John 11:11

John 11:11 says. These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. He said to the disciples that their friend Lazarus was sleeping, but He was going to wake him out of sleep.  Verse twelve adds, Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.  The disciples said if Lazarus was asleep that he was doing well.  Verse thirteen continues, Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.   Jesus called the death of Lazarus sleep, because for His followers, death has no dominion. The physical body may perish, but the spirit does not.  Lazarus was a friend of Jesus and the disciples.  As His followers today, we should certainly be His friends and friends of other believers.  We are united through Christ as family. The disciples thought Jesus was talking of Lazarus being physically asleep and if he were very sick, they thought this would be a good thing.  Also, if he was sleeping, there would be no need for them to go to Judaea and be confronted by the Jews again.  We must not let the fear of confrontation with the world stop us from doing the work of God.  We today may think we are only resting or sleeping when we may be dead in our work for Christ.  If so, we need to allow Him to raise us up to spiritual life again.  Verse thirteen continues, Howbeit, Jesus spake of his death, but they thought He had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. We are told that the disciples indeed thought that Lazarus was simply asleep, but then this will be explained better in verse fourteen.  Verse fourteen states, Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.  Jesus clarified things.  Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

Jesus did not have to go to where Lazarus was to raise him from the dead. Jesus will never leave us confused if we look to Him in faith for the answers. Verse fifteen adds, And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him.  Even when things look hopeless or unnecessary, if God tells us to go, we must go, so that our faith may be established in Him. 

John 11:7

John 11:7 says, Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again. Jesus said to His disciples that they were going to Judaea again; Verse eight adds, His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again?  The disciples asked Jesus why He would go there again when they recently tried to stone Him there.  We should never let fear keep us from going where God sends us.  From Jesus's decision to go this time, we can be sure the time was right.  We may not always understand God's timing, but we can be certain that when He says stay, we should stay, and when He says go, we should go. This may have been a test of the faith of the disciples.  As they said in verse eight, the Jews had just tried to kill Jesus there. They may have been concerned for Jesus, not recognizing yet Who He really is, or they might have been concerned for their own safety, again not recognizing Who He really is.  We need never question the power of God to accomplish His purpose or to protect His followers. Jesus did not answer their question directly.  Verse nine continues, Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world.  God never expects His people to walk anywhere but in the light of Christ.  We do not need to worry about what the world is attempting to do to us as long as we rest in faith in Him.  When God's time is right, we need only to look to Him. Verse ten concludes, But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him.  The disciples were becoming distracted by the events that had occurred when they were in Judaea before. This was causing them to stumble in the darkness of a lack of faith.  As long as we are in God's will, we walk in the light. Jesus then said if we stumble, there is no light in us. 

John 11:4

 John 11:4 says. This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.  When Jesus heard this, He said that the sickness was not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified by this situation.  We know as we continue to read the story that Lazarus was physically dead, but we also know that His spirit lived on.  Some would interpret what Jesus said to mean that God caused Lazarus to die so Jesus could be glorified by raising him back to life.  I don't believe this.  God did not need to manipulate events for Jesus to be glorified.  Some would say that Jesus had the ability to physically see the future since He said that the sickness wasn't to death, but I believe He was just in close spiritual contact with the Father and was assured of the outcome.  We must accept the fact that Jesus was fully human, with the limitations of any human, or make Him less than what He said He was.  He was not playing the role of a human but was indeed a man.  When we go to Christ with our concerns, we want Him to act immediately. We can say the same of spiritual sickness today, if we accept the gift of salvation from Christ.  It is not unto spiritual death, if we call on Jesus for forgiveness.  Our salvation is not for our own glory, but for the glory of Christ. Verse five adds, Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.  We are told that Jesus loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, but He loved them no more than He loves you and me. Verse six continues, When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.  Jesus stayed where He was for two days.  We would think that if Jesus loved them that He would have left immediately to heal Lazarus.  Jesus was not here just for physical healing, but for spiritual healing, and Mary and Martha had to put their trust in Him, no matter what.  The same is true today.  We must abide in faith in Christ, even if the answer we are looking for does not come.  Jesus loved them, but no more than He loves everyone.  There are no favorites for God's love.  We should never expect God to do more for us than for any other Christian. 

John 11:1

John 11:1 says, Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.  Lazarus is sick of Bethany.  He is the brother of Mary and Martha.  Mary was the one who anointed Jesus' feet with ointment and wiped it with her hair.  Verse two adds, (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.)  They were friends of Jesus.  We hear today about people who are friends of someone, such as a president, and that is somehow supposed to make them more important.  This was not what Lazarus, Mary and Martha were trying to claim.  Mary and Martha knew Lazarus was sick and that Jesus could help him.  We need to have that same faith in God today and come to Him asking and not demanding.  No matter how close we feel to God, we can never make demands on Him.  Neither can we dictate how He will answer our prayers.  People often believe that prayers are unanswered because they are seeking God's stamp on their plan.  We should always filter prayer through the will of God, and accept the answer, even if it is no.  Verse three continues, Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. The sisters sent for Jesus saying, him whom thou lovest is sick.  We need to go to God with our cares and concerns for the lost and dying world.  Often, they cannot or will not do it themselves.  Also, we need to lift up fellow Christians during their times of need.  We need to realize that God loves everyone, and we can rest assured that He will give to us everlasting life, if we only believe in Him.  We do not have to send for Him as He will always seek to draw us to Him.

John 10:31

John 10:31 says, Then the Jews took up stones again to stone him.  The Jews again attempted to stone Jesus.  Men have been attempting to kill Jesus, or His testimony, ever since He first started preaching. While He was here, they couldn't stop Him from preaching and teaching, so they tried to and eventually did kill Him.  Since then, having killed Him, the world has attempted to kill His word, but since they war against God through the power of the Holy Spirit, they will never be successful. Verse thirty-two adds, Jesus answered them, Many good works have I shewed you from my Father; for which of those works do ye stone me?  Jesus said He had shown them many good works from the Father and asked for which of these were they trying to kill Him.  If we are truly following Jesus today, all they could charge us with is doing good works if we were confronted by the world.  Verse thirty-three continues, The Jews answered him, saying, For a good work we stone thee not; but for blasphemy; and because that thou, being a man, makest thyself God. They said they weren't trying to kill Him for His works, but for blasphemy for claiming to be God.  They still did not know Who He really was, even though He told them.  The world today, those who do not believe, will always see Jesus as someone other than the Messiah, the Son of God, and the Savior of mankind. Verse thirty-four states, Jesus answered them, Is it not written in your law, I said, Ye are gods?  Jesus answered with a quote from Psalms 82:6.  Verse thirty-five adds, If he called them gods, unto whom the word of God came, and the scripture cannot be broken. Jesus said that since the scripture referred to those who believed in God as gods, or judges over other people, who were they to deny it.  They were not as God, even though Jesus Christ was.  Jesus was simply pointing out that the scriptures were opposed to what the Jews were saying.  We need to make sure that our claims about God are scriptural.  Verse thirty-six continues, Say ye of him, whom the Father hath sanctified, and sent into the world, Thou blasphemest; because I said, I am the Son of God? Jesus never went against what the Scripture said, and neither should we.  If we feel something is wrong, we need to base it on God's word, not our own understanding or desires.  Verse thirty-seven says. If I do not the works of my Father, believe me not.  Jesus told them if He wasn't doing His Father’s work, then they didn’t have to believe Him.  If we are doing the work of the Father today, that doesn’t mean that people are still going to believe us or believe in Him.  Verse thirty-eight adds, But if I do, though ye believe not me, believe the works: that ye may know, and believe, that the Father is in me, and I in him.  Jesus said even if they didn’t believe Him that they should still believe the works so that they might know and believe, that the Father was in Him, and He in the Father.  If people today do not believe us when we tell them about Christ, will our works prove that He lives in us through the Holy Spirit and that we live in His word and will?  Verse thirty-nine continues, Therefore they sought again to take him: but he escaped out of their hand,  They didn't listen to Jesus, as they again sought to take Him, but He escaped out of their hands.  God's plan for salvation could not be stopped.  We can rest assured in the knowledge that nothing will ever take us from Him. Verse forty states, And went away again beyond Jordan into the place where John at first baptized; and there he abode.  Jesus went beyond the Jordan to where John had first baptized and abode there.  If people won’t believe the gospel in one place, we need to go to another as the Holy Spirit leads us.  Verse forty-one adds, And many resorted unto him, and said, John did no miracle: but all things that John spake of this man were true. Though John did no miracle they said that the things John said of Jesus were true. Verse forty-two continues, And many believed on him there. We are told many believed.  The things we do for God should always be consistent with what the Bible says about God, just as Jesus's life was the fulfillment of the prophecy of the coming Messiah.  We should never need a miracle to believe in Christ.