John 11:1 Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
3 Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.
( and we tend to think that that those who die even after we have prayed for them are not the ones whom God loves)
4 When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. ( For Jesus this was not an act of self acclimation but rather a divine proclamation and declaration of his power, authority and divinity!)
9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. (and we complain about working an 8 hour day, in other words its all about Gods timing )
10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.
17 Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.
( Hum he waited several days before coming to raise Lazarus, why? Cuz he wants to revive a dead not sick body so we will know it was God and not man. In other words He doesn’t just want to heal ur body or marriage, etc, he wants to raise it form the dead. He waits long enough so we will know that we are beyond help or assistance from man.)
20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.
21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
(If thou had been here = relegating him into the past)
22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.
23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
( she thought he was talking the future but he was he? He’s wants to be a God of the present! not just past and future)
24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
( In the last day = relegating him into the future)
25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
30 Now Jesus was not yet come into the town, but was in that place where Martha met him.
34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
( Some of us are still dead, dried and locked up, in our dusty tombs? )
35 Jesus wept. 36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! 37 And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?
38 Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
( they could not deny his miracles but they had no problem doubting his love )
39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. 43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
45 Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.
Ever wondered what it would be like to be buried alive? It would be pure hell to find yourself buried alive but even more scary would be to be buried alive and not wake up until it was to late? An ancient times before the practice of Phrenology was perfected many people had been buried alive only to be discovered at a later date. It was a terrible fate to find oneself in, left for dead, forgotten and neglected. Many caskets and tombs bear the marks of those who tried frantically to escape their entombment but to no avail. Death prevailed!
For Jesus freedom was his heartbeat! He came to bring hope back to a lost people, healing for a diseased ridden society, for him death was no obstacle, death was a defeated foe! Not even Human flesh would stand in his way, nothing would or could stand in the way of mercy & truth meeting sin and condemnation, He came to break man made traditions and the casual routine, No stone was to heavy to move, no problem to heavy to carry, no sacrifice to difficult to give, He had you in mind! He was on a mission! You see he does care!
You see he wants to step into ur situation, move on your behalf, show you his glory, but can you handle it? He wants you to have freedom like you’ve never known. For you to be free to live the joyful and abundant life! For you to be free of shame, condemnation, guilt and doubt, He wants your best so he can give you his best! But sometimes he waits before he comes to your rescue?
Ever wondered why? Sometimes we need to spend a few hours in our tombs to get us to hunger for his life sustaining power! To get us focused on him & his power not our power, on his awesome divinity not our frail humanity.
He wants not dead religion but divine relationship, It’s time for the Church to awaken to her calling! To her purpose! to her Authority! to her rightful place in the kingdom of God!
This Church was never meant to stay dead and locked up in a tomb somewhere.
( buried alive) Never meant to get locked into tradition, never meant to warm pews, never meant to sit idle, never meant to live in Hypocrisy, legalism and judgementalism But his Church is a Church of mercy and truth! It’s a place for the lost to find a savior! for the hurting and sick to find a healer! for the outcast and rejected to find acceptance! There’s hope in this Church ! there’s love for the lost and for you too! This Church is not bound! This Church is not dead! This Church is not powerless!
But you know what the problem is with some folks they like their tombs, they like their dead traditions, they wanna stay in their sin, they don’t want no change, no new life, they like their padded pews, their high or lowly position, their stale religion.
They don’t want any demands made on them, no restraints, no barriers, no no no’s , yeah they like their lazy boy religion, their T.V’s and their ungodly music, For them the tomb it aint so bad after all.. besides that the stones to heavy to move? It might take to much energy and effort to move it.
Some folks don’t want to believe that miracles and healings are still possible after all they might have to break a sweat? He did it back then but come on, today? Yeah excuses will keep you confined to a world of doubt and powerlessness. But maybe you like it that way huh? Atleast that way you always have an excuse for when you fall in sin? You can always say I just don’t have the power poor me..
Lets look at some of these verses again: Notice verse 21, One of the primary mistakes many make in regards to the power of Christ to effect their lives! is that they often relegate him to either the past or the future and leave him out of their present situation! Thus they deny his divine right to move in their lives as he chooses some do it willingly and some ignorantly. We must never lock him into one religion or situation, one area or time realm but let him be free to exercise his will and authority. He is not restrained by man or by time! nor by tradition or religion. But we are hindered by these things.
Check out Martha what she said:
21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
Ah she was placing him in the past locking him into that time dimension only, we often do the same not realizing it ..Then she goes ahead and moves him out of her past and into her future leaving him out of her present?
24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
That’s just like many of us we like to keep him in the rusted pages of history or hide him in the expectations of the future. And that’s why we go around powerless and burdenless, dead and stale, dried up, locked up and unable to experience the fullness of his presence in our lives.
Speaking of locked up lets look at verse 34 : Think maybe we missed something the first time around?
34 And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
Some of us are still dead, dried and locked up, in our dusty tombs? In our Church’s on our pews, in our ministries, Yeah many of us or should I say them were buried in the blood cleansing waters of baptism, filled with the anointed presence of the Holy Spirit, shout the praises! move in the spirit of worship, run the isles, dance the Pentecostal shuffle, but inside they are lifeless, dead in sins, and locked into routine, lost in man made traditions, so bound by the world and its influence, its clothes, its music, its allurements. Hindered and restricted by a grave tomb we cannot free ourselves from?
Yes they died to Christ and crucified the flesh but their still dead because they haven’t gone the last mile, haven’t finish the course, and not willing to receive his life giving, correcting and guiding spirit which in turn means you are willing to forsake the way of sin!
“ for if we be planted in the likeness of his death we shall also be planted in the likeness of his resurrection, knowing this that our old man is crucified with Christ that the body of sin might be destroyed that hence forth we should not serve sin, to obey it is the lust thereof , for if we be dead we are freed from sin..” Romans 6:
So you see what they need is a Holy Ghost resurrection! For them their tomb is not a cave but a coin? its about money not the master? not a tomb but a tune, their God is music not worship? their tomb is not a cave but a Church with man made traditions, a Church with no burden, no vision, no purpose, their restricted by not so much by their pastor as by their carnal passions!
They need resurrection life! They need someone to speak life unto them, to call them out of their tombs of complacency and apathy, What they need is a prophet of the Lord to come along and speak life to those dead mans bones! Can these bones live? somebody needs to breathe over those dead bones )
Lets look at another verse, before we can breath over the dead bones we need to remove something, the stone? but how about the stank?
39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
A little insight on the traditions of Jewish burials: Unlike people from other religions, Jews do not typically place flowers at gravesites. Instead, they often place stones on the grave or tombstone. The origin of the custom is uncertain, though it may relate to ancient times when a pile of stones was used as a marker. The most common explanation is that placing stones is a symbolic act that indicates someone has come to visit and the deceased has not been forgotten. Isn’t it amazing how folks can twist Gods word, God said remove the stone?
Hum just what is that stone that needs to be removed? Did anybody notice before Jesus was willing to move in his power and authority of deliverance he required them to do something?
Oh yeah you can shout and praise at the prospect of a mighty move of God but don’t forget that You need to do your part? Move the stone that hinders their revival, their freedom, their liberty, their life in the spirit.
Now just what could that stone be that covers their tomb and keeps them locked in, shut down, and shut up?
Maybe its not so much a physical stone as it is mental or spiritual one, maybe its a stinking attitude we have, maybe its a bitterness we hold towards others, maybe a judgmental or condemning spirit, a self righteous attitude, or perhaps a stone of prayerlessness, unconcern or lack of burden?
Maybe its not them but us who are the stones that need to be removed? And before they experience their mighty deliverance we need to experience our deliverance? remove the stones from our tombs.
But then again that’s where the next verse comes in, maybe the reason we are afraid to remove the stone is because we fear the stank?
Verse 39: Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Let me explain that:
Could it be that the reason some don’t see deliverance and liberty in Christ among those who come to our Church’s is because we fear the stank? We fear they stink? We don’t like the smell of their alcohol or their drugs, we don’t like their dirty clothes, you see they been dead in their tomb in the world a long time and they stank! Because you see sin stinks! it has a certain smell, so because we don’t like the stank we choose not to remove the stone from their tomb else they would be free to roam and have liberty in our Church’s.
Were afraid that if they come to our Church they will contaminate it, or give us a bad name, might lower our image, besides we don’t want no drunks or drug addicts in our Church? no prostitutes or thieves, we only want clean and good folks. People that don’t stank.
Hey don’t remove that stone is our song.. Hey we don’t even like the clothes they wear for that matter.
Now that brings us to our next verse: 44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
Ah those grave clothes ever wondered why they were bound like that? You see the grave clothes were specifically designed to restrict and confine movement, because a dead body at times tends to jerk and become spasmodic during the initial stages of death and burial. Hence they are bound in grave clothes so as not to scare others, cause damage, or move them out of their position or posture.
Did you know that when we went down in Baptism and came up in new life.
We needed to remove the grave clothes also, remove the old apparel of the world, we needed to remove the clothes that bind us, we needed to take off the garment of sin and put on the garment of righteousness! for the garment of sin restricts us and binds us so that we have no liberty to shout and dance and celebrate the victory we have in Christ! No freedom to rejoice!
We need to remove the ungodly clothes and fashion of this world from our tombs which in reality may be our closets? our homes and hearts? You went down bound but u came up free!
That’s why some folks can’t really rejoice in Church while they still have the clothes of the world on, their short shorts, form fitting dresses, split skirts, tank tops and etc. We are the Church & we are not suppose to look like the world. “ come out from among them and be ye separate”
People who dress immodest and unholy cannot fully feel after the spirit, cannot fully rejoice in the Holy Ghost, cannot move in real worship.
Oh yeah they can shout and dance, sing and weep, but there is a difference between doing all this in the flesh and doing it in the spirit! one is everlasting and edifying while the other is temporal and emotional.
Then there was the face napkin? Hum... When you were in the world in your tomb of death and bondage you were covered with a face napkin that blinded you from seeing your victory and liberty in Christ! Sin is a napkin that covers your face it blinds you and deceives you. Yes you were buried with that napkin of sin but it was meant to be removed at and upon your resurrection! Sin blinds us, so does stubbornness, hatred, bitterness, self righteousness and condemnation, wrath and judgementalism. All these act as a form of covering blinding us from seeing our own faults and needs, as if a napkin were over our eyes & we cannot see the glory of God or our need for God. When the napkin is over our eyes we can’t see the needs around us, can’t see the people who are hurting in our mist, The napkin needs to be removed. Hence when we come out of the tomb sin needs to be removed. But there is also another purpose for the napkin?
Maybe were missing something here? I believe what is being said here is that when we are given new life we are suppose to come out of our tomb changed. When that napkin is placed over us at our death it is meant to blind us and we are not suppose to see sin the same way anymore, it is no longer fun, no longer alluring, no longer easy to accept. We are thus blinded to its temptations.
” for this mortal man is freed from sin that he should no longer serve sin.”
Hey did anybody notice that when Jesus was resurrected it saids the napkin that was over his face was folded neatly and put in place.
So you see after coming out of our tomb and removing the napkin the reason it is suppose to be folded neatly is because we are making a statement! we are not the same anymore, where we were once dirty and unorganized, sloppy and out of order, wild and loose, we are now a people of order and neatness, organized and clean. When the blindness is removed so is the spirit of failure, foolishness and folly removed.
CONCLUSION: Hey anybody need new life? feel like you could use a refreshing in the Holy Ghost! Know anybody dead in their sins, why don’t you try praying for them, weeping for them, caring for them, Know anybody broken and hurting?
Have you been in the way of anyone coming to know Jesus lately? Have any stones in your closet, home or heart? Can you believe for someone’s deliverance today? someone’s healing?
Hey there’s an altar here for you and for me! There’ enough blood to cleanse our sins, enough grace to forgive us our debts!
Anybody need to take off their grave clothes? Come on Jesus is looking for some stone movers, Anybody willing to step up to the occasion?
Why don’t we come and lay our burdens and cares at this altar, why don’t we let our bitterness and anger go! Release it to him once and for all! This is your day!
Prepared by: George R. Nava 2170 e. Market st. Stk, Ca. phone -46-59731 My web page: http://gospelstuffs.homestead.com/index.html