The Voice That Awakens the Dead

John 11:38-45

 

INTRO: “Lazarus come forth,” Jesus cried, and he which was dead came forth.  The verses before us record one of the greatest of all miracles: resurrecting a dead man from the grave.  Think about it.  At the call of Jesus, the man Lazarus who had been dead for four days, comes out of the grave.  Who but God could do such a miracle.

 

I.        VSS 38-39, THE GRAVES DARKNESS AND THE FEELINGS OF THE SAVIOR

A.       Vs 38, Deep sympathy and intense emotion surged through the Lord Jesus Christ as He came to the grave of Lazarus (vs 35).

1. Jesus is moved by the broken hearts of Mary and Martha and by the unbelief of the Jews (vs 37).

2. The Bible tells us that the grave “was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.”  The cave was either natural or hewn out of the rock.  The usual Palestinian tomb was six feet long, nine feet wide and ten feet high.  Usually there were eight shelves cut out of the rock: three on each side and two on the back wall.  On these, the bodies were laid, wrapped in bandage like clothes, with head wrapped separately.

a. A grave sealed by a millstone door.  The millstone was fitted into a groove along which it rolled into place sealing the tomb.

b. “The sealed tomb, shut tight and secured. . . . had about it an unmistakable air of finality.  Lazarus was dead, buried, sealed in the grave” (Phillips 217).  It is over– but for Jesus.

B.       Vs 39, “Take away the stone.”  Roll the stone out of the way.

1. Jesus could have spoken to the stone and moved it, or He could have shattered it by His power; but instead, He told those near the grave to move the stone.

a. God never does for us what we can do ourselves.  God has chosen to use men to work for Him.

b. God’s almighty power does not destroy man’s responsibility.

c. “Take away the stone” is a command to us today.  Through Christ we can take away stones that hinder us in our spiritual lives.  Philippians 4:13 says: “I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me.”

1- Through Christ, we can roll away the stones of temptation.  (I Cor 10:13, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man, but God is faithful who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able....”).

2- Through Christ we can pull down strongholds that hinder us in our daily walk with the Savior.  (II Cor 10:4-5, “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty through God to the pulling down of strongholds....”).

2. Martha is shocked by the words of Jesus.

a. She knows that decomposition has set in – “by this time he stinketh.”  Embalming was practiced by the Egyptians, but not by the Hebrews.  The anointing that was customary among the Jews was far less effective than embalming.

b. Martha missed the meaning of the words spoken by Jesus in 11:25.  She thought this was future.  The resurrection of Lazarus was nearer than she thought.  Our loved ones may be raised soon than we think.

c. She thinks He wants to view the body of Lazarus, and this is no longer possible.  “He’s a four day man.”

C.      Vs 40, Jesus points Martha back to the words He had spoken in vss 4, 25, 26.  Jesus wants Martha to focus on Him and not the grave.

1. Martha needed to stop thinking about the corpse and set her eyes on the conqueror of death– Jesus.

2. To see the glory of God, Martha needed to trust completely in the love and power of Jesus (I Cor 15:55-58).

3. Friends, when the trials come, we need to keep on believing.  When the storm clouds hide the sun and no stars appear, we need to get our eyes off the storm and onto the Savior.

a. Instead of saying, “I must see to believe,” we need to learn to look to the Lord and say, “I believe and therefore I shall see.”

b. If we believe Jesus is the Son of God as Martha did (vs 27), then let’s not grieve Him with unbelief in His power.  “Be not faithless, but believing...” (Jn 20:27).

c. Mary had not protest.  Maybe she had understood what Jesus was about to do.

4. Jesus glorified God the Father, not Himself.  If we would give the glory to God in our lives, I believe that we would see mighty miracles performed.

 

II.       VSS 41-44, THE GRAVE'S DEFEAT

A.       Vs 41, Martha is silenced and the Lord’s command is obeyed.  “They took away the stone....”

1. The crowd must have been horrified at the thought of exhuming the body.

2. Jesus prayed.

a. It was a public prayer.

b. “Jesus lifted up His eyes.”  It was a prayer of Godward trust.

c. “Father”– not our Father– but Father– this speaks of the unique relationship of Jesus and God the Father.

d. “I thank thee that thou hast heard me.”  Jesus was speaking as though the miracle had already been performed.  “Faith is the substance of things hoped for the evidence of things not seen.”

B.       Vs 42, Prayer continued.

1. “I knew that thou hearest me always.”  He and the Father are one.

a. He is God.

b. To believe in the Son of God is a blessed thing (II Tim 1:12).

2. This audible, public prayer is for the sake of those Jews gathered around the grave.

a. That they might come to believe that Jesus is the Son of God.

b. I hope that you will hear and believe.  “Faith cometh by hearing, hearing by the Word of God.”

3. Believers need to pray in faith.  “Miracles are just so many answered prayers,” said the Swiss theologian Godet.

C.      Vs 43, When Jesus had prayed, “He cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.”

1. A loud shout was not necessary to awaken the dead (Lk 7:14).  His is the voice that awakens the dead.

2. Jesus cried out loudly so that the crowd would be aware that the dead respond to His call.

3. Friends, Jesus is the resurrection and the life.  Do you believe this? (Vs 25-26).

D.      Vs 44, Jesus cried, “Lazarus come forth,” and “he that was dead came forth.”

1. It was at the voice of Jesus that Lazarus came out of the grave.

a. The voice that said, “Let there be light,” and light appeared said: “Lazarus come forth.”

b. The voice that had called out, “Peace be still” in the midst of the storm, and the sea immediately calmed said, “Lazarus come forth.”

c. I Thes. 4:16-18 tells us that “the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout.... and the dead in Christ shall rise.”

d. What Jesus did for Lazarus foreshadows the resurrection of the just (I Cor 15:51-54).

e. Bishop Ryle said: “When we ourselves lie down in the grave, we may lie down in full assurance that we shall rise again.  The voice that called Lazarus forth will one day pierce our tombs, and bid soul and body come together” (318).

2. Notice here the vivid picture of Lazarus coming out of the tomb.  “Like an eerie scene from the Mummy’s tomb, Lazarus comes forth– back from beyond” (Swindoll 56).

3. “Loose him, and let him go.”

a. He’s alive, get the grave clothes off of him.

b. When we are saved, we are brought from death to life spiritually.  We need to take off the grave clothes and put on the grace clothes.

 

III.      VSS 45-46, THE AFFECT OF THE RAISING OF LAZARUS

A.       Vs 45, Many came to believe on Jesus.

1. They put their faith in Jesus as Messiah, Redeemer, Savior.

2. Because of their faith, they are now in heaven with our Lord (Jn 3:18, 36).