Alex Tang
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Medical Students /Paediatric notes
The Resurrection and the Life
Text: John 11: 1-44
Dr Alex Tang
JN 11:1 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."
JN 11:4 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 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.
By the time Jesus heard about this, Lazarus must already be dead. The messengers take one day to reach Him from Bethany. He stayed for 2 days, then take another day to reach Bethany
He knew that Lazarus will not remain dead. The whole incident is so that God and His Son will be glorified.
This incident will glorify God because (1) by the Son, God will raise the dead (2) it helps to initiate events leading to the cross.
JN 11:7 Then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea."
He said to Judea, not Bethany for it was the entrance to unbelieving Judea that will crucify Him.
JN 11:8 "But Rabbi," they said, "a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?"
Danger in Judea.
JN 11:9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light. 10 It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light."
Enough time for what is to be done and no time to waste.
JN 11:11 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."
JN 11:12 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.
They could not understand Him.
JN 11:14 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."
JN 11:16 Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."
We often remember Thomas as doubting Thomas. Thomas is also a man of great courage.
JN 11:17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.
Many Jews believed that the soul remain near the body for three days after death in the hope of remaining to it. If this thought were in the minds of the mourners, then it was obvious that all hope was gone. Lazarus was irrevocably lost.
18 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.
Martha went to meet Jesus because she was the older sister.
JN 11:21 "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."
JN 11:23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
JN 11:24 Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
JN 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
One of the ‘I am’ sayings. Jesus is saying that He is the resurrection and the life.
JN 11:27 "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."
We often associate Martha as the busy one. But she is also one with great faith. She recognize Jesus as the Christ.
JN 11:28 And 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.
JN 11:32 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."
JN 11:33 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.
Weeping – denotes loud expression of grief. Wailing
JN 11:35 Jesus wept.
wept- Gk. quiet weeping.
It could not be for Mary, Martha or Lazarus because He is going to raise Lazarus from the dead. Jesus wept for the wrong attitude of the Jews and of the unbelieving world.
JN 11:36 Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"
JN 11:37 But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"
JN 11:38 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."
JN 11:40 Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"
JN 11:41 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."
JN 11:41 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."
JN 11:43 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."
This is the introduction to the Passion Week or the final week of Jesus’ life.
Ø Palm Sunday. Triumphant entry into Jerusalem.
Ø Cursing of the fig tree.
Ø Cleansing of the temple
Ø plot by Sanhedrin to kill Jesus
Ø Judas betrayal
Ø Last Supper
Ø Betrayal and arrest
Ø Trial
Ø Crucifixion
Ø Resurrection.
Jesus said that He is the Resurrection and the Life.
Soli Deo Gloria
