Sunday
Morning Bible Study
July
4, 2010
Do people see Jesus? Is the gospel
preached? Does it speak to the broken hearted? Does it build up the church? Milk
– Meat – Manna Preach for a decision
We will be doing a one day mission trip to Mexico on July 24. If you are
interested, you may want to talk to Manuel Castro after the service. Play “Mexico” video
Today is the 4th of July. Sadly, some people don’t really
understand too much about the holiday…
Play “Leno
IndepenDunce” video
Some people do get it.
The Fourth Verse of “The Star
Spangled Banner”:
Oh! thus be it ever, when freemen shall stand
Between their loved home and the war’s desolation!
Blest with victory and peace, may the heav’n rescued land
Praise the Power that hath made and preserved us a nation.
Then conquer we must, when our cause it is just,
And this be our motto: “In God is our trust.”
And the star-spangled banner in triumph shall wave
O’er the land of the free and the home of the brave!
Introduction
We are not entering the final weeks of Jesus’ ministry on earth. We begin
the story about the final miracle that John records Jesus performing before His
death.
11:1-16 Lazarus Dies
:1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her
sister Martha.
:1 sick – astheneo
– to be weak, feeble, to be without strength, powerless; sick
:1 Lazarus
– Lazaros – “whom God helps” (a form
of the Hebrew name Eleazar)
This is a different “Lazarus” than the poor man who died and went to
Abraham’s bosom in Luke 16:20-25.
:1 Bethany
– Bethania – “house of dates” or
“house of misery”
Bethany is a village on the Mount of Olives, about two miles east of
Jerusalem on the way to Jericho. It’s right in the neighborhood of where they
were trying to kill Jesus in the last chapter. Play “Map to Bethany” video.
There is an Arab town there named Elzariya, using the name of Lazarus.
:1 Mary … Martha
Lazarus is the brother of these two sisters, Martha and Mary. These three
were very, very close to Jesus.
One of the pictures we get of this
family is in:
(Lk 10:38–42 NKJV) —38 Now it happened as
they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha
welcomed Him into her house. 39 And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat
at Jesus’ feet and heard His word. 40 But Martha was distracted with much
serving, and she approached Him and said, “Lord, do You not care that my sister
has left me to serve alone? Therefore tell her to help me.” 41 And Jesus
answered and said to her, “Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about
many things. 42 But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part,
which will not be taken away from her.”
Martha was the older sister, and she was a servant. (Luke 10)
Mary was the one known for doing that “good thing”, sitting at Jesus’ feet
and listening to Him teach.
There is a possibility that these sisters and brother might have been a
part of the Essene community.
This was the
sect of Judaism that had a community in Qumran, and of which current scholars
think that John the Baptist came out of. (and near where Jesus is at the
moment)
This was a sect that was looking for the coming of the Messiah, and some
have conjectured that this is why these three grown adult siblings are living
together and are not married (Essenes seemed to prefer celibacy)
:2 It was that
Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair,
whose brother Lazarus was sick.
:2 Mary who
anointed the Lord –
We’ll see the story in John 12 where Mary pours expensive perfume on the
Lord and wipes the
perfume off His feet with her hair.
Keep in mind that John is writing the gospel that fills in the blanks. The
early church was already well aware of what Mary did. Her story is recorded in
the other gospels. Even though she hasn’t done this thing yet, John’s readers
already know what he’s talking about.
Jesus had said that Mary would become famous for this incident:
(Mt
26:13 NKJV) Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the
whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.”
:2 fragrant oil – muron
– ointment
:3 Therefore
the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
:3 You love
– phileo – to love; to like; to treat
affectionately or kindly, befriend
An interesting word they use. Not the agape
word we might expect and is still used in verse 5. This is the word that speaks
of friendship, of “liking” someone, of being “fond” of someone.
(Jn 11:3 NLT) …“Lord, your dear friend is very sick.”
:3 sick – astheneo
– to be weak, feeble, to be without strength, powerless; sick
The sisters appeal to Jesus because of His love for Lazarus. We might
assume that they would think that this would make Jesus respond quickly.
We know from
the way Jesus healed of the nobleman’s son in Capernaum that Jesus didn’t need
to even be physically present to heal. He could just speak the word and Lazarus
could be healed long-distance.
:4 When Jesus
heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of
God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
:4 sickness – astheneia
– want of strength, weakness, infirmity; feebleness of health or sickness
:4 not unto death
– Lazarus will actually die from this disease, but he won’t stay dead.
:4 glory
– doxa
– good opinion concerning one, resulting in praise, honor
This reminds me of what Jesus said
concerning the man who had been born blind:
(Jn 9:3 NKJV) Jesus answered, “Neither
this man nor his parents sinned, but that the works of God should be revealed
in him.
Jesus will definitely receive a huge amount of attention and “glory” from
what is going to happen.
:5 Now Jesus
loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
:5 loved
– agapao – God’s special kind of
love, love that is based upon a person’s “will” and not emotions, placing value
on the other person.
Jesus’ love for this family was more than just mere friendship. He was
committed to them. He placed a high value on them.
The verb is an “imperfect” tense, which means that the love that Jesus had
for them was a continual
love. He didn’t just love them on Tuesday, He was still loving them.
Note:
The book and movie “The DaVinci Code” gave some people some crazy ideas
about Jesus. Jesus was not married to
Mary. He was not married to Martha and
Mary. Jesus was never married.
Is this the “Mary” that some of
those critics like “The DaVinci Code” suggested that Jesus was supposedly
married to?
They will use this verse to say
that Jesus “loved” Mary, but they will also confuse this Mary with Mary
Magdalene who was a resident of Magdala, a city on the western coast of the Sea
of Galilee.
This Mary is from Bethany, the town
near Jerusalem.
There is absolutely NO evidence
that Jesus was ever married.
:6 So, when He
heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.
:6 He stayed
two more days
This seems like an odd way to respond to the news that your friend is sick.
We know that Jesus is going to allow the situation to become absolutely
impossible so that He can display His power in an even greater way.
But for the people involved in the situation, it seems like an odd way to
react.
:7 Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”
(See map) Jesus
has been with His disciples at a place near the Jordan River. He is now
proposing to head back towards Jerusalem.
The trip from Bethany for the messenger would take a day each way. Take one day for the
messenger to arrive, two
days of Jesus waiting, and one
day returning to Bethany. We’re going to
find that when Jesus makes it back to Bethany, that Lazarus had been dead and
buried for four days. That means that Lazarus probably died the day that the
messenger left to ask Jesus for help.
:8 The disciples
said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going
there again?”
I think they were trying to say, “Are
you crazy?”
: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 one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in
him.”
:9 stumble – proskopto
– to strike against; of those who strike against a stone or other obstacle
in the path, to stumble
:9 walks in the day
What does Jesus mean by this statement?
He will say something similar in:
(Jn 12:35 NKJV) Then Jesus said to them, “A little while longer the light is
with you. Walk while you have the light, lest darkness overtake you; he who
walks in darkness does not know where he is going.
It sounds similar to what He said before healing the blind man:
(Jn 9:4–5 NKJV) 4 I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day;
the night is coming when no one can work. 5 As long as I am in the world, I am
the light of the world.”
Here’s the
issue – the disciples are challenging
the decision that Jesus is making. It sounds like He is doing something crazy.
Jesus is saying
that it’s only people that walk in the darkness that stumble and make the
really bad mistakes.
Since Jesus is
the light of the world, so He’s not going to be walking in the darkness. You can trust His decisions.
While He’s still around, it’s still daytime. There’s light enough to see.
I guess Jesus is kind of saying, “Hey guys, LIGHTEN up a little!”
Lesson
Make Light Decisions
“Walking in the day” is about taking steps, making decisions.
The question is, what condition are you in when you make your decisions?
Are you in the light or in the dark? Are you faced with some decisions?
a. Darkness
John gives us a sample of darkness when he writes:
(1 Jn 2:11 NKJV) But he who hates his
brother is in darkness and walks in darkness, and does not know where he is
going, because the darkness has blinded his eyes.
Be careful about the kinds of decisions you make when you
are angry or caught up in hating another person. You are walking in darkness. You
are going to stumble big time.
Illustration
Oscar Wilde told this story:
The devil was once crossing the Libyan desert, and he came
upon a spot where a
number of small fiends were tormenting a holy hermit. The sainted man easily
shook off their evil suggestions. The devil watched their failure, and then he stepped forward
to give them a lesson. “What you do is too crude,” he said. “Permit me for one
moment.” With that he whispered to the holy man, “Your brother has just been made bishop of
Alexandria.” A scowl of malignant jealousy at once clouded the serene face of the hermit. “That,”
said the devil to his imps, “is the way to bring a man down …”
- Gordon MacDonald, The Life That God Blesses, Nelson, 1994, p. 143.
Hatred is only going to hurt you and those around you:
Look at what happened to the first sons of Adam and Eve.
Cain hated his brother, being jealous of how his offering
was acceptable to God while his own wasn't.
God warned Cain:
(Ge 4:6–7 NKJV) 6 So the Lord said to Cain, “Why are you angry?
And why has your countenance fallen? 7 If you do well, will you not be
accepted? And if you do not do well, sin lies at the door. And its desire is
for you, but you should rule over it.”
But
instead of heading the warning, Cain went and killed his brother.
Hatred, like sin, only causes more trouble than it's worth.
Illustration:
Roscoe Crawford of
Jonesboro, Ga., came home from church with his wife to find that a bird had
flown into his daughter’s bedroom. He tried to get it out, but the bird “attacked”
him. So he went and got his 9mm pistol and shot the bird dead. But the bullet
didn’t stop there. It went through the wall, through the dining room and into
the kitchen, where Crawford’s wife Rita was doing the dishes. It skipped off
the top of her head, causing minor injury, then headed outside. Police did not
charge Crawford with any crime, but granted his request that they take his gun
away from him. (AP)
If you are walking in the darkness of hatred, be careful about the decisions
you make, you're going to stumble.
b. Light
When we are walking with the Lord, we are walking “in the light”.
(1 Jn 1:5–7 NKJV) —5 This is the message which we have heard
from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at
all. 6 If we say
that we have fellowship with Him, and walk in darkness, we lie and do not
practice the truth. 7 But
if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with
one another, and the blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanses us from all sin.
Two aspects of walking in the light mentioned here -
1. Fellowship
When we’re following God’s path for us, one of the things
it includes is a relationship
with others along the way.
There must be a sense of “being a part of one another”.
Illustration:
Paul Simon of Simon & Garfunkle wrote the following
lyrics:
Don’t talk of love, I’ve heard the word before;
It’s sleeping in my memory of feelings that have died.
I have no need of friendship, friendship causes pain.
If I never loved, I never would have cried.
I am a rock; I am an island.
If that’s the way you feel, it’s a pity. You may feel
safer by being alone. You won’t experience the kind of pain that other people
will bring into your life.
You will also be in the dark.
Be careful about making decisions when you are cut off
from others.
When we learn to cultivate fellowship with godly people,
we gain the value of the wisdom that God has given to others.
2. Cleansing
Walking in the light means that light will from time to
time expose problems and sin in our life.
And
because we’re in God’s light, we come to Him and ask His forgiveness,
and He washes us and cleanses us from our sin.
It doesn’t mean that I’m perfect. It means that I’m
dealing with my sin instead of ignoring it.
This requires humility on my part. I need to recognize my need for God’s
help. I need to recognize my need for
God’s cleansing.
What state am I in when I “walk”? Am
I making decisions in the light or in the dark?
My best decisions are those made in the “light”.
Lesson
Safety and light
The important thing is to stay in the light.
Jesus said,
(Jn 8:12 NKJV) Then Jesus spoke to them
again, saying, “I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk
in darkness, but have the light of life.”
That doesn’t mean that we won’t make mistakes. But it
means that we’re probably going to make lesser and fewer mistakes than if we
were walking in the darkness.
Sometimes the right decision seems like the dangerous one and doesn’t
seem to be the “safe” one.
Jesus is not making what seems to be the “safe” decision.
Sometimes we are a little too concerned about safety.
Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying we should all take up bungee
jumping.
But sometimes we simply play life a little too safe.
Jesus was doing what God wanted, when God wanted it.
The process of Jesus’ own arrest and subsequent death
will get started by this decision that He is making, going to Bethany.
Raising Lazarus from the dead will get Jesus too much
attention as far as the chief priests were concerned.
But Jesus is making the right decision.
:11 These
things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but
I go that I may wake him up.”
:11 sleeps
– koimao (“cemetery”) – to cause to
sleep, put to sleep; to die
There are two different Greek words used to talk about “sleep”. One wordappears sixteen times (katheudo), and always is used to describe actual, literal
sleep. The other word is the one used here, is more often used symbolically to
describe death.
(used eighteen times in the NT, and all but three are used to describe
death)
:12 Then His
disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.”
:12 get well – sozo
– to save, keep safe and sound, to rescue from danger or destruction; to
make well, heal, restore to health
:13 However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was
speaking about taking rest in sleep.
:13 thought – dokeo
– to be of opinion, think, suppose
What’s interesting is that the form
of the verb here is edoxan, which
looks pretty close to the word for “glorify”, which is based on this word.
:13 taking rest – koimesis
– a reposing, taking rest; a lying, reclining
:13 sleep – hupnos
– sleep
:14 Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.
:14 plainly – parrhesia
– freedom in speaking, unreservedness in speech; openly, frankly, i.e
without concealment
:15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may
believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”
:15 that you may believe
– the language carries the idea of believing more than they already do.
There’s
a lesson here for the disciples.
You
might think they’ve seen it all by this time. They still have things to learn
and areas of faith to be stretched.
:16 Then Thomas,
who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we
may die with Him.”
:16 Thomas
– Thomas – “a twin”
Apparently Thomas had a twin brother or sister.
:16 Twin
– Didumos – Didymus = “two fold”
This is the fellow that some call “Doubting Thomas”
He got that nickname after the resurrection. The other apostles had been
present when Jesus appeared to them the first time, except for Thomas. Thomas
said he wouldn’t believe that Jesus was alive until he saw him with his own
eyes and put his fingers in Jesus’ wounds.
:16 “Let us also go,
that we may die with Him.”
Thomas may have struggles with his faith like we do, but he is no coward. He
was ready to die with Jesus.
:6 He stayed two
more days
Lesson
Difficulty Lessons
What do you do when things go bad in your life? What do you do when you’ve
sent word to Jesus, and He doesn’t show up? Or worse, He not only doesn’t show,
but Lazarus dies!
There are some principles we can learn from in this passage about difficult
times.
a. He still loves me
Some of us act like spoiled children when life gets tough.
Illustration
As the crowded airliner is about to take off, the peace is
shattered by a five-year-old boy who picks that moment to throw a wild temper
tantrum. No matter what his frustrated, embarrassed mother does to try to calm
him down, the boy
continues to scream furiously and kick the seats around him. Suddenly, from the
rear of the plane, an older man in a Marine uniform is seen slowly walking forward up the aisle. Stopping
the flustered mother with an upraised hand, the white-haired, courtly,
soft-spoken Marine leans down and, motioning toward his chest, whispers
something into the boy’s ear. Instantly, the boy calms down, gently takes his mother’s hand,
and quietly fastens his seat belt. All the other passengers burst into
spontaneous applause. As the Marine slowly makes his way back to his seat, one
of the cabin attendants touches his sleeve. “Excuse me, sir,” she asks quietly,
“but could I ask you what magic words you used on that little boy?” The Marine
smiles serenely and gently confides, “I showed him my pilot’s wings, service
stars, and battle ribbons, and explained that they entitle me to throw one
passenger out the plane door, on any flight I choose.”
A spoiled child will throw a tantrum when he doesn’t get his way. He will
lay a guilt trip on the parent and say, “You don’t love me!”
For some of us, we’ve brought that same attitude into our
relationship with God. When things don’t go our way, we get sad and begin to
think that God must not love us.
Did God love Lazarus, Martha, and Mary? Yes He did. We are told clearly
that He did. John made sure we got that point.
(Jn 11:5 NKJV) Now Jesus loved Martha and
her sister and Lazarus.
b. I can hope
Sometimes we have to wait longer than we want.
Like Mary and Martha, we remind the Lord about His love
for us. And He still doesn’t
answer. And He shows up late. But He still shows up.
Sometimes things have to go bad before they get better.
Lazarus is going to be healed and raised from the dead. But
first he had to die.
Illustration
When I was in high school, my average girl friend lasted
three months. At the end of three months
I would decide that I had had enough and that this was not a person I wanted to
spend my life with and I would break up with them. In my senior year, that changed. I began to date a gal named Karen. We went sailing past the three month mark and
kept going. I knew this was the
one. But at eight months she broke up
with me. She did it right before we went
off to a week long summer camp where I would have to spend a week with her not
being my girlfriend. I was
devastated. I remember crying with my
pastor on Monday night in our cabin and thinking my life was over. My heartbreak had me in a place where I paid
a lot of attention to the speakers and the things that God was saying. It was on Thursday night of that week that I
had one of those “God-moments” and I began to see the pieces of my life come
together. It was at that week that I
realized that God was calling me to be a pastor. I don’t know if I would have heard it so
clearly if I was nice and comfortable with my girlfriend.
And I wouldn’t have been open to dating Miss Debra McKay
two years later.
If it weren’t for the difficult time, I would have missed
two of the most important things in my life:
My call from God and my wife.
To be honest, sometimes things aren’t going to get better until we get to
heaven.
The truth is there will be a day when it is all
better. That’s what heaven is about.