Dial In with Jonny Ardavanis - Dial In - John 11:28-44 (Ep. 31)

Episode Date: May 12, 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 11:28-44 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 proves that he is the “resurrection and the life” by bringing Lazarus back to life.Jesus reveals his humanity in this passage. He is not an unemotional stone, he is a “man of sorrows.” He understands our sadness, he feels our pain, he is grieved by sin and death.  Watch VideosVisit the Website Follow on InstagramFollow on Twitter

Hey guys, my name is Johnny Artavanis, and this is Dial In. We continue in the story of the resurrection of Lazarus in this episode as we open up to John chapter 11, verses 28 through 44. Let's dial in. John chapter 11, verses 28 through 44. When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, John chapter 11 verses 28 through 44. They followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, Where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. So the Jews said, See how he loved him. But some of them said, Could not he, who opened the eyes of the blind man, also have kept this man from dying? Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, Lord, by this time there will be an odor for he has been dead four days. Jesus said

to her, did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God? So they took away the stone and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me. When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. The man who had died came out, his hands and his feet bound with linen strips,

and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, Unbind him and let him go. In the previous episode, we saw that Jesus delays his journey to Bethany, knowing that Lazarus would die because it would create an opportunity for him to manifest his glory. John says at the beginning of this gospel that we beheld his glory. And surely this is one of the premier experiences of beholding the glory of Jesus as he resurrects a dead man. Now, before we jump into the story, I want you to think with me.

We live in a world of comics, special effects, and fantasy where the supernatural is normal to us. Movies and television have desensitized us to the miraculous, but we need to defamiliarize ourselves with what we see in movies or shows and visit reality in order to truly fathom the account of a man who has been dead for four days and then walks out of the grave. Of all of the works of Jesus, there is none more powerful or compelling or memorable than the raising of Lazarus. Now Jesus tells Martha in verse 27,

I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me shall live even though he dies. This is the fifth of the seven I am statements in the Gospel of John. Jesus doesn't say, I can raise the dead. He says, I am the resurrection. I am the life. And Jesus' great claim is supported by the miracle that we will see in this passage. In John 6, Jesus says, I am the bread of life. And then he creates a meal to prove it. In John chapter eight, he says, I am the light of the

world. And then he healed blind eyes to prove it. And here he says, I am the resurrection and the life. And then he proves it by putting his resurrection power on display in front of an entire village. Now back to verse 28. Jesus arrives at the village and everyone is mourning the loss of Lazarus. The responsibility of the village would be to mourn collectively. Sympathy was everybody's duty. And Mary comes and falls down at the feet of Jesus, wiping away her tears as she says, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Then the text says

that when Jesus saw this woman crying and the Jews around him weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And in verse 35, Jesus wept. He wept. This word literally means to sob, an outburst of tears. Jesus is not a stone. He isn't an unemotional machine. The Greeks described their gods by the word apatheia. We transliterate that word in English into apathetic. The Greek deities had no ability to feel pain or emotion or to care, but not Jesus. He was moved and grieved. This verse describes deep emotion. Jesus is not a stranger to sorrow or to sadness. Isaiah states that he was a man of sorrows and acquainted with much grief. But what is Jesus grieved over? If he knows that Jesus is going to rise from the dead, if he already knows what he is going to do, you might be asking then, why is he sad? Well, I believe it's for a few reasons.

I believe Jesus is grieved over what sin has done to the world. He's grieved over death. He's grieved by the unbelief of the crowd. He's grieved over the separation of creatures from the creator. He's grieved to see the sorrow of the ones he loved. I believe Jesus is grieved that his love is questioned, that his power is questioned. And when the Jews see Jesus crying, they say, see how he loved Lazarus. They were right. But the reason Jesus sob transcended his sorrow over the death of Lazarus, it was the reality of sin and death and unbelief and judgment. And in verse 37, the crowd says, could not he who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept this man from dying? And we read in verse 38, Jesus deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a

cave and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man Now this is important. Here's what happens to a dead body in four days. Obviously, the heart stops beating, blood drains from your body, rigor mortis sets in, cells begin to die, and as they die, bacteria starts to party in your body. And within the first three days, your tissues start to decompose, and as they decompose, the smell and the stench becomes awful. Insects join in, and we could go on and on, but I'll spare you. But the point is this, Martha was not expecting a resurrection. No one was. Lazarus had been dead for four days. But at the beginning of this chapter, Jesus says in verse four, this death was so that the glory of God might be revealed. And now in verse 40, Jesus says, did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?

Jesus prays out loud. And then in verse 43, Jesus, a man who can preach to 20,000 people without amplification, cries out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. The man who had died comes out, the text says. How nonchalant is this? His hands and his feet are bound with linen strips and his face is wrapped with a cloth. And Jesus tells the crowds, unbind him, let him go. People must have been passing out. Can you imagine this? Come to the scene with me. Jesus possesses the power to make decomposing bodies come alive instantly. Nerves begin to fire. The heart begins to beat. Muscles receive strength. Amazing. Jesus, the creator of life, is the only one who can bring life to dead Lazarus

because he is the resurrection and the life. Jesus told Martha, Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live. Everybody on planet Earth is going to die. And not only that, Jesus tells us in John 5.29 that all will rise. Everyone is going to rise again. Those who believe into the resurrection of life and those who do not believe to the resurrection of judgment. Like Lazarus, you too will rise. And if you're in Christ, you can echo the words of Job, who says, though worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh I will see God God whom I shall see for myself and not for another. Stay dialed in.