JESUS DEFEATES THE LAST ENEMY

I invite you to turn this morning to John chapter 11, John chapter 11, and looking at the resurrection through one of the events that happened, the well-known event of Lazarus. As you know, we're working through Matthew in the morning. If you're a visitor, we're working through that book, and we'll be coming back and concluding our study in the next few weeks on the passion and death of Christ, and then looking at Matthew's account of the resurrection. But I thought this would be a different look today from John chapter 11. So let's give our attention to the word of the Lord, found on page 1066, beginning at verse 1.

"Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, of 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 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 God may be glorified through it Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

"So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this, he said to the disciples, let us go to Judea again. The disciples said to him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and you're going there again? Jesus answered, are there not 12 hours in the 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.

"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 has fallen asleep, he will recover. Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought he meant taking rest and sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus has died, and 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 twins said to his fellow disciples, let us also go, that we may die with him

"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. 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. 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. 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? She said to him, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who is coming into the world.

"When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, the teacher is here and is calling for you. And when she heard it, she arose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him.

"When the Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

"Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, where have you laid him, they said to him lord come and see Jesus wept.

"So the Jews said, see how he loved him But some of them said, could not he who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept this man from dying

"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's been dead for four days Jesus said to her, did I not tell you that if you believed, you'd see the glory of god

"So they took away the stone, and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, father I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me

"When he had said these things, he cried out with a louser a loud voice, lazarus come out, the man who had died came out his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, unbind him and let him go

And there will end the reading of God's word.

Well, today we celebrate uh the resurrection of Christ really a truth that we celebrate every day as Christians in the Christian life. It is, beloved, a doctrine of our hope. It is the doctrine of real hope in a world of hopelessness. Paul said, "If Christ is not raised from the dead, we are still in our sins." So there is no good news apart from this great truth that we confess together: that Christ is risen from the dead. And as I said earlier, our very justification before God is rooted in the resurrection of Christ. We are declared righteous based on the truth that he has risen and that he has conquered sin and death.

The challenge, of course, today is not just to intellectually assent to this doctrine. It's not just to agree with it. That's not what we're after in Christianity. And maybe, like me, you might have struggled in the course of life to appreciate the resurrection like you should and to understand its implications for life. And that's what I really want to strike on this morning: have you think about this morning why it's so important for the present, this truth of what we confess, that Christ has risen from the dead. We just don't seem to get very ahead in life, if you know what that means. It only seems that as time goes on, life gets harder, and we're all sort of fighting to just make a better life of things because it's just so difficult.

And if you have witnessed in these past months with us as a congregation, and you know the death that has come upon us one of the reasons I chose this this morning the death that has come and how quickly death came and shocking in shocking ways that death came. You know it's a grief. You know it's a grief for those of you still maybe years later who've lost loved ones in surprising ways. You know that this is a grief that just doesn't go away; it's a pain that doesn't go away.

Well, this morning I want to consider with you one of the most familiar passages on the resurrection itself, because embedded here is the story in the story. That's what's so amazing about this text. This passage you've heard preached all your life, and something you're very familiar with, is showing us the answer to all of our sorrow in this life, to all of the pain in this life that sin and death has brought upon us. And it gives us the answer through the resurrection of the body the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Let me say, for all of you who know the pain and suffering of loss and the pain of what the Bible characterizes as the last enemy: have you thought about that language? We have a lot of enemies in this life. The last enemy is death. The burden of sin in this story you have a reviving of all hope. But you have to go down before you get up. It's a hard path to walk before you see light. That's that's why this is important to go through. I'm going to take you down, and then we're going to rise to the highest heights by the end of this.

The heart of the issue, as I see it, is captured in verse 37, where the people ask a question: "Could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept this man from dying?" Now think about that question. It's a really important question to this text. That's what most people think life should be. we're just we just need to be kept from dying if we could solve that, we'd solve everything. And that's how people live; that's what people live for. This is the pursuit of life: it is to be kept from dying.

You know this. We all do this. Most of our worries in life center on right here to be kept from death. And I would say that this is probably their greatest frustration: people in life with God. Why, if God is so good, doesn't he just prevent this from happening? Doesn't he just prevent this from happening?

I think that's a crucial question. And I would answer immediately and say that is a grossly ignorant understanding of what is needed. We don't need to be just kept from dying as the common solution to life. And this is where it's important to say what you know and what is absolutely true: that death is a result of a curse upon us because of sin.

The real question is: Can this man overcome death and revive us again and give us life? That should have been the question. That should have been the question. How can that be achieved? And what would be the consequence of that if he could do that? If he could overcome death itself and give us life again so that we never die?

In the first few chapters of John 11, you have distraught sisters, Mary and Martha, because their brother Lazarus is sick. You know the family bonds. You know how close family is. You know the pain of this. These are your people. These are those whom you love. So they come to Jesus in verse three and say to him, "Lord, behold, the one whom you love is sick."

Well, there's the marvel. They know it. They will say it later when Jesus weeps, "See how he loved him."

We're always living with this, though. We are always living with this. You have no idea what's going on in your body right now. You have no idea what's going on in your body, and you could take every herb under the sun to try to stop it. You have no way to stop it. Trader Joe's or Sprouts won't solve it.

Even Christopher Hitchens once said that one day you'll be tapped on the shoulder and told the party is going on and you have to leave. The basic functions of life already begin deteriorating deteriorating at birth. This is science, and I'm not a scientist. We begin to die when we're born, but it doesn't really touch us until this kind of thing happens: "You are very sick. You have cancer. You're going to die."

Martha and Mary have spent their time with Jesus. They have listened to him. They've listened to him speak. So knowing that this thing has happened, they come to him: "Lord, here's the one you love. Here's the one you love. This one is yours, but he's sick."

When you all face something like this, you you tend to want to call somebody so you call your pastors and You have hope. you have hope Maybe, maybe God will prevent this thing from happening. The pastor will come over, and maybe, just like the question here that comes out, maybe secretly you begin to think, "Could this not be prevented? Could he not prevent death?"

And you think that's the solution? And I say again, you've misunderstood death. Here's the hard truth: death is judgment. I'm not sure we understand that today. We often say God is love, God doesn't do any judging. Death is judgment. Death is judgment. Every death is judgment because of sin.

But here's something entirely different. happens. When Jesus hears this, he says, "I know what you're thinking. Death is judgment. What about our deaths?" begins to work on that. "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."

And that doesn't immediately help. Um, what a confusing statement! "This sickness won't lead to death, but God will be glorified through what's happening here."

Now if I heard that, and you heard that, you would think Jesus is going to heal him. But again, is this just about preventing death? The promise he makes is: "Whatever is happening here's the promise god will be glorified through it."

You know, as it has been said, "There is not a maverick molecule in our bodies doing whatever it wants to do apart from the will of God. He is in direct control of every molecule."

So what happens? Okay, think of that statement. It's not unto death, but God will be glorified through it. So what happens? When he hears that he's sick, he stays behind two more days.

Everything about Jesus is confusing at this point. Everything he says, it's cryptic. He won't even say he's dead. He'll finally say it, but it's all cryptic. He purposely stays away. He didn't come to do the visit. If you looked at that, you'd say, "That's terrible pastoral care."

And so what happens? Lazarus dies. It has to touch every sort of pain and frustration that we all have and that we feel in this life when you don't understand the ways of the Lord. Isn't this just all culminate right here? You don't understand his ways, and you're confused about his ways. And it's not just that, but but it's what's said in his word that doesn't seem to correspond with reality. Right? That's the hard part.

Jesus was walking along in John already, John 8, saying things like, "This, truly, truly I say to you: if anyone keeps my word, he will never see death."

What do you do with that? People are dying all around us, and people who are believers. Nothing feels victorious about life. And yet I'm told to be of good cheer because he's overcome the world. I've sat at more deathbeds and read the promises of God and victory, and it seems like none of it's experienced.

And this is the heart of it. Put yourself in their shoes for a minute. Here's your frustration: you just said this would not be unto death, but it was. There's the dilemma of the text. Can you feel the wave of emotion and frustration that, even though he could have done something, and come and stop this and prevented death, he didn't? But instead, he leaves Lazarus alone to die in the land of Judea while he remains beyond the Jordan. What is this? This is not the simple, easy text you think it is. This is why people go after us in Christianity. This is why they say, "You're weak people who just need a crutch, running around and believing in Jesus and yet telling everyone about Jesus and celebrating this resurrection thing."

You know how many people from the community said to me last week, "Isn't that your Super Bowl?" Super Bowl. This is a crisis.

Now the disciples are processing this too. They're trying to figure this thing out. They're trying to figure out Jesus too. And as we read this, they come up and say, "Listen, Rabbi, we don't want to go over there anyways. The Jews are just waiting to stone you there. Let's just move on. It got away."

So this is a bad situation, right? The disciples are now fretting that his life now will be snatched away in death too. So really, you have presented here a view that things have run amok from the sovereignty of God, that nothing is certain in this life, that everything could be lost. That, just like Lazarus' life was lost, Jesus' life might be lost. So the disciples are scared to death that Jesus is going to lose his own life by these killers, just like Lazarus' life was snuffed away by the enemy of death.

And so Jesus answers, "Are there not 12 hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he doesn't 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."

You know what he's saying? If you're walking in darkness, sure, something bad might happen. But we're not walking in darkness. We are walking in the will of God. Nothing happens by chance, and nothing can touch us apart from the will of God.

Thomas says, "Fine, well, we'll just go die then." What an optimist, huh?

Well, Jesus now makes his way to the death scene, and he finds all these people have gathered around who are mourning. Lazarus has been placed in the tomb now for four days. Seems like the whole thing's a mistake. He comes in, and he comes into a funeral home type of setting. We don't know those as much anymore, but it's like that. All these people have gathered, and they're weeping.

I just did a gravesite of someone in the community who I didn't know. I was asked to do it, who died at 30 years old. And that grief was absolutely great. The mourning. You see whether there's any hope at moments like this.

Now, from the perspective of Mary and Martha, this could have been prevented. This didn't even have to be so. I guess, does anyone ever really experience something different at death in that sense? It depends on the circumstance, I understand, but it's so frequent.

Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you'd have been here, my brother would not have died."

So they're in pain. I mean, this is every cry from the Psalter you ever get: "Why, oh Lord? Why?" These include all the tragic circumstances of life that are not normal to what we think is the course of life and how backwards it all is.

You know, the wicked seem to prosper. Psalm 73. The wicked seem to prosper, and they have no pains in their death. They seem to live long lives, and they have no worries in this life. But then the righteous? God seems to snatch at the most inopportune moments and in surprising ways that make no sense. It's all backwards.

It's why you always will say constantly, "Why does it always seem like the good ones are taken prematurely? Oh, if we just had a doctor here. Or if the doctor would not have made that mistake, they'd be here. Why? Why? Why? If you're God, did you not prevent this? Why does God cause us to pass through the valley of the shadow of death? Why do we face sorrow when you have the power to stop it?"

Martha, mary what answers to this this. dilemma And they're struggling with this and you know what becomes the answer today, in our day, Here's our solution. If you just said, "What is the common solution to death in our society? What is the solution?" Well, if anyone shows up to a memorial service anymore because they're dying, but if people will still go what will you do? Well, you'll you'll eulogize lazarus for a while and you'll tell everyone some of the good things that he did in life. And then you'll go eat. And what did that solve?

So you have to come to a conclusion: it solved nothing.

Through all the pain, we want light. What could give us light? She says, "Even now I know that this thing has happened. I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you."

That's not just now. Why didn't you just prevent this? That's a glimmer of faith here. Wait, wait, this is different. I believe, like Abraham, you could raise him from the dead.

And here's the word: "Your brother will rise again."

Martha: "Well, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."

Well, that's true. See, that's a dilemma. Does that mean we're just waiting and seeing? We're waiting and seeing if this is going to be true?

And now, after taking you down, I got the best news to give.

Jesus does not say, "You'll have to wait and see. You're just going to have to wait with regard to your brother. That he's dead until then." That's not what he says.

See, if you've lost loved ones, what do you think? "They're dead, and at the end, then they'll be given life back."

But Jesus says something surprising. And some of the most powerful words in all the Gospels of the great "I Am" statements.

Then Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He, listen to this, listen carefully. he who believes in me, though he may die, he will live. And whoever lives and believes in me, if you didn't get it, shall never die."

And then he shoots out a question to the whole crowd: "Do you believe this?"

In one sweeping promise, and God cannot lie, Jesus looked upon them and took upon himself all power and responsibility to swallow up death and victory. Tell me, who's ever done this in history or made such a claim? Do you feel how radical that is?

If I stood up as Chris Gordon today as a pastor and said, "Hey, everybody, I'm going to swallow up death and victory, you'd take me. out and stone me. That's what they wanted to do.

"I am the one through whom there's life. That even though someone dies, they'll live. Whoever believes in me is never going to die." They have to let that set in.

What a promise! You hear in that, "Whoever believes in me it's not just, "There's no hell, there's no judgment." It is: "He lives now."

Remember back in chapter 22 when the Sadducees came up and tested him on the resurrection? "Well, if a man dies and has no children, and each brother takes the wife, and they have no children, whose will she be in the resurrection?" They're mocking the resurrection. "This is so stupid."

Remember what he said? "And concerning the resurrection, that was spoken by God. Remember what he said. Remember what Jesus said: I am the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob. God is not the God of the dead but of the living

Do you understand what he was doing there? I'm still their God.

When Jesus spoke of the death of Lazarus here and says, "Whoever believes in me, even though he dies, shall live; and whoever believes in me shall never die," he is saying the children of God are never truly dead. It's impossible. They're alive right now. They are. Fulfilled. Oh, it's not complete, for in death there is no remembrance of you in Sheol. Who will give you praise? But he doesn't leave our soul in Sheol.

He spoke this way because God is not the God of the dead but of the living. He is. And that most certainly means that there will be a final resurrection, because God is the God of the living and he is eternal. When the body is reunited with the soul, Jesus is looking at them and challenging them on this great truth.

Notice: Jesus didn't say, "Let me show you Lazarus lives first, and then believe." No, no. He calls you today to believe without seeing and trust that this is so. That's faith.

So you have a choice here with Jesus: either he's the cruelest man ever to exist on the face of the earth who ran around telling people he would do this and that they are not truly dead, or he's God, and it's true, and you better believe it now. comes the moment. Jesus we read looks upon them weeping, and all the Jews came in with them weeping. You read that he is now groaned in spirit and troubled, groan. He is deeply moved. The word expresses deep agitation. It is deep anger at death. He is looking at an enemy. He is looking at an enemy. He's groaning and disgust at this thing.

"Where's Lazarus been laid?"

They show him.

We read the most moving verse. Then Jesus went. it's a moving scene. Death is real. For as we experience it, as the body dies, the one through whom everything was made sees the horrid consequence of sin in this world upon creation. And how precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints! But here he is in his humanity, feeling welling up in full humanity all the pain of this himself.

This is why he's able to sympathize with you in your weaknesses. Hebrews says he was like us in every way except for sin.

So here's the moment. "Do you believe?"

Some begin to mock. Some begin to mock: "Could not this man who have opened the eyes of the blind kept this man from dying?" That's not just what's needed, you fools. He could have said. This is what people think. This is what people keep away from people from Christianity because they don't understand it. This is what Marx called people: Christianity for weak people. Well, we're weak for sure.

Jesus comes to the tomb. The stone lay against it. Jesus says, "Take it away."

Martha, the sister, says, "Lord, you can't, you can't do that. He's been in there four days. There's gonna be an awful stench."

"Did I not tell you that if you would believe, you'd see the glory of God?"

Then they took away the stone from where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank you that you hear 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."

Now when he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice. I can't capture it, but it was a deep cry: "Lazarus, come forth!"

Command! A power! Creation power! And the bones start rattling. Flesh has returned Ezekiel 37 And he gets up and you know what you're hearing right now? Who's ever claimed this?

And he who died came out, bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face wrapped in a cloth. And Jesus said, "Loose him and let him go."

That is a beautiful statement. It's figuring something. It's showing us something.

Such a person is free.

What are we seeing here, beloved? To close the scene of his own resurrection, this whole scene declared to us the purpose that Jesus had come: that those who believe will never die.

Soon, people will be coming to his tomb, and they're going to see a stone that is rolled away, and they would see with their eyes the risen Lord from the dead. Matthew

"But the angel answered and said to the women, do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He's not here, for he is risen as he said. Come see the place where the Lord lay, and go quickly and tell his disciples that he's risen from the dead. And indeed, he is going before you into Galilee. There you will see him. Behold, I've told you

So they went out quickly from the tomb with fear and great joy and ran to bring the disciples the word. And as they went to tell his disciples, behold, Jesus met them, saying, "Rejoice!"

And that's the response, because Christ has defeated the enemy of death for us. And in him, we are raised to the newness of life. And in him, we are promised that to be absent from the body is not only to be with him, but that he's raising our bodies on the last day.

These bodies that are breaking. the resurrection today, beloved, is the answer to all your sorrows. I used to struggle with the resurrection. I believed it, but to live in faith, believing it as the answer to all pain and sorrow and sin, was something I didn't think much about.

But our Heidelberg is beautiful: "What comfort does the resurrection of the body give you? That not only my soul after this life shall immediately be taken to Christ, my head that's just why Jesus said you never really die; they're living but also that my body, raised by the power of Christ, shall again be united with my soul and made like Christ's glorious body."

And that's what Jesus came to do. That's the Christian gospel. That's the remedy to every bit of your problems in this life of sin and misery and death.

And he's going to make a brand new world where there's no, he's going to raise and resurrect a brand new world where there's no more sin or death or sorrow or pain or suffering or misery or sin.

Jesus' stone is rolled away. Jesus Christ is risen indeed. And he's paid for our sins. And he says to you today, "I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, even though you die, you will live."

Now, what fool is here who wants to deny him? That has consequence. He didn't go through this for us to sit around and say, "I don't believe him." That will land you in the resurrection of condemnation on the last day. And I say that with great pleaing love: Believe. This is wonderful news. Believe.

I pray all of you have the same hope in life and in death. That's a life worth living, and you no longer have to fear. It's not just about preventing death. It's not life. You have life, and you belong to him in body and soul, in life and in death. There's not a rogue maverick molecule in your body.

"Whoever believes in me," says Jesus, "even though he dies, he shall live."

So believe and rejoice and receive true peace. That's his intention for all of you.

Amen.

Let's pray.

Thank you, O Lord, for such a gospel, and thank you for the resurrection of the body in the life everlasting, the promises of the gospel. Forgive us for our doubts and awaken us out of the stupor often of our own complaining lives, not listening carefully to you. Thank you for loving us this way. Thank you for showing us your Son today. Thank you for giving us hope beyond the grave. Thank you for comforting our weary hearts in the wilderness. And thank you for the bright hope and future that you have for us.

We bless and praise the name of the Lord.

In Jesus' name we pray, amen.