1- Do you believe this?
John 11: 20 - 37 nkjv
20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. 21 Now 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 of 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 at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. 26 And whoever 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 to come into the world.”
28 And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” 29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him. 31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”
32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?” 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” 37 And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”
POINTS TO LEARN:
Martha, Mary and Lazarus were friends of Jesus, they believed He was the promised Messiah and saw Him working many miracles. The time came when Lazarus became unwell and needed a miracle, his sisters believed Jesus was able to heal him, but it was too late, Lazarus died. This was a terrible situation, Martha and Mary were left alone in this world, and in those times women didn’t do well without a man providing for them. What were they to do? They felt hopeless, depressed and very disappointed. The only one able to help them was Jesus but He was not there when they needed Him, according to their reasoning. But, Was it really too late? Was Jesus able to help them?
POINTS TO DISCUSS:
Many times our faith gets tested when we face difficult situations, we believe in Christ and confess Him as our Lord and Saviour, we believe He can do miracles but when things don’t go the way we imagined we soon get disillusioned, disappointed and depressed. And just like Jesus asked Martha, He is saying to us: “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
Noticed in verse 37 the people surrounding Martha and Mary were also doubting Jesus. There are times in our lives when our faith is being shaken, and we are thankful for people of faith around us to encourage us to believe. But there are going to be times when it seems we are surrounded by people who speak negatively against the Lord. Will we be able to stand in faith and believe God’s promises even when everything around us seemed contradicting?
QUESTIONS:
A- What did Martha confess publicly to Jesus in verse 27?
B- Can you be a Christian yet still doubt God?
ANSWERS:
A- She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
B- Yes, but it doesn’t please the Lord. Faith pleases the Lord (Hebrews 11.6)The Lord wants our faith to increase from Salvation faith to precious faith. (1 Peter 1:6-7)
Hebrews 11.6 NKJV
“But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he who comes to God must believe that He is, and that He is a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him.”
1 Peter 1:6-7 NKJV
“…though now for a little while, if need be, you have been grieved by various trials, 7 that the genuineness of your faith, being much more precious than gold that perishes, though it is tested by fire, may be found to praise, honour, and glory at the revelation of Jesus Christ”
2- If you would believe you would see the glory of God?
John 11: 38 - 43
38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!”
POINTS TO LEARN:
In order to see the glory of the Lord, which is His power in action, we only need to believe. Jesus called you out when you were dead in your sins and brought you life (Ephesians 2:4-6). Jesus is still calling out people who are dead to come to the light. Not only He can bring life to our spirits but also He can actually raise people from the dead. We serve a mighty God.
Ephesians 2:4-6
“But God, who is rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, 5 even when we were dead in trespasses, made us alive together with Christ (by grace you have been saved), 6 and raised us up together, and made us sit together in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus”
POINTS TO DISCUSS:
Because Christ now lives in us (Galatians 2:20), we too can call out people from the darkness to the life of Christ, by sharing the Gospel with them.
If He can bring life to a dead body, Can it be anything to hard for Him? (Mark 9:23)
Galatians 2:20 NLT
“My old self has been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me. So I live in this earthly body by trusting in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”
Mark 9:23 NKJV
“Jesus said to him, “If you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.””
3- “Loose him, and let him go.”
John 11: 44 - 48
44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with grave clothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”
45 Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him. 46 But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, “What shall we do? For this Man works many signs. 48 If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation.”
POINTS TO LEARN:
Lazarus came back from the dead at the command of Jesus, but he was still wrapped in grave clothes. This could represent our new life in Christ. Christ brings life to us but we can still be carrying those disgusting grave clothes around our hands, feet and face. We can still be doing (hands with grave clothes) things from the past life, our walk (feet with grave clothes) is not perfect, we trip over or wobble along. Then, our attitudes, words and thoughts (face with grave cloths) may not be Christ-like. But we need to understand that they are only grave cloths that need to be removed, the truth is that we have a new life in Christ now and with the help of the Holy Spirit we will overcome.
Don’t live your life bound up by the stinky, filthy grave clothes, they must be removed from our lives to reveal the new life we have in Christ. The work of the Holy Spirit in our lives is the work of sanctification, He helps us get rid of the bad habits of the past life. And the purpose of Discipleship is to train us to live as the new person we are in Christ. We are now disciples of Jesus.
II Corinthians 5:17 NKJV
“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”
Ephesians 4:20-24 NKJV
“But you have not so learned Christ, if indeed you have heard Him and have been taught by Him, as the truth is in Jesus: that you put off, concerning your former conduct, the old man which grows corrupt according to the deceitful lusts, and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and that you put on the new man which was created according to God, in true righteousness and holiness.”
POINT TO DISCUSS
Jesus told the people around Lazarus to remove the grave cloths, which means, a born again believer cannot be left alone, he must belong to the Body of Christ and be actively involved in his/her local Church family. The New person in Christ that just has come to Christ or the person that has been in Christ for a while cannot possibly be perfected in the faith alone, Hebrews 10 tells us to stay in fellowship with believers who will challenge us or exhort us to grow in faith.
Hebrews 10:22-25 NKJV
“let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for He who promised is faithful. And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching.”
We must recognise the need of fellowship with our brothers and sisters in Christ to stir up our faith and not be tempted to exclude ourselves from others , we can easily be sucked in the “poor little old me” mentally when things go wrong or worse of all we could be in danger of loosing our faith.
Difficult times are a chance to see God’s glory so others who witness the miracle can come to Christ. We may experience persecution but seeing people saved is our mission here on earth.
Keep living for Christ and believe Him no matter what.
Hebrews 10:35-39 NKJV
“Therefore do not cast away your confidence, which has great reward. For you have need of endurance, so that after you have done the will of God, you may receive the promise: “For yet a little while, And He who is coming will come and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith; But if anyone draws back, My soul has no pleasure in him.” But we are not of those who draw back to perdition, but of those who believe to the saving of the soul.”
Thank God the Lord is not limited to our imagination or to our petitions, He is able to do beyond that. No need to figure out how He will do the miracle, just trust Him and believe His Word. Let Him do it however He wants it, as long as we see Him getting the glory and many getting saved in the process. One thing is certain, He will do what He promised to do.
Ephesians 3:20 NKJV
“Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us,”
Karina Maile