The One Who Conquers Death Part 2 - Encountering the Sisters - John 11:17-35

0:41As we're working our way through Lazarus coming forth from the grave, we need to be thinking about our own condition, our own incarcerated condition of unbelief. And we need to focus our attention upon the one who conquers death. That's how we've set up this whole series in Lazarus. We want to see the one who conquers death. We're not to read this as that there's going to be some kind of dramatic conclusion at the end, although there is. It's what happens all the way. We know he's going to raise Lazarus from the dead. The reader knows that. Jesus knows that. It's what he's doing with that as we work our way through that becomes very important to us. Well, last time we began looking at the One who conquers death. And in the first 16 verses, the emphasis is really upon the disciples and the decision that Jesus makes to go up to Lazarus, which is very close to Jerusalem, where Jesus had just, in chapter 10, nearly been stoned by the religious leaders. Well, the next 19 verses emphasize two sisters, the sisters Martha and Mary. And so that's where we're going to spend our time this morning: looking at these two sisters. And then subsequently, we'll see a little bit about Lazarus, and then we'll see a lot about the Jews. But today, I want us to focus on the sisters and specifically Jesus's encounter with the sisters once he arrived. Let me just read those verses. I'm going to go from 17 to 35, and I'll read those. So when Jesus came, he found that he had already been in the tomb for four days, speaking of Lazarus. Now, 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. Martha, therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet him, but Mary stayed at the house. Martha then said, To Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 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, 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. He who believes in me will live even if he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? She said to him, Yes, Lord, I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, even he who comes into the world. When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying, Secretly, the teacher is here and is calling for you. And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw him and fell at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit. And he was troubled and said, Where have you laid him? They said to him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept.

4:40Well, two very different sisters we meet in this passage. We've already met and seen them in Luke chapter 10, where Martha is busy about many things. Mary is at the feet of Jesus and taking it in. Martha gets somewhat of a rebuke for being active about hospitality and all the taking care of where Mary had taken the more important matters, and she sat before Jesus. And so I read Luke chapter 10 and I wonder why in the world would anybody ever name their child Martha? And I've often wondered that. I'm like, it's just such, she appears to be such an ignoble character in Luke 10. But then, by the time we get through today, you'll see that Martha is a very good name to name your child because she's the one who really shines brightly here in this chapter here.

5:45And so, two very different sisters, two very different personalities. And I think we can relate. Martha is a little more cerebral, a little more calculated, a little more planned. She seems to be one, probably the older, the one. That has more responsibility. Very different personality. Her sister, on the other hand, seems to be very emotional, very dramatic, very extravagant, as you're going to see her in chapter 12, breaking the expensive perfume and pouring it over. Very different personalities, but yet they were very similar in the regards that both of them were loved by Jesus. And that's exciting to see what the love of Jesus does to a person. Both of them were loved by Jesus. Both of them had a measure of faith. They shared together that most prized possession that anyone on earth can have, and that is the favor of Christ.

6:52That is the treasure. And they had it. And this is where humanity thrives, is reciprocating to the love of our Savior. Well, they did. Very different, very different personalities. And it's wonderful to see how God uses different personalities and how His Spirit in them, His relationship with Him, causes them to thrive and express their love in very different ways. And both of them also had this in common. Needed their faith in Christ to increase. And that's what Jesus has set himself to do in this passage, as he has already done and is excited about going. If you remember in verse 5, Jesus said, Now Jesus, 11, now Jesus loved Martha and her sister Lazarus. And you come down to verse 15, he decides to go. Lazarus is dead, and he says this to his disciples, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe. So Jesus is excited about going up, raising Lazarus from the dead for his disciples' sake and for the love of obviously Lazarus, but also for Mary and Martha, whose faith needs to be increased, as does ours. Well, to really get a sense of what's happening here, you have to have a little bit of an understanding of the mourning and grieving process in Israel during this first century. Records describe three different phases of the Jewish mourning process. The Talmud would call for three days of weeping, followed by seven days of lamenting, and then 30 days for refraining from certain activities. So there's a process. The first three days were the days of the most intense weeping, followed by the second seven days were again days of very deep mourning. But during those first three days, you would expect outward displays of wailing, loud, there'd be a lot of commotion, a lot of grief. Sometimes they even paid professional wailers to make known the grief, to mourn over the departed. But this mourning went on for three days. And there was this idea that after three days, all hope of life was gone. Deterioration sets in, decay sets in. So after three days, there was this thought that the spirit would hover around the body for three days, but once the body started decaying, the spirit would leave, and it was permanent, done, gone. There was no hope that the spirit would ever come back. Regardless of that, it's clear that after three days, the body would be well into decay, and any hope of the spirit returning to the body would be gone. And so deep mourning would then set in for the next seven days. And if you think about the travel.

10:31Modes of travel and the modes of communication, time was needed because just time to get word out would take time to just get just to get to Jesus took a day. It took Jesus a couple more days. He waited and then he traveled another day. So it takes some time for word to travel and for people to make the journey to the departed or to comfort the family. And so for the next seven days, you would have a period that visitors would be coming and going, and they would be expressing their deep sorrow. And that's where we pick up our study.

11:10Jesus has come, and he is now entering into that time of deep mourning, still intense wailing going on. So we pick it up in verse 17. Look at the scene upon Jesus's arrival. Verse 17, so when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus, or he, Lazarus, had already been in the tomb for four days. Now, 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 this is a prominent family. Many of the Jews, Jews, often and in this gospel, pretty much always speak of those who are antagonistic to Jesus. So this family was well known close enough to Jerusalem so that some of the Jewish Some of the Jerusalem Jews were able to come out to console the family, but it's here in this context that Jesus arrives. And so, what I want us to do is to look, continue looking carefully at the characteristics of this one who conquers death. That's who we want to see. We want to see Jesus. We sing to Jesus, we want to look to Jesus, we want to believe in Jesus, and that's what we want to do here. We want to understand Him. He's the one who conquers death, and that's what we want to, that's the one we want to see. And remember, last time we began working our way through, and we saw six different characteristics of this one who has power over death. Number one, he sees human misery as an opportunity for God's glory. Number two, love compels him to act. Number three, he operates on his own timetable. Number four, he knows there is safety in God's will. Number five, he knows he has the power over death. And number six, he loves to see faith increased. And that's where we left last time. Jesus is excited to come down, knowing that he's going to raise Lazarus so that his disciples' faith will be taken up to another level. Well, and what we want to do this morning is continue to build on these six. Characteristics, and we want to add three more to the list so that our faith in him will increase and that we will respond to him as we should.

13:44Well, before we get there, let me just pick up. We'll just pick up, and what I'm going to do is just walk through the narrative, and when we get to one of these characteristics, I'll just bring it out. But first of all, he encounters Martha. First, we're going to encounter Martha, and then we're going to encounter Mary. But first, Jesus encounters Martha. Look at verse 20. Martha, therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet him, but Mary stayed at the house. So Martha got word, went to meet Jesus before he got there. So Martha wants some kind of a private meeting with Jesus away. Probably there may be some Jews there that are antagonistic. There may be, for whatever reason, Martha went. And for whatever reason, Mary stayed in the house. Maybe she had assumed the sitting position. It literally says, but Mary was in the house sitting, sitting, maybe had taken a place of mourning in the house, seated, receiving guests or whatever. But for whatever reason, she didn't come. John doesn't tell us maybe she didn't get the word. It's hard to believe that Martha would get the word and Mary. Mary would not get the word, but for whatever reason, Martha gets up and goes, Mary is seated.

15:13But what John wants to emphasize, he wants to emphasize Martha's meeting with Jesus. That's what's going to be center, and Mary's for that matter. But right now, it's like he doesn't go into, was Mary too upset? Was she upset with Jesus for not coming sooner? Was it what? John doesn't get into any of that. We don't even know if she got the word, but she was there seated in the house. Notice the dialogue. The dialogue begins with Martha's words in verse 21. Martha then said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Even now, I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you. Whatever you ask, I am absolutely confident that God will give you whatever you ask.

16:10This is a remarkable statement of faith. I mean, she really expressed belief in Christ here. I mean, she's basically saying something to the effect, like, look, I know you could have prevented this from happening, but even now, Whatever you ask, I know that God is with you. God will give you whatever you ask. This is incredible faith. Now, it's clear as you go on, she's not expecting Jesus to raise Lazarus from the dead. That doesn't seem to be in her mind because later she's going to say, Look, he's already been in the tomb for four days. His body's starting to decay. So, don't, you know, as if an objection to rolling back the stone. So, it doesn't appear that she's got in her mind that this possibility is even there, that Jesus is going to raise him from the dead. But she does express faith, she honors him, and she's right. I know that God will give you whatever you ask.

17:19I think that's a very important lesson for us as we go through life, just to understand: look, yeah, he can prevent a lot of things from happening. But even if he doesn't, we know that whatever Christ desires, he has. It's granted. I don't think Martha understood the full implications of her word, of her words. Her confession is higher than her experiential reality, and so is ours, by the way. But it is an expression of faith. It's a grieving person coming to Christ, confessing her faith. But now look back and notice where Jesus directs Martha's thoughts. Look in verse 23. Jesus said, Your brother will rise.

18:29Your brother will rise up, is how I would translate it. Your brother will rise. Many translations say rise again. The word is resurrection here. Your brother will stand up. He will rise. See what Jesus does here? Here's Martha coming without hope, so to speak, very discouraged, very down. And where does Jesus direct her thoughts? He says, Martha, I want to talk to you about the resurrection. I want to talk to you about the resurrection. That's where I want this conversation to go. That's where I want your mind to go. I want you to think resurrection.

19:13Because if you think about it, the only hope we have is resurrection. We're all terminal. There's no hope. We're all terminal. We're all going to death, marching to death. Some of us are going to get there sooner than others. But the only hope in the face of death is resurrection. And so Jesus turns her mind, and John wants us to be thinking about resurrection. And that brings us to the seventh characteristic about this one who conquers death. He sees resurrection as man's only hope.

20:00Resurrection is man's only hope. It is our only hope. We can see death. We can see it. We see it. We in a grave. The only hope that we have is resurrection. The curse is death. And so that's where he takes her thoughts. Martha, start thinking about the resurrection. And look at Martha's confident agreement. Verse 24, Martha said to him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. It's like, I know that he will rise again. I know that. In the resurrection, in that last day. And she's thinking about an event. And many Jews were convinced of the reality of a future resurrection. That's what the Pharisees, that's what. Separated the Pharisees from the Sadducees.

21:05And you can imagine at a funeral or at a time of grieving like this that that was probably said to her quite a few times. He will rise again. You will see him again. We say that at our funerals, right? At least in the case of a believer, right? We'd love to, we will see him again. We will see her again. We will see him again in the resurrection, in the resurrection. And that's where Martha's mind goes. Oh, I know, I know he will rise in the last day.

21:39And then look at what Jesus says. Jesus said to her in verse 25, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this? And this brings us to the eighth characteristic. He wants people to understand the resurrection. He wants us to understand his teaching about the resurrection. He wants us to understand resurrection doctrine. In fact, Martha is going to refer to him as the teacher. And this is what the teacher is doing. Right here, he is leading Martha to understand five truths or five tenets about the resurrection.

22:41I am the resurrection. I can't resist this because the word is anastasis. And here, I am. And for those of you who know, I have a daughter that we named Anastasis. And it is in this form right here: Anastasis, I am the resurrection. There's a story behind that. And there for a while, we thought we had lost her, and we prayed that God would resurrect. And I made the promise. I said, Lord, if it's a girl, I'll name her Anastasis.

23:21And Nancy was over there. Shouldn't we talk about that before? Too late, already promised. But that's how my daughter, Anna, got her name, Anastasis. I am the resurrection and the life. And the one believing in me will live even if he dies. So, just real quick, I want you to see these five truths, five tenets about the way doctrines of the resurrection that you need to know from Christ Himself. Number one, resurrection hope is in a person.

24:05Resurrection hope is in a person, not in some abstract event that's going to take place later. It's in a person. And this is what Jesus says, I am the resurrection. You see, Jesus was not content to let Martha merely think of the resurrection as some abstract event somewhere that's going to happen down in the future. That's really just doesn't really do much, gives us a little lift in the present, and certainly it does. But he wants to take her beyond that and say, look, resurrection hope is in a person.

24:47Yes, the resurrection is going to happen. Yes, the event is going to happen. Yes, it's comforting. But why is it going to happen? And that's where Jesus is leading Martha's mind. See, Martha understands that a resurrection is going to take place. She doesn't fully understand why it is going to take place. She understands the that. She doesn't understand the cause who is standing right before her. And Jesus says, I am the reason. I am the resurrection. I am the cause of the resurrection. Resurrection hope. Martha is standing right before your eyes. That's why he will rise.

25:39Remember, remember, look back at chapter 5. He's already said all this. Chapter 5, right there at the pool of Bethesda, and if you just pick up the reading, I'll just read it to you. In verse 25, Jesus says, Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and now is when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. For just as the Father has life in himself, even so he gave to the Son to also have life in himself, and he gave him authority to execute judgment because he is the Son of Man. Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming in which all who are in the tombs will hear his voice. That's what you're going to need to marvel at. Everyone. Everyone. All.

26:29All of earth's inhabitants, past, present, and future. There is coming a time when they will hear his voice. And this is what Jesus himself says. And will come forth. And those who did the good to a resurrection of life, to those who committed the evil to a resurrection of judgment. That's Jesus. And he's saying, resurrection is in a person. He's already expressed. That I am who I am, and that's why resurrection occurs. So, the first thing he wants Martha to understand is that resurrection hope is in a person. Second thing he wants her to understand is that resurrection is tied to faith in Jesus. Look back at 25. He who believes in me, he who believes in me is the one who lives. So, there is a connection, a link of faith, the one believing in Jesus, who he has declared himself to be, this is the one who is where, who resurrection is linked to. You see, our only hope is to have a relationship with the person who eternally lives.

27:56And faith is that link. That's what joins our spirit to him is by belief. That's how spirit connects with spirit. We receive, we believe. So, resurrection is tied to faith in Jesus. The third doctrine or tenet of Jesus' resurrection doctrine is that those with faith in him will live on even if they physically die. That's what he's saying in verse 25. He who believes, In me will live even if he dies. It doesn't end. It's talking about resurrection that goes beyond a spiritual rebirth that goes beyond physical death, that doesn't stop at physical death, but a life that has been born that continues even though death comes. So those with faith will live on even if they die. Tenant number four: and everyone who is alive and believes in him will never die. As everyone who is physically alive right now and who is believing in him, they will never die. So that faith continues. That life continues. And the Greek is emphatic: in no way will he die into the ages.

29:31And the fifth, and the fifth tenet of Jesus' doctrine on resurrection is that faith is personal. Look back at 26. Do you believe this? Martha, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live even if he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Martha, do you believe this? Faith is personal. Do you believe this? Do you believe Jesus is the one he claims to be and who the apostles saw him to be? Do you believe John's record?

30:20Do you believe in this resurrection doctrine that Jesus himself taught? Well, the eighth characteristic of the one who conquers death is that he wants you to understand the resurrection. Now I want you to see Martha's confession. And I love this. This is why it's okay. And maybe you should name your daughter Martha. Verse 27: She said to him, Yes, Lord, I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, even he who comes into the world. There's not another statement, affirmation like this really in the New Testament. It all comes together right here out of Martha's mouth. It's incredible. I love what she says. Do you believe this? And yes. Or indeed, Lord. I believe, and she used, and the perfect tense, I believe, that is, I have settled conviction, I have settled confidence. My soul is absolutely at rest and confident that you are the Christ, that you are the Son of God, and you are He who is coming into the world. Three remarkable statements: personal trust. She doesn't just assent, she does assent. There are certain things in her mind that she assents to, but then there's also that personal trust, fiducia, and a census.

32:14You are the Christ. And what she's saying there is that you are God's anointed ruler. The word Christ comes from Cairo or Cairo, Christo, Creo, Creo, I'm sorry, Creo. And it carries the idea to anoint. You are God's anointed ruler. You are God's anointed person for Israel, for the nations. Second element: you are the Son of God. That is God's theoratic or God's theocratic rule, his monarchy has you, his son, upon the throne. Own. It's deep.

33:05You are eternally the one. You are eternally at one with God. You are unique. You are God's Son. You are the divine Son. You are the rule. The ruler of the theocratic monarchy. And then she says, third, you are the one coming into the world. You are the one coming into the world. Remember in John 1:9, John speaks about the light, Jesus being the word, the light coming into the world, enlightening every man. John 6:13, the one coming to the world. John 6, 14, I'm sorry, refers to the prophet who is to come into the world. And Martha is saying, I believe all that. I believe everything that's been said. You are the one. You are the one enlightening. You are the one coming in. You are the one from God who has come into the world. You are the Christ. You are the Son of God. You are the prophesied one. I believe. Yes, indeed, I believe it.

34:19You see, Mary's, she may appear to be more cerebral, more calculated, and more circumspect than Mary. But her love for him is just as real, just as alive, and in this context, certainly exudes a much greater faith. Well, John doesn't give us Jesus' reaction to Martha's confession, but it's got to be positive because if it's anything like when Peter made this same profession, it really warmed Jesus' heart. So I think it had to be, Jesus was probably well satisfied.

35:07Martha confessed her faith to be solidly in Jesus, who Jesus had claimed himself to be, both in word and with deed. She put it all together. Now she still has to get her mind around all that that confession involves. She's still learning, still growing. Her faith still needs to be increased, but it's very much, in fact, in the very next verse, she will refer to Jesus as the teacher. She is being taught. Remarkable confession. Well, that's the encounter with Martha. Now I want you to see the encounter with Mary, the encounter with Mary.

35:55And notice for starters, we'll pick it up there in verse 28, for starters. Notice that Mary doesn't come on her own, but that she was summoned by Jesus. Verse 28, when she had said this, she went away, this is Martha, went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, the teacher is here and calling for you. Why? Maybe Mary didn't get the word before, but for whatever reason, it's hard to believe that she didn't get news, but for whatever reason, Jesus summons Mary.

36:36And so Mary goes. Look at verse 29. And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to him. Now, Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. So you have a little bit of a public complaint, or a public, I'm not complaint, a public scene happening here. They see Mary get up and go out, and so now you have the Jews in tandem with Mary.

37:23And so, verse 32, here's the dialogue, or it's not really a dialogue, here's a conversation. Confession that Mary has. Verse 32: Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw him and fell at his feet, saying, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. And notice she says basically the exact same thing that Martha said. And her posture is even more dramatic than that of Martha, right? She's on her feet. I mean, she falls before his feet.

38:01Very dramatic. And yet, no dialogue occurs. She seems to be overcome to a paralyzing degree with her grief. Or maybe she's upset for Jesus for not coming, whatever, earlier, but she very, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. So there's the scene. Mary at his feet. How many times does that look like us, right? Lord, if you had, this wouldn't have happened. And there may be a little bit of anger, or maybe she's a little upset, or she's overcome with grief. It's hard to piece, but something's not at all like what Martha's confession was. Was here.

39:02And that leads us to a very troubling moment. A troubling moment in Christ's spirit. Note what he saw. Look at verse 33. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, that's what he saw. He saw something that brought on a very troubling moment for him. What did he see? Well, he sees Mary weeping. And the idea here isn't sniffling. It's not that. It's crying out. It's wailing. It carries the idea of loud lament, expression of great mourning. In fact, you remember after Herod killed the children at the time of Christ's birth, in Matthew 2:18, it says, A voice was heard in Rama weeping and great mourning, Rachel weeping for her children and refusing to be comforted because they were no more. That's the same word here. There is a deep anguish of soul in Mary. And so he sees her weeping, and the Jews who had come together with her, they were also weeping. Mary was weeping just like these Jews who, as the text is going to go on, are angry. Antagonistic to him. Some believe, but some, this will be the very, very trigger point for his crucifixion. So here's Mary weeping just like these other ones, weeping just like those who have no hope.

40:47That's what he sees. He sees this troubling, weeping. Now, notice how he felt. Look at verse 33. When Jesus, therefore, saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled. He was deeply moved and he stirred himself. It's the idea of the water in the pool of Bethesda in chapter 5 being stirred. He stirred himself. He saw this and he was stirred. Not just was, he stirred himself. He was very stirred and troubled. He was deeply moved. And the idea for deeply moved here carries the idea of anger. And I can't see any way around it.

41:42This involves an expression of anger, simply, a simple understanding of this word. In extra-biblical Greek, it's the idea of a horse snorting. But it's an anger. In fact, Mark is going to use the same word to do. Describe the anger that the disciples had towards Mary when she broke open the vial and poured it out on Jesus' head. And they scolded her in Mark 14:5. That's the idea. There was an anger, an exasperation, a dissatisfaction. That's what's going on here. There's an element of anger. This situation, this hopeless situation, it stirs Jesus, and an element of that stirring is anger or dissatisfaction.

42:38And it happens the moment he catches sight of all this wailing. So, what was he angry about? That becomes a big question. Well, first of all, I believe his motions were real. I don't think there's any pretense. Second, I don't believe that Jesus was moved over the pain of Lazarus' loss. I think he knows he has the power over death. I do not think that Jesus' anger was directed primarily at the Jews, though I think it may have been contributed. There they are. This is going to be the trigger point. They're not going to believe. They're going to end up taking him to the cross for this. So I think that's an element. But I don't think that it's just simply the pitiful fallen condition of humanity either. I don't think he just comes on, oh, Jesus. Death is this is terrible, and I think that that's a real element. I think he's deeply grieved over the condition of man in his fallen state, and death that seems to be his master, and death that seems to reign over. And so, I think that's an element of this.

43:51But what I think is really getting to him is that people who should know better are not governing themselves by the truths that his father has revealed about him. Mary seems hopeless even at the very feet of Jesus. Think of that scene: hopeless at the feet of the king of kings and Lord of lords, who has great favor upon your life. We must come out of our tomb of unbelief. That's the real miracle here. Calling hardened people out of the tomb of their own unbelief when all of the evidence should compel them otherwise.

44:54I don't think we understand just how bad our falling condition is. I don't think he's just troubled by our feeble condition. I think it's our hardened condition that deeply troubles him. I don't think it's that he's upset that Lazarus died. I think he got upset over the fact that he has to call his disciples out of their own hardened tomb of unbelief. Which brings us, well, let's look at what he says. And by the way, physical death, right, it's just a picture of spiritual death. Have you ever seen the body when the spirit leaves? You've been to funerals, you've seen it's a very different body, right? It's a very different person. In fact, I'd say the body isn't the person, the body is the body. And when the spirit isn't there, it's very different. It's lifeless. It's scary looking. It's a horrible sight. Even if they put a bunch of makeup on it, it's dead. It's lifeless. That's a picture of what physical death is. Life or a body without the life in it. Well, spiritual death is the same. If you can think of what physical death is, spiritual death is the soul that has no faith in God. Looks the same thing. Death.

46:25A soul that responds to life without faith in God is. Just like a corpse where the spirit has left the body. But notice what he said. Verse 34, verse 34. Where have you laid him? And they said, Lord, come and see. Where have you laid him? I love how he's moved action. Enough talk. There's no dialogue with Mary. Where have you laid him? And you see the champion, the one who conquers death, making his way to the tomb. Now, this is who you need to have your faith in. And notice what he did. Verse 35, Jesus wept.

47:22And here is a real expression of grief. I think there's a strange mixture of anger, exasperation that moves him to deep-felt grief. It's all a cocktail, if you will, going on in his emotions. It's a sight that angered him, also is the sight that grieved him. It's a different kind of weeping. It's a different word for weeping. He's not weeping and wailing as Mary. That's what he did. And we're going to have to look at number nine: the ninth characteristic about the one who conquers death. He is deeply moved and grieved by unbelief.

48:17He is deeply moved and grieved at our unbelief. And that's why, sixth principle, he loves to see faith increase. He's excited. That's why he's excited to come down, to raise life, so that his disciples' faith will increase. And he's deeply moved and grieved at unbelief. Well, I look forward to working out, seeing the Jews' response in all of this as we go ahead. But as we'll conclude today, we witnessed two sisters, very different personalities, both loved by Jesus, both needing to grow in their faith. And as I look around this room, there are many different people in here, many different personalities.

49:12And the one thing that is needed by all of us is for our faith in this Christ of Scripture to be increased. And no matter what personality type you have, you will only thrive by believing in him. In fact, it's the unique. Design of God that each person with each individual different personalities loved by Him and respond to that love in faith. That's where we thrive. Cut us off from Christ. We're nothing. But join us to Christ. And eternal life, the living one, even the grave, and all of its power, and all of the tentacles, and all of the fear, and everything that comes out of the grave that touches our being is rendered completely and absolutely powerless to the one who conquers death.

50:19He is the true rest of our soul. Let's pray. Heavenly Father, we can come before you and truly rest, thrive, come to life, be reborn, be renewed, thrive, grow, all by believing in the one you sent. Help us this morning to believe in him more. Let's continue to pray for just a moment. Mm-hmm.