You can find the video here: https://www.facebook.com/1415702701879327/videos/748885589275304

John 11:38-53

Now, you don’t think that doing something as wonderful as raising the dead would be bad or looked down upon. But as we are going to read, Jesus raising Lazarus was a turning point for the Pharisees and for the entire Sanhedrin. Let’s see what happens.

John 11:38-53 (NIV) Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said.

“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

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.”

Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”

Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”

He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. So from that day on they plotted to take his life.

Some very interesting things are happening here. And hopefully tomorrow we will get into parts of this story that we normally don’t talk about or study or preach and teach. So before we talk about how things are now shifting for Jesus, Let’s talk once more about a message that has been central in this Gospel account.

Because if we look throughout this Gospel we see God – Jesus – bringing life out of death, the creation of life out of nothing. Throughout His Gospel account John – the beloved disciple – has been telling us how Jesus alone can bring transformation from death into life both physically and spiritually – and there is more than just this – we are called to participate in bringing people back to life – alongside of Jesus.

“Is the raising of Lazarus more than simply the story of one stinking dead man raised to live another day? Does it also illustrate the story of the spiritually dead? Jesus alone can speak the word that brings the dead to life. But Jesus still invites those who witness the transformation that brings the birth from above to participate in the miracle.”

I have never thought about that before, but they are right that Jesus invites the people around Lazarus to help in this bringing him back to life. It’s found in what Jesus says in verse 44.

John 11:44 (NIV) 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.”

Here Lazarus has been dead and buried for four days. Can you imagine what taking off the graveclothes would have been like? Not just the smell but the mess would have been horrible.

Now, some of you may be offended because in your mind when Lazarus walks out of the grave, all because he was being raised by Jesus, you might believe that there wasn’t any decay. Guess what, the Bible doesn’t say that.

When you look at Jesus’ invitation, everyone around was asked to help. So our question is this – do we believe that Jesus still performs resurrections, especially spiritual resurrections?

I believe that today we are invited to help with just that very thing, assisting Jesus with spiritual resurrections among those around us, who are coming from death to life. Those of us who have experienced the transformation can testify to this. What we need to realize is just like taking off Lazarus’ graveclothes, spiritual transformation can be messy. But I’m also reminded that God can that the messiness of life, and make something beautiful out of that mess.