Tanilba Bay Baptist Church
Worship

      • John 11:1–7NIV2011

      • John 11:17–27NIV2011

      • John 11:38–44NIV2011

  • Death and Life

    It has been said that death is the second most feared thing for most people. Apparently, public speaking is actually the most feared thing, so I guess at a funeral, people would rather be in the casket than giving the eulogy.
    But we’ll leave public speaking aside for today. You see, as we think about death, I suspect the reason it is so feared is because we have such a limited understanding of life.
    We have this earthly existence, and that’s it.
    And so many people come up with the so-called ‘bucket list’ It’s the list of things that we want to do before we die.
    You might have places you want to visit on the list - like visiting Europe, or Uluru.
    Perhaps there are things you want to achieve - like owning your own home, or learning to play an instrument.
    Or perhaps on the list, you might want to put something like, repair the broken relationship with my brother.
    Now, there might not be anything inherently wrong with a bucket list, it can be good to set goals. However, there is a sense in which a bucket list becomes a way of making life become about your achievements. It gives our life a sense of meaning or of purpose.
    The interesting thing is, what if you actually finish everything on your bucket list? Then what? Does it mean you’ve got nothing else to live for? You could add more things to the list, but wouldn’t that just make a mockery of the concept. It’s not really a bucket list, it’s just a list to keep yourself occupied.
    Now, the reality is, you start thinking this way and it’s not long before you find yourself in an existential crisis.
    But an existential crisis can almost seem inevitable when you realise the life story of everyone is the same. You’re born. You grow up and achieve a bunch of stuff. Then you die.
    Does it really matter how much you do or don’t achieve?
    I wonder if rather than being scare of death, we’re actually scared of our life not meaning anything.
    Today’s story is going to involve death. It’s also going to involve coming back to life. Our first instinct might be to marvel at the one who can bring people back to life. And we’ll be right to marvel at this - it truly is extraordinary.
    But yet, as we dig a little deeper, we’ll see that we’re going to learn more than just some nice lessons about the supernatural powers of Jesus. The aspect that I want to draw out of it today, is to find a new perspective on life.
    Actually, it’s more than just a perspective on life… it’s a paradigm shift on what life is.
    It’s a shift that many of you have taken, where we find life in Christ, but yet often we lose sight of it and think of life in this worldly context only. So whether it’s the case of fully grasping the life Jesus has already given you, or for some, perhaps taking a hold of it for the first time, this morning I want you to be thinking about what it is that you are striving towards in life.

    Lazarus

    Okay, so let’s dive into the story.
    Chapter 11 introduces us to Lazarus, who has two sister, Martha and Mary.
    Jesus developed a very special relationship with these people. They lived near Jerusalem, and there’s actually evidence that they were quite a wealthy family although we’re not exactly told how they had gained their wealth.
    Well, Lazarus falls sick, and they recognise it is serious, because they call for Jesus who is now about a two days journey from them.
    In verse 4, the scene quickly shifts to the place Jesus is at. He’s now heard the news, and the first thing we recognise, is the fact that Jesus knows how the whole thing is going to play out.
    You know, we come to this story knowing how it all plays out. Even if you didn’t know it before, our bible reading earlier let’s you know exactly what is going to happen. Well, it’s almost as if Jesus has also read ahead and knows the ending.
    Of course, we’re seeing some of the divine aspects of Jesus. When he declares to his disciples in verse 4 that the illness is not going to end in death but that God’s glory would be demonstrated, and the Son’s glory through that, Jesus is making a statement as God, the one who knows all things.
    Well, despite the fact that Jesus loves Lazarus, he chooses to stay where he was for two more days, and it would seem the reason is obvious, particularly once we see how it ends. You see, by staying away for these extra two days, it will become without a doubt, a miracle that will be able to have no other explanation, then that it was directly from God.
    But more on that in a moment.
    You see, we get this little interchange between Jesus and his disciples.
    Jesus talks about Lazarus being asleep, and I think he’s using deliberately ambiguous language. Why? Well, he’s starting to get the disciples thinking about life and death and how this fits in the bigger picture of what Jesus is doing.
    So much so, that in verse 16, we find Thomas ready to march off into death. It might be a bit premature at this point, but I think he’s starting to see… this earthly life is not everything.
    Well, by the time Jesus arrives, which is in verse 17, we find that Lazarus has now been dead for 4 days.
    There is significance to this, and it’s what I alluded to earlier when I suggested why Jesus delayed his departure by two days.
    You see, we have evidence from Rabbinical writings from around this time, that there was a belief that a persons spirit hung around them for about three days after their death. The point was that there was always an opportunity that if circumstances changed, they might revive themselves. By four days, however, decomposition would start to set in, and at this point, the spirit recognises there is no hope of return, and the spirit moves on.
    Now, I’m not suggesting that is actually what happens. What I am suggesting is that in the minds of those witnessing this event, this is most likely the way they were thinking. If the deceased came back to life within three days, while still miraculous and amazing, there would always be the thought - well, maybe the spirit just decided to re-enter the body for whatever reason. If you wait four days, in the minds of those witnessing the event, there can be no doubt in their mind… this is not some spirit making a decision, this can only be the work of the creator who is the author of all life. There is no other explanation.

    With Martha

    Well, as Jesus arrives, it is Martha who comes out to meet Jesus.
    Now, let me just remind you of a story about Mary and Martha that many of you will be familiar with. It’s found in Luke 10:38-41 and it involves Jesus coming to the home of Mary and Martha. Martha remained busy trying to prepare for Jesus, while Mary sat at the feet of Jesus, much to the disdain of Martha.
    In that story, Martha was concerned with life in the here and now, whereas Jesus told her she should have been more concerned with what Jesus had to offer.
    So, how does she figure this time?
    Actually, I think you would have to say she goes quite well.
    As she goes out to meet him she says: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died”.
    And yet, she does not seem to have lost all hope. She knows that God can give Jesus whatever he asks for.
    We then get another interesting little interchange. On the surface of it all, it would seem that they are speaking cross-purposes like we see on a number of other occasions. But maybe they’re more on the same page that first meets the eye.
    You see, Jesus says: “Your brother will rise again”
    And Martha thinks - aha, he must be talking about the resurrection at the last day, that is, when we all get to heaven.
    Now, if you think back to some of the conversations throughout this series where Jesus has been misunderstood… you might think of Jesus telling Nicodemus he needs to be born again… or Jesus telling the Woman at the Well that he could draw her Living Water… on those occasions, they had taken Jesus literally, whereas Jesus was talking about a deeper spiritual meaning.
    Well, here Martha’s actually taking the deeper spiritual meaning, but knowing how this story plays out, on this occasion Jesus actually has a more literal meaning.
    But Jesus doesn’t correct her, at least, not entirely. And I’m going to suggest, that’s not just because he’s being polite.
    That’s because, Jesus is about to give us a paradigm shift in how to think about life.

    I am the resurrection and the life

    You see, in response to Martha putting the focus on the resurrection on the last day, Jesus then declares: “I am the resurrection and the life”.
    Now, grammatically, that might sound a little odd. Perhaps we might expect: “I am the one who brings about resurrection” or maybe “I am the one who will be resurrected”. Or in regards to life: “I am the one who creates life”.
    Rather, he is linking his identity and these aspects in a more fundamental and direct way.
    Resurrection is the process of going from death to life. Jesus is not just the one that makes this happen. Jesus personifies this process.
    Jesus is not just the one who changes how we understand life, he is life itself.
    Sometimes we see Jesus as our ticket to heaven. But I want to suggest it’s deeper than that.
    When we believe in Jesus (and by believe I mean more than just an intellectual acknowledgement, I mean a trust in), our life actually fundamentally alters. Doctors and scientists might not be able to measure it (or at least, not easily), but something changes in our spirit. Our outlook of the world changes. Our attitude towards others change. Our desires and thoughts change. Our soul is brought to life.
    Our heart might stop beating. Our brain waves might stop doing whatever brain waves do. We might lay our earthly bodies to rest. But we never die. Because when we understand Jesus as the resurrection and life, life becomes more than the scientists and doctors understand it to be.
    Jesus asks Martha - do you believe this?
    “Yes Lord” she replied. And you know what… I think on one level she did. She accepted Jesus as the resurrection and the life, and everything changed for her.
    This is actually the most important part in this whole chapter. We get mesmerized by the miracle that is about to happen, and look, that’s understandable, but the real power of this story is that Jesus reveals himself as the resurrection and the life, and we know that we have access this to us now.
    But the story does go on, so let’s just follow that now.

    Emotions

    In the next part of the story, Jesus then talks with Mary.
    Mary actually starts in a similar way to her sister Martha, telling Jesus that if he had been here earlier, her brother wouldn’t have died.
    But this time, rather than the conversation he had with Martha, verse 33 tells us that he saw he tears.
    Sometimes when we over-intellectualize things, it can be easy to think emotions are not important.
    You know, it can be an odd thing… it was only a few weeks ago when I was working with a family for a funeral. As I met with the family, as you might expect tears came and they started to apologise. Almost as if they should be keeping it together as tear… I don’t know… are some kind of weakness.
    Emotions are not something to be ashamed of.
    In fact, as Jesus see her, he becomes emotional himself.
    The NIV here in verse 33 describes Jesus as being deeply moved in spirit and troubled. It has been suggested that the Greek actually implies something much stronger than what is implied there. There is an anger welling up inside of Jesus.
    This culminates in verse 35, which is often cited as the shortest verse in the Bible: “Jesus wept”.
    So why this troubled spirit in Jesus, and these tear from him?
    After all, Jesus knows what is about to happen, so why is he having these emotional responses?
    I want to suggest it’s because this world is not as it should be.
    It’s not the physical death that upsets him. It’s that people around him are spiritually dead. They don’t get it. Jesus is the resurrection and the life, and yet they don’t see it.
    Do you ever weep for the lost world around you?
    Does it trouble you?
    It troubled Jesus. It gave him a righteous anger.

    The Miracle

    Well, this brings us to the miracle itself.
    In some ways, I’ve been arguing that the miracle should take second seat to our understanding of Jesus as the resurrection and the life… but yet the miracle is the proof that when Jesus says this, he is not just saying some mere sentimental words that aim to take our eyes of the reality of physical death - because Jesus has power over physical life.
    I might have argued that the life we find in Jesus is more than just the physical life that a doctor or scientist might describe, but it includes this physical life as well. The physical life you have is the life you have because Jesus has given it to you.
    Jesus is about to prove that he has power over this life.
    He asks for the stone to be rolled away from the tomb.
    He then prays - although the prayer is actually one of thanks, knowing that the Father has already heard him and that he will answer.
    And then in a loud voice, he calls out Lazarus. “Lazarus, come out!”
    It must have been a bizarre site. The cloth around him is still on him. But there he is. The man who had been dead for four days, is now alive.
    Jesus is the resurrection and the life, and he has just proved it.
    We might not witness a miracle of this sort of magnitude, yet we can know Jesus as the resurrection and the life.

    Continued trouble

    As you look at verse 45 to the end of the chapter, I do just want to really briefly highlight the trouble that came on Jesus after this event.
    The important thing for us to note in this, is that finding new life in Jesus does not mean that we avoid struggles in this life-time. It would be nice if I could say that once you accept Jesus, all your troubles fade away to nothing - but this would be a lie.
    Jesus experienced trouble, and so will we.

    Application

    So before I wrap up, I just want to give a little further insight into what this means for us.
    You see, I’ve been arguing that this passage shows for us that there is a different kind of life available to us. Not just life that Jesus gives us access to… but life that is found in the person of Jesus Christ.
    But what does this mean?
    Well, first and foremost, it means that we need to be focusing on Jesus. We need to be trusting in him for all things. We need to see how he fits into every part of our lives, because if Jesus is life, then he is part of everything we do.
    For some, this might mean making that commitment to Jesus for the first time.
    However, for many of us who have already made this commitment, it is also a call to examine our lives and see if we’re compartmentalizing Jesus. You see it’s easy to become a Sunday Christian. We turn up at Church and we’re all Christ like. But then the rest of the week Jesus hardly features at all.
    He should be with us at all times.
    You can access the life Jesus provides right now. Allow him to take control.

    Conclusion

    The other great aspect of this story is that it anticipates what we’re about to celebrate in just two weeks. The resurrection of Jesus following his brutal death on a cross.
    The one we will look on at Easter will be fundamentally different. Whereas this miracle in John 11 proves the power of Jesus, the resurrection of Jesus will become the first resurrection into the new body. But we’ll explore that more on the day.
    For now, I want you just to marvel at the life that you have already been given. A life that is not only made possible by Jesus, but is actually life in Jesus.
    And this is available to you now.
    Let me pray...
Tanilba Bay Baptist Church
secretary.tbbc@gmail.com
+6149823022
http://www.tanilbabaybaptistchurch.com
9 members