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John 11:38-44  THE RESURRECTION OF LAZARUS

Introduction:
	
	Jesus, along with Martha, Mary and a great host of
mourners were going to the grave of Lazarus.  Most of them,
perhaps all of them, thought that Jesus was going there to
mourn the death of Lazarus.  He wasn't.  He was going there
to call Lazarus from the grave.

I.  What some of the people said about Jesus

	While they were coming to the grave of Lazarus certain
people among the mourners discussed among themselves the
miraculous power of healing which Jesus had recently
displayed in Jerusalem.  V. 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?"  It was
still fresh on the minds of the people from Jerusalem that
Jesus had recently given sight to a man at Jerusalem who had
been born blind.  Martha and Mary had both already expressed
to Jesus that they believed that if Jesus had only been
there before Lazarus died that He could have healed Lazarus
and that Lazarus would not have died.  At least some of the
mourners present thought the same thing.
	Now this most certainly did not express the sentiment of
all the people present, but it did express the thinking of
those involved in this discussion.  They knew that Jesus had
given sight to a man who had been born blind.  They believed
that He could have healed Lazarus and prevented his death.
	It seems that there was no thought in their minds that
Jesus might raise Lazarus from the grave.  Perhaps they did
not recall or may have never heard that Jesus had already
raised others back to live.  But the giving of sight to the
man who had been born blind had taken place rather recently
and this was enough to convince them that there was at least
the possibility that He would have healed Lazarus if He had
only been present.

II.  Jesus again troubled again in His Spirit

	V. 38, "Jesus therefore again groaning in himself..."
Jesus was aware of what the people had said.  He again
experienced a deep sorrow within His soul.  He must have
been pleased that they had at least a little faith in Him,
but He was grieved that their faith in Him was so limited.
They needed a lot more faith in Him than that.  They needed
to believe that He is the very Christ of God.  They needed
to believe in Him as the Son of God.  They needed to believe
in Him as the One who could save their souls.

III.  Coming to the grave

	(V. 38), "...cometh to the grave.  It was a cave, and a
stone lay upon it."  John tells us that the grave was a
cave.  Since Martha and Mary were fairly well off
financially, we are led to believe that this was a family
burial place.  A cave could furnish a burial site for a
goodly number of people.  Those families who could
financially afford it owned a burial place where all their
family members were buried.  Those who could not afford a
family burial place were buried in a public burial place.

IV.  Instruction from Jesus to roll away the stone and the
    objection of Martha

	John tells us that a stone had been rolled across the
entrance to the cave.  V. 39.  "Jesus said, Take ye away the
stone..."  That is, Jesus asked the people to take away the
stone.  He would allow them to do that which they could do.
He would do for them what they could not do.  He would raise
Lazarus from the grave, but He would allow them to roll away
the stone.
	(V. 39), "...Martha, the sister of him that was dead,
saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath
been dead four days."  Martha objected to rolling the stone
from the entranced of the came.  The people, of course,
delayed in caring out the instructions of Jesus.  She
objected on the grounds that Lazarus had already been dead
for four days and that by this time his body had begun to
decay and would put forth a terrible odor.
	Whatever hopes she may have earlier had that Jesus would
raise Lazarus from the grave at this moment were overcome by
the fear that Jesus and His disciples and all this crowd of
people would be stifled by the terrible odor of her dead
brother's decayed body.
	This does not mean that his body had not been embalmed
at the time of the burial by wrapping spices around it .  It
was, however, an indication that the embalming which the
Jews of that day did, was not as effective in preventing
decay as the embalming which the Egyptians had learned to
do.  Even with the wrapping of spices, the body of Lazarus
would be stinking at four days.
	The objection of Martha had temporarily halted the
effort to roll away the stone.  However, Jesus did not leave
the matter at that.  Instead He spoke to Martha to remind
her of some things which He had already told her and to
renew her hopes that He would raise her brother from the
grave.  V.  40, "Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee,
that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory
of God?"
	Now Jesus had not spoken those exact words to Martha.
Yet what He had said would most certainly carry that idea.
What He had said first of all to her was this: "Thy brother
shall rise again," verse 23.  He said this without
specifying when Lazarus would rise.  Then He had said to
her, "I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth
in me though he were dead yet shall he live:  And whosoever
liveth and believeth in me shall never die.  Believeth thou
this?" verse 25-26.  Even in this Jesus had not specifically
stated that He would raise Lazarus at this time.  But He
did, at the very least, imply that He might do and left the
clear impression that if she would only believe that He
would do so.

V.  The stone rolled away

	John does not tell Martha's response to this, but he
does tell us in the very next verse that the people rolled
away the stone.  It must have been with the approval of
Martha.  The impression that I get is that her hopes of a
present resurrection for her brother were immediately
revived and that she gestured for the people telling them to
go ahead and get this stone out of the way.  roll away the
stone.  She most certainly would not want to do anything
that would prevent or delay the resurrection of her brother.
	V. 41, "Then they took away the stone from the place
where the dead was laid..."  John says nothing about an odor
coming forth from the grave, yet I feel quite sure that,
sure enough, the very kind of odor that Martha had feared
had accumulated in that cave and that quite a stench came
out to the people.  I realize that Jesus could have
prevented the odor and He may have, but I doubt that He did.
The stench hitting their nostrils would be undeniable
evidence that Lazarus was really dead.  He was not merely
unconscious.  He was really dead.  Martha and Mary knew that
he as dead.  The friends and relatives already knew that he
was dead.  But there would be nothing more convincing that
the stench that would come out after the stone was rolled
away.

VI. The prayer of Jesus to God the Father

	Then, in spite of the stench, Jesus prays for God to
show these people that He has the power to raise the dead to
life again.
	(V. 41), "And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said,
Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me."  First, Jesus
lifted His eyes toward heaven.  He looked straight up to the
sky so that the people could see that He was looking to God
the Father in heaven for His approval upon what He was about
to do.
	Then He spoke aloud to God the Father in heaven and
addressed Him as His Father.  This is what the Jewish
leaders at Jerusalem had gotten so angry at Him about.  He
had told them that God in heaven was His Father.  When He
did, they had immediately tried to stone Him to death.  The
news of that event had surely reached the ears of all the
Jews from Jerusalem who were now present at the grave of
Lazarus.
	What is taking place here is an open rebuttal to the
attitude which the Jewish leaders had taken.  They had taken
the attitude that God is not the Father of Jesus and that
Jesus is most certainly not the Son of God as He claimed.
Jesus now looks upward and addresses God as His Father and
thanks Him for answering His prayers.
	V. 42, "And I knew that thou hearest me always: but
because of the people which stand by I said it, that they
may believe that thou hast sent me."  Jesus was never in
doubt that God the Father would answer His prayers. But He
states openly that the reason He is saying these things is
so that the people present will know that God answers His
prayers.  He does this even before He brings Lazarus back to
life.  Therefore, when they see Lazarus come back to life
they will know that God in heaven has heard Him and has
shown His approval of Jesus before them all.  They will see
first hand the proof that Jesus is who He claims to be.  He
is the Christ of God.  He is the Son of God.  He is the
Light of the World.  He is the Water of Life.  He is the One
who has power to raise the dead.  He is the giver of eternal
life.  He is the one and only hope of being in the
resurrection to life eternal.

VII.  Lazarus called forth from the grave

	V. 43, "And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a
loud voice, Lazarus, come forth."  I can just imagine
everybody standing there aghast.  They can hardly believe
their ears!  Jesus has called for a dead man to come out of
the grave.  Then they can hardly believe their eyes!  V.
44, "And he that was dead came forth..."  Out of that grave
came Lazarus!
	Lazarus was still wrapped from head to foot in grave
clothes.  (V. 44), "...bound hand and foot with
graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin.
Even his face was covered with a napkin so that he could not
see where he was going.  If the graveclothes were wrapped
around him in the usual Jewish fashion, they were wrapped
round and round his body including the legs.  That would
mean that he had to take little short steps.  But here he
came, very much alive.
	(V. 44), "...Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let
him go."  Jesus instructed the people to loose him and let
him go.  They were to take off those grave clothes.  He was
no longer a dead man and needed to be able to move about.
He would need to be able to move his legs more freely in
order to go home.  He would pretty soon be wanting something
to eat and would need his hands and arms freed.
	John does not tell us anything about the joys and the
celebration which took place.  .  Yet we know that this was
a great time for Martha and Mary and Lazarus and all the
family and friends.  It was also a great time for the whole
village.

VIII.  A preview of what is to come

	Listen!  This is a preview of what is going to happen to
all the redeemed of God.  The Lord Jesus Christ is going to
return to this earth some day.  On His way down from heaven
to earth He is going to stop somewhere along the way.  He is
going to shout a command to all of the bodies of all the
redeemed who are in the grave.  When He does, all of the
saved of all the ages will arise from their graves and arise
in the air and go up to meet Jesus in the air.  Then all who
are saved will be caught together with them and they will go
up together to meet the Lord in the air.  You talk about a
time of great joy and celebration --- this will be it!  It
is going to be the greatest celebration in the history of
the whole world.  It is going to be one great hallelujah
time!
	Then when the Lord comes on down to the earth, all of
the redeemed of all the ages will come down with Him.  They
will come to earth in their new immortal bodies and they
will live and reign with Christ for a thousand years.  Then
after the millennium  is over they will live with Jesus in
the New Earth throughout all eternity.
	The unsaved will not be raised until the millennium is
over.  They will be raised and judged and cast into the Lake
of Fire and Brimstone to suffer forever and ever.

Conclusion:
	
	Let me ask you something.  Will you be in that group who
will go up to meet Jesus in the air?  Will you be with that
group who will come back to earth with Jesus and rule and
reign with Him during the millennium?  Will you be in that
number who will live with the Lord in the New Earth
throughout all eternity?
	If you will, then I am going to ask you to give your
life to Jesus to live for His honor and glory.
	But if you cannot truthfully say that you will be in
that number then I have good news for you.  The Lord Jesus
Christ is willing and able to save you right now.  He will
save you if you will repent of your sins and trust in Him to
save your soul.  Will you turn to Jesus right now in this
service this morning and call upon Jesus and ask Him to have
mercy on your soul?  Romans 10:13 says, "For whosoever shall
call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved."  Will you
call on Him and trust Him?