Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - Dial In - John 11:1-27 (Ep. 30)

Episode Date: May 11, 2020

Dial In is a devotional series with the intention of helping followers of Christ understand God’s word and love Him more. Jonny seeks to communicate the profound depth of scripture in a digestible and condensed format each weekday. The goal of the podcast is that our “minds would be renewed” as we behold who God is in His word. In this series, Jonny is walking sequentially through the Gospel of John.In this episode, Jonny covers John 11:1-27 which covers the story of the death of Lazarus. Jesus tells his disciples in verse 4 that this illness is “for the glory of God, so that the son might be glorified in it.”Jesus love for his disciples is displayed as His glory is revealed. Jesus tells Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life...” Jesus gives a monumental claim that he will support in the following passage.Watch VideosVisit the Website Follow on InstagramFollow on Twitter

Hey guys, my name is Johnny Artavanis, and this is Dial In. We've arrived at the midway point in John's Gospel, and Jesus is nearing his execution. In this episode, we're in John chapter 11, verses 1 through 27. Let's dial in. John chapter 11, verses 1 through 27. Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. John chapter 11, glorified through it. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

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 back there again? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him. After saying these things, he said to them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. The disciples said to him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest and sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus has died.

And for your sake, I am glad that I was not there so that you may believe, but let us go to him. So Thomas called the twin and said to his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die with him. Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, Jesus said to her, Martha said to him,

I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. And Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to him, Yes, Lord. I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world. John the Gospel writer has an evangelistic and apologetic purpose for writing his gospel. He wants you to

believe that Jesus is the Christ. And here in chapter 11, we come to the last and most powerful public miracle that Jesus does. It is surely the climax and the most dramatic of the works of Jesus Christ in the gospel of John. This is Jesus's seventh miracle that we've seen so far. The other six include the turning of the water into wine, the healing of the nobleman's son, restoring the disabled man, multiplying the loaves and fish, walking on the lake, and giving sight to the blind man. And now, number seven, Jesus will give life to a dead man. We will break this narrative into two episodes, this one and the next. Verse one reads that a certain man, Lazarus of Bethany, was ill. That's really all that we know about this guy

other than in verse three, we see that the Lord Jesus loves this man. It says that the sisters sent word to Jesus saying that the one whom you love is ill. Jesus' emotion in this passage is real. And if we continue in the passage, we see in verse 4 that when Jesus receives the news, he says that this illness, though, does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. So something is going on here. Dylan, Lazarus is about to play a role in the manifestation of the glory of God. In verse five, John continues and says again, so that you and I really understand the relationship here. It says, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. This request for help from the sisters to come and heal Lazarus was not coming

from a casual acquaintance. It is coming from the closest circle of Jesus's friends. John wants us to feel and understand this relationship. And because verse 5 details this intimacy, verse 6 is curious and interesting. It says, so when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. You would think that verse 6 would read, So when Jesus got the news, he left immediately, called for a chariot, and sped off to Bethany. No, it says that Jesus loves Lazarus, so when he got the news that he was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place that he was. This doesn't feel like love, does it?

The expectation here is not to wait, but for Jesus to hustle to Bethany to save Lazarus. But Jesus loves them, and the way that he will display his love towards them is by revealing the glory of God to them. The death of Lazarus is going to put the glory of God on display. And that's what we read in verse 4. It says that this event, all that we will read in this passage, is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. John highlights something that is very important yet rarely understood. To be loved by Jesus is not always to receive what we want the most, but what we need the most, which is a deeper, more profound experience of the glory of God.

Jesus' love for Mary and Martha is to let them walk through the valley so that they might see his glory. In the New Testament, we conclude that if the measure of the love of God was seen in the health and wealth and comfort of his followers, then Jesus hated his followers and despised his disciples who were routinely slaughtered for their faith. Rather, as we will see in this passage, Jesus loves us by revealing himself to us. John 14, 21, Jesus will say, whoever has my commandments and keeps them is the one who loves me. And he who loves me will be loved by my father. And how does he manifest his love? He does so by manifesting himself to us. I love this. The way that God loves us is by manifesting an increasing measure of his glory to us. Now, a couple of days later, Jesus tells his disciples that his friend Lazarus has fallen

asleep, that he is dead. And then he highlights again the same point in verse 15. And he tells them, for your sake, I am glad that I wasn't there to heal him before he died. Why? So that you may believe. This is what Jesus is after. He is not a healing machine. He does everything that he does to display his glory, to cultivate faith, and to honor his father. In verse 17, Jesus arrives, and Lazarus at that point has been dead for four days. There was a belief in antiquity that a person's spirit hovered over the body for three days, but on the fourth day, that was when a dead person was beyond the hope of resuscitation. So Jesus is so strategic. He knows exactly what he's doing.

He doesn't want any confusion that this is nothing short of a work of God. So he lets enough time pass so that everyone might know this is a work of God. This is against the laws of nature. In the words of Miracle Max from Princess Bride, Lazarus is not merely mostly dead. He is all dead. And he comes to Bethany and Martha comes to meet him on the road in verse 21. And we'll pick it up there. She says, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. And Jesus responds to her and says, your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. And Jesus responds to her and says,

Your brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. And here Jesus says something so precious and so profound. He says, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?

Jesus tells Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall never die. If A is true, then B will happen. If you believe in me, you will never die because I hold the keys to life and death and the power of life itself is mine. And then he asks her this question, do you believe this? Because the method by which Jesus' life can be ours is belief. And so he asks her, do you believe this?

Martha's response is probably the greatest confession of faith in all of the scripture. She says, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the son of God, who is coming into the world. Jesus offers life to those who believe in him. And we will see in the next episode that he brings life to a dead Lazarus. Stay dialed in.