This is one of the shortest, but to me, it's one of the most powerful verses in scripture. Lazarus, a good friend of Jesus, has died. But I always wondered why? Jesus knew Lazarus was going to die before Lazarus was even born. None of this was a shock or surprise to Him. I look at it in two ways. The first way, the way that just comes naturally, is that Jesus was sad. That simple. He was 100% God but also 100% man so He has human emotion. He has real, tangible feelings. He's around a group of people that are mourning the death of their friend, and their brother. His heart breaks for them. I'm sure everyone reading this has experienced the pain and heartache that comes with losing a loved one. The Bible says that Jesus arrives four days after Lazarus has been in the tomb, but the hurt hasn't even begun to heal in that short amount of time. Verse 33 says that after seeing Mary crying, He was deeply moved in his spirit, and wanted to see where Lazarus was. Mary led him to the tomb, and it was there that he wept.
But maybe, it wasn't all because of Lazarus that Christ was saddened. He knew that he would raise Lazarus back to life. He knew Lazarus was going to be OK, he knew all of this. But I see it as death as a whole. Our human view of death is a ceasing of existence. But to God, it's totally different. It's an eternal separation of people from himself. Christ cried because of death. But not our view of death. He cried because he knew that the very people that he was coming to die for, were going to reject him. He knows that there will be people that are going to separated from him for all eternity. I think it was the real reason for death that made him cry. It was a feeling that was overwhelming and emotionally crushing.
I can't remember what he was talking about, but I remember Dr. Daniel McNaughton, one of the overseers of my church, and close friend of my pastor, but he was talking about what it meant when Jesus was "moved in his spirit." He said that in the Hebrew translations, it translates into Jesus stomping his feet like a bull would before he would charge. So it seems like there's a second feeling here that Jesus is dealing with. He's sad, and now he's angry. He's angry at the grave. He's angry at death. He's angry and saddened about an eternal separation. That's why I believe death is so devastating. Because despite what our culture and society says, death is not natural. It was not something that was ever intended to be experienced.
So, how does Jesus respond to these emotions? Verse 41 and 42 says that he thanked God for hearing him, and for always hearing him. Which means for us that even in the hurt and heartache, Jesus was still thankful.
And then, in verse 43, we see Jesus attack. He call out with great power and authority, "LAZARUS! COME OUT!" And Lazarus comes out of the tomb! I love this so much because Jesus takes the offensive against the grave. He takes his power and authority over what angered and saddened him and says "NO!"
And eventually, he does the same thing for us. Christ laid down his life so we would never have to experience a real death. He laid down his own life so that we may never experience separation from our Father.
Like he did for Lazarus, Jesus has called us out of our graves. He took to the offensive, and attacked death head on. So as we gather in our respective churches tomorrow morning, remember John 11:25-26. "Jesus said to her (Martha), 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?"
