21 Why Jesus Delayed Raising Lazarus (John 11)

Krisan Marotta: Welcome back to the Wednesday in the Word podcast. I'm Krisan Marotta, and this is my podcast about what the Bible means and how we know. Today is the 21st talk in my series on the Gospel of John. We will be studying John chapter 11. Show notes with an outline of today's talk and links to everything mentioned in it are on my website, wednesdayintheword.com slash John 21. Glad to have you along. Well, today we're looking at the story of the raising of Lazarus. This is not just the story of a miracle. In this story, John brings together most of the major themes that we have seen as we've been going through this book. You'll recall that this is a big picture study. Instead of doing a detailed look at each verse, we are taking big sections of the Gospel and looking at the flow of thought and the major themes that John is developing through this Gospel. We ended last week with the end of chapter 10, which sets up the story of Lazarus. I just want to highlight a few things by way of review that will set us up for this miracle of the raising of Lazarus. We see Jesus running into the same problem here that we saw in chapter 5. Jesus claims to be the Son of God. He's talking about the oneness between himself and the Father. I think this is an indirect way of claiming to be the Messiah. The Jews consider this claim of intimate identity between Jesus and the Father to be blasphemy. And we saw in chapter five that they wanted to kill him for making this claim. When he makes the connection again in chapter 10, they want to kill him all the more. Once again, Jesus points to the signs and miracles he has done as testimony from God that he is who he says he is, he is the Messiah. And just like in chapter 5, Jesus leaves Jerusalem because it's getting too dangerous for him there. The leadership in Jerusalem is getting very serious about having him arrested and executed, but he knows it is not yet time for that, so he takes off across the Jordan to the place where John used to baptize. Now, as we start into chapter 11, Jesus is away from Judea. He is away from that place of danger, the place where he's likely to be arrested and killed. But as we will see, he is about to go back. And the thing that draws him back is this incident with Lazarus. On this trip, he's going to set in motion the events that will lead to his death. And again, let me remind you that my purpose in this season of the podcast and in this study is to stay focused on the big picture. There are a number of details we could talk about in this section, but I'm going to lightly pass over them so that we stay focused on the big themes of the Gospel of John. So let's dive into chapter eleven. We're going to start with verse one and go to verse sixteen. Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, Lord, he whom you love is ill, but when Jesus heard it he said, This illness does not lead to death, it is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, so when he heard that Lazarus was ill he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, let us go to Judea again. The disciples said to him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you. Are you going there again? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in a day? If anyone walks in the day he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night he stumbles because the light is not in him. After saying these things he said to them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. The disciples said to him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep he will recover. Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest and sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus has died, and for your sake I'm glad I was not there, so that you may believe, but let us go to him. So Thomas, called the twins, said to his fellow disciples, Let us go that we may die with him. All right, what's the situation we find here? Jesus has left Jerusalem because the leadership there is trying to kill him. He gets a message that his friend Lazarus is gravely ill. I think the comment he makes in verse 4 indicates that he recognizes this is a call from God. God has work for him to do in this situation. This crisis will bring him back to the very area where his enemies are seeking to kill him. Raising Lazarus is going to set in motion the events that will lead to the cross, and I think Jesus is very aware of this. That's what's behind his kind of cryptic statement. It is for the glory of God so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. At first he downplays the situation to the disciples. He says Lazarus is ill, but the illness will not lead to death. Now it's clear to us when we look at the whole story, we know what he means. We know that when all is said and done, and this whole thing is played out, Lazarus is going to be alive. But presumably his disciples understood him to be saying, Well, there's really no need to go because this is not a fatal illness. He's not going to die, he'll recover, so it's alright to stay longer. So Jesus stays where he is for two more days, then says they need to go to Judea because Lazarus has fallen asleep and Jesus needs to wake him up. Well, the disciples have two problems with this. First, they realize it is too dangerous to go back. The last time Jesus was there, he barely escaped with his life, and going back now doesn't seem to be such a great idea. Second, sleep doesn't sound like it's such a bad thing. If he's sick, let him sleep. Sleep's a good thing. You need more rest when you're sick, right? So why does Lazarus need Jesus to wake him up? Jesus answers both of the objections that they raise. To the question of whether it's wise for him to go back, he says in verse 9, Are there not twelve hours in a day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him. So the first question we want to tackle is how does this answer their question? The question is why would he go back to Judea when people there are trying to kill him? That seems like a foolish thing to do. He can get himself killed going back there because look at how they tried to stone him the last time he was there. Jesus is making this analogy, and I think he's talking about himself. He's the person who's walking in the light. He is walking in the light of the Father. That is, the Father is like the light of day shining brightly so that Jesus can see where he's going and walk clearly on the path. The Father is taking Jesus where the Father wants him to go. The light is shining brightly, so he has no fear of missing the path or getting lost or going astray. I think what he's saying is essentially I am walking in the light of my Father's will, so I am not going to stumble. It may seem like going back to Judea is a bad thing to do, but this is part of the plan the Father has for me, so it's exactly what I need to do. I can see clearly the path I'm walking, and I know this is where God is taking me. When you see clearly what God has in mind for you, then you won't stumble. The fact that this is going to lead to his death doesn't matter. If that's where God wants him to be, if that's where the light is shining, that that's the path that he's supposed to take, then that's the place he needs to be. By contrast, the one who walks in darkness is going to stumble. The one who isn't following the Father is in serious trouble, is what he's saying. You can't see where you're going. You think you're on the right path, but in the darkness you could walk right off a cliff because you're not walking in the light of your father's will. So he's contrasting, I'm not in that kind of darkness. I'm confident that this is exactly the situation I need to face. Now, if you stop and think about it, that's also an encouragement to his disciples. Because implied is that I'm walking in the light. If you're following me, you're walking in the light. It is safe for you to go with me to this place where we are likely to get arrested because we are in the will of God. No matter what happens, God is going to work this out for his glorious plan and we can trust him. I think it's helpful to remember the drama of this situation. It's easy for us who have heard these stories over the years to think of them like books or movies that we've already seen and we know how it's going to end, and we think, oh yeah, this is the part where Jesus raises Lazarus. But stop and think about the situation. The leadership in Jerusalem is so upset with Jesus that they want to have him arrested and killed. Every time he visits Jerusalem, the leadership gets more serious about getting rid of him. He's walking right back into a situation where he is going to end up getting executed. And in fact, I think he knows that his death is going to result. This is the trip to Jerusalem that is going to culminate in the cross. So this call, Lazarus is ill, come and help us, is not only a call to help Lazarus, the Father is also calling him to the cross. So something very significant is going on here. Yet Jesus doesn't give in to their warnings or the fears of the disciples. Yes, there will be an arrest and an execution at the end of this road, but we are walking in the light of God's wise purposes, and therefore we can't go wrong. Now Jesus also answers their second question, why do you need to go wake Lazarus up? Well, because he's dead. Now it's interesting why didn't he just say Lazarus is dead to begin with? Why did he say Lazarus has fallen asleep? Jesus does this throughout the gospels. He often makes these cryptic comments when he could have spoken plainly, and it's often intriguing to think about why he does it. It seems to me that Jesus is trying to educate his disciples and everyone else he talks to. We need to change the way we view the world. We are locked into looking at the world in a way that basically ignores the power and the promises of God. And Jesus is making cryptic comments designed to make us stop and think about it. What do we know about death? Death is a kind of sleep. You look at a person who has just died and they look similar to a person who's asleep. But of course, what's the difference between death and sleep that we all know? It's the universal experience that when you're dead, you don't wake up. That's the whole point. That's why it's called death. You don't ever wake up when you die. Now Jesus says Lazarus has fallen asleep and I need to go wake him up. When they figure out, wait a minute, Jesus is talking about death. It brings home to them in a thought provoking way that Jesus has power over death itself. For Jesus, death is no different than falling asleep. Death is no obstacle for him. Jesus can wake Lazarus up and that's what he's going to do. For us, death is the one enemy we cannot defeat. For Jesus, death is no big deal. And I think these comments teach the disciples a lesson they will never forget. Calling death sleep brings home to them the striking nature of the power and authority of Jesus. Jesus is showing them they have no reason to fear death because he has power over death. They have no reason to fear death if they're walking in the light of God's will, and as they will soon see, they don't even need to fear death when Jesus dies because God is going to resurrect him. Now Thomas responds by saying, Great, let's go die with him. And I want to put in a good word for Thomas here. He's called doubting Thomas because of this incident and another one that happens later in the gospel, but I really think that's an unfair description. Later when the disciples tell him that Jesus is alive, he says, I'm not going to believe it till I see it. And here we see him saying, Oh, I guess we should go die with him, as if a more faithful, positive sort of person would have said, Oh, hey, let's go, this is gonna be great, or something like that. I think that's the wrong way to view what Thomas says. There's no reason to think that Thomas is complaining. In fact, if you change the tone of voice, what he says is admirable. He is recognizing the truth of the situation. If they go back to Jerusalem, the leadership there is going to kill Jesus. They might also try to kill his disciples too, and he's saying, Okay, this is what God wants, let's go die with him. And he's absolutely right. They are walking into a truly dangerous situation, but he's not backing down. He says, Let's go and die with him, which I think is an incredible statement of courage and devotion. He's essentially saying, if God wants us to go die with Jesus, then let's go die with Jesus. Now it is true when the cross actually comes, the disciples scatter like sheep. Their courage fails them, but fear does not claim them forever. They all come back and faithfully follow the resurrected Jesus. But at the moment he makes this comment, he doesn't know exactly what's going to happen, and I think it's an incredible statement of faith to say, let's follow you even if we die. So here then is the situation. Jesus knows that the leaders in Jerusalem want to arrest and execute him, but the death of Lazarus amounts to a clear call from God. Jesus must go and wake Lazarus up. This is a good thing ultimately for his disciples. It will result in the glory of God and the glory of the Messiah, and this is a good thing because in the end it's going to help the disciples believe Jesus is the Christ. And ultimately it's a good thing for all God's people because Jesus is going to voluntarily lay down his life for his sheep. So this dangerous situation is actually a good thing in the grand scheme of God's plans. Let's go on then to verses seventeen through twenty seven. Now when Jesus came he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 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. 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 said to her, I am the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this? She said to him, Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who is coming into the world. We see Martha dealing with two things at the same time here. On the one hand she is obviously deeply grieved at the loss of her brother, and she is also upset and frustrated with Jesus, because if he had been there, he could have prevented this terrible thing from happening. Yet this grief is tempered by her confidence in him. She believes that he could have healed Lazarus if he had been there. She believes even now that God will do what Jesus asks him to do, and she concludes by repeating her belief that Jesus is in fact the Christ, the Messiah, the Son of God. It's interesting that Jesus never says directly that he's about to raise Lazarus from the dead. He makes this ambiguous statement, your brother will rise again, and it's because we know how the story turns out that we recognize that phrase is loaded with meaning. With hindsight, we know he's talking about more than the last day. But Martha, who has been listening to his teaching and probably has heard the teaching of the Pharisees as well, thinks he's talking about the last day. Jesus and the Pharisees agreed on the point that there would be a resurrection from the dead on the last day, that God would raise the dead and there would be a judgment and so forth. This isn't a new idea for her, and it wasn't a new idea in the teaching of Jesus. She agrees, yes, you're right, he will rise again on the last day, as everybody will. Then Jesus takes the opportunity to remind her that he is the resurrection and the life. He is the one who will bring about this resurrection and new life. Resurrection is not something that just happens by fiat. Resurrection is something that He, Jesus of Nazareth, is going to bring about for those who believe in Him. And Martha agrees. She says, Yes, you're the Christ. I know that you are the one who is ultimately going to bring eternal life to your people. You've made that promise, I've heard you make it, and I believe you. And that's where Jesus leaves it with her. He's preparing the ground for what he's about to do, but all he's explicitly told her is that he's reminded her that Lazarus and all who believe in Jesus as the Christ will rise on the last day. He hasn't made clear yet that he means any more than that, but he's about to. Let's look at verses twenty eight through thirty seven. When she had said this, she went and called her sister, Mary, saying in private, The teacher is here and is calling for you. And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying, Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died. 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. And he said, Where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept, so the Jews said, See how he loved him, but some of them said, Could not he who opened the eyes of a blind man also have kept this man from dying? Now notice again that we have random members of the community verifying and testifying that Jesus healed the man who was born blind. Here we see Mary make the same lament to Jesus that her sister made. If you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died. That implies both her confidence in him that he could have prevented this death, and also this kind of hurt question, where were you? Why weren't you here to save him from this? Now there's been a lot of discussion over the centuries about Jesus' emotional reaction here. Why did he weep? Didn't he know that he was about to raise Lazarus? I mean it's hard to be sad about a death that isn't really a death. In a few minutes Lazarus is going to come out and Jesus is going to talk to him and everyone's going to be fine. So why is he weeping? Well notice the way John puts it. When Jesus saw Mary weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and troubled. I think Jesus is responding to the sorrow of Mary and then the others with her. Jesus understands the pain of the loss that they're feeling. Death is the greatest loss that we know in this world. It is the ultimate loss that takes someone away from us for the rest of our lives in this world. It's the loss that is the most irreversible of all the things that can happen to us. Jesus is empathizing with their grief. He has taken their feelings to heart. He knows what they're feeling. He's not grieving for Lazarus in the sense that he's feeling the things we would have felt. So he's not feeling the grief that we feel when someone we know dies and we know we're never going to see them again in this lifetime. He's not feeling Feeling that because he knows he's about to see Lazarus again very shortly. So it's not his own grief that moves him. I think he's moved by their grief. He fully understands the tears they're crying and the hurts they're feeling, which means he understands how hard death is on us. Now I think that's something we're thinking about, because remember, in this particular situation, we could say Jesus is kind of responsible for those tears they're crying. He deliberately stayed away until Lazarus died. He told his disciples, For your sake, I'm glad I wasn't there so that you may believe. So there is some sense in which he's glad it turned out this way. He's glad on the one hand that Lazarus died. This is God's will in this situation, and in the end it's going to be a good thing. And that's the joy we have in the midst of suffering, because ultimately we know even this suffering as hard as it is is going to turn out for good. And I think that's what we see here. Jesus knows the pain they're feeling is real and deep, but he also knows the purpose of that pain is glorious. He knows it will be better for them in the long run to go through it. Ultimately, Mary, Martha, Lazarus, the disciples, the Jews who are there watching, and all of us who have read this story throughout the centuries because John told it to us, all of us are greatly blessed by the fact that Lazarus died so that Jesus could do what he's about to do. Because the miracle that Jesus is about to do is significant in the history of the world. It is so significant in understanding who Jesus is and what he means that it is worth paying a price like death to have such an outcome. Jesus knows that they are going to experience great sorrow and loss and grief until he reverses death for them. And yet he also knows that is a price worth paying. Now that's something we ought to be familiar with because if you have any experience with God in your life, you're aware that God is quite willing to teach you very important lessons through difficult and painful situations. And that's why Jesus' tears are so important here. Although he knows that this is really difficult, he also knows this is a good thing in the end. They need to go through this suffering to learn what they need to learn. It's important that they see the power and the mercy of God in reversing death itself. And it's very important that we learn God has authority over life and death, and God has granted that authority to Jesus Christ. All along Jesus has been claiming that he has the power to grant eternal life, and he's about to prove it. I think this tells us something about Jesus that's important for us to understand. Even as he knows that God is going to take us through hard times, he is sympathetic with the difficulty of what he's asking us to go through. Now there's a lot more we could say about that, but let's go on to thirty eight through forty four. Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone lay against it. 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. Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God? 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. When he had said these things he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with the linen strips and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, Unbind him and let him go. Reading that story always gives me goosebumps. Death is our great enemy. If you lined up all the problems that we need solved, death would be at the top of the list, because death robs us of everything. Jesus told Martha that he is the resurrection and the life, and then he performs a sign that demonstrates that is true. Jesus isn't only promising one day I'm going to give my followers life. He is promising that, but here he's showing that he can reverse death. He's showing that he, Jesus Christ, has authority over death itself. Lazarus is dead, he's been dead for four days, but if Jesus tells him to stand and walk and eat and breathe, he will stand and walk and eat and breathe. When Jesus promises us that he can give abundant life, we have every reason to believe him. He has just done a sign that shows there's reason to believe him. He has power over death. But there's another reason that John tells the story of the raising of Lazarus. Remember, Jesus is entering dangerous territory by returning to Judea here, and John wants us to understand the fallout from this miracle. There's a whole crowd watching. There's a bunch of Jews from Jerusalem who are there consoling Mary and Martha. When Mary tries to sneak away quietly to go see Jesus, they see what she's doing and they follow her. This whole crowd is watching this miracle play out. Some of those people watching must have been there all four days. Some of them probably arrived when Lazarus was ill. They helped Mary and Martha tend to him after he passed, some of them probably helped Mary and Martha wrap Lazarus' body and roll that stone into place over the grave. They know with firsthand experience this man was dead. Then Jesus says, Get up, and Lazarus walks out of the tomb. Jesus doesn't touch him, he doesn't give him any medicine, he doesn't render any kind of first aid, he just prays to his father, he speaks, and Lazarus is alive. And this becomes a huge story. Everybody in the region must have been talking about it. This whole crowd of people has seen this very public display, and some people believe as a result. But this event also becomes one of the main catalysts for Jesus' arrest. Because of this miracle, Jesus just painted a big red target on his chest and he knows it. Let's go on with forty five through fifty three. 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. So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation. But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, You know nothing at all, nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish. He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year, he prophesies that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. So from that day on they made plans to put him to death. Now, as we've seen throughout John's gospel, there are two different responses to the miracles Jesus performs. Some of the Jews who saw the miracle believed Jesus was the Messiah, but others basically went running to the Pharisees and ratted him out. The Pharisees called the council together, this is their governing body, the Sanhedrin, which is made up of both Pharisees and Sadducees. Although these two political and religious parties disagree on a number of things, they agree that Jesus is a threat. A man who can go around raising people from the dead is going to attract a crowd, and that crowd is going to cause trouble for them. If this keeps up, there may be open rebellion, and the people may decide this is the Messiah, they're going to try to make him their king, and the Romans are not going to like that, and when the Romans don't like what you're doing, they send an army and wipe you out. The Jewish leadership was in favor of keeping Rome happy because Rome had rewarded them greatly. They were rich and successful, powerful people because the Romans supported them. They stood to lose a lot if Jesus were to whip up a rebellion and bring the Romans down on them. And then John gives us this wonderfully ironic statement from Caiaphas, the high priest, it's better that one man should die for the people than that the whole nation should perish. All he means to say is that it's better that one man Jesus be executed, even if he's executed unfairly, than that the Roman army comes and slaughters thousands and thousands of Jews. That's all he understands. But in this story that God is telling, the death of Jesus means so much more. In fact, the whole nation can escape death and find the mercy of God because of this one man's death. So all Caiaphas means is let's kill him so the Romans don't come after us. But the great irony is that what he's saying is much truer than he knows. And on top of that, he's the high priest who should have known what was going on. I think that's what John is getting at here when he says he was a prophet. It's not that Caiaphas had a trance, he didn't see a vision or anything like that, but you have this high priest saying something that's more deeply true than he understands. He meant to say something against Jesus, but in God's grand plan, his words also describe the great sacrifice that Jesus intended to make for his people. Okay, going on, we'll finish this up with fifty four through fifty seven. Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness to the town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples. Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all? Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was he should let them know, so that they might arrest him. So here's the fallout from this miracle. The threat level is now so high that Jesus must remove himself. Now he's not that far away, he's only a few miles up the road from Jerusalem. Passover is coming, and everyone is wondering whether Jesus will come to the feast. The leaders put out the word if anyone sees him come into town to tell them so that they can have him arrested. Everyone knows that the ruling council is looking for him so that he can be arrested, which sets us up for Passion Week. Now let me make some final comments to wrap up this story about Lazarus. The story of Lazarus, I think, is not merely the story of a miracle. The story brings together the various themes that we have seen in this gospel. First of all, it's a sign, and that, as we've seen, is a huge theme in this gospel. Once again, God has testified through a display of divine power that he is behind this man Jesus. Jesus speaks with his authority. Jesus called out to a dead man, and by the power of God that man lived again. Now anyone can make the claim, hey, God is with me, I'm speaking for God. I have the authority of God, I'm one with God. But God himself has backed up Jesus' claim by raising Lazarus from the dead at Jesus' word. Jesus asked the Father to raise him and he rises. And this miracle is so unavoidably true that even his most bitter enemies know it happened. The Pharisees want to kill Lazarus because he is walking evidence that Jesus can raise the dead. There's a whole crowd of people who saw Lazarus dead and saw Jesus raise him. Everyone has to confront this miracle and choose to believe or to reject Jesus because it is so striking and obvious. It is a sign they can't ignore, and they can't explain away. Another of John's themes is the message that Jesus is the Messiah, and again, this sign testifies that Jesus is the Christ, who he claims to be. He is the Savior who has promised to give his people eternal life, and he has just demonstrated he has the power to do that. You and I today can believe in his promise of eternal life because Jesus has demonstrated that he has power over death. So this particular sign is more than a miracle that says God is with Jesus. This particular sign reinforces the promises he has made about having the power to grant eternal life. As Jesus reminded Martha, by believing in him we will inherit eternal life. He says, I am the resurrection and the life. Resurrection and eternal life will come through me, by believing in me. And here we have historical proof that Jesus indeed has the power of life and death, because he can say to a dead man, Get up, and the man gets up. Now this is just a temporary resurrection for Lazarus. He will still die again, like the rest of us. Lazarus will receive the ultimate resurrection, the permanent resurrection when Jesus returns, and we are all raised to enter into eternal life. But this sign makes it easier for us to believe that Jesus will keep his promise, that Jesus has said he can rescue us from death because we have seen him thwart death for real. Death is like sleep to him, it is no obstacle. And of course, ultimately the final story, the final sign, the resurrection of Jesus Himself is the ultimate indication that death cannot stop him. But that sign is coming up. Another of John's themes is the nature of belief and responding with belief to these signs, and we've seen that theme explored in the story. For the disciples, for the twelve, the people who followed him, this miracle strengthens their genuine belief. Jesus said he was glad that he wasn't there to heal Lazarus because this greater miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead was going to result in greater belief for them. And that's an important thing. That's a hugely important thing. But remember who these men are. They are going to become the apostles. We have seen throughout the story that God has his hand on them. They are among his sheep, like you and I, they recognize his voice, but they will be given a special call and a unique authority to teach us what they saw and heard. Consider the crowd. The crowd is described as believing, and probably some of them did have genuine belief, but as the story plays itself out, we will see that many of those who claim to believe because they saw Lazarus raised from the dead will change their minds, and in a matter of days they will be calling for Pilate to execute Jesus. Genuine faith perseveres in some, but not all of them will persevere. And that's another theme we've seen John exploring. And here it is again. Which brings us to the problem of unbelief. We see that the Jewish leaders have set themselves against Jesus. This is another theme John is exploring. Belief is a matter of will. We believe what we want to believe, and we need the Spirit of God to open our eyes. The Jewish leadership are offended by his claim to have God as his Father. They're offended that he heals people on the Sabbath. They're afraid Jesus is going to bring the wrath of Rome down upon them and cause them to lose everything, and they refuse to believe. In their case, the miracles of Jesus do not promote belief. Each sign to them is another nail in his coffin. He does a miracle and they think there's another reason we have to kill this guy, because the more he does it, the more trouble he's going to cause. So they are examples of believing what we want to believe. The Pharisees have already decided in their view of the world, Jesus does not fit. It doesn't matter how many miracles he does, he breaks their idea of the Sabbath, he can't be from God, he doesn't fit the picture of what they want in a Messiah, and so they have to do something about him. And then of course the most striking example of unbelief in this story is Judas. He has only played a small role in the gospel until now, but he's going to enter the stage in the next chapter. Judas saw every miracle that Jesus did, he heard everything that Jesus had to say, and yet in the end, money was more important to him. He was stealing from their money bag and he ends up betraying Jesus for a price. He gets paid to tell the council where Jesus can be found so that they can arrest him. The last thing I want to comment on here is this ironic statement of Caiaphas. Caiaphas also represents the unbelief and hostility of the Jewish leaders. In the end they will turn Jesus the Messiah over to the Romans for execution. And yet this very act of betrayal results in their potential salvation. By calling for his death, they gave Jesus the opportunity to give his life as a sacrifice for his people. Had they repented and believed his death would cover them too. And the ultimate irony here in John is despite the incredible hostility of the Jewish leadership, Jesus came to be their king. Their hostility will lead to his death, and yet his death is the very thing that brings about the salvation that we all desperately need. In his hostility, Caiaphas was in fact bringing about the salvation of the Jewish people, even though he didn't really understand what he was doing. So as we'll see, the death of Jesus by the will of his unbelieving people is this amazing creative expression of the sovereignty of God. The people of God turn against the one God sent them, but in the very process of turning against him, they bring about the salvation that they most need. They mean his death for their own evil purposes, but God turns around and uses his death to bring the greatest blessing of all. Thank you for listening to Wednesday in the Word, the podcast that explains not only what a passage means, but also shows you how to figure it out. The blog version of this podcast is on wednesdayintheword.com slash John 21. You can hear all the episodes in this series on my website, wednesdayintheword.com, and you can hear many other series there and find lots of Bible study resources. There's no charge, no spam, and no ads. If you've been blessed by this podcast or if you've liked what you heard, please share it with a friend. Subscribe to the podcast, and leave a positive rating or review wherever you listen. Our theme music is graciously provided by Red D Coast. You can find all of Red D's wonderful music on heartfeltmusic.org. Thank you for joining me today. I'm Krisan Marotta and I'll see you next week at Wednesday in the Word.