John 11:17-22 Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. 18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off: 19 And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. 20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house. 21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.

Last week we started looking at one of the greatest miracles Jesus did, the resurrection of Lazarus. This is not the first time Jesus resurrected the dead. A ruler of the Synagogue named Jairus (Luke 8:41) came to Jesus because his daughter lay dying. When Jesus got to his home, the daughter was dead. But Jesus …

Luke 8:54-55 (AP) … took her by the hand, and said “maiden, rise”, and she arose and ate …

In Luke 7:12 Jesus met a funeral procession. A widow of Nain, her only son, was being carried to his tomb. The Bible says …

Luke 7:14-15 (AP) Jesus touched the funeral couch. They stopped, and Jesus said “Young man, rise up!” and he sat up and began to speak …

The Bible tells us that “it is God Who gives LIFE TO THE DEAD, and calls into existence the things that do not exist” (Romans 4:17, ESV). The devil and his fallen angels have no power to bring to life the dead. The devil has the power of death (Hebrews 2:14-15), but not of life. By raising the dead, Jesus proved that He is Messiah, the Christ, “God with us” (Matthew 1:23).

The resurrection of Lazarus is different from the resurrections of the daughter of Jairus and the son of the widow of Nain. In those two resurrections, the daughter had just died, and the son had been dead no more than a day, his body prepared for the tomb. But with Lazarus we read:

John 11:17 Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.

When someone died, the Jews would wash and prepare the body for burial. At the death of a loved one, the relatives comfort one another and mourn. The Chevra kadisha (the Holy Society) cleanse the body (tahara) and dress it for burial. The body is guarded (Shmira) until it is taken to the tomb. The cleansing and dressing takes several hours, and the body is usually entombed the day the person dies.

Decomposition begins around four minutes after a person dies. In the heat of the land where Bethany was, 24-72 hours after death internal organs decompose. Lazarus’ body would have been bloated by the fourth day, with no hope of resuscitation.

John 11:18-19 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off: 19 And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.

Bethany wasn’t far from Jerusalem. “fifteen furlongs” is about 1.8 miles, a very short distance to walk. Lazarus was obviously well known and perhaps an influential leader, because we read “many of the Jews” came to offer condolences. Now Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were “Jews”. In fact, Bethany is a Jewish town. So why does John say “many of the Jews” came? When John uses the phrase “the Jews” it often referred to the Pharisees, the MODEL Jews of that day (John 3:1; 3:25; 7:1). It was “THE JEWS” who sought to kill Jesus (John 5:16, 18), who murmured at and mocked Jesus (John 6:41; 8:48, 52), and terrorized the populace into silence (John 7:13). These were Pharisees that came from Jerusalem to attend Lazarus’ wake. We are told that they came down …

John 11:19 to comfort them concerning their brother

Word Study: The word rendered “comfort” is the Greek paramythéomai, which means “to encourage, to calm or console by speaking to”. What they were doing was a good thing. As humans, when we mourn, we need encouragement to look beyond the tragedy we are in, and to look with hope in another direction. The Jews (the Pharisees) were encouraging Mary and Martha with what they had put their hope in, the Law of God.

The Law of God has no power to comfort, but to convict.

The LAW of God was given to us to give us knowledge of right and wrong, good and evil. We are told “by works of the law no human being will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin” (Romans 3:20). Religious Law cannot comfort the grieving. But the Promises of God, given to those who love Him, do have the power to comfort. The Psalmist wrote:

Psalm 119:49-50 Remember your word to your servant, in which you have made me hope. 50 This is my comfort in my affliction, that your promise gives me life.

The Word of God does have the power to comfort and encourage the believer in God. The Law CONVICTS, but God’s promises COMFORTS and CONSOLES. The Bible tells us that Jesus Christ is the Living Word of God.

John 1:14 … the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

The Pharisees are trying to comfort Mary and Martha. They are sincere in their efforts. But the Law of God cannot comfort. When we go through trials and tragedy, we need the Word of God. We need the Word made flesh. We need Jesus.

John 11:20-22 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house. 21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.

Martha didn’t wait for Jesus to get to her, but instead ran to Jesus. Mary often sat at the feet of Jesus when He taught (Luke 10:38-42), but with the loss of her brother she “sat still in the house”. The trial had shaken her faith. God uses trials to shake us up, to bring us to surrender in the arms of Christ. Martha tells Jesus something interesting:

Lord, if thou hadst been here,
my brother had not died

She thought that Jesus was limited by distance, that He had to be there to heal. Yet this is not true. Distance means nothing to God, Who is everywhere. A nobleman, a royal official of Cana in Galilee asked Jesus:

John 4:49 (NIV) … come down before my child dies …

He was begging Jesus to come and heal his son (John 4:47). Jesus didn’t go, but simply said,

John 4:50 (NIV) Go … your son will live …

In another instance, a Centurion asked Jesus to heal a favorite servant who was dying. Though Jesus volunteered to go and heal the servant, the Centurion said:

Matthew 8:8 … Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.

Jesus marveled at his faith, saying “Truly, I tell you, with no one in Israel have I found such faith”. Jesus did not need to be in proximity to Lazarus to heal him. He could have spoken the word, and he would have been healed. Why didn’t He?

Because God grows us through our trials. He strengthens our faith by testing it, by trying us. Jesus told Martha:

John 11:23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.

The believer in Christ has the absolute assurance of God that he shall rise again. As Jesus rose from the Grave, so shall we all who believe in Him rise. Death has no hold on us. We have the promise of the Living Word of God.

Thy BROTHER shall rise again.
Thy SISTER shall rise again.
Thy SON or DAUGHTER, HUSBAND or WIFE.
Thy GRANDMOTHER or GRANDFATHER.
If they have loved and believed in Jesus.
They shall rise again!
Jesus knows His sheep, His people.
He redeemed us, and we follow Him.
Both now and forever. Amen!