Believe—Even in the Face of Death
John 11:17-27
Recall from last week that Martha and Mary of Bethany had sent word to Jesus that their brother, Lazarus, whom Jesus loved, was sick (John 11:1-3). They trusted Jesus to respond according to that love. When Jesus heard the news, He responded “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (John 11:4). Martha and Mary probably understood that message to mean that their brother would not die. But Jesus waited two days after He received the message before beginning His journey to Bethany. Jesus’ statements in John 11:11-15 make it clear that He had purposely waited until Lazarus was dead because He was planning on “waking him up” (John 11:11) so that the disciples would believe (John 11:15).
That brings us up to our text today starting in John 11:17,
17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. 19 And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. 20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.
21 Then 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.”
We are all familiar with the expression, “Where there’s life, there’s hope.” Behind this expression is the assumption that so long as someone is still alive, there is also hope for some kind of recovery. Once death comes, however, all hope for a cure is lost. The good news is that according to our text, this saying is wrong so far as the Christian is concerned. Because through His resurrection Jesus is Lord over death, Christians can say, “Where there’s Jesus, there’s hope.” Our text addresses the Christian’s faith and hope in the face of death. This hope is found in believing in Jesus.
Jesus will raise Lazarus from the dead in John chapter 11. The whole chapter is about this great miracle and its results. But the whole point of the miracle is found in the middle of the chapter in John 11:25-26. Listen to them again,
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?”
This is the high point of the chapter. This is the meaning of the miracle, that you would believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life, that He is the Christ, the Son of God and that by believing you may have life in His name (John 20:31).
Notice how prominent the word “believe” is in this chapter. In John 11:15 Jesus states the reason He purposely waited until after Lazarus died before He came: “And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.” Jesus says to Martha in John 11:40: “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” Again in John 11:42, we learn why Jesus prayed aloud to His Father, “that they may believe that You sent Me.” And, the result of the miracle we find in John 11:45, “Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him.” Jesus asks Martha, and He asks us today, “Do you believe this?” (John 11:26).
In this section I want to point out some qualities of believing in Jesus that will give us hope even in the face of suffering and death. (I have borrowed parts of this outline from Steven Cole).
1. Belief takes trials to the Lord.
The setting for this miracle (11:17-20) presents us with a seemingly impossible situation. John 11:17 says, “So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.” Lazarus’ body was beginning to decompose, as Martha will point out to the Lord when He orders that the stone be removed (11:39). There were no human solutions for this situation. The sisters had taken their problem to the Lord when they had sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was sick. But when Jesus delayed coming for two days, Lazarus had died. So now things were beyond all human hope. Jewish superstition of that day said that a soul stayed near the grave for three days, hoping to return to the body. Therefore, it was accepted that after four days there was absolutely no hope of resuscitation. Decomposition of the body was obvious.
The practice of the Jews was to bury the individual on the same day as the death if possible or the next day if death occurred during the night. They did not embalm the body as did the Egyptians, but only anointed the body with spices which helped to cover up the stench of death.
The mourning period would follow lasting three days to a week or longer. Friends and neighbors would gather to weep, wail and lament the deceased. John points out in John 11:18, “Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away.” This is to explain why as John 11:19 says, so “many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.” Bethany was a separate village, but close enough to Jerusalem that many were able to come. This was a large crowd, still present four days after Lazarus was buried.
Somehow news got to Martha that Jesus was coming. So John 11:20 says, “Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.” Martha immediately goes to Jesus. Even though she is filled with grief, she is overwhelmed by the trial she is facing, she takes it all to Jesus. What a great example of faith. Faith goes to Jesus even when overwhelmed by suffering and death.
2. Belief knows that God is in control.
Martha says to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died,” (John 11:21). Mary will repeat that statement in verse 32 when she sees Jesus. They both agree that if Jesus had gotten there in time, Lazarus would not have died. There appears to be no indication of rebuke in the statement, but only genuine regret. They obviously believed in Jesus’ ability to heal their brother, if only He had been there. But now, although Jesus loved Lazarus and his two sisters, His deliberate delay has cost His dear friend his life and has caused these two women, whom He also loved, great sorrow.
“Death was no stronger in His presence than disease, but these did not realize this. They would think of death as the unconquerable. With disease men may grapple, and fight, and often overcome. But in the presence of death they are helpless.” (Morgan)
Most of us have thought just as Martha and Mary thought in this trial: If only things had been different! We replay in our minds: “If only I had done something different, the accident wouldn’t have happened!” How often have you been plagued by the “If onlys”? But it’s really a contradiction to say, “Lord, if only things had been different.” If He’s the Lord, then He is in control of all our circumstances. Surely, God wasn’t asleep or distracted when our tragedy happened!
Jesus was in control of Lazarus’ death. He deliberately remained two days longer where He was, resulting in Lazarus’ death, so that this miracle would display God’s and His own glory and so that His followers would believe (11:4, 15). So even though we often don’t understand the reason for our trials, we can know that the Lord wants us to believe in Him and to behold His glory through it.
3. Belief trusts God even when we do not understand.
Martha had an “even now” faith in Jesus. See it in John 11:22 when she says, “But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” What did Marth mean by that statement? I think that she does convey her faith in Jesus by these words, but not to the degree we might wish. I don’t think she is suggesting that if He were but to ask the Father, God would raise Lazarus from the dead, then and there. Martha was not confident that Jesus would immediately raise her brother. That thought probably didn’t even cross her mind. Later in the story when Jesus commands for the stone to be taken away opening the tomb, Martha protests (John 11:39), “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Instead, I think she is saying here that she would still trust Jesus despite her letdown. Even though our Lord has caused her disappointment, confusion and grief, she still believes in Him. She does not understand what He is doing, but still she trusts in Him.
It’s often hard to know how to pray in a trial because we don’t know God’s sovereign will. It may be His will to heal miraculously or it may be His will to be glorified as we trust Him during and after our loss. But we can and should pray (in line with Eph. 3:20), “Lord, I know that You are able to do far more abundantly beyond all that I can ask or think. If it’s Your will, I ask for healing (or, whatever the need). But in any case, I ask that You will be glorified in this difficult situation.”
So true belief takes our trials to the Lord, realizing that He is in control even when we do not understand what God is doing.
4. Belief relies on God’s promise of eternal life.
At this point Jesus tells Martha (John 11:23), “Your brother will rise again.” Martha then replies (John 11:24), “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Martha she missed the intention of Jesus that He would raise Lazarus that very day. But Martha did express her faith in God’s promises regarding resurrection and eternity.
Jesus had clearly taught that there would be a resurrection and a judgment to come (John 5:28-29), “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth–those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” In John 6 Jesus had said four times, “I will raise him up at the last day,” (John 6:39, 40, 44, 54).
Martha believed in this future resurrection. She believed that all things would be restored, renewed and reconciled at the judgment at the last day. She believed God’s promised regarding eternity. Boice called these words of Martha faith’s foothold – they were a sure support from which she could climb higher.
And believing those promises goes a long way to helping us in our suffering and sorrow. The Bible is clear that all wrongs will not be made right in this life, but they will be made right in eternity.
5. Belief applies God’s truth in the present.
So when Jesus assures Martha that Lazarus will come back to life, Martha sees this as taking place “in the sweet bye and bye.” We may comfort a grieving person by saying, “You will see him again.” We hope those words will bring comfort, but we don’t mean “You will see him again right now.” Jesus meant that Lazarus would rise again right now.
Martha should be commended for believing God’s promises regarding eternity. But Jesus meant for her to apply that promise to the present situation. He wanted her to believe that He could and would raise Lazarus that very day. That is what He meant when He said (John 11:23), “Your brother will rise again.”
Isn’t Martha just like many of us? We believe in God’s power, hypothetically, and that His promises will come about—in the distant future. But we often doubt His power in the present moment. It’s easier to believe that someday God will work all our trials together for good than it is to believe that He is presently working this trial for good. The Lord wants us to personally apply His promises to our present situation. That is believing.
6. Belief is centered in Jesus Christ.
Jesus now takes Martha to the bedrock of her faith. He answers her in (John 11:25-26), “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.” This is the fifth of Jesus’ “I am” statements in John. It is clearly a claim to deity; no one other than God in human flesh could say what Jesus says here. Jesus did not claim to have resurrection and life, or understand secrets about resurrection and life. Instead Jesus dramatically said that He is the resurrection and the life. To know Jesus is to know resurrection and life; to have Jesus is to have resurrection and life. “Apart from Him there was neither resurrection nor life.” (Dods)
Jesus says, “He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live”? “Live” has the sense of, “come to life.” Those who believe in Jesus will live, will come to life, even though they may die. Lazarus will be a real life illustration of this promise.
But what did Jesus mean when He said, “And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.”? Jesus does not mean that believers will never die physically, since He just referred to believers dying. Rather, He means that those who believe in Him will never die spiritually. They receive eternal life from Jesus. In 5:21, Jesus said, “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.” This eternal life begins the instant we believe in Jesus and is not interrupted by physical death.
“Jesus does not of course man that the believer will not die physically. Lazarus was dead even then, and millions of Jesus’ followers have died since. But He means that he will not die in the sense in which death has eternal significance.” (Morris)
Martha already had believed in Jesus as the Christ, the Son of God (as she goes on to affirm in John 11:27). But Jesus challenges her in her time of grief to believe specifically in Him as the resurrection and life (John 11:26): “Do you believe this?” In other words, “Do you believe these specific truths about Me?” It’s not enough to have a vague, general faith in Christ. You need to know Him as He is revealed in all of God’s Word. That kind of faith will sustain you in a time of trial.
Belief takes trials to the Lord. It realizes that God is in control of all your circumstances even when you don’t understand what God is doing. It trusts in His promises regarding eternity, but also it applies those promises to the present trial. It centers in the person of Jesus Christ. Finally,
7. Belief grows from belief.
Martha says what she believes (John 11:27): “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” This is a tremendous confession of faith, on a par with Peter’s great confession (Matt. 16:16), “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.” Martha realized that Jesus was the promised Messiah. Martha was believing what John wants his readers to believe, that “Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God,” so that we might have life in His name (20:31).
But while Martha’s confession was solid and deep, she probably didn’t yet understand fully that Jesus was eternal God in human flesh. Her reply does not seem to relate directly to what Jesus affirms in 11:25-26. In her grief, she probably couldn’t immediately sort out what Jesus was claiming about being the resurrection and the life. But she affirmed what she did believe and from there she probably later did grow to understand what Jesus had told her. She knew what she believed, confirmed that, and her belief grew from there.
In a time of trial, come back to what you know for sure: Jesus is the Messiah promised by God, He is the eternal Word in human flesh who died for your sins, and He was raised from the dead. Camp on those truths and your faith will grow even through your present difficulties.
The Lord wants each of us to look through our grief and tears to Him as the resurrection and the life and answer His question: “Do you believe this?”
