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John 11:28-36  THE GREAT COMPASSION OF JESUS

Introduction:

	In our previous text Jesus came from Perea to Bethany to
visit with Martha and Mary and to awake their brother,
Lazarus, from the sleep of death.  When He and His disciples
arrived at Bethany He stopped on the outskirts of the
village and sent a message for Martha and Mary to come out
to meet Him there.  Martha got the message and came out to
see Him without telling Mary that He had arrived.
	Martha told Jesus that if He had been there her brother
would not have died.  Then she said that she believed that
even yet He could get permission from God the Father and
raise Lazarus back to life again.
	Jesus acknowledged to Martha that He does have the power
to call a person back from the dead.  Jesus informed Martha
that He is the One who will raise all men back to life
again.  He is the giver of all life and He is the One who
will raise all men back to life again.  He placed special
stress on the importance of men believing on Him and being
saved.  Man's only hope of being in the first resurrection
and spending eternity in glory is by placing his faith in
Jesus as the Christ assured of God and as his Savior.  But
He gave no indication that he would rsise Lazarus at this time.
	In our text today Martha goes back to their home and
gets her sister, Mary and brings her to Jesus.  Jesus shows
great compassion toward these two sisters and toward their
brother who had died.  This is the kind of compassion which
is available toward every man.  If there is ever any human
being who never receives the warmth and strength and comfort
of the compassion of Jesus Christ, it is not because it was
not offered to him.  It is because he has rejected it.

I.  Mary going to meet Jesus

	V. 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."  Actually Jesus had called for both
Martha and Mary in the first place.  I cannot believe that
Jesus had asked that only Martha come out to meet Him. Nor
do I think Martha had failed earlier to inform Mary of
the arrival of Jesus out of any lack of respect for Mary.  I
think it was because she was just so anxious to see Jesus
that she did not bother to inform Mary that He had arrived
and was asking for them.
	But now that she has seen Jesus and her heart is so
filled with comfort and hope after having talked with Him,
she hastily goes back to their home to inform Mary that
Jesus has arrived and that He is asking for her to come.
	Now perhaps you may wonder why Jesus did not go to their
home instead of stopping at the edge of the village and
sending for them to come out to Him.  The Scripture does not
say, but I think that He did this for the benefit of His
disciples who were with Him.  The home of Martha and Mary
was filled with people from Jerusalem and His disciples
would be afraid to be in their presence.  They would be
afraid that someone in that group would carry the news back
to the Jewish leaders who wanted to kill Jesus that Jesus
was out at Bethany.  So He just stopped at the edge of the
village and sent for Martha and Mary to come out to see Him.
	At any rate, Martha rushes back to their home and she
calls Mary aside so that the people from Jerusalem will not
hear and she tells Mary in private that Jesus has arrived
and wants her to come out to see Him.  Mary did not waste
any time.  V.  29, "As soon as she heard that, she arose
quickly, and came unto him."  John does not tell us at this
point, but Martha went with her.  She probably led the way
to the place where Jesus was.

II.  The mourners following Mary

	V. 30-31, "Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but
was in that place where Martha met him.  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."  Even Mary
did not tell the people in their home that she was going out
to meet Jesus.  Martha and Mary were no doubt aware of the
danger that could result if someone were to carry the news
back to Jerusalem that Jesus was in Bethany.  But the people
think that Mary is going out to the grave to weep and mourn
for Lazarus and they follow after her.  So they are going to
find out any way that Jesus has come.

III.  Mary's meeting with Jesus

	V. 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."  In contrast
to Martha, who apparently stood as she had talked with
Jesus, Mary fell at His feet.  It seems that Mary was the
more compassionate of the two, while Martha was the more
practical.
	What was the first thing that Mary said to Jesus?  She
said the same thing that Martha said.  She said, "Lord, if
you had been here Lazarus would not have died and , we would
not be grieving right now."  Why is it that they both said
essentially the same thing?  Apparently it was because this
is what they had discussed with one another earlier before
His arrival.  Apparently they had both already agreed that
if only Jesus had been present He would have healed Lazarus
and Lazarus would not have died.  They were not rebuking
Jesus for not being there.  They were expressing regret that
they had not sent notified Him earlier about the sickness of
Lazarus.

IV.  Jesus troubled in His spirit

	V. 33, "When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the
Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the
spirit, and was troubled."  Now get this scene:  There was
Mary at the feet of Jesus sobbing her heart out.  There was
that large number of mourners who had followed Mary from
their home who had gathered around and when Mary began to
weep, they, too, began to weep.  The Greek word in our text
means that they wept loudly.  When Mary began to cry at the
feet of Jesus they all began to boo-hoo loudly.
	It melted the heart of Jesus.  Let me tell you something
about Jesus.  The heart of the Lord Jesus Christ is very
tender.  Even now as Jesus sits at the right hand of God the
Father in heaven, Jesus grieves whenever His people grieve.
There is a hymn that asks the question:  "Does Jesus care?"
The answer comes back loud and strong:  "Oh, yes, He cares!
I know He cares!  His heart is touched with my grief!"

V.  Jesus inquiry of the burial place of Lazarus

	V. 34 "And said, Where have ye laid him?..."  Why did He
ask?  He most certainly knew already where the body of
Lazarus lay.  He asked for somewhat the same reason that a
father or mother asks a child a question to which they
already know the answer.  It was for the purpose of 
strengthening them.  It would be a help to them to lead
the way to the grave of Lazarus.  They all probably thought
He wanted to go to the grave for the purpose of mourning the
loss of Lazarus.  But He knew that He was going there to raise 
Lazarus from the grave.  Some of them would remember this 
later and discuss it among themselves and say, "We just thought 
He wanted to go there to mourn.  We had no idea that He was 
going to raise Lazarus from the dead."
	There may have been a few exceptions to this.  Jesus had
informed His disciples before they left Perea that He was
going back to Judaea to awake Lazarus our of sleep.  There
just may have been some of them who at this point was
somewhat suspicious that they were about to see something
spectacular.  I think that Martha, also, may have possibly
have suspected what was about to take place.  At the very
least, I think that there was a glimmer of hope that He
would.  She had expressed to Him that she knew He could if
He would.  Perhaps she dared at this point to hope that she
was about to see her brother alive again.
	(V. 34), "...They said unto him, Lord, come and see."
They led the way and Jesus followed after.
	Now get this scene.  The people led the way to the tomb
of Lazarus.  It is a cave.  At the mouth of the cave a huge
stone had been rolled to cover the entrance of the cave to
discourage grave-robbers from plundering.  They all stopped
near the entrance of the cave.

VI.  Jesus weeping

	V. 35, "Jesus wept."  Jesus wept!  Now it does not
surprise us that Mary had wept.  It does not surprise us
that the people had wept.  It would not surprise us if even
Martha had wept, although John does not tell us if she did.
Somehow, I suspect that even she did.
	It should not surprise us that Jesus wept, but somehow
it does.  In our own minds we picture Jesus as such a tower
of spiritual strength that we find it difficult to envision
Him breaking down and crying.  But Jesus wept.  He cried
bitter tears.  The tears filled His eyes and flooded down
His cheeks.  They stained the garment that He wore.
	V. 36, "Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!"
And they were right.  He did.  He loved Lazarus.  John told
us that back in verse 5.  John said, "Now Jesus loved
Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus."  He did.  He loved
Lazarus.  But His tears were not so much for Lazarus.  How
could they have been?  He could see Lazarus over there in
the Paradise of God.  Lazarus had it made over there.  He
had suffered greatly in his sickness, but over there Lazarus
was not sick.  He was not suffering.  He was not sad.  He
was not in discomfort in any way.  He was rejoicing.  He
was really rejoicing.  He was rejoicing greatly in a
wonderful place and was in the presence of people he was so
very glad to see.  So why was Jesus weeping?
	Furthermore, although he concerned for Martha and Mary 
His grief was not altogether for them.  He was about to make 
extremely happy.  They would be overjoyed onece He raised 
Lazarus from the grave.   
	So why was He weeping?  The answer to that question 
lies only partly in the grief that Martha and Mary and 
their relatives and friends were experiencing.  It grieved 
Jesus to see them suffer.  It grieved Him that their hearts
were so disturbed at the loss of Lazarus.
	Yet I think there may have been other causes for His
grief.  I think He grieved for all who were lost in sin as 
a result of Adam's fall.  Sin is always a cause of grief 
for Jesus.
	I think He grieved because there were many people right
there in that crowd of witnesses who were lost in sin and
who needed to be saved.  Unless they would learn that He is
the Savior of men and put their faith in Him they would
never enter that Paradise which Lazarus was in right at that
very moment.  He was weeping for the many many souls who
were lost and who needed His salvation. 
	I think that Jesus was grieved because He could look 
down through the pages of time and see the geat numbers of 	
people who would reject the gospel message and go out into 
everlating torment.  He grieved that they would not go to 
heaven.  
	Jesus could see people who are here in this very
congregation and I can assure you that if there is anyone 
present here today who is still unsaved and headed for the 
fires of hell then Jesus is grieving about the eternal 
destiny of that soul.  
	Jesus loves you.  He died for you.  He wants to save
you.  He will save you if you trust Him to be your Savior.  

Conclusion:  
		
	If you have never trusted in Jesus to save your soul, 
then won't you call upon Him right now and ask Him to save 
you and take you to heaven?  Won't you do it right now?
	If there is a Christian here who is out of the will 
of God, Jesus is grieved about you and he wants you to come
to Him and to surrender your will to Him.  Won't you come 
today?
	If there is a Christian whom Jesus is seeking to lead
to come and seek membership in this church, let me say to 
you that Jesus will be grieved if you do not come.  Won't 
you come today?