John 11:1-44: Life Beyond the Grave

John 11:1-44: Life Beyond the Grave

The title of our message this morning is “Life beyond the Grave.” “Life beyond the Grave.” I remember a few months ago when my wife’s grandfather died. Our family went to the funeral in upstate New York, and Caleb, my four year old, wanted to know more about what happened to great-grandpa. So I told him very directly that great-grandpa had died. And I tried my best to explain to him what death was. I said that death is kind of like going to sleep and not waking up again. But despite my best efforts, I’m not really sure that what I was saying sunk in—because Caleb then asked me if great-grandpa would need some blankets to keep him warm in the box he was in since it was pretty cold outside on that winter day. So again, I tried to explain to him that great-grandpa’s body can’t feel anything because that’s part of what it means to be dead. And as I was explaining all of this, I just felt sad that it was necessary for even a four year old to encounter the brokenness of this world and the reality of death in that way. Thankfully, however, Bible shows us that when a Christian dies, it’s not the end but simply the beginning of life like never before. And that life comes through Jesus. That’s what we believe, and that’s our main point this morning. Jesus offers hope for life beyond the grave. Please turn with me to John 11. If you’re using the Story Bibles we provide, that’s on page 743. John 11, and we’ll be progressively working our way through verses 1-44. As we’re about to see in our text, there are two ways we should respond to the fact that Jesus offers hope for life beyond the grave. The first is to acknowledge “the grave” or acknowledge the reality of our present brokenness. And the second is to anticipate our future glory. Acknowledge the present brokenness, and anticipate our future glory.

Acknowledge the Present Brokenness

So first, let’s look at acknowledging the present brokenness. Read with me, verses 1-4: 1 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” 4 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.” So Jesus goes down to Jerusalem and discovers that Lazarus isn’t just sick but, by now, has actually died. Look at verse 17: “Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.” So Lazarus died. And unfortunately, Lazarus isn’t the only human being who’s died. Everyone dies eventually. You’ve probably heard the famous statistic that ten out of ten people die. That’s just how it works. And in addition to that, there are all kinds of other difficult things besides death that we face in this world: sickness, sorrow, crime, hunger, conflict, depression, violence, and pain…so many things that people have to face. 

And a lot of people wonder, “Why does God allow all these things to happen? When does he let people experience them?” Someone just texted me this past week asking me that question. “Why is God allowing me to go through what I’m going through?” Well, the Bible actually tells us that the origin of all these things isn’t God. It’s actually humanity’s rebellion against God. In Genesis 3, the first human beings named Adam and Eve disobeyed God’s command. God told them not to eat the fruit of a certain tree, but they ate the fruit from that tree anyway, and we call that “the Fall” because humanity fell into sin. And as a result of the Fall, everything in this world immediately became broken. That one act of disobedience changed everything about this world. Kind of like what can happen in a car accident. Many of you may remember that my sister was in a really bad car accident several months ago. She was in the middle of a cross country road trip with some of her friends. And as one of her friends was driving through the night, he either fell asleep at the wheel or slipped on some ice—it’s not entirely clear. And because of that car accident, my sister sustained some pretty serious injuries and ended up losing one of her legs. It’s pretty crazy when you think about it. One moment, one mistake, one decision can alter the rest of your life. And that’s how it was with the Fall. Because of Adam and Eve’s rebellion against God, God righteously punished them by cursing them, their descendents, and the entire world we live in. It was a very serious thing. And that’s why we face many of the difficult things we face.

So it’s very natural for these things to bother us in a very deep way—things like sickness, sorrow, pain, and death. These things aren’t normal. They’re not natural. All of these things are an abnormal, unnatural plague on the human race. This isn’t the way things are supposed to be. This isn’t what God intended. And just about everyone can sense that in their heart. So it’s very appropriate for us to be bothered by these things. Down in verse 35 of our main text, we see when Jesus was about to go to Lazarus’s tomb, what did he do? He wept. That’s what the verse says, those two words: “Jesus wept.” So Jesus grieved, and it’s very natural for us to grieve these things also. 

And there’s also something else we should grieve—something else that resulted from the Fall. And, in fact, this is the worst consequence of all. Every since the Fall, humanity has been utterly separated from God. We’ve actually become enemies of God, the Bible says. That’s the worst part of our fallenness. And so, the greatest need we have isn’t just to be healed of our diseases and rescued from our pain. It’s to be reconciled to the God against whom we’ve rebelled. If you’re not a Christian, that may not feel like your greatest need, but according to the Bible, that is your greatest need. You greatest need is the one you can’t see. Kind of like someone who has cancer but doesn’t know it yet. They may feel fine. They may have plenty of energy, a healthy appetite, and no unusual discomfort. So they may think their greatest need lies elsewhere—perhaps getting that next promotion at work or putting their kids through college. They may view those things as their most pressing needs. But of course, even though they can’t see it, their greatest need—at least, from an earthly point of view—is related to the cancer that’s currently metastasizing within them. Their greatest earthly need is something they can’t see and don’t know even exists. And in the same way, our ultimate greatest need is something we can’t see and, more often than not, are completely unaware of. We need reconciliation in our relationship with God. 

Anticipate our Future Glory

So this world is indeed a very fallen place. We face all kinds of things in this life that bring us incredible pain and sorrow. At the end of our lives, we face death. And ultimately, we’re separated from God. Things are pretty bad. Thankfully, however, God is working a plan to restore everything to the way he originally intended for it to be. So not only should we acknowledge the present brokenness, we should also anticipate our future glory. That the second response we’re going to look at this morning. Anticipate our future glory.

Let’s go back to our story in John 11. Look with me at verses 17-27. Remember, Jesus’ friend Lazarus has just died. So we read: 17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 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 from 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 on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who 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 coming into the world.” 

Now, looking at this passage, the most intriguing thing I see is Jesus’ claim in verse 25. “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” That’s pretty big. This is one of Jesus’ seven “I am” statements in the Gospel of John. Seven times, Jesus says “I am” something. In John 6:35, Jesus says, “I am the bread of life.” In John 8:12, he says, “I am the light of the world.” In John 10:9, Jesus states, “I am the door.” Two verses after that, in John 10:11, Jesus says, “I am the good shepherd.” Then later in the Gospel of John, in John 14:6, Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.” And finally, in John 15:1, Jesus tells his disciples, “I am the true vine.” All of these statements communicate different but overlapping truths about who Jesus is. And, as we mentioned several weeks ago, “I am” is actually the sacred name that God used to identify himself to Moses back in the Old Testament book of Exodus. So by saying “I am” in this very intentional way, Jesus is actually claiming for himself a title that’s reserved for God. He’s claiming deity. 

And here specifically—back in our main text in John 11—when Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life,” he’s claiming that he has the ultimate solution to death. And actually, he’s not just claiming that he has the ultimate solution to death—he’s claiming that he is the ultimate solution to death. You know, when most people think about solving the problems in our world, their minds usually go straight to something like technology. Technology is the answer to the things that ail us, many would say. Then perhaps others would say that education is the answer to the pressing problems we face. The masses just need to be educated, and that will solve our problems. Others might say that all humans just need to come together and that together we can create some kind of worldwide utopia that will put an end to all of our suffering. These are all different ideas people have about what’s going to solve the problems of our world. But Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” In other words, “I’m the answer to all the disastrous effects of the Fall, and chief among those things, death. I’m the answer to death.”

Now, if you or I encountered someone who said something like that, we might be a little skeptical, because that’s a pretty bold claim. But Jesus doesn’t just say he’s the answer to death. He demonstrates it. Read with me in verses 38-44: 38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb [of Lazarus]. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 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.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 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.” 43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 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.” 

So Jesus shows that he’s the resurrection and the life by raising Lazarus from the grave after he’s been dead for four days. What a beautiful picture of the way Jesus is victorious over death. But of course, the greatest picture of Jesus being victorious over death doesn’t occur in this passage. It doesn’t occur in John 11. It occurs in John 20 with Jesus himself rising from the dead. You see, not long after Jesus raised His friend Lazarus from the dead, Jesus himself experienced death on the cross. However, there’s an important difference between Jesus’ death and the death of everyone else. Unlike everyone else, Jesus was sinless and perfect. And so when Jesus died, he was suffering the punishment not for any sins he had committed but for our sins. The judgment of God that should have come down on you and me came down on Jesus instead. He suffered the punishment we deserved, not just physical death but the full undiluted wrath of God against sin. And then after Jesus died, he resurrected from the dead.  And by his resurrection, Jesus won a decisive victory over sin and death for everyone. That’s why he can say, here in John 11:25, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” The reason Jesus could say that is because he himself rose from the dead and thereby conquered sin and death. And that’s not all. As we put our trust in Jesus as our only hope of rescue, we share in that victory. 

I think of the way our city’s hockey team has won two back-to-back national championships. Now I’ll admit that when the Pens won their last championship, I’m pretty sure I was sleeping. I’m not really much of a hockey fan. I’ve been to one Pens game, and I didn’t know what most of the penalties were even called for. I’m just not that familiar with the rules. But even though I’m not a huge hockey fan, I got excited both times when I heard that the Penguins won those Stanley cups. In a sense, it’s like everyone in the city got to share in their victory. They won the victory, but we get to share in that victory. And in a similar way, Jesus won a decisive victory when he rose from the dead. He defeated sin, Satan, death, and everything else that was opposed to us. And as we put our trust in him, we get to share in his victory. Jesus’ resurrection and life paves the way for our resurrection and life. Again, as Jesus says in verse 25, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.”

Now, when Jesus says “live” and then says in the next verse, “everyone who…believes in me shall never die,” he’s obviously not talking about physical death and physical life. Believing in Jesus won’t keep you from dying physically. Rather, Jesus is talking about spiritual death and life. By believing in him, we’re able to escape spiritual death and gain spiritual life, also known as heaven. So Jesus isn’t just offering an extension of our earthly lives. With all of the difficulties we face, that’s really not much of a reward. He’s offering us something infinitely better. He’s offering us true life in heaven. Picture a world without suffering—a world that where there’s no need for health insurance or hospitals or medicine. Picture a world where there’s no need for handicapped parking spaces or handicap accessible buildings. Picture a world where there’s no need for psychologists for counselors, a world where people’s doors don’t even have locks on them, and a world where armies have utterly ceased to exist. Picture a world with no funeral homes, tissues, or caskets. Picture a world that’s exactly the way God originally intended for it to be. 

But of course, that kind of world isn’t just about the absence of the bad. It’s also, and I would even say chiefly, about the presence of the good. So picture a world where we constantly see the beauties and glories of God wherever we are, a world where we’re always living in perfect fellowship with God, and a world where we’re finally able to worship God without hindrance or limitation.  That’s what heaven is all about. That’s what makes heaven heaven. It’s because God’s there. 

Listen to these words from Psalm 36:8-9. David’s talking to God about people who are close to God, and he says, “8 They feast on the abundance of your house, and you give them drink from the river of your delights. 9 For with you is the fountain of life; in your light do we see light.” God is the one from whom flows the river of delights, with him is the fountain of life, and it’s in his light that we see true light. Nothing in this world can compare with God—with the pleasure and satisfaction we get from being close to him. And it’s in heaven that we finally experience full, undiluted pleasure in the presence of God himself. That’s what it means to truly be alive, and that’s what Jesus is referring to when he says, “I am the resurrection and the life.”

Conclusion

And not only that, but a Christian is someone who lives for that life. They’re not living for this life. A Christian, by definition, I believe, is someone who’s living for that life. Imagine being an American soldier and serving in Iraq, thousands and thousands of miles from home. You’re in Iraq because you have a mission in Iraq, but Iraq isn’t your home. So what are you thinking about every day? Obviously, you’re thinking about what you’ve temporarily left behind—your family, your friends, cheeseburgers at McDonalds. And every chance you get, what are you doing? You’re calling home, Skyping with your spouse, writing emails, maybe getting on Facebook if they allow that. So you have a mission in Iraq and you’re devoted to that mission, but that’s not where your heart is. Your heart isn’t in Iraq—it’s in America with your family. And everything you do in Iraq, you do in anticipation of returning home very soon. You’re probably counting down the days. That’s what Christians are like also. Christians aren’t living for this present life. Sure, maybe they get moderate enjoyment from a few things like sports or hobbies or things like that, but that’s not where their heart is. A Christian’s heart is in heaven. That’s what they’re living for, that’s what they’re yearning for, and that’s where they so desire to be that they would literally be counting down the days if they knew how many days it would be. Do you have that kind of anticipation? Do you have that kind of yearning?

And here’s something else to think about. Every time we experience suffering in this life, it should intensify our yearning for heaven. It should be a reminder to us that this world is not our home and should make us yearn and ache for our heavenly home that much more. In Romans 8, Paul describes it as groaning. He says, in verses 18-19, “18 For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. 19 For the creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God. [that is, the time when we’ll experience heavenly glory].” Then, Paul continues a little later on, “22 For we know that the whole creation has been groaning together in the pains of childbirth until now. 23 And not only the creation, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for adoption as sons, the redemption of our bodies. 24 For in this hope we were saved.” So did you hear what Paul says? Did you notice what effect our sufferings should have on us? They should make us “groan” all the more, and yearn all the more, for the time when we’ll be with God in heaven.

So is that the way you long for heaven? Is there a deep longing and aching in your soul not just to be free from earthly suffering but to see Jesus face-to-face? Think again about the way an American soldier in Iraq looks at pictures of his family and Skypes with his wife and counts down the days until he gets to come home. Is that way in which you’re longing for heaven and filled with anticipation of being there? For many who profess to be Christians, I’m afraid that we sometimes get a little too comfortable down here in the war zone, ironically enough. In fact, that may be the case more often than we’d like to admit. Imagine an American soldier forgetting all about America and instead making preparations for a life in Iraq, maybe purchasing a business in Iraq and becoming very close friends with local Iraqis and beginning to talk in Arabic all the time. That would be very odd and probably very concerning. But I would submit to you that it’s no less odd and no less concerning when a Christian is more wrapped up in this present life than they are in the life that is to come. Should we not yearn for heaven with the same yearning with which an American soldier yearns for his home? And if we do that, I believe that we’ll find more than a little of the joys of heaven even here on earth.