SERMON: Christ’s Resurrection Power (John 11:38–46)
Christ’s Resurrection Power (John 11:38–46)
Series: “John:
Life in Christ’s Name” Text:
John
11:38–46
By: Shaun
Marksbury Date:
December
24, 2023
Venue: Living
Water Baptist Church Occasion:
AM Service
I.
Introduction
Tomorrow
is Christmas Day, the day that we remember the incarnation of our Lord. The teaching of the incarnation, though, can
be confusing as we think about what it means that God came in flesh. How does that practically play itself out? Is the divinity of God the Son somehow
diminished, for instance?
Scripture
makes it clear that Jesus remained fully God as he walked the earth, while
remaining just as clear that he was completely human. We see these two facts
meet on Christmas, where a virgin miraculously gives birth to a baby; the
divine and the human meet. Theologians
use the term hypostatic union to explain this unique nature. He’s fully God concerning His divinity, and He’s
fully human concerning His humanity — these two natures can never be separated
from one another, nor can they be mixed together.
These
are big thoughts to ponder, and Christmas gives us that opportunity. Of course, as we consider the nature of God,
we should expect that He’s bigger than we might imagine within our
limited thinking. He exists in tri-unity
(three persons — Father, Son, and Holy Spirit — yet one essence and will. So, it should be no surprise that God coming
to earth would mean something bigger than we might have imagined.
We
see the two natures of Christ, the divine and the human, featured prominently
in John Chapter 11. Jesus is clearly
grieved and moved with great emotion over the death of Lazarus and the
existence of suffering. Yet, in this
passage, we also see the divinity of Christ prominently on display as He wields
supernatural power over the situation.
This
is what we will consider this morning. We
will see that Jesus demonstrates His command over the situation, His communion with
the Father, His control over death and life, and His completion of the divine
plan. Let’s consider the first of these.
II.
Jesus Demonstrates His Command Over the
Situation (vv. 38–40)
So Jesus, again being deeply moved within,
came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the
sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a
stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that
if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
There
are a variety of ways that v. 38 is translated, and it goes back to what I
mentioned last week. For instance, the NKJV
has “groaning in Himself,”
while the HCSB has “angry in Himself.”
This translation has “deeply moved within.” That’s because this word can translate either
as intense emotion or, more commonly, as anger.
As I noted last time, though, if this does best translate as “angry,” it
is not because Jesus is upset at people being sad; Jesus Himself wept (v.
35). Rather, He’s upset at the death and
suffering which sin has wrought.
So,
He’s stirred at the presence of the tomb.
We read that this is a cave, and again, as we noted last time, this cave
sepulcher is an indication of wealth.[1] This
tomb will be similar to the one in which our Lord will lie, which was borrowed
from the wealthy Joseph of Arimathea (Matt. 27:60; Mark 15:46; Luke 24:2; John
20:1). Christians in the fourth century
believed they knew where Lazarus’s tomb was, and they built a church over the
site called the Lazareion, though there have been modifications over the years,
and we’re not certain the site is authentic.[2]
Despite
His emotional state while standing there, Jesus remains in complete control. So, He tells them to remove the stone lying
in the entrance. Later, angels will
remove the stone from Jesus’s tomb, but that was to let the disciples in, not
to allow Jesus to exit the tomb. In this
case, though, Lazarus will need the help, and Jesus involves people in the work
of the miracle. They would remove the
stone at a risk of defiling themselves by interacting with a corpse,[3] but they will eventually comply.
They
must have Martha’s authorization, though.
She heard and believed Jesus’s words in vv. 25–26, “I am the
resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and
everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” Yet, she didn’t know Jesus meant now. In fact, her objection indicates that resurrection
is the furthest thing from her mind.
She
respectfully responds, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench.” Our translators are often too respectful of the
sensibilities of the readers, with some having “an odor” and this one having “a
stench;” a more literal translation would be, “Lord, he stinks already!” Perhaps assuming Jesus only wanted to
see the body, Martha advises against opening the tomb, pointing to the purification
process, which would have overcome the sweet scent of the spices and fragrances
they used in preparation for burial.
She
adds in that her brother “has been dead
four days,” perhaps to emphasize the decay process. Yet, in the providence of God, John may have
highlighted this for another reason.
There was a superstition about the spirits of the dead hanging around
their bodies for three days, hoping to find a way to reenter them and resume
life. Yet, once decay reaches a point
where facial features begin to fade, the spirit then departs, giving up on the
notion of reentry by the fourth day.[4] This
isn’t a biblical thought, and Martha herself might not of believed it,[5] but there may be some who thought this. In any event, Martha’s words confirm that Lazarus
is dead beyond any shadow of doubt.
So,
Jesus says to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the
glory of God?” Now, we might ask the
question, “When did He say that?” We
read Him say something like this in v. 4, “This sickness is not to end in
death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by
it.” But, He said that to His disciples,
not to her. To her, in vv. 23–26, He
didn’t specifically mention the glory of God, but that was the implication of His
words. He calls her only to faith, to
trust.
He
knew what was coming. He knew that Lazarus
died, He knew He would raise Him, and He knew it was to the glory of God and
His own. He had complete command over the
situation, not doubting that He should even tell them to remove the stone. His was a total command over the situation,
for He has a divine connection (as we see next).
III.
Jesus Demonstrates His Communion with the Father
(vv. 41–42)
So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father,
I thank You that You have heard Me. I
knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said
it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.”
The
people heeded Christ’s command. The
sisters probably gave their consent, and men from the crowd rolled back the
stone, just as the angels will remove the stone from Jesus’s tomb later (Luke
24:2; John 20:1). The text doesn’t say
here, but the stench probably began to waft in the air. Yet, even at this moment, Jesus is in
control.
Some
might think that He is worried. What if
this doesn’t work? What if the Father
doesn’t will the raising of Lazarus?
Will this destroy His credibility as the Messiah?
Yet,
there was no doubt in His mind, for He had true communion with the Father. His prayer is one of confidence. It begins with Jesus lifting His eyes; they
lifted the stone, and He lifted His eyes (not really noted in the English
translations). He assumed one of several
regular positions for prayer.
We
look up not because God is physically “above” us but because He is spiritually higher;
the reality is that He’s all around us, but looking up forces our minds off of
the earthly and upon the spiritual. In
Jesus’s case, He does have a task, and He chooses to look above it to the
Father.
His
prayer emphasizes to the witnesses “that God the Father is the source of the
miracle He is about to perform”[6] (this is not the work of demons, as some falsely
accused Him of doing). He calls God “Father,”
further demonstrating His communion with Him.
This was distinct because the Jews did not typically refer to God in
this way in personal prayer. Yet, Jesus
flouts tradition to emphasize his connection with the Father.
Also
note the confidence in His prayer. He thanks
the Father for having heard Him. Of
course, prayer should always include thanksgiving, but He doesn’t pray that the
Father hears Him. In fact, in the next
verse, He says, “I knew that You always hear Me.” In fact, He makes no requests in this prayer —
He just thanks the Father for hearing Him and always hearing Him. That is a bold prayer!
Moreover,
He doesn’t at this point request that the Father raise Lazarus. We’ve already read that the Father has given
life to the Son, as part of His Messianic mission. So, Jesus can raise Lazarus at any time. Yet, He doesn’t simply rely on that, though the
point of the prayer isn’t to make a request.
As one study notes, “He begins with thanks for what God has already
done.”[7]
So,
why does Jesus pray? First, He is in
communion with the Father, and prayer is a natural outgrowth of that
relationship. Second, for the
thankfulness we just discussed. Third, He
specifically prays here aloud with thanksgiving because, as He says, “of the
people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” He wants them to know that He has this
relationship with the Father and that He is sent from the Father so that they
may come to faith.
He
prays to demonstrate His communion with the Father. In fact, His miracle will only be further confirmation
of this relationship, as He proves His divine control. That’s what we see next.
IV.
Jesus Demonstrates His Control Over Death and Life
(vv. 43–44)
When He had said these things, He cried
out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” The man who had died came forth, bound hand
and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him
go.”
Here,
we get to the heart of the miracle and the chapter. Some have wondered why the other Gospel
accounts don’t record this miracle considering how spectacular it is. However, as one study notes, they “do record
two other resurrections Jesus performed (Mk 5:21–42; Lk 7:11–17), and by
choosing to omit all but Jesus’ final journey to Jerusalem, they have no place
in their outline for other events in and around the holy city.”[8] This
Gospel doesn’t repeat all the other amazing miracles the previous ones record, and
each Gospel account has its own focus and emphases.
So,
what features do we see in this miracle?
We see His complete control over life and death. First, we read that He cries out with a great
voice. He doesn’t walk into the tomb and
touch Lazarus. He doesn’t need to touch
a person physically to heal, for we’ve seen Him heal with but a word before. Yet, He doesn’t usually shout, and we can’t
imagine that He needed to yell for Lazarus to hear Him. This is a supernatural act.
So,
why holler? This loud voice must have been,
again, for the benefit of the witnesses.
He didn’t want them wondering at what He had said. As one study notes, He was no wizard
muttering spells.[9] As
another says, “On other occasions Jesus
had said that men would hear His voice and come out of their graves (5:28) and
that His sheep hear His voice (10:16, 27).”[10] He communicates
with divine authority, speaking life into the dead, and He wants His words to
be heard so unbelievers will come to faith once they fully witness the miracle.
Incidentally,
John will hear a loud voice again from the Lord in Rev. 1:10. At that time, he will turn and see Jesus full
of glory! At this time, though, Jesus’s
glory is veiled, and all the people hear is a loud, clear voice against the hillside.
Jesus
then does the unthinkable in their minds — He addresses Lazarus. Understand that necromancy, talking with the dead,
is forbidden in Scripture (Lev. 19:31; Deut. 18:9–12). The Lord did not approve of King Saul consulting
the witch of Endor to speak with Samuel, and He would not approve of us calling
the psychic hotline, playing with Ouija boards, or in any other way seeking
answers from the dead. So, this might be
surprising for the Jewish audience.
Yet,
Jesus isn’t consulting; He’s commanding.
He said, “Lazarus, come forth.” This
is as terse in the English as it is in the Greek. It could be rendered with the two adverbs,
“Here, out!” or, simply, “come here!”
And, He had to address Lazarus specifically, for as one study notes, “Augustine
once said that if Jesus had not designated Lazarus by name, all the graves
would have been emptied at His command (5:28).”[11] He
commanded Lazarus to come out, and just like that, Lazarus emerges.
Note
how complete His miracle is. Jesus isn’t
putting on a show where some people begin to say, “I think I see something.” He isn’t getting them worked up into a
delusional state. There isn’t a fog machine
set up in the tomb that creates a mist, making shapes which some might mistake
for a man. Jesus speaks, and the dead are
now alive, as touch can confirm in just a moment.
The
Holy Spirit reminds us that this is a miracle. Verse 44 could say, “Lazarus came out;” it
says, “The man who had died came forth.” Lazarus exits the tomb just as he went in,
bound loosely with “linen strips” (ESV, HCSB) around his hands
and feet and a covering over his face.
For Lazarus to move freely, someone would need to help untie those,
giving witnesses observational verification of the miracle. They will touch and see that Lazarus, the
formerly dead, is truly alive again!
This
control of death and life demonstrates several points. This is a demonstration of what it means to
first believe and come to new life, when the Son of God speaks and the spiritually
dead come to spiritual life (cf. Eph. 2:1–10).
It also shows us a glimpse of what the final resurrection will look
like, when we will all be raised.[12]
Jesus
has complete control over death and life.
This is the message He’s been communicating to His disciples, to Martha,
and to us. He came into the world on
Christmas to give us life. Hopefully His
control is enough to convince you; it convinced others, as we see next:
V.
Jesus Demonstrates His Completion of the Divine Plan
(vv. 45–46)
Therefore many of the Jews who came to
Mary, and saw what He had done, believed in Him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and
told them the things which Jesus had done.
There
are always two responses to the undeniable realities of Christ. One is belief, and the other is more stubborn
disbelief. We see both reactions with
this group who followed Mary from her house to the tomb, meeting Jesus and
Martha along the way. Let’s consider first
those who believed.
First,
we read that many of them “believed in Him.”
This seems like the most natural reaction to the supernatural work before
them. This is the purpose of this Gospel
— to believe that He’s the Christ and the Son of God, and this is His purpose
in performing such works. As one
commentator notes, “Christ did not permit the miracle which he had wrought to
be without fruit, for by means of it he drew some persons to the faith. For we ought to understand that miracles have
a twofold use. They are intended either
to prepare us for faith, or to confirm us in faith.”[13] In
this case, Jesus wasn’t just calling Lazarus to life, He was calling many to
faith, and they believed!
Some
might say today, “Well, if I saw something like that, I would finally believe,
too!” However, don’t be so sure, because
we see that some of the comforters saw the miracle and decided to report it to
Christ’s enemies. They were there and
didn’t believe. The human heart in
rebellion to Christ will always find reasons to remain obstinate toward the
Lord.
VI.
Conclusion
I wonder where you are this Christmas. You know, the incarnation isn’t the greatest
miracle of the gospel message, nor is the raising of Lazarus. Jesus is about to raise Himself to life, not
needing anyone to call out Him out of the grave. Moreover, when Jesus arises that Easter
morning, He doesn’t need anyone to unbind Him, and He rises with a renewed, unique
body which can never die again. This is
the promise He gives to all believers, that He will one day raise them to new
life, making them alive with Him forever more (1 Cor. 15:20–22).
He can do this because of what happened in the lead up to
Christmas. He miraculously produced a body
within a young virgin’s womb. He always was,
as the opening of this Gospel tells us, but now the Son of God would have two
natures, one remaining fully divine while also having one fully human. He came into this world to be a light of life
for all who would believe in Him.
The question is whether you believe it. Don’t pass by the nativity scenes and
Christmas decorations and not know that He came to supply salvation for this
world. Will you call upon Him,
knowing that He can give you the eternal life you need?
[1] Earl D. Radmacher, Ronald Barclay Allen, and H. Wayne
House, The Nelson Study Bible: New King
James Version, (Nashville: T. Nelson Publishers, 1997), Jn 11:38.
[2] D. A. Carson, The
Gospel according to John, The Pillar New Testament Commentary, (Leicester,
England; Grand Rapids, MI: Inter-Varsity Press; W.B. Eerdmans, 1991), 417.
[3] Edwin A. Blum, The
Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, 1985, 2, 314.
[4] Ronald L. Trail, An
Exegetical Summary of John 10–21, Exegetical Summaries, (Dallas, TX: SIL
International, 2018), 89.
[5] A. T. Robertson, Word
Pictures in the New Testament, (Nashville, TN: Broadman Press, 1933), Jn
11:39.
[6] John D. Barry, Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, Michael
S. Heiser, Miles Custis, Elliot Ritzema, Matthew M. Whitehead, Michael R.
Grigoni, and David Bomar, Faithlife Study
Bible, (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Jn 11:41.
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ted Cabal, Chad Owen Brand, E. Ray Clendenen, Paul
Copan, J. P. Moreland, and Doug Powell, The
Apologetics Study Bible: Real Questions, Straight Answers, Stronger Faith,
(Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2007), 1594.
[9] Trail, 92.
[10] Blum, 315.
[11] Radmacher, Jn 11:43.
[12] John MacArthur Jr., Ed., The MacArthur Study Bible, electronic ed., (Nashville, TN: Word
Pub., 1997), 1607.
[13] John Calvin and William Pringle, Commentary on the Gospel according to John, (Bellingham, WA: Logos
Bible Software, 2010), 1:448.
