First Fruits

If you would take your Bible
and have you turn to John Chapter 11, that’s one of the Gospels.
It’s the fourth one, as a matter of fact. Just two books to the left of
Romans, if your if your Bible is worn out in Romans, you’ll
need to exercise it and find a clean pages in John’s Gospel. We’ve looked at a lot of different
elements of the resurrection over the years. There are many
different facets to consider in looking at the resurrection. There certainly is reference
to the plain fact of restoration from the dead to a new kind of
life. There is just kind of an allusion
to resurrection as a general principle. First Thessalonians
4.14 says that if we believe that Jesus died and rose again,
essentially just that life was restored to him. God wants us
to know in a very real way that there is such a thing as a resurrection
from the dead. But God also wants us to know,
and it’s clear from the scriptures, that Jesus was restored, that
it was an act that restored him and an act of God that restored
him to life. And we see that from many scriptures,
Romans 7, 4, which verse we just preached to him who was raised
from the dead. And in that sense, God wants
us to know that Jesus Christ was raised from the dead. And most times it’s left quite
ambiguous as to who that is, although it’s clearly implied.
But there is also clear reference to the fact that it was God himself
that restored Jesus Christ to life from the dead. Galatians
1.1 God the father who raised him from the dead. Same thing
in Ephesians 1.20 and Colossians 2.12 that the scriptures want
us to know that it was God himself through an agency of God himself
that raised Christ from the dead. There is certainly reference
in the resurrection to the fact that believers will enjoy that
state and condition life after death. There is reference to
God’s purpose in the resurrection. We just well some time ago looked
at Romans 425. He was delivered over because
of our transgression and was raised because of our justification. God wants us to know that Christ’s
sacrifice was fully accepted. And so, as I suggest, there are
many facets and many different nuances and considerations with
regard to the resurrection itself. And I, if possible, come to one
that at least up to now I hadn’t, not that I hadn’t considered,
but hadn’t focused upon, at least on Easter Sunday, Lord’s Day. And in order to focus on this
new element, of the resurrection or perhaps as even as my brother
said a forgotten or overlooked element of the resurrection.
I want to turn to a miracle that is not recorded in any of the
synoptic gospels. And in John chapter 11 we find
that profound miracle. It is the miracle of the resurrection
of Lazarus from the dead. If you would. Go with me to John
chapter 11 and we’ll read from verse one through verse 46 and
then we’ll come back. Noting a few things and draw
application from here for this Lord’s Day. Now, a certain man
was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister
Martha. It was the 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 to end in death, but for
the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by
it. Now, Jesus loves Martha and her
sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was
sick, he stayed there two days longer in the place where he
was. Then after this, he said to to the disciples, let us go
to Judea again. The disciples said to him, Rabbi,
the Jews were just now seeking to stone you. And 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. This, he said, and after that,
he said to them, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go so
that I may awaken him out of sleep. The disciples then said
to him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover. Now,
Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that 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 was called
Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, let us go also so that we may
die with him. So when Jesus came, he found
that he had already been in the 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 that Mary got up
quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going
to the tomb to weep there. Therefore, 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 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, I said it so that they
may believe 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 and 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 all the things
which Jesus had done. It’s an interesting story. It’s
a poignant story. It’s a story that I shared at
one of my grandmother’s funerals. Because it does have an echo
and it has a lesson there for us. And it is the lesson that
the resurrection is not just the resurrection of Christ. But
it is the resurrection for all who believe. It is life to all
who believe. It is a correction of the death
that was brought on by sin. A restoration, if you will, of
life. Go back to verse 1. We’ll pick
up just a few of the details. I don’t mean to suggest that
we’ll exposit fully John chapter 11, but we’ll look at some elements. We’ll try to gather enough of
the account that is penned here by John to make sense of it and
application of the primary purpose for which we’re here this morning.
Back in verse one. Now, there was a certain man
who was sick, Lazarus and Bethany. Not a lot is known about Lazarus. We do know that based on the
testimony of his sister, that he was deeply loved by Christ
and certainly loved the Lord himself. We don’t know the nature
of this friendship, how it came about. All we know is that it
was it was genuine, sincere, that there was genuine affection
between the two brothers, between Christ and Lazarus. These individuals are introduced
to us in Luke’s gospel, actually, which occasion actually preceded
the one that is before us this morning. In Luke chapter 10,
go ahead and turn there for a moment. We’ll be there for just a moment.
Luke chapter 10, keeping your finger in John 11. This is essentially the famous
dinner party, right? Where we learn a lot about both
of these ladies. Lazarus isn’t mentioned, but
we do come to know the family and come to know somewhat about
the character and nature of these young ladies. Verse 38. Now, as they were traveling along,
he entered a village and a woman named Martha welcomed him into
her home. She had a sister called Mary
who was seated at the Lord’s feet, listening to his word. But Martha was distracted with
all her preparations, and she came up to him and said, Lord,
do you not care that my sister has left me to do all the serving
alone? And I know that you’ve heard this argument before because
it happens in every home. Happens in mine. Tell her to
come and help me. Right. And here is Mary seated
at the feet of the Lord essentially worshiping him actively. And the Lord makes note of that.
The Lord answered and said to her Martha Martha you are worried
about and bothered about so many things. But only one thing is
necessary for Mary has chosen the good part which will not
be taken away from her. I made a similar comment to a
friend of mine this last couple of weeks. He has found it difficult
to come and help with my brother’s house, but he was always, I mean,
almost daily, he would stop into the hospital, visiting Dennis,
cheering him up, sending him little notes, little emails,
little texts, and he just shared with him, very similarly, that
you’ve done a better thing than all of us combined have done
working on a house, because you attended to the man himself.
Jesus made note of that. It’s not that Martha was doing
wrong or sinful, it’s just that her heart was distracted and
instead of being fully in the presence of the Lord God. As Mary was, she was worried
about what to serve him for lunch. Back to John, if you would. Now here. John makes note that it was the
Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment. We’ve seen in times
past and studying some gospel passages that there are a number
of women named Mary. J.C. Ryle pointed out on one
occasion that there were at least four Marys, the Virgin Mary,
Mary of Cleopas, Mary Magdalene, Martha’s sister. There were a
lot of Marys and I’m sure not limited even to those. But John
wants to make absolutely clear which Mary he was referring to.
So he says it was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment.
Well we know that there were at least two occasions that that
took place. And in John’s gospel at least
to this point he hasn’t even mentioned it. That occasion comes
actually in John chapter 12. So what John is doing here is
essentially forecasting. This is the worshipper. This
is Mary who worships Christ. And you will remember her when
we come to John chapter 12. Flip over to that chapter, if
you would, just to verse one. Verse one, it says, Jesus, therefore,
six days before the Passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus
was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. So they made him a
supper there and Martha was serving. That’s her nature. Right. We
don’t find that surprising. But Lazarus was one of those
reclining at the table for him. And what a great and glorious
place to be. Mary then took a pound of very
costly perfume. of pure nard and anointed the
feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair and the house was
filled with the fragrance of the perfume. We can’t even, in
our culture, we couldn’t even possibly, we feel uncomfortable
getting our shoes shined, much less a foot rub or much less
to have someone anoint our feet, not the least of which to have
them rub the perfume in with her own hair. But it was an act of worship.
It was an act of abject worship of her saying that she was not
worthy even to fall at his feet. But Judas. Wouldn’t you notice
Judas to throw up this little detail. One of his disciples
who was intending to betray him said, why was this perfume not
sold for 300 denarii and given to the poor people? Well, it
was this Mary. That’s John’s point. In John
chapter 11, verse 2, that’s his point that this is the Mary that
is in view. Who wipes the Savior’s feet with
her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Verse 3 says that the
sisters sent word to him, that is Jesus saying, Lord, behold,
he whom you love is sick. It was enough that they could
identify this is the one that you love. And they didn’t even
have to say his name. Now, Jesus could easily conclude,
perhaps he could even inquire of the messenger exactly who
it was. But it was enough for the sisters
to say, look, your beloved friend is sick. And Jesus knew instantly
who it was. Now, Jesus already knew. who
was in view that he didn’t need a messenger. He didn’t need the
sisters to send word to him. But in their mind, all they needed
to do is suggest that his beloved friend was ailing. Now, the fact
that they sent word indicates to us that not only to us, but
to Jesus and to anyone else, that it wasn’t just some minor
sickness. This was a sickness unto death.
For all intents and purposes, Jesus notwithstanding, this was
a gravely serious situation as the sisters viewed it. Lazarus,
in their opinion, was in critical condition. He was near death.
And so when they send word, this is not just common practice that,
you know, Lazarus has the flu, would you pray for him? But when
Jesus heard this, he characterized it. Probably to the messenger
probably to his disciples around him. He said this sickness is
not to end in death. Well there’s great relief. Immediately
those around him were probably relieved. This sickness is not
into death but for the glory of God that the son of God may
be glorified by it. Now certainly Jesus disciples
and the messengers who had brought this report report had to have
been heartened by these words not into death. That’s all they
needed to hear. They took it to mean that Lazarus would eventually
recover. This sickness wouldn’t kill him.
They likely didn’t even attend to the rest of the words of the
entire sentence. Nor did they attempt to think
through what he meant by it. This sickness was for the glory
of God. This sickness was so that the Son of God might be
glorified by it. They had the nugget of assurance
that they had hoped for. Lazarus was going to be OK. That’s
what they Long to hear. And this no doubt that word no
doubt traveled all the way back to the sisters and they were
heartened by it. The sickness is not into death. They will obviously have that
particular difficulty to work through as well when Lazarus
does die. Was Jesus wrong. He said that
this sickness was not unto death. It’s interesting to note one
commentator quite explicitly pointed out that the death by
the time Jesus got word of it probably had already taken place.
He goes on to say that when the messengers arrived in verse 39
we find that Lazarus had already been dead for four days when
Jesus reached Bethany. Four days are accounted for by
allowing for a day for the journey of the messengers. Two days that
Jesus remained where he was and a day for Jesus journey to where
Mary and Martha and Lazarus were. Lazarus must have died shortly
after the messengers started on their way. Even more profound
for Jesus to say that this sickness is not to end in death. Look at verse five. Now, Jesus
loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. The point hardly needs
to be said. Jesus loved all of his followers,
Jesus loved sinners, Jesus loved you and I. It hardly needs to
be said, but the fact that it’s said is noteworthy and it’s more
noteworthy because of what follows. Because you would assume from
that particular sentence, now, Jesus loved Mary and her sister
and Lazarus, and he got up and immediately made haste. To be
at Lazarus’s deathbed. But that’s not what it says.
And that’s what bothers us. Now, Jesus loved Martha and her
sister and Lazarus, so when he heard that that he was sick.
He then stayed two days longer. in the place where he was. And
that’s a difficult pill to swallow, isn’t it? That’s exactly what
John wants to do. He wants us to know that Jesus
made a conscious decision to stay because he loved them. He could have set out immediately.
He could have doubled his efforts to bring him and his disciples.
He could have knelt in prayer on behalf of Lazarus. As one
said, it is impossible not to remark an intentional and most
instructive connection between this verse and the preceding
one. Jesus loved the family of Bethany, all three of them, and
yet when he heard Lazarus was sick, instead of hastening at
once to Bethany to heal him. He quietly remained away. We
cannot doubt that this delay was intentional and of purpose.
It throws immense light on many of God’s providential dealings
with his people. How many of us lament initially
the lack of answered prayer only to rejoice when God finally does
answer? Not in our timetable, but in
God’s own, which is always perfect. He goes on to say, we can easily
imagine the grief and suspense and perplexity in which the household
at Bethany must have been kept for four days when their loving
master did not appear. Our Lord could have prevented
it all, but he did not. In other words, he loved them
so much, Lazarus and Mary and Martha and his disciples. He loved them all so much that
he stayed even longer, long enough for Lazarus to be dead and buried
for four days. That’s how much Jesus loved them. And at this point, it doesn’t
compute, not entirely, but it will. Jesus did this so that
the nature of the miracle would be that much more profound. It
would have been one thing to raise Lazarus up from his sick
bed. It would have been one thing to pray from a distance which
he had already down, mind you. For one who had died and he was
raised. It would have been quite another
thing for Jesus to arrive four days after the funeral. And to
say now, Lazarus. So that the nature of the miracle
would be that much more profound. So that God would be that much
more glorified. So that their faith in the Lord
Jesus would be that much more strengthened. Jesus waited. And waited. So that Lazarus would
be in the tomb for four days. Look at verse seven. Then after
this, he said to his disciples, let’s go to Judea again. The
disciples said to him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking
to stone you. Are you going there again? Remember,
this is a very fluid situation. John’s gospel almost immediately
enters into a life of recording of the life of persecution that
Jesus faced, and it intensifies almost immediately and only builds
to a crescendo. In John 8, 59, Therefore they
picked up stones to throw at him, but Jesus hid himself. It
wasn’t the first time. The disciples, their concern
for Christ were well founded. From a human standpoint, John
10, 31, immediately preceding John chapter 11, the Jews picked
up stones again to stone him. It was a matter of time before
they took matters into their own hands. But Jesus answered,
and somewhat cryptically, a somewhat enigmatic statement when he says,
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. And I’m sure the
disciples were all scratching their heads now. What does this mean? What kind
of comfort is this? That instead of telling them
plainly what and why he was going, he makes these quotes, basically
these proverbial sayings that were probably well known. Twelve
hours in the day. He doesn’t draw any conclusions,
he really doesn’t say another word about them. One commentator
suggested that my 12 hours of ministry and paraphrasing Jesus
words here, my 12 hours of ministry, my day of work is not yet over. I think that’s a good application
or a good explanation of those words that Jesus was saying,
look, I’ve been given a day’s work to do. And that day is not
finished and the Jews can’t end it and you can’t forestall that
the end of that shift. Can you. Another one quite effectively
said it this way the time allotted to me paraphrasing again the
time allotted to me to accomplish my earthly ministry is definitely
fixed. It cannot be lengthened by any
precautionary measure which you my disciples. would like to take,
nor can it be shortened by any plot which my enemies would like
to execute. If we walk in the light of this
plan, we shall have nothing to worry about. And Jesus presses
on with this plan to go into essentially a dangerous spot.
Look at verse 11. Then he said, pardon me, this
he said, and after that, he said to them, our friend Lazarus,
has fallen asleep. Now, if the disciples were confused
before, now they really get muddied up. Our friend Lazarus has fallen
asleep, but I go that I may awaken him out of sleep. The disciples
then said to him, Lord, if he’s fallen asleep, he will recover.
A little couple of days rest, he’ll be back on his feet. Now,
Jesus had spoken of his death. They thought he was speaking
of literal sleep, so Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And so the disciples, if you
think of it, if you look at the passage in front of us, the disciples
have this incredible advanced warning that Jesus intends to
raise the dead. He said it. He clarifies their
misunderstanding of his obscure statement that Lazarus was asleep,
And he declares up front to this of his whole intention is to
go and to awaken Lazarus, to awaken Lazarus from this sleep
of death. And now they begin to put two
and two together, that Lazarus has died and Jesus intends to
raise him. But this comment that Jesus makes
in John 15 or verse 15 has hung up a lot of people. I was glad
for your sakes that I was not there. What? This is your friend. These sisters are your friends.
What do you mean you’re glad? Glad that he died? Not at all. They knew that if he had been
there, Lazarus should not have died. Jesus could have prevented
it. But what Jesus points to. was that he was glad that he
wasn’t at Bethany. He was glad that he didn’t have
to step in and forestall this death. He was glad that he didn’t
have to raise him up from a sickness because a greater miracle awaited. A more profound miracle awaited
that would have a much greater effect on their faith. And not
just theirs, but Mary and Martha’s. Not to mention Lazarus. As one said, The result would
now be most advantageous to the disciples, their faith would
receive an immense confirmation by witnessing the stupendous
miracle of Lazarus being raised from the dead. The implication
is that the recovery of Lazarus from death would be a far more
remarkable sign. Than his recovery from the sick
bed ever would have been. Look at verse 16. Therefore,
Thomas, Mr. Positive, right, who is called
Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, let us go so that we may die
with him, this noble cause missing completely the point that Jesus
had just made, but noble indeed, a willingness to go and to stand
with Christ, which would be short lived. So when Jesus came, he
found that he had already, that is, Lazarus, been in the tomb
four days. Now, Bethany was near Jerusalem,
about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to marry
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 in
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. She didn’t have the courage
to ask him. And I do believe that in those
words, even though it’s subtle. She’s stating the fact that if
you had been here, he wouldn’t have died, there is an element
of scorn or rebuke, frustration, anger, maybe bitterness. Love
the way Ryle put it, he said, here is passion. Not unmixed
with a touch of reproach. Here is love, confidence and
devotion coming forth. Here is faith. Nevertheless,
there is some unbelief at the very bottom. Martha forgets that
the bodily presence of Jesus was not necessary in order to
cure her brother. He had but to speak the word
and Lazarus would have been healed. Jesus said to her in verse 23,
your brother will rise again. Jesus said to her. I know that
he will rise again at the resurrection. And here Martha begins to get
off track and forget who Jesus really is. Jesus said to her,
I am the resurrection in 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? There are a series, seven
of them actually, a series of these great I am statements in
the Gospel of John. As I’ve shared with some saints
over the past week, I long to preach the Gospel of John one
day. This is one of the unique features
of the Gospel of John is these I am statements. Listen to them.
John 6, 35, I am the bread of life. John 8, 12, I am the light
of the world. John 10, 9, I am the door. John 10, 11, I am the good shepherd. John 14, 6, I am the way, the
truth and the life. John 15, 5, I am the vine. But as one pointed out. Though the formula is there,
I am. The resurrection. It’s somewhat different here.
Because Jesus isn’t just filling the role of a figure, he is the
resurrection, meaning he is the very cause. An agent of life
itself, he is the cause of the restoration of life, he is the
cause. Of the resurrection, the resurrection
unto life. As one pastor said here, however,
in reply to Martha’s allusion to the resurrection at the last
day, Jesus uses no explanatory figure of speech. It’s not as
if he’s saying, I am the bread. I am the door. He says, I am the resurrection,
it’s not a figure of speech, it is a reference to himself
of what Martha had said about the final resurrection. It is
meant to convey to Martha, not a rebuke for her belief in the
general resurrection, but an assurance that the rising again
of believers in him is not to be postponed until then. If a
man believes in him, even though his body dies, yet his true self
shall live. No believer in Jesus shall ever
die so far as his spirit is concerned. The comfort that he gives to
her. And to any who mourn the loss of Christian friends is
not so much that their friend will rise again one day. But that in a very real sense,
they never died at all. Verse 27 begins the wrap up and
with almost no commentary, Read with me. She said to him, Yes, Lord, I
believe 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 calling here and 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 it was still in the place where
Martha had met him. Then the Jews who were with her in the
house consoling her, When they saw that Mary got up quickly
and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going
to the tomb to weep there. Therefore, 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. There’s
no doubt that these ladies shared this sentiment verbally throughout
the week. If Jesus had only been here.
When therefore, he saw her weeping and 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? I might remind you. that this
one who opened the eyes of the blind man. You might remember
that that was the powder keg that was touched off in John
chapter 9. And now they want another miracle
of the same even more profound kind. Hypocrites as Jesus labeled
them. So, Jesus, again being deeply
moved from a thing, came to the tomb. No, 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 you’ve been in there 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 it so that they may believe
that you sent me. And some did. Some came to faith
because of this incident. We will rejoice in heaven for
eternity with some of the people that were standing at that scene
that morning. Profound. When Jesus 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, unbind them
and let them go. Therefore, many of the Jews who
came to Mary and saw what he had done believed in him, not
all, but some. But this Easter Sunday, I want
to take you back, not even just to Jesus’ resurrection. And we’ve
covered enough for this morning, Lazarus’ resurrection. I want
to take you back, go back to verse 23. In those verses, we have a truth
and a promise that many Christians forget, even on Easter Sunday. Look at this. Jesus tried to
comfort her. Your brother will rise again.
Martha said to him I know that he will rise in the resurrection
the last day. She believed in the resurrection which wasn’t
a commonly held belief. Jesus said to her I am the resurrection. I am the resurrection and the
life. He who believes in me will live
even if he dies. That is a profound truth. That
is That is a truth that we Christians even forget. We come on Easter
Sunday and we think that it’s only about Christ and his resurrection. It isn’t. It’s about Christ and
his resurrection as the first fruits. The first of many to
be raised. And this truth is woven throughout
the scriptures. Jesus had already hinted at it, recorded in John
chapter 6. John, chapter six, verse thirty
nine, this is the will of him who sent me that all he has given
me, I lose nothing, but I raise it up on the last day. For this
is the will of my father, that everyone who beholds the son
and believes in him will have eternal life. And I myself will
raise him up on the last day. Jesus resurrection is our resurrection. Peter alluded to it. In Acts
chapter 2, which passage I can’t quote in full due to the time,
when Peter there outlining what the Jews had done to Christ.
He came to the end and said, this man delivered over by the
predetermined plan and foreknowledge of God, you nailed to the cross
by the hands of godless men and put him to death. But God raised
him up again. putting an end to the agony of
death. Not just death for Jesus. He
put to death the agony of death for all who believe. Paul proclaimed
it. We’ve already seen it in Romans.
Romans chapter 6. Therefore, we’ve been buried
with him through baptism into death, so that as Christ was
raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we
too might walk in newness of life. Jesus’ resurrection is
our resurrection. Romans chapter 8, which verse
will get to one of these days? If Christ is in you, though the
body is dead because of sin, yet the Spirit is alive because
of righteousness. But if the Spirit of Him who
raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Jesus from
the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies. His resurrection
is our resurrection. First Corinthians 614. Now, God
not only raised the Lord, but will also raise us up through
his power. His resurrection is our resurrection. First Corinthians 15, which in
lengthy fashion articulates the same thing. If the dead are not raised, not
even Christ has been raised, how can you say there is no resurrection? 2nd Corinthians 4, knowing that
he who raised the Lord Jesus will raise us also with Jesus. Ephesians 2, 1 through 7, one
simple phrase from verse 6. He raised us up with him. Jesus’ resurrection is our resurrection. As one pastor said in a bygone
day, The glorious resurrection of believers is as certain as
the resurrection of Christ. And that not simply because God,
who has raised up Jesus, has promised to raise his followers,
but because of the union between him and them, his life secures
theirs. Christ is risen. And therefore,
the bodies of the saints must rise. Christ’s rising is a pledge
of our resurrection. As the firstfruits is a sure
evidence that the harvest is coming, so the resurrection of
Christ is a sure evidence of the rising of our bodies from
the grave. Let’s rejoice with hymn and prayer.
O merciful God, we come before you and we thank you for bringing
us, each of us who has come to know the Lord Jesus, for bringing
us to faith in Christ. And if there are any here that
don’t know for certain that their sins are forgiven, it is free
and available to all. Father God, we pray that you
would bring to faith those in our midst who do not know that
Christ’s resurrection is our resurrection. It’s in Jesus’
name that we pray.