Lessons from John – Part Four

Arise: The Resurrection and the Life

As we approach this next lesson, I thought it would be valuable for me to reaffirm the foundational truth that has compelled me to participate in the declaration of the Good News of Jesus Christ via this substack account.

Our Heavenly Father and Creator, in an incomprehensible act of Love, chose to create that which was apart from Himself; Heaven (“space”), Earth (“matter”), Time and Life (“biological” life, “soul” life, and “spirit” or eternal life) for the specific purpose of Sharing with the Epitome of His Works (that which was made in His Image and Likeness) the Eternity After. 

All things were and are the result of His desire to share Eternity After.  He knew (of course He did) the cost that fulfilling His desire would impose.  He knew that no such created being could, of its own free-will, avoid falling.  He knew that only by Grace and Self-Sacrifice (His, not ours) could His creation learn to acknowledge the need for Grace and surrender to His Sovereignty.  And He, within the Council of God, assigned the Everlasting Covenant as the Means of executing His Eternal Plan – the Agreement that, in the Eternity Before, required the Sacrifice that would be the earnest agreement of that which would be fulfilled in time. 

He committed to lay down His essential characteristics and to become one of His Created; and then to lay down His Life as a Man in order to Satisfy the Price of the Ransom and Redemption that He knew would be required.  The Incomprehensible, Unfathomable, Immeasurable, Unspeakable Love of God for us!

One last statement, if I may: Our Father did not need to do any of this.  But, of Himself, He Desired to; so He Did!

If I repeat myself on this next point, please forgive me.  There is a very natural reaction for us to hold on tightly to our first impressions.  We remember our younger relatives as the children they were, if we have not watched them grow up into the adults they are.  We remember our graduating class as young adults, until we see them at some future reunion.  And for many of us, we remember John as a young, emotional (even volatile) fisherman whom Jesus loved, and we overlook the wise, learned scholar of Christ that he had become by the time he wrote the gospel he was commissioned to share.

What he shares is piercingly profound.  It displays and describes deep inspiration and dynamic insights into the eternal purposes of God; as we have seen in previous lessons.

Here, in this lesson, we start as we have before, in our first chapter of John’s gospel.  We will then weave together the concepts of Resurrection and Eternal Life by examining the Words and Deeds of Jesus.   And so we begin:

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  This One was in the beginning with God.  All things came into being through Him, and apart from Him nothing came into being that has come into being.  In Him was life, and the life was the Light of men. John 1:1-4

We are then told more about how this “life” that is God, was “become” for us:

And the Word became flesh, and tabernacled among us, and we saw His glory, glory as of the only begotten from the Father, full of grace and truth. John 1:14

There was life in God Before.  As He created, in the beginning, He demonstrated this Life in various ways and levels – but they all came from Him; He who is Life.  The highest form of Life was Spirit or eternal life, which in its highest form was revealed in Adam (male and female).  But the highest form of “Adam” was revealed in Jesus – the unique and only One of His kind from the Father.

John lets us know, that the idea of the raising up of life, was seeded very early in Jesus’ ministry, at the first of the Passover feasts that He attends.  In a brash display of justice, Jesus, having made a scourge of cords made from rushes (a reedy plant that was often used in plaiting), drives out the merchants and money changers from the temple.  He then declares that His zeal is the result of His desire to cleanse His Father’s house, which they had turned into an emporium.

[Allow me to pause here really quick.  What we are being told is that the sacred place of worship and sacrifice to God (which, admittedly, lacked the Ark and the Mercy Seat that covered it and therefore the Glory) has become a mini-mall.  The term is “emporion” it means “trading place” and it comes from the word “emporos” which describes a travelling salesman – and is the term translated in Revelation chapter 18 as the “merchants of the earth”; those who had been at the heart of the Babylonian system’s commercial endeavors for some 4,000 years, at this point in His story. 

In other words, Jesus is saying (in our vernacular), “You have turned My Church into a place of Satanic/Babylonian merchandizing!”  And He backs it up by removing them from His House!!]

He then declares:

“Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up.”  The Jews then said, “It took forty-six years to build this temple, and you will raise it up in three days?”  But He was speaking of His body.  So when He was raised from the dead, His disciples remembered that He said this; and they believed the Scripture and the word Jesus had spoken. John 2:19-22

Here is another point that we might overlook.  John is letting us know that much of what they heard from Jesus remained a mystery until the promises hidden in His teachings became fulfilled.  They (we) were told by Jesus that one aspect of the sending of the Spirit, that could only happen by Jesus ascension to the Father, was that He would remind them (us) of the things that Jesus had said and lead us into Truth.  Here is a case study of that ministry of the Spirit.

Within John’s recounting of the Good News about Jesus are two very clear expositions of the lesson on which this post is focused.  And though we may touch on aspects included in other passages, the depth of the teaching in chapters 5 (doctrinal) and 11/12 (experiential) will sufficiently declare the truth I believe He is wanting us to glean.

First, we will review the doctrinal passage.  The teaching begins in verse 19 and, for this topic, continues to verse 30 – if possible, I would suggest reading that passage to help frame in what this part of John’s lesson is focused on.

Jesus begins by making a very important point, that though tied into the idea of the resurrection, should also be understood to provide a basis for the better understanding of all of His works.  In the passage just prior to this one, John had told us that the Jews were seeking to kill Jesus not just because He healed on a sabbath day, but because He had proclaimed Himself as equal to God – and not in some meta-physical way.  In this passage He will begin by delineating His absolute dependence on the Father.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, the Son can do nothing of Himself, unless what He may see the Father doing; for whatever that One does, these things the Son also does in the same way.” John 5:19

Jesus is the Son of God.  We are told that the Son of God is not able (the word is “dunamai”, a primary verb) to do anything apart from what He sees the Father doing.  And the complement, that all that He does see the Father doing, the Son also, in the likeness of Him, does.

“For the Father loves the Son and shows Him all things that He Himself is doing; and will show Him greater works than these, so that you will marvel.  For in the same way as the Father raises the dead and makes them a living being, even so the Son also makes alive whom He wishes.” John 5:20-21

As we can see, this relationship between Jesus and His Father in Heaven is one of amazing wonder.  Jesus, in becoming a baby in Mary’s womb, surrendered what are known as His essential attributes (being omniscient, omnipresent, omnipotent, etc.) and entered the realm of time and matter and space.  And yet, here Jesus is describing the extent of the Father’s council with the Son as including “all things.”  And then He tells them:

“For not even the Father judges anyone, but He has given all judgment to the Son, so that all will recognize the value of the Son just as they recognize the value of the Father.  He who does not value the Son does not value the Father Who sent Him.  Truly, truly, I say to you, he who hears My word, and believes Him Who sent Me, has eternal life, and does not come into judgment, but has passed out of death into life.” John 5:22-24

I am guessing that some of you are asking the same question that came to my mind as I read this portion: how can Jesus have been sent into the created order to not judge it (John 3:17) AND the Father have given all judgment to the Son?  I believe it is less mysterious than it appears at first glance.

There are a number of prophecies that describe Jesus’ first and second comings with equally conflicting language.  Passages in Isaiah 61, Psalm 2, and Joel 2 as well as entire chapters that focus solely on one of His advents in seeming contradiction to those that instead describe the other.  In John 3, Jesus is describing, to Nicodemus, the implications of His first coming and the focus of His ministry to those who walk the earth prior to His crucifixion; during which He does not judge (though His words do).  Where here, in chapter 5, the story is centered on the resurrection that comes at the end of the age, and the judgment that He as the King of kings and Lord of lords will execute. 

Jesus tells us that judgment given to the Son is founded in how “all men” fix the value on Jesus and the Father (the word often translated “honor” is “timaō” which comes from “timē” which is a noun that means “a valuing, a price” and so describes here how men estimate the worth of Jesus and the Father).  He who values them highly will receive life.  But Jesus also insists that if a man were to not place value in the Son, neither does he place value in the Father. 

The level of challenge that this statement presented to the Jews, whom we are told initially in this passage, were unwilling to accept Him as Messiah, was severe.  In their minds they already do “honor” the Father – Jesus is composing the truth that they are mistaken if they do not “honor” Him as well!

The next passage is Jesus’ expansion of a few of the details of the coming resurrections, though most is a reiteration.  One point worth making: during this conversation Jesus has not been told, by the Father, the day and hour of His return.  When He discusses these details, the facts are accurate, for the Father has told Him.  Any suggestions of timing, however, are the effects of His speaking, within the confines of time, His understanding of the schedule of eternity.  In other words, “an hour” should not be perceived as a precise measurement of time but as a euphemistic expression of the sure eventuality of the event.

“Truly, truly, I say to you, an hour is coming and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.  For just as the Father has life in Himself, even so He gave to the Son also to have life in Himself; and He gave Him authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man.  Do not marvel at this; for an hour is coming, in which all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and will come forth; those who did the good deeds to a resurrection of life, those who committed the evil deeds to a resurrection of judgment. John 5:25-29

The language here is remarkably similar to one of the last verses in the book of Daniel:

“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.  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.  But as for you, Daniel, conceal these words and seal up the book until the end of time; many will go back and forth, and knowledge will increase.” Daniel 12:2-4

What we have been shown, so far, in the words of our Lord, lays out the general doctrine or teaching (if you prefer) regarding resurrection.  The hour when the voice of the Son of God will be heard calling all Men (including each of us) back to life in order to face the reality of the choices made before the first death that will determine their (our) destinies for eternity.  Paul and Peter and John are all given further insights (which were covered in the series beginning here) and details regarding that day and the events that lead to it.  And, as we will soon see, Jesus brings this truth to life (sorry, I couldn’t resist) experientially as the end of His earthly ministry approaches.

There comes within the confines of time, a moment or hour or day when the choice of all living men will have been made.  All that will accept His ransom do; and the rest…well they have also chosen.  When that day comes – the day of Resurrection – when the righteous shall be raised at the beginning and the unrighteous at the end of the seventh day of the week of Redemption (made up of thousand year days), then Jesus comes in judgment (the word is “krisis” and it means “a decision, judgment”).  Those who value the Father and the Son will be raised and made alive for eternity; and those who do not value the Father and the Son; they too will be raised, but to the judgment of the second death.

Chapter 11 describes the resurrection of Lazarus and the implications that the miracle had on the Jews and on Jesus with His followers.  Our chapter 12 then continues the story by describing His “anointing for burial” by Lazarus’ sister (verses 1-11) which leads us to His entry into Jerusalem as the Passover approaches.

The details are rich, but, once again, too extensive to attempt to cover them all in this format.  So, if I may, I encourage you to take a few minutes and reacquaint yourselves with the narrative either before or as you review these thoughts.

The background for this scene is noted in our chapter 10:22 when John lets us know of Jesus’ activities during the Feast of Dedication.  Though not one of the original Feasts of the Lord, this particular observation took place near the end of the month Chislev which typically was observed in between our November and December (so that the 25^th of Chislev was around the 10^th of December).  The purpose was to commemorate the rededication of the temple following the defilement under Antiochus Epiphanes. 

We are told in 10:39 that, because of His teachings:

…they were seeking again to seize Him, and He eluded their grasp.  And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was first baptizing…Many believed in Him there. John 10:39-42

The place this refers to was noted in John 3:23 as “near Salim” which was a town on the borders of Galilee, Samaria and the Decapolis, on the Jordan river (so south of the Sea of Galilee) – about 60 miles north and a bit east of Bethany and Jerusalem.

Interestingly, in Luke’s version of the Good News of Jesus, the story of a rich man and a poor man named Lazarus is told.  The context is an occasion where Jesus is addressing the Pharisees’ love of money.  He warns them that God knows their hearts, telling them:

“..that which is highly esteemed among men is detestable before God.  The Law and the Prophets – until John (the baptizer) – from then the kingdom of God is being preached… Luke 16:15-17

Jesus then tells the story and in it impresses the importance of choosing wisely during this life because of the implications those choices have on eternity, using a hypothetical conversation between the rich man and Abraham.  Jesus finishes His story with a poignant and alarming statement to them:

“But Abraham was saying, ‘They have Moses and the Prophets; let them (the rich man’s relatives and friends) hear them.’ But he (the rich man) said, ‘No, father Abraham, but if someone goes to them from the dead, they will repent!’ But he (Abraham) said to him, ‘If they do not listen to Moses and the Prophets, they will not be persuaded even if someone rises from the dead.’” Luke 16:30-31

By the way – as with many of Jesus’ stories and parables – this was not a statement of historical fact, but rather a narrative that Jesus used to make His point.  In other words, we should not, from the ancillary information in this story, form a doctrine.  Those details are intended to be the vehicle by which His message is delivered – which in this case is the point that they (and we) are without excuse for missing Who Jesus is!  (I do find it noteworthy that though the rich man’s name is not given, the poor man’s name is Lazarus and the story centers on resurrection.)

Another quick aside.  In the early part of John’s introduction to this experience of resurrection, as he identifies the people of interest, he refers to one of Lazarus’ sisters (Mary) as being the one who “anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair”.  That event is retold chronologically as happening after these events.  This is of interest to me because it reinforces the reality of how the writers of the New Testament wrote their accounts.  These were historical events being recounted by eyewitnesses, but well after the fact of their actual occurrence.  And yet they retained their first person perspectives.

The back story is important, but well-known enough for us to jump over some of the introductory elements and home in as Jesus and His disciples begin their journey to Bethany, where Lazarus has been reported as having died from his sickness. 

I will interject this one statement from the Lord:

“This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” John 11:4

I have heard some expositors attempt to use this statement to suggest that God causes suffering so that He might draw attention to Himself (hopefully I am alone in hearing that exposition).  On the contrary!  Suffering was introduced into our world by the choice of a Man.  Adam exalted His desire above the Word of God; his sin brought death – as he had been warned.  That God allowed that to happen is, to me, undeniable; that doing so was the consequence of creating Man in His Image and Likeness is also undeniable.  That He Himself suffered as a result – a level and degree of suffering to which all others pale in comparison – is equally undeniable.

As they prepare to leave, Jesus makes the situation clear to his followers:

“Lazarus is dead, and I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe, but let us go to him.” John 11:14b-15

Thomas, in response, expresses what must have been the mood of others as well.  After all, they had basically gone into hiding for the last three to four months because of how serious the Pharisees were in their desire to kill Him.  So when Thomas says that they should go so that they too might die – not with Lazarus, but with the Lord – he is simply drawing a reasonable conclusion of where this will end.  And in part, he is not wrong.

As noted above, they had been near Salim, a sixty mile journey from Bethany.  By foot this would have been a long two or modest three day trek.  So when they arrived, we are told, Lazarus was four days in the tomb.  Well past the time the body takes to begin decomposition. 

We are told that many of the Jews were there, consoling Mary and Martha, and though the time of the mourning of Shiva (which means seven) was still at hand, this may suggest that they anticipated Him coming, knowing that Jesus was friends with the family.

Word came to the household that Jesus had entered the city and Martha ran to meet Him.  We are told that her first words to Him were,

“Lord if You had been here, my brother would not have died.  Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”  Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” John 11:21-23

This statement from Martha is insightful because it represents the general understanding among the Jewish people of the doctrine of the resurrection.  When Martha hears from the Lord that her brother will “rise again” she is not shocked.  She is however a bit disappointed – expressing her confidence that “in that last day” he, and everyone else, will arise.  Her doctrine was not wrong, it just was not the part of the lesson that Jesus was about to teach.

“I am the resurrection and the life; the one who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.  Do you believe this?” John 11:25

…Wow…!

For Martha this was not a lesson in doctrine – neither was it for Jesus…and neither should it be for us! 

There are few more poignant or more penetrating questions that we are told that Jesus asked  those with whom He walked.  This statement, and the question that followed, went well beyond the Jewish understanding of Messiah.  Remembering that the High Priest and a large minority of the religious leaders did not even believe in a resurrection or in an eternal destiny.

I am afraid that any words I may write will be an injustice to the how deep this question would have gone for Martha.  Jesus is not talking about an event – He is declaring that as Messiah this is Truth: He is the resurrection and the life, for those who believe. 

And we know that Martha understood that truth to be at the core of what He was asking because of her response to it:

“Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are Messiah, the Son of God, the One Coming into the created order.” John 11:27

Martha, we are told, then goes to her younger sister, Mary, and tells her that the Teacher is calling for her. 

I am going to pause here for a moment to recognize, once again, that how these events are recorded by the writers of the Bible demonstrate the authenticity of their portrayal.  Here is what I mean: Martha, in the face of a most earth shattering question at a most heart rending moment in time, answers well.  She knew what she should say.  But having said it, or so it seems to me, she needed to escape from His presence and come to grips with what He really said and even what her answer really meant.  And so she runs to her sister.  And compels her to go to Him.

This, by the way, is not meant to sound like a criticism – or if it is, it is of my own means of processing the hard questions that Jesus asks and my “training” to answer religiously, even when I struggle practically with what is implied.

Mary arrives, falls at His feet, and makes the very same statement Martha had made…and then she weeps. And the Jews who were there wept.  And Jesus, we are told, stirred Himself, being deeply angered (the word is “embrimaomai” which literally means “to snort with anger”) and asked them:

“Where have you placed him?” They said to Him, lord, come and see.” John 11:34

Before I touch on the Lord’s physical response to the events around Him, I think it is appropriate for me to highlight what is sometimes overlooked in our (or my) rush to get to the “good part of the story”. 

We are told, in the original language, that Jesus is not stirred up with sorrow or grief or even pity.  He loves these two sisters of Lazarus and He loves the Jews and His disciples and all of the created order.  This event however does not cause Him to be moved by compassion for their loss.  He is livid with the enemy’s plots and schemes that lure Men into blindness and wretchedness and misery and poverty and nakedness of soul.  We are told that the last enemy to be finally defeated is Death; the result of the sin that was committed by Adam – yes – but also the result of the sins we have all committed since!

He knows that His time is extremely short – and He knows that it (His time) will draw to a close with His laying down His life, becoming sin for us, shedding His sinless blood, and then ascending to the Father to offer the sinless blood on the Mercy Seat in heaven (that which is the throne of God) so that our ransom price and the price of our restoration can be settled.  He (within the confines of time) will fulfill His promise as the Lamb Slain from the Eternity Before.  But even after, there will still be a delay.  The preparation of the people of God will continue, until the fulness of time.  And so even though death has been defeated positionally, it will continue experientially for “yet a little while”.

I believe all of that and more was contained in His stirring of Himself…and in response:

Jesus wept. John 11:35.

And of course, many of those around Him were unaware of the stirring within Jesus and therefore assumed His tears were those of sorrow.  While others did what is a common reaction when something goes wrong to people of faith – they questioned why He (and the Father) did not prevent it in the first place.

So Jesus again, being stirred to anger within Himself, came to the tomb.

Jesus said, “Remove the stone.”

Martha…said to Him, “Lord, by this time he stinks, for he has been four days.”

Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

Martha’s previous statement of faith was being challenged by the very real circumstances of life or maybe better said of the loss of life.  And that is a good thing – for her and for us all.

There was a song we used to sing that included the line: “Our God shall supply all of your needs, according to His riches in glory!”  It was a beautiful song, a rousing declaration of faith.  But when one loses a job and is forced to come to that promise at a time of real need, with the cliché of “little mouths to feed” no longer being cliché, so that the statement is no longer just a line of a song; but a line in the sand…well, then it is a real faith that is needed. A faith of the heart, not merely of the mind.

Jesus, graciously, did not ask her His question again.  He instead lifted His eyes and said,

“Father, I thank You that You have heard Me.  I knew that you always hear Me; but because of the crowd standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent me.”  When He had said these things He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” John 11:41-43

In a prophetic act of what will take place in the last day, when the final trumpet blows and He descends with a shout and the dead in Christ rise first and those who are alive, remaining are changed and meet Him in the air and join with the armies of God to defeat the final enemy at the battle of Har-Magedon, Jesus shouts the command and Lazarus does the only thing He could do: he comes out of the tomb, still shrouded in the burial wrappings.

The story quickly moves on to the stark revelation (though not shocking) that some of the Jews returned to inform the Pharisees of what had happened. 

They of course realized that their hard hearts and religious pride were preventing them from experiencing the fulfillment of the promises of God for them and the nation as a whole, so they repented of their unbelief and ushered in the Golden Age of Israel…oops…not so much.

They convened a council!

Therefore the chief priests and the Pharisees convened a council, and were saying, “What are we doing? For this man is performing many signs.  If we let Him go on like this, all men will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”  But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all, nor do you take into account that it is expedient for you that one man die for the people, and that the whole nation not perish.”  Now he did not say this on his own initiative, but being high priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but in order that He might also gather together into one the children of God who are scattered abroad.  So from that day on they planned together to kill Him. John 11:47-53

I will leave that there, with the simple challenge to examine our hearts to make sure we do not hold so tightly certain doctrines that we are willing and ready to turn our backs to God in defense of what we have determined to be in our best interest.  And with the striking truth, that even if we do, God will see His purpose done – with or without us (though He would that all would come to the knowledge of Truth).

We are told that, after this, Jesus and His disciples retreat from the public, going to Ephraim, a long day’s journey north of Bethany, until the time of Passover was come.  It is then that, on their way back to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast (and fulfill it), they stop again in Bethany and stay with Lazarus.  During this stay Mary, the younger sister, takes twelve ounces of pure nard and anoints Jesus’ feet (the same feet she had fallen before when she had appealed to Him after Lazarus’ death). 

This anointing, we are told by Jesus and by John, was to prepare Him for His burial.  For on the next day He enters Jerusalem, to the shouts of “Hosanna” and the waving of palm branches; yet He enters as the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of all the created order!

But from a natural perspective, this also triggered two very impactful responses – responses with a horrendous cost.  It was because of this that Judas set his heart to betray Jesus to the Pharisees.  And that those same Pharisees decided that killing Jesus may not be enough, that they might have to kill Lazarus as well in order to be able to “prove” that he had not been raised from the dead!

And so with this, the raising of Lazarus from death on the very eve of Jesus’ own death and suffering, the doctrine of the resurrection is intertwined with the tangible experience, resulting in a deepened understanding of the Eternal Purposes of God, which is to share with those who believe the Glory of Eternity After. 

We are not told much about Lazarus or Martha or Mary after Jesus’ death, though it is reasonable to assume that they were among those with whom He walked after He was raised by the Father.

What we take away from this lesson is an understanding that how we view God matters; the worth we place on Him is central to how we will live this life and critical to our experience of life eternally.  In some ways, it is almost too simple; that all that Martha and Mary and each of us need to do is believe what the Father says about the Son and that the Son says about the Father so that we can partake of the Eternal Life of God.  But in both Word (doctrine) and Deed (experience) that is exactly what John teaches us.