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John 11:28-53 ESV
28 When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31 When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So 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 also have kept this man from dying?” 38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” 45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
I.3 RESPONSES TO GRIEF (28-37)
A.Sadness. Mary and Martha are very sad at the loss of their brother.
B.Confusion. Death often makes us ask God why things like this happen, which is what Martha and Mary do.
C.Anger. Staring at the effects of death upon those He loves makes Jesus angry.
II.THE TOTAL PACKAGE (38-44)
A.Jesus offers us His most human moment at the tomb of Lazarus.
B.Jesus also offers us His most Divine moment at the tomb of Lazarus as well.
C.That Jesus is 100% God and man at the same time is essential to the Gospel.
III.TWO CASES OF GOSPEL IRONY (45-53)
A.An accidental prophet.
B.The death of death, in the death of Jesus.
NEXT STEPS
1.Suffer well in both life and death with the Suffering Savior to comfort you. (Hebrews 4:14-15)
2.Rejoice in both life and death because you share in the victory of the Death Defeating King. (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)
3.If you are alive in Christ, live in His power. (Romans 8:11)
4.Believe that you have been loved to death by Jesus. (Hebrews 2:14-15)