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Resurrection of the Dead?
(John 11:1-44)
Mari Ikeda
Today we will continue our series on the Gospel of John by reading chapter 11. This chapter is the story of Jesus raising a man named Lazarus from the dead, and it is a long passage that goes from verse 1 to verse 44, so today I will skip some parts of it. The resurrection of the dead is something that is scientifically impossible, and there is no scientific proof that it actually happened. However, the heart of the Christian faith lies in the death and resurrection of Jesus, and we cannot talk about faith in Jesus without mentioning the resurrection of the dead. So today, before we get into the main text, I would like to summarize what the Bible tells us about the resurrection of the dead. I also thought it would be easier to understand the story of Lazarus if I summarized it.
A. What the Bible tells us about the resurrection of the dead
There are three types of resurrections of the dead that the Bible tells us about.
- Miracles performed by Jesus
- The resurrection of Jesus himself
- The resurrection of all people in the last days
First, the Bible records miracles in which Jesus, while alive, resurrected people from the dead. There are three passages in which they are directly recorded, and the most detailed of the three is the Lazarus passage that we will read today. The other two are the story of the daughter of the synagogue leader Jairus in the Gospel of Mark (5:22-43) and the story of the widower son of Nain in the Gospel of Luke (7:11-17). Also, although not directly recorded, there is a passage in which Jesus tells John the Baptist about his ministry, “The dead are being raised to life. (Matthew 11:3,5; Luke 7:19,22) However, all of these people eventually died, so the miracle of resurrection that happened to them was only temporary. So what was the significance of it, we will consider later.
The second of the resurrections of the dead that the Bible tells us about is the most important, the resurrection of Jesus Himself. The Christian church all began when Jesus appeared to His disciples after His resurrection from the death on the cross. Before I came to faith, I did not know if I could believe that Jesus had really risen from the dead. I am sure each of you had your own struggles, and some of you may still be struggling with this. I was able to believe in Jesus’ resurrection on three grounds. The first is the biblical record. The New Testament from the Acts of the Apostles onward records the transformation of the disciples who met the resurrected Jesus. Their testimony of Jesus’ death and resurrection was so powerful that it was hard to believe that it was all a lie. My second rationale is history. The fact that the Christian church has testified to this for two thousand years does not move. Even with the corruption and mistakes of the clergy, I thought it was amazing that people who have devoted their lives to testifying of Jesus’ death and resurrection have not ceased to do so for 2,000 years. My third basis is the people I have actually met in this church. Even though they believed in unscientific things, the people I met in this church were rational and I admired their personalities and their way of life. These three grounds led me to believe that Jesus died and rose again for me as well. But this is just my personal experience. Faith is a relationship between each person and Jesus, and it is a work of the Holy Spirit. God teaches at the best time in a way that each person can understand.
The third teaching of the resurrection of the dead that the Bible conveys is that at the end of the world, which will eventually come, all people will be resurrected to receive judgment. This teaching simultaneously teaches that Jesus will return to this world in visible form at that time. This is called Christian eschatology. No one can be sure about this until it really happens. But this third teaching is connected to the first. The miracles of Jesus’ resurrection from the dead can be understood as a prelude to the resurrection that will take place at the end of the world in the future. This is where the story of Lazarus’ resurrection becomes important.
B. The power of death and Jesus
1. What is the glory of God in resurrecting the dead? (1-6,17)
1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (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.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” 4 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.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, …17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.
Jesus here says that the resurrection of Lazarus is “to the glory of God, and the Son of God will be glorified by it.” According to biblical scholars, when “the glory of God” is mentioned in this Gospel of John, it always refers to Jesus’ death. The reason why Jesus’ death, not his resurrection, is his glory is because his death is a proof of God’s love to sacrifice his life for us. It is also a sign of God’s determination and mercy in forgiving our sins and giving us a way to live together. Therefore, what Jesus wanted to show us through the resurrection of Lazarus was not “Isn’t it wonderful that God has the power to resurrect the dead?” but “Know the love of God who loves and saves sinners.” God’s desire to live with us is so great that He would forgive our sins and raise the dead in exchange for His life, and that is what will actually happen at the end of the world.
Now, Jesus did not leave immediately after receiving the news that Lazarus was in critical condition. Counting the days backward, it would seem that Lazarus was already dead when Jesus received this news. But it seems that Jesus was waiting for Lazarus’ physical death to become certain for all to see. The purpose is to reveal God’s love to people through the miracle of the resurrection of the dead. That seems a bit of a heartless action, considering Lazarus’ suffering and the grief of his sisters. But as we continue, we see that Jesus himself had his own emotional struggles; read verses 32-35.
2. Jesus’ anger and grief over his friend’s death (32-35)
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. 35 Jesus wept.
No matter how much we believe in heaven or in the resurrection on the last day, we are all upset and feel lonely and sad when someone close to us leaves this world. It is a natural human emotion. In this passage, we can see that even Jesus felt the same way. When Jesus saw his sisters weeping and grieving over the death of his close friend Lazarus, he too was upset and wept. I think this is what it means to be human. We have feelings and sometimes our emotions don’t follow what we believe or understand. I think that is okay.
However, here we see not only the emotions of Jesus as a man, but also the emotions of Jesus as God. It is an emotion that is translated in English as “deeply moved” but in Japanese as “indignation. Either way, it means that Jesus’ emotions were violently shaken. What was Jesus’ emotion directed against? The power of death. Death is the power of the devil in that it makes people despair. Jesus was angry that such a power had such control over his loved ones. Jesus did not want us to despair because of the power of death. Therefore, Jesus was crucified and resurrected so that the power of death would not have dominion over us.
We will now move on. This is the last scene, verses 38-44.
C. Resurrection in the future and resurrection here and now
1. Lazarus’ resurrection is what will happen to us in the future (38-44)
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “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.” 40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 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.” 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 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.”
Thus, Jesus brought Lazarus back to life. But it was not because Lazarus was a special friend to Jesus. Lazarus, who came back to life here, did not live forever after this; he eventually died a physical death. So why did Jesus resurrect Lazarus here? Because what Jesus did to Lazarus is what He will do to all of us in the future at the end of the world. At that time, Jesus will come again to this world in visible form, call each of us by name, and resurrect us. That resurrection will not be a resurrection of the spirit, but of the body. That body will be different from the body we have now, but just as Jesus’ hands after his resurrection had nail marks on them, I believe that our bodies after our resurrection will inherit the scars of each person’s memories and struggles before his or her death. We will not be in a state where we do not know who we are. God remembers each of us while our bodies are alive and after we die, and He wants us to live together for eternity.
Now, finally, let’s backtrack our reading a bit and read verses 23-26.
2. Eternal life gained by believing in Jesus (23-26)
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
The life Jesus is referring to here for Martha is not the resurrection at the end of days. Rather, it is eternal life that is given to us by believing in Jesus here and now. I feel like I am always talking about this these days, but to believe in Jesus means to believe in His love. Therefore, when Jesus says, “He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live,” He means, “He who believes in the love of Jesus will never be separated from Him, even though his body perishes, but will live with Him. The words, “He who lives and believes in me will never die,” mean much the same thing. It means that those who live believing in Jesus’ love will be with Him forever, regardless of whether or not their bodies are alive.
Today I have been talking about the resurrection of the dead, but in the end, what is most important is not so much the resurrection of the dead, but knowing the joy of receiving Jesus’ love and living with Him here and now. As an extension of the joy of living with Jesus here and now, there is the hope of resurrection in the last days. The love of Jesus, who forgave our sins and opened the way to live with us in exchange for his life, is poured out to all. Nothing can separate us from that love except our rejection of it. I will end with Paul’s words.
For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:38-39)
(Prayer) Lord Jesus, we believe that You died on the cross and rose again three days later. You are alive today, and You are with each one of us. And you will soon come again to this world. Lord, please help us to always remember that only your love will never perish. And may we love you and serve this world and the people of this world whom you love. May we find hope in you in the midst of our grief at the loss of those closest to us. In Your name, Lord Jesus, we pray.
Summary
The Bible teaches the unscientific idea of the resurrection of the dead, and in fact, the heart of the Christian faith lies in the death and resurrection of Jesus. It also teaches that all people will be resurrected for judgment at the end of the world. While these things cannot be scientifically proven, what God has tried to tell us through them is not “believe in a supernatural power,” but forgiveness of sins and eternal love. That death is no longer the punishment for sin, that even physical death will not separate us from God, and that at the end of the world we will live with Him forever. Such a life of receiving God’s love and loving God is already given here and now, and that is the eternal life that Jesus gives us.
For Discussion
1. How did you come to believe that Jesus was resurrected from the dead?
2. What is the glory of God in resurrecting the dead?