Morning Light – June 21st, 2018 – John 11: Part 1 – Lazarus, Come Forth!

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Today: [John 11: Part 1] Lazarus, Come Forth! Are you ready for a Lazarus solution in your life? Do you have hopes and dreams that are dead and stinking? As Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead in our chapter, even so that same resurrection power is available to you and for you in the situation you are grappling with today.
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[Jhn 11:1-57 KJV] 1 Now a certain [man] was sick, [named] Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (It was [that] Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) 3 Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. 4 When Jesus heard [that], he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. 5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. 6 When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. 7 Then after that saith he to [his] disciples, Let us go into Judaea again. 8 [His] disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again? 9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. 10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him. 11 These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. 12 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. 13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. 14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. 15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him. 16 Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellowdisciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him. 17 Then when Jesus came, he found that he had [lain] in the grave four days already. 18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off: 19 And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. 20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat [still] in the house. 21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give [it] thee. 23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. 24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: 26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world. 28 And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee. 29 As soon as she heard [that], she arose quickly, and came unto him. 30 Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him. 31 The Jews then which were with her in the house, and comforted her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up hastily and went out, followed her, saying, She goeth unto the grave to weep there. 32 Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled, 34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! 37 And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?
In chapter 11 we find Jesus traveling to Bethany from the Jordan after the Jews attempted to stone Him in Jerusalem. In advance of Jesus arrival, He receives word that “he whom thou lovest is sick”. In the gospels, we find that Jesus more than once spent time in the house of Lazarus with his sisters Mary and Martha. These three did not travel as disciples of Christ with the 12 or the 70, and they are not known to have been among any of the multitudes that Jesus ministered to on occasion. These then are friends that Jesus had a relationship with out of affinity and fellowship. It has been said that God loves everyone but some He likes better than others. Could this be true? In Western society, we tend to expect everything to be fair and egalitarian in the kingdom of God and that isn’t always the case. In Roman 3:19 we find the saying that “Jacob have I loved but Esau have I hated…” Did God hate Esau and prefer Jacob? The word hate there is somewhat strong, the original meaning being the more temperate “Esau have I loved less…” Why would that be? Because Esau despised the birthright while Jacob for all his flaws had respect of the covenant Abraham had with God. In James 2:23 and 2 Chron. 20:7 we see that Abraham was called “the friend of God”. There are many Old Testament figures who had a relationship with God before Abraham, like Enoch and Noah, but they were not called friends of God. These individuals such as Abraham and Jacob were of those regarding whom Lazarus and his sisters were in the ranks of. They were Jesus’ friends even as we too can be friends of God, not only recipients of His grace but found in His favor in a manner that is available to all that are in hot pursuit of His purposes.
Jesus gets word that Lazarus is sick and simply says “this sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God…” Theologians and Christian teachers contend that this means that God put this sickness, whatever it was on Lazarus for the purposes of what happened after. Now isn’t this interesting? To suggest that God would deal a death blow to Lazarus, one with a special relationship to Jesus for the purpose of demonstrating Jesus resurrection power. Is this consistent with the character of Jesus referenced in the gospels? Consider the following verse:
[Luk 11:11 KJV] 11 If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if [he ask] a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent?
What does that tell us about Jesus? It suggests to us that it is wrong to impugn the character of God with such despicable actions. Jesus presses His point in the following verse:
[Luk 11:13 KJV] 13 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall [your] heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?
If a father infected his child with a deadly pathogen today they would go to prison for child abuse and worse. Is God a child abuser? Would any sane father or mother treat their child so? Then why, in the light of the testimony of scripture do we come up with the profane ideation that God will do such things? James remarks:
[Jas 1:17 KJV] 17 Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and cometh down from the Father of lights, with whom is no variableness, neither shadow of turning.
God is a good God and His gifts are good and perfect. There is nothing good about dying. There is nothing good about disease or disability. God never varies or turns from what Jesus in John 10:10 calls life and life more abundantly. God will get glory out of any and every situation because He is God but that doesn’t mean He is the causation of those circumstances or situations from which we need deliverance.
Jesus arrives at Lazarus’ house and Martha, ever the one to know in her own mind what needs to be done and to be in control of events around her, goes out to meet Jesus. The first thing she does is tell Jesus what He ought to have done and that He should have seen to it that He didn’t arrive so late. Have you ever thought God was showing up too late? Then you know what it is to have a Martha mentality. She says in effect “you should have been here earlier – but I still believe in you…” Is this true? Let’s find out to what depth Martha’s faith extends:
Jesus maintains before Martha that Lazarus shall indeed live and suddenly Martha wants to have a theological discussion. She says “yes I know Lazarus will live in the resurrection…” This is the Martha mentality. How many times does someone die of disease or some other misfortune and those that prayed for their deliverance stand over the casket and say “well, they have their healing now…” Is this accurate thinking? Martha is consigning Lazarus’ death and Jesus late arrival and the consequence thereof to some theological eventuality.
Jesus breaks into her thinking and says to Martha “I am the resurrection…” Martha still doesn’t get what Jesus is saying and continues trying to best Jesus in theological misconceptions. Have you ever tried to get theological with God? This too is the Martha mentality. Finally, Martha gets fed up and she goes to find Mary and say “the Master calls you…” The fact is Jesus DIDN’T CALL MARY. Martha was just done with listening to what Jesus has to say. He is offering her a NOW deliverance in regard to something she has resigned herself to – the resurrection of Lazarus.
Look at Mary’s response. She comes to Jesus and falls at His feet worshipping Him. She says the same thing to Jesus as Martha “if you had been here my brother had not died…” But she does so with a far different attitude. Martha didn’t fall at Jesus’ feet. She stood tall in her theological presumptions about Lazarus and his demise. She no doubt decided it was Lazarus time and that after all he would live in the resurrection and to Martha, believing in God at this late instance was just too inconvenient and too inappropriate for the situation. The funeral had been arranged, the mourners had arrived, the food was waiting after the wake so let’s forget all this resurrection stuff…. Are you willing to be importuned? Are you willing in your situation to see God step in even at a late hour and inconvenience your unbelief? The answer to that challenges can mean the difference between life and death in your circumstance and situation.