Roll Away the Stone John 11:1-53
Today we have Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. We all know the story, at least on the surface, but what lies underneath? What can this story tell us about our place with God?
Verse 1, “Now a man named Lazarus was sick. ” What an understatement. This man wasn’t just sick; he didn’t have a cold, not even the flu. This man was going to be dead in a short time. This understatement at the beginning of our reading and the ultimate conclusion of events show us that to God nothing is finite.
To us death seems to be pretty finite, and that is why for centuries men have tried to avoid it or conquer it. We must understand that the power of our faith is that death has already been conquered by the power of God through the work of our Lord Christ Jesus.
Paul writes in 2 Colossians 5:1, “For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed we have a building from God.” Is this eternal life given to everyone? In a way, yes; everyone will exist for eternity but only those who trust in Jesus will live in heaven with God.
Jesus tells us in John 10:10, “I have come that they may have life.” and our reading today shows us this. Verse 5, “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister Mary and Lazarus.” They knew Jesus, had a relationship with him and not just a casual relationship like we may have with a co-worker; they knew Jesus intimately. They invited him into their home and lives. They shared with him. They trusted him. They believed in him.
Verse 27, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
This is the relationship Jesus desires with each of us. He doesn’t want us to just give him a passing thought, just look to him during an hour long Sunday service. Jesus wants to be an intimate part of our lives. He wants us to really know him. He wants us to invite him into our homes, our relationships and our lives. Jesus wants us to believe and trust in him. And he wants us to turn to him when we have troubles in our lives.
Our readings verse 6, “So when he heard that Lazarus was sick he stayed where he was two more days.” His friend is dying and Jesus; the one person who can prevent it stays away. Why? What is going on? As we’ll see a couple of things are happening.
Verse 4, “The sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” God has a plan, we may not always understand it but God directs all things. Joseph Tson who faced many evils in Communist Romania said, “This world, with all its evil, is God’s deliberately chosen environment for people to grow their character.”
The death of Lazarus is used to increase the witness’s character and faith. They see the power of God expressed through his son Christ Jesus. John 11:45, “Therefore many who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.”
This event is also used by God to move Jesus onto a non wavering path to the cross. It says “Then one of them named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, ‘You know nothing at all! You do not realize that is better for you that one man die for all the people than the whole nation perish’…From that day on they plotted to take his life.” (John 11:49-50, 53).
This one event glorifies God by the expression of his power. It glorifies the Son as God’s power is manifested through him. And it put Jesus on a direct path to the fulfillment of God’s plan at the cross.
I believe events in the Bible are physical events but that they have a spiritual meaning too. Lazarus is dead. This is the physical event. Verse 39, “…by this time there is a bad odor for he has been in there for four days.” The spiritual meaning is this: men without Christ are dead and covered with the odor of our sin.
Verse 39, “Take away the stone” Jesus through this action and Lazarus subsequent rising show us the truth of John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall nor perish…”
We saw earlier that Lazarus and his sisters believed in who Jesus is. Rolling the stone away is the physical event; and it’s spiritual meaning? Through faith in Jesus as our savior, the stone; the law, has been rolled away like the tomb stone. The law can no longer condemn us to death. As believers we may still fall short but the law can no longer hold us in the grave. God’s mercy and grace given through the work of his son and our belief gives us life. The tomb is no longer our final resting place.
This account of Lazarus shows us a couple of things to keep in our hearts and minds. Jesus loves us as he loves Mary, Martha and Lazarus.
He wants us to turn to him. He wants us to open our homes and our lives to him, not just in times of happiness but also in the painful times. He wants us to turn to him and ask his help when we are going through troubling times.
Jesus wants us to know that God has everything under control even if things don’t go as we plan or on our time table. The fact in our existence is that hard and sad times will happen in this life. Sometimes God lets us go through them so our faith during the hard times will strengthen. Sometimes God lets us go through them because it glorifies him as we show the depth of our faith. And sometimes it’s the difficult and hard times that may be what God uses to catapult you to your destiny in his plan. Romans 8:28, “And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him.”
And last; our reading shows all mankind that without Jesus we are like Lazarus was for four days; cold, dead and trapped in the tomb with the smell of sin. But through faith, trust and belief in Christ; the stone is rolled away, life is given, and we will walk out of the grave. Romans 3:24, “…all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”