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Well, you can turn with me in 
your Bibles to the book of John as we move our way through John's 
gospel. We're in John chapter 11. the 
death and resurrection of Lazarus. Remember, we've seen the death 
of Lazarus in chapter 11, verses one to 16. And then the second 
section is the dialogue with Martha in verses 17 to 37. And then finally the resurrection 
of Lazarus in 38 to 46. Well, last week we got cut in 
half in terms of the dialogue with Martha. So our text this 
morning will be verses 28 to 37. But I do want to read beginning 
in chapter 11 at verse 17 to remind us of the context. So 
when Jesus came, he found that he had already been in the tomb 
four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, 
about two miles away, and many of the Jews had joined the women 
around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. 
Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and 
met him. But Mary was sitting in the house. 
Now 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 of 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 at the last day. Jesus said to 
her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in 
me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever 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 to come into the world. And when she had said 
these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary, her 
sister, saying, the teacher has come and is calling for you. 
As soon as she heard that, she rose quickly and came to him. 
Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place 
where Martha met him. Then the Jews who were with her 
in the house and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose 
up quickly and went out, followed her saying, she is going to the 
tomb to weep there. Then when Mary came where Jesus 
was and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying to him, Lord, 
if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Therefore, 
when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping, 
he groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And he said, where 
have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come 
and see. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, 
see how he loved him. And some of them said, could 
not this man who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept this 
man from dying? Then Jesus, again groaning in 
himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay 
against it. Jesus said, take away the stone. 
Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, Lord, 
by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days. 
Jesus said to her, did I not say to you that if you would 
believe, you would see the glory of God? Then they took away the 
stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus 
lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you 
have heard me. And I know that you always hear 
me. But because of the people who are standing by, I said this, 
that they may believe that you sent me. And when he had said 
these things, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he who had died came out 
bound hand and foot with grave clothes and his face was wrapped 
with a cloth. Jesus said to them, loose him 
and let him go. Then many of the Jews who had 
come to Mary and had seen the things Jesus did believed in 
him. But some of them went away to 
the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. Amen. Well, 
let us pray. Our gracious God and Holy Father, 
we thank you for your word. We thank you that it's given 
by inspiration of God, that it's profitable to us for doctrine, 
for reproof, for correction, and for instruction in righteousness. And I pray that you give us ears 
to hear and hearts to receive these things, and may the Holy 
Spirit shine the light upon the Lord Jesus Christ, that one who 
came into this world, sinners to save. We see His divinity 
all throughout the Gospel of John. We see it here in this 
God-befitting task of raising a dead man out of the tomb. As 
well, we see that emphasis on His true humanity to cause us 
to reflect upon His glorious person cause us to reflect upon 
the theology that we see in John 1 and John 1.14. That word who is in the beginning 
with God, that word who was God, is the word who became flesh 
and dwelt among us. We thank you for his mission 
into this world to save us from our sins. And again, encourage 
our hearts as well, Father, for any who are dead in their trespasses 
and sins. We pray that the power of the 
Holy Spirit would come and would awaken them, would regenerate 
them, would cause them to see the the glory of Jesus Christ, 
and would grant those graces of faith and repentance, that 
they may close with Him. Forgive us all now for all of 
our sins, and cleanse us in His precious blood, and we pray in 
Jesus' name. Amen. Well, last week when I 
introduced this particular section, I did try and emphasize that 
we see what John writes in John 1, 1 and John 1, 14 is true of 
Jesus by the graveside of Lazarus. We see his ability to raise this 
man from the dead, but we also see a strong emphasis on the 
true humanity of our Lord. It was absolutely crucial that 
our Savior not only be God, but that he also be man. And the 
reality is that if we don't have a man, if he does not assume 
our humanity, then he does not redeem us. And so it is emphasized 
in John's gospel from the outset that the word who was with God, 
the word who was God, became flesh and dwelt among us. In 
theology, we refer to this as the hypostatic union, the two 
natures in the one person. Jesus isn't two people. Jesus 
is one person with two natures, divinity and humanity. And we see the glory of the union 
of those natures in this particular scene. Again, he's not toggling 
between divinity and humanity. He doesn't wake up on a Tuesday 
and say, I'm gonna do God things today. And on Thursday, he wakes 
up and says, I'm gonna do man things today. There is a union 
of the natures in the one person. And we'll see that as we move 
through this particular section. So we have seen the death of 
Lazarus in verses one to 16. We've seen his dialogue with 
Martha. up to verse 28. And with reference 
to that dialogue with Martha, remember that in verses 20 to 
22, she expresses her confidence in our Lord Jesus. She says what 
Mary will say as well, Lord, if you had been here, my brother 
would not have died. So she has that confidence according 
to verse 21. And I think it's a bit of a complaint, 
sort of like you should have been here and he wouldn't have 
died. But she resumes that confidence in verse 22, but even now I know 
that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. And of course, 
Jesus then responds with one of those I am sayings. It's the 
fifth in John's gospel where he says, I am, and then he gives 
a predicate. The I am reminds us of Exodus 
3.14 and the revelation of Yahweh, I am who I am. But Jesus does 
flesh that out in other ways to show something of his identity. 
So notice in verse 23, he says to her, your brother will rise 
again. Well, that was obvious the case in terms of the last 
day. It's a bit of an ambiguous or 
vague saying. So Martha responds in terms of 
what she understands. She says in verse 24, I know 
that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 
She doesn't have John's gospel. She doesn't know that her dead, 
stinking brother is going to exit the grave. She doesn't know 
that Jesus is going to stand at the grave and say, come forth 
to Lazarus. So as far as she's concerned, 
the fact that Lazarus is going to rise again, of course she 
affirms that at the last day. So it's here that Jesus says, 
I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, 
though he may die, he shall live. Physical death has its limitation. You may go into the grave, but 
you pass into the presence of God most high. And then the blessing 
of spiritual life is evidenced in verse 26. And whoever lives 
and believes in me shall never die. So Jesus fleshes out here 
what he teaches in John 10. My sheep are secured. There is 
none who can pluck them out of the hands of the Father or out 
of the hand of the Son. They have a security in and through 
our Lord Jesus Christ. And then it's here in his dealings 
with Martha that he gets real personal. He does what people 
aren't supposed to do in civil society. You don't ask anybody 
about their politics, and you certainly don't ask them about 
their religion. But after making this declaration that he is the 
resurrection and the life, and then explaining the significance 
of that statement, he says, do you believe this? He doesn't 
just want this sort of theology out there. He wants you to appropriate 
it. He wants you to receive it. He 
wants you to believe that he is, in fact, Jesus, the Christ, 
the Son of God, and that believing in him, you will have everlasting 
life. Remember, this is what makes Jesus glad. Go back in 
the context to John 11. specifically at verse 14, then 
Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your 
sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless, 
let us go to him again. So it's gladness to Jesus that 
these men believe that he is who he says he is. And so we 
see him press her conscience in terms of this belief in who 
he is, and she responds in the affirmative. She responds correctly. If you're wondering today, what's 
the right response? What's the right answer? If somebody 
were to ask me, do you believe this? The right answer is verse 
27. Yes, Lord, I believe that you 
are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world. 
If you remember John's purpose in writing the gospel, John 20, 
30 to 31 emphasizes the same thing. And truly Jesus did many 
other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not 
written in this book, but these are written that you may believe 
that Jesus is the Christ, the son of God, and that believing 
in him, you may have eternal life. So what we find here is 
consistent through and through. We need to understand who Jesus 
is, and we need to believe on Jesus for our salvation. for our forgiveness of sins, 
and so that we'll receive the righteousness that He did, and 
that we then can be clothed in that righteousness and enter 
into the presence of God. So back to our text, we'll pick 
up in terms of the interaction with Mary. So Martha has had 
her dealings with Jesus, and now she comes back and tells 
Mary, so Mary quickly goes to see Jesus as well. And there's 
three things that we're going to consider here. First, the 
complaint of Mary in verses 28 to 32. Secondly, the true humanity 
of the Lord in verses 33 to 36. And then finally, the question 
of the Jews in verse 37. I love what Calvin says concerning 
this particular passage. We know, because we've read it, 
John 11, in fact, I just read it again, we know that Lazarus 
is going to be raised. We know that this man who's been 
in the tomb for four days and he stinks or he has this stench, 
he's going to come forth. Calvin makes the observation 
There were others whom Christ had raised from the dead, and 
there were. Jairus' daughter, according to Matthew 9, and then 
a widow's son in that town of Nain in Luke chapter 7. So he 
says, there were others whom Christ had raised from the dead, 
but he now displays his power on a rotting corpse. He now displays 
his power on a rotting corpse. But in this particular section 
where he deals with Mary, we see the aspect of his true humanity 
in full display. So let's look at this complaint 
of Mary, verses 28 to 32. Verse 28, when she had said these 
things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister 
saying, The teacher has come and is calling for you. Notice 
Mary's response. She doesn't just sit back and 
have another coffee. She gets up quickly to go and 
meet with Jesus. Jesus had not yet come to their 
particular house. Jesus was a little bit away. 
That's where he dialogue with Martha. And that's now where 
Mary goes to in order to see the son of man, to see the son 
of God, to see the one that was a lover of her family and certainly 
a friend to their family. Remember, it was about two miles 
away from Jerusalem. It's a small town called Bethany. 
There's a lot of Jews there. Shows or indicates that this 
family had some prominence. They were somewhat not famous, 
but they were certainly well-liked and well-loved and well-appreciated. 
And so for about seven days after the death of a human, you'd bury 
him on that day, and then people would come. They'd express their 
condolences. They'd bring their food. They 
would bring things to you to comfort you at this time. So 
that's the scene back at the house. Jesus is removed from 
the house, so now Mary goes to see Jesus where he is. And then 
notice what we find in terms of the Jews. They suppose that 
Mary is simply going to the tomb. It would have been close to the 
house, so they assume that she's just going to weep or grieve 
there. Again, it's all sort of like what we'd experience in 
our own day. You have a particular protocol 
that you follow when persons die, and you have a funeral, 
and you have some time for comfort and condolences. Same sort of 
thing is going on here. So notice in verse 29, as soon 
as she had heard that, she arose quickly and came to him. Now 
Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where 
Martha met him. Then the Jews who were with her 
in the house and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose 
up quickly and went out, followed her saying, she is going to the 
tomb to weep there. So this is the scene, this is 
the situation. She now finds Jesus and look 
at how she responds. She shows reverence. Again, her 
and Martha know truth about Jesus. I don't think they know all truth 
about Jesus at this point. Neither did his disciples. Jesus 
would say on occasion, have you been with me this long and you 
still don't understand? So there was that sort of gentle 
chiding on behalf of the Savior relative to the disciples. We 
can't fault these people. We can't say, oh, how dare they 
didn't know that. They didn't have John's gospel. 
And here they are with a man who is claiming to be God. And 
these are monotheistic Jews. They are taught that Yahweh is 
supreme, that Yahweh is glorious. Now they miss the fact that Yahweh 
was indeed one living and true God who exists eternally in three 
persons. The Old Testament teaches that 
as well. As Warfield says, the New Testament basically shines 
the light upon a house, or a room rather, that already had the 
furniture there. You know the furniture is there, 
Old Testament, triune God, but it's the light of the New Testament 
that really demonstrates it, it really evidences. Though in 
the past, in the Old Testament, you do see it, especially when 
you've got that New Testament mindset and you read back into 
the Old Testament. So Mary comes and falls at the 
feet of Jesus, and she engages in a similar complaint that Martha 
offered up. So notice in verse 32, then when 
Mary came where Jesus was and saw him. She fell down at his 
feet saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother 
would not have died. Why would she fall down at his 
feet? She obviously saw something unique in our Lord Jesus Christ. She obviously saw something powerful 
in our Lord Jesus Christ. Just like Martha, Lord, if you 
would have been here, my brother would not have died. Did they 
have a fully robust Nicene Creed understanding of who Jesus is? No. But they are making their 
way to that particular point. They are inching forward by the 
grace and power of our Savior through the ministry of the Holy 
Spirit. So she comes and falls at His feet. One commentator 
says, with her words she indirectly rebukes Him, yet by her actions 
she overtly worships Him. Brethren, you may have good friends 
and you may be looked up to by those friends, but I would highly 
doubt any of your friends ever fell down at your feet in your 
presence. That just doesn't happen to us. It doesn't happen to those who 
do not have the union of natures in the one person. But for Christ, 
who was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was 
God, and Christ, who is the Word, who took on our humanity and 
dwelt among us, it is symptomatic that when persons understand 
at least a bit of that, they worship Him, they glorify Him, 
and they adore Him. But when she makes this statement, 
she shows, again, a bit of a complaint, I think. I don't wanna be harsh 
on her. Again, she's sad, her brother's dead, he's smelling 
in a tomb, and she's certainly out of her norm in terms of life 
and routine. So Mary comes and falls down 
at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother 
would not have died. So she, again, recognizes something 
unique about his person. Had Jesus been here, Lazarus 
wouldn't have died, just like what Martha said. As well, a 
bit of a complaint about his absence. If you'd have been here, 
I think the implication is you should have been here. You love 
us. We know that. Because according 
to John 11, 3, they send a report to where Jesus is. He's up in 
the region of Bethabara. He's up in the region past the 
Transjordan. They send a report there. And 
then we read that Jesus, after having received the report, tarried 
for two days. Why? Because the purpose of this 
passage isn't first and foremost the resurrection of Lazarus from 
the dead. It is rather the demonstration 
of the glory of God, the demonstration of the glory of God the Son. 
And that's what Jesus explains in John 11 at verse 4. Notice, 
this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that 
the Son of God may be glorified through it. Now, Jesus loved 
Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was 
sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was. Remember 
way back when, when we considered that passage, it was actually 
only a couple of weeks ago, but way back when, we look at a verse 
six and we say, well, that's not right. Staying two more days, 
making sure the brother is dead, that gives demonstration or evidence 
that maybe he doesn't love. We let providence and the bad 
parts of providence govern what is true of God. This is why John 
reminds us in verse 5 that Jesus loved the family. The love of 
God is supposed to govern the providence of God as we understand 
it. In other words, bad things don't 
happen to us because God hates us. Bad things don't happen to 
us because God's abandoned us. Bad things don't happen to us 
because God delights in doing bad things to us. He loves us. That's the settled proposition. That's the settled axiom. That's 
the settled truth. And when you understand that, 
it makes difficult providence even easier to accept, or easier 
to accept. When we know that whatever my 
God ordains is right, when we know that whatever happens in 
the life of God's people, God works for good to those who love 
God and to those who are the called according to His purpose. 
So yes, they have pain. Yes, they have emotional distress. 
But yes, they are in the presence of God most high. So they have 
this incomplete understanding as well of his identity. If he'd 
have been here, he wouldn't have died. Well, brethren, isn't it 
blessed that that's not necessarily the case? I mean, Jesus isn't 
physically present with us, but we receive His blessing. If you 
come to believe on Him today, your soul will be healed. You'll be raised from the dead. 
You'll be brought out of the tomb of sin and misery and darkness 
and despair. Well, Jesus isn't physically 
present. but he is omnipresent by virtue 
of the fact that in the beginning was the Word, the Word was with 
God and the Word was God. So they thought that Jesus had 
to be physically present in order for Jesus to do something. And 
if you have that in your mind, Jesus has to be physically present 
or I'm just not gonna make it to heaven. No, he's enthroned 
at the right hand of God most high and everyone who looks to 
him in faith will have everlasting life. It is a most blessed promise 
that we find in the Bible. And then as well, I think she's 
misunderstood that purpose behind the glory of God and the glory 
of the Son of God. Now let's look at the true humanity 
of the Lord in verses 33 to 36. Notice His outrage at the situation 
in verses 33 and 34, and then His grief over the situation 
in verses 35 and 36. Notice in verse 33 the particular 
scene according to the first part. Therefore when Jesus saw 
her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping. So that's 
the scene. They're sad people. They're emotionally 
distraught people. This isn't a tough passage to 
preach in terms of do you really get it? Of course we get it. 
We've all lost loved ones. We've all gone to funerals. We've 
all attended those scenes of grief and hardship and misery 
and pain. So the Lord Jesus is there. The 
Lord Jesus witnesses this. The Lord Jesus sees this. And 
then John tells us how the Lord Jesus responded to this. And 
again, in terms of his true humanity. Notice what our text says in 
this English translation. That's a curious turn of phrase 
to use for the Son of God. What does it mean? Well, this particular language, 
I think, calls us back to consider John 1.14. The Word became flesh 
and dwelt among us. See, according to His divinity, 
God doesn't have any emotional flux. There's no state of God 
wherein he either increases or decreases. God doesn't wake up 
on Wednesday morning and say, you know, Justin Trudeau's been 
a bad prime minister. I'm particularly unhappy with 
him today. That's not true of God. That's 
not indicative of God. God is unchanging. God is immutable. God is impassable. There's no 
flux in God. So when the text tells us that 
Jesus groaned in His spirit and that Jesus was troubled in His 
spirit, it is certainly reminiscent of or demonstrating what John 
1.14 says, the Word became flesh. Not kind of flesh, not just a 
little bit of flesh, not he sort of looked like flesh, but he 
actually assumed our humanity, according to our confession of 
faith, rightly interpreting the Bible, with all the essential 
properties of, and common infirmities of, and yet without sin. So everything 
that is true of us as men and women was true of Jesus, and 
yet without sin. So when he looks at this scene 
of weeping Jews, and he looks at this scene of a weeping Mary, 
he's groaned in the Spirit, and he's troubled. But this groaning in the spirit 
is an interesting term to use. The word literally means one 
of two things. It means an expression, or I'm 
sorry, I'll read the second one first. To feel strongly about 
something, to be deeply moved. That's how I think this English 
translation goes, and yours as well. I'm pretty sure, unless 
anybody here has the Holman Christian Standard Bible, this is the way 
your translation reads. He's groaned in the spirit. He's 
troubled. There's a state of flux or something 
going on in his heart. Now, the other sort of definition 
for this is an expression of anger and displeasure in. Anger and displeasure. And what 
would he be angry about? What is it that he would have 
displeasure over at the gravesite of Lazarus? One man makes this 
observation in extra biblical Greek, that means Greek used 
outside the New Testament. It can refer this word to the 
snorting of horses. And when applied to human beings, 
it suggests anger, outrage, and indignation. In fact, German 
translations, probably one of us could affirm this, following 
Martin Luther typically goes in this direction. In fact, this 
is the way it goes. He was angry in the spirit and 
distressed. Now, before we get up in arms 
and say, well, that's not really good. This isn't a particular 
scene where one would be angry or have displeasure in his heart. We need to understand that according 
to the Bible, Jesus was angry on a couple of occasions. Anger 
in and of itself isn't necessarily sin. Psalm 711, God is angry 
with the wicked every day. So there is a way, in fact Paul 
repeats this in Ephesians 4, be angry and do not sin. It's 
not a command, go out and be angry, but just don't sin. But 
it's a command not to sin if you are in anger. So anger, in 
and of itself, isn't bad. It's not expressive of bad humanity. In fact, consider Mark 3. This is a bit of a Sabbath war. 
It says, Jesus looked around at them, the Pharisees and the 
scribes, whining and grumbling because Jesus was going to heal 
a man on the Sabbath. It says, when he had looked around 
at them with anger, being grieved by the hardness of their hearts, 
he said to the man, stretch out your hand. Nothing wrong with 
that expression of anger, is there? Or in John 2, 13 to 16, 
now when the Passover, now the Passover of the Jews was at hand 
and Jesus went up to Jerusalem and he found in the temple those 
who sold oxen and sheep and doves and the money changers doing 
business. When he had made a whip of cords, he drove them all out 
of the temple with the sheep and the oxen and poured out the 
changers' money and overturned the tables. And he said to those 
who sold doves, take these things away, do not make my father's 
house a house of merchandise. I doubt he was smiling Jesus 
while he did this, you know, a big grin on his face while 
he's driving out these beasts, while he's reproving these money 
makers outside the temple. This was anger. So going back 
to the text, you'll probably understand I favor the fact that 
he was angry, that there was this displeasure. Then we ask 
the question, what's he angry about? Well, some suggest he's 
angry at the prevailing unbelief expressed by the Jews and to 
a degree expressed by Mary and Martha. Look, Lord, if you'd 
have been here, my brother wouldn't have died. So, you know, he's 
angry about that response. I don't need to be present in 
order for your husband to live. Some suggest that's the direction 
of his anger. I don't think so. I think it's 
an expression of anger and displeasure at the reality of sin. And the 
reality that sin always brings what? Sickness and death. Doesn't Paul teach that in Romans 
6? The wages of sin is death. The 
anger of the Lord isn't directed at these individuals. The anger 
of the Lord, according to His humanity, is living in a sin-cursed 
world and seeing the ravages and the plundering that is wrought 
by Satan and sin and depravity. This evokes from him this anger, 
this expression of displeasure, as he looks at a scene wherein 
people should be happy. People should be celebrating 
not the death of their brother, but the life of the brother. 
What ultimately puts Lazarus into the tomb? The wages of sin 
is death. Christ has this evocation of 
anger and displeasure at the reality of the sin that he sees. B.B. Warfield said, the spectacle 
of the distress of Mary and her companions enraged Jesus because 
it brought poignantly home to his consciousness the evil of 
death. So brethren, again, far from 
us going, oh, that seems unbecoming of our blessed Lord. That is 
perfectly becoming of our blessed Lord. Unless He assumes our humanity 
with all the essential properties and the common infirmities thereof, 
and yet without sin, we don't get redemption. The Father said, 
whatever is not assumed is not healed. Whatever is not assumed 
is not redeemed. If He doesn't take on our humanity 
with all the essential properties, then we're dead in our trespasses 
and sins. Notice as well what we find in 
this particular passage. Look at verse 34. And He said, 
Where have you laid Him? Huh! He's going to engage in 
the God-befitting task of calling a rotted corpse out of a tomb, 
and it's going to live. He doesn't know where the grave 
is? He doesn't know where the tomb 
is? He can't take a guess and, you know, meander that way. What's 
John showing us? John's showing us John 1, 14. The Word became flesh and dwelt 
among us. What is true of flesh is true 
of Jesus, and yet without sin. This is the foundation of our 
rest in the Savior, that He's both God and man. If He's not 
man, He doesn't redeem us. If He's kind of man, He doesn't 
redeem us. If He's sort of man, He doesn't 
redeem us. Where have you laid him? It underscores 
the true humanity. Even though he's going to raise 
him from the dead, he says this language to them. So that's the 
outrage of the situation. Now notice his grief. He was 
grieving, and I would suggest it's over the same thing. It's 
not grieving at the emotional distress that Mary and Martha 
are undergoing. He knows what he's going to do. 
He knows that he's going to raise Lazarus from the dead. He's already 
announced that to the disciples. Our friend Lazarus is dead. And 
I'm glad I wasn't there for your sake, so that you'll believe. 
Nevertheless, let us go. He knows what he's going to do. 
And again, it's not toggle switch theology. Is he God here or is 
he man? He's God and man, the union of natures, in the one 
person. That's what's so amazing about 
our Savior. He is the unique link between 
heaven and earth because He's God and man, two natures, one 
person. So notice the grief. We always 
look at verse 35 and we say, that's the shortest verse in 
the Bible. And we're right. But it evidences much more than 
being the shortest verse in the Bible. It says that Jesus wept. Again, the Bible uses that kind 
of language about God, but it's what's called anthropopathic. 
I don't want to bog anybody down in a heavy theological enterprise, 
but you really should know this. Most of you, if you've been in 
churches, know what an anthropomorphism is. It's when we say something 
about God in human terms. God has a mighty right hand. 
No, he doesn't. He's spirit. He doesn't have 
a body like man. The eyes of the Lord run to and 
fro throughout all the earth. No, he doesn't. He's a spirit. 
Spirit doesn't have eyes, and they certainly don't run to and 
fro throughout the earth. So what are the Old Testament 
authors doing? They're predicating something of God using a creaturely 
analogy. Well, the Old Testament does 
that. It tells us that God was grieved that He had made man. 
But if you think about grief, it suggests the movement from 
one state to another. That's not true of God. He's 
immutable. He's impassable. He doesn't get 
better at being God, and He doesn't get worse at being God. He's 
always the same. So this weeping of Jesus demonstrates 
once again the true humanity of our Lord. He's already expressed 
this anger and displeasure at the effect of sin and sickness 
and death. He's already asked, where have 
you laid him? To demonstrate that true humanity. And now in these two small words, 
it says, Jesus wept. Again, he's not weeping over 
the unbelief of these Jews. He's not weeping over the unbelief 
of Mary and Martha. He's not weeping over the fact 
that Lazarus is dead because he's going to call Lazarus forth 
from death. He's weeping over the fact that 
he lives in a sin-cursed world and it's gone amok. Now, brethren, 
I don't want to get too far afield here, but we can kind of understand, 
can't we? When you see death, when you 
see the abuses of persons, when you see the sins of men, when 
you see the vileness and the wretchedness and the wickedness 
of the world before us, the psalmist says that the heavens declare 
the righteousness of God. One man is well said, but the 
streets display the wickedness of man. And he's bang on. You live in a world that is corrupt 
when you live in a world that has gone astray. When you live 
in a world that is in chaos, you say with the psalmist sometime, 
rivers of water run down from my eyes because men don't keep 
your law. And if we, as unholy men and 
women, redeemed by Christ and hopefully growing in holiness, 
are affected, and it grieves us to consider abortion, or it 
grieves us to consider child mutilation, or it grieves us 
to consider euthanasia, what do you think it did to the one 
who was holy, harmless, and undefiled? the one who actually leaves the 
throne room above and enters into this world of sin and depravity 
and wretchedness and lawlessness and the effects of that vis-a-vis 
sickness and death. Of course Jesus weeps. That is 
absolutely positively the proper response when you're facing such 
a particular situation. That ought not to shock anybody. 
It ought to cause us to stand in awe that the Word became flesh 
and dwelt among us. The Word became flesh and dwelt 
among us." Who's that Word? He's the Word that was in the 
beginning. The Word who was with God and the Word who was God. 
He took on our humanity with all of its essential properties 
and the common infirmities thereof and yet without sin. Why? so 
that He can obey the law for us, so that He can die as a satisfaction 
on the cross for us, so that He can be raised again the third 
day, so that anyone, everyone who looks to Him in faith will 
have everlasting life. See, we're not just saved by 
the death of Christ, though we certainly need that. We need 
His precious blood to cleanse us. We need His blood to wash 
us. We need to know experientially 
what the hymn writer said. The sinners plunge beneath that 
flood, that flood of blood drawn from Emmanuel's veins. Sinners 
plunge beneath that flood, do what? They lose all their guilty 
stains. We need that. John's announced 
that in John 1.29, behold the Lamb of God who takes away the 
sin of the world. But something else that John 
tells us that Jesus did was he obeyed God every step of the 
way. Have you ever in your life said, 
my meat, my food, is to do the will of him who sent me? Got 
to admit, brethren, I haven't. I know that's what I should be 
doing. I know that's what should, you 
know, sort of evidence my life. I know that I should be sort 
of wholly consecrated and all that, but I'm a wretch, saved 
by grace, just like you are. But all throughout John's gospel, 
you see this emphasis on Jesus always doing what is pleasing 
to the Father, always obeying what the Father gave him to do. 
Why? Because we need his death, cleansing 
through his blood, but we need his life. We not only need to 
be cleansed from our unrighteousness, we need to be clothed with His 
righteousness. And that's what Jesus does. That's 
why it was requisite that the mediator be both God and man, 
two natures, in one person. So Jesus wept at the scene that 
sin and sickness and death had evoked from these people. And 
then notice this demonstrates the love of Jesus for the family, 
the love of Jesus specifically for Lazarus. It says that Jesus 
rather wept than the Jews said, see how he loved him. Again, 
they're not doing the theology of a John 1 14 and kind of reading 
the prologue into this scene. They're just saying what's obvious, 
right? Verse three was true. They sent 
for Jesus in Bethabara because he loved them. That's another 
good sort of indication for us on how we approach God in prayer, 
how we approach God when it comes to dark providences and difficulties 
in our lives. We don't negate that God loves 
us. We don't call into question God's 
love for us. We don't say, Lord, if you'd 
just get off your throne and intervene, then these bad things 
wouldn't have happened to me. No, the love of Christ is demonstrable 
throughout this entire event. The love that Jesus has for Martha 
and Mary and for Lazarus is evident. And it's revealed here at the 
graveside as Jesus is angry and displeased at what's going on 
as a result of sin. And it is evidenced by the fact 
that he weeps over this scenario. And then notice finally, with 
reference to the question of the Jews, verse 37. Some of them said, and I don't 
think it was probably as kind-hearted as the sisters in 21 and 32. 
21 and 32. Yes, I think that's where 
we are. Notice what they say in verse 
37. Some of them said, could not 
this man who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept this 
man from dying? So there's a bit of similarity, 
they say, with the sisters. Lord, if you had been here, he 
wouldn't have died. Couldn't this man, couldn't he 
have spared him? Notice the knowledge that these 
Jews had of John 9. See, the Bible isn't a random 
collection of thoughts just sort of thrown together. There's coherence. 
It builds upon itself. You see in John 9, the healing 
of this man born blind. You see in John 10, connected 
to John 9, Jesus' indictment of the religious leaders who 
are thieves and robbers, just like the thieves and robbers 
that kicked the blind man that had been healed out of the synagogue. And here we are in John chapter 
11 and all these Jews from the city of Jerusalem are in Bethany. 
They understand what Jesus had done. Again, you see why the 
religious leadership despised him. You see why they hated him 
because it wasn't done in a vacuum. He didn't do this in one small 
corner. The word was out. How do we stop 
this? How do we kill this momentum? 
How do we destroy him? I mean, that's how chapter 11 
finishes and ends. It finishes and ends with the 
discussion in the Sanhedrin on how to neutralize the threat. 
Chapter 12 tells us that they're at the point that they actually 
want to kill Lazarus. Why? Because Lazarus is a walking 
illustration of the power of Jesus. He had been dead four 
days. He stunk. That was the caution. Lord, if we roll away the stone, 
there's going to be a stench. And so they want to exterminate 
Lazarus. That's the degree to which they 
hate the Son of God. They despise this. So the knowledge 
of Christ is out there. They can't suppress it. They 
can't hide it. They can't keep it down. So these 
men, these Jews that were visiting this particular funeral, they 
said, could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind 
also have kept this man from dying? Well, God willing, next 
Sunday morning we'll come to the actual resurrection of Lazarus 
from the tomb by the one who asked, where have you laid him? 
By the one who was angry in his spirit and was displeased at 
the scene, and by the one who wept. The one who evidences his 
true humanity is also the one who demonstrates his divinity. His power, His glory, the God-befitting 
task of the resurrection of the dead. So in conclusion this morning, 
just a couple of thoughts. First, the faith of the sisters. 
If it sounded like I was picking on them, I'm not. As I said, 
the disciples themselves heard from Jesus on more than one occasion. 
Have you been with me so long and you still don't understand 
what I'm talking about? So there was this movement. God's unchangeable. He's immutable and impassable. 
That's not true of us, right? And even it's not true the humanity 
of Jesus. What do we read in Luke's gospel? 
As a boy, he increased in knowledge. He increased in wisdom. He increased 
in stature. When you read something of that 
predicated to our Lord, you have to think of his true humanity. 
God doesn't increase in knowledge. God doesn't increase in wisdom. There's no growth in God from 
one state to another. So when it comes to these sisters, 
they evidence great faith in this particular passage. In the 
first place, they both recognized his power. They both recognized 
his power. Going back to the illustration 
I used earlier, you've got friends, you've got family that probably 
love you and esteem you, but they don't fall down at your 
feet. Neither do they actually think that if you were present 
at the death of their brother, he couldn't have died or wouldn't 
have died. It just doesn't happen, brethren. We don't possess that 
power. We've given no evidence, no indication. We've never healed 
somebody that was born blind and made him to see. It's just 
not true of us. So they recognize something of his power. But as 
well, there was the confession of his identity, and that's verse 
27. She said to him on the heels 
of his question, do you believe this? Yes, Lord, I believe that 
you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the 
world. That is the best confession a 
sinner ever makes. Just trust me on that, okay? 
There's no better confession than that. If you robbed a bank 
and you went to the RCMP today and you said, I did it, I'd commend 
you. Good on you. You should turn 
yourself in, robber. But if you confess that Jesus 
is the Christ, the Son of God, that is blessedness. That is the expression of faith 
and the one in whom alone there is forgiveness and there is a 
righteousness. But then with reference to the 
faith of the sisters, they not only had confidence in his power, 
they not only confessed his glorious identity, they worshiped him 
consistently with that divinity. She worshiped. She bowed at his 
feet. And notice there's no rebuke 
from our Lord. You'll find that. John, for instance, 
Book of Revelation that we've been reading from. When John 
wants to bow to an angel, what does the angel say? Yeah, go 
ahead and bring me the worship. Because I'm an angel and I deserve... 
Don't do that. I'm a fellow servant with the 
prophets and the apostles. Don't you dare bow to me. Show 
me one place in Scripture where Jesus denies that, where Jesus 
deflects that, where Jesus says, no, don't bow, no, don't worship, 
no, don't confess me, Lord. He doesn't do that. Why? Because 
he's glad when sinners like you and I believe. That's what he 
says. As well, we've got the security 
of the believer, and this taps into the previous section in 
verses 25 and 26. The limitation of physical death 
for the believer. He who believes in me, though 
he may die, he shall live. See, brethren, there's this idea 
out there that we're always terrified of death. We shouldn't be terrified 
of death. Now, the particular manner by 
which we exit, that might bring a little anxiety to us, bullet 
in the head, Mack truck on the road, bad food to the point where 
I choke, or I get poisoned, and I'm gone. There's a lot of ways, 
nasty ways, that people can leave the earth. Believing of the earth 
thing shouldn't bother the people of God. Though he dies, he shall 
live. Though he dies, he passes through 
that, as it were, a portal into the very presence of God Most 
High. Paul says that in 2 Corinthians 
5. He says to be absent from the body is to be what? Present 
with the Lord. He tells the Philippians in Philippians 
1.23, I'm hard-pressed between the two. If I live, then that 
means fruit from my labor with reference to people like you. 
But if I die, that's far more better. He eats it up. He says 
it like that. Far more better. It's the best 
that you can imagine. This on the heels of his statement 
in Philippians 121, for to me to live is Christ and to die 
is gain. What can that possibly mean? 
It means that while I'm alive, I have communion with Christ. 
If I pass through death, I have more communion with Christ. As 
one has said, and I've imitated him, how do you deal with a Paul? How do you punish a Paul? Paul, 
we're going to leave you alive. Okay, I'll keep preaching the 
gospel. Paul, we're going to feed you 
to the lions. Okay, I'll get to pass into the presence of 
the Savior. You can't take Christ away from Paul and you can't 
take Paul away from Christ. It's the beauty of the gospel. 
Do you believe this? It's not just for this week. 
It's not just for a few months. It's not just benefit for 2023. You believe on the Lord Jesus 
Christ and you are saved. That's what the Bible tells us 
so very clearly. eternal benefit of spiritual 
life for the believer. And whoever lives and believes 
in me shall never die. And the appropriation of this, 
this blessing or these blessings, is by faith alone. Jesus underscores 
that in verses 25 to 26. He who believes, and then he 
says again, and believes in me. Faith in Christ is the means 
by which we receive the benefits wrought by Christ. It's not your 
works. It's not your performance. It's 
not your merit. It's not your law-keeping. It's 
Christ's works. It's Christ's performance. It's 
Christ's merits. It's Christ's law-keeping. What 
does faith do? It accesses that by God's grace. Now, that doesn't mean once you, 
by grace, believe on Him, just go live however you want. No, 
of course, you're going to be conformed to His image. Of course, 
you love him and keep his commandments. Of course, you're going to follow 
in his heels. You're going to do those things 
that are pleasing to him. Not because you're trying to earn 
your salvation, but because you've been saved by grace and you want 
to follow the master. It is a most blessed thing. And 
then finally, with reference to the glory of the Savior, you 
have the divinity all throughout this particular passage. His 
perfections are displayed. He knew what was going on with 
Lazarus, In Bethany, well, he was up in Bethabara. He knew 
exactly what was going on. How did he know that? They didn't 
have texts. They didn't have, you know, carrier 
pigeons. He wasn't getting alerted, you 
know, every step of the way. Well, Lazarus is getting close 
to the end. He knew that because he's God, right? In the beginning 
was the Word. The Word was with God and the 
Word was God. God knows all things. He's omniscient. 
That's a blessed thing about God. But as well, his omnipotence. If you and I go to the cemetery 
today and we look at all those tombs and we tell people in there, 
come forth, nothing's going to happen. It's just not gonna happen. But if Jesus looks at the tomb 
and says, come forth, guess what happens? The one issuing the 
command has the power to enable that person to comply with the 
command. It is glorious what you see displayed 
when Jesus calls this man forth. And then the confession declared, 
you are the Christ, the Son of God. Now, brethren, in John's 
gospel, when she confesses that, it's consistent with John's gospel. 
He's the Son of God uniquely. He is the only begotten Son of 
God. He is the Son of God by nature, 
not just the Son of God by creation. He's not the Son of God by sort 
of adoption. The way we are, we're created 
and we're adopted into the family of God. The fact that John says 
he's the only begotten of the Father underscores the uniqueness 
of our blessed Savior. He is the Son of God by nature. So when she confesses that, she 
confesses a great deal of wonderful theology. The humanity of the 
Savior is on full display at this gravesite. Notice his love 
for the family. Well, that would be true of him 
as God as well, but his concern for the sinner. Do you believe 
this? Verse 26. Again, if he's talking 
there as God, it's odd, right? If he's talking there as a man 
that understands the sinner's plight and knows the answer in 
terms of the remedy, it makes perfect sense. See, as Christians, 
we really do probably should have more of a desire that people 
hear the gospel, right? I mean, usually when we have 
a prayer meeting on Sunday morning, that's one of the things we pray 
for. God, send the Holy Spirit, bless the preacher. It's not 
because the preacher's something special. It's precisely because 
he's not something special that we invoke the presence and the 
power of the Holy Spirit. Because if it's all about a man 
preaching a particular way and trying to persuade sinners, nothing's 
going to happen. That's why we pray, God, send 
forth the Holy Spirit. And not only upon the preacher, 
but God, send forth the Holy Spirit upon the hearer. so that 
they're not thinking about their work meeting tomorrow. They're 
not thinking that the chili's burning at home right now. They're 
not thinking about all these other things. Send the Spirit 
so they listen to the voice of Christ as it comes to them through 
the scripture, and that they receive it in a very particular 
way. That they will, as it were, identify with Martha for one 
brief moment as Jesus points his finger and says, do you believe 
this? And then ask themselves, do I 
believe this? Can I confess that Jesus is the 
Christ, the Son of God, and that confessing that, believing that, 
I'll have life in his name? So you see the glorious humanity 
of Jesus in his concern for sinners. That scene where he heals the 
dead boy in name. Jesus comes into the city of 
name and he feels compassion. Why? Because there's been a death 
in the family. Now I'm not trying to minimize 
any death in our families, but a death in the family, especially 
for a widow who lost her son, that is problems compounded. That is problems exponential. Most likely her livelihood depended 
on the son that's dead. And now Jesus comes into this 
city and there's the dead boy in the coffin and Jesus feels 
compassion. It is glorious and it is wondrous. We see the identification with 
our humanity. His anger and outrage over sin, 
sickness, and death. His tears over sin, sickness, 
and death. The Westminster Larger Catechism 
asks the question. It asks two questions, but we're 
running out of time, so I don't wanna deal with both. Number 
38 is, why was it requisite? Kids, that simply means, why 
was it required? Why was it necessary for? or 
that the mediator should be God. Nah, it's not too long, I'll 
read it. It was requisite that the mediator should be God, that 
he might sustain and keep the human nature from sinking under 
the infinite wrath of God and the power of death, give worth 
and efficacy to his sufferings, obedience, and intercession, 
and to satisfy God's justice, procure his favor, purchase a 
peculiar people, give his spirit to them, conquer all their enemies, 
and bring them to everlasting salvation. That's why it's required 
that the mediator be God. But why was it requisite that 
the mediator should be man? It was requisite that the mediator 
should be man, that he might advance our nature, perform obedience 
to the law, suffer and make intercession for us in our nature, have a 
fellow feeling of our infirmities, that we might receive the adoption 
of sons and have comfort and access with boldness unto the 
throne of grace. So, in other words, God provided 
exactly what we needed. A mass of guilty, vile, helpless 
sinners? What's the answer? Self-help? Moral reformation? Do goodery 
feel goodery? No. The Word became flesh and 
dwelt among us. I've often cited the Nicene Creed 
as we've moved through John's Gospel, because I think the Nicene 
Creed gets John's Gospel right at the level of the divinity 
of the Savior. But it also gets it right at 
the level of the humanity of the Savior. So after waxing eloquent 
and biblical on the fact that Jesus is the only begotten Son, 
God from God, light from light, true God from true God, the same 
substance, the same being with the Father through whom all things 
were made, It then goes on to say, who, this same Jesus, the 
Word, who for us men and for our salvation came down from 
heaven, and was incarnate by the Holy Spirit of the Virgin 
Mary, and was made man, and was crucified also for us under Pontius 
Pilate. He suffered and was buried, and 
the third day he rose again according to the Scriptures. Whatever is 
not assumed is not redeemed. And Christ assumed that so that 
He could redeem sinners from their sins. So I will say to 
you, and I want to leave this with you, do you believe this? Let us pray. Our Father in heaven, 
we thank You for Your Word. We thank You for Your goodness 
and Your grace. We thank You for the Son of God 
who came into this world, sinners to save. We ask that You would 
encourage our hearts as we consider this grave site. We see what 
Jesus does with reference to Lazarus, but we also see that 
true humanity on full display. And it does encourage us to know 
that you sent the Son of your love into this world to save 
us from our sins. Bless the gospel as it goes forth 
today. May many come to a saving knowledge 
of the Savior. May they confess that He is the 
Christ, the Son of God. And confessing that, may they 
have life in His name. And we pray this in Jesus' name. 
Amen. Well, you may stand and we'll 
close by singing the doxology. It's page 568. In your hymn books, 568 will 
stand as we sing together. ♪ Praise Him, all creatures here 
below ♪ ♪ Praise Him, our lovely heavenly host ♪ ♪ Praise Father, 
Son, and Holy Ghost ♪ Amen. The grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, 
and the love of God, and the communion of the Holy Spirit 
be with you all, amen. Father, go with us now, bless 
us in this day, and help us to sanctify the day, help us to 
find it to be a delight, and may you be glorified in our lives 
as individuals, as families, and as a local church. Bless 
your people all over the earth today, and may you be in the 
midst of them, and may you be glorified. And we pray through 
Jesus Christ, our Lord, amen. You may be seated for a brief 
time of meditation.