How much do you think about death? If you’re like most people, not a lot and then only when you have to. Jesus, however, thought about it frequently. It was His mission, to die for the sins of His people, it’s why He came. As we’ve gone through the Book of John, we have walked with Jesus on His way to the cross and seen Him do amazing miracles, signs that point to His true identity. Today we see those signs come to a climax as Jesus stands outside the tomb of His friend Lazarus and commands death to release its hold (John 11:38-44). In this dramatic moment Jesus shows us we have nothing to fear, even in the face of death,  if we have placed our trust in Him.

Have you ever wondered what could motivate Jesus to grieve at the funeral of Lazarus?  It seems everybody is broken over the death of this man and it would seem that Jesus joins the mourners in being overwhelmed with sadness to the point of crying.  However, what we will see today is that while Jesus is weeping He is not motivated to weep like Martha, or Mary, or even the Jews. The grief that Jesus has in motivated by something much deeper and much more profound. Jesus’ grief is God-centered in a way that we need to explore and consider if we seek to honor God even in the darkest of moments.  In short, Jesus is a profile of Godward grief.

The following is a fantastic exchange between Rob Bell and Andrew Wilson regarding homosexuality and same-sex marriage.  Notice the argumentation on both sides.  Pay particular attention to the base of authority in which morals or standards are being derived from (also known as the level to which someone adheres to the “Lordship of Jesus Christ”) and the weight given to the feelings of people and how that weight sways the argumentation/evidence/logic/commitment to the Lordship of Jesus Christ. Fascinating to see a desire to deal with our culture and the feelings of people in light of the truth of Scripture in one way (Andrew’s side) and to see the way Biblical truth is compromised by an emotionally based approach, an approach that has beguiled a former pastors thinking (Rob’s side).

HT

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Tim Challies writes about the story of Paul Miller a man who got paid to stay offline for a whole year.  It is fascinating to see that Paul Miller’s life did not become incredibly better in the absence of technological stimulation.  As a matter of fact, he simply found new ways to express vice.  The story reminded me that our problems in life go much deeper than “stop that” or “do this,” our problem is, well, us.  I call this dynamic the Moses principle.  You see, Moses learned that while he could get Israel out of Egypt (better – God through Moses), he could not get Egypt out of Israel.

And this is where the incredible gracious Gospel of Jesus substitutionary atonement comes in.  God accepts us on the behalf of Jesus’ life, death, and resurrection and that provides the basis for true change in life.  Our frustration with ourselves and the lame excuses of blaming devices for our vices, melt away under the reality that Christ will change us through His power, as His children.  When we consider the Gospel, we will naturally long to show our gratitude in the cool shadow of His forgiveness, a gratitude that produces good works.  Sanctification that is rooted in mere “do’s” and “don’ts” is a sanctification that is doomed to fail because it has no source of power! Or, said another way, it is doomed to fail because it is not rooted in the Gospel.

A man will not be established by wickedness, 
but the root of the righteous will not be moved.
Proverbs 12:3

Charles Swindoll reminds of a warning we all need to heed:

“I want to be quite direct with you. Secular thought has taken a tragic toll on the servant of God’s distinctiveness.  This has begun to influence the church. Many a believer has surrendered his mind to the world system.”

Read the entire Devotional.

The Leadership Team answers your questions.

Q1 (1:47). Should we as Christians be opposed to the legalization of SSM (same sex marriage), given that unregenerate people will act unregenerate, why should we expect them to act any different? How can we expect them to act regenerate? Why should there be a law against SSM? As long as I affirm that homosexual behavior is sinful, what difference does it make to our society that LGBT folks are allowed to “marry”?

Q2 (20:50). I have a friend who asked me a question that I would like to have answered in the same way I should answer them. In other words, can you answer the question as if you are the one being asked? Thanks. “There are many beliefs in this world and they all say there is a God. How do you know that your God is the true God and you are not simply wrong like a ton of other religions?”

Q3 (30:20). If God has to draw someone in order for them to believe and yet holds the Jews accountable for not believing, how does that seem right? Something just seems off to me and yet I see this dynamic occurring throughout our current study in the book of John.

Q4 (43:03). How much teaching or “doctrine” can a person distort and still be assured of salvation?

Submit a future GraceTALK question.

Lazarus is dead. People are confused.  Where was Jesus when we needed Him most?  Is Jesus ever going to show up?

We will look at these questions and more as we look at John 11:17-27.

What you believe makes all the difference.  It’s incredible to realize that when a person believes something it effects all other aspects of their being.  When a child believes that there is something under their bed they can create in their “minds-eye” all sorts of scary creatures.  When an adult believes someone is talking about them behind their back they can begin to recreate the scene in their mind and resentment or fear can grow.  All this based on a simple belief.  Therefore, making sure we are right in what we believe is crucial if we are to live a healthy life. This is where what we believe about Jesus is critical.  What we believe about Jesus not only makes the difference here and now, but could dictate where a person will spend eternity. Therefore, we want to make sure we believe what the bible teaches about Jesus.

You may have heard that Rick Warren’s son, Matthew, committed suicide this past weekend. As a pastor trying to help people process the emotions and questions that naturally follow tragedies like this, I thought David Murray’s article - 7 Questions About Suicide would be helpful.

I am grateful that Grace Fellowship is a church where hurting people can find help and hope. May we become more sensitive to those in need around us and more convinced that the Gospel is the spring from which all hope flows.

Have you ever noticed that when you believe some thing that you necessarily must not believe some thing else?  For example, if I believe I am the son of my father then I must reject that I am the son of anyone else.  If I believe that my meeting starts at 9:00am I must reject the notion that my meeting starts at 9:30am.  When I believe something it must necessarily mean that I must reject something else even if for only a moment.  Therefore, it is vital to make sure we believe the right thing about Jesus because if we believe wrongly we may forfeit having a relationship with God due to our error.  Today we will see how the Jews belief in their own ability to be righteous without Jesus drove them to reject Jesus as their Messiah.

We gather together today to celebrate and honor the resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Have you taken time to consider how incredible that sounds?  It is not just us celebrating this understanding, millions of people believe that there was a man who was also God (the God/man) who was savagely killed and then rose from the grave after three days. Are we strange for believing this?  We also believe that Jesus is the only way to God and that all other efforts to gain access to God are faulty and wrong.  Are we arrogant?  Today we will continue to look at the difference between religion and a relationship through the eyes of Jesus’ teaching.

Jesus had a way of showing up in the midst of a crisis and making what seemed to be the end just the beginning. Today, we celebrate this hope in the fact that Jesus rose from the dead. The subject of resurrection was nothing new to Jesus. Remember Lazarus? (see John 11). Jesus had been told Lazarus was sick, so he waited. A good friend…waiting…the ability to heal? This seemed very odd. When Jesus finally arrives, Lazarus has been dead four days. Four days of waiting is significant due to the popular Jewish teaching of the day that the soul would hover over and around the body for three days.

In waiting four days, Jesus removes any doubt that Lazarus is dead. It seemed like the end for everyone, except Jesus. Upon arriving on the scene, Jesus tells Martha, the sister of Lazarus that her brother would live again. Martha, knowing her Old Testament, relays that she knows he will on the last day (John 11:24), but Jesus says something that is shocking and turns what seems to be an end into a beginning.

Jesus says in v.25:

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.

Jesus then shows he has the power to make this statement by calling Lazarus from the tomb. All of Jesus’ identity hangs in the balance. If Lazarus doesn’t come out, then Jesus is a fake. But, if Lazarus does come out, they are standing in the presence of man who can rightfully claim to be the Messiah sent from God to take away the sins of the world. Lazarus’ end becomes a new beginning for him and legions of others who today realize not only what Jesus did for this man, but celebrate the fact that Jesus conquered death in rising from the grave.

Jesus now changes the equation of the end. Due to the resurrection of Christ, what people think is the natural end is only the beginning. If you have trusted in Christ, you now enter this new reality by faith in Christ. If you join with millions of others who place their hope that God will accept you on behalf of Jesus’ death, burial, and resurrection for your sins, you can have the hope of a new beginning too.

Jesus has a way of making what seems to be the end just the beginning. This dynamic has shown itself true in my life. When I got to the end of myself and trusted in Jesus alone to pay for my sins, I found a beginning. This new beginning for me colors everything about who I am today. Simply put, I am a follower of Christ. This does not mean I am perfect (like Christ was/is), but it says I would like to be. When I fall short of this ideal, the grace of God views my imperfections through the obedience of Jesus. It is at those times that I, again, find what should be an end, due to the resurrection of Jesus, is just another beginning.

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Jesus is dead. The disciples are stunned and scattered. The religious leaders are thanking God for exterminating one more religious nut while basking in the glow of self- righteousness. Mary rides the waves of her memories of Jesus…a baby…a young child…a young man…a son brutally killed! Jesus’ family is reminding themselves that they pleaded with Jesus to not be so fanatical.

They told Jesus things like: “Don’t make enemies!” “Don’t speak like that to our religious leaders!” “Jesus be patient, God has told us that He will send the Messiah to make things right.” Now, they must have been left in mourning for all the things Jesus could have done to make things better…“Jesus, what were you thinking?” The crowd is resting. The Roman soldiers are doing their duty. Satan is boasting of his greatness while cursing the God of the universe. The demons are clamoring to make much of their victory in the defeat of Jesus.

The angels are waiting.

The Father is silent.

It’s past the end and not quite the beginning.

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As you slept last night…

Jesus was betrayed in the Garden by one of his disciples, Judas (Luke 22:47-48). Jesus was then taken to the former high priest, Annas (John 18:13). Jesus, the King of the Jews, was bound and delivered to Caiaphas, the reigning high priest who just happens to be the son-in-law of Annas (wink,wink). Then Jesus was taken before the Sanhedrin, a group of top ranking religious leaders who were modeled after a council of elders that Moses convened to administer justice to keep Israel pure before their God (see Numbers 11:16). Jesus, the Son of God was bound by man, the creation of God. The entire series of events leads us into what is commonly called “Good Friday.”

“Good” Friday?
Jesus must have looked powerless through the events of the night. He looked like a man broken or caught depending on which side you were on. However, throughout the ordeal, Jesus is reminding us that the role that He is portraying is submission to the Father’s plan; it is not to be seen as a weakness on the part of Jesus to act against his captors. This is made clear when Peter is told by Jesus during His arrest in the garden, that he had at his disposal “twelve legions of angels” (see Matt. 26:52-54) who could immediately take control of the situation. It is interesting to note that a legion was comprised of 6,000 soldiers.

Twelve angelic legions would be 72,000 angels! In 2 Kings 19:35 we read of one angel killing 185,000 men in Sennacherib’s army in one night! Powerless? I don’t think so. Jesus was playing a part and this is the way it had to be done; it was the will of the Father. Jesus indicates there is something greater being accomplished here – the Scriptures had to be fulfilled. Jesus was being driven by submission to the Father’s plan to bring hope to mankind, not self-protection or personal comfort.

“Jesus must have looked powerless through the events of the night. He looked like a man broken or caught depending on which side you were on.”

“Good” Friday?
In the morning, after the trial and initial beating by the “religious leaders,” Jesus is taken to a civil trial in front of Pilate. Pilate is the Roman governor who was in Jerusalem due to the swell in population at the Passover feast. Pilate is charged with keeping the peace in this province. He treats Jesus like a hot-potato and passes Jesus to Herod Antipas – an Edumean, a descendent of Esau, the brother of Jacob (i.e., Israel). He then hands Jesus back to Pilate, who surrenders to the will of the people. Pilate washes his hands of Jesus’ fate.

“Good” Friday?
Jesus is paraded through the streets, after being beaten… again. Jesus is directed to a hill outside of Jerusalem – the “hill” or “place of the skull.” Jesus is nailed to a Roman cross which is then dropped into a hole in the ground. Jesus will hang on this cross and ask the Father to forgive those who have put him there. He doesn’t call down insults or try to convince people of who He really is. Jesus simply does what He has always done – He reaches out to a criminal who hangs on a cross next to Him. You see, Jesus is determined to do the right thing, not the easy thing, not the most popular thing, the right thing. In this moment, to trust the Father is right. To reach out to a person in need is right. To forgive people who have nothing but hatred and malice in their hearts toward Him is right.

Good Friday!
Absolutely! Without Jesus acting in this way I would have no hope. Why? It is because I am the person who has malice in my heart. I am the person who hated Christ. I am the person who needs to be reached. In the actions of Jesus, I find hope to deal with my issues. I find a God who does not give me what I deserve, but meets me at my point of need. It is in my moment-by-moment need that I find the grace of God expressed to me through Jesus Christ.

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