Miracles: Let Him Be Known
“Raising Lazarus From the Dead”
Pastor Rollan Fisher
Notes prepared by Justin Gray
We believe that God works miracles today by the power of the Holy Spirit to bless people and advance his kingdom. In 2023, we are believing God for miracles that will testify to his power and create new opportunities for the gospel to advance. The sermon series will focus on the 7 miracles John recounts as signs pointing people to faith in Jesus as the Son of God.
Focus: The glory of God will be fully displayed when he raises from the dead all who have trusted in Jesus. This great hope comforts the souls of all who wait on God to fulfill his promises.
John 11:1–45 (ESV)
1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” 8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” 9 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. 10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” 11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” 12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 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.” 33 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. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”
38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 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.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 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.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him.
Context, The Book of John
The emphasis of John’s gospel account can be summarized from the stated purpose in John 20:31.
“But these are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.”
The book begins with, “In the beginning was the Word . . .” which harkens to the Genesis account where God reveals his creative power through his divine speech bringing all things into existence. The “the Word” here, in Greek meaning “logos,” conveys divine self-expression; however, John does not use it in the same way as the Greek philosophers did during his time to explain an impersonal force of reason. Instead, in verse 14, John reveals Jesus as “the Word made flesh” giving the “logos” a personal one-of-a-kind distinction as the incarnate Son of God. One of several recurring themes throughout John’s account is the idea of belief. Underscoring that it is not enough to experience God’s power through miraculous signs, nor is it sufficient to give an intellectual assent to Jesus’ messiahship, but to be fully persuaded to entrust our lives to God through the one unique Son of God– Jesus Christ.
Another thematic point of note is the “new people” concept that is woven throughout John’s Gospel account which is most unveiled in chapters 3 and 4 according to McHughes (see commentary below). This helps us see that God is calling a people to himself from all walks of life united by their belief in Jesus as Messiah. Jesus delineates these groups by their response to his signs, particularly after the raising of Lazarus (verses 45–46).
As we come to chapter 11, the raising of Lazarus is the last of seven signs pointing to Jesus as the Messiah in the book of John (also see 2:1–11, 4:46–54, 5:1–15, 6:5–13, 6:16–21, 9:1–7). This episode in verses 1–53, unveils Jesus as Messiah with power over life and death. This event also foreshadows the death and resurrection of Jesus as he makes his decisive move into Jerusalem toward the cross.
Surrounding Context
✦ Introduction: Characters, Crisis & Conclusion (verses 1–4)
- Jesus’ friends Mary and Martha send word that their brother, Lazarus, is ill. Jesus, in the presence of his disciples, responds by giving the purpose and conclusion to this dramatic episode in verse 4:
“This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
✦ Jesus, the Disciples & the Death of Lazarus (verses 5–16)
- After receiving the news of Lazarus, Jesus oddly delays his departure and engages in a conversation with his disciples about their fear of visiting his friends in Judea and the redemptive outcome of Lazarus’ death. Jesus frames this crisis for the disciples in verse 15:
“And for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe . . .”
✦ Jesus, Grief & the Resurrection (verses 17–37)
- Jesus arrives in Bethany. He meets the grief-stricken Martha and Mary, who both express disappointment that Jesus wasn’t there to save their brother from his illness. As they mourn the loss of Lazarus, he engages in two conversations, one with Martha about the resurrection and the other with Mary displaying his deep care and compassion. These conversations are punctuated in two key verses:
“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?” (verses 25–26)
- Jesus finally enters the village to visit the place of Lazarus’ burial. In a rather uncharacteristic and dramatic fashion, Jesus requests that the stone over the tomb be removed, prays publicly, and shouts loudly for Lazarus to come out. Again, Jesus gives the purpose of this demonstrative event in verse 42:
“. . . but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”
✦ The Believers, Unbelievers & Caiaphas’ Prophecy (verses 45–53)
- The Jews present during this miraculous event respond in two ways: one group believes in Jesus and the other reports Jesus’ activities to the Pharisees. The Pharisees, concerned about their socio-political status, convened a council to discuss what should be done about him.
Caiaphas, the high priest, advises that Jesus should die for the nation’s sake, and from that point on, they conspire to kill Jesus. The following verses underscore the emphasis of this passage:
“Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.” (verses 45–46)
“He [Caiaphas] did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.” (verse 52)
Commentaries:
✦ The NIV Application Commentary
- “John 11 and 12 stand together as marking a new and significant step in the life and work of Jesus . . . Here we read the story of the most dramatic, provocative miracle in this Gospel. Jesus is the master of life and death and proves it by bringing Lazarus back from the grave. But he is also prepared for his own death . . . The Lazarus story is a story about one man whom Jesus rescues from the grave; but it is also a parabolic story, telling us far more about Jesus, his power, and his upcoming experience in the grave.” (Burge, pp. 310–311)
✦ John 1–4 (ICC): A Critical and Exegetical Commentary
- “Chapters 3 and 4 fall naturally into four sections, dealing respectively with Judaism, the followers of the Baptist, the Samaritans, and the God-fearers (if we take 4.46–54 as a rewriting of the story of the centurion’s servant). In the first three sections, the evangelist calls into question the sufficiency of Judaism, of the ‘Baptist movement,’ and of the religion of the Samaritan people; in the fourth section, he tells the God-fearing Gentiles who frequent the synagogue not to wait for signs and wonders before beginning to believe (4.48). In three of the four sections, the person representing the group responds positively (in 3.30, the Baptist; in 4.29, the Samaritan woman; in 4.50, the official). Nicodemus, personifying the sympathetic stream of Pharisaic Judaism (3.2), remains at this stage puzzled (3.7, 9– 10), because for the development of the argument and the unfolding of the drama, it is essential that the response of Judaism should remain at this stage non-committal.” (McHughes, pp. 217)
Sermon Idea: Jesus, Lazarus & His Resurrection Community
Focus Statement: Jesus is not only the Son of God who delivers us by his resurrection power but is also the leader of a new resurrection community who partners with him in life restoration.
Function Statement: Listeners will grow in their understanding and application of ministering the resurrection life of God to others.
Context:
In this last of seven signs in the book of John, Jesus engages three groups of people through the raising of Lazarus from the dead: 1) The Disciples, 2) The Sisters (Martha & Mary), and 3) The Jews. Jesus challenges each one to believe that he is the Son of God despite confusion, disillusionment, and most importantly, the reality of sin and death.
1. The Disciples
a. Fearful about returning to Judea.
b. Confused about Jesus delaying his visit to Lazarus despite his condition.
c. Much like the disciples, have you ever experienced fear or confusion while following Jesus?
d. Jesus reveals his purpose to the disciples:
“I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe.” (verse 15)
2. The Sisters (Martha & Mary)
a. Disappointed that Jesus was not there to prevent Lazarus’ death.
b. In deep grief and mourning over a hopeless situation but still with some hope and reverence for Jesus:
“But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”—Martha (verse 22)
“. . . she fell at his feet. . . . ‘Lord, come and see.’”—Mary (verse 32, 34)
c. Even in his resurrection power as Messiah (verses 25–26), Jesus enters their pain with weeping and anger over the affects of sin and death (verses 33–35). In the face of disappointment, grief, and even death, Jesus’ calls them to believe:
“I am the resurrection and the life. . . . Do you believe this?” (verse 25–26)
“Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” (verse 40)
3. The Jews
a. There is a mixed crowd of Jews: those who saw Jesus’ care and compassion and those who criticized him for not keeping Lazarus alive (verses 36–37).
b. After Lazarus was raised from the dead, some believed and others reported him to the Pharisees (verses 45–46).
c. Whether we see Jesus for his care and compassion or criticize him for what he didn’t do, the question remains—what do we believe about him?
d. Jesus in an uncharacteristic and demonstrative way gives instructions to the crowd, prays publicly, and shouts loudly for Lazarus to come out of the tomb. All of this was done so:
“. . . but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” (verse 42)
Jesus’ resurrection power is a dividing line between those who believe and those who don’t. Those who walk the light or stumble in darkness (verses 9–10).
B. Application
The resurrection power of Jesus doesn’t end with belief, but rather those who believe are called into participation in his life-restoring mission. This resurrection community is foreshadowed in Jesus calling the people to action:
1. “Where have you laid him? . . . Lord, come and see.” (verse 34)
a. Through this question, Jesus caused Mary and the people to lead him to Lazarus.
b. How is Jesus asking us to bring him into dead situations?
2. “Take away the stone.” (verse 39)
a. Jesus commands them to do something hard that required faith. A large stone blocking a cave would have taken several people to move (physical/practical action). In addition, a decomposing dead man lies behind this rock (spiritual action).
b. It will take the community to obey God in doing “heavy” and “hard things” both physically and spiritually in order to participate in his mission.
3. “Unbind him, and let him go.” (verse 44)
a. Lazarus was alive but still bound.
b. Jesus enlisted the community to care for Lazarus by unwrapping him and by implication covering his nakedness.
c. God’s mission is reflected in care and concern for people who are dead and in desperate need of Jesus and his resurrection community. They untied him, they covered him, and they welcomed him back to life.
Second City Church - Pastor Rollan Fisher