33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 "Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied. 35 Jesus wept. Of all the passages that display both Jesus’ humanity and his divine compassion, this is the most moving. RC Sproul says we should interpret Scripture experientially. In saying this he says we should try to understand what the people were experiencing in the passage. It is too easy to read this passage and just move on to the good stuff where Jesus raises Lazarus. But we need to stop and ponder what was going on. Mary was weeping. She had lost her brother. She loved him greatly. She loved Jesus and knew that he loved Lazarus also. But he had not come in time to keep him from dying. To read this experientially, we should feel the tears coming to our eyes also.
Greif is a part of the natural experiences of people. It isn’t necessarily a result of the fall though had there been no fall, there would be no grief. Jesus must have also experienced some grief as he also wept. We don’t know if he wept because the other people were weeping or because he was contemplating bring Lazarus back to this sin-filled world. We only know that he was moved in his spirit and was troubled. This describes grief and a plethora of emotions bombarding him all at once.
When grief strikes us because of a loss, whatever it may be, we should not deny it. While we all grieve in different ways, we do. Romans 12:15 says, “Rejoice with those who rejoice, weep with those who weep” (ESV). The best way to help people through grief is to weep with them. It isn’t a bad idea to let ourselves weep when we grieve.
36 Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" 37 But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"
I wonder if we have split personalities. On one side of the coin, we say that we love God and know that he is working for our good. On the other side of the coin, we question his work in our lives. While this passage indicates that it was two different groups of people, one that saw Jesus’ compassion and the other that questioned his ability, it nonetheless shows what often happens in our own hearts. We often question God when he doesn’t answer our prayers in the way we think he should. When we do, it only exposes our lack of faith which results in a lack of trust, both sinful attitudes. These lacks can only be overcome when we know and believe the truths shown in God’s attributes and the manifestation of himself in Jesus.
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 "Take away the stone," he said. "But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days."
Now we come to the tomb and Jesus is moved again. This isn’t the same as his previous display of emotions. This may very well be a combination of sadness because of the Jew’s denial of his ability as well as his knowledge that Martha still didn’t “get it.” Yes, it is possible that he is moved because he is about to bring Lazarus back to this sinful world and he will just have to go through death again. That is a terrible thought.
Jesus calls on us to do what we can do. He calls upon the onlookers to remove the stone from the tomb. He could have done it, but he told them to do it. This was no less a command than when he calls Lazarus out. But we are often like Martha, we protest because there must be something that God doesn’t know that will prevent us from doing what he commands or that it will be so unpleasant that we simple don’t want to do it.
What is Martha thinking? She can’t be thinking that Jesus is going to raise Lazarus or she would not have protested. What are we thinking? Why don’t we do what the Lord wants? Why don’t we get rid of the decaying, stinking, sin in our lives? Is it we can’t or is it that we don’t want our stink to be exposed to the world?
40 Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"
Martha must be reminded again just a short while after Jesus had talked to her. How do we make sure that we don’t miss what God is doing in our lives to bring glory to him? I’ve already mentioned a lack of faith and trust, but what can we do to keep understanding that God will work all things out for our good and his glory (Rom 8:28-30)? We will miss out on seeing his glory when we don’t have his Word in our minds and hearts. If Martha had repeated what Jesus had said to her earlier and pondered them in her heart, then I’m sure that when they came to the tomb, she would have been wondering how God’s glory was going to be revealed instead of being concerned about a stink. That’s what we need to do. Memorize and repeat his promises as we ponder what they are and how they reveal God’s glory in our lives.
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me." 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
Jesus doesn’t pray the way we do because his relationship with the Father is different. It would be an eyeopener for us to be on the mountains when Jesus was praying alone. This is but a glimpse of the way he may have prayed then. What I see in this prayer is that this is almost a side conversation between him and the Father. He is thankful that God always hears him. He isn’t asking for anything. He isn’t asking that the Father raise Lazarus. He is saying that his prayer about being heard is for the benefit of those standing around him.
Jesus command Lazarus to come out of the tomb. I’ll say it again so it is obvious, Jesus didn’t ask the Father to raise Lazarus. He was raised by Jesus’ command. This confirms what John has said that life is in Jesus (John 1:4). It confirms that Jesus gives life just as the Father does (John 5:21). In the same way that Jesus created the heavens and the earth (John 1:3, Heb 1:2), so the word of Jesus brings Lazarus out of the tomb. It confirms his words earlier:
Do not marvel at this, for an hour is coming when all who are in the tombs will hear his voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment (John 5:28-29 ESV).
This should bring comfort to us as well as dread to those who do not know Jesus. Raising Lazarus from the grave is only a preview of what will happen when Jesus returns. For those who don’t know Jesus, the judgment awaits them. For those of us who do know Jesus, we will be forever freed from the entanglements of sin the flesh that are symbolized in Lazarus’ grave clothes.
One of preachers’ favorite comments on this passage is that Jesus called Lazarus by name. And this is important to confirm to us that even beyond the grave, we are known by God. However, preachers like to add the funny comment that if he hadn’t specified Lazarus’ name, then everyone in the tombs would have come out. I find this funny not because they are trying to emphasize power of God’s command, but because there is nothing in this passage that indicates that the tomb was in an area of other tombs or that there were other bodies in this cave.
44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
Notice that Lazarus is completely bound up with grave wrappings. It is remarkable not only that Jesus raised him from the dead, but that he managed to stumble to the front of the cave and come out. I can imagine him waddling or hopping as he struggles to get out of the tomb.
Now here is where the preachers’ have a great analogy based on Lazarus’ situation. Before we come to Christ, we must first be called. We are dead in our sins and can’t do anything in our own power to get up and walk to the light of Jesus Christ. When Jesus calls, the Holy Spirit makes us alive; we then stumble to Jesus. Now I want to make this clear, we are made alive before we start moving to Jesus. We move toward Jesus by his power and his calling. Though we make a decision, that decision is based on God’s effectual calling. We have been given the desire to get out of that grave when the Holy Spirit regenerates us. We could no more reject his call than Lazarus could have ignored Jesus and stayed in the grave. He wanted to get out.
Now, when we come out of that grave, we are still entangled with our sins. We can’t see clearly but we can see the light through the grave cloth over our eyes. That is when we must get untangled from our previous way of life. What does Jesus do? He asks other to help him. What an example for us. When we come to Christ, we must become involved with other Christians who will teach us and show us how to live godly lives. We can’t do it on our own. We need the Word of God and others to take off the sins that hold us back.
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