John 11:1-27 “Suffering in a Story About Martha”

1:09Her eldest son to a heart attack when he was 34. Her second oldest son to a heart attack when he was 35. In addition, she lost one breast to cancer. She lost her family. Due to an inheritance squabble, and she saw her youngest son, her only remaining son, fall into alcoholism due to PTSD from having served in the Middle East. Despite these crushing losses, she was able to sit with Debbie and I a year or so before she passed, telling us how good God had been to her.

2:09Why are Patty, Job, and others called upon by God to suffer such losses? While I cannot provide a perfect answer, we do know two things. First, God never promised that we would be immune from the effects of the fall, especially death. Sooner or later, we will experience the death of our parents, our spouse, other family members, our friends, and maybe even our children. Death is inevitable. Second, God often introduces providential losses so that we can show the world the surpassing value or worth of God.

3:22That is, God desires that we should show others that He, not our job, not our wealth, not our comfort, not our reputation, not our faculties, not our skills, not our parents, our spouse, or our children. None of those is our greatest possession. He and He alone is our greatest possession and our greatest treasure. The passage we are studying this morning takes place in January or February, less than three months before Jesus will die at the upcoming Passover.

4:16There are many things that we could focus on this morning out of this text, but I would like to focus on the thread of suffering that is implicitly. Or explicitly woven into this text about the story of Martha. We are going to consider six facts about suffering, interrupted by an interlude. Along the way, we will provide partial answers to two questions: why do the righteous suffer, and what is the proper response of the righteous to suffering?

5:06So, let us look first about the first fact of suffering in this text. Faithfulness does not result in the absence of suffering. Verse 1. Now, a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sister sent to him, saying, Lord, he whom you love is ill. The appeal of Mary and Martha is urgent, unspecified.

6:00And solely based on Jesus' love for Lazarus. But the appeal of Martha and Mary also demonstrate a misunderstanding that has troubled others before them and after them. That is, the place of suffering in the life of a Christian. Most of us are willing to grant that Mary and Martha enjoy as intimate a relationship with Jesus as anyone that was living. Most of us are willing to grant that Mary and Martha were very faithful. And most of us are willing to think, and they probably thought, that being close to God may be like an insurance program protecting them from suffering.

7:06In this, they and ourselves are wrong. Job, despite his faithfulness, had to learn to trust God in the midst of his suffering. And it was by means of that suffering that Job grew greatly in his understanding of God. God. Likewise, no one could be on more intimate terms with God the Father or more faithful than Jesus. And yet, no one has suffered more than the Son of God, ultimately at the hand of his Father. Brothers and sisters, suffering is part of God's school through which every saint must pass. Suffering is proof of our sonship.

8:13The author of Hebrews writes, My son, do not regard lightly the discipline of the Lord, nor be weary when reproved by him. For the Lord disciplines the one he loves and chastises every son whom he receives. Brothers and sisters, faithfulness does not always result in the absence of suffering. Let's look at the second fact about suffering in this text. Suffering glorifies God. Verse 4. But when Jesus heard it, he said, This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of Man may be glorified through it.

9:16Jesus did not say, Lazarus is not going to die. Rather, Jesus said that death will not be the final outcome of this illness. This illness is for, that is, it's in the interest of, the glory of God. Next week, we will learn about the raising of Lazarus. The raising of Lazarus is arguably the high watermark of all of the miracles of Jesus Christ. In the raising of Lazarus, Jesus is shown to be the resurrection and the life.

10:09No evidence of his person can be found in the gospel accounts that is any greater. Thus, the word of comfort which was sent back to Martha and Mary, even if they did not understand it, was Lazarus is. Is only temporarily dead. And better yet, his momentary death will be used to glorify God through the exaltation of his son. Or stated differently, God planned on using Lazarus' death and subsequent resurrection to glorify himself through the work of his son.

10:59This, my friends, is precisely where we must find comfort as well. Whenever a Christian comes face to face with suffering or death, whether the reality of one's own, that of a relative or a friend, that of a stranger, whether saved or unsaved, whether we understand it or not, we are to find comfort in this text. The death and suffering related to death will be used somehow for the glory of God. We need to embrace that. Faithfulness does not always result in the absence of suffering. Suffering glorifies God. Let us look at the third fact about suffering in this text. Suffering requires endurance.

12:05Verse 5. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he dropped everything and rushed to Bethany. Oh, that's not in your version of the Bible? So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Now, since Bethany where Lazarus lived, was only a mile and a half east of Jerusalem, Jesus could never go to Bethany without word getting out in Jerusalem. You may remember, we're in January and February, that back in September and October, the authorities had attempted to arrest him in Jerusalem, and he barely avoided being stoned. He returns to Jerusalem in November and December during Hanukkah, and they tried to arrest him again. And there was a threatening about trying to find him to stone him.

13:19So as a result, when he stayed two days longer, the disciples probably didn't question his two-day delay because they knew that if he went to Bethany, Big trouble could arise. That's what the disciples thought. Yet, we think differently. We look at that and say, a two-day delay seems unloving. Why is Jesus delaying for two days to go see Martha and Mary? Why is Jesus causing Mary and Martha to endure in their suffering? Did you ever, do you ever have an experience where God's action in your life seems to go against the love that we would expect from Him?

14:26What we need to remember is that God's love is not a pampering love, it's a perfecting love. God understands, and we need to understand that love and suffering are not incompatible. The present suffering we endure is one of the measures that God uses to prepare us for our eternal citizenship in heaven. Sisters, we need to be more committed to obeying God than to avoiding pain. A pain-avoiding strategy is an end into itself, but it can lead us away from God and not towards Him.

15:20Pain can cause us, if we try to avoid it, to avoid obedience and trust. A pain-avoiding strategy is more concerned about our comforts than our character. James writes, chapter 1, Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds. For you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing. Suffering requires endurance. Now, before we move on to the fourth fact about suffering in this text, we have a sermon interlude. That is, we have an intermission. Verse 7. Then, after this, he said to his disciples, Let us go to Judea again. The disciples said to him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you. You and you're going there again.

16:34The concern of the disciples was over the possibility, better yet, the probability of their own deaths if he goes back to Judea. Of course, the disciples do not know, we know because we've read the scriptures, that his future death, however appalling an event, would also be used for his glorification and the consummation of his ministry. Verse 9, Jesus answered, Are there not 12 hours in a day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him.

17:24In the days before accurate times, pieces existed, both the Romans and the Jews divided the daylight period into 12 hours, which therefore varied in length. Depending on the time of the year, daylight could be nine hours, it could be 12 hours, it could be 14 hours, depending on the changing seasons. I think children sometimes understand this better than adults. Children understand that mom and dad work during the daylight. But when nighttime comes, they come home. At a deeper level, verses 9 through 10 suggest two complementary meanings. There's an application to Jesus, and there's an application to his disciples. The application to Jesus: the time allotted to Jesus to accomplish his earthly ministry is fixed. Are there not 12 hours in the day?

18:31The time allotted to Jesus cannot be lengthened by any precautionary measure which the disciples would like to take, nor can it be shortened by any plots of Jesus' enemies. The time allotted was determined, it cannot be changed. These verses metaphorically insist that Jesus is safe as long as he's performing his Father's will during this period of time. But because the disciples have been asked to accompany Jesus to Judea, there's an obvious application to them as well. Jesus Himself is the light of the world, who is still with them, as long as they have him for the full 12 hours. Of their daylight. They're safe and they should be performing the works assigned to them. If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world. But likewise, the time would come, all too soon, when the darkness of his departure would make their work almost impossible. And when Jesus is withdrawn from them, there's no possibility of their avoiding stumbling. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him.

20:14That's our interlude. Faithfulness does not always result in the absence of suffering. Suffering glorifies God. Suffering requires endurance. Let us look at the fourth fact about suffering in this text. Suffering is for our good. Verse 11, after saying these things, he said to them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. The disciples said to him, Lord, if he's fallen asleep, he'll recover. Now, Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Therefore, Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus. Has died.

21:02And for your sake, I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him. So Thomas, called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, Let us also go, so that we may die with him. The disciples are confused about what it means to be asleep. So Jesus corrects them. Lazarus has died. This is followed by Thomas's bold statement that returning to Judea was a suicide mission. Let us also go that we may die with him.

21:41In between this confusion and Thomas's bold statement, Jesus said, For your sake, I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. Actually, the tense is so that you may come to believe. Even though the disciples were believers already, even though they were following Jesus, Jesus wanted them to believe more than they believed. He wanted them to grow in their belief. He wanted them to grow from weak faith to strong faith. Faith. I wonder if you can believe that fact about your circumstances this morning.

22:44Can you believe that God has so ordered your circumstances, that God has so ordered your suffering, that God has so put them together because it is for your good? Can you believe that? Faithfulness does not always result in the absence of suffering. Suffering glorifies God. Suffering requires endurance. Suffering is for our own good. Let us look at the fifth fact about suffering in this text. Suffering requires patience. Verse 17. Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.

23:38The evangelist makes special mention of this fourth day in order to stress the magnitude of the miracle that's getting ready to take place. According to rabbinical tradition, the soul of the deceased person hovers around the body for three days in the hope of reunion, but takes its final departure when it notices the body has Begun to enter into a state of decomposition. That's why this is mentioned here. Verse 18. 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 when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

24:34I do not believe that this is a word of reproach. Martha is not saying, Lord, why didn't you come sooner? We sent for you. If you had responded more quickly, Lazarus would not have died. Martha's word is not one of reproach, but one of regret. Lord, I really wished you could have been here, because if you had, my brother would not have died. Like Martha, we are impatient. Children understand this wonderfully. Children think of this. Children, when you cry, help, children, you don't mean, maybe you can come help me in a little bit.

25:32Or children don't mean, maybe tomorrow you can come help me. Children don't mean, parents, you can come help me when it's convenient. When children cry out for help, what do they mean? They mean, help now, help right away. That's the spirit in which Martha and Mary had sent word to Jesus. Our brother is dying. They wanted Jesus to go now. Help now. Help right away. Not two days later, not four days later. Of course, we don't know what all the circumstances there. Maybe the sisters waited too long. Maybe they didn't count on the fact that Jesus was over one day away just by travel, much less than he had taken their whole day to come back. We don't know. But the fact is, the word said, Jesus did not come.

26:37Jesus waited and chose to come later. That is how he often deals with us, isn't it? We call out to him for help, and he waits. He drags his feet, he comes in his own time. In his own way for his own purposes. In other words, these verses teach us that Christ knows best at what time to do anything for his people. As such, we should learn to be more patient. J.C. Ryle captures this very well in his commentary on this chapter. It is the duty of faith to say, My times are in thy hand. Do with me as thou wilt, how thou wilt, what thou wilt, and when thou wilt. Not my will, but thine be done.

27:59Faithfulness does not always result in the absence of suffering. Suffering glorifies God. Suffering requires endurance. Suffering is for our good. Suffering requires patience. I want to look at the final fact about suffering in this text. Suffering requires trust. Verse 22. 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 he's going to rise again in the resurrection on the last day.

28:41Now, some commentators think that Martha really expected Jesus to raise Lazarus from the dead when they said, even now. But unfortunately, these commentators miss the fact that the very next word of Jesus is, Your brother will rise again. If Martha had any idea that Jesus was going to raise Lazarus from the dead, she would have said, Well, how wonderful, Lord, that's exactly why we asked you to come. We knew that if you got here, you would make that happen.

29:18But that's not what she says. She immediately says, Yes, I know he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. Martha is not looking for her immediate resurrection of her brother, but for the resurrection promised in the future. Isn't Martha, though, a little bit like us? We believe in God's power hypothetically. We believe that He's promises will come about, but those promises will come when? In the distant future. Future. We often doubt his power in the present moment. We believe in God's power then, but not so much now. We believe God can do great things given a long enough time to do it, but we're not really all that convinced that he can act now if it's his will. Verse 25: Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.

30:41Martha was thinking about an event, the future resurrection. Jesus reveals here that he, a person, is the resurrection and the life. Friends, you must believe in Jesus, not an event. Belief in Jesus separates the believer from those who believe in some type of afterlife. Everyone will be resurrected, but only those who believe in Jesus will be resurrected to life eternal. Those who believe in Christ have eternal life now. But Christ will give us eternal life now, but he does not promise no suffering or no physical death. Rather, he's promising the life that guarantees resurrection and eternal life.

31:49As such, Jesus is attempting here to divert Martha's focus from an abstract belief in what takes place on the last day to a personalized belief in him who alone can provide it. So Jesus pushes Martha to a deeper level of faith and trust. Do you believe this? Do you believe that I'm the resurrection and the life? Martha does not disappoint, verse 27. She says to him, Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.

32:32The promise of Jesus to Martha at the time of the first report of the illness of Lazarus was that his sickness was not to terminate in death. That promise was a source of great comfort to Martha when Lazarus was temporarily raised from the dead, because we all know that Lazarus ultimately died again. For us, the promise of eternal life, I am the resurrection and the life, was forever guaranteed when our Lord Himself rose triumphant from the grave. If death could not hold him, neither can it stand between him and us. Our hope of life beyond the grave is grounded on his promise, and his promise is certain because of his power over death and the grave. Suffering requires trust in a person and in his promise.

33:45In closing, I promised that we would answer two questions. This morning's text provides six facts about suffering that provide answers while not exhaustive. And if we kind of shuffle the answers around a little bit, these six facts provide answers to those two questions. Why do the righteous suffer? Faithfulness does not always result in the absence of suffering. Why do the righteous suffer? Suffering glorifies God. Why do the righteous suffer? Suffering is for our good. What is the proper response of the righteous to suffering? Suffering requires endurance.

34:45Suffering requires patience. Suffering requires trust in a person, Jesus Christ, and in his promises. May the study of God's word this morning challenge and encourage you. Let us pray. Father, I recognize that this morning's sermon largely is addressed to those who have made a profession of faith in Jesus Christ. And yet, there may be a person here in the audience this morning who says, I have never embraced Jesus as a person. I've never embraced his promises. I've never embraced the eternal life that he has given.

35:52For anyone in this room who has not yet made that decision, may they see their sin. May they see that the only hope they have is placing their faith in a person whose perfect work pays for their sin, and by placing their faith in Jesus as the resurrection and life, that they can have the promises that you have given. For the believers in this room, suffering is a very uncomfortable topic. We either want to avoid it, or we want to believe that God would never call us to suffer. And yet, embedded in this text this morning were six facts about suffering that are real and they are applicable to us. May we, as believers, not run away from suffering, but may we accept the fact that you call us to suffer, but you also provide us guidance on how the righteous should properly respond to suffering.

37:19We pray for wisdom that we would embrace this truth. And in embracing this truth, May we be able to testify to the world that despite any suffering, loss, or death that we have incurred, we still praise you. We still serve you because we are used by the Spirit to testify to the world that nothing we possess is worth being treasured more than the treasure of you being our Lord and Savior. And may we glorify you by telling the world we will hold on to you despite whatever challenges and suffering that you ask us to incur.

38:19We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you for listening to the sermon audio from New Life Baptist Church in College Station, Texas. For more information or to support our ministry, visit us online at newlifecs.net. Yeah.