Conquering Death – Pt. 3

God’s people would take their
Bibles and turn back once again to John chapter 11, John chapter
11, where we resume our consideration
of this great passage where Jesus is dealing with man’s chief enemy,
that of death. And we’ve heard of more horrific
and heartbreaking Stories of death even this week sudden cruel
as always But it is inevitable and that’s part of what man hates
about the concept of death The fact that it’s indiscriminate
it strikes Even those who are wealthy even
those who are young It is man’s most hated enemy
and that’s what Jesus is dealing with and In this particular passage this
morning, as I’ve broken it out for you in weeks past, I suggested
to you that a major portion of this section is devoted to Mary
and Martha. And as we’ll see today, we looked
at Martha last Lord’s Day, as we see this morning’s passage
before us, it’s about Mary. This is Mary’s turn, but really,
in a sense, the Jews kind of get in the way. As a matter of
fact, the Jews are really in focus there in verses 28 through
37. It really isn’t Mary. Mary is
kind of the backdrop for the whole passage. The Jews and their
lack of faith is what is in focus. I thought about this when we
just sang that song. Behold the man upon a cross, my sin upon
his shoulders. Most of us would affirm that.
Most of us would, you know, agree. Certainly you can’t make a profession
of faith without believing that Jesus Christ has taken your sin
in his death on the cross. But it was that second line in
that second stanza that was so shocking. Ashamed I hear my mocking
voice call out among the scoffers. Now most of us, though we would
agree with the first statement, would take issue with the second.
We kind of like it when Peter lets the Jews really have it
in Acts chapter two. You nailed him to the cross.
The truth is we would have done the same thing. The truth is
that we would have been in that crowd mocking the Lord Jesus
Christ. The truth is that we hated God
and hated his word and hated his Messiah until our heart was
turned Of course, that’s why the third line is what it is. It was my sin that held him there
until it was accomplished. There wasn’t anybody that was
virtuously looking on this sacrifice that was shed as if they had
already seized hold of their salvation. They might have been
longing for Christ to do a work in their lives. that it was the cross that produced
believers. If we come to this passage today,
we focus on really the unbelief that was so manifest, so present
there even in this poignant moment in the raising of Lazarus. If you would go back to verse
one, as we consider chapter 11. Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus
of Bethany, the village of Mary and Martha, her sister. It was
Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with
her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. So the sister sent
word to him saying, Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick. But
when Jesus heard this, he said, this sickness is not into death,
but for the glory of God. so that the son of God may be
glorified by it. Now Jesus loved Martha and her
sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was
sick, he stayed then two days longer in the place where he
was. Then after this, he said to the
disciples, let us go to Judea again. The disciples said to
him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you. Are
you going there again? Jesus answered, are there not
12 hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he
does not stumble because he sees the light of this world. But
if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because the light
is not in him. Then he said, this he said, and
after that he said to them, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,
but I go that I may awaken him out of sleep. Then the disciples
then said to him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.
Now, Jesus had spoken this of his death, but they thought he
was speaking of literal sleep. So Jesus then said to them plainly,
Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes
that I was not there so that you may believe, but let us go
to him. Therefore, Thomas, who is called
Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, Let us also go so that we may
die with him. So when Jesus came, he found
that he had already been in a tomb four days. Now, Bethany was near
Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come
to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.
Martha, therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to
meet him. But Mary stayed at the house.
Martha then said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother
would not have died. Even now, I know that whatever
you ask of God, God will give you. Jesus said to her, your
brother will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that
he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Jesus said to
her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in
me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes
in me will never die. Do you believe this? She said
to him, yes, Lord, I have believed that you are the Christ, the
son of God, even he who comes into the world. When she had
said this, she went away and called Mary, her sister, saying
secretly, The teacher is here and is calling for you. And when
she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to him. Now, Jesus
had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where
Martha had met him. Then the Jews who were with her
in the house and consoling her, when they saw Mary got up quickly
and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going
to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was,
she saw him and fell at his feet saying to him, Lord, if you had
been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus therefore
saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping,
he was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled and said, where
have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come
and see. Jesus wept. So the Jews were saying, see
how he loved him. But some of them said, could
not this man who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this
man also from dying? So Jesus, again, being deeply
moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave and a stone
was lying against it. Jesus said, remove the stone.
Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to him, Lord, by this time
there will be a stench, for he has been dead for four days.
Jesus said to her, did I not say to you that if you believe,
you will see the glory of God? So they removed the stone. Then
Jesus raised his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you
have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but because of
the people standing around it, I said so that they may believe
that you sent me. When he had said these things,
he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. The man
who had died came forth bound hand and foot with wrappings.
His face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them,
unbind him and let him go. Therefore, many of the Jews who
came to Mary and saw what he had done believed in him. But
some of them went to the Pharisees and told them the things which
Jesus had done. For our purposes today, we’ll
stop there. But I take you back to verse
28, which starts the section where Jesus is interacting now
with Mary. He had a good interview, a dialogue. He produced exactly what seems
to be designed in that private meeting with Martha. He presented
himself as the resurrection and the life. He challenged Martha’s
faith. He asked her directly if she
believed in those stupendous claims, and she affirms that
in one of the most beautiful and thorough testimonies recorded
in Scripture. I believe that you are the Christ,
you are the Messiah, you are God’s anointed one, You are the
Son of God, the one standing in closest relation, literally
as John would say, face to face with God, even he who comes having
been sent into the world by the Father himself. But now it’s
Mary’s turn. A lot of people think that Jesus
likes Mary more than Martha. Certainly that passage in Luke
lends itself to that. Martha’s busy in the kitchen,
frustrated with Mary. because she’s not helping. Martha
goes to Jesus and lodges her complaint and Jesus says that
Mary is doing the better part. Mary is sitting at my feet in
worship. So many people feel like maybe
Jesus likes Mary better. That’s not the case. Not the
case at all. And here in this passage it tells
us or in this chapter it tells us explicitly that Jesus loved
each member of this family. But it is Mary’s turn. And the
fascinating thing about this section is that Mary never really
reaches a prominent spot in the course of this passage, verses
28 through 37. She’s there, but she really is
a backdrop. She stands in stark contrast
to those who are around her. her faith, her devotion to Christ,
they stand in really a shocking contrast to those who are really
supposed to be there attending to her. And what you have from
the overall review of this passage is three stark contrasts. The Jews compared to Mary that served to us a challenge
to our own faith. First of all, we see in this
passage the willful blindness to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. The willful blindness to the
Lordship of Jesus Christ. Look back at verse 28. When she had said this, she went
away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, the teacher
is here and is calling for you. Mary had remained, as you know,
in the house mourning. We talked about this last time.
It’s entirely possible that Mary didn’t even yet know that Jesus
was near. Martha caught wind of it somehow
and literally ran out the door to go and to meet with Jesus.
Perhaps she wanted private time with the Lord herself. The personalities are greatly
different as we have seen in the past. Instead of the admonition
that Martha received from the Lord, the challenge to her faith,
Mary just needs comfort. She needs to know that the Lord
is near. She needs to draw near quietly
and say very little and just be with the God who loves her. Very different than Martha. Martha
ends up being challenged and rises to the occasion in her
profession of faith. Mary, on the other hand, is already
there theologically. And all she wants to do is engage
in worship. Look at verse 28. When she had
said this, that is Martha, when she had given her testimony of
faith, she went away and called Mary her sister saying secretly,
the teacher is here and is calling for you. And when she heard it,
she got up quickly and was coming to him. We can almost very easily
picture this scene, can’t we? Two sisters, with an almost innate
ability to communicate with one another without words. A lot
of times you have those close family connections that maybe
just the cock of an eyebrow or a head nod. Here’s Martha, perhaps
with just a glance, perhaps with a nod of the head or even the
slightest gesture, gets Mary to herself. She secures Mary’s
attention, and then as she begins to draw near, she inaudibly utters
these words, these most important words from the Lord. The teacher
is here and is calling for you. What’s fascinating is any way
that that sentence is emphasized, ultimately the message is very
clear, isn’t it? It could have been this, the
teacher is here and calling for you. The teacher is here and
he’s calling for you. The teacher is here and he’s
calling for you. Any way that that sentence is
emphasized, the message is the same. Jesus Christ was on scene
After four days waiting, he was present, local. He had arrived
finally, and he was calling out for Mary. He wanted Mary to come
and to be near him. There’s a question as to why
that would have been so secretive. Well, we know that the Jews were
already contrary to Christ. We know that the Jews were present. Look down at the passage just
briefly. When I suggest to you that this passage is really more
about the Jews than it is about Mary, look at verse 31. Then
the Jews who were with her in the house and consoling her,
they’re brought into focus. Look at verse 33, when Jesus
saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping.
Look at verse 34, he said, where have you laid him? They, that
is the Jews, said to him, come and see. Jesus wept, look at
verse 36. So the Jews were saying as they
looked at the tears flowing down the Lord’s cheeks, see how he
loved him. They’re still in focus in verse
37. Some of them said, and they begin
to mutter their criticisms. It was likely because of the
Jews that this message was delivered in secret. The Jews had a hostility
built up towards Christ. even as the disciples acknowledged,
already threatened Christ’s life, carrying around bricks and stones. She didn’t want the Jews to know
about the nearness, about Christ coming near to the home. She
didn’t want the difficulty that would come from that, the hostility,
the controversy. And so she comes to Mary, beckons
her, gives her the message in private, and Mary’s response
is to jump to her feet and run out the door. We don’t know for sure, but we
do know that Jesus requested the meeting. It says it right
here. It’s entirely possible that Jesus
suggested discreteness in communicating this request. Don’t make a big
scene out of this. When you get back to the house,
Martha, please, would you privately ask Mary to come and see me?
I’d like to spend some time with Mary. We don’t know that. We
don’t know whether it was Martha, perhaps, that took it upon ourselves. You can bet that if Jesus wanted
a private meeting with Mary, if Jesus absolutely wanted a
private meeting with Mary, it would have happened. Martha makes reference here to
Christ simply as the teacher. An affirmation of honor, a subtle
reference to Jesus, perhaps to conceal his identity from the
Jews. Just this common title, one that
Mary would immediately equate with Jesus himself. Either way,
Mary sprang to her feet and ran to meet with the Lord. Look at
verse 30. Now, Jesus had not yet come into
the village, but was still in the place where Martha met him.
All kinds of various attempts to explain why Jesus stayed there. Off and away from the house,
we can surmise several reasons based on what follows. This place
had well served its purpose for a private meeting between Jesus
and Martha. Why go anywhere else? Certainly
to come into the house would have been to provoke attention
to himself, taking it away even from the mourning of Lazarus. And perhaps it would likewise
serve Mary to go to this place But even more likely, Jesus providentially
uses this place, this meeting place, as a lure to draw out
these Jewish critics to the very grave of Lazarus so that they
too would witness the resurrection of Lazarus. It’s absolutely certain
that if Jesus wanted a totally private meeting, as I said, no
stragglers, no hangers-on, No crowds, Jesus could have exercised
his divine power and authority and made that happen in an instant.
As it is, the grave is nearby. The following verses will go
on to inform us that they did not need to return to the home. Instead, they’re able to proceed
directly to the tomb. In fact, the Jewish mourners
take a kind of gleeful pride in being So, in the know, right? That they led the procession
to Lazarus’ tomb. They know exactly where it is.
Follow me, Jesus. Look at verse 31. Then the Jews,
who were with her in the house and consoling her, when they
saw that Mary got up and quickly went out, they followed her,
supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. particular culture, they played
up mourning to the hilt. There were sometimes paid mourners. If the family didn’t have enough
people, if they were new to town, or if they didn’t know enough
friends, they would provide paid mourners to go and to be in a
house of mourning. But it was a courtesy. It was
a thing that they did. We’ve lived and pastored in a
variety of places throughout the United States. In the Midwest,
it’s a fascinating deal. Funerals are all-day events.
They usually start 10, 11 in the morning, and then there’s
a lunch, and then you just kind of hang out, and then everything
gets warmed up again, and you just keep eating. You hang out
all day long. It’s not unlike this scene here.
They’re friends, maybe with a small F, they’re acquaintances in many
cases, but they’re there for the purpose of going through
the process of mourning. Mary, likely the more emotional
of the two sisters, you can just see this natural
tendency for her to spring to her feet when she knows the Savior
is near and run out the door. And the thought is that if she’s
going to weep, we better go do likewise. This weeping was not
just crying, not just tears running down your cheek, not just a sadness
of heart, but this was what has been described as unrestrained
wailing, loud noises. And it’s really plain from the
reading of this passage The Jews didn’t hear what Martha had said
to Mary. They didn’t hear about this private
meeting. They didn’t know that it was Jesus who was near. All
they know is that Mary gets on her feet and goes out the door
in a big hurry. And so they do what they either
are paid to do or what is customary to do, what is the right thing
to do in the circumstance that if Mary is going out to mourn,
we should go and mourn with her. J.C. Ryle paints a fascinating
picture here when he says, in estimating such a custom, which
to most thinking persons may seem as useless as rubbing a
wound. He says, in other words, to provide
paid mourners or even to have these so-called friends come
and just kind of wail with you while you wail as if it’s, you
know, productive. He says, it is only fair to remember
though that the Old Testament Jews of the state after death
were not nearly so well lighted and comfortable as ours. Did
you hear what he says? Most Jews believed in an afterlife,
but they really didn’t know what it looked like. They didn’t know
how it functioned. They didn’t have it as clearly laid out.
Absolutely not as clearly laid out as we do. Ryle goes on. And he says, the removal of death’s
sting, the resurrection and paradise were things not so well understood,
even by the best saints before Christ, as they were after Christ
rose. To most of the Jews in our Lord’s
time, we can well believe that death was regarded as the end
of all happiness and comfort, and the state after death is
a dreary blank. In other words, it was natural,
it was customary. Some of them were likely paid
to be there, but it was also their own mortality that they
were weeping. It was also their own fear of
death that they were embracing. And we’re about to come full
circle here in the confrontation of their utter blindness to the
Lordship of Jesus Christ. Look at verse 32. Therefore, when Mary came where
Jesus was, to this private place, and she saw him and fell at his
feet, saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother
would not have died. We’re not even told much about
the way Martha approaches Christ, but we’re certainly not told
that she fell on her knees, fell on her face at Jesus’ feet. Mary was the more tender of the
two, wasn’t she? Mary was the one who was more
emotional, certainly likely more broken up. There are those tough
people that no matter what life dishes out, they keep a stiff
upper lip and that certainly seems to describe Martha. She was upset, but not hysterical,
not like Mary, Mary kind of almost keeps it together, doesn’t she?
She jumps up, runs out of the house, and then as she sprints
towards Jesus, she catches glimpse of the one that she loves, and
she can do the only thing that comes natural to her, and that
is to fall on her face in worship. Martha didn’t do that. Martha
was verbal. Martha had a conversation. Martha
was reasoning and dealing with Christ on that level. Not so
much Mary. And it isn’t that one thing is
better than the other. I love the way one pastor said
it. There is insufficient evidence
to declare that Mary’s faith was more excellent in quality
or degree than Martha’s. You get that a lot though. Especially
in the Luke 10 passage. You get this sense that, you
know, Martha’s service, rather, is unimportant and unnecessary. Mary, on the other hand, is worshiping,
always about worshiping. In the passage in front of us,
John chapter 11, you can look. Martha’s doctrine, spot on. Martha’s doctrine is excellent
doctrine. And you get those more doctrinally
minded saints. Martha was a words person. Martha
was really not unlike me. But then you also get the Marys. And if you see Martha’s doctrine
was excellent, Mary’s worship was equally excellent. Worshipping at the feet of her
savior was her habitual posture. 1039, Mary seated at the Lord’s feet
listening to his words. John, the passage that we introduced,
John chapter 12, where she took that vial of perfume, poured
it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair. This was
a natural posture for her before the Lord Jesus Christ. Now my
point, the question that I wanna raise with you is where were
the Jews? Why wasn’t everybody in that
particular location, why weren’t they all on their knees? Why
weren’t they all on their faces before the Lord Jesus Christ?
The reason is because there was a willful blindness. to the lordship
of Jesus Christ. Mary knew. Mary knew who he was. And just as doctrinally excellent
as Martha’s testimony was, so was Mary’s worship. Mary knew
that this was the Lord Jesus Christ, and there was only one
rightful place for her. And it was at the feet of her
master. The Jews, on the other hand,
you can almost picture them standing, arms crossed, from afar looking
on not just bewildered, but even to a degree disgusted by this
behavior. I would suggest that if it happened
in today’s culture, there would be near riots if Jesus accepted
this kind of worship. How dare he demean a woman in
this manner? But the Jews, the Jews who are
in focus in this passage exhibit a willful blindness to the Lordship
of Christ. They’ve heard enough. This is
the Lord Jesus Christ and yet they will not bow the knee. Not yet anyway. They will not
stoop before the Lord Jesus. They will not fall on their face
in worship of the Savior. But that’s not their only problem.
That’s not their only shortfall. That’s not the only contrast
presented in this passage. Not only do we see the willful
blindness to the lordship of Jesus Christ, we see the willful
blindness to the mercy of Jesus Christ. Look at verse 33. When
Jesus therefore saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her
also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled and
said, where have you laid him? And we need to note immediately
the nature of the situation. The scene is one of deep, extreme
grief, not just crying, as I already said, but more accurately, wailing,
this noisy, unchecked, demonstrative, even it’s still the custom in
the Middle East today, demonstrative wailing. And there’s two things
that are said here of Christ. He groaned and he wept. This is a passage among many
passages that point to the fullness of Christ’s human nature. He
took on human flesh. He took on our weaknesses. He
took on all of the challenges that come with owning a human
body, not the least of which was grief and heartache, pain. One said, as any real man, he
was specially moved when he saw Mary and the Jews weeping. As
God, he had no need to hear their plaintive language and to see
their tears in order to learn that they were afflicted. In
other words, what he says there is that as God, Jesus wasn’t
caught off guard emotionally. God, after all, may I remind
you, invented the punishment of death. But for Christ as a person who
loved deeply those who were affected by this, including the Jews, took that in and not just empathized,
but sympathized with them. He didn’t just feel their pain
in some kind of intellectual way, but he really deeply felt
and it elicited up tears. The word, it’s a fascinating
word. It’s a complicated word, actually. When Jesus saw her weeping, the
Jews who came with her weeping, he was deeply moved. I say it’s a difficult word because
it’s translated very differently throughout the New Testament.
Mark, or rather Matthew 9.30. says their eyes were open and
Jesus sternly warned them. That’s how it’s translated in
that passage. A stern warning. Translated the same exact way
in Mark 1 43. He sternly warned them. In Mark 14, they were criticizing
the sinful woman who broke the perfume and poured it on the
Lord. where this perfume might have been sold for over 300 denarii
in the money given to the poor and they were scolding her. So that brings up a problem to
us. In what sense could it be that when it says the Lord was
deeply moved, who was he scolding? In what sense can this word possibly
be translated here? The word literally meant, It
referred to the snort of a horse. As a horse began to, the adrenaline
began to rise and a horse began to take foot. Ultimately it meant
to be moved with anger. All the occasions where this
word is applied to Christ were occasions where there was just
intense emotion. And so the passage, or the word
rather, could express an intense sorrow, an intense indignation,
an intense severity. And so we could back up and say,
what was it about this scene that could have angered or bothered
or irritated Christ? Well, it could have been the
fact that human emotion, that he was witnessing human emotion.
And one suggested that Christ in his humanity rebuked, or Christ
in his deity rebuked his humanity. That he was indignant that his
human body, I mean if you can imagine that kind of dichotomy,
silly. It could have been the unbelief
of the Jews, that certainly will come into focus in a moment,
but it really hasn’t yet unless you consider their response to
his lordship already in light of Mary’s. I don’t think that’s
the issue. He’s not indignant yet at the
unbelief of the Jews, even the unbelief of his friends. He could
have been indignant, as one said, at the sight of the momentary
triumph of evil. God invented death, remember,
but God wasn’t pleased with it. It isn’t the natural way. It
was a punishment for sin, and Jesus could have looked at that
and seen it, and been indignant that men so willingly embraced
and succumbed to that punishment. There’s a fourth option, though,
that when Jesus observed these mourners, some of them paid,
this hypocritical, overly demonstrative weeping in light of his own pain,
in light of his friend’s pain, I think that that begins to rise
to the top. Perhaps there’s even a blend
here, that he was indignant about what he saw, indignant about
death, indignant about the miseries that come into people’s lives,
not the least of which is death, and the indignant about the mourning,
the feeble and half-hearted mourning that was
taking place. And so it says not only was he
deeply moved, he was indignant about the situation, but it says
literally that he troubled himself. That’s hard to even fathom. When the Jews, when he saw the
Jews who came with her weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit
and was troubled. He literally troubled himself.
In other words, it was, it was like he stirred his emotion.
He, he generated emotion from within so that it became evident
to what one described as perhaps a shutter. Jesus, we know that his emotions
were always under control. He had to, generate this response,
this inward disturbance that ultimately welled up from within
and become and became rather an outward manifestation of that
same kind of grief. And he just appeals to them.
Where have you laid him? The shutter takes over his whole
body. Where is he? They said to him,
Lord, come and see. Jesus wept, verse 35, so the
Jews were saying, see how he loved him. What a good friend
he was. This is the well-known passage
known as the shortest verse in the Bible, Jesus wept. But right
away, we have to consider the particular word chosen here to
describe the situation. This word now refers to the shedding
of tears, but not to the loud energetic moaning and howling,
carrying on the wailing of the mourners. Jesus does not join
in in that, but he does shed tears. He is emotional. His response is what one described
as quiet weeping. He was deeply saddened and grieved
and emotional about the situation, and he cries even if he does
not wail. These tears were tears for the
loss, not so much for the loss of the friend, but for the pain
of death itself now inflicted on his friends. It’s not that he’s unmindful
of what’s about to happen. Jesus knows what he’s about to
do. But he sees such great unbelief, such despair at the prospect
of death, so empty of hope that something, some possible thing
could come after that. And so he weeps, not these loud
wailing tears, but the simple tears of sympathy for a friend
This particular thing is captured in the book
of Hebrews, isn’t it? Perhaps some of you in your study
of Hebrews remember this passage. It’s accounted for in the review
of Jesus’ ministry. As the writer of Hebrews looks
out over Jesus’ ministry, he captures this particular scene,
Hebrews 5, 7, in the days of his flesh that he’s When Jesus
was on the earth as a man, he offered up both prayers and supplications
with loud crying and tears to the one who was able to save
him from death and was heard because of his piety. This wasn’t
the only time that Jesus wept. This was commonplace for Christ. These particular tears here in
this scene were tears of mercy, tears of pity. They weren’t tears
of hopelessness. And the Jews who were standing
around, who attributed this merely to the loss of a friend, miss
the point entirely. This is the merciful God standing
before them. who himself had levied the punishment
of death upon mankind. God knew what he was doing when
he did that. He knew that it would inflict
pain. He knew that it would break hearts with a purpose. And they’re blind to the entire
thing. All they think is that Jesus
is sad, merely sad, merely going through the mourning that all
of them were going through, paycheck or not. When in reality, Christ was mourning
out of mercy, out of an abundant mercy for those sinners who so
desperately needed Christ. But there was a third stark contrast
to Mary’s worship. Mary’s heart felt weeping for
her brother. Not only the willful blindness
to the divine lordship of Christ and the willful blindness to
the divine mercy of Christ, but third, the willful blindness
to the divine ability of Christ. Wait till you see this one, verse
37. But some of them said, and that’s
about all you would need to read, right? I mean, you’re here in
this scene, Jesus is weeping. Some of them acknowledge how
much he loved his friend Lazarus, but some of them, that’s all
we really need, right? You know what the rest is going
to say. Some of them were critical. Could not this man who opened
the eyes of the blind man have kept this man also from dying? You see, they just want to criticize
Christ. They criticize Him when He raises
people. They criticize when He heals people. They criticize…
No matter what the situation is, all they want to do is find
fault. They are willfully blind here to the divine ability that
Christ has. They think that this is a done
deal. It’s over. The tomb is sealed. And so when
they ask this question, could not this man? It’s not just the
ability that they’re wondering about. They’re wondering about
his character. This is sarcasm, a harsh and
sarcastic criticism of the Lord himself. Essentially it goes like this,
oh, he’s crying all right, he’s sad. But where was his sadness
four days ago? as they chuckle and elbow one
another in the ribs. Where has he been? Why did it
take him four days? Maybe he’s really not all that
sincere in his sadness for Lazarus. Maybe he wasn’t able. Maybe he
wasn’t up to the task. Did he really actually open the
eyes of that blind man? He weeps, but where was he? Why
didn’t he take the time and trouble? Why is he now standing before
us with these hypocritical tears when he could have come, he could
have come four days ago and avoided all of this. That’s the nature
of their heart. And perhaps at the core of that
is a question of his divine ability. They look at it after all as
a done deal. He’s been in the grave four days.
Most Jews believe that at the most three days and then it’s
done. His spirit has left his body.
His soul is no longer to be found. It is a done deal. He’s been
in the grave for four days. It’s hopeless. If he’s really the Messiah, where
was he? If he really loved this friend
Lazarus, he would have been here. If he had been here, perhaps
he could have kept Lazarus from dying. This is the voice of utter
doubt, isn’t it? I want you to consider what proof,
what facts they had likely in their disposal. What miracles
had been worked either in their very presence or at least report
of such had filtered out. Jesus’ first miracle recorded
in this gospel in John chapter 2, water into wine. That story
likely permeated throughout the region. Then there’s this healing
at Cana in John chapter 4, the nobleman’s son. many healings recorded in the
other Gospels prior to this particular scene, a healing of a demoniac,
Peter’s mother-in-law, a healing of a paralytic. He goes on and
heals those that have leprosy and other paralytics. In John’s
Gospel, in John chapter 5, he records the healing at Bethesda,
which produced a huge controversy over the Sabbath. Jesus continues
to heal on the Sabbath, healing the man with a withered hand
in Mark chapter 12, Mark chapter 2, healing a blind and a mute
in Matthew chapter 12. In Luke chapter 7, prior to this
scene, he heals the centurion’s son, which now ran its course
throughout the Roman world, not the least of which was the Jewish
nation immediately present. He heals the widow of Nain’s
son, as we saw last week. He calms the storm, which his
disciples certainly knew about, but they were all too eager to
disseminate news of this information. He heals the Gerasene demoniac. He heals the woman with the hemorrhage. He heals two blind men. He heals
more demoniacs in Matthew chapter 9. Many healings recorded there. He feeds 5,000 people, which
news didn’t need to be disseminated because they probably enjoyed
the feast. They weren’t there for the walking
on water, but they certainly could have and should have heard
about it. Then Jesus feeds 4,000. He heals the blind man at Bethesda. He heals the demoniac. Matthew
chapter 17, he produces this almost magic trick like miracle
of a coin in a fish’s mouth. The disciples had many occasions
to proclaim these incredible works as they themselves were
sent out. They knew. They had heard of
many, if not most, if not all of these miracles. They absolutely
knew because they challenge in this very passage the healing
of the man born blind in John chapter 9. They knew about all
of these. They had plenty enough information. So for them to pose this question,
could not this man? They’re not just questioning
his ability, they’re questioning his character. Could not this
man who opened the eyes of a blind man have kept this man also from
dying? Where was he? Where was his so-called
love for his friend? See, the thing is here, whereas
before they’re willfully blind to the lordship of Jesus Christ,
they don’t understand Mary fawning all over him like she’s doing,
making a fool of himself in their minds, falling on her face at
his feet. They don’t understand that at
all. Because they don’t understand the lordship of Christ. They
don’t understand the compassion. They don’t understand the tears.
And they dismiss it away immediately as just the tears of a friend
mourning a friend. Not the tears of Almighty God
having compassion on a lost and fallen humanity. And in the end, they’re blind
to the divine ability of the Lord Jesus Christ. They do not
see because they don’t want to see. They don’t want to recognize
what Jesus has done and can do because they are willfully blind.
They want to remain in their sin. My question is, what do
we want? This passage is as much or more
for us to consider. There are many in our own day
that are willfully blind. Willfully blind to the Lordship
of Christ. Willfully blind to His divine
ability. Willfully blind to the tender
mercy of Almighty God. Would you humble yourself before
Him? Our merciful King, we humble
ourselves in your glorious presence. Even as we look forward to your
resurrection day, Lord, we must already begin to embrace and
wrestle with the truths presented here, that you are almighty God,
that you are the Lord of heaven and earth, that you are merciful
and compassionate Lord, we rejoice that you are absolutely capable. You not only could raise Lazarus
from the dead, you could have prevented him from falling dead,
but you do raise him. And Lord, we know there that
the resurrection is proven not just for him, not just for Christ,
but for everyone. Lord God, we thank you and praise
you for this passage. We thank you for its richness
and its thoroughness. We thank you for the image of
those who were so willfully blind, not even unlike many of us, who
hear the testimony of the gospel and close our eyes to its reference
to us, its relationship to us, its challenge to us, Lord God, if there are any who
do not know the Lord Jesus Christ as their savior, seize them in
their willful blindness, open their eyes, make them to see
Christ as the Lord, as the compassionate and merciful God that he is a
God of any and all ability. We pray all of these things in
Jesus name. Amen.