SERIES: The Gospel of John
Does Jesus Care?
SPEAKER: Michael P. Andrus
Introduction: Dr. James Montgomery Boice, well-known evangelical scholar and pastor, preached nineteen 45-minute sermons on the 11th chapter of John. I plan to do it in one 35-minute sermon. Now I don’t know if that makes you feel cheated or greatly blessed, but I have decided to look at the whole rather than the parts, asking the simple question, “Does Jesus Care?” He told us He does; in fact, just last week in chapter 10 we saw how He described Himself as the Good Shepherd who leads, feeds, and cares for His sheep. But it is one thing to talk about being a shepherd, and another thing to be one. I would like to share from this marvelous story of the raising of Lazarus six ways in which Jesus does indeed care for us.
But let’s begin with a bit of background. It is very late in Jesus’ earthly ministry, perhaps just a matter of weeks before the crucifixion. Jesus has spent the time between Hannukah (or the Feast of Dedication) and Passover, roughly the time between Christmas and Easter, eluding the grasp of the Jewish religious leaders. His discourse on the Good Shepherd, delivered at the Hannukah festival, stirred up the most violent opposition yet, and for several months now, according to 10:40, He has been ministering exclusively on the east side of the Jordan River, outside the grasp of His enemies. Many believed in Him in that place.
It wasn’t long, however, before a traumatic event drew Jesus back to the area near Jerusalem—it was the sickness and death of one of His best friends, Lazarus. Let’s read the entire chapter, John 11:
Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair). 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”
11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.
“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”
49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”
51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life.
As I stated earlier, I see in this story six ways in which Jesus cares for His own.
Jesus cares by modeling friendship for us. (1-5)
Our story opens with reference to a family from the village of Bethany, a family who loved Jesus and were loved by Him, consisting of two sisters and a brother—Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. How Jesus met them or why He took to them we do not know, but we do know that for Jesus, who had no home of His own, this home in Bethany, just two miles from Jerusalem, was a very special place. He nurtured this relationship—not just for their sake but for His own. Jesus needed friends.
If that statement surprises you, let us never forget that our Savior was human as well as divine, and as one of us, He modeled all the characteristics that make human life worthwhile. Developing deep friendships is one of those characteristics. The level of commitment Jesus felt for this family is seen in two statements in the first five verses. First, the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” Then we are told, “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.” You say, what’s the big deal? Jesus loves everybody. True, He even loved the Pharisees with a divine love, but this love speaks of companionship and commitment, of long evenings telling stories around a meal, of shared dreams—all the things that enable one to say, “I love you; I’d give my very life for you.”
Do you have friends like that? I’m not talking about your spouse, who should be your very best friend. I’m talking about someone else you can go to when life is crashing in on you, someone who is safe to tell your darkest secret, someone who will stand by you no matter what? We need such people in our lives, particularly we men.
If you don’t have a friend, how do you find one? That is a major topic in itself, but let me offer just a few suggestions. To find a friend we must be one. We must practice the things that make for friendship—unselfishness, vulnerability, kindness, loyalty, the pursuit of common interests. But most of all we must be willing to take time; there is no short cut to friendship. Some of us think we’re too busy for friends—perhaps even too busy in ministry. But let me ask a simple question, “Are we busier than Jesus? If He could find time for friends, cannot we also?” Jesus cares enough to model such friendship for us.
Jesus cares by seeing our situation more clearly than we do. (4-16)
Lazarus is sick, and a simple message comes to Jesus from the two sisters: “Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick.” They don’t ask Him to come; but do they really need to? When the nurse at school calls you mothers and tells you that your child is sick, she doesn’t say, “I was wondering if you could possibly come and pick him up?” No, she simply says, “Your child is sick,” and it is assumed that you will come. I believe Mary and Martha assumed Jesus would come.
But Jesus doesn’t come. Instead, He does two things. First, He comments about the sickness that it is not going to lead to death, but rather one that will result in glory to the Father and the Son. In the context Jesus must mean that it is not a sickness unto final death, for Lazarus does die, and it will be the reversal of this real death process that brings glory to the Father and the Son.
But the second thing He does is related in verse 6: “When therefore Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed then two days longer in the place where he was.” A logical connection is here drawn between the report of Lazarus’ illness and the fact that Jesus stayed two more days. Jesus doesn’t stay because He is too busy, or because He is ill, or because He has misunderstood Mary and Martha’s message. Rather He stays two more days because He has heard that Lazarus is sick.
Now what kind of a friend is that? I believe John expects us to ask that very question, and that’s why he goes out of his way to tell us very pointedly that Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus. You see, love doesn’t always mean giving those we love what they want when they want it. Sometimes the loving thing is to say, “no,” and sometimes the loving thing is to say, “wait.” Every parent knows that, or should know it. Jesus, by His action says, “Wait.”
God often delays but He’s never late. To be late means that you weren’t where you were supposed to be on time. To delay means that you wait for a better time. Jesus delays in going to Bethany—He isn’t late. How often have we accused God of being late in meeting our needs, only to find out later that He has merely delayed! By the way, it’s also important to see that even those whom Jesus especially loved were subject to sickness and death. Following Christ is not a guarantee of exemption from pain.
There’s another lesson I see in this delay of two days and that is that the Lord will not allow us to set His timetable or order His priorities—He is sovereign! Twice before in the Gospel of John this truth has been pressed home. First, in John 2 at the marriage feast of Cana of Galilee, Jesus’ mother hinted very strongly to Him that He should do something about the fact that the wine had run out. And His response was, “Dear woman, why do you involve me? My time has not yet come.”
The second example is found in John 7, where Jesus’ unbelieving brothers tried to get Him to go up to the Feast of Tabernacles and promote Himself. Their idea was, “If you want to be a V.I.P., you’ve got to press the flesh and kiss the babies.” But Jesus answered them, “The right time for me has not yet come; for you any time is right. The world cannot hate you, but it hates me because I testify that what it does is evil. You go to the Feast. I am not yet going up to this Feast, because for me the right time has not yet come.”
Now once more here in John 11 we find the people Jesus loves most trying to order His priorities and tell Him what to do. Interestingly, in each of these cases He does answer their request, but onlyafter making it clear to them that He would do it in His own way and in His own time. Let us never forget that we are creatures, but Jesus is the Creator. He will not accept coercion from even His dearest friends.
Not only do we learn here that the divine timetable is different from ours; we also learn that the divine perspective is different. We read in verse 7 that after His two-day delay Jesus says to His disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” His disciples are aghast, for Judea is where the greatest opposition to Jesus is centered, especially in and around Jerusalem! So, in verse 11 Jesus explains to them why He wants to go there—because “our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, and I am going there to wake him up.” The disciples take that information as a good reason not to go: “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” They don’t see the need to go there and risk their necks for someone who is recovering!
In their fright the disciples are like the ten spies sent into the Promised Land who saw nothing but giants and viewed themselves as grasshoppers in comparison. What they need to realize is that Jesus plus one is a majority and that, as the Good Shepherd, He will never take His sheep into danger without providing appropriate care and protection.
Jesus asks in verse 9, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has not light.” The lesson in this seems to be that God has allotted each of us a specified amount of time, and we are immortal until that time is up. No amount of opposition will shorten the day that God has granted to us. And secondly, when the time that God has allotted us is gone, it’s gone. We must make the most of the light God has given us—we must capitalize on the presence and power of Christ.
Another perspective problem arises when the disciples hear the word “sleep” regarding Lazarus. “Sleep” is a consistent NT euphemism for the death of a believer, picturing the peaceful, temporary nature of death for one whose heart is right with God. But when the disciples fail to grasp the significance of the term, Jesus finally speaks plainly, “Lazarus is dead and for your sake I am glad I was not there.” Aren’t those words rather shocking? Of course, they do not imply that Jesus was glad His friend died, but rather He is glad that this extremity has provided an opportunity for the development of their faith: “I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe.” They need to learn the lesson that the power of God is not limited to the physical presence of Jesus, for in a few days or weeks Jesus’ physical presence will no longer be available to them ever again. Yet His power will continue to be available to them.
By the way, when you consider Jesus’ purpose in developing their faith, it is not hard to understand why He allowed Lazarus to die, for what would help their faith more, to see a sick man healed or a dead man raised? The principal lesson here is that we must learn to interpret circumstances by the love of Christ and not Christ’s love by circumstances. Jesus cares by seeing our situation better than we do.
Jesus cares by instructing us patiently. (17-32)
The story picks up again in v. 17 with Jesus arriving in Bethany, where Lazarus has been entombed already four days. Consistent with their personalities—Martha the choleric and Mary the phlegmatic—Martha hurries out to meet the Lord while Mary sits in the house alone with her grief. Notice how Martha approaches Jesus: “Lord if you have been here, my brother would not have died.” Later in v. 32 Mary says the exact same thing. Undoubtedly the sisters have rehearsed what they would say.
I believe Martha and Mary have chosen their words very carefully. They don’t want to accuse Jesus of not caring, yet they want Him to know their keen disappointment. In fact, there is probably a subtle manipulation behind these sisters’ words. But there is also a significant underestimation of the power of Jesus. They apparently haven’t learned that Jesus’ healing power is not limited by space or time. Perhaps they have forgotten the healing of the nobleman’s son in John 4, which was accomplished at a distance. Jesus didn’t need to be present to have prevented Lazarus’ death.
But lest we be too harsh on these sisters may I point out that their faith is developing even as it is being stretched. They at least believe that Jesus was so powerful that had He been there, their brother would not have died. And then in v. 22 Martha goes a step further and says, “Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give you.” We know from vs. 23 & 24 that the furthest possibility from Martha’s mind is an immediate resurrection of her brother, but let’s be honest—would any of us have exceeded her in faith? Martha is not too different from many of us. We know that God can do anything and can answer any prayer, but we say to ourselves, “He probably won’t.”
Frankly, I can sympathize a lot more with her weak faith than with my own, for the thing she is being asked to believe God for is virtually unique—the resurrection of someone who has been dead for four days. I even have trouble believing God for normal things—daily bread, family, financial security, relationships, protection, ministry! Oh, that we might learn to have faith in the absolute power of God, unlimited faith! Not to demand things from Him but to expect great things from Him.
If Martha’s and Mary’s faith was inadequate, Jesus does not get impatient with them; rather He uses their words as the context for one of His greatest lessons of comfort: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believe in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” Jesus does not say simply that He will cause resurrection and life. So much are resurrection and life associated with Him that He claims that He is the resurrection and the life. The linking of resurrection and life points to the fact that the life He brings is eternal life. The one who believes in Jesus will live even though he dies.
This paradox brings out the great truth that physical death is not final. For the unbeliever, death may be thought of as the end of life, though even the unbeliever will not cease to exist. But for the one who believes in Jesus, death is merely a transition from one sphere of life to another. The very moment a person puts his trust in Jesus he begins to experience eternal life, which cannot be touched by death. I would paraphrase verse 25 & 26 this way: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies physically; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die spiritually. Do you believe this? That is, have you put your trust in me and received me as the resurrection and the life?”
We should not leave this verse, particularly as we approach Easter Sunday, without the further observation that this One who claimed to be the Resurrection was Himself resurrected just a few weeks later. In His own resurrection He conquered death to such an extent that His new body would never again see death. Lazarus was brought back to life, but he later died a second time. Not so Jesus, or those of us whom He will raise when He returns to this earth, i.e., all those who have believed in Him.
Jesus cares by feeling for us deeply. (33-38)
A crowd of mourners gather in Mary’s and Martha’s home to do their duty in consoling the grieving sisters. People in those days took the custom of mourning seriously. They generally continued for 7 days, often breaking out into loud wailing. The word for weeping in v. 33 suggests hysterical shrieking. It was a scene of pandemonium, sorrow, and perhaps even a certain measure of hypocrisy. And that to me provides the key to John 11:35, the shortest verse in the Bible, which simply says, “Jesus wept.” A different Greek word is used for Jesus’ weeping than for that of the mourners. His was a quiet weeping, but He was no less deeply moved. In fact, one translator renders verse 33 in this fashion: “He gave way to such distress of spirit as made his body tremble.”
Now why does Jesus have such a deep emotional response when He comes upon this scene? I personally don’t see how it could be caused by His own mourning for the deceased, because He knows He is going to raise Lazarus from the dead. It must instead refer to His deep concern at the sense of hopelessness demonstrated by Mary, Martha, and the other mourners. They so completely misunderstand the nature of death for a believer and so completely underestimate His divine power, that Jesus weeps for them.
I find it very encouraging that Jesus was not afraid to cry. The fact is the NT tells us of three occasions when He cried—all within the last month of His life. He cried here in the home of Lazarus. Luke 19:41 tells us that Jesus wept over the city of Jerusalem just before the Triumphal Entry. And Hebrews 5:7 says that Jesus “offered up prayers and petitions with loud cries and tears to the one who could save him from death,” referring apparently to Jesus’ experience in the Garden of Gethsemane. Each of these instances shows just how much Jesus cares for His people.
Jesus cares by demonstrating for us the glory and power of God. (39-44)
When the Jews observe Jesus weeping, they attribute it to His love for Lazarus, but some wonder at the fact that one so powerful that He can heal the blind could not have prevented the death of His closest friend. The same mistake was made later as He hung on the cross, when some jeered, “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.” What both groups fail to realize is that Jesus’ lack of action had nothing to do with His ability; rather it was evidence of a higher purpose. He could have healed Lazarus and He could have easily come down from the Cross, but then His goal of demonstrating the glory of God and saving the world would not have been realized.
As we come to v. 38, we find Jesus at the tomb, requesting that the stone be removed. Martha, thinking perhaps that Jesus wanted to see the face of His friend a final time, protests that decay has already occurred, for Lazarus has been dead four days. The importance of the four days is to stress the actuality of the death of Lazarus. It is curious that the Jews had a belief that the spirit of the departed hovered around his tomb for three days. But on the fourth day the spirit finally left, for the face of the body was so decayed that it could no longer be recognized.
All possible human explanations of resuscitation being removed, Jesus prays and renders to His Father all the glory for the miracle He is about to perform. He doesn’t have to pray out loud, verse 42 says, but He does so in order that His submission to His Father might be seen by the people. And with that He cries out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” St. Augustine suggested that Jesus spoke Lazarus’ name, otherwise all the graves would have opened and everybody in that cemetery would have come to life. At any rate, Lazarus comes walking out of that tomb, still wrapped in his grave clothes, still with his face covered. And Jesus, never one to forget minor details, commands, “Loose him and let him go.” If you wonder why Jesus gave that command, just ask yourself, “Would I have gone up to Lazarus and unwrapped his face without being commanded to do so?” Not on your life! Well, the miracle is over, but there is one more indication of how Jesus cares.
Jesus cares by giving His life for us. (45-53)
In vs. 45 & 46 we see that the result of the miracle, as always, is division. The Jews are again split into two camps. Many believe in Him, but some go away to tell the Pharisees what Jesus had done. A council of the Sanhedrin is convened in verses 47 & 48, with the point being made that if they let Jesus go on performing miracles like this one, everyone will end up believing in Him, and then the Romans will come and take away both their place and their nation.
They are stretching a point, of course, because there were many just like themselves who would never believe, no matter how great the evidence. But you can see exactly what their concern is. They are the privileged class and fear the Romans will not stand by indifferently during a popular tumult stirred up by Messianic expectations. They need only to have someone stand up and suggest the execution of their opponent, which is exactly what happens when Caiaphas the High Priest addresses the religious leaders in 49-53:
“’You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.’
He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. So from that day on they plotted to take his life.”
This is one of those rare cases in the Scripture where God uses an unbeliever to convey divine truth. But if He could use a dumb donkey in the OT to be His spokesman, then I see no reason why He shouldn’t use one in the NT as well. Caiaphas’ intention, of course, is murder. It seems better to him that they should put one man to death—even an innocent man—than to see the whole nation destroyed by the Romans. But God is also speaking through Caiaphas’ words and His intentions are quite different. God intends the words as a prophecy of Jesus Christ’s substitutionary death on the cross.
Either the people must die, or Jesus must die. But if He dies, the people can live. And this is not true of the Jewish people only, for it is God’s purpose through the death of Jesus to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. In other words, the vision here is world-wide. Anyone and everyone who is willing to put his trust in Jesus Christ can become a full-fledged child of God because He died in our place.
Robert McAfee Brown was a W.W. II American army chaplain on a troopship in which 1,500 marines were returning from Japan to America for discharge. He was approached by a small group of G.I.s to do Bible study with them, and eagerly seized the opportunity. Near the end of the voyage, they were studying John 11 and afterwards a marine came to him. “Everything in that chapter,” he said, “is pointing at me.” He went on to say that he had been in hell for the last six months. He had gone straight into the marines from college. He had been sent out to Japan. He had been bored with life; and he had gone out and gotten into trouble—bad trouble. Nobody knew about it except God.
The young marine felt guilty; he felt his life was ruined; he felt he could never face his family again, although they need never know; he felt he had killed himself and was a walking dead man. “And,” said this young marine, “after reading this chapter I have come alive again. I know that this resurrection Jesus was talking about is real here and now, for he has raised me from death to life.” That lad’s troubles were not finished; he had a hard road to go; but in his sin and guilt he had found Jesus as the resurrection and the life.[i]
Conclusion: Does Jesus care? Have you found Him? He’s looking for you. He’s reaching out to you. This very day He would like to resurrect you from spiritual death and give you abundant life. Then someday in the future He will come again and resurrect you physically and give you a new body like His own glorious body, in which you will be able to enjoy Him and serve Him for all eternity.
DATE: March 28, 1993
Tags:
Friendship
Sleep
[i] Cited by William Barclay, The Gospel of John, Vol. 2, 102-103.