Today I want to examine the death of Lazarus in the gospel of John. This passage in John 11:1-44 is well known because it is a rare resurrection story: Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead after he had been dead for four whole days! Jewish tradition held that the soul of the dead person hovered around the body for three days after they die hoping to be reunited. Jesus did something very strange in this story. He waited four days to teach us about who He is. A little background: Lazarus lived with his two sisters, Mary and Martha, in the town of Bethany. They were close friends of Jesus. This Mary is the same Mary that once upon a time sat at Jesus’ feet when He came to their home to visit them, and her sister famously asked the Lord to rebuke her. Jesus corrected Martha in that story though and told her Mary had the better portion and it wouldn’t be taken from her.
In this story, when Lazarus fell deathly ill, the sisters sent for Jesus asking Him to come quickly to save their brother. When He got word, He said in verse 4, “This sickness is not unto death but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” So we see right away, a similarity to the man who was blind from birth. His blindness was to reveal the glory of God to the world through the miracle that Jesus worked in him. Did Jesus rush quickly to go heal Lazarus since He loved him? Not at all! Verses 5-6 state, “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place that He was.” Remember that it takes days to travel from one city to the next. The scripture literally makes a point of His love for them and then states, So, He stayed two more days! Does that make any sense? It does when the purpose of Lazarus’ illness and death was to glorify the Son. Jesus was in no hurry because He had a point to make about His power over life and death. He was not just some kind of “anointed” rabbi miracle-worker. He was indeed the Son of God with power to command life from death. The same way He made this point in His delay out of love for them, for the sake of their faith, He waits at times in our lives too to prove His power to us for the sake of our faith. He loves us enough to wait two days!
Now the town of Bethany was a couple of miles from Jerusalem so when Jesus said to His disciples in verse 7, “Let us go to Judea again,” they were reluctant because of the opposition they would face there. In verse 8, the disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and You are going there again?” It wasn’t safe for them to go, especially for Jesus. Why put yourself in harms way? Well, listen to Jesus’ very interesting and telling response (this next statement is loaded with insight for this whole story) in verses 9-11, “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. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.’ These things He said and after that, He said to them, ‘Our friend Lazarus sleeps but I go that I may wake him up.’”
At first you think maybe Jesus is talking about their journey traveling while it is day out, but then He ends the statement saying the one who walks at night stumbles because the light is not *in* him. Wow. Now we know He is talking about a spiritual truth. The very start of the book of John declares the awesome magnitude of Christ’s identity as the Word of God. John 1:3-5 states, “All things were made through Him, and without Him nothing was made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it.” Later on, in John 8:12, Jesus said, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life.” The Jews that the disciples were concerned about, who sought to stone Jesus, were stumbling in the dark. They did not comprehend who He was and did not follow Him. They did not have His light and life in them. Lazarus, however, did have that light in him, *even in death*. That is why Jesus said to His disciples that he was just asleep.
Jesus also made this statement about twelve hours in a day paralleling another statement He made earlier in John 9:4 saying, “I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work. As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.” So He was basically saying, Yes, we will go into a risky situation to do the works of God because His time was not yet come and He was still the light of the world called to do God’s works in courage. We are also called to show this kind of courage so long as the light of God shines within us in the Holy Spirit in this world. We take risks abiding in His will so that just like this miracle with Lazarus, an unbelieving world can come to see the glory of God in our obedience. We may not work such a dramatic miracle, but I believe every act of obedience and faithfulness reveals the fruit of His Spirit to this world and draws people to experience His Presence and Truth.
Romans 13:11-12 states, “And do this, knowing the time, that now it is high time to awake out of sleep; for now our salvation is nearer than when we first believed. The night is far spent, the day is at hand. Therefore, let us cast off the works of darkness, and let us put on the armor of light.” Furthermore, Proverbs 4:18 states, “The path of righteousness is like the morning sun, shining brighter and brighter until the full light of day.” So we have the same call as the disciples did in Jesus literal incarnated Presence! We are to put on the armor of light and pursue the path of righteousness and work the works of God while it is yet day in this world and the church is still here revealing His glory in the earth. One day it will all end and be raptured and the final battle will take place. Until then we are to see each day as one day closer to our final redemption and to walk in the light.
Back to our story, the disciples didn’t understand what Jesus meant when He said Lazarus was asleep. So He had to put it plainly in verse 14-15, which says, “Then Jesus said to them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go to him.’” At first Jesus said, the purpose of this miracle was to glorify the Son, but now He is saying, “that you may believe.” He waited two extra days before even setting out just so that He could inspire faith in them and in the people bearing witness (and indeed all who heard of this miracle once the story travelled). Bringing Himself glory was purposed for our own welfare. Faith saves! Through the faith this miracle brought, the Lord raised up not only Lazarus, but countless others who were stumbling in the dark and came into the light of life by faith in the Son of God.
When Jesus got to Bethany, Martha approached Him grieving that He had not arrived sooner to save her brother from death. But Jesus assured her, saying in verse 25, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Look how much power there is in simple belief! Jesus stated to Martha a fact and then asked her if she believes. It is an astounding fact. When we believe in Christ our Messiah, we never die. Just like John said, “In Him was life and the life was the light of men.” That light of His Spirit that comes to abide when we put our faith in Him never goes out. It is there uniting you with your Savior until you cast this mortal flesh and join Him in His home in heaven forever. Is this not amazing? And all this by faith. Faith is not just a guiding principle in life as some may see it. In Christ, it is a matter of life and death. Jesus was asking Martha, Are you ready to be raised forever just like I am about to raise your brother from death? And He is asking all of us the same thing too. Are we ready to be raised from death to life? Eternal life?
Then Mary came and cast herself at His feet saying, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Verses 33-35 state, “Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to Him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept.” These short verses show us something amazing about God. Sometimes God is so Omnipotent to us that it’s hard to imagine He could have feelings, like us. But indeed, Hebrews 4:15 says, “For we do not have a High Priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses…” Part of the purpose of Jesus becoming a human being like us was to feel our feelings in our limits. But it is amazing that even in the knowledge of the resurrection He was about to perform, Jesus sympathized with the mourners so much that He wept with them. I believe this also shows us that God grieved the fall of Adam and Eve. Even though He had to punish sin with death because He is Just and the wages of sin is death, He was yet grieved at our suffering. Throughout the scriptures, God grieves even when we suffer the consequences of our own sin. This is important to remember so that we know and understand the truth of who God is. He is holy and perfect in justice, but He has a heart and is guided by love and compassion in that justice, so much so, He died an evil, evil death of pain untold to redeem us from sin.
When they brought Him to the tomb, He said in verses 41-42, “Father, I thank you that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” Then He cried out, “Lazarus, come forth!” and Lazarus came out bound in cloths and they unwrapped him. What’s amazing is that all of this was for the sake of the faith of the witnesses. Yes, it brought God glory, but He said these things so that they would believe and walk in the light. So this day, let us take this tremendous miracle to heart and Believe! Put your faith in Christ and be raised from the dead! When you are born again, He will come into you with the light of His Spirit and guide you to walk by the day, that you may not stumble.
1 Peter 2:9-10 says, “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light; who once were not a people but are now the people of God, who had not obtained mercy but now have obtained mercy.” Today, Jesus is crying out, “My child, come forth!” He calls us all out of the darkness of this dying world and into His marvelous light. In so many ways, just like the miracle He worked in Lazarus, He has shown us He is God and He loves us. Let us trust and follow Him always. Let us come alive and walk in His light! Let us proclaim His praises and testify so others will come into faith too!