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"He [Jesus] said to them, ‘Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.’ Then His disciples said, ‘Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.’ However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. 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.’” (John 11.11-15). From this story we learn that death is…

Real but Not Final

If Jesus was using sleep as a metaphor for death (and He was), what did He mean when He said that He was going to “wake him [Lazarus] up”? For us it is fairly easy to answer this question; we have read the rest of the story. However, for His disciples, the answer did not come so easily. In fact, Thomas responded to Jesus’ remarks by saying, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.” (John 11.16). While Thomas’ loyalty to Jesus was indeed remarkable, something was greatly lacking in his understanding of the power of Jesus. It was true that of late the Jews in Judea had been seeking an opportunity to stone Jesus (see John 11.8), but this did not mean that they could succeed except it be consistent with the Lord’s will.

Jesus needed more than loyalty; He needed belief! The “brand” of belief that Jesus needed was absolute and unquestioning trust. The disciples had not matured to that point, but that is what He needed. Peter wasn’t that mature yet because on one occasion he even rebuked Jesus for stating that He was going to be killed in Jerusalem and rise again the third day (see Matthew 16.21-23). Thomas was not that mature because he perceived that the trip into Judea would result in death to Jesus as well as His closest followers. Peter pledged to go with Him unto death and Thomas was basically doing the same thing here in John 11. Jesus needed loyalty, but He needed faith to a greater degree!

I don’t think Jesus was glad that Lazarus died, but He was glad that He had not been there! This was due to the fact that through the succeeding events, His disciples could come to have the kind of faith in Him that was essential to His cause. From the very beginning of this story, Jesus had uttered a truth that had been overlooked or forgotten; here it is: “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (John 11.4). Get the import of this statement as it is weighed against the events in the context. Jesus said that the sickness of Lazarus was “not unto death,” yet Lazarus was dead. There is an implication here that had been overlooked by the disciples and was still being overlooked as the events progressed. If they really believed in Jesus (i.e. had faith in Him), why didn’t they believe that the sickness of Lazarus was “not unto death”?

The facts of the matter are clear to us as we look back and read the story. Jesus fully intended to use the death of Lazarus as a means to demonstrate His power of death! The disciples failed to grasp the significance of the event even as did the sisters of Lazarus. While they believed in the future resurrection, foe some reason they failed to grasp the fact that Jesus had the power then and there to loose the bonds of death if He so desired. He needed His disciples to have that kind of faith!

The death of Lazarus was real. Who could argue with this fact since he had remained in the grave for four days and his body had already begun to decompose? Yet, these circumstances were but nothing to the power of Jesus; death was real, but it was not final! Jesus said it was so!

Questions:

1. Is it enough to be loyal to Jesus even unto death? Is that sufficient to salvation?

2. When Jesus said that the sickness of Lazarus was “not unto death,” what did He mean?

3. Why was it necessary that His disciples recognize the fact that Jesus power was greater than the power of death?

4. How can we know beyond a shadow of doubt that death is not final?

"'Winging It" from Stan Smith

Moralism