I have taught and preached from John 11 several times. Most of those messages have focused on the subject of either salvation by grace – or our resurrection. This morning I’m going to try to take it just a step beyond that. I want to allegorize the details and bring you a lesson on the soon-coming – the second-coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let’s begin with an introduction – LAZARUS.
“Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)”
I have no conclusive proof, but I think that Lazarus was a saint of God. I am going to make that assumption for the sake of our thoughts this morning, but it’s probably true anyway. I know there isn’t a clear declaration of his faith in Christ Jesus, but, for whatever it is worth, I feel that he was a Christian. And if he was a Christian, then he still is 2,000 years later. When the Lord gives a man eternal life, by definition, that man will live eternally under God’s blessings. When this chapter says that Lord Jesus “loved Lazarus” (v.3), it is obviously speaking of special love. It is more than the beautiful sentiments of John 3:16: “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish but have everlasting life.” “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.” As Paul said in Galatians 2:20, “Christ loved him and gave Himself for him.” As Christians, we should “stand amazed in the presence of Jesus Nazarene and wonder how he could love us – sinners condemned – unclean.” Doesn’t Romans 8 apply – “He that spared not his own Son, but delivered him up for us all, how shall he not with him also freely give us all things?”
Despite my opinion that Lazarus is a child of God, he doesn’t appear to be a great servant God. We have no record that he ever did much to serve the Lord or to glorify His Name. He certainly doesn’t oppose what his sisters did for the cause of Christ, but it seems that they when get the credit things, their brother doesn’t. I don’t know the reasons for this: Perhaps he was still quite young; but that, in itself, is not a reason not to serve God. Perhaps he was an invalid of some sort; crippled with disease or through an accident. He could have always been sick or weak and ultimately this contributed to his death. Perhaps he was too carnally minded to serve God – after all, he was a man of some apparent wealth. It is harder for a rich man to enter Christ’s Kingdom than for a camel to go through the eye of a needle. For whatever reason, he was not named among the disciples of Christ or as a candidate to replace Judas. He was not with Nicodemus and Joseph anointing the body of the Lord Jesus for His burial. He was not later named a deacon in the Jerusalem church. In fact his name doesn’t come up again at all, except as saying that Mary and Martha were his sisters. Lazarus to me is typical of thousands of people who claim to be Christians and church members. Maybe they are related to genuine servants of God and attend church regularly. Maybe they are kind and friendly, hospitable and even somewhat generous people. But they would rather be served BY Christ than to serve Him. Going out of the way for Christ has already gone out of their mind. Have you ever met anyone like that?
Anyway, Lazarus was sick; he was physically dying; sick unto death. And what was the disease? I don’t know, but I do know that whatever it was, its roots were in sin. Many of the things which make life difficult were cast upon Creation when Adam sinned against God. Things like weeds in the garden, yellow jackets at the picnic and pain in the joints. As I have often said, disease, generally speaking, is a result of the fall of man. There certainly wasn’t any disease before sin entered the realm of men. No one can say that Lazarus was sick because he committed specific sin, but I suppose, that is possible. If a person is sexually immoral, he should anticipate syphilis or AIDS. If a person chews tobacco he should expect cancer of the mouth or throat. If he smokes that tobacco then he should only wonder when he will get lung cancer, not if. If he imbibes alcohol he should expect brain and liver rot. But just because a person is sick, it doesn’t mean that he has sinned, and God is punishing him. And yet, all disease IS sin related; all death is sin-caused. It is a part of the curse which Adam brought upon us. “Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
Now let me allegorize just a bit, and say that rather than being sick WITH sin, Lazarus was sick and tired OF sin. Sin is a rat race. Fighting temptation and the sinful flesh is tiring and even debilitating. Have you ever spent two weeks fighting off the cold that everyone else trying give to you? You’ve been taking vitamin C, getting just a little extra rest, avoiding exposure, washing your hands. Then despite all your efforts, finally you’re knocked down and laid low for a couple of weeks. Or have you been fighting some temptation with a degree of victory for while, but then been overcome? Maybe you are still in the fight, but feel that your resolve is slipping. “O come Lord Jesus, deliver me before this death overcomes me. I am sick and I feel like I can’t hold out much longer. I am dying here. Come and save me!” Are you a Christian sick enough to plead for Jesus to come?
There were several Christians in Bethany anxious for Jesus’ return.
“Therefore his sisters sent unto [Christ], saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.”
The Lord Jesus was on the eastern side of the Jordan river – a considerable distance away when the message reached Him. Today, there is a sense in which He is even farther away, for He has ascended into Heaven. Our Lord is away on important business. It is not that He is neglecting us; rather He is doing some important work on our behalf. He is interceding for us; He is our mediator. “We have not an high priest which cannot be touched with the feeling of our infirmities; but was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin.” But Lazarus was sick in Bethany, and Jesus was miles away. Everyone was longing for Christ’s return – “even so come Lord Jesus.”
How sick does a person have to be before he yearns for the presence of Christ? Matthew 24:42 says: “Watch therefore, for ye know not what hour your Lord doth come.” That means: watch for the Lord when you are on top of the world even before you enter the valley of humiliation. That means: be anxious for the Lord’s return at all times. But particularly – are you sick and tired of sin enough to watch for the Lord? Matthew 24:44 – “Be ye also ready, for in such an hour as ye think not the Son of man cometh.” Are you ready? “Unto them that look for Him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation.” Could that verse in Hebrews 9 mean that those who aren’t looking for the return of Christ may be giving evidence that they are not Christians, and that He will not appear with the completion of their salvation? Shouldn’t it be our daily cry: “We are dying; even so come Lord Jesus”?
But it might be good to question WHY someone is anxious for the Lord’s return. These ladies wanted to save their brother from death, which is certainly not unreasonable. Our reasons for the Lord’s return might be to save ourselves from debt or pain, or worry, or work. But are these worthy reasons? Our true desire ought to be: Come Lord Jesus and “glorify thyself with the glory that you had before the world began.” We should strive to make sure that our desires and goals are the same as the Lord’s. It is possible to want good things for the wrong reasons, and that then makes them sinful and evil.
The Lord Jesus delights in our desire of the right things for the right reasons.
“When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.” I know that it sounds harsh, but Jesus was pleased, or at least satisfied with this sickness in Lazarus. Again I say, we need to be sick enough to yearn for Jesus’ Second Coming. But are we anxious enough to be rescued from our kidnappers?
Jesus was excited for the same reason that Paul was perplexed in Philippians 1. Paul simply longed to be in the presence of his Saviour. “I am in a pickle, knowing that I have work to do among my neighbors…. but to be with Christ is far better.” My Mother used sing: “Nothing could be finer than to be in Carolina in morning” – Wrong! “Nothing would be more nice, than to be in Paradice, in the morning.” “For to me to live is Christ and to die is gain.”
Humanly speaking I think that it pleases the Lord to know that you are sick of this world of sin. Don’t think of the Lord was not interested in returning. “Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.” The Lord is coming back, and I don’t that He’d mind coming back right now. But our Saviour is on an ancient time-table; designed before the foundation world. Just as prospective parents shouldn’t be angry their baby doesn’t come a month earlier than she does neither should any child of God be upset because the Saviour hasn’t come yet. That baby needs another month in the womb in order to be ready for life on the outside. There is an important divine schedule to be kept.
And we must remember that Jesus is returning to a place which has caused much pain.
“Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again. His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?” The Son of God has walked among men several times, and He has sent hundreds of ambassadors. The Sodomites tried to kill him, and they would try again if they got chance. The people of Israel slaughtered many of Christ’s servants. And then during those shameful three decades of Jesus’ earthly life, their behaviour was reprehensible. Jesus was despised and rejected even by his own brethren. He was wounded and bruised, yet did they, and we, “deemed him stricken by God and afflicted.”
The hatred and antagonism against Christ has not subsided in the slightest throughout the years. Man will grasp any straw he can find to belittle and blaspheme Christ Jesus, even if that reed stabs right through his hand. This world is still enemy territory, and we are still war-babies. All but God’s elect still cry out, “Crucify him, crucify him!” 2,000 years of Christian ministry have not improved humanity one iota – so much for spiritual evolution.
Finally, Lazarus died and was carried into Abraham’s bosom.
Verse 11 – “These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.” As I said, sin killed Lazarus. “The wages of sin is death.” “Wherefore as by one man sin entered into the world and death by sin and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned.”
Since the days of Cain and Abel, a lot of true children of God have physically lost their lives. How many has that been? 10,000,000? Probably much less than that. However many, I assure you that the Lord Jesus, though so far away, knows each and everyone of them. They are all recorded in the Lamb’s Book of Life, from before the foundation of the world, and also in the Chronicles of the true King of Israel. I read once of a military captain who took a roll-call of his troops after a gory battle. Their ranks had been decimated; the survivors had lost their best friends to the enemy. But when the names of the dead were called, several cried out: “Absent but accounted for.” Every child of God is fully accounted for, whether present or absent. There will be thousands of saints on earth at the time of the Lord’s coming. There may be all kinds of Marys and Marthas; disciples of every sort, but they “shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first: Then we which are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds, to meet the Lord in the air: and so shall we ever be with the Lord.” Paul tells us to not fret over the dead Christian. Jesus is coming Lazarus, even if death has already claimed you.
Now, note a couple of terribly sad things about all this.
Verse 19 – “And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.” What does the world possess with which to comfort the mourner, whether Christian or non-Christian? Go to the average funeral and listen to the things which are said; so much of which are lies. What did these professional mourners have to offer Mary and Martha? Keep your mushy poetry; your air-tight crypts and your cryogenics and cybernetics. We don’t need the world’s vallium, Hawaiian holidays or Las Vegas jokesters either. What have dying vultures got to offer sorrowing souls? Especially for the saints?
There is nothing that Mary and Martha needed more than the coming of the Saviour. “I would not have you to be ignorant brethren concerning them that sleep, that ye sorrow….” “He is coming again, He is coming again, this very same Jesus, rejected of men…”
Although the feigned comfort of the unsaved is sad, there is something worse. Verse 21 – “Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” Verse 32 – “Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.” These verses remind us that a lot of saints are confused about and disappointed in the will of the Lord. They have their own private opinions and agendas for running this planet – God’s planet. Even Christians plan un-Christian weddings, careers, reunions, retirements and funerals. But the Lord Jesus will put an end to all of these in a hurry, even though some people will briefly be furious.
How we need to await the Lord with joy and purity of heart. Like the children of A.J. Gordon: Dad went away to preach a series of meetings, aAnd everyday his kids washed their faces, combed their hair and waited for his return. Remember that when we are grieved at the Lord’s plans and actions, then the Lord is grieved with us. “When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled. Jesus wept,” I wonder how many tears the Saviour has shed over me?
The thing to remember here is that when Jesus comes, the dead in Christ shall rise.
They shall be raised incorruptible and perfect. “Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory?” It will not matter how long the dead will have been entombed, three days, three months or three centuries. It won’t matter how the body will have been disposed: burial, cremation, interment at sea or disintegration in a space-shuttle explosion.
“When Jesus comes and the trumpet sounds, alive in Him shall the saints be found.” And it will be in glorified bodies that we find ourselves. The stink of sin will be gone, and Febreeze will have nothing to do with it.
Then we shall fellowship together with the Lord for ever. “Then Jesus six days before the passover came to Bethany, where Lazarus was which had been dead, whom he raised from the dead. There they made him a supper; and Martha served: but Lazarus was one of them that sat at the table with him.”
Are you a Christian? A child of God? On what do you base your answer? Are you absolutely sure? Does Christ Jesus love you as He does Lazarus? Prove it – repent before God, cast your soul upon Christ in faith.