several million people have gathered, 00:14:11.900 |
which is what it feels like when you go in there, right? 00:14:14.980 |
And something happens and all of a sudden there's an emergency and you hear a gunshot, 00:14:21.140 |
And you're preparing your children for chaos to come. 00:14:25.260 |
Would you tell your children, those of you who raise young children or right now you 00:14:29.140 |
have young children with you and you go to Disneyland, and if that happens, do you tell 00:14:48.900 |
And you do exactly what I tell you to do, especially when there is chaos. 00:14:54.500 |
Because in their natural instinct to survive, they may run toward danger. 00:15:03.460 |
So especially when the storm comes, especially when trouble comes, you say, you stick with 00:15:10.400 |
You come and grab my hands and do not let go until I lead you out. 00:15:14.940 |
See, Jesus is telling his disciples that storm is coming. 00:15:24.060 |
They're going to crucify me and you guys are going to all scatter and they're going to 00:15:28.220 |
But as long as you are in the light, don't worry. 00:15:33.580 |
Our natural tendency is to think that if we go toward calm waters, we're safe. 00:15:40.360 |
If we're sad, we change the circumstance that makes us happy. 00:15:45.100 |
If we're ill, God is blessing us when we are healthy. 00:15:50.560 |
But here it says he's leading them into this. 00:15:53.400 |
He stays two days longer for that purpose because he had a reason. 00:15:59.040 |
In verse 11 he says, "This he said, and after he said this to them, 'Our friend Lazarus 00:16:04.440 |
has fallen asleep, but I go so that I may awaken him out of sleep.'" 00:16:09.400 |
Now again, you know, the disciples, if you guys know who Three Stooges is, right? 00:16:17.640 |
The disciples sometimes look like Three Stooges, right? 00:16:22.680 |
And Peter is Mo, he's the leader of the three, right? 00:16:27.600 |
Okay, those guys who don't know who Three Stooges is, it's completely going over your 00:16:34.600 |
One of the reasons why Chuck Colson, again, another person you may or may not know, he 00:16:39.200 |
was one of my favorite authors when I was younger, and he said the reason why he came 00:16:43.320 |
to faith was because as he was studying the Bible, so much of the resurrection and the 00:16:49.200 |
account in the gospels makes the disciples look like fools. 00:16:54.200 |
And some people say that I can't believe the Bible because the disciples basically made 00:16:58.760 |
this story up so that they can benefit from this story. 00:17:01.680 |
And he said, after reading the account, he said, if that was their purpose, they did 00:17:07.000 |
a really poor job because in every account, they look like a bunch of fools. 00:17:12.640 |
Not only did they not believe him, when Jesus was resurrected, they didn't even go to check. 00:17:18.160 |
And when the ladies went to check and they came back and told, they said, "I can't believe 00:17:26.760 |
The disciples didn't understand what Jesus was saying. 00:17:30.520 |
In verse 12, the disciple then said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." 00:17:36.280 |
Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought he was speaking of literal sleep. 00:17:43.680 |
So Jesus then said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead." 00:17:51.520 |
In our account, it just writes it very plainly, right? 00:17:55.800 |
But you can imagine, Jesus probably just didn't say, "He's dead." 00:18:03.200 |
Well, if he's asleep, he's going to awake, so don't worry about it. 00:18:05.760 |
And you can imagine Jesus going, "Ugh, he's dead." 00:18:14.920 |
I mean, they just, they're listening, but they're not understanding through this whole 00:18:21.560 |
But Jesus makes it very clear, verse 15, "I am glad for your sake that I was not there, 00:18:31.320 |
Now that's the first and the most clearest reason that he gives how and why this is happening, 00:18:39.540 |
Now as Christians, the greatest asset that you and I have is not our wealth, is not our 00:18:47.600 |
families, is not our health, is not the citizenship in the United States, is not the ability to 00:19:00.640 |
Our greatest asset is what connects us to the living God, is our faith, because faith 00:19:10.760 |
And so you can imagine your wildest dream is trivial in the sight of our God. 00:19:16.860 |
So whatever gives us the greatest access to this God is our greatest asset. 00:19:22.640 |
So even if it causes sorrow, if it causes us to have greater faith, that's where we 00:19:31.160 |
See Jesus was leading them deliberately into this great sorrow, into this great pain, and 00:19:42.720 |
And he says the reason why he was doing that is to increase their faith. 00:19:47.900 |
Because when their faith is increased, all other problems are solved in the name of God. 00:19:54.600 |
Verse 17 he says, "So when Jesus came, he found that he had already been in the tomb 00:20:00.720 |
He was already in the tomb for four days because he didn't come immediately. 00:20:05.720 |
Now you guys know that in the Bible, number three is the number of confirmation. 00:20:10.840 |
So whenever you say you need to have confirmation, make sure there's confirmed by two or three. 00:20:15.760 |
Jesus died and he resurrected on the third day for that reason. 00:20:23.100 |
Now what's interesting here is that the Jews didn't take much time to bury somebody because 00:20:29.240 |
obviously they didn't have involvement or they couldn't afford it. 00:20:34.120 |
And so if the dead body is just lying there, especially in the heat, it would start to 00:20:40.340 |
So immediately within 24 hours they would bury the dead. 00:20:45.680 |
So if he's been dead for four days, most likely he's been in the grave for at least three 00:20:50.240 |
Later on it says when Jesus tells Lazarus to come out, in the King James it says they 00:21:00.560 |
That's a literal translation in the King James. 00:21:15.060 |
Jesus deliberately waits until there is no hope. 00:21:20.580 |
He says in verse 21, Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would 00:21:28.540 |
Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you." 00:21:31.540 |
Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 00:21:34.260 |
Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." 00:21:38.740 |
See, Martha believed what many of the other Jews believed, that there is some sort of 00:21:43.380 |
resurrection that's going to take place at the end. 00:21:45.600 |
And not understanding what Jesus was saying, knowing that Lazarus has already been in the 00:21:50.020 |
grave for three days and dead for four, he said, "You must be talking about that, that 00:21:56.020 |
And in response to that, he makes this crystal clear why he's doing what he's doing. 00:22:02.300 |
Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. 00:22:07.180 |
He who believes in me will live even if he dies. 00:22:12.300 |
And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. 00:22:18.820 |
She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, even 00:22:25.020 |
Now, many of you probably already recognize that confession. 00:22:29.260 |
Because Jesus asked this question of Peter with the disciples, "Who do men say that I 00:22:33.740 |
And then he says, "Peter, who do you say that I am?" 00:22:35.820 |
And Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." 00:22:47.740 |
But the question that Jesus is asking is not simply a belief. 00:22:53.820 |
Because he goes directly in and he says, "Do you believe that I am the resurrection and 00:23:03.620 |
He's not asking, "Do you believe that I can give you life?" 00:23:06.940 |
He's not asking, "Do you believe that if you follow me that I'm going to direct you to 00:23:16.940 |
That if you believe in me, even if you die, you will live. 00:23:23.260 |
So the question that he poses to Martha is the same question that he poses to all people. 00:23:34.020 |
Not if you come to Jesus that he's going to answer your prayers and that you're going 00:23:52.900 |
When Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but 00:24:03.300 |
So all the "I am" statements are things that people are placing hope through Jesus for 00:24:13.580 |
See this is a question that has to be answered. 00:24:18.100 |
Look at the impact of Jesus' resurrection for the last 2,000 years. 00:24:33.420 |
There's no historical event that has had even somewhere anywhere near the impact that the 00:24:42.300 |
So either this is the biggest deception of human history or if it is true, it is the 00:24:51.420 |
biggest decision that every human being must be asked. 00:24:59.820 |
Either you answer this question, "No, I don't believe this. 00:25:06.820 |
And that you would shun the church and do your best to get everybody out of the church 00:25:12.540 |
because every minute that you spend at church is not only a waste of time, it is detrimental 00:25:18.780 |
Because what you hear from the pulpit, from the Word of God, completely contradicts everything 00:25:26.300 |
You send your children to be educated so that they can have a good life, make good investments, 00:25:32.180 |
do proper things so that they can make something of themselves in this world. 00:25:37.460 |
And then you come to church and Jesus says, "He who seeks his life will lose it. 00:25:42.340 |
He who loses his life for my sake will find it." 00:25:44.820 |
You cannot serve mammon and God at the same time. 00:25:47.480 |
If you want to come follow me, deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow me. 00:25:52.780 |
So if you do not believe this, every second that you spend here, every person that you 00:25:58.060 |
invite here, every single penny that you spend here is to hurt humanity. 00:26:10.500 |
If you do believe this, that means everything that is taught outside of this world is to 00:26:19.300 |
Because it contradicts what Jesus says, contradicts what we learn. 00:26:22.620 |
The basic principles of how to live in this world is contradicted by the Word of God. 00:26:31.540 |
But the most foolish thing to do is to hear it and say, "Not yet." 00:26:40.580 |
I want to try to hold on to both as long as I can. 00:26:44.340 |
And just kind of live your life not committed one way or the other. 00:26:49.900 |
But the question that Jesus asks demands an answer. 00:26:54.140 |
Do you believe that Jesus is the resurrection and Jesus is the life? 00:27:00.740 |
How you answer that will change not only this life, but eternity. 00:27:05.780 |
In 1 Corinthians 15, 53 to 56, it says, "For the perishable must put on the imperishable, 00:27:13.820 |
But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have 00:27:17.540 |
put on the immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, 'Death is swallowed 00:27:37.380 |
The young ones were in their 60s and the older ones were in their 80s. 00:27:41.340 |
And so I taught one lesson for five years because they keep forgetting. 00:27:47.300 |
I would teach this one lesson for three months and then I would revisit and it's like, "Hello, 00:27:52.900 |
And then it was like they never heard it before. 00:27:58.180 |
My Korean improved because I had to teach it in Korean. 00:28:01.580 |
But there's something that I noticed in that group, that the Christians and non-Christians 00:28:06.780 |
were very distinct in the way that they approached death. 00:28:10.660 |
There was a senior citizen apartment that was maybe about a half a block walk there. 00:28:16.220 |
So every time I pulled up to the parking lot, about twice a week I would see an ambulance 00:28:22.900 |
And so initially I didn't know what it was, but after a while I realized that the ambulance 00:28:27.220 |
was picking up people who passed away that night. 00:28:30.700 |
And obviously as a young man, I was I think in my mid-30s at that time, and I would come 00:28:35.780 |
up there and they would walk into the classroom and some of the ladies would, most of them 00:28:41.380 |
were ladies, would come in and say, "Oh, another one went." 00:28:47.220 |
I woke up this morning, "When is it my turn?" 00:28:51.100 |
And again, as a young person, I'm like, "Well, that's morbid. 00:28:54.980 |
Every day I'm hearing, 'When am I going to die? 00:29:02.800 |
She spent all day, all she did all day was copy the Bible. 00:29:09.700 |
She had a pen and paper and she had her Korean Bible open and all day she just copied it 00:29:15.860 |
And I don't even know how much she remembered this, but just, that's all she did all day. 00:29:20.540 |
I found out that when she was younger, she just got married and as a newlywed, the Korean 00:29:29.300 |
And when the Korean War broke out, her husband got dragged into the North Korean Army and 00:29:35.660 |
So she didn't know, she doesn't know if she survived this in North Korea or he died, but 00:29:46.260 |
She never got married and she committed her life to Christ. 00:29:51.980 |
So every time she would come in, she would be the most morbid. 00:29:56.580 |
But the interesting thing was every time she said that, she had a big smile on her face. 00:30:05.160 |
And then I saw some of the non-Christians every morning. 00:30:10.540 |
Every morning we saw that ambulance there, they would walk into the classroom, dead silent, 00:30:22.540 |
Every time they saw that ambulance and they dreaded living in that apartment because the 00:30:26.940 |
ambulance would come a couple times a week to pick up somebody. 00:30:31.500 |
And I couldn't even bring it up because they were so afraid. 00:30:40.500 |
And after I realized, wow, these people who believed in Christ and had hope in Jesus, 00:30:46.900 |
especially that lady, she was eagerly waiting. 00:30:58.660 |
Versus somebody who did not believe, was fearful. 00:31:04.700 |
That everything that they've pursued in their life, is it over with this? 00:31:11.060 |
Jesus said he came to give life and to give this life abundantly. 00:31:19.140 |
"Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw him and fell at his feet, saying to 00:31:24.420 |
him, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.' 00:31:29.020 |
When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he 00:31:33.940 |
was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, 'Where have you laid him?' 00:31:54.000 |
He created this because he didn't come in time. 00:31:56.700 |
He said this is not going to end in his death. 00:32:01.660 |
Because he loved them, he stayed a few more days and waited for her, waited for him to 00:32:07.460 |
die so that he would show up after four days of him being dead. 00:32:11.740 |
And now that he's in front of his tomb, he's about to raise him. 00:32:22.540 |
When she was born, when she was a little girl, if anybody was sad, she would be sad. 00:32:28.900 |
So we would, you know, I don't know if you had babies like that. 00:32:31.020 |
We would hold her in our arm and if you just pretend like you're crying, and you turn around, 00:32:39.280 |
Or if she thought that in any way that I was kind of upset with Esther, she would start 00:32:44.840 |
She would look at my expression and she would tear up. 00:32:50.780 |
Like everything that he was planning to do is for the glory of God. 00:32:55.540 |
And he's about to raise Lazarus, but because they were crying, he just started crying with 00:33:06.860 |
In fact, the term for he was deeply moved, literally in the Greek, it means he was stirred 00:33:18.040 |
The word for troubled, literally in the Greek dictionary said he was agitated. 00:33:24.960 |
In fact, the word for Jesus wept, the word wept here is a different Greek word than the 00:33:30.640 |
word that is used here to describe Mary and Martha and the Jews. 00:33:39.040 |
The word kleio basically means to publicly lament. 00:33:41.880 |
It was a public demonstration where they couldn't hold back and they were just crying out loud. 00:33:47.320 |
The word that is used to describe Jesus weeping is dakruo. 00:33:54.480 |
That same word, dakruo, is only used in one other place in Luke chapter 1941 when Jesus 00:34:00.360 |
is entering into Jerusalem where there's a huge party going on, but Jesus wept it says 00:34:07.120 |
because he saw them because the judgment was coming. 00:34:11.040 |
If you only knew what would bring you peace, but because you did not recognize the day 00:34:16.000 |
of peace that was coming, he said, judgment is coming. 00:34:21.200 |
And because of this judgment, it says he teared. 00:34:25.040 |
There's a reason why a majority of them did not see him crying. 00:34:28.200 |
It says they went on with their celebration because Jesus was saddened, agitated, possibly 00:34:39.840 |
I do not think that Jesus was crying simply because he was crying along with them. 00:34:46.240 |
See, the scripture says that when man rebels against God, the result of that sin is death. 00:34:57.300 |
And death is the most tangible evidence of man's rebellion because the Bible says in 00:35:04.480 |
Jesus is standing before them weeping and crying, or the people who are weeping and 00:35:09.780 |
crying because it is evidence of the judgment upon mankind. 00:35:16.480 |
See, Jesus did not come and suffer and humiliated and endure the excruciating pain of the cross 00:35:25.460 |
simply because he was obligated, because God the Father told him to do so, and because 00:35:34.600 |
I lay it down on my own accord, and I take it up on my own accord. 00:35:45.640 |
The Bible says that he is a sympathetic high priest. 00:35:57.760 |
You know, when you go through hardship and the pain is so deep, sometimes words seem 00:36:15.740 |
They want to encourage you, but sometimes when you're in deep sorrow, words cannot justify 00:36:26.640 |
The people who really love you sometimes just come and weeps with you, and then they weep 00:36:33.880 |
I believe that Jesus is weeping because he sees the result of sin, and their weeping 00:36:43.480 |
See, Psalm chapter 103, 10-13, he says, "He does not deal with us according to our sins, 00:36:51.160 |
For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those 00:36:56.980 |
As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. 00:37:01.360 |
As far as father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who 00:37:10.100 |
He came toward us because he has compassion for us. 00:37:15.800 |
Sometimes we envision a God who is distant, just legally, judicially, he's making things 00:37:24.120 |
and opening the door and say, "Hey, make sure this is what God desires. 00:37:26.960 |
You want to glorify God, make sure you obey him and do this and that." 00:37:30.800 |
But the Bible describes Christ as the perfect image of God the Father, and he is a sympathetic 00:37:37.360 |
high priest who weeps for us, weeps for mankind. 00:37:43.120 |
In fact, in Matthew 9, 36-38, Jesus seeing the people, he felt compassion for them because 00:37:50.240 |
they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. 00:37:54.120 |
Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." 00:37:57.200 |
Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest. 00:38:02.360 |
Oftentimes we think of the Great Commission raising up disciples as a duty that we ought 00:38:07.320 |
to carry out, which is true because the Bible says so. 00:38:11.080 |
But the primary reason why he turned to his disciples to pray and to beseech, to beg the 00:38:17.480 |
Lord of the harvest to send out more workers is because he had compassion for them, because 00:38:23.640 |
he was broken for them, because he was weeping for them. 00:38:28.560 |
I don't believe that that was the first time Jesus wept. 00:38:32.640 |
I believe that Jesus was weeping the whole time he was on earth because he was able to 00:38:39.440 |
see firsthand in human form what the result of sin looked like. 00:38:51.360 |
Matthew 14, 14, when he went ashore and he saw the great crowd and he had compassion 00:39:00.240 |
The Bible says in order so that people can see his power and recognize who he is. 00:39:08.540 |
But immediately in that context, he said it was because he had compassion for them. 00:39:22.560 |
Matthew 15, 32, "Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 'I have compassion on the 00:39:27.720 |
crowd because they have been with me for three days and have nothing to eat, and I am unwilling 00:39:32.200 |
to send them away hungry lest they faint on the way.'" 00:39:37.440 |
Most public miracle and as a result of his feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000, Jesus 00:39:47.920 |
But instead of being angry, he said he had compassion. 00:39:58.580 |
And yet he cared enough, had compassion enough to feed them before they went. 00:40:10.400 |
Our natural tendency is that when we see ugliness, we try to move away from that. 00:40:16.860 |
Right now we have this huge homeless problem in California, and it's spreading everywhere. 00:40:24.980 |
And you guys, anywhere you drive, you'll see it, some places more than others. 00:40:31.140 |
And as a result of that, there's been a movement to, "Hey, we've got to do something about 00:40:39.940 |
And so there's movements to deal with this issue. 00:40:44.920 |
It's one thing to go and to be compassionate and to care for them away from us, but when 00:40:51.260 |
it starts to come into our backyard, our natural tendency is we don't buy homes near the homeless. 00:40:58.200 |
Even if you really have a heart for mercy ministry, you don't buy homes in the middle 00:41:03.900 |
Our natural tendency is if we see ugliness, we have a tendency to move away from that. 00:41:12.780 |
The scripture says that Jesus saw our ugliness, our filth. 00:41:20.140 |
The sins that you know of, sometimes the sins that you may not even know of. 00:41:44.940 |
We have a sympathetic high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one 00:41:53.540 |
Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive 00:41:57.220 |
mercy and find grace to help in time of need. 00:42:00.500 |
You see, the motivation behind the invitation to come to God isn't simply that the door 00:42:15.940 |
He wants you to come so that he can help you. 00:42:26.620 |
So Jesus again, being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. 00:42:32.300 |
Now it was a cave and the stone was lying against it. 00:42:38.460 |
Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench." 00:42:42.780 |
And this is where in the King James it says, "He stinketh, for he has been dead for four 00:42:49.700 |
Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of 00:42:55.500 |
Then Jesus raised his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 00:42:58.940 |
I knew that you always hear me, but because of the people standing around, I said, 'So 00:43:07.140 |
Just as he said, "I'm going to do this to increase their faith." 00:43:10.220 |
Verse 43, "When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, 00:43:17.660 |
The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was 00:43:24.860 |
Jesus said to them, 'Unbind him and let him go.' 00:43:28.180 |
Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he had done, believed in him." 00:43:52.260 |
Eventually, Lazarus will also die along with Mary, Martha, all the disciples. 00:43:58.480 |
But the point of why he resuscitated him is so that they may believe that when Jesus is 00:44:05.900 |
resurrected from the dead, that that's the true resurrection to give us hope that even 00:44:17.260 |
It is in this in John 5, 24, it says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word 00:44:22.100 |
and believes in him who sent me has eternal life. 00:44:24.880 |
He has it already and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life." 00:44:39.600 |
If you're sick, you may be healed, but eventually you will die. 00:44:46.300 |
If you are poor, you may get a job, you may have money, but eventually you will die. 00:44:53.500 |
You may have problems with relationships, you may be experiencing sorrow and rejection 00:44:57.740 |
and loneliness, and maybe all that gets taken care of, maybe by good judgment, maybe by 00:45:04.820 |
changing of circumstance, but eventually we will all die. 00:45:14.500 |
Jesus did not come so that our bellies may be full temporarily. 00:45:17.460 |
So instead of dying early, that we die late, he came that you and I may have life and have 00:45:27.660 |
And that's what he says, "If you believe this, do you believe this?" 00:45:32.100 |
Some of you were invited here this morning from friends and family because they also 00:45:37.080 |
want you to believe, because they want you to know Christ, this life that they've seen. 00:45:45.180 |
So this morning I ask you, what you heard, maybe this is not the first time you've heard 00:45:51.100 |
this, but you've never made a decision for Christ. 00:45:55.200 |
Maybe you've been hearing bits and pieces of the gospel and you don't fully understand, 00:45:58.600 |
or you may have understood and you just kind of postponed this decision. 00:46:05.120 |
Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. 00:46:08.480 |
It is the kindness of God that leads you to repentance. 00:46:12.280 |
So the fact that God's word is piercing you, that the word of God is speaking to you, that 00:46:18.520 |
in and of itself is the kindness of God that leads you to repentance. 00:46:29.200 |
If God is piercing you, come to the Lord today and ask for forgiveness. 00:46:34.840 |
He says if you confess your sins, he is faithful and just to forgive you of all your unrighteousness. 00:46:39.680 |
Today, he can unburden you of the guilt and shame that you are living with. 00:46:46.640 |
And the only remedy for that is the blood of Jesus Christ. 00:46:51.160 |
And the only way to have this new life is to believe that Jesus is the resurrection 00:47:03.680 |
Be forgiven and receive the eternal life that he promises all of us. 00:47:10.400 |
Let's take some time to pray as we invite our worship team to come. 00:47:15.120 |
Again, if you're here as a believer, take some time to pray before the Lord. 00:47:22.280 |
If you've been just kind of wishy-washy in your faith, committed one time, uncommitted 00:47:26.760 |
another, take this opportunity to really give your life to Christ, that he is worthy of 00:47:34.280 |
And ask him, "Lord, I want to worship you in spirit and in truth. 00:47:38.120 |
I want to worship you up close, not from a distance." 00:47:48.160 |
If you're here and you've never confessed your sins, you've never been forgiven of 00:48:05.060 |
Every single one of us comes to him humbled, asking for forgiveness. 00:48:12.440 |
"Lord, open my eyes, soften my heart, that I may see you and invite you in my life as 00:48:18.480 |
So let's take some time to pray again as our worship team leads us.