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Sermon

Expository Sermon Manuscript 2

Narrative Expository Message on John 11:1727: Jesus Meets Us in Our Waiting

John 11:17-27 gives us one of the most intimate moments of the gospel of John. Jesus comes into Bethany when Lazarus is dead. With pain, honesty and hope intermingling, Martha arrives to meet Him. During this encounter, Jesus makes one of the most powerful statements presented in Scripture: I am the resurrection and the life. This text, says that Christ goes into sorrow of men, tells the truth in sorrow, and invites the people to trust Him even in time when life seems to be delayed.

Jesus starts the story four days after the burial of Lazarus in the tomb. The four day detail counts. It was not doubted that Lazarus was dead. The assistance of a man had ceased. Different days had passed by, and the family lamented. Martha and Mary had been comforted by many people. Sadness prevailed in their house. But now Jesus made sure to be there just when it was the right moment. His timing was not to human anticipation, but to the will of God.

Lots of the faithful find it difficult to discern when God will act. We pray you heal, or feed, or minds, but heaven appears deaf. Martha probably experienced this dilemma. She had already message to Jesus, soliciting aid. But He did not come at once. He was before her now that the loss was already done. Delays are a trial to faith. We can question why not earlier Jesus acted. But this is to send us back to the thought that time is not lacking. Christ did not forget the family. And he was working to something bigger than they could perceive.

Verse 21 is a record of the initial words spoken by Martha, who says: Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. There is sorrow, and faith, in her statement. She had belief in Jesus as being able to heal. She had known that He could have made things different. Martha trusted her words with the Lord. Her honesty is not rebuked in scripture. God calls broken hearts to tell the truth to Him. True faith does not feign pain is nonexistent. True faith introduces suffering in the presence of Jesus.

A lot of individuals believe that faith entails suppressing emotion. And this is the teaching of the opposite. The sorrow and faithlessness of Martha were one. She wept, but still came to Jesus. In our modern times, some people who believe in prayer will cease praying after being disappointed. Martha was going to Christ, not in the opposite direction. That is a significant lesson. Even at the point of life pain, Jesus is always the reason to go close.

In verse 22 Martha adds, But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you. Her hope did not entirely perish. She was not sure what Jesus would do, and yet she believed that He had some divine power. At times faith is not definite surety. Knowing the religious faith is sometimes like the little tenacious faith that God can do. Martha shows us that hope can be hurt, but not dead.

Verse 23 Jesus says, Your brother will rise again. Martha takes His words as to the future. She replies that Lazarus will resurrect on the resurrection on the last day. Martha was a strict believer. She had faith in the ultimate resurrection of God. Her theology was well-grounded, but not exhaustive. She had faith in something happening, but Jesus desired her to see someone.

Most Christians in this day, are firm in their true doctrines, but do not recognize how their true doctrines can be found in Christ Himself. We can state that we have faith in eternal life, victory and hope, however we forget that these are present in Jesus. Christianity is not merely faith in the deferred promises. Now faith now in the living Savior.

Then comes the center of the passage. Jesus says, I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. It is a great I am statement of John in his Gospel. Jesus does not just provide resurrection. He is resurrection. He does not merely give life. He is life itself. In Him is power over death.

This is a declaration that alters the entire universe. Martha was right before a tomb and loss and helplessness were before her. But before her was he, the One who is more than the grave. Death was considered final but Jesus said so. The Lord can be heard most when with the dark. He does not restrain himself until the conditions are perfect to reveal Himself. He shows His glory beyond the human strength.

Verse 26 Jesus goes on to say, Everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. He refers to the physical death to the eternal life. When trusting Christ, they can be bodily dead but their spiritual death has killed its power. The breakdown of separation with God is healed with the help of faith in Jesus. This is the Hope of Christians. The gateway to death is not devastation.

The world is afraid of death since it is not able to overcome it. Death is deferrable by medicine. It cannot be purchased by wealth. It cannot be explained away on human wisdom. But the defeat of death by Jesus was through His own resurrection. This text prefigures that victory to come. This is the One who summoned Lazarus out of the tomb, who would subsequently come out of His own tomb in glory.

Then Jesus gives a question to the direct to the end to Martha: Do you believe this? The discussion is personalized. Decision must be made of doctrine. Truth demands response. Martha needed more than to hear Jesus speak. She must have responded to Him. The same is to be done by all listeners. Churches can listen to sermons once a week, but all the individuals should answer Christ individually. Do you believe Him? Do you believe His word?

Martha makes one of the greatest confessions of the Gospel in contending with it: Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world. Her knowledge might not have been full but her belief was factual. She knew Jesus to be the Messiah and Son of God. She told the truth, sadden some. She placed her faith in the Lord in uncertainty.

This teaches that firm faith is not good knowledge. Most of the believers have a misconception that they need to get all the questions answered before they trust God. Martha had a few questions. She still grieved. But she did confession to Christ. Mature faith frequently goes on to say, I do not know everything, but I know who Jesus is.

This story depicts also the mercy of Jesus. And to a mourning household came he. He listened. He spoke hope. He revealed Himself. The Lord does not feel distant to the suffering of man. He enters it. He visits grieving families, hospital beds, and solitary evenings, and heartaches. His presence does not rob tears instantly, but alters the meaning of tears. And we do not weep in vain.

In this passage, three applications are evident to the believers today. To start with, have faith in God when it appears to take time. Jesus can be late, but never, never. Second, dishonestly suffer Christ. Martha, and Jesus took her. Third, trust the Person of Jesus, not in what you want to see. He might not be answering all the prayers we want, but He is the resurrection and life.

Finally, John 11:17-27 is a call to all that have waited, cried, or questioned. Jesus appeared to Martha when she was in one of the most difficult times of her life. It was there that she learned how delay was no denial, grief no end, and death no final. Jesus was her resurrection and life. He remains standing beside people today with such a power and as such a question: Do you believe this? May our answer be the same as Marthas: Yes, Lord, I believe.

Bibliography

Carson, D. A. The Gospel According to John. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991.

Kstenberger, Andreas J. John. Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004.

Morris, Leon. The Gospel According to John. Revised ed. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995.

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D. A. Carson, The Gospel According to John (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1991), 414.

Andreas J. Kstenberger, John (Grand Rapids: Baker Academic, 2004), 338.

Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John, rev. ed. (Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995), 550.

Carson, John, 416.

Kstenberger, John, 341.

Morris, John, 553.

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