Focus: “I am the resurrection and the life III” John 11:25
INTRODUCTION
1. The Disciples did not have a full comprehension of all the Lord Jesus taught about Faith and Life in Him
2. Martha did not fully understand when the Lord Jesus taught her about the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:25)
3. The problem of not fully comprehending may be traced to a number of things:
a) Language
b) Faith
c) Human limitations
CALLING MARY
1. Martha left the Lord Jesus and went to call Mary
2. She had a word for Mary
28 And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.”
29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.
John 11:28-29
a) The Teacher has come
b) And is calling for you
3. Mary had been grieving deeply
a) Many Jews had come to console the two sisters (John 11:19)
b) Mary had remained in her home much of the time
c) When Mary left home abruptly to see the Lord Jesus, her only consolation
MISUNDERSTANDING OF THE JEWS
30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him.
31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”
John 11:30-31
1. Not in Bethany just yet
2. The Jews were in the home of Martha and Mary
3. Mary’s abrupt departure
a) The Jews assumed that Mary had gone to the tomb of Lazarus
b) That she had gone to weep there
THE CONVERSATION BETWEEN MARY AND THE LORD JESUS
32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled.
34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?”
They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.”
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!”
37 And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”
John 11:32-37
1. Mary seeing the Lord Jesus
a) She fell down at the feet of the Lord Jesus (John 11:32a)
b) This expressed her regard for the Lord
2. A similar misgiving expressed
“Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”John 11:32b
a) The power of the Lord Jesus was being limited by Mary too
b) If the Lord had come earlier, then Lazarus would not have died!
3. The Lord Jesus looked around
a) He saw Mary weeping
b) He saw the Jews weeping
4. The response of the Lord
a) He groaned in His spirit (John 11:33a)
b) He was troubled (sad) (John 11:33b)
c) He wept (John 11:35)
i) Nobody seemed to have understood His power
ii) Nobody seemed to have the desired faith to believe in Him
5. Further misunderstanding of the Jews when they saw His tears
a) They acknowledged the love of the Lord Jesus for Lazarus (John 11:36)
b) They added this comment
And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”John 11:37
i) The Lord Jesus was a mere man to the Jews
ii) They noted His power to heal the blind, but could He have kept Lazarus from dying?
CONCLUSION
1. There were certain things that were lacking
a) Deep knowledge
b) Dynamic faith
2. There were other things that were over-powering
a) Deep grief felt by Martha and Mary
b) Death and the feeling of hopelessness that attend
i) Martha
ii) Mary
iii) The Jews
3. What was needed
a) A strength that comes from a dynamic faith
b) A trust that enables a person to look beyond
i) Death
ii) This life
c) A knowledge of God that enables us to transcend the experience of death of a loved one