2014.10.19 礼拝

2014.10.19 礼拝

John 11:17-46 – “Whoever believes in Me will never die ”

Kids Message – Do you remember the story of Lazarus last week?
Did Jesus come right away to help? No. He did not.
This week we see Lazarus come out of the grave.
The message we learn today is that Jesus has plans bigger than anything we can imagine.
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Many of us have heard the story of Lazarus.
Let’s look at Martha’s faith. What did she believe?
If Jesus had come, her brother would not have died. All Jesus needed to do was ask God.

John 11:21-22 – “Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.””

She believed Jesus was a great healer. She believed in the resurrection.
John 11:24 – “Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

But look at v. 39
John 11:39 – “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.””

She had given up. She thought it was too late. She believed in the reality around her. She said he had already started to rot.

1. There is a Gap between what we understand and what we actually believe.
Jewish understanding of the Resurrection:

In Acts 23:7-8 we see Paul’s understanding of the resurrection. Martha also believed in the resurrection “on the last day” as a Jew just like Paul.
She understood the resurrection but she wasn’t thinking Jesus would do it. She didn’t believe Jesus would actually raise someone from the dead.

2. Martha encounters Jesus’ human side. She sees how much He could care and feel.
John 11:33 – “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.”

John 11:35 – “Jesus wept.”
What were Jesus’ tears? He knew that this was going to work out. Why was He sad?
He was sad that they still couldn’t believe in Him even though He was standing in front of them.

Luke 19:41 : “Jesus Weeps over Jerusalem” – And when he drew near and saw the city, he wept over it,
He wasn’t sad just for them but for all people, the people who would not believe.
It was simply “sympathy for Martha and others ” BUT “empathy for all people.”

Jesus asks them to remove the stone. He raises Lazarus from the dead.
John 11:41-42 – “So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 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.””
His works were way beyond what the people could understand or expected.

3. Response to Jesus’ invitation.
Jesus let Martha know exactly what He was going to do.

John 11:23-24 – “Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.””

Jesus proved by His actions not just words.

John 11:45-46 : “The Plot to Kill Jesus” – Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.”

If this had not happened, Jesus may have been killed earlier.