#GOODNEWS Week 14
The Gospel of John #2
“Get Up and Get Out”
Pastor Kris Freeman
Revolution Church
John 11:1-44 (NLT)
The Raising of Lazarus
11 A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. 2 This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair.[a] Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. 3 So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.”
4 But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” 5 So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, 6 he stayed where he was for the next two days. 7 Finally, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.”
17 When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. 18 Bethany was only a few miles[d] down the road from Jerusalem, 19 and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss. 20 When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.”
25 Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life.[e] Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. 26 Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him,[f] and he was deeply troubled. 34 “Where have you put him?” he asked them.
They told him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Then Jesus wept. 36 The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!” 37 But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?”
38 Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. 39 “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them.
But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.”
40 Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” 41 So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. 42 You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” 43 Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”
What is something in your life SO BIG only God could do it?
The first thing Jesus did was say “This sickness is not unto death.” Yet he died. Jesus knew that what we think is the end, often is just the BEGINNING .
“Factum non dicitur quod non perseverat” - That is not said to be done which is not done for a perpetuity (Latin, Matthew Henry, commentary John 11)
Four things about God to consider in this story:
1. God’s TIMING/PLAN is at work.
“Promised salvations, though they always come surely, often come slowly.”
Tradition believed that grief was at its height on the third day, and the spirit hovered over the body for three days in chance that it should return. Jesus delay enhanced the miracle.
2. God’s CARE is evident.
Jesus was his friend. Jesus cared about those who mourned. Jesus felt the hurt of those around them. Jesus shares in our grief in terrible circumstances.
3. God’s MIRACLE is possible.
For when there is no way out, He makes a way that wasn’t there!
4. God’s POWER is present.
This miracle and its power initiated the conspiracy to crucify Jesus.
The miracle is not always for the moment, it is to display the power of God and the purpose of God in the KINGDOM of God.
The Good News is bigger than this moment! It is the power of God unto salvation!
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