The wise teacher of Ecclesiastes speaks about a place that grows godliness, and the location may surprise you. He says,
It is better to go to the house of mourning
than to go to the house of feasting. (Eccl. 7:2)
Again, he reminds, “The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning” (Eccl. 7:4).
You might know what he means. Attending a funeral or visiting a cemetery can do a soul good as eternal realities press ever nearer.
John 11 brings the reader to a house of mourning. The Spirit brings us here so that we might learn something about death’s despair and defeat. The eleventh chapter of John “is one of the most remarkable in the New Testament,” writes J. C. Ryle, “for grandeur and simplicity, for pathos and solemnity, nothing was ever written like it.”1
The Situation
The text opens with Jesus receiving a report that his friend Lazarus is sick (John 11:3). Mary and Martha had surely heard about, and maybe even seen, Jesus’ power over sickness. They believe if Jesus hurries, He can save Lazarus.
Jesus’ response is not one anyone would have expected.
John reports: “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” (John 11:5–6). The little word “so” is the word ordinarily translated as “therefore.” Thus, the text more literally says, “Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, therefore . . . He stayed two days longer.” Interestingly, His love led Him to wait. His delight in His disciples caused Him to delay. He stayed so that the suffering and sickness would take its full course.
We are always learning this great lesson in Christ’s school. How many times have you asked the Lord to do something, and He doesn’t answer immediately? Or He doesn’t answer in time? See that the lack of action may be nothing more than His love at work, His plan and purpose to do immeasurably more than all you can ask for or imagine.
The Statement
Four days after Lazarus died, Jesus finally arrives at the mournful house. Martha races to Jesus, and upon meeting Him says: “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). The seed of faith is clearly present in Martha. Jesus assures her that “your brother will rise again” (John 11:22).
“I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day,” Martha replies (John 11:24). A great debate over the resurrection raged between the Pharisees and the Sadducees during Jesus’ day. The question was whether there would be a resurrection at the end of history. Martha was on the Pharisees’ side theologically when it came to resurrection. She believed Lazarus would rise again—then, at the end of the age. But Jesus is talking about now. Thus, He says: “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).
This is the fifth “I am” statement in John—and it is stunning. Jesus is saying: “I don’t just teach the resurrection; I am the resurrection. I don’t just preach God’s power for life; I am God’s power for life. Don’t merely believe it; believe in Me.” True faith is not mere trust in information and facts about Jesus. Rather, it is belief in Him—the One in whom all truth resides.
The Certainty
When Jesus cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out,” the dead-man-come-to-life becomes a walking parable of salvation. He is a living monument to Jesus who is resurrection and life. After Lazarus rises, Jesus commands, “Unbind him, and let him go” (John 11:43–44).
What a portrait of the gospel! The Bible says we are dead in our sin. Rags of unbelief ensnare us and garments of sin cover us. There is nothing we can do, as it was with Lazarus, to make ourselves alive. But God makes dead sinners alive when they believe in Jesus. The Savior died in the place of sinners, rose again, and so holds the keys to death and hell. He calls to us, “Come out. Turn from your sin and trust in Me. I will loose you from the bonds of sin and set you free.”
May we see the sign, hear the statement, and respond like Martha to the fifth “I am” saying: “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God” (John 11:27).
J.C. Ryle, Expository Thoughts on John (Edinburgh: Banner of Truth, 2012), 2:256.↩
Ligonier Ministries