The One You Love Is Sick
John 11:1-5 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 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. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” 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.” Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus deeply. Few people are mentioned by name as those loved by Jesus. We all know he loves us- yet here, the Holy Spirit allows John to write how specifically Jesus attended to this family. The message from the sisters was short with an appeal to Jesus, simply; “the one you love is sick”. Amazingly, in the next verse, Jesus decides to stay two more days since he was preaching and teaching in Jerusalem. We can learn a principle of God here- Jesus was seeking first the kingdom, even when best friends had needs. The question comes; did he really love them if he waited two more days? Absolutely! Jesus defines love and our God is love, certainly Jesus loved Lazarus, Mary and Martha deeply, yet he waited. John 15:13 Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. By verse 7 Jesus has decided it is time to go back to Judea (Bethany specifically). In verse 8 we find the disciples greatly disturbed at Jesus’ choice. The disciples were keenly aware that in Judea they had tried to stone Jesus- he was undeterred- because, “the one you love is sick”. Jesus was willing to lay down his life in order to bring life to others. We are called to follow him.
Go wake them up
John 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.” Like Jesus, disciples are called to go and wake others up. What did he have to do? He had to give up time and energy to get back to Bethany and go with the faith that the word of God would in fact wake Lazarus up. He had to face a potential stoning! Yet in verse 7 Jesus says, lets go, in verse 11 he says, I am going and in verse 15 he says again, lets go to him. Are you waiting for others to tell you to go and help the lost, the hurting and the sick? We have to be the people that will go and wake them up- no matter the cost.
Already in the tomb
John 11:17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. At this point, the average man would have given up. Not our Lord! He seems more determined than ever and has to spend quite a bit of time explaining what is really going on and who he is. Thomas figured out that by going back, Jesus was risking his life and he is motivated to continue following. Often, we look at the cost of following Jesus and “raising the dead” spiritually who seem to have been in the tomb such a long time, and we pull back in fear and faithlessness. The call here is clear- follow anyway. Just 2 months ago in the Phoenix Church, we were having very little impact and many of us got frustrated, full of fear and faithlessness crept in. Instead of giving in, we prayed and some fasted. We shared our faith more than ever and begged God to use us to “raise the dead” and help people become disciples. Since that time, we have seen 6 awesome people baptized in the last 5 weeks! We felt like we were the ones in the tomb, but our God never doubts. He has added to our family: Emily Caldwell, Chris Billaber, Baltazar Ochoa, Bradley DeBusk, Liz Loreto and Bob Billaber! One of the most moving miracles was watching Chris baptize his father Bob!
Interestingly, Jesus gets word from the sisters and waits two more days. Then on arrival in Bethany, the Bible notes that Lazarus had been dead for four days. That means that he was already dead at the time Jesus received the message! Without doubt, fear or confusion- Jesus pushes on and gets to the city while everyone is mourning. Looking back to Abraham, we see the same heart in the father of our faith: Genesis 22:1-5 Some time later God tested Abraham. He said to him, “Abraham!” “Here I am,” he replied. Then God said, “Take your son, your only son, Isaac, whom you love, and go to the region of Moriah. Sacrifice him there as a burnt offering on one of the mountains I will tell you about.” Early the next morning Abraham got up and saddled his donkey. He took with him two of his servants and his son Isaac. When he had cut enough wood for the burnt offering, he set out for the place God had told him about. On the third day Abraham looked up and saw the place in the distance. He said to his servants, “Stay here with the donkey while I and the boy go over there. We will worship and then we will come back to you.” Abraham is convinced that he would return (somehow) with his son, his only son. Look forward to the New Testament writers’ understanding: Hebrews 11:17-19 By faith Abraham, when God tested him, offered Isaac as a sacrifice. He who had received the promises was about to sacrifice his one and only son, even though God had said to him, “It is through Isaac that your offspring will be reckoned.” Abraham reasoned that God could raise the dead, and figuratively speaking, he did receive Isaac back from death. This is amazing! Before anyone was ever raised from the dead- Abraham wrestles with the promise from God and comes to the conviction that his God could raise the dead. This is radical faith! No one had ever been raised and he had to come up with this on his own accord. What are you and I asked to believe? The day we are born, we are destined to die- yet, God asks us to believe that He can raise the dead. Do you believe this? Whatever conviction you have about these scriptures will dictate how you live your life. When we truly believe that God can and will raise the dead, no matter “how dead”- miracles will happen and souls will be saved. Remember- where there are no miracles, there is no faith.
Deeply moved
John 11:33-38 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. It is clear when you love people! Just a few days ago, while spending some discipling time with Robb and Teresa Hamblin, I got teary eyed and very choked up (ok, I cried). We were having a pretty intense conversation about some things they have been working on in their marriage. I was deeply moved when I saw that what was being said was really hurting Robb. He was cut and indignant, yet there was pain in his heart that I could feel. We had to take a moment and be real with each other as to how much it hurt. It was amazing to watch as Robb then thanked me and hugged me- in gratitude; they loved the discipling! It had moved both of us deeply. The question comes- do you get deep into the lives of brothers and sisters in the congregation? Are you willing to be deeply moved and give your heart away? I knew that Robb could have gotten prideful and lashed out at me, and it was worth the risk- because I love him. 1 Peter 1:22-23 Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. Even the last few days, I have been on the phone with several disciples around the country who are deeply hurting because the congregations they attend have become lukewarm. They share fear for their children, for their futures spiritually and one brother just broke down and cried because he wants so badly to be close to God again and get his marriage discipled. Do you love deeply from the heart? It is risky and painful- but that is the heart of our Lord. Like Jesus, let’s be deeply moved for one another and love one another deeply, from the heart.
The dead man came out
John 11:43-44 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 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.” In great faith, Jesus prays and then confidently calls Lazarus out. Jesus raised a man from the dead! We too have to realize that when we help save a life that the dead will come out of the rotten graves they have been in. They will rise to never die- as long as they remain faithful to the “resurrection”- Jesus. As we make disciples and baptize them, we have to remember that they will come out like Lazarus. He had a cloth on his face (could not see) and grave clothes on (still worldly with the smell of death not far behind). Young disciples need extra attention and must be taught to obey. Phoenix church, as God gives us an ever increasing family- take care of them. Get together weekly and pray, get into the Bible with them and love them. Take the cloth off their faces and remove the grave clothes by teaching them clearly about Jesus. Then in love, go find another dead man to call out! There are few times more exciting and fulfilling than watching a new disciple reach out to their friends and help them become disciples too. God is molding us into a multiplying ministry and now we are to continue to gratefully walk with God and watch what he will do. The one you love may be sick- have the heart of Jesus and in faith believe that he can raise the dead and rescue them.
He stoops down to make us great,
Matt Sullivan
