Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life (John 11:1-57)

Jesus, the Resurrection and the Life

 

John 11:1-57

 

Today’s text tells us about Jesus’ miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead. According to Verses 1-2, Lazarus was a man living at Bethany in Judea, and the brother of Martha and Mary. It is believed that Jesus was very close to these three brother and sisters. Verse 5 says, “Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister and Lazarus,” and in Verse 3, Lazarus’ sisters sent word to Jesus, saying, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” They were loved by Jesus. Bethany was a village close to Jerusalem, about 1.25 miles away from the Holy City (11:18), so Jesus often stayed there when he was visiting Jerusalem (Matthew 21:17). It is believed that Jesus used the house of Martha and Mary when he was at Bethany. Luke 10:38-42 tells us an episode happening while Martha received Jesus into her house and treated the Lord with food. Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary were so precious and lovely people to Jesus. Then, all of a sudden, Lazarus fell sick. Seeing that the sisters sent people to Jesus hurriedly, we may guess that Lazarus’ condition was very urgent. According to John 10:40, at that time, Jesus was at the place where John had been baptizing in the early days. Coincidently, the place was called Bethany (John 1:28). This place was about 20 miles away from Jerusalem, which was a day’s walk. Martha and Mary sent the word, “Lord, the one you love is sick,” expecting that Jesus would rush to Lazarus, putting everything aside.

 

Hearing the news, Jesus says, “This sickness will not end in death. No. it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” According to Verse 6, after Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. Then, he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” When Jesus arrived at Bethany, it was four days after Lazarus died and was buried in the tomb (39). So it is believed that Lazarus was already dead and laid in the tomb when Jesus heard the news that Lazarus was sick. Jesus might have known this. Nevertheless, Jesus said calmly, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified.” Lazarus fell sick and dead. His body was wrapped with strips of linen and placed in a cave tomb. The cave was blocked with a large stone. Over the lapse of time, the body decayed and produced a bad odor. Death is really an overwhelming reality. What we can do in front of death is just crying and mourning. In face of death, however, Jesus talks about “glory.” He says, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified.”

 

The conversations Jesus has with other people over the death of Lazarus tell us so vividly how great difference there is between the world of Jesus and the world where the people were living. Simply saying, they were using different languages. Jesus is speaking the language of hope, light, and life. And the people are speaking the language of despair, fear, and death. To people, “death” is the unavoidable destination of their lives, and once they arrive, it is the end. It is irreversible. In this sense, death is despair. Lazarus’ sisters sent Jesus the word, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” This means, “Please come quickly before Lazarus dies!” Later when Jesus came to Bethany, the first word of Martha and Mary to Jesus was this: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (21, 32). They are saying that Lazarus died because Jesus came too late, and now there was nothing he could do. These words show how overwhelming and absolute the power of death was in people’s thought. Even if Jesus would have come to Lazarus and healed him in time, death is still there and is only a matter of time. There is nothing more hopeless than the fact that every life ends with death. And we come closer to the last fate day by day. “Hope” means “better future.” But the last of the future is “always” death. All hopes that we have are confined within death. They are all devoured by death, and they are all forgotten. We all walk toward the despair every day. And our word, life, and thought are deeply soaked with this despair.

 

But Jesus tells us true hope. It is “God’s glory.” Jesus says, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified.” When Jesus told Martha to take away the stone in order to raise Lazarus, Martha hesitated, saying, “But, Lord, by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Still Jesus says firmly, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” Jesus wants to show us that there is the hope of God’s glory beyond death. Our ultimate end is not death but God’s glory. God reveals his glory by saving those he loves and giving them life. In fact, this word is not so touching. “Now I am dying,” and Jesus is talking about “God’s glory.” We may think Jesus is missing the point of the problem. It is like God pointing the sky and promising descendants countless like the stars while Abraham was complaining about his childlessness. There is an interesting saying of Kierkegaard. “He who loves God without faith reflects on himself, while the person who loves God in faith reflects on God.” This is quite true. To one who does not believe in God, his life is his “everything.” Therefore, he is entirely absorbed in sustaining his life. On the contrary, to one who believe in God, God’s glory is his “everything.” Even his own life is just a part of God’s glory. Therefore, he puts his life in God’s hand. His thought is absorbed in God’s glory. He thinks about God’s glory only. He always thinks about God’s glory. And he hopes it. To this person, God’s glory is the end of everything. He does everything for God’s glory from small things like eating and drinking to big things like life and death (1Corinthians 10:31). He hopes and boasts of God’s glory (Romans 5:2). God never fails to reveal his glory. He is faithful especially to those who hope and wait for the appearance of His glory. This hope sees beyond death. Therefore, this is true hope to us who believe. Our end is not death. Our end is God’s glory.

 

Death may happen in the future, but it fills our present life with fear. In this sense, death is present progressive. In order to raise dead Lazarus, Jesus said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” To this word, the first image popping up in the disciples’ thought was the Jews who tried to stone Jesus a few days ago (John 10:31). They did so because Jesus said, “I and the Father are one.” Remembering the fearful scene, the disciples said, “But Rabbi, a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?” Now to them, Judea was a land of death. Jesus said again that Lazarus had fallen asleep and he was going there to wake him up. The disciples understood Jesus meant natural sleep, and resisted following Jesus to Judea. At last, Jesus said plainly, “Lazarus is dead.” Then, Thomas, one of the disciples, followed Jesus determinedly, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Jesus was saying that he was going there to raise dead Lazarus, but Thomas was saying that he was going there to die. In front of the disciples was an endless swamp of death. Seeing the way to Judea, which was the way to death, they trembled. Jesus told them the word of life, but this word sounded “word of death” to the disciples. They were afraid to follow the way that Jesus was leading. The best thing they could do was “dying together.” We may think that “fear of death” may help us avoid dangers and guide us to a safe way of life.” But the truth was exactly the opposite. When we read the Bible carefully, we can learn that fear of death leads us to death after all. One of good examples is the people of Israel in the wilderness that we can read in the Numbers of the Old Testament. They fell in deep fear and despair when they saw the giants and strong fortresses in the Land of Canaan. They spat out the words of fear. “We can’t attack those people; they are stronger than we are” (Numbers 13:31). “We seemed like grasshoppers in our own eyes, and we looked the same to them” (Numbers 13:33). Out of fear and despair, they went so far that they complained against God, cursed the land that God promised to give to them, and even tried to stone their faithful leaders. Seeing this, God let them perish in the wilderness. Out of fear of death, they lost the way in the wilderness, and died after a long wandering in the barren land. What a sad story this is!

 

Jesus said to the disciples who were afraid to follow, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.” Here, daytime and night indicate our spiritual conditions. Daytime is when we have faith, and night is when we fall in fear. When we believe in Jesus, the light of the Lord shines bright in us. And guided by this light, we walk the way of salvation and life. When we are gripped by fear, on the contrary, everything looks dark. We feel surrounded by enemies hidden in darkness. In this way, we are chased by fear and stumble. The only way to overcome fear is “faith.” It is trusting Jesus, the light of the world, in faith, and following the guidance of this light. In Verses 14-15, Jesus says, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” This word shows us clearly Jesus’ purpose in his leading of his beloved. It is “so that you may believe.” Yes, it is. The best interest that Jesus has toward his disciples is their “faith.” Jesus didn’t go to Bethany in time when he heard the news that Lazarus was sick. Because of Jesus’ delay, Lazarus died. Even Jesus was glad he was not there. It almost sounds like Jesus was glad that Lazarus died. And now when it was too late, Jesus was going back to Judea where the horrible Jews were waiting with stones in their hands. Everything looks chaotic, going against our common sense. Why did Jesus arrange things this way? It is for the disciples’ faith. It is so that they may stop fearing death but enter the light of Jesus the Lord. In this light, there is still death, but not fear. Even the death is under the light and is merely an object of God’s wonderful providence. When our hearts feel darkness, when fear seizes our souls, the first thing we should do is restoring our faith in Jesus. Jesus is glad that Lazarus is dead. This means that, in faith, there is nothing we have to fear. In 1John 1:5, John the Apostle says, “This is the message we have heard from him and declare to you: God is light; in him there is no darkness at all.” Yes, it is. In God, there is no darkness at all. Only His glory is there. Therefore, our faith should also be so. Even in face of death, our faith in God should be like daytime full of the light of God’s glory.

 

There are powers in the world that are believed to hold our lives. The chief priests and the Pharisees in today’s text are such powers. When Jesus raised Lazarus, many of the Jews believed in Jesus, but some of them went to the Pharisees and reported what had happened. Then, the chief priests and the Pharisees began to plot to take Jesus’ life. According to John 12:10, the chief priests made plans even to kill Lazarus. It was because many of the Jews came to believe in Jesus on account of Lazarus. In the Jewish society, the chief priests were the supreme power. It is quite dangerous to be hated by them. Death has always been used as a mighty weapon by such high authorities. And behind them is Satan, the Devil. When Jesus raised Lazarus, many of the Jews believed in Jesus. Interestingly, however, still many people feared and listened to the authorities instead of believing in Jesus. In Verse 57, the chief priests and the Pharisees gave orders that anyone who found out where Jesus was should report it so that they might arrest him. With this, we can picture the social atmosphere toward Jesus. Probably many of those who believed in Jesus stayed silent in the back because of the oppressive authorities. Death is “oppressive power.” It puts forwards human authorities in front, and harasses people in many ways. When the human authorities are religious leaders as in today’s story, the power is even more destructive, and it is extremely hard to overcome fear of such authorities. Jesus said, “Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul. Rather, be afraid of the One who can destroy both soul and body in hell” (Matthew 10:28). This word is, on the one hand, for encouraging us to be afraid of God, not of human authorities in the world, but it is also, on the other hand, acknowledging that such authorities are still fearful enough to kill our bodies. They may look more dreadful because they are visible and their threat is immediate.

 

But Jesus is true power who raises us from the dead and gives eternal life to us. When Jesus came to Bethany, the situation was over and everything was being closed. People cried and mourned until no more strength was left over. The funeral was at its last stage. Lazarus’ body began to decay. It’s time to go home. And, too late, Jesus came to Martha, and 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. Do you believe this?” This is stunning. In fact, this is pure word of life that demands our faith, only pure faith with no support of human possibility, with no explanation of human wisdom, with no help of human conditions. In this sense, it is quite meaningful for Jesus to have come to Martha and Mary so late when the death of Lazarus was finished completely in every way. Now Jesus was alone, and he demands faith in him. Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Jesus didn’t say, “I will raise Lazarus and give him life.” Instead, Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” We may think each of us has my own life, and Jesus sustains it for us some way. But it is not. Jesus waits until I don’t have any more that life, which I assume I have in me. Then, he comes to me and says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” This is not a metaphoric expression. It is true literally as it is. We don’t have life, and the life we need is in Jesus. And our eyes open when we are truly dead and everything is over. Then, our eyes open to Jesus who is the resurrection and the life. Now, we can see that my life is in him, not in me. Satan and worldly authorities exercise their power of death over us, threatening to kill us as if we have life. But they are disarmed when I realize that life is not in me but in Jesus. Jesus plants the seed of resurrection and life in us. Very strangely, this seed grows when we die to ourselves and we die to the world. In fact, our death becomes the soil for the growth of the seed of life planted in us, which is Jesus himself.

There are two groups of life in the world. One has ‘life,’ but lives in fear of death, and moves toward eternal death under the control of Satan and its agents in the world. The other doesn’t have life in this world, but has the hope of resurrection and eternal life, and moves toward this glorious hope in the light of Jesus Christ. Let us have faith, so that we are not absorbed in sustaining our lives in this world, but are absorbed in believing in and knowing more Jesus, the resurrection and the life, the Glory of God, and our eternal hope.