6/11/2018 - LAZARUS PT. I

"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.'" John 11:11

Hold on tight, I am about to hopefully blow your mind with some knowledge and mic drop stuff (man, I always pray). I am going to talk about one of my favorite stories in the Bible, the death of Lazarus. I am going to use the song "Lazarus" by Trip Lee to connect it to and with our daily lives. But first we have to talk about the story, so turn your Bible to John 11. Lazarus means "God is my help." Ironic? I do not think so. We are all a Lazarus, we all need God has help. This just shows you how God is that much awesome. Lazarus had two sisters, they were named Mary and Martha. They were long believers in Jesus, Mary was the one who anointed Jesus in Bethany (Matthew 26:6-13). Lazarus had become sick, the first person that the sisters thought of going to for help was Jesus (v. 3). They showed extreme faith and trust. God is our Heavenly Father, when we need help no matter how big or small we should go to him. He wants us to go to him. John 11:8 says, "'But Rabbi,' they said, 'a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?'" The disciples were shaky about going back to Judea, they lacked faith in the strength of Jesus. The Jews in Judea tried stoning Jesus to death the last time he was in Judea, this was not going to stop Jesus. He did not care about what happened the last time he was in Judea, he knew his friend was in trouble and there was nothing that was going to stop him from going to help him. Then Jesus drops the mic in the next verses, "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. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.'" It is obvious that it is better to see in the day time with light. Jesus is the light to our path. When we have Jesus we are able to see the path that is laid out for us. We are able to see and walk around the obvious bumps and obstacles that lay in our path. Our path is much smoother and easier when we have Jesus as our guiding light. When we walk in the Darkness (of the world), we are walking blindly. We will not see the obstacles and the bumps on our path, we will constantly be tripping and falling. Verse 11 says, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up." Here tells the disciples that Lazarus is fine and that he is only asleep, but when we read on to verse 14, he tells them that Lazarus is actually dead. Of course the disciples now shocked and confused did not understand what Jesus was saying. Jesus loved speaking in metaphors and parables. He did it throughout his entire ministry, he did it to see who were the real believers and who's heart was open to Jesus. Jesus quotes Isaiah 6:9-10 when he says, "In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah: 'You will be ever hearing but never understand; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people's heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hears with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.'", in Matthew 13:14-15. Verse 23 says, "Jesus said to her, 'Your brother will rise again.'" Verse 25 says, "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.'" Here Jesus says two things, that Lazarus will rise and that he (Jesus) is the resurrection of life. If we believe in him, we will live on eternally. God grants life, and he as well takes it (verse 26). In verse 27, Martha shows great faith and trust in Jesus. Mary does the same in verse 29 when she comes "quickly" when she hears that Jesus is on the way and what he is going to do. Verses 33 and 35 says, "When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled…Jesus wept." This shows the great compassion of Jesus. He was moved in the spirit, he was filled with compassion and love. He is hurt when we hurt. Verse 35 is the shortest verse in the Bible. Jesus weeping shows that he was only human. He is God in the flesh form. He showed vulnerability, this is a key to his love for us. Now we move to verse 38 where we moved to the tomb of Lazarus and immediately in verse 39 he tells them to removed the stone from the mouth of the tomb. Of course what is an awesome story in the Bible without a little disbelief, Martha fires right back with the smell that is festering in the tomb, Lazarus has been dead for four days now. Imagine it, it cannot be that pleasant. Just as quick as Martha was, Jesus was that much quicker and rebuked her (verse 40). Just like she needed to believe, we need to believe too. We have to trust in Jesus. When we do we will go much further and much smoother. Verse 41 and 42 says, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they believe that you sent me." Jesus prays to God, another sign of proof that praying is something that we should do daily and constantly. God is his father, and our father. We always need help, this is an example that we should follow. Jesus could have easily done everything on "his own," but shows that we have to rely on God (Jesus and the Holy Spirit). Jesus did it for the benefit of the crowd, so that they may believe in him and God. Verse 43 says that Jesus called out "in a loud voice." You can hear our parents scream from miles away. It has to be the same with the voice of our God. We have to be conditioned to his whisper, talk, and yell. The simple way to do this is by reading his Word and by praying daily and constantly. We have to talk with him and we will get use to his voice and the way that it sounds. We have to act like him and we will pick up the little signs of what he wants from us. Verse 44 says, "The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face." Here Lazarus is finally raised from the dead. This is one of the miracles of Jesus (actually the last one before the Passion and his own resurrection). Dude wow, like this is awesome, Jesus just made a dead man walk, and not like a zombie. The same way that Jesus can literally raise Lazarus from the dead he can raise us from our figurative grave. When we are in the world we are dead to sin and it's desires. Jesus can save us and show us the right path. He will show us the righteous path, the path that leads to eternal life. Now it is time to compare literature with literature, open your technological devices to Rap Genius Trip Lee: Lazarus…

Lord, thank you for your grace and your love. Thank you for all the miracles that you showed us and did. You are the constant miracle worker. You are life. You are the reason why we have life. You have saved us with the blood of your son. The same way you can literally raise Lazarus from the dead is the same with you can raise us from the grace of the earth. Thank you. I pray all this in your son's name, Amen.

#LetsBeAMovement