Christ’s Solution for a Contaminated World - John 11:17-27,38-45
Christ’s Solution for a Contaminated World
John 11:17-27,38-45
Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
4 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.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”
11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who 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.
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then 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 have kept this man from dying?”
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
Jesus had the solution for Lazarus’ problem. Martha knew it. Mary knew it. That’s why they sent for him before he died. They had heard about, maybe even seen for themselves how Jesus healed the sick, gave sight to the blind, and cast out demons. They knew the power he wielded. When he finally does arrive after Lazarus has already been dead for four days, they both say to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” He could have stopped this. He could have healed Lazarus. But Jesus wanted to show he had an even greater power than just taking away disease. Before he left for Bethany, he told his disciples, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.”
Even in her sadness, Martha recognizes Jesus can bring Lazarus back. She tells him, “I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” It would have been one thing for Jesus to take away Lazarus’ illness. It was a much bigger ask to raise him from the dead. And yet, Martha knew Jesus could do it.
Jesus, Martha, and Mary, along with all the other people mourning with them, go to Lazarus’ tomb. Jesus has some people roll the stone away from the entrance. Then he cries out to the man already four days dead, “Lazarus, come out!” And wrapped like a mummy, the dead man walks out of the tomb.
What an incredible sight! The people at the tomb were shocked. Many of them had seen Lazarus dead. This wasn’t a hoax. It wasn’t a clever trick. Their own eyes had seen the lifeless body wrapped in linens and carried to the tomb. But here he was, walking and talking as if he never even was sick.
Jesus proved his power over death right here at Lazarus’ tomb. He can even bring people back to life. And if he can do that, he can heal all kinds of sicknesses and diseases.
Right now, with the coronavirus pandemic, we need this reminder. If God can bring people back from the dead, he can heal people from Covid-19. And it’s not just Covid-19 he can heal. It’s your cancer. It’s your heart disease. It’s your depression. There aren’t many Christians who would deny what God can do out loud. But it’s not the mouth that doubts. It’s the heart. It’s the soul. When sickness or problems come to us and our world, deep down we wonder if God is really in control.
It’s one thing to say, “God's got this.” It’s another thing to actually believe it. That’s a lot harder. You might hear people saying that and wonder, “How can they be so sure? How can they be so confident?” We naturally think God is out to get us. We know deep down we deserve whatever comes to us. And with good reason. All the sickness, all the disease, all the death, all these come because we are sinful people who live in a sinful world. You can look at a person and think, “Wow, they’re really good.” But you can’t answer the question, “If they were so good, then why did they die?” The answer is: Because they were a sinner.
No one is excluded from this. How many people do you know who haven’t ever gotten sick? Or whose bodies have never had any problems? How many people do you know who haven’t died or will never die? It’s not even a handful. Paul says in Romans 5, “Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all people, because all sinned.”
Our world is contaminated. Not just with the coronavirus. Not just with all kinds of diseases or problems or pollution. Our world is contaminated with sin.
At Lazarus’ tomb, Jesus shows he has the power to take away all those effects of sin during our lifetimes. Now, think of all the times you’ve been sick in the past. How many times God has allowed you to be healed. How many broken bones you’ve recovered from. How many near-death experiences you’ve had. God has brought you through all of them. What we see Jesus do for Lazarus isn’t unique. He has also saved you from death in many more ways than you can count.
During this pandemic, continue to trust in God's healing power. He can save you from it. He has the power to save you from cancer, from diabetes, from the aches and pains of an aging body. Ask him for his blessing. Make use of what he provides for healing: medicine, doctors, nurses, first responders, everyone he uses to help you. God's got more than this. He’s got you.
Jesus did bring Lazarus back from the dead. But the Bible gives no indication that Lazarus is still alive. It could have been many years, but eventually Lazarus would re-enter the tomb. The same is true for all Jesus’ healings, whether the man born blind we read about last week, or the man lowered down through a roof by his friends. Even Jairus’ daughter and the widow at Nain’s son whom Jesus raised from the dead would eventually die.
Jesus had to bring a permanent solution to death. That’s why he says to Martha, “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.” All the people Jesus healed died. But to everyone who believes in him, Jesus gives this promise, “The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.”
This is what Jesus came to do. He didn’t come just to be a healer. He didn’t come just to extend life on earth a little longer. He came to bring a permanent solution to our sin-contaminated world. He had to take the sin of the whole world on himself and kill sin itself.
If you’ve seen the movie Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows with Robert Downey, Jr., it gives a picture of what Jesus has done. Sherlock confronts Professor Jim Moriarty on a balcony overlooking a waterfall. It’s snowing. Both want the other dead. They both play through the scene in their heads. There is only one solution. Sherlock blows ash from his pipe in Moriarty’s face, grabs a hold of him, and throws them both over the balcony.
To defeat death for us, Jesus gave himself to death. He took on our sins and threw himself over the waterfall. He let himself be nailed to a cross so that sin and death would die forever. Sherlock Holmes, the fictional character, eventually comes back from the dead. Jesus Christ, the real Son of God, rises from the dead after three days because death has been defeated. He himself is the resurrection. He himself is life.
You may get Covid-19. And, Jesus may heal you. You may have cancer. Jesus may heal you from that as well. If God heals you from whatever disease or illness you have, then his name be praised. But unless Jesus comes back first, you will die someday. Even if he doesn’t heal you from the illness you have now, you have this promise, “The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” After you die, you will live! And once you have died believing in Jesus, you can never die again!
And because you can never die again, that means all signs pointing to death are gone. No more disease. No more cancer. No more Covid-19, 20, 50 or 99. In heaven with Jesus, you will have life. Death will have to stay much farther than six feet away from you.
We are all being much more cautious right now. We’re taking extra steps to promote good hygiene. But as you wash your hands, remember this: You have been washed in the blood of the lamb. Your sins are forgiven. When you take off clothes that you wore outside the house and put on uncontaminated clothes, remember that Jesus has taken off your sinfulness and given you a robe of righteousness. When you hear reports saying, “The world is dying,” remember Jesus’ solution, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Amen.
2 John Discussion Questions
Discuss how we see a lack of focus on truth in our day and age.
Discuss how we see a hunger for truth in the people around us.
Discuss how we see a lack of true love defined by Scripture in ourselves.
Agree or disagree. John is too uptight about the truth.
Give examples of how truth mixed with error usually seems to lead to error winning out rather than truth.
Discuss why people (including us) often want to “fill in the blanks” of Scripture.
Give specific areas of our life where we want to be careful not to share in spreading false teaching.
Discuss why John treasures face-to-face community more than communicating by letter.
