Well, good morning church. Thank you for being here today. I know that we got a lot more sleep last night than we did last week. Amen. Uh, last night was way better. I want you to do me a favor this morning. I want you to go ahead, grab your Bibles, grab your devices, and turn with me to John chapter 11. John chapter 11 is where we're gonna camp out today, where we're gonna just really do a deep examination and we're just gonna celebrate yet one more of the I am claims of Jesus. These claims where Jesus actually takes hold of the highest and the holiness holiest the most lofty name of God in the Old Testament, Yahweh, I am in the New Testament. Jesus grabs hold of this name. He claims it for himself as if to say, I am God. I am God. I'm more than a prophet.
I'm more than a healer. I'm more than your best friend. I am God so far in the series. Today is actually the fifth one in the I am so far, we've looked at the fact that he is the bread of life. We've looked at the fact that he's the light of the world. We've looked at the fact that he is the door. And then last week we looked at, he proclaiming that he is the good, the kalos, the good shepherd that is above all other shepherds. Well, as we said every week in these I am statements, every one of these promises of Jesus comes with it a claim that Jesus actually fulfills one of our greatest needs and one of our greatest broken points of our lives. So far, we've said that only he can heal them, only he can fill them. And as we've walked through them and seen the names, we've seen how he can do that.
Week one, we said that when we feel empty, that he's the bread of life. Week two, we said that when we feel like we're in the dark or we're hopeless, that he is the one that lights the way or illuminates the path in front of us. Week three, we said when we were scared or when we don't know the way to God, that Jesus is the door. And then last week we said that when we're lost, when we're hopeless, we don't know where to go. That he is our good shepherd. These feelings that Jesus fills. And actually Jesus promises that he is the only one that can fill them. Have actually met a many, many of us right where we are in life right now. Well, today is the same actually today. Jesus steps into another one of these felt needs and he hits what I just want to call three at the same time of the largest needs or brokenness in our life.
And that is the needs of disappointment, suffering, and death. To which I can just feel the room just all of a sudden was like, well Matt, this is gonna be an uplifting message. No, it really is. Because what Jesus is about to do is he's about to look at you and he's about to look at me and he's about to say, in the middle of all of these things, I am gonna show you who I am. So today you might just actually walk away with some answers that you have been asking questions to for a long time. Or you might actually walk away with some answers to some questions that a family member's been asking around disappointment, suffering, and death. Now, here's what I wanna do. I've done it every week and I think I'm gonna continue it to the end. Just don't wanna lock myself in.
I wanna give you the claim from Jesus, right, the I am statement. And then we're gonna backtrack our way through it to see the context and to see exactly what he said. So lemme give you the claim out of John chapter 11, alright? Of exactly who Jesus is and what he's offering. John 11, verse 25, here it goes. Here's what Jesus says. Jesus said to her, I am, get ready to circle all this. I am the resurrection and the life. Now that's the claim, right? Circle that, underline it, put it in your Bible. For those of you that are enemies of every pastor alive, put the date beside it. So next time I preach it, you'll go, you preach that on April of 2025. Right? There you go. Okay. I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even though they die.
Even though they die. Now, there's the claim, and this is what I wanna say about the claim. If you have managed to allude the rest of the struggles throughout this whole series, right, emptiness and dark and not knowing the way I can tell you, and I can promise you that today's promise and today's activity or today's need that this actual claim meets, you will not be able to evade unless Jesus returns like right now. Why? Because all of us are going to walk through at some point in our life, we are going to walk through the hurt of death, the disappointment of death, the suffering of death, and the overwhelmingness of death in our life. You might be able to ignore it for a minute, but it's pain will come upon someone you love and eventually you. Now, there's the bad news, right? There's the bad news.
Good news is on the end, I just need to keep telling you that, right? It's going to, in fact, listen to this statistic. This is gonna blow you away. 100% of people die, right there it is. You can freeze yourself, you can eat healthy, you can swear off fried chicken. But eventually you and I, we will all physically, unless the Lord comes back in time, we will die. All right? And this message addresses that. It actually addresses why some of you that are even walking in that season right now with a loved one or a friend, why? It just doesn't feel right. 'cause death never does. So it addresses death. But also this claim addresses something else that most of us walk through. And it's the idea that at some point in our lives as a believer in Jesus, that we are actually going to feel all right, we're gonna feel disappointed with God.
We're gonna feel like that sometime. Say, not me, Matt. Yes, you will. At some point in your life, you're gonna look at God and you're gonna say, God, why didn't you do something? God, why did you let this happen? God, if you loved me, God did. You didn't do what you said you were going to do. At some point in your life, you're gonna say something like this, God, I did my part. Why did you not do your part? I mean, they died, she left. He cheated. I didn't get this. The promotion left. The kid did whatever. In fact, for some of you, this is the sole reason that there has been a large season of your life where you're just now coming back to church. 'cause you feel like in some way God maybe turned his back on you. Or for some of you, you feel like that maybe this is what's caused you to just kind of go through the religious motions.
Because at some point you looked at God when something happened in your life and you said, God, why did you not fill in the blank? And then you said, God, if I can't trust you in that, can I really trust you in this? So this section of John chapter 11 is going to address those needs. And here's the short story of all of it. Here it is. Jesus is about to look at you and he's about to look at me in my disappointment, in my suffering, and even in the valley of the shadow of death. And he's about to look at all of us and say, I can be trusted. Amen. And I love you. Amen. All right. So let's walk through it. All right, let's walk through it. I want you to do me a favor. I want you to put yourself in the text this morning.
We got a lot of verses, but they're really, really good. John, chapter 11, verse one. All we're gonna do is we're just gonna walk through this text today. So if you don't like that, it's probably not the church for you. All right? This is what we're gonna do, okay? Here. It's John chapter 11, verse one. Here's what he says. Now, a man name Lazarus was sick and he was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister, Martha. Verse two, this Mary whose brother Lazarus now lays sick, was the same one who poured the perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sisters sent word to Jesus. Here's the quote, "Lord, the one you love is sick." Now lemme pause there and kind of bring you to speed while it's happening. Scholars agree that Jesus was actually really close to this family.
Really close. There's a couple of other events that Jesus is with this family. You see 'em tracking together, probably grew up as kids together, they say, and we just read that actually on the last of that little paragraph, that Lazarus is the one that says that Jesus loved. All right? You're gonna see that over and over again. This family believed in Jesus. They supported Jesus. They spent some time following after Jesus. Now Lazarus, we just saw he actually gets sick. We don't know what the sickness is, but it appears that it came on pretty rapidly and pretty strong. And the sisters, Martha and Mary, what do they do? They do what anybody who trusts in God does. When we have a need, they call out to Jesus, right? They call out for Jesus to do something about it. Now, in our time and our day, we would call that praying to Jesus, right?
In their time, they actually sent a messenger to Jesus to go get him to do something about it. We, we have the Holy Spirit. So we can call upon the name of Jesus. And he hears us. Now at this time in John's gospel, we are really late in Jesus's ministry, okay? We're really late. We're only weeks before the cross, weeks before he's crucified. He's already known as a healer. He's already known as a guy that has given sight to the blind. He's healed the sick, and he's actually already raised two other people from the dead. Not to give away the story, but you've read it probably. All right? There it is, right? He's already done that. So they know that this is the thing to do. They call out to Jesus, to which all of us would agree that is the thing to do. But in that, I want you to think about this
in the healing ministry of Jesus. Jesus didn't just go around and heal everybody, okay? Jesus didn't just walk the streets of Jerusalem and everybody that came in eyesight of Jesus. And he was like, heal you, heal you, heal you, heal you. No, that's not how it worked. Okay? Jesus and his miracles had a purpose. He didn't indiscriminately end all illness or all disease or heal swaths of people at one time. That's not what Jesus did. The healings of Jesus, yes, it was for the people that he was healing, but even more so, it was to prove who Jesus is, to show his power and to point people to a relationship with him. Alright? That's what they were for. Well, in this case though, you would think that since Jesus was close to this family and his family had a need and his family called out to Jesus, you would think that if you're reading this for the first time, surely at this moment that Jesus heard this, that Jesus would've just thrown everything down in this moment and came running to deal with these sisters, right?
You would think that's what Jesus would do because it just said that he loved them. But if you've read ahead, you know that's not what he does. Right? Even after the help me Jesus call Jesus actually, not to ruin it for you, but he actually doesn't make it to Lazarus on time and Lazarus dies. And to make it even more confusing, stay with me. Watch this in verse four, keep reading. It says this, when Jesus heard this, 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. Verse five. Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, watch this. He stayed where he was. Two more days. Now that sounds crazy, doesn't it? If Jesus is loving, if Jesus can heal, if Jesus can do something about this, then why in the world did Jesus just hang out when he heard a need from someone he loved?
I mean, if I was writing this or if you were writing this, you know what we would write, right? We were like, man, Jesus swooped in. He threw down everything he was doing. He tucked his cloak. He ran like Elijah because we'd throw in some Bible references and he got to Bethany and he healed him, right? That's what we would write. But that's not what happens, right? What did the Bible just say? The Bible just said that Jesus loved them. Don't forget that. I mean, it's said it like three times already. He stayed where he was. Two more days. You know, as I've tried to process this this week, 'cause this is a tough one. Here's a principle that's kind of helped me. It might not help you, but you can put it in your notes. It's helped me this week. Look at this, delays from God are not denials, delays from God are not denials.
And I just want you to grab hold of that and maybe kind of think through and process through that this week because they're not denials. You're smart enough to figure it out. But here's really what this has meant to me this week. First of all, there are really no delays from God. Have you ever thought about that? His timing is perfect. His timing is all good, and his timing is all loving. He's never late and he's never early. And I know that is really hard for our finite minds that are here for what, maybe a hundred years at best, than grasp that an eternal God knows better than us, right? But God is never late. But it's hard for us to hold onto, and actually it's hard for the disciples to hold onto. If you see that Jesus paused here and you're a little bit confused, just know you're in good company.
Because actually it confused the disciples as well. Aren't you glad the disciples were pretty slow and Jesus always had to explain something twice? Aren't you glad that he always had to circle back around them so that we actually might get it? In fact, to help the disciples understand this after them finding out that that friend Lazarus was dead? Jesus actually says this, not to get too far ahead, but I wanna show you this in verse 15, Jesus says this to the disciples, he says, it was for your sake, I am glad that I was not there so that you may believe. Do you see why Jesus delays? Now, Jesus doesn't delay because he is a jerk, right? He doesn't delay because he doesn't hear. He doesn't delay because he doesn't love them. He looks at his disciples, he's like, Hey, there's a grander plan.
There's a larger plan. And for your sake, you better be glad that I wasn't there because you would not learn what I'm about to teach you. But what was he about to teach them? He was about to teach them how they do what? What was the last word in that sentence? How to believe. Now, if you've been tracking with us in this whole series of John, you know that John's whole book here is all about us finding out how we can truly believe. Not just believe here, but to believe with our life that walks it out with our feet. So Jesus is looking at them right here, and he's saying, what's so important that I would actually let my friend die? What's so important that I would let these sisters temporarily be devastated? What's so important, and what I wanna show you and what the process of this whole event is gonna show you is that you can know and you can truly believe that I am.
What's the claim? I am the resurrection and the life. You see, if this wouldn't have happened, they would've still been doubting. And then two weeks later when Jesus went to the cross, they would still been like, ah, I'm really not sure. You see, so even in tragedy, even in suffering, even in disappointment, our God has a plan to show us who he is and not just show us who he is, but keep reading the story, man, I love this. Watch this in verse six. It says this. You're like, man, there's 40 verses here, Matt, we ain't getting through it. We're going to, all right, here it is. Verse six, it says this. So when they heard that Lazarus was sick, he, that's Jesus, he stayed where he was two more days. And then he said to his disciples, let us go back to Judea. Let us go back to Judea.
Now, this was an incredibly dangerous thing. Last time he was in Judea, they tried to stone him. Last time he was there, they ran him out of town. He actually has this little, little back and forth with Thomas, where Thomas is like, well, we'll just go and die right there with Lazarus. I love it. You gotta read that later on. We don't have time for it. But by the time Jesus actually gets to Bethany, Lazarus has been dead for four days. Now, Jesus already knew this. You say, man, how did he know it? He was God. All right. He already knew this, right? He already knew that it had happened. So he is already in his mind watching how he's about to do what he's gonna do if you do the math right? It took a day for the messenger to get to him and give him the message.
The Bible says that Jesus waited for two days before he went back and it took him a day to walk. And what we're about to see in the text is that Jesus finds Lazarus in the grave after he had been there four days. Now the Jews, they weren't like us. They buried people the day they died. All right? So he'd been in the grave four days, and the next thing that we get to see is that Martha hears that Jesus is coming into town and she runs out to meet him. And Martha gives us a famous line that I wanna see if it sounds familiar to you in this next set of verses. Lemme read to you seven through 17 through 21, and tell me if you've ever heard this last line. Watch this. On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.
Now, Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. Sounds like the last time we met Martha and Mary, right? But look at this verse 21. See if this sounds familiar. Lord, Martha said to Jesus, if you would have been here, my brother would not have died. Now listen, if you know my story, lemme let you into a little bit of my life. I've literally said these words to God before. My younger brother, when I was a sophomore in college, died in a car accident. And literally to the word I quoted this, not even probably even knowing this is what it is. Lord, if you would have been here, this would not have happened.
That's exactly what Mary's saying. Jesus, where were you? Why didn't you show up? We were supposed to call on you. That's what we're supposed to do. We did it. We've been loyal. Even though other people left you, I was with you and you did not show. Am I stepping on anybody's toes here? Yes, sir. We've all said this. Have we not? We've all said this to Jesus. And listen, I want you to see something about Jesus here. Jesus doesn't like come down on 'em and rebuke 'em for saying this. No, no, no, no, no. That's what we would've done. Jesus actually hugs up on Mary, not literally, but kind of spiritually right here, and actually teaches her and teaches us a lesson of what it looks like to walk with Jesus in times of death, in times of suffering, in times of hurting. He gives us what I'll just call four attributes of Jesus or offers from Jesus, even in the moment of death.
Lemme teach 'em to you. Number one, Jesus in these moments gives us the gift of his presence. He gives us the gift of his presence. Now, look, according to these people that we saw in their timing, Jesus was late, right? That's what Mary's saying here. If you would've just got, I mean Martha, if you would've just got here, you would have done something. That's what they're saying. But we've already established the fight that Jesus is never late on this side. We're gonna see that in a minute. But also, think about this with me just for a minute. Not only is it that Jesus got there on time, on eternal time, but what about just the fact that the savior of the world, the savior of the universe, the one that hung the earth and the sky responded to their prayer, you see, cut through the noise and the, and the critics and just watch what Jesus does when his followers, when his people call upon him, he graces us with his presence.
Believer remember this. He doesn't just respond to Mary and Martha. He responds to you. In fact, Psalm 102, verse 17 says, he will respond to the prayer and the destitute. He will not despise their plea. Psalm 34:17 says, the righteous cry out and the Lord hears them and he delivers them from their troubles. Listen to me. Jesus might not show up on your timing, but his timing when he does show up is always right. Amen. His moment is always true, and Jesus listen, is fully present, is fully aware and is fully with you and every single thing believer, everything, single thing that you will ever walk through and listen, we as followers of Jesus are the only people on this planet that can claim this. No other religion, no other psychology, no other philosophy, nothing else on this planet can say that they have a God through the incarnation, which is what we're seeing here, that Jesus is walking on the earth. Through the crucifixion,
what we'll see in two weeks through the resurrection and through the giving of the Holy Spirit, no other religion can say that they have a savior that walks with them. They have a savior that hears every one of them in the moment at the time and meets them right where they need him to meet them. He gives us the gift of his presence. So believer, listen to me, call on the name of the Lord in times of trouble and shame and pain and hurt and distress and anger and death. And believer, when you do, rest assured that he hears you. He's with you, and he will get you his full presence. Even if you don't understand the moment. He gives it to you. But he doesn't stop there. Next, Mary and Jesus or Martha and Jesus begin to have a pretty heavy conversation, and this is where we actually get to see that.
Not only does he just offer us his presence, but number two, write this down. Jesus, in these moments offers and is the resurrected new life. Now, I know that's clunky. I know it doesn't fit you grammar people. It's not right, but I I, I wrote that in a way on purpose. He offers and is what does that mean? That means that we're gonna see in two or in about a month that Jesus is the resurrection. We're gonna see that in the Easter moment. But also on top of that, what does Jesus offer from the claim that we read? The claim is that he gives us the resurrection and the life. He offers us the new life now and for eternity. In fact, look at the text, right? Look at the text. Even though that we were dead in our sins, even though that we did not deserve it, those of us in Jesus, watch what happens.
Verse 21, Lord Martha said to Jesus, verse 21, if you had been here, my brother would not have died, but I know that even now, God will give you whatever you ask, Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. To which you're like, yeah! Martha doesn't get it watch. Martha answered I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. I can just see Jesus in my mind, he's shaking his head going, Ugh. You know? Martha was a Jew. They talked a lot about the final resurrection and yes, that's what Jesus is talking about. But also, yes, Jesus is about to be, is about to raise a boy, right? She's about to raise Lazarus from the grave so that she'll believe, but keep reading because Martha is just looking at the heavenly Father. But watch what Jesus says. Verse 25. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.
The one who believes in me will live even though they die, and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Circle this next question. Do you believe this? Amen. Yes, Lord. She replied, I believe that you are the Messiah, the son of God who has come into the world. Did you see what Jesus just did here? Jesus just looked at her and says, Hey, hey, listen. Listen, listen, Martha, listen, Martha, lemme tell you something, Martha, not many people probably told Martha things if you get her attitude right? He said, Hey, I know you're looking for that day and I'm responsible for that day. I know you're looking to that day and I am the one that will rise up the believers on the final day. But Jesus is also looking at her and going, Hey, but that's not what's gonna happen with your brother today 'cause I've got a plan and I am going to raise him from the dead.
Now, obviously here, Jesus is not teaching the principle that every believer that dies that he's going to rise. All right? That is not physically rise. That's not what he's teaching. I mean, when you think about poor Lazarus here, I mean you can see actually he, his life proves it. Did you know that Lazarus? Yes. He has already died in the story. We just saw that. But not to ruin the power of the text, but actually Lazarus at some point, we don't know when it is. Actually Lazarus has to die again. Have you ever thought about this poor guy that had to die twice? Right? Have you ever thought about his mindset? Just for a minute? I mean, he's not out there hanging out in a secret cave somewhere waiting on the God to return like the, like the knight in Indiana Jones, right? That is not how it's happening here, right?
Poor Lazarus actually dies twice, and on top of that, have you ever thought about how this whole event really stunk for Lazarus? Do you know that nobody that walks in the presence of Jesus ever wants to return, but Lazarus, right? He dies. The poor guy dies. He loves Jesus. He dies, he goes to heaven, or maybe he gets his keys to the mansion. He's checking in, he's getting to know things. He's seeing Abraham and Isaac. He's hanging out with all the prophets. He's in the presence of God. Four days this joker, four days he gets to enjoy eternity and all of a sudden there's a knock at his door and an angel's like, Hey, the big guy needs to see you, right? The big guy needs to see you. He is like, oh, cool. Let's go see the big guy. He is like, no, no, no, not that big guy.
You're going back down. You're going back down. He's like, no, right. Don't do it. But he does. He has to because it's just showing us in the story who God is. But really in verse 25 and 26, there's an incredible moment here that's showing us that, yeah, physically we're gonna die. Alright? We're gonna die. Nobody's ever gonna wanna be back from dying. But secondly, in verse 26, but in a spiritual sense, believer, listen. In Christ, we will be more alive at the moment that we physically die than we've ever been on this planet. Yes sir. Than we've ever been. In fact, one of the most famous Billy Graham quotes of all time, listen to what he says about this. He says, one final day you'll hear that Billy Graham is dead. Don't you believe it? I'll be more alive than ever. I will just change addresses.
Amen. Man, I love that. Why? Because of what Jesus is and what Jesus offers. He not only in the moments of sorrow and death offers us his presence, but he offers us himself as the resurrection and the life. But the question is, do you believe? Number one, the gift of his presence. Number two, he offers the resurrected life and that should be enough for the morning, but we're gonna give you some extra. Number three, I'm gonna show you this. Jesus, in these moments of suffering and pain and death and sorrow, Jesus hurts when we hurt. He hurts when we hurt. We don't talk about this side of Jesus a lot. We kind of glaze over it, right? But lemme show you something right here. Now stay with me. We're gonna check back into Bethany. There's lots of scripture here. Alright, stay with me. I'm just gonna read it.
Here it goes. Verse 28, after she said this, this is Martha. She went back and she called her sister Mary aside, the teacher is here. He said, she said, and he's asking for you. When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and she went to him. Now, Jesus had not yet entered into the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews that 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, verse 32. But when Mary reached the same place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, now this is gonna sound real familiar. Watch what she said. Maybe they practiced it earlier. Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
There it is again, right now, remember, Martha's already got her message of hope in the resurrection life. Let's watch the one that Jesus gives Mary here and us. When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come alongside her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. Watch what he says. Where have you laid them? He asked, come and see Lord. They replied in verse 35, here it is. And Jesus wept. Hey are are you seeing this? Jesus just went. He just went from, from being at the moment of being the great I am. And now he moved over to become the weeping suffering servant. Right? He moved over and thank God he did. Why? Because I need to know. I need to know that he feels what I feel. I need to know that he's with me in those moments and I need to know that I have a savior that is not so detached from the universe that when I hurt, he knows what I'm walking through.
That's what he's saying here. He wept with these two ladies. I know it seems weird to look at Jesus and go, you could have done something. You could have stopped this. You could've do this–just, just do it, Jesus. And he could have. I know it even seems weird that Jesus is crying and he already knows he's about to raise Lazarus. I know that. But he does it for a reason to show us that he feels what we feel and he's walked where we walk, and even more so in his death. I mean, let's be honest, Jesus sees the end of your story and know that you have a servant that is deeply moved and weeps when you weep. But I wanna talk about this phrase deeply moved for a second. Look at verse 33. I want you to see something here. 'cause I think we miss this sometimes.
Look back at verse 33. Here it is. It says this, when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come alongside her also weeping, look at this line right here. He was deeply moved in spirit. Alright? That's one thing. And troubled, all right? On this side, the word phrase deeply moved is not a great English translation. Why? Because when we think deeply moved, we think, Aw, I'm so sad for them. That's not actually what this Greek word is describing here. The Greek word is actually describing that Jesus was super indignant, right? That he was super angry enebrimēsato is the word if you wanna write that one down, right? It is this word that actually describes a bull snorting and growling before it charges a matador. Or here's how John Calvin described it, or a wrestler that is entering in the ring to fight right before the bell being angered at his opponent.
You say, Matt, what are you trying to tell me that deeply moved here means that Jesus is angry at Mary and angry at Martha and angry at all these people. No, that's not what I'm saying at all. What I'm trying to say and show you is that Jesus steps up and cries these tears of concern on this side, but on this side, he steps in front of the tomb, Enebrimēsato, he is angered at the fact that he is facing his number one enemy on this planet and it's death. He's angry at death. He's angry at the fact that death has stolen his plan for eternal life, for humanity when sin entered the earth, and now he's looking at Lazarus, knowing the pain that it has brought on him, the pain that has brought on his sisters, the pain that is brought on us, and can I add this, the pain that it's going to bring on himself in a couple of weeks when he faces death. He's looking at death, he's looking at it in the eyes and he's saying, listen, you need to know that I am the resurrection and this is why I'm so angry at death.
Lemme tell you something, believer it is okay to be angry at death because it wasn't God's plan for humanity. That's right. That's right. It's okay. It's okay to not feel natural in death. Don't think that you're not spiritual. Don't think that you're just not there in your walk with Jesus. Even Jesus was deeply moved at death. Because he knows there's a better plan. He is the plan. He hurts when we hurt. Gives us the gift of his presence. Number one, he is and gives the resurrected life. He reminds us that he hurts when we hurt. And here's the fourth one. Oh, I love this 'cause It tells us that he's doing something about it. Watch this. Verse four or number four, he shows us that his grace and his plan are always perfect. That's what he shows us. Why? 'cause only Jesus can heal. Only Jesus can raise the dead and only Jesus can give true life. Now, you've been waiting on these verses all morning, so let's go on and read 'em right here. They are ready. Here it goes. Verse 38.
Jesus, once more, Jesus, once more time is deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. Verse 39, watch what he says. Take away the stone. Is this ringing any bells for the Easter story right here? Is this ringing any bells on a foreshadowing of what he's gonna do again one day as the resurrection in life? I hope it is. Keep reading. But Lord Martha said, the sister of the dead man, by this time, there is a bad odor for he has been there for four days. You gotta love Martha, right? I love the KJV here. It says, Lord, he's stinketh. Right? If you like the KJV, here's what that means. He's going, Lord, there's, there's decay already setting in. There's stink already setting in. In other words, he's not just dead. He is dead–dead. Now, to us, that doesn't make any sense.
But if you were a Jew, this made total sense because they had this kind of weird philosophy. It's not biblical. It's just a philosophy of the Jews that the spirit somehow hovered around the body for three days and after three days, it left the body. That's what the Jews believed for some reason. All the other miracles that Jesus did when he rose somebody, he rose them kind of right after they died. But now are you seeing what Jesus did? He waits the extra fourth day just to prove just to boooyah in the Jews face that he is the resurrection and the life. Verse 40. Then Jesus said, did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? So they took away the stone, and Jesus looked up and said, father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this, for the benefit of the people standing around here, why?
That they may believe that you sent me. Amen. Oh, here it is. Verse 43. Then when he had said this, Jesus called out. I love this. I love this. This is proof for every pastor that gets a little bit excited, right? Jesus called out in a loud voice, Lazarus come out. Now, I love this when, old pastor said, thank goodness he used Lazarus first name, or every grave in that whole cemetery would've busted open, right. Watch this. Verse 44, the dead man came out. Come on. His hands and his feet were wrapped with strips of linen and a cloth around his face. I don't know how he, how it came out. Maybe he rolled, maybe he hopped. Maybe he had a little slit. He could see. I don't know. Got questions later on. But watch this. Jesus said to them, take off the grave clothes and let him out.
Listen, was there a moment of hurt? Oh yeah. Was there a moment of season of pain? Oh yeah, you know, this family was in it. Was there a season this family thought that Jesus was letting him down? Yes, but listen, Jesus, in full power, in full grace, in full love, in full mercy, rose Lazarus to new life, and actually Jesus broke this funeral up and started his own funeral. Later on this chapter, you'll see this is when they decided to arrest Jesus. But beyond that, this last sentence, take off the grave clothes and let him go. Can I tell you something? That's Jesus's prayer for your life? Whether you're a follower of Jesus for years and years and years and something has bound you, something has wrapped you up, something has put you in despair. Something has covered your joy. Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life.
In fact, look at it again in verse 25, Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. The one, the one who believes in me will live even though they die. I don't know where you're at believer. Listen, I got two groups to talk to, and then we're done. I don't know where you're at. I don't know what's got you. I don't know what's grabbed you. I don't know the season of death. You're walking through or suffering or disappointment, but I know the one that wants to take the grave clothes off of you and give you full life in his name and his name is Jesus. But the question is, will you let him? Will you let him? Will you surrender and hear his call and walk in his promise? For those of you that don't know Jesus today, lemme just say this.
The same thing that Jesus just did to Lazarus, he wants to do to you. You are dead in your transgressions and sins. I don't say that to judge you. I just say that to tell you that's the condition that you're in. But I also say it with a message of hope to say that we serve the God that is the resurrection and the life that comes with a promise. It comes with a hope, and it comes with the fact that even though your whole life in front of you may be in despair right now, we have a God that in a moment of time that can set you free and give you his life. But the question is, do you believe? What about it? You say, man, I think I'm there. Listen, thinking you're there is not there. It's surrendering to be there is when Jesus says yes.
So listen, we're gonna walk into a time of invitation this morning. We do this every week, but this one is very specific this morning. Number one is for yo Christians that really need to hit this altar and lay something down before the Lord, maybe there's a hardening of your heart. Maybe there's a season that you've been walking through. Maybe you've just been going through the motions and you've never allowed the resurrection in the life to give you the life now that he's going to give you later, but he wants to. Man in this next minute, you just need to say, yes, Jesus, I'm all yours. But for those of you that don't know him today, listen, you need to meet Jesus. He'll give you life. He'll give you hope, and he will walk with you for eternity in everything that you walk through.