City Life Starter

I. THE WORD: John 11:1-44

11 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. ² It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. ³ Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.” ⁴ When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” ⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was. ⁷ Then after this, He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸ The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?” ⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰ But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” ¹¹ These things He said, and after that, He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.” ¹² Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.” ¹³ However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep. ¹⁴ Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵ And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go to him.” ¹⁶ Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”

I Am the Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷ So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles^[a] away. ¹⁹ And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. ²⁰ Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. ²¹ Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord if You had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴ Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. ²⁶ And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Jesus and Death, the Last Enemy

²⁸ And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” ²⁹ As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was^[b] in the place where Martha met Him. ³¹ Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”^[c] 32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. ³⁴ And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus wept. ³⁶ Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” ³⁷ And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”

Lazarus Raised from the Dead

³⁸ Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying.^[d] And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. ⁴² 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.” ⁴³ Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” ⁴⁴ And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

By Heather Yu (Mattingly)

In John Chapter 11, Lazarus, a friend of Jesus, dies in Bethany (which is close to Jerusalem). Lazarus’ sisters, Martha and Mary, are in their house mourning for Lazarus when Jesus is arriving in town. Martha went to Jesus first, and then Mary went. The Bible says, “Then, when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, ‘Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.’ Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to Him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, ‘See how He loved him!’ And some of them said, ‘Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?’ Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone’…” John 11:30, 32-38

Mary came to Jesus, and while her sister Martha had a full dialogue with Jesus, Mary fell at Jesus’ feet as soon as she saw Him. Since she was so overcome with emotion, I wonder if she had difficulty getting these words out, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Have you ever witnessed a person weeping unashamedly in public before? It can be both glorious and very uncomfortable. Can you imagine this scene as if you were a passerby? Picture it in your mind: you’re leaving town on a nice day, and you hear something not quite right. It gets louder and louder, and then you see where the sound is coming from: it’s wailing and crying. But the loudest crying is from a wailing woman, who is seemingly unable to compose herself, on the ground at the feet of a Man.

What would you think and how would you feel about this scene before you? Worried? Concerned? Sad? Frustrated? Aloof? (Can you name what you are feeling? Identification is a big step in dealing with emotions). How did our Lord Jesus respond to the show of such unreserved emotion? He didn’t run from it; He was spurred to action by it.

The Bible says Jesus “groaned in the spirit and was troubled” upon watching Mary and the others weeping. That word “groaned” in the Greek is “embrimaomai” which means “to be very angry, to be moved with indignation,” and the word “troubled” in Greek is “tarasso” which means, “to agitate, to trouble, to disquiet, to make restless.” Jesus was so moved by the emotion He witnessed that He had to act. He was angry, angry at the death
that had taken dominion over His beloved creation and that isn’t supposed to be here in His world in the first place. Death was never part of His Plan! He was agitated (“groaned in the spirit”) and made restless (“tarasso”) into action. He had to act for His creation, His people, whom He loves so much. And He did. He went to the tomb. And He spoke. And the dead Lazarus rose. He’s still doing this today. For you.

APPLICATION

Your emotions do not scare our Lord. Quite the contrary: they spur Him to act on your behalf. Emotions are not weakness. They are a great strength when managed properly by the Lord. David was not mighty to God because of His holiness; he was mighty to God because he was a man who fully faced his emotions and knew how to repent. There is a reason history knows King David, the author of most of the Psalms, as “the tender warrior.”

We serve a compassionate, merciful God who embraces our emotions. If we are willing to bring them to Him, their Original Designer. He is where our emotions belong. I assure you He is not afraid of your emotions. He made them; He knows exactly what to do with them. Take them to Him. Follow Mary’s example and pour your feelings out at His feet. If you don’t even know what you’re feeling, much less what words to say, that’s OK. Start there and tell Him just that. Then choose a Psalm, any Psalm, and read it out loud to yourself; now you are praying it.

Then let your own words flow. By doing this, you’re reminding yourself Who He is: your Savior, your Safe Place, your Counselor, your Healer. The Lord of Lords. And He is reminding you who you are: His chosen, His beloved, His son/His daughter. Don’t take your eyes from His face. Where your eyes go, your mind follows. “Lord, You know all my desires and deepest longings. My tears are liquid words and You can read them all. (Psalm 38:9 The Passion Translation)

PRAYER:

“Lord, sometimes my feelings scare me and I don’t want you to see how I really feel because I don’t understand them myself. And I’m scared of what I don’t understand. I want to give You all of me; I just don’t know how. But I’m willing. Right now, I’m feeling ______________ because of ______________. I lay all of this at Your feet and speak Your Word, which is the Truth, over it, “You are a shield for me. My glory and the One who lifts up my head….[You] answer me from Your holy hill…..Arise, O Lord; save me, O my God!” (Psalm 3:3-4,7)