Doctrine of the Angelic Conflict, part 68 – The essence of God – Omnipotence (miracles). Joh 11:1-44; Mat 21:18-22; 26:51-56.
Title: Doctrine of the Angelic Conflict, part 68 – The essence of God – Omnipotence (miracles). Joh 11:1-44; Mat 21:18-22; 26:51-56.
32. Raising Lazarus. God’s power has overcome all types of death, even four days of physical death, Joh 11:1-44.
Joh 11:1 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
Joh 11:2 And it was the Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. [mentioning that retroactively]
Joh 11:3 The sisters therefore sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."
Joh 11:4 But when Jesus heard it, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it."
This is likely the reply sent back with the messenger to the sisters. By the time they got this message, Lazarus was already dead.
Joh 11:5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.
Joh 11:6 When therefore He heard that he was sick, He stayed then two days longer in the place where He was.
Joh 11:7 Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."
Joh 11:8 The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You, and are You going there again?"
Joh 11:9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
Joh 11:10 "But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."
Joh 11:11 This He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, that I may awaken him out of sleep."
Joh 11:12 The disciples therefore said to Him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover."
Joh 11:13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that He was speaking of literal sleep.
Joh 11:14 Then Jesus therefore said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead,
Joh 11:15 and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him. "
Joh 11:16 Thomas therefore, who is called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."
Joh 11:17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.
Joh 11:18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off;
Joh 11:19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother.
Joh 11:20 Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him; but Mary still sat in the house.
Mary probably loved Jesus more than any other as is evidenced by her anointing of Him after this. She also loved Lazarus and knew that Jesus loved Lazarus for He had a wonderful relationship with this family, and she is more than disappointed. The Lord sent word that Lazarus’ sickness was not unto death and here it is, four days after his death and finally the Lord shows up. How many others has He healed that were perfect strangers and yet He allows someone they both love deeply to die? She’s hurt and disappointed and will not come out to greet Him. It is definitely wrong to do this but I personally find it endearing.
Joh 11:21 Martha therefore said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
Joh 11:22 "Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."
Joh 11:23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother shall rise again."
Joh 11:24 Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."
She thinks He means the resurrection at the last day. She knows the OT. And, to her credit, she has faith in that.
Dan 12:2-3
And many of those who sleep in the dust of the ground will awake, these to everlasting life, but the others to disgrace and everlasting contempt. And those who have insight will shine brightly like the brightness of the expanse of heaven, and those who lead the many to righteousness, like the stars forever and ever.
Isa 26:19
Your dead will live;
Their corpses will rise.
You who lie in the dust, awake and shout for joy,
For your dew is as the dew of the dawn,
And the earth will give birth to the departed spirits.
Eze 37:5
Thus says the Lord God to these bones, 'Behold, I will cause breath to enter you that you may come to life.
Eze 37:12
Therefore prophesy, and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God," Behold, I will open your graves and cause you to come up out of your graves, My people; and I will bring you into the land of Israel.
Hos 13:14
Shall I ransom them from the power of Sheol?
Shall I redeem them from death?
O Death, where are your thorns?
O Sheol, where is your sting?
Compassion will be hidden from My sight.
I wanted to show you each of these because, while resurrection is stated, it is somewhat vague as to its source or to whom or through whom it will be accomplished.
Yet here in Joh 11 the Lord takes resurrection out of the shadows and identifies it with Himself. Through Him there is victory over all types of death.
And by this miracle, though a resuscitation as Lazarus will go into the CA and die again, it reveals that the power of resurrection is now at hand and that we don’t have to wait until the last day. In other words, Jesus Christ will receive a resurrection body, in the life of the believer, he can live a resurrection life, and every CA believer will receive a resurrection body before the last day, at the Rapture of the Church.
Joh 11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me shall live even if he dies,
1500 years of mystery around the doctrine of resurrection is cleared up in one sentence by our Savior.
Joh 11:26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this? "
Joh 11:27 She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world."
Ok, Martha’s faith is all set, strengthened and aware of the issue. Now for Mary. Even though she’s away pouting, He still loves her, cares for her, and does everything He can to make her see and to bring her back into fellowship with Himself.
Joh 11:28 And when she had said this, she went away, and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, "The Teacher is here, and is calling for you."
Joh 11:29 And when she heard it, she arose quickly, and was coming to Him.
Joh 11:30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him.
Joh 11:31 The Jews then who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
Joh 11:32 Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."
That’s possibly true, but remember the message He sent back to her.
Joh 11:4
But when Jesus heard it, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified by it."
We see Mary three times in the gospels and all three times she is at the Lord’s feet; listening to doctrine, anointing them, and here weeping, however this weeping is not justified.
Joh 11:33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her, also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit, and was troubled,
Sounds so nice, but we have a bad translation here…
“deeply moved” – evmbrima,omai[embrimaomai] = to snort with anger, to have indignation, or to blame. He is not happy with their lack of belief, and tears don’t change that.
God is compassionate and comforting, but when a clear promise is given (this sickness is not unto death) and we doubt it, our tears don’t change the fact that we lack faith and without faith we cannot be pleasing to God.
“and was troubled” – tarasso, agitated in the soul.
The love of Mary made it clear to Jesus that she was disappointed. The Love of Christ made it clear to Mary that He expected such love to be manifested in faith in His word.
Joh 11:34 and said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see."
Joh 11:35 Jesus wept [shed tears].
Isa 53:3
He was despised and forsaken of men,
A man of sorrows, and acquainted with grief;
And like one from whom men hide their face,
He was despised, and we did not esteem Him.
Joh 11:36 And so the Jews were saying, "Behold how He loved him!"
Joh 11:37 But some of them said, "Could not this man, who opened the eyes of him who was blind, have kept this man also from dying?"
God has officially been given boundaries by believers here. Nobody believes that this is going to happen. They see His tears as those of love in the sense that He was too late. They concede that maybe He could have healed the sickness, but not raise the dead. Martha lost her faith for fear of the smell. No one thinks this is going to happen. I personally believe He wept tears of joy knowing that He would see Lazarus again, that He would be glorified and many would believe, and the Lazarus would become a CA believer and become a member of the bride of Christ.
Joh 1:47 [to Philip]
Jesus answered and said to him, "Because I said to you that I saw you under the fig tree, do you believe? You shall see greater things than these."
Joh 11:38 Jesus therefore again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.
Joh 11:39 Jesus said, "Remove the stone." Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days."
We’ve stated this several times – Martha is more concerned about the stench than the life of her brother at this time because she has within a short span of time lost her faith in what the Lord had prepared her for.
How soon we forget.
Joh 11:27 She said to Him, "Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world." [three grand titles, zero faith at application]
Joh 11:40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?"
Now He prays openly and verbally for the sake of the people. This no parlor trick or sleight of hand, this is the very power of God in operation doing something that’s never been done.
Joh 11:41 And so they removed the stone. And Jesus raised His eyes, and said, "Father, I thank Thee that Thou heardest Me.
Joh 11:42 "And I knew that Thou hearest Me always; but because of the people standing around I said it, that they may believe that Thou didst send Me."
Joh 11:43 And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth."
Joh 11:44 He who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings; and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
“Unbind him” = freedom from death. “Let him go” = freedom to live the spiritual life.
The power of God overcomes all forms of death:
Spiritual death
Positional death of the believer (RPT)
Carnal death (temporal death)
Dead works (human good)
Physical death
Second death
Sin unto death
33. Cursing the fig tree. God’s power sees beyond the façade of spirituality to the true issue of divine good fruit production, Mat 21:18-22.
Mat 21:18 Now in the morning, when He returned to the city, He became hungry.
Mat 21:19 And seeing a lone fig tree by the road, He came to it, and found nothing on it except leaves only; and He said to it, "No longer shall there ever be any fruit from you." And at once the fig tree withered.
The fig tree represents the nation of Israel.
Jer 8:13
"I will surely snatch them away," declares the Lord;
"There will be no grapes on the vine,
And no figs on the fig tree,
And the leaf shall wither;
And what I have given them shall pass away."'"
Figs would have been ripe at the time of the Passover in April where the average temperature is 72 degrees F. Mark seems to state that there shouldn’t have been figs, which would make the Lord seem foolish for looking for them.
Mar 11:13
He found nothing but leaves, for it was not the season [kairos = season, time, or period] for figs.
Mark is referring to the time of harvesting figs which indicates that for sure there should be some on this tree, which is further evidenced by the presence of leaves.
fig tree pic
Leaves represent and overt showing of spirituality without the substance or power of spirituality.
2Ti 3:5
holding to a form [mold or shell] of godliness, although they have denied its power
The lack of fruit represents Israel’s lack of faith and prayer and therefore production, without which they could not recognize their Messiah.
Mat 21:20 And seeing this, the disciples marveled, saying, "How did the fig tree wither at once?"
The withering of the tree represents the destruction of the nation under the 5th cycle of discipline in 70 AD.
He stated this in a parable in:
Luk 13:6 And He began telling this parable: "A certain man had a fig tree which had been planted in his vineyard; and he came looking for fruit on it, and did not find any.
Luk 13:7 "And he said to the vineyard-keeper, 'Behold, for three years I have come looking for fruit on this fig tree without finding any. Cut it down! Why does it even use up the ground?'
Luk 13:8 "And he answered and said to him, 'Let it alone, sir, for this year too, until I dig around it and put in fertilizer;
Luk 13:9 and if it bears fruit next year, fine; but if not, cut it down.'
Verse 9 reveals the patience of God as well as the prayer of the Lord from the cross, “Father forgive them, they know not what they do.”
In 70 AD Rome would destroy the city and the temple. Christ said that the temple was supposed to be a house of prayer and that the people were to be people of faith. Faith was turned to legalism and religion and prayer was turned to money changing and thievery.
Mat 21:21 And Jesus answered and said to them, "Truly I say to you, if you have faith, and do not doubt, you shall not only do what was done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, 'Be taken up and cast into the sea,' it shall happen.
Mat 21:22 "And all things you ask in prayer, believing, you shall receive."
It is no mistake that this is said the day after He cleansed the temple of the money changers, stating to all of them:
Mat 21:13 And He said to them, "It is written, 'My house shall be called a house of prayer'; but you are making it a robbers' den."
You can’t serve God and mammon. The message to the temple dwellers is now given to the disciples, i.e. don’t neglect prayer while being overcome with the pursuit of money or the entanglement in any of the details of life.
The warning still stands to the many temples now in existence in the CA, which is every CA believer, our lives should be devoted to faith and prayer.