7 Signs Of The Gospel Of John: Raising Of Lazarus From The Dead

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7 SIGNS OF THE GOSPEL OF JOHN: RAISING OF LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD

Pastor Mike here.

(This is Part 7 of the seven signs of the Gospel of John where we’re considering the seventh sign: Raising Of Lazarus From The Dead.)

The Holy Spirit gave to the Apostle John the words of his Gospel account surrounding the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

JOHN’S GOSPEL CONSTRUCTED AROUND SEVEN MIRACLES

One of the ways John constructed his Gospel is around seven signs (or miracles) that our Lord performed.

The seventh of the seven signs is found in John chapter 11, verse 1 through 44, where it reads…

1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.

2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill.

3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

4 But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

6 So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

7 Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”

8 The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?”

9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.

10 But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”

11 After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”

12 The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”

13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep.

14 Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died,

15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

16 So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.

18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off,

19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother.

20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house.

21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live,

26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”

27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”

29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him.

30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him.

31 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.”

35 Jesus wept.

36 So 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 also have kept this man from dying?”

38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.

39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”

40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”

43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”

44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

RAISING OF LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD

And so we have the seventh sign of the seven signs of the Gospel of John: Raising Of Lazarus From The Dead.

And before we dive in to the text, let me just remind you of the main point of the seven signs of the Gospel of John.

John himself gives it to us in John chapter 20, verse 30-31…

Now Jesus did many other signs in the presence of the disciples, which are not written in this book; but these (the seven signs of the Gospel of John) are written so that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

And so the signs are meant to be convincing proof that Jesus is the Messiah promised from the Garden of Eden that God would send to die in your place on the cross so that you would be saved from your sins and have eternal life.

VERSE 1

Which brings us to the text.

In v. 1 we find out “a certain man” named Lazarus is sick.

(Lazarus means “God has helped.”)

He is the brother of Mary and Martha.

And Lazarus’ sisters communicate to Jesus the news in the message, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

VERSE 4-6

Upon hearing the news, in v. 4, Jesus says, that Lazarus’ “illness does not lead to death.”

Instead, it is for God’s glory and “that the Son of God (Jesus Himself) may be glorified through it.”

Now Jesus does something very peculiar at this point.

As v. 5 makes clear, Jesus loves “Martha and [Mary] and Lazarus.”

And yet when he hears that Lazarus is sick, He procrastinates.

He stays “two days longer,” v. 6 says, “in the place where he was.”

And so it is not because Jesus doesn’t love Lazarus and family that He delays coming, but in keeping with His earlier statement, it’s so that God will be glorified.

To be glorified means to be lifted up and seen in all His goodness and grace and mercy towards humankind.

And notice how it takes place in the midst of suffering and pain and loss and disaster.

It gives us hope when we are facing the same things.

VERSE 17

Skipping down now to v. 17 of the text.

Jesus, after having initially delayed His coming to the aid of His friend – He now arrives to the news that Lazarus has died.

Not only that, he’s “been in the tomb four days.”

According to one source, there was a “rabbinic belief that the soul hovers over the body for three days and then departs when decomposition sets in.

John’s point is that only a genuine miracle could account for the raising of Lazarus.” (Lutheran Study Bible 1803)

VERSE 38-40

Which brings us to the miracle.

In v. 38 Jesus comes to Lazarus’ tomb.

“It [is] a cave, and a stone [lies] against it.”

In v. 39 Jesus says, “Take away the stone.”

Martha, the sister of Lazarus, says to Jesus, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” (v. 39b)

In v. 40 Jesus responds, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

VERSE 41-44

So they take away the stone. (v. 41a)

Jesus lifts up His eyes and gives thanks to God the Father. (v. 41b-42)

And then He cries out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” (v. 43b)

Lazarus, comes out of his tomb alive, “his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face with a cloth.” (v. 44a)

Jesus says, “Unbind him, and let him go.” (v. 44b)

DR. PAUL KRETZMANN ON THE RAISING OF LAZARUS’ FROM THE DEAD

In his commentary on the the entire Bible including the Gospel of John, Dr. Paul Kretzmann puts it this way…

Lazarus, the brother of … Mary and her sister Martha, was sick. In this emergency the friendship of the sisters, their intimacy with Jesus, suggests to them to send to Him first of all. …It was really an urgent, pleading request: Lord, behold, he whom Thou lovest is sick. …The words of Jesus when He received the message are rather enigmatic. This sickness was not unto death, He told His disciples, although He knew that physical death had either taken place or was imminent. …But He made no move to hasten to the bedside of His beloved friend. After the time when He received the message, He still purposely remained in the place where He had been sojourning for two days. The manner in which Jesus deals with those whom He loves may sometimes make the impression upon foolish human minds as though He were not earnestly concerned about their welfare. But an enduring, patient trust in His wisdom and love will never be brought to shame.

Dr. Kretzmann goes on…

The journey from that section of Perea where Jesus had been staying to Bethany took about two days, and when Jesus therefore reached the town, He was greeted with the intelligence that Lazarus had been in the grave four days. …Death is a cruel enemy, for in a moment he destroys the happiness of families and friends, and rends the closest ties asunder. And behind death stands the hideous figure of him that has the power of death, the devil, the murderer from the beginning. Jesus inquired for the location of the grave, since He wanted those present to accompany Him there. He, the Source and Champion of life, here went forth to meet the enemy of life and to tear his prey from him. This He could do, for He was more than a mere human being; He possessed the power of Almighty God. But that He was also a true human being He here showed. For as the procession was coming near to the grave, the tears arose to the eyes of Jesus, and He wept. The feeling of grief was so strong as to draw these tears from His eyes. And with His tears He hallowed the tears, the grief, of the believers at the graves of those that are dear to them.

Dr. Kretzmann concludes…

After Jesus had spoken His prayer to His heavenly Father, He did not delay. Addressing Himself to the corpse in the grave, He commanded the dead man with a loud voice: Lazarus, come forth; literally: Hither, out! And the almighty word caused the miracle to happen, brought the man upon whom the process of decay had begun back to life, and gave him the strength to leave the grave, though he was still bound with the customary grave-clothes and had his face covered with a sudary. Jesus merely told the bystanders to remove the confining bandages which hindered the man’s movements, and then to permit him to leave…. There can be no doubt as to the reality of the miracle. The man Jesus Christ has power over death; He calls the dead back to life at will. …This is the greatest miracle which Christ performed, so far as is recorded in Scripture, with the exception of His own resurrection. It is the guarantee of our hope and belief in the resurrection on the last day, when His almighty voice will call our bodies forth from the graves.

THE SEVEN SIGNS ARE CONVINCING PROOF THAT JESUS IS THE MESSIAH

And so we have the seventh sign of the seven signs of the Gospel of John: Raising Of Lazarus From The Dead.

This seventh sign, along with the other six signs of the Gospel of John, are meant to be convincing proof that Jesus is the Messiah promised from the Garden of Eden that God would send to die in your place on the cross so that you would be saved from your sins and have eternal life.