John 11: 33-44

(John 11: 33-44)

『When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,  And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.  Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.  Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?  Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.  And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.』

 

Why is it honoring God that Lazarus became sick and died? We must know well the glory of God. In Revelation 21:23, And the city had no need of the sun, neither of the moon, to shine in it: for the glory of God did lighten it, and the Lamb is the light brilliant. Here the glory of God is the light of God. The Bible says in Exodus (34:29).

『And it came to pass, when Moses came down from mount Sinai with the two tables of testimony in Moses' hand, when he came down from the mount, that Moses wist not that the skin of his face shone while he talked with him. 』 The apostle Paul contrasts in 2 Corinthians (4: 6).『 For God, who commanded the light to shine out of darkness, hath shined in our hearts, to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ. 』 God is light, and it is Jesus Christ whose light shines on man. The Bible says in John 1:18, "No man hath seen God at any time; the only begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, he hath declared him."

Thus, the saints were able to see the glory of God because of Christ. In Christ the saints are the light of God's glory. The saints bear fruit, because the saints show the glory of God. The Bible says in John (15: 8). "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit; so shall ye be my disciples. "Therefore, to be the glory of God is to be a disciple of Jesus. The Bible says in Matthew (5:14). "Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid." Jesus told His disciples, "You are light." For the glory of God is in it. The Bible says in Ephesians (5: 8). “for ye were sometimes darkness, but now are ye light in the Lord: walk as children of light:"

In the parable of the prodigal son, the prodigal son left his father and went his way. But the prodigal son came back as if he had died. The Father is pleased and is the glory of the Father because of the Son. Thus, the father feasts for his son. To be honored by the father is to return the son who left home.

God is not glorified by the things of the world. Only God is glorified when the dead spirit comes back alive. Why is Lazarus's death the glory of God? It is not in Lazarus' death, but because he dies and rises. When Lazarus's sisters sent men to ask Jesus to save his brother, Jesus delayed a few more days until Lazarus died. Lazarus died, was buried, and entered the tomb. Jesus travels with his disciples to another place and comes to the home of the dead Lazarus at Bethany. The Bible says in John (11:17).『 Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. 』

Jesus explains the resurrection through the dead Lazarus. Jesus shows that there is a resurrection through "the revital of Lazarus after death." But "the revital after the death of Lazarus" is different from "the resurrection l after the death of Jesus " The revitalized body dies again. But the risen Jesus does not die forever. Jesus used Lazarus as a tool to explain the resurrection. To understand the resurrection, Lazarus dies and rises. Thus, four days after his death Jesus came to represent a complete death. Lazarus' sisters (Martha and Mary), and the people there, thought that Jesus could keep Lazarus from dying. But people never thought of Jesus as the one who raised the dead.

The Bible says in John (11:37).『And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died? 』

Lazarus' sister Martha spoke to Jesus in a scolding voice. The Bible says in John (11:26). "And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.Believest thou this?" After Martha said so, she asks Jesus for her brother to be resurrected in the future. In 11:27, "She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world." So when Jesus said, "Your brother is risen again," Martha replied in 11:28. "And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee."

Lazarus' sisters did not believe in the present resurrection. It is incredible. She always thought that resurrection occurred after death. Jesus wanted to show the present resurrection through Lazarus to the disciples and Lazarus' sisters.

The Bible says in John (11: 25-26).『Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? 』 Here, "though he were dead, yet shall he live" means that those who die with Jesus will be resurrected (born) in the spirit body, and those who live in the spirit body will never die. When Jesus spoke with a man named Nicodemus, the Bible said in John (3: 5).『 Jesus answered, Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God. 』 The body of flesh (old man) dies in water and is born again by the Holy Spirit. Thus, rebirth means the present resurrection. Rather than being dead and resurrecting in the future, it is rebirth now. To be born again, we must be united to the death of Jesus.

Thus, in Ephesians and Colossians, "he who is in Jesus Christ is seated in heaven, and is hidden." Too many people today believe wrong about the resurrection. People believe that "the body is resurrected, just as Lazarus came back to life." But the body cannot rise again, only the spirit comes to life. It is to be resurrected to the body of the spirit and the spirit is raised. The body of Jesus' resurrection was not a body before death but a body of spirit. “For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:” (1 Peter 3:18) That's why Jesus suddenly came to the disciples through the wall.

And people believe that resurrection and rebirth are different. But it is the same thing. Jesus is the fruit of the first resurrection, and the born again are the fruits of the resurrection in Christ. And people think of the resurrection after the death of the flesh, but the resurrection is present in Christ. Those who do not believe in the present resurrection are thinking of the resurrection of those who died in the Old Testament. Those who do not believe in the present resurrection do not believe what Christ has accomplished. So they are not saved.