We'll be dealing, Lord willing, with six on the subject of Christ before the Bethany. As we recall, that is where Lazarus was from and Mary and Martha, his sisters, And if we recall the fact that this is what is leading up to the resurrection of Lazarus who was sick and he had, if you recall, had already died by the time that the messenger reached Jesus about his critical physical condition. You know, we think about death and We've thought about it many, many times and probably need to think about it more in so many ways, not to be morbid, but just for the fact that we're going to die, we don't know when, and we are to give an account to our creator. But it's disturbing for most people. It's upsetting. And it is something people don't like to think about. And this is especially true because we have no control over it at all. We don't have any control about when or how we die. You know, God's in control of all that, and it cannot be ultimately stopped by mankind. Ecclesiastes 8 says, there is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit, neither hath he power in the day of death And there is no discharge in that war, neither shall wickedness deliver those that are given to it. You can no more grab the wind and tell it which way to go than to stop the hour of death when it is our time. What's more frightening is that we do not know when that may happen to us. Job 14 tells us in verse 1 and 2, man is born of woman is of trouble. He cometh forth like a flower and is cut down. He fleeth also as a shadow and continueth Not all we're told is it's not very long as we compare it to eternity It's not long at all and the psalmist says in Psalm 90 verse 10 the days of our years are three score and 10 or 70 years on average and If by reason of strength, they'd be four score years Yet is her strength labor and sorrow For it is soon cut off And we fly away. I mentioned there was a children's home. I think it was Brother Pack and I were trying to remember some names. Fairly well known, but we couldn't remember their names. And it's like, soon that'll be the same with us. 100 years from now, people won't even know we existed or didn't know our struggles and our troubles and the things that we did. And it's very humbling when you think about that, that that's really the way it is. And we have to realize and be humbled by it. Because after all, the Bible tells us in Hebrews 9, 27, that there's an appointment with death. You can't be late for that appointment. and try to reschedule it. You can't just decide not to make that up. It's going to come whether we like it, whether we're ready or not. Solomon said in Ecclesiastes 2.18, yea, I hated all my labor which I had taken under the sun, because I should leave it unto the man that shall be after me. And who knoweth whether he shall be a wise man or a fool? Yet shall he have rule over all my labor wherein I have labored and wherein I have showed myself wise unto the sun. This is also vanity. You can't take it with you when you die. All your accomplishments, achievements, and all the things that you did, all the material gain that you may have gotten in this life, it will not be, we're not going to take it with us. It won't do us any good. Job chapter 1 verse 21 says, naked came I out of my mother's womb, naked shall I return thither. The Lord gave and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord. And the phrase I meant to take, can't take it with you, is really derived from 1 Timothy 6, 7, for we brought nothing into this world and it is certain We can carry nothing out. So what do we say to somebody who, just by their actions, act like that they're going to take it with them? As they hold it with a white knuckle grip. Well, God says to such people, in Luke chapter 12 and verse 20, But God said unto him, the guy who's going to build bigger barns and all this kind of stuff, thou fool, this night thy soul shall be required of thee. Then who shall those things be which thou hast provided? They won't be yours. But the good news is, is that those who are in the hands of the great and good shepherd who believe on Jesus Christ are delivered from death. I deliver from death's death grip. And so death is not the end of our hopes and dreams. if we're believers in Jesus Christ. We can even face death with joyful anticipation because we're going to be with our best friend, our Lord Jesus Christ, without any sin in our lives. To be with the one that is the resurrection and the life, and who is our resurrection and life. So, the fact that Jesus resurrected Lazarus from the dead was a definite demonstration of Christ having power over death. And, like we said last time, the purpose of it was to strengthen the disciples. and this miracle, allowing Lazarus to die, and then also, of course, the resurrection that would follow, but also the purpose was to show, irrefutably, that Jesus is the Christ. He is the Messiah. And it would later, that very miracle that he performs later on in this chapter, It gives credence to the fact that Jesus would, of course, rise again from the dead. So, we're going to look at three things again. These three-point sermons, you know, I mean, you're Baptist, you're taught. You've got to have a three-point sermon and a poem or something like that. I forgot what the saying was, but it just so worked out this way. I think the other week I had about nine points, but anyway. First, we want to look at Christ's arrival. As we think about His going to Bethany, we see there in verse 17, then when Jesus came, He found that He had lain in the grave four days already. He's talking about Lazarus. He had been buried for four days. Now, why four days? What about one day? Well, according to what I've read from different sources, the Jews had a belief, or kind of like a superstition, that a soul stays near the grave for three days hoping to return to the body, or something like that. Either way, this wasn't acceptable, but to wait until, you know, there's that hope, I guess. So it was accepted without a shadow of a doubt that somebody was dead when they'd been buried for four days. So, there was absolutely, in their minds, no hope of resurrection. Now isn't it gracious that God accommodates our silly superstitions at times so that he would show us more clearly his truth to our crazy messed up minds sometimes. God's so good. But after four days now, we find there in chapter 39, the body has already decomposed. It stinks. So this, once more, gives evidence of how great a miracle that Christ raising Lazarus from the dead was. that he'd been dead that long, that his body was already decomposing. So sometimes when we experience a horrible tragedy, it is the beginning of the greatest blessings. Sometimes God does work it out that way. But now verse 18, it says, now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about 15 furlongs off, that's about two miles. About two miles from Jerusalem, very near to that hotbed of hatred of those Jews that despised Jesus and wanted him out of the picture. So that was, humanly speaking, risky. But now in verse 19, it says, and many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. Of course, only being a couple miles away, that would stand to reason. And at least some of them came to comfort Mary and Martha in the loss of their brother Lazarus. But God's purpose, they may have had one reason, but God had another reason for it all, and that is to be witnesses of this miraculous miracle that the Messiah does there before their very eyes. And of course, we know that there are those who were witnessing this, this resurrection of Lazarus, who had witnessed this, who were hostile toward Christ. Because we find in John 11, 44 through 47, there were those who saw it and then they went to the Pharisees. Oh, well, you know, he's done many miracles. What are we gonna do? Well, how about believing on him? Might be a good idea. You know, how about trusting him? How about at least considering it, you know? I mean, the miracle that only God could do. But that's not what a depraved human being will do, aside from the grace of God. But even his enemies could not deny the miraculous work that Christ will be doing here a little bit later. The many Jews may have been indicative of the fact that they may have been a fairly wealthy family of their Lazarus and Mary and Martha and that family. And gives us a little hint that that may have been the case in John chapter 12 verses 1 through 3 where Mary anointed Jesus' feet with this very costly spikenard ointment and so very expensive so there's indication that may have been and there's a lot of people maybe they were involved with all the social uh things of the jews and the religion and of course uh things of that nature but anyway it's interesting that the jews typically buried their dead on the very day of the death We see that with Ananas and Sapphira in Acts chapter 5, where they were immediately buried. And that was customary of the Jews, number one, because of the hot climate, number two, because of the fact that the Jews did not practice embalming. They just simply anointed their dead and wrapped them and so forth. In the way that the Jews would have funerals is that the men and the women walked separately to the grave site and the women would then return alone from the grave site and start the 30 day mourning. And the first seven days of mourning were the most intense. of mourning in that time and many mourners would stay with the family during those seven days. So we see that many of them were there at the time in which Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead after he'd been dead four days. So, that's why there were many there that were comforting, at least some of them, Mary and Martha. And so, then we come now to, we see Christ's arrival, now we see Christ's assertion. What he asserts himself to be is found in the beginning of verse 20. It says, then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him. But Mary sat still in the house. Now, this gives you an idea of all different personalities. You know, as we found and looked up briefly, or referred to anyway, in Luke chapter 10, verses 38 through 42, that remember when Jesus was teaching and Mary was there sitting at the feet of Jesus, hearing his word, whereas Martha was so distracted and focused on the preparations and everything that came about with having that special guest, Jesus, in the house. And she was saying, Mary, why don't you come help me here? What's the deal? And what did Jesus say? He said to Martha, Martha, Martha, are careful and troubled about many things, but Mary has chosen that better part. So what do we get from this? You know, sometimes our greatest strength, I've said this before, is our greatest weakness. We kind of almost idolize it, you know. And so Martha was this kind of just a go-getter. I mean, she's just going to do whatever's got to be done. And she was active. And like I said, there's nothing wrong with that. That's great. Churches all need people like that. it would end up being, in a sense, a curse because she was so focused on the work that had to be done, she didn't get the devotional sense of what should be involved with the work. Because if we don't have our eyes focused on Christ, and we're not hearing his word, we're just going through motions. We're moving in the energy of the flesh. But this was her burden to bear. This was the sin that so easily beset her. But Martha, on the other hand, was the more quiet, contemplative individual. And that, too, has got its strengths, but it could be a weakness if somebody just says, well, I'm just gonna sit here and meditate when there's some things that gotta be done and so forth. And of course, so we gotta be careful But, so it's not surprising that Martha was the first one to jump up, and as soon as she heard that Jesus was here, she was going over there. And Martha stayed seated, which was the Jewish custom in that day. For those who suffered the loss of a loved one, they remained seated while the mourners came and comforted them. So now verse 21 says, then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. Now, we could look at it and say that Martha was rebuking Jesus. I really don't think that's what it was. I think it was a grief mingled with disappointment. If Jesus, and really a noble statement of faith Because she was saying, Lord, if you would have been here before Lazarus, my brother, died, he wouldn't have died. Because you have the power to heal. You're the Messiah, and you love him. And so she was making a statement of faith, I believe, here. And so in verse 22 it says, but that even now, Now, this does not mean that Martha was going to raise Lazarus from the dead. She was just thinking, even though this is a sorrowful thing, I know somehow that you can make something good come out of it. This was her thinking, and bring some good out of this tragedy. And that's something we need to ask ourselves. Do we believe that? When we're going through some tragic situation in our life, can we say, Lord, I don't understand this, but I know that you're gonna do something that's gonna be for your glory and for my good out of all of this. And that sure makes whatever trial we're going through a lot easier. So now verse 23 says, Jesus saith unto her, thy brother shall rise again. He gave her some words of comfort during this time of tragedy for her, but she didn't get it altogether at the time. As we see here, Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. She believed that, because that's what the Old Testament teaches. The Old Testament teaches that. Remember Job? You know, that even though after his skin warms at evening, he said he was going to see God. And so he believed in the resurrection. And we see that in Psalm 1610 and Daniel 12 too. The Pharisees believed in the resurrection. Of course, the Sadducees didn't. But anyway, we know that Jesus taught. the resurrection as well. In this particular gospel account in John 5 and John 6 gives us examples of that. But she, again, didn't get it that Jesus was going to raise Lazarus, her brother, from the dead in just a few moments. She didn't get that. She knew he was going to be raised sooner or later, but she didn't get the immediacy of when this was going to happen. And so Jesus clarifies in verse 25, Jesus saying, saith unto her, I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. Here we have the fifth of seven statements that Jesus makes saying, I am. He is the eternal one. He is the great I am. I am the resurrection and the life. Again, declaring and asserting his deity. And with this statement, Jesus overthrows everything. We know about the law of what they call entropy and the way things work in this world and things just decay. For a long, long time, death ruled over men like a tyrant. And this is not the land of the living, but the land of the dying in this life. Some philosophers, many philosophers and humorists have talked about the dilemma of death. Neither in the hearts of men nor in the manners of society will there be a lasting peace until we outlaw death. Well, that's not going to do any good, but the idea was if we could only get rid of death, we could have true peace. Well, yeah. And isn't that the goal of people? is wanting to just live forever, to live in a paradise, but God's the one that does that, and we must abide in His terms. So, though the ancients feared death, believers have no reason to fear death. Christ is the champion over death. The believer will never die, but simply make an instant translation from the old life to the new life. Now, we see here that Jesus says, he that believeth in thee, though he were dead, yet shall he live, speaking of the resurrection. there in John chapter 11 verse 26, and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die, believeth thou this. In other words, even though what he's talking about here is that we will never spiritually die after we've come to faith in Jesus Christ, we will never die. We have life, what? Eternal. So that's the beauty of who Jesus is. And then he kind of asked this question, one of the greatest questions that could be ever asked is, believest thou this? Do you believe now, not only that that is true about the resurrection, but that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Not only what Jesus does, but who Jesus is. That is the key. That is the big question. Whether a person believes in that. Who but God could say such things like he just said? Jesus had to be God. So, in asking this, He, this was not just some kind of intellectual agreement and assent to what Jesus said, but it is something that is experiential and personal. Not just what everybody else, does so and so believe this or does the king believe this or whatever. Do you believe this? It's one thing to reason and to argue about it and quite another thing to believe and embrace and enjoy the truth of the resurrection and the one who is the resurrection and the life. To believe is to receive it. To believe is to hold and to enjoy the reality and the power of this truth and the one who is the resurrection and life in it. All that lies in it is joy and comfort and peace and hope. Now, the measure of our belief, the degree of our believing, While it's not the measure of our possessing, since the smallest faith in Jesus being the resurrection and the life is, that is all that's needed is that smallest faith has existed. That's what sometimes people get hung up on. People never receive an assurance of their salvation. They always are. It's just as small as the grain of a mustard seed. That is all that is necessary in terms of being or having everlasting life. And John 11, 27, it says, she saith unto him, yea, Lord. Now, first of all, she calls him Lord. She believes that he's a sovereign. She believes in the deity of Christ. I believe that thou art the Christ. You're the anointed one. You are the Messiah, the Son of God. Again, another term meaning he is deity. which should come into the world. So she affirmed her faith in Jesus Christ as the Christ, as the Messiah, as Lord, and that he is the Son of God, is a designation of his title of God himself. And she said that Jesus was the one which should come into the world. We have many passages that speak of the Messiah coming into the world that prophesy of that. So she says that should come. There we see in Micah 5.2, we see in Isaiah 7.14, we see in Isaiah 9.6, we see in Isaiah 53, we see in Psalms 22, and many other scriptures that speak of Christ who is to come, the deliverer that was promised And that John the Baptist even mentioned, as he was in prison, having some struggles himself, and he asked, is this the one that should come? That same terminology that was spoken of, of the Messiah that was to come to the earth. So we see Christ's arrival, we see Christ's assertion, and now thirdly, Christ's affection. Notice in verse 28, And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee. So, Jesus, apparently, sent for Mary to come, and so Martha left to get her. She sought to do it discreetly, tried to do it privately, and maybe Martha was trying to, knowing that possibly there were those Jews that were in opposition to Christ and hostile toward Christ, And she just wanted to, okay, let's go. Didn't want him to know where they were going and didn't see Jesus in a big problem at the funeral and maybe, you know, something bad happened to somebody. So, verse 29, as soon as she heard that, She arose quickly and came unto him. You didn't waste any time going to see Jesus. How often do you see that with people? When it's time to go see Jesus in the prayer closet, if you will, or in church, and they waste no time. Let's go. I was glad when they said to me, let's go in the house of the Lord. I was glad when they said to me, time to go to the throne of grace. But she did that, but that was kind of a rose suspicion or something's wrong. We need to go comfort her. She's probably going to the grave side and that's going to be horrible for her and so on. So kind of blew the cover, if you will. And so in verse 30 it says, now Jesus was not yet come. And in verse 31, the Jews then, which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary that she arose up hastily, and went out, followed her, saying, she goeth unto the grave to weep there. So again, the cover was, if there was any attempt to cover it, is blown. And either way, God was in sovereign control of all of that. And that meant that all the more people within would witness this miracle, would witness the fact that Jesus was indisputably the Messiah. in the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. So now in verse 32, then when Mary was come, where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. Now, funny, they said almost the same thing, didn't they? And again, that mingled of grief and disappointment and faith. And it appears that Mary was the more emotional of the two. I mean, she fell at his feet and wept. That's not what Martha did. She was maybe a little stoic and just focused on the task at hand and let's get her done. And again, there's nothing wrong with that. It's just we're all different. And sometimes we have a hard time. What would they do that for? And we have to sometimes step outside of ourselves and say, OK, we're all different. God made us all different. There wasn't necessarily anything sinful about what that person did or didn't do. But like with Martha, it was just, again, a noble statement of faith. And so verse 33, when Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned. in the spirit and was troubled. Now, a lot of times the poorest of the Jewish families would at least hire at least two flutists at the funeral procession. And there were mourners and wailers and all this kind of stuff that typically you see in other places in the Bible. Those friends and family who were paying respects to the one that is deceased. But Jesus was there in the time of their grief. He's there for us in the time of our grief. He groaned in the spirit. Now it's interesting this word groan. It comes from a Greek word, grima mai. It means to snort with anger. Now this seemed, wow, why would that be what Jesus did? He was angry at the devastation and the hurt that death brought to his children is sheep. Maybe mangry at the showmanship of the mourners who didn't really, weren't really grieving truly. Or maybe the sorrow that was shown as those who have no hope, as Paul mentioned in 1 Thessalonians 4.13. It says he was troubled, which describes the intensity of Christ's reaction to this. And it means that Jesus was, yes, he was sad, but he was also upset as well. Understand that death is a wage of sin, and that's what we see here, not only in this verse, but the next verse, is that we see the humanity of Christ. his humanity. And it says, and they, and it says, where have they laid him? And they said unto him, Lord, okay, apparently those who are not hostile to Christ, come and see. And then the next verse, the shortest verse in the Bible that has so much meaning is simply Jesus wept. This is a word that's different than Mary and some others in the Bible. Theirs was a loud wailing. Nothing wrong with it, but that's what it is, what she was experiencing. Jesus' weeping here was another word that describes a quiet weeping. In other words, he was greatly moved but it wasn't out of control. It wasn't over much sorrow as if there's no hope. Jesus' tears also were genuine. It was because, as we see later, of his love for Lazarus and for the family over the constant effects of sin in a fallen world. Jesus was touched with the feeling of their infirmities. He was sympathetic to their grief. He was truly a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief, as Isaiah 53 tells us. Jesus was no unfeeling, You know, always on, well he's always on top of things, but it wasn't the way the world looks at it. He wasn't some stoic that was unfeeling, but he was a passionate enemy of death. Notice there in verse 36, then said the Jews, behold how he loved, how he loved him. This was an evidence, this weeping was an evidence of Christ's genuine love for Lazarus. It was a hopeless despair. Then what the Greeks had thought in their gods that a god was someone that has no emotion, a compassionless god. This is not the God of Holy Scripture. The God of the Bible is a God that is compassionate, who is loving, who cares about his children and is touched with the feeling of our firmities and loves us. So, everything is set now for to prove his assertion, his deity as Messiah, the resurrection and the life. And so the question is, as Jesus asked Martha, do you believe in Jesus as the resurrection and the life? If you do, the sting of death is gone for you. And only everlasting life awaits you in glory. So much better than any other religion or non-religion that is out there. So may we take comfort in this and looking at Christ's example and the truth of who He is and what He does to carry us through this week. Thank you for your attention to the Word of God. We'll close now with a word of prayer.