Here are some notes from John 11
– v. 39, Jesus said “Take away the stone”
– Moving a tombstone would have made a person unclean by the Mishna
standards. there were Jewish leaders around that taught that very
thing, so Jesus is immediately flying in their face.
– Jesus was not concerned with the complicated religion of
figuring out what made a person clean or unclean. To the
Jewish leaders, He was about to cause a really big problem.
Not only from the shock of raising someone from the dead, but
I’m sure there would be debate about whether or not Lazarus
was unclean or not, since he had touched a dead body – HIS
OWN!
– Just like healing on the Sabbath to mess these guys up, Jesus
hands them another conundrum of their law-making. Whoever
touched the tombstone, unwrapped Lazarus, or entered the tomb
would have been unclean and in need to special offerings to
be clean and able to enter the fellowship again.
– OF COURSE I’m talking like a silly person. Who would worry
about such rules and laws when man had just been raised from
the dead after 4 days?! (see v. 48 and 53)
– The Father calls us back to the reality of life. Jesus walks us
through the transition from life under the Law to life in the
Spirit, because the Law was powerless to change us on the inside.
If Jesus had just come and died and not shown us how to live the
Spirit life, we would have just manufactured new laws and
considered ourselves righteous by following those new laws. That
is exactly what happens today in churches that focus more on
shoulds and compelling people with urges to do things rather than
the life of Christ. I have seen the work of the Spirit of Grace
in my own life, in that when I keep score, I sneak and sin
against God in my heart much more than when I turn the scoreboard
off and simply spend my life in Christ.
– v. 40 “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the
glory of God?”
– Martha must finally believe here, because she sees it. I don’t
think Jesus is saying that He would only raise Lazarus if Martha
believed. I think He’s talking about the difference between the
Pharisees’ reaction and the sisters’ reaction. Everyday, amazing
things happen and tons of people lose out by attributing the
event to chance or fate or luck. The GLORY of GOD is in giving
Him credit for every good and perfect gift.
– That’s not to say God is going to do a bunch of stuff without us
and the glory of God is only seen in whether He gets credit or
not. The ULTIMATE GLORY of GOD is in granting the requests and
coming to the help of those in greatest need. Just as the essence
of being high and exalted is compassion and mercy, the Ultimate
Glory of God is shown when He helps and is believed in by people
who are surrounded by every reason in the world to stop believing
in Him.
– My Strong’s dictionary says glory is doxa (do/xa) which means
“glory (as very apparent)” I wonder what that means?! flip that
around . “
– “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the
very apparent, the clearly visible, understood, and
obviousness of God?”
– If you will believe that Jesus is the Son of God, then you
will see the fullness of God.
