As you guys know, we had a very busy week this week, starting from Palm Sunday. We were walking through the last day of Jesus' life on earth before he goes to the cross. And Monday we gathered together. We went through devotions of what Jesus did, cleansing the temple and cursing the fig tree.

Tuesday we got together and we ran through what Jesus was teaching, the condemnation of the leaders of Israel, and a warning and giving hope to the disciples about his second coming. Thursday, Wednesday, we talked about the betrayal and the preparation for Judas to betray Christ. Thursday we had communion.

The Passover meal was celebrated to prepare us for what happened on Friday morning when Jesus was crucified. And so we got together on Friday night. Early this morning we had the early rise service together and now we'll continue in our service of celebrating his resurrection. This is not unique to us.

All throughout the world this morning, in different time zones, all the believers in Christ in various denominations have gathered together and are continuing to gather together to celebrate this special day. Every Sunday is important, but especially this Sunday, because our faith rises and falls based on the validity of the historical resurrection of Jesus Christ.

And this is not just us saying this. The Bible itself says that. In 1 Corinthians 15, 17, 19 it says, "And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is worthless. You are still in your sins, and those also who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have hoped in Christ in this life only, we are all men most to be pitied." Again, this is coming straight from the Bible.

If somehow you're able to emphatically disprove that the resurrection did not take place, he says we are to be pitied. Our faith is completely worthless. This is all a hoax. You know, we'd be very concerned if a family member came back and said that they joined some cult and they're making these requirements on their life and we would do everything in our power to try to thwart them from that.

If the resurrection didn't take place, we're nothing but a cult. We just have greater influence. It just means it's bigger. But if the resurrection did happen, what does that mean? This morning, my goal is not to exposit and to give you an apologetics information about the proof of the resurrection historically.

If you are interested, we have maybe about 15 of these books, "Who Moved the Stone?" And it kind of gives a journalistic perspective of digging through the proof of the resurrection, why it is reasonable to believe that Jesus was actually resurrected from the dead. And so we have 15 of these.

So after the service, if you are interested in getting one of these, the first 15 that runs over there and gets it, okay, let's see who's really hungry for God and let's see who is going to beat the other person there. So 15. So after the service, there is a table that's set up there from the outreach team, and they have another book that they're going to give you about the gospel, and it gives a clear presentation of the gospel along with this book.

Again, this one, we have a limited copy. So if you get out there first, they'll give you one. And Pastor Mark and our outreach team will be out there, and they'll be explaining. If you have any questions, if you come here because a friend or family member has invited you and you have some questions to ask, Pastor Mark and the team will be able to give you a brief presentation and then answer any kind of questions that you have.

Okay? So that's going to be at the table. But this morning, my goal is not to get into the information in this book, but to take some time to walk through John chapter 11, because the foreshadowing of why Jesus had to die and be resurrected is stated clearly in this text in John chapter 11.

This event takes place a few days before he actually gets into Jerusalem. And so what he does with the raising of Lazarus, he spells out that this is the reason why he came. So let me pray for us, and then we'll jump into the text afterwards. Heavenly Father, we pray for the anointing of your Holy Spirit that we may more than just understand the facts, but that your Spirit would illumine us, that we may see a greater glimpse of the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

That as the scripture says, "All have sinned and fall short of the glory of God," that that glory may be restored, that we may be able to worship you in spirit and in truth. So we pray for your anointing and your Spirit's power. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

So let's begin in John chapter 11 verse 1, which kind of sets up the background behind the story of his resurrection. It says, "Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany." Bethany is about two miles away from Jerusalem. And he says, "Lazarus was sick, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. So the sisters sent word to him, saying, 'Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick.'" So first and foremost, the background that is set up before here is that this is not just any family.

Lazarus, Mary, and Martha are very prominent figures in the New Testament. Martha, if you remember in Luke chapter 10, is the one who is running around and trying to take care of things. And Mary is the one in John chapter 12 who anoints Jesus' feet with the oil and wipes it off with her own hair, which would have been a humiliating act for a woman to do for anybody.

But she is known for that, not knowing that possibly that she is anointing him for his death. So it repeats several times that Jesus loved this family. So that's the background setting. So Jesus, obviously, was very gracious and generous and he healed many people, but in particular here he said this is a family that he loved, had an intimate relationship and knowledge about.

It says in verse 4, "But when Jesus heard this, he said, 'This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.'" Now again, I want to highlight that Jesus is not surprised by this news.

You would think that if they said that this is a family that he loves, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, and he's sick. Now they didn't just come to him because he was sick and had a cold. Where Jesus was on the other side of Jordan would have been at least one day's journey, which means that the people who came to tell Jesus about Lazarus' sickness thought that this was serious enough that they would have to travel a whole day's journey just to tell him to get him to come.

These are the ones you love. Thinking that if you tell him it's Lazarus, it's Mary and Martha's brother, that he would quickly come. But Jesus' response here is he is not surprised. In fact, he says this is ordained by God. This is not going to end in death, but for God's glory.

So keep that in mind. Jesus is not shocked, he's not surprised, he doesn't react. He says this is God ordained and he calms them down. And in verse 5, and I want you to pay very close attention to what he says in verse 5 and 6, because if you don't dissect this passage, you're going to miss a huge part of what's going on here.

Verse 5, "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, so when he heard that he was sick, he then stayed two days longer in the place where he was." Did you catch that? What's wrong with this text? He says, it emphasizes that he loved Martha, her sister, Lazarus.

This is the second time this is mentioned. But he doesn't say, but rather, instead of jumping, he says, "because he loved them," what does he say? "So when he heard that he was sick, he then stayed two days longer in the place where he was." So you would think that if there's an emphasis that Jesus really loved them, so that you would think he got up, quickly packed up his bag, whatever he was doing, he dropped and he ran over there.

That's what you would think would happen, especially after emphasizing how close they were to Jesus. But he says he loved them, and because he loved them, he says, he stayed two more days. In other words, just like he said in the previous word, this is God ordained. He's allowing them to experience this death.

Our natural inclination is to think that when hardship and difficulty comes, that maybe we did something wrong. I remember as a young Christian, when I first became a Christian, even when I stubbed my toe, my first thought was, what did I do wrong? I remember doing that. Something would happen, or I'd get a flat tire, or I'd get pulled over by the police, because of my exemplary driving.

The first thought was, did I not do quiet time today? Maybe I should have evangelized yesterday. That's the first thought that I had. How many of you, when you are stuck in a situation, or sadness, or difficulty, or something seems to go wrong, the first thought that comes to your mind, maybe, am I not living obedient?

Maybe I shouldn't have been so stingy. Maybe I should have done this. Maybe if I didn't sin here. But here it says, He allowed them to experience this pain, this sorrow, this death. He says, because He loved them. Because He loved them. Not despite, but because. You remember Job?

When you study the book of Job, we study the suffering. Typically, whenever somebody wants to give a sermon about suffering, we go into the book of Job, because this man has suffered more than any average person would understand. But do you remember why he suffered? Because in the book of Job, the beginning starts by saying, here's this righteous man.

That you survey all the land, and this righteous man stands out among all the others. And because of his righteousness, he gets targeted. In other words, it's because God loved him. Because of the love of God, he got targeted, and he experienced all the suffering in his life. We have a natural tendency to think that when something goes wrong, that if we, maybe the circumstance can be fixed, if we do this, if I pray hard enough, we can come out of here not realizing that sometimes God leads us into hardship because He loves us.

That hardship may be there because He loves us. You see, in verse 7, it says, "Then after this, He said to His disciples, 'Let us go to Judea again.' The disciples said to Him, 'Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you. And are you going there again?' Jesus answered, 'Are there not twelve hours in a day?

If anyone walks in a day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the light, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.'" So let's dissect this passage again. They're concerned because right before in chapter 10, the Jews were ready to kill him.

And the epicenter of where their power is, is near that area. And if we go to Judea, if we go to where they are, you're making yourself an easy target. So if we go there, they're going to harm us. And Jesus says, "Well, if you walk in the light, there's twelve hours in a day.

If anyone walks in the light, you're not going to stumble." Now what does He mean by that? Was He telling His disciples that, "Don't worry, you're not going to get harmed"? Is that what He's saying? Remember, Jesus kept on repeatedly telling His disciples that He was going to get harmed.

That He said, "If we go to that area, He's going to get captured. He's going to get beaten. And then He's going to be tortured and crucified on the cross." He told them repeatedly to prepare them. So when He says here, "If we go to that area, you're not going to stumble." What does He mean?

It means that if you walk in the light, even if hardship comes, you don't need to worry. Even if the storm comes, you don't need to worry. As long as you are walking with Me, as long as you are in the light, I have you. That's what He means.

Whether you live or die, whether you suffer, whether it ends in illness or whatever may happen, as long as you're in the light, you're good. Our natural tendency is to think if we're sick and God heals us, praise God. If we have financial problems and finances appear, God is blessing us.

So our natural instinct is when the storm comes to look for the calm. But sometimes when we anchor in Christ, it is right in the middle of the storm. Our tendency is to look for the calm waters and to run to the calm waters, not knowing that the calm waters may take you deeper into the ocean where you may die.

Let me give you another illustration. Let me use Disneyland for it. You guys know how much I love Disneyland. Let's say as an example, if you're in Disneyland and several million people have gathered, which is what it feels like when you go in there, right? And something happens and all of a sudden there's an emergency and you hear a gunshot, right?

And you're preparing your children for chaos to come. Would you tell your children, those of you who raise young children or right now you have young children with you and you go to Disneyland, and if that happens, do you tell them look for the quick exit and run? Is that what you would tell them?

You would not tell them that. What would you tell them? You grab my hand and do not let go. That's what you would tell them. And you do exactly what I tell you to do, especially when there is chaos. Because in their natural instinct to survive, they may run toward danger.

They may get themselves into real trouble. So especially when the storm comes, especially when trouble comes, you say, you stick with me. You come and grab my hands and do not let go until I lead you out. See, Jesus is telling his disciples that storm is coming. Difficulty is coming.

I told you this. They're going to capture me. They're going to crucify me and you guys are going to all scatter and they're going to come after you too. But as long as you are in the light, don't worry. Our natural tendency is to think that if we go toward calm waters, we're safe.

If we're sad, we change the circumstance that makes us happy. If we're ill, God is blessing us when we are healthy. But here it says he's leading them into this. He stays two days longer for that purpose because he had a reason. In verse 11 he says, "This he said, and after he said this to them, 'Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go so that I may awaken him out of sleep.'" Now again, you know, the disciples, if you guys know who Three Stooges is, right?

You guys know who Three Stooges is? I know some of you guys do. The disciples sometimes look like Three Stooges, right? And Peter is Mo, he's the leader of the three, right? Okay, those guys who don't know who Three Stooges is, it's completely going over your head, right? One of the reasons why Chuck Colson, again, another person you may or may not know, he was one of my favorite authors when I was younger, and he said the reason why he came to faith was because as he was studying the Bible, so much of the resurrection and the account in the gospels makes the disciples look like fools.

And some people say that I can't believe the Bible because the disciples basically made this story up so that they can benefit from this story. And he said, after reading the account, he said, if that was their purpose, they did a really poor job because in every account, they look like a bunch of fools.

Not only did they not believe him, when Jesus was resurrected, they didn't even go to check. And when the ladies went to check and they came back and told, they said, "I can't believe you." And this is all written down. The disciples didn't understand what Jesus was saying. He fell asleep.

In verse 12, the disciple then said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover." Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought he was speaking of literal sleep. So Jesus then said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead." Because they weren't getting it. You know what I mean?

In our account, it just writes it very plainly, right? But you can imagine, Jesus probably just didn't say, "He's dead." My guess is that they thought he was asleep. Well, if he's asleep, he's going to awake, so don't worry about it. And you can imagine Jesus going, "Ugh, he's dead." I mean, they just, they're listening, but they're not understanding through this whole process.

But Jesus makes it very clear, verse 15, "I am glad for your sake that I was not there, so that you may believe. Let us go to him." Now that's the first and the most clearest reason that he gives how and why this is happening, is so that you may believe.

Now as Christians, the greatest asset that you and I have is not our wealth, is not our families, is not our health, is not the citizenship in the United States, is not the ability to be able to travel or to live a long life. That's not our greatest asset.

Our greatest asset is what connects us to the living God, is our faith, because faith is what connects us to the author of life. And so you can imagine your wildest dream is trivial in the sight of our God. So whatever gives us the greatest access to this God is our greatest asset.

So even if it causes sorrow, if it causes us to have greater faith, that's where we need to be. See Jesus was leading them deliberately into this great sorrow, into this great pain, and despair, and anxiety. And he says the reason why he was doing that is to increase their faith.

Because when their faith is increased, all other problems are solved in the name of God. Verse 17 he says, "So when Jesus came, he found that he had already been in the tomb for four days." He was already in the tomb for four days because he didn't come immediately.

And he allowed that to happen. Now you guys know that in the Bible, number three is the number of confirmation. So whenever you say you need to have confirmation, make sure there's confirmed by two or three. Jesus died and he resurrected on the third day for that reason. Here he says he was there for four days.

Now what's interesting here is that the Jews didn't take much time to bury somebody because obviously they didn't have involvement or they couldn't afford it. You had to be filthy rich to do that. And so if the dead body is just lying there, especially in the heat, it would start to stink.

So immediately within 24 hours they would bury the dead. And that was the typical practice. So if he's been dead for four days, most likely he's been in the grave for at least three days. Later on it says when Jesus tells Lazarus to come out, in the King James it says they responded, "Jesus, it stinketh." That's a literal translation in the King James.

It stinketh. Meaning we've lost hope. Not only is he dead, there's no hope. It stinketh. His body is already rotted. Jesus deliberately waits until there is no hope. He says in verse 21, Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you." Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." See, Martha believed what many of the other Jews believed, that there is some sort of resurrection that's going to take place at the end.

And not understanding what Jesus was saying, knowing that Lazarus has already been in the grave for three days and dead for four, he said, "You must be talking about that, that resurrection." And in response to that, he makes this crystal clear why he's doing what he's doing. Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life.

He who believes in me will live even if he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, even he who comes into the world." Now, many of you probably already recognize that confession.

Because Jesus asked this question of Peter with the disciples, "Who do men say that I am?" And then he says, "Peter, who do you say that I am?" And Peter answered, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God." So Martha is giving the same response. You are the Christ, the Son.

But the question that Jesus is asking is not simply a belief. Because he goes directly in and he says, "Do you believe that I am the resurrection and the life? I am the resurrection and the life." He's not asking, "Do you believe that I can give you life?" He's not asking, "Do you believe that if you follow me that I'm going to direct you to life?" He's not asking that.

He says, "Do you believe I am the life? That if you believe in me, even if you die, you will live. Do you believe that?" So the question that he poses to Martha is the same question that he poses to all people. Do you believe this? Not if you come to Jesus that he's going to answer your prayers and that you're going to be healthy.

You're going to be wealthy. That your circumstance is going to change. Your family is going to change. Your marriage is going to change. Your children are going to change. He said, "Do you believe I am the life?" Not that I'm going to give you this life. When Jesus says, "I am the way, the truth, and the life, no one comes to the Father but through me." He says, "I am the way.

I am the truth." He doesn't say, "I speak the truth." He says, "I am the truth." So all the "I am" statements are things that people are placing hope through Jesus for something else. Do you believe I am? See this is a question that has to be answered. Look at the impact of Jesus' resurrection for the last 2,000 years.

Is it affected politics? It affected economy? It affected science? It affected education? It affected culture, period. There's no historical event that has had even somewhere anywhere near the impact that the resurrection of Jesus Christ has had. So either this is the biggest deception of human history or if it is true, it is the biggest decision that every human being must be asked.

Do you believe? Do you believe that Jesus is life? Either you answer this question, "No, I don't believe this. This is all just nonsense." And that you would shun the church and do your best to get everybody out of the church because every minute that you spend at church is not only a waste of time, it is detrimental to you.

Because what you hear from the pulpit, from the Word of God, completely contradicts everything you hear from outside the world. You send your children to be educated so that they can have a good life, make good investments, do proper things so that they can make something of themselves in this world.

And then you come to church and Jesus says, "He who seeks his life will lose it. He who loses his life for my sake will find it." You cannot serve mammon and God at the same time. If you want to come follow me, deny yourself, pick up your cross and follow me.

So if you do not believe this, every second that you spend here, every person that you invite here, every single penny that you spend here is to hurt humanity. Or you say, "Yes, I do believe this." If you do believe this, that means everything that is taught outside of this world is to be shunned.

Because it contradicts what Jesus says, contradicts what we learn. The basic principles of how to live in this world is contradicted by the Word of God. But the most foolish thing to do is to hear it and say, "Not yet." I don't want to make a decision, yes or no.

I want to try to hold on to both as long as I can. And just kind of live your life not committed one way or the other. But the question that Jesus asks demands an answer. Do you believe that Jesus is the resurrection and Jesus is the life? How you answer that will change not only this life, but eternity.

In 1 Corinthians 15, 53 to 56, it says, "For the perishable must put on the imperishable, and this mortal must put on immortality. But when this perishable will have put on the imperishable, and this mortal will have put on the immortality, then will come about the saying that is written, 'Death is swallowed up in victory.

O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting? The sting of death is sin.'" Years ago, I taught ESL to Korean seniors. The young ones were in their 60s and the older ones were in their 80s. And so I taught one lesson for five years because they keep forgetting.

I would teach this one lesson for three months and then I would revisit and it's like, "Hello, today is Monday." And then it was like they never heard it before. So I had a lot of fun teaching that class. My Korean improved because I had to teach it in Korean.

But there's something that I noticed in that group, that the Christians and non-Christians were very distinct in the way that they approached death. There was a senior citizen apartment that was maybe about a half a block walk there. So every time I pulled up to the parking lot, about twice a week I would see an ambulance parked outside.

And so initially I didn't know what it was, but after a while I realized that the ambulance was picking up people who passed away that night. And obviously as a young man, I was I think in my mid-30s at that time, and I would come up there and they would walk into the classroom and some of the ladies would, most of them were ladies, would come in and say, "Oh, another one went." I woke up this morning, "When is it my turn?" And again, as a young person, I'm like, "Well, that's morbid.

Every day I'm hearing, 'When am I going to die? When am I going to die?'" There was this one particular lady. She spent all day, all she did all day was copy the Bible. That's all she did. She had a pen and paper and she had her Korean Bible open and all day she just copied it word for word.

And I don't even know how much she remembered this, but just, that's all she did all day. I found out that when she was younger, she just got married and as a newlywed, the Korean War broke out. And when the Korean War broke out, her husband got dragged into the North Korean Army and she never saw him again.

So she didn't know, she doesn't know if she survived this in North Korea or he died, but she never met him again. So she lived as a widow all her life. She never got married and she committed her life to Christ. And by the time I met her, she was waiting.

So every time she would come in, she would be the most morbid. But the interesting thing was every time she said that, she had a big smile on her face. Another one went, "When's it my turn?" And then I saw some of the non-Christians every morning. Every morning we saw that ambulance there, they would walk into the classroom, dead silent, dead silent.

Because they were frightened. Every time they saw that ambulance and they dreaded living in that apartment because the ambulance would come a couple times a week to pick up somebody. And I couldn't even bring it up because they were so afraid. They didn't know what was coming. Night and day.

And after I realized, wow, these people who believed in Christ and had hope in Jesus, especially that lady, she was eagerly waiting. She suffered enough. She's waited long enough. When is it my turn? She was eager to go home. Versus somebody who did not believe, was fearful. Is this it?

That everything that they've pursued in their life, is it over with this? And what comes afterwards? Jesus said he came to give life and to give this life abundantly. But look what he says here in verse 32. "Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw him and fell at his feet, saying to him, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.' When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, and said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to him, 'Lord, come and see.' Jesus wept." The shortest verse in the Bible, Jesus wept.

Now the question is, why did Jesus weep? Remember how he got here. He created this because he didn't come in time. He said this is not going to end in his death. It's for the glory of God. Because he loved them, he stayed a few more days and waited for her, waited for him to die so that he would show up after four days of him being dead.

And now that he's in front of his tomb, he's about to raise him. Was Jesus just sympathetic? My daughter was like that. When she was born, when she was a little girl, if anybody was sad, she would be sad. So we would, you know, I don't know if you had babies like that.

We would hold her in our arm and if you just pretend like you're crying, and you turn around, she's crying too. Or if she thought that in any way that I was kind of upset with Esther, she would start to tear up. She would look at my expression and she would tear up.

Is that what's going on with Jesus? Like everything that he was planning to do is for the glory of God. He's not shocked. He deliberately waits. And he's about to raise Lazarus, but because they were crying, he just started crying with them. Is that what's happening? That is not what's happening here.

In fact, the term for he was deeply moved, literally in the Greek, it means he was stirred and possibly even angered. The word for troubled, literally in the Greek dictionary said he was agitated. In fact, the word for Jesus wept, the word wept here is a different Greek word than the word that is used here to describe Mary and Martha and the Jews.

The Jews, they wept. The word kleio is used. The word kleio basically means to publicly lament. It was a public demonstration where they couldn't hold back and they were just crying out loud. The word that is used to describe Jesus weeping is dakruo. It means he shed a tear.

That same word, dakruo, is only used in one other place in Luke chapter 1941 when Jesus is entering into Jerusalem where there's a huge party going on, but Jesus wept it says because he saw them because the judgment was coming. If you only knew what would bring you peace, but because you did not recognize the day of peace that was coming, he said, judgment is coming.

And because of this judgment, it says he teared. There's a reason why a majority of them did not see him crying. It says they went on with their celebration because Jesus was saddened, agitated, possibly even angered. And it says he cried, he wept. I do not think that Jesus was crying simply because he was crying along with them.

See, the scripture says that when man rebels against God, the result of that sin is death. And death is the most tangible evidence of man's rebellion because the Bible says in Genesis that that's what it would result in. Jesus is standing before them weeping and crying, or the people who are weeping and crying because it is evidence of the judgment upon mankind.

See, Jesus did not come and suffer and humiliated and endure the excruciating pain of the cross simply because he was obligated, because God the Father told him to do so, and because he was an obedient child, he just did it. Jesus says nobody takes my life. I lay it down on my own accord, and I take it up on my own accord.

He volunteered for this. Why did he volunteer for this? It says he wept. The Bible says that he is a sympathetic high priest. He weeps for us. He weeps for our sadness. He's sympathetic. He's compassionate. You know, when you go through hardship and the pain is so deep, sometimes words seem trivial.

They send you a card, and people mean well. They mean well. They want to encourage you, but sometimes when you're in deep sorrow, words cannot justify it. In fact, it makes your pain seem trivial. The people who really love you sometimes just come and weeps with you, and then they weep for you.

I believe that Jesus is weeping because he sees the result of sin, and their weeping causes him to weep. See, Psalm chapter 103, 10-13, he says, "He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is his steadfast love toward those who fear him.

As far as the east is from the west, so far does he remove our transgressions from us. As far as father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear him." God is compassionate toward us. He came toward us because he has compassion for us.

Sometimes we envision a God who is distant, just legally, judicially, he's making things and opening the door and say, "Hey, make sure this is what God desires. You want to glorify God, make sure you obey him and do this and that." But the Bible describes Christ as the perfect image of God the Father, and he is a sympathetic high priest who weeps for us, weeps for mankind.

In fact, in Matthew 9, 36-38, Jesus seeing the people, he felt compassion for them because they were distressed and dispirited like sheep without a shepherd. Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful, but the workers are few." Therefore, beseech the Lord of the harvest to send out workers into his harvest.

Oftentimes we think of the Great Commission raising up disciples as a duty that we ought to carry out, which is true because the Bible says so. But the primary reason why he turned to his disciples to pray and to beseech, to beg the Lord of the harvest to send out more workers is because he had compassion for them, because he was broken for them, because he was weeping for them.

I don't believe that that was the first time Jesus wept. I believe that Jesus was weeping the whole time he was on earth because he was able to see firsthand in human form what the result of sin looked like. So he became a sympathetic high priest. Matthew 14, 14, when he went ashore and he saw the great crowd and he had compassion on them and he healed their sick.

Why did he heal them? The Bible says in order so that people can see his power and recognize who he is. That's what the Bible says. But immediately in that context, he said it was because he had compassion for them. It wasn't simply a judicial act. It wasn't simply so that he could obey.

It was because he was broken for them. Matthew 15, 32, "Then Jesus called his disciples to him and said, 'I have compassion on the crowd because they have been with me for three days and have nothing to eat, and I am unwilling to send them away hungry lest they faint on the way.'" Most public miracle and as a result of his feeding of the 5,000 and the 4,000, Jesus actually gets rejected by these people.

But instead of being angry, he said he had compassion. He knew what was going to happen. He knew that they would turn on him. And yet he cared enough, had compassion enough to feed them before they went. That's our Jesus. Our natural tendency is that when we see ugliness, we try to move away from that.

Right now we have this huge homeless problem in California, and it's spreading everywhere. Doubling, tripling in number. And you guys, anywhere you drive, you'll see it, some places more than others. And as a result of that, there's been a movement to, "Hey, we've got to do something about this.

We can't have them in our backyard. We can't have them on the freeway. It's not safe for our children." And so there's movements to deal with this issue. Understandable. It's one thing to go and to be compassionate and to care for them away from us, but when it starts to come into our backyard, our natural tendency is we don't buy homes near the homeless.

Even if you really have a heart for mercy ministry, you don't buy homes in the middle of that. You've got to protect your children. Our natural tendency is if we see ugliness, we have a tendency to move away from that. The scripture says that Jesus saw our ugliness, our filth.

The sins that you know of, sometimes the sins that you may not even know of. Instead of shining us, he had compassion. I believe that's why he wept. And I believe that's why he came. I believe that's why he suffered. And I believe that's why he endured. And I believe that's why he was crucified.

We have a sympathetic high priest who is able to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who has been tempted in all things. We are yet without sin. Therefore, let us draw near with confidence to the throne of grace so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.

You see, the motivation behind the invitation to come to God isn't simply that the door is open. You got a free ticket. Get in here. He says it's because he cares. Because he's sympathetic. He understands. He's compassionate. He wants you to come so that he can help you. Verse 38.

So Jesus again, being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave and the stone was lying against it. Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench." And this is where in the King James it says, "He stinketh, for he has been dead for four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?" So they removed the stone.

Then Jesus raised his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but because of the people standing around, I said, 'So that they may believe that you sent me.'" Just as he said, "I'm going to do this to increase their faith." Verse 43, "When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out!' The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth.

Jesus said to them, 'Unbind him and let him go.' Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he had done, believed in him." Now let me ask you. Did Lazarus live forever from this point on? No, he did not. He was resuscitated for a period.

He was resuscitated for a period. He just didn't die here. Eventually, Lazarus will also die along with Mary, Martha, all the disciples. But the point of why he resuscitated him is so that they may believe that when Jesus is resurrected from the dead, that that's the true resurrection to give us hope that even when we die, we will live.

It is in this in John 5, 24, it says, "Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears my word and believes in him who sent me has eternal life. He has it already and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life." This is why we celebrate the resurrection.

This is the only hope that mankind has. If you're sick, you may be healed, but eventually you will die. If you are poor, you may get a job, you may have money, but eventually you will die. You may have problems with relationships, you may be experiencing sorrow and rejection and loneliness, and maybe all that gets taken care of, maybe by good judgment, maybe by changing of circumstance, but eventually we will all die.

Jesus did not come to temporarily heal us. Jesus did not come so that our bellies may be full temporarily. So instead of dying early, that we die late, he came that you and I may have life and have it abundantly for eternity. And that's what he says, "If you believe this, do you believe this?" Some of you were invited here this morning from friends and family because they also want you to believe, because they want you to know Christ, this life that they've seen.

So this morning I ask you, what you heard, maybe this is not the first time you've heard this, but you've never made a decision for Christ. Maybe you've been hearing bits and pieces of the gospel and you don't fully understand, or you may have understood and you just kind of postponed this decision.

Not now. Not now. Today, if you hear his voice, do not harden your heart. It is the kindness of God that leads you to repentance. So the fact that God's word is piercing you, that the word of God is speaking to you, that in and of itself is the kindness of God that leads you to repentance.

So my charge to you is do not delay. We don't know if we have tomorrow. If God is piercing you, come to the Lord today and ask for forgiveness. He says if you confess your sins, he is faithful and just to forgive you of all your unrighteousness. Today, he can unburden you of the guilt and shame that you are living with.

And the only remedy for that is the blood of Jesus Christ. And the only way to have this new life is to believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the new life. Come to the Lord this morning. Confess your sins. Be forgiven and receive the eternal life that he promises all of us.

Let's take some time to pray as we invite our worship team to come. Again, if you're here as a believer, take some time to pray before the Lord. If you've been just kind of wishy-washy in your faith, committed one time, uncommitted another, take this opportunity to really give your life to Christ, that he is worthy of my praise.

And ask him, "Lord, I want to worship you in spirit and in truth. I want to worship you up close, not from a distance." And ask the Lord to give you help. "Lord, I believe, help my unbelief." If you're here and you've never confessed your sins, you've never been forgiven of your sins, come before the Lord.

He's here. He will answer your prayers. Just confess it honestly. There is no formula. Every single one of us comes to him humbled, asking for forgiveness. And he will justify you of your sins. Take some time to come before the Lord. "Lord, open my eyes, soften my heart, that I may see you and invite you in my life as well." So let's take some time to pray again as our worship team leads us.