He
That Was Dead Came Forth
John 11:38 “Jesus therefore again
groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a
cave, and a stone lay upon it.
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.”
1. Groaning Within
2. Lifting Up Your
Eyes
3. Thanking God
4. Crying Out … Loud
5. Loose Him
1. Groaning Within
John 11:38 “Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.”
Do you see in this verse the words: “groaning in himself”? Oh! What a SAVIOR HE is! Jesus Christ is unlike any who ever claimed to be a savior [or will ever claim].
Whenever groaning occurs in the Bible, it seems to indicate a suffering, or an agonizing within, due to the consequences … of the havoc and ruin of sin. Romans chapter eight in the King James Bible holds the KEY to the understanding of this truth. This truth being the presence of and the weight of our sin … causes all that was ever created in the creation week of the book of Genesis … to GROAN.
Let us start with verse twenty-one.
“Because the creature itself also shall be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groaneth and travaileth in pain together until now. And not only they, but ourselves also, which have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, waiting for the adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body. For we are saved by hope: but hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for? But if we hope for that we see not, then do we with patience wait for it. Likewise the Spirit also helpeth our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself maketh intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.” [Romans 8:21-26]
We see here, that all that was ever created, and [because of our text in John eleven] even our creator, DO groan. Here are the three that groan:
1. The whole creation GROANETH and travaileth in pain, [including the animals!] [Joel 1:18] “How do the beasts groan! the herds of cattle are perplexed, because they have no pasture; yea, the flocks of sheep are made desolate.”
2. We [all men, women and children that are IN Christ Jesus] GROAN within ourselves waiting for our new bodies.
3. The Spirit of GOD makes intercession for us with GROANINGS.
Now the Spirit of GOD, and the SON of GOD, is the SAME GOD.
Notice the connection here to the Spirit of God in Romans eight. “Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave.”
HE is groaning within Himself over the tears, and the sorrow, and the grief of Martha, and of all the Jews with her, and greater than that, Jesus Christ is groaning within Himself over the near impending scene at the garden of Gethsemane, and the looming death on the cross of Calvary, to PAY the sin debt for us all [YOU and I] … the conquering of DEATH and overcoming the power of the GRAVE.
When we ourselves come to the foot of the Cross, and put our faith and trust into Jesus Christ WHO shed HIS blood for us [His so great salvation], we henceforth, groan … waiting for our bodily REDEMPTION.
Turn to [2 Corinthians 5:2-4], and see!
“For in this we groan, earnestly desiring to be clothed upon with our house which is from heaven: If so be that being clothed we shall not be found naked.
For we that are in this tabernacle do groan, being burdened: not for that we would be unclothed, but clothed upon, that mortality might be swallowed up of life.”
2. Lifting Up Your Eyes
Verse forty-one: “And Jesus lifted up his eyes.”
Now, friend, who is HE looking up to? I will tell you who it is.
It is none other than THE FATHER!
The SON is talking the FATHER. “Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.”
It is always like this in the Bible, this fellowship between the members of the TRIUNE GOD.
Search the Scripture!
Compare the Scripture with the Scripture.
Here is what the SCRIPTURE says in [John 17:1]. “These words spake Jesus, and lifted up his eyes to heaven, and said, Father, the hour is come; glorify thy Son, that thy Son also may glorify thee.”
Do you see in your mind’s eye, the lifting up of his eyes … to heaven?
We, as believers, in the LORD Jesus Christ need to do the same.
Yea! We need to lift up our eyes to HEAVEN.
3. Thanking God
Verse forty-one: “I thank thee that thou hast heard me.”
Did you notice why Jesus is lifting up His eyes? He is thanking the Father for hearing Him.
We need to lift our eyes to GOD and THANK HIM for His grace and mercies to us … [for hearing us]. Amen!
[Psalm 123:1] “Unto thee lift I up mine eyes, O thou that dwellest in the heavens.”
4. Crying Out … Loud
Verse forty-three: “And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.”
Crying out … is with volume. It is with loudness!
Further, crying out with loudness takes in another attribute.
This attribute is called boldness.
I have a warning here! This boldness does not come with a self proclaiming “look at me” attitude, or with a swaggering pride.
Rather it [the boldness] is clothed with humility and meekness.
We need to preach boldly [cry with a loud voice] Jesus Christ to this lost and dying world.
You will see this in [Ephesians 6:20]. “For which I am an ambassador in bonds: that therein I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”
We need to see several things. Are you ready?
• An “ambassador” is the one who is “in bonds”.
• Keep in mind, someone who is “in bonds” not an arrogant or a boastful person.
• Something else! An ambassador is one who is on a MISSION!
There is a single heartedness implied here, towards accomplishing the MISSION, which is to see people saved, and GROW in CHRIST. This ambassador is boldly telling others to come forth to Jesus Christ [and LIVE !].
• Something else! This ambassador [who is doing this] will not give an uncertain sound [or signification]. [1 Corinthians 14:8] “For if the trumpet give an uncertain sound, who shall prepare himself to the battle?”
Turn to the book of the Acts of the Apostles. [Acts 4:29] “And now, Lord, behold their threatenings: and grant unto thy servants, that with all boldness they may speak thy word,”
Now read the last half of the next verse: [Acts 4:31b] “and they spake the word of God with boldness.” They kept it up! Amen!
In Review: the crying out … is with volume. The crying out is with loudness!
We should cry out with boldness to the lost souls of our friends, and our loved ones, and to all those around us throughout the our concourse of our lives. Amen!
5. Loose Him
Last verse, verse forty-four: “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.”
Isn’t this what it is all about? “Loose him!”
The word “loose” is the operative term here. Is not “loosing” all about setting a person free from DEATH, and from the consequences of death, which is HELL???
[Psalm 102:20] “To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death.”
Remember, Death is a person! [We saw this earlier in our commentary of John chapter eleven, verse fourteen.] Jesus Christ came to this earth to loose or set the prisoner free!
Our bondage to SIN made us prisoners to DEATH.
Let me finish here by reading from Psalm 102, verse eighteen through verse twenty-one:
“This shall be written for the generation to come: and the people which shall be created shall praise the Lord.
For he hath looked down from the height of his sanctuary; from heaven did the Lord behold the earth;
To hear the groaning of the prisoner; to loose those that are appointed to death;
To declare the name of the Lord in Zion,
and his praise in Jerusalem.”