Or, Why We Believe It's Impossible for Death to Win
Scripture: John 11:17-27
Date: March 31, 2013
Speaker: Sean Higgins
I started reading a book this past week titled, A Brief History of Thought. It was written by Luc Ferry, a French atheist who makes the claim to be able to explain how every idea, world-view, philosophy, and religion came about. From Epictitus to Plato to Augustine to Kant, Perry states that everyone is trying to deal with one ultimate issued: death.
Human beings are the only beings on the planet that know that they are mortal. All living creatures die at some point but only men and women anticipate their own death and the death of those whom they love. Even in our advanced medical culture, death is inevitable. Perhaps more important than that, death is irreversible. Death “means everything that is unrepeatable.” We cannot avoid it and we cannot undo it. Life, therefore, always terminates and how a man or woman deals with that reality makes the difference between a good, enjoyable, and free life and a life of fear, misery, and slavery.
Perry distinguishes philosophy from religion by asserting that philosophy works to think its way to freedom in light of the inevitable irreversible. He also thinks philosophy is the only legit way to deal with death because religion requires faith in the unbelievable. He writes why Christianity cannot be trusted,
First and foremost, because the promise of religions — that we are immortal and will encounter our loved ones after our biological demise — is too good to be true. (10)
There are a couple problems with Perry’s thought but one of the most significant failures is his failure to define death. He doesn’t define it nor does he recognize that there is more than one kind of death, more than “biological demise.” The cessation of heart beats and brain waves is the least sort of death that we have to worry about, even if it is the sort most men spend their lives fretting over. We change diets and add exercise and buy insurance and mourn when life is gone in another. As I say, the most obvious death is not the most important death.
There are three kinds of death: physical, spiritual, and eternal. All three involve not merely the cessation of activity, but separation. Physical death is the separation between soul and body/flesh. Spiritual death is the separation of the soul from God even while physical life continues. Eternal death is the forever separation of the man from God in everlasting judgment.
While physical death is inevitable, spiritual death is our condition from our first breath. Eternal death is never ending and no one can think himself out of any of these. He may distract himself for a while from dealing with physical death but the best a man can do is believe a lie for a time. His current spiritual death will bring physical and eternal death no matter what he thinks.
What Perry dismisses as too good to be true is the only truth that leads to life, spiritual and eternal life, now and forever. The only one who can overcome death is the one who created it. The only one who could give life is the one who died and defeated it. The only Savior is the one who came into the world, Jesus the Christ, the Son of God.
In John 11 we get a glimpse of the glory of Jesus through the story of Lazarus and his sisters. The only more glorious story is that of the empty tomb on the first Easter and, while we celebrate Jesus’ resurrection today, I believe we’ll be encouraged by considering this taste. Death is inevitable but it is not irreversible because of who Jesus is.
The Context (verses 17-20)
Lazarus was sick (verse 1) and his sisters sent word to Jesus hoping that He would come and help (verse 3). But when Jesus heard that the one he loved was ill, He deliberately stayed two days longer where He was (verse 6). He had greater glory to show (verse 4). While Jesus and the disciples stayed, Lazarus died. Then it was time for Jesus to go.
John gets us to two different conversations, one between Jesus and Martha (vv.21-27) and one between Jesus and Mary (vv.28-37), with a few verses that change the scene.
Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 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. (John 11:17–20, ESV)
Jesus told the disciples that Lazarus was dead (verses 11-14) before they traveled toward Bethany. By the time they arrived, Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days . It seems reasonable that two travel days and two waiting days make up the total of four days dead. He prefers His dead people really dead. Four days gave everyone plenty of time to be good and sad. For Martha and Mary, four days gave them plenty of time to wonder where Jesus had been.
John reports the tomb’s location outside of Bethany for two reasons. It was near Jerusalem, about two miles off . This presented the precise reason that disciples thought going to Judea was a bad idea for Jesus since the Jews in Jerusalem wanted to kill Him. Even if those who came weren’t angry, the angry group was that close. But the nearness was also a benefit because it brought a crowd for all the glory Jesus was about to show.
A crowed came to comfort the family. Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother . Funerals were then as they are today, community events. The many suggests that Lazarus, Martha, and Mary were a well-known family. They had a lot of friends and a lot of friends came to pay their respects.
The common practice was for the family to sit in their house while the mourners would come and go. Somehow Martha heard that Jesus was coming. John doesn’t tell us who she heard it from or if everyone heard it, too. No matter, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house .
The Conversation with Martha (verses 21-27)
Martha’s words begin and end the conversation. Even though there is so much that she says that sounds good, she does not have the hope that Jesus wants her to have. Because He loves her (and Mary, and Lazarus, and the disciples) He leads her through her disappointment.
If all He wanted to do was show His sheer power over death, He wouldn’t have stopped to talk until He got to the tomb. He engages in conversation with Martha (and Mary) in order to show her His love and His glory. Jesus doesn’t immediately raise Lazarus because He raises hope and trust in Him first.
There are three ways that Martha shows her hope flag was flying at half mast. Jesus will raise it the whole way.
Martha doesn’t know the divine plan. From her perspective, it could have been better and Jesus could have done something about it.
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 from God, God will give you.” (John 11:21–22, ESV)
Martha knew that Jesus could do miracles. She certainly knew, likely from seeing for herself, His healing abilities. The first thing she says is that Jesus could have kept her brother from dying. (Mary makes the same first statement in verse 32.) She and Mary sent messengers so that Jesus would come and help, not so that He would come and console. She’s been grieving for four days. It doesn’t seem that she’s angry or bitter, but neither is she fully trusting Him. Her statement is at least a mild complaint.
Her comment in verse 22 is interesting for a couple reasons. Even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you . First, what does she think Jesus could ask from God? It is not resurrection. When Jesus answers that Lazarus will rise again, Martha’s thinking jumps to the final resurrection. “Yeah, I know that will happen.” When they got to the tomb and Jesus asks them to remove the stone door, Martha objects because of the stinking body (verse 39). When she says whatever , she is not thinking about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead.
The second reason why her comment is interesting is that she uses a form of the word αἰτέω, a word which almost always describes the request of an inferior to a superior (i.e., from a beggar, a child to a parent, a subject to a ruler). ἐρωτάω is the word used to describe requests between equals (from a king to a king) or at least when the one asking has greater familiarity with the one being asked. When Jesus talks about asking His Father for things, He never uses αἰτέω (see Lenski, 798). Martha seems to be saying, “I still believe You, Jesus, but You are not in control like I thought You were.”
Martha does not really believe who Jesus is or that He is in full control. Jesus doesn’t respond by telling her where He’s been or what took Him so long. Instead, He responds with enough truth to give Mary some comfort but not enough to give her full clarity.
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” (John 11:23, ESV)
Martha doesn’t bring up resurrection, Jesus does. In response to her disappointment, in response to her doubt, Jesus asserts that Lazarus’ future life is secure but He does it in a way that doesn’t tell her everything. She’s not excited about it because she doesn’t see how it relates to Jesus, not yet.
As I said, Martha’s response shows that she wasn’t thinking about Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. It shows that she’s still disappointed. And it shows that she didn’t fully grasp who Jesus was in all His glory.
Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” (John 11:24, ESV)
She lost her brother, not her theology. She followed the Pharisees’ teaching about resurrection on the last day . Unlike the Sadducees (unmentioned in John’s Gospel) who taught that there was no resurrection, the Pharisees did (Acts 23:8). Martha said, “Yeah, I already know that.” She knew that Jesus could have done something but He didn’t. She knew that Lazarus would rise again in the end time but what good was that to her now?
Martha didn’t deny the truth, she also didn’t connect it with her present circumstances or with Jesus. She fell into two traps. First, she fell into the trap of valuing physical life more than eternal life. The promise of final resurrection was ho-hum for her. “Okay, that’s true, but what about now?” Her theology was accurate yet it didn’t increase her hope. She basically said that Jesus keeping Lazarus from dying would have been more glorious than Lazarus being resurrected on the last day. That is misplaced hope.
Second, she fell into the trap of separating a true proposition from a person. Resurrection is not pie in the sky philosophy, it’s a person on the ground. Martha separated the teaching from the God of love and glory who made the promise in the first place. Again, her theology was accurate yet it didn’t raise her trust in and fellowship with God.
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25–26, ESV)
Jesus shifts her focus onto Himself. He isn’t just someone who asks the Father for things.
This is the fifth of seven “I am” statements in John. It is also the statement that I’ve been aiming to hit on this Resurrection Sunday. When we talk about Jesus dying on the cross for our sins, being buried, and rising again on the third day according to the Scripture (1 Corinthian 15:3-4), we should not forget that resurrection isn’t something that He experienced, resurrection is who He is!
Perhaps we could say that resurrection is one of His attributes. Jesus gives food and He is food (John 6:27 and 35). Likewise, He raises the dead and He is resurrection. In Him is the end of death and eternal life or, the end of separation from God and the guarantee of forever fellowship with God.
Resurrection has personality. Resurrection is incarnated. Wherever He goes, so goes resurrection. Jesus embodies resurrection and life. Death couldn’t win from the beginning because the Word, who is resurrection, was in the beginning first. We believe that it’s impossible for death to win because of who Jesus is.
Jesus does not ask Martha to accept how it is. He’s not asking her to be glad that her brother is dead. He doesn’t make her feel stupid for feeling loss. He’s not asking her to be affection less. He’s asking her to expand her imagination. He’s raising her hope.
This resurrection and life are for “the one believing.” Even though he die , that is, even though he experience physical death, yet shall he live . A funeral service for a believer signifies the end of the beginning. The final resurrection is a comfort when it is connected to Jesus.
And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die . That is, fellowship with God will never cease, since everyone who lives must be more than everyone who breathes. Note the order at the beginning of verse 20: lives and believes . Dead men don’t believe. Unborn men don’t believe (think John 3) until the Spirit regenerates them. Dead men don’t believe until the Son resurrects them. From our perspective we see the internal living by their external believing, but only God can cause the living in the first place. That is because He is the resurrection and the life. Those who live like this shall never die , they won’t die “unto the eternity.”
Then Jesus asked Martha, Do you believe this? He’s asking her if she believes in Him.
On one hand, this is an impressive confession. It is by far the most explicit confession about the person of Jesus in John so far and a perfect example of what John wanted for everyone who read his gospel to believe (20:30-31). She confesses her understanding of Jesus’ office, His nature, and His mission.
She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” (John 11:27, ESV)
Her answer to Jesus’ question in short form was “Yes.” Martha called Jesus the Christ . The religious leaders asked Him plainly in order to trap Him; she asserts it. She called Him the Son of God . The religious leaders wanted to stone Him for that sort of blasphemy. And she called Him the one who is coming into the world . Jesus said this about Himself over and over.
This is an amazing array of titles but she still didn’t trust Him fully. She did believe, but Jesus was in the process of increasing her believing (same as with the disciples, verse 15).
Again, when they get to the tomb (verse 39), she questions Jesus.
Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:38–40, ESV)
Martha is still not sure about what He’s doing. She’s not denying anything, but her hope and expectations and trust were not yet where they would be. As great as her confession is, it is not the climax of her hope.
How about you? Take Jesus’ question for yourself: Do you believe this? Jesus said,
Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming, and is now here, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live. (John 5:25, ESV)
There is no other way to live than by believing this. Every man is born dead, will die, and then will die forever. Philosophy, religious behavior, accurate theology, entertainment, and willful ignorance can at best distract a man from one type of death. Only Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Only He deals with and defeats all three: spiritual, physical, and eternal death. Only those who believe in Him share His resurrection and life.
For those who already do believe, how much more is your belief than your true profession about Jesus? Do you believe that He not only has the power over death but that He also loves you and loves for you to see Him? Do you believe that He loves to open up doors that have decaying death behind them? Do you trust Him to deal with the mess? And to do it now, in some sense, not just in the resurrection on the last day? Where He goes, resurrection goes.
In Jesus we not only overcome the fear of death, we overcome death itself. In Jesus we live, not just later, but today.
He rose from the dead a victor over sin and death because He is the resurrection and the life. Do you believe this with your whole life?