So Much More: Moving Beyond Kingdom Principles to Kingdom Power (11 page)

Chapter 6
DEATH DEFEATED

O
NE OF THE
clear indications that Satan had usurped the authority that God delegated to mankind to rule and reign on the earth is the presence of physical death. God told Adam and Eve if they ate of the fruit of the forbidden tree they would surely die (Gen. 2:17). When they ate and sinned against God, both physical and spiritual death entered the world. If Jesus came to reintroduce the kingdom of God to earth, then one of the clear indications of that would be His demonstration of power and authority over death.

There are several stories recorded for us the Gospels where Jesus demonstrates authority over death. One of the most familiar is the story of Lazarus.

Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Which Mary was this? (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

—J
OHN
11:1–3

Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were close friends of Jesus. They lived in Bethany, not far from Jerusalem; and it seems as though when Jesus would go to visit the city, He would stop by regularly to hang out with His close friends. They had the gift of hospitality, and Jesus loved to spend time in their home. There are some people who just have that special gift of making people feel welcomed in their home. From the very moment you walk through the door, they welcome you warmly and you feel as though they are genuinely glad you are there. They invite you help yourself the refrigerator, and there is always something good cooking on the stove. You feel at home in a place like that.

Then there are homes where you don’t feel very welcome at all. You walk in and are immediately told to take off your shoes because the carpet is new, don’t touch that, and don’t eat that. You wouldn’t feel very welcomed in a home like that. But Mary and Martha’s home was an inviting home. We know Martha loved to cook, so whenever Jesus came by, she probably went in the kitchen and whipped up a feast for the Lord.

Mary would sit at the feet of Jesus and just hang on His words. Jesus loved these people and they were His close friends. (See Luke 10:38–41.) So when Lazarus became ill, Mary and Martha immediately sent a message to Jesus to let Him know that Lazarus was sick. They had seen Jesus perform miracles before, and they knew He had demonstrated authority over disease. They knew their brother was desperately ill, so they sent word to Jesus saying, “Your friend whom You love, our brother Lazarus, is very sick. In fact, if something doesn’t happen soon, if You don’t show up and do a miracle, he will be dead.” That’s what they wanted Jesus to do for them. They wanted Him to come heal their brother.

Notice the basis for their appeal. They didn’t say, “Lord, because You have stayed at our house so often and have eaten so many meals at our table, You owe us this miracle. Come heal our brother.” They didn’t say, “Jesus, because we love You so much You should do this for us.” They simply said, “Lazarus, whom You love, is sick.” What a great reminder for us when we need a miracle. We should not demand that God do it for us because of what we have done for Him or say He should do it because we love Him. What we really need to remember is that God loves us more than we will ever love Him and He responds to us based on His love for us—not our love for Him.

When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.

—J
OHN
11:4–6

It’s almost as though Jesus is saying, “Alright, I know things don’t look good from your perspective and according to your timetable. You believe if I don’t show up and do this miracle today, it’s going to be too late; but I’ve got a different perspective. I’ve got a different timetable and I’m in no hurry. I’m going to take my time and wait a couple of days before I go because it really doesn’t matter how quickly I get there. Whenever I show up it’s never too late for something you think is impossible to be made possible. And when I’m through with this miracle, everyone will know that there is no way this could happen except for the hand of God at work. We’ve got to give God glory for that one.”

Then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they wee by this world’s light. It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.” After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.” His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”

—J
OHN
11:7–15

I’m sure the disciples were thinking at this point, “It’s too late Jesus. Mary and Martha asked You to do a miracle and heal their brother, but You dillydallied around here for two days and didn’t go and now it’s too late. You just said Yourself, he is dead.” Furthermore, the disciples really didn’t want to go to Bethany. Bethany is just on the other side of the Mount of Olives right outside the city of Jerusalem. The last time Jesus had been there, He had gotten in a heated toe-to-toe conversation with the Pharisees, who had picked up stones planning to stone Jesus to death; but He had managed to slip away from them. Now Jesus is suggesting that they make a trip back to that area. The disciples decided they like living too much so that didn’t seem to be a very good idea to them.

Thomas spoke up and said what the rest of the disciples were probably thinking, “Let us also go, that we may die with him” (v. 16). He’s being kind of sarcastic and basically saying we are going to get killed if we go there.

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

—J
OHN
11:17–21

Let me paraphrase this for you: “Where have You been Jesus? We trusted You to do a miracle and heal our brother. We have been bragging about Your wonder-working power to all our friends. This was the perfect opportunity for You to display Your power and show these people that the kingdom is at hand—to show them that You are the Son of God and have come to take authority over disease. And You come walking in four days later? You’re too late.” Martha was hurt and disappointed.

Many of us can relate to the disappointment that Martha felt and expressed. At times like this thoughts and questions run through our minds, such as, “God, I have been praying for this miracle. I have trusted You to do this miracle and yet nothing has happened. Are You there, God? Are You even real? And if You are real, and You’re not doing what I’m asking You to do, are You good? And if You are there and You are good and You still aren’t doing anything, then do You really have the power to do something about my situation? If You can, then why aren’t You?” Those are real questions that run through our minds when we don’t immediately get the miracle from God we are seeking. We say things like, “God, I just don’t understand. Am I the problem? Is it You? What’s wrong with this picture? Why haven’t I gotten the miracle I wanted? Lord, where were You when my loved one died? Where were You when my marriage dissolved? Where were You when my parents divorced? Where we You when my job ended? Why didn’t You intervene in this situation before it was too late?” Those are questions that have come to many of our minds when we don’t understand.

Something worth noticing in this story is that Jesus didn’t correct or rebuke Martha for what she said. He could have said, “Martha, why are you talking to Me like that? Don’t be disrespecting Me, Martha.” I think He didn’t correct her because it was good that she was talking to Him. When something happens that doesn’t make sense, don’t run from God, run to God. You might think if you go to Him and tell Him what you really think He might not like what you have to say. But notice that Martha was honest with Jesus about her feelings. I believe He wants us to be honest with Him well.

Lazarus had been dead for four days. Now there is dead and then there is really dead, and Lazarus was really dead. Some of the rabbis of Jesus’ day taught that a person was not really dead until after three days. The general thinking was that for the first three days the soul would hover over the body intending to reenter it. After three days, death was considered irreversible.

One of my favorite television shows in recent years was “24.” If you watched that show, you know that every time you think Jack Bauer is dead, he was never really dead. You always knew that somehow, someway he would get a shot, or something would happen that allowed him to get back up and start fighting the bad guys again. You thought he was dead, but he wasn’t really dead.

Well four days dead is pretty dead, even according to the rabbis. Martha heard that Jesus had arrived, and she left the house to come out to meet Him. The disappointment in her voice is unmistakable, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Lord, I asked You to do a miracle. We called on You to do a miracle, but You took Your sweet time getting here and now it’s too late for a miracle. My brother is dead.” She was disappointed. But then notice the next verse. Even though she was disappointed, she hadn’t lost faith in Jesus.

“But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

—J
OHN
11:22–27

Mary and Martha needed a miracle. They asked Jesus to do a miracle and heal their brother, but it didn’t happen. It would have been very easy for them to lose faith in Jesus, but that didn’t happen; and in the end, they were going to witness a greater, more powerful miracle than they could have ever asked for or imagined.

And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there. When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

—J
OHN
11:28–32

Notice Mary said the very same thing her sister said. “Lord, we asked You to do a miracle. We wanted You to heal our brother. We trusted Your power to do that miracle. We have seen You heal other people, but now it’s too late. My brother is dead, and if You had just shown up sooner it would have been possible for my brother to be healed. But now it’s impossible because he is dead.” Her words were filled with incredible emotion, and we read, “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ‘Where have you laid him?’ he asked. ‘Come and see, Lord,’ they replied. Jesus wept” (vv. 33–35). Think about that. Here is the Son of God who knows He is about ready to do the impossible. He’s going to raise this dead man back to life again. He knew at any moment He could do it, and yet He wept. Why? Because that is how much He empathizes with people He loves. He was hurting for them. He was weeping because His people were hurting: “Then the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him!’ But some of them said, ‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?’” (vv. 36–37).

Mary was weeping as she told Jesus about her brother. Jesus was so moved that He wept as well, and the people recognized that Jesus must have loved Lazarus. But that raised a question, “If He loved him so much, why didn’t He show up in time to save his life? Why didn’t He do a miracle for him?” And isn’t that the question we often ask? We say, “God, if You love me so much, if You care about me so much, if You are such a good and loving God, then why aren’t You giving me the miracle I need? Why is my marriage still in trouble? Why am I not getting the healing I need? Why is my financial picture so bleak? Why can’t I find a job? If You can do all these miracles, can’t You keep me from dying in this area of my life where I need a miracle?” But we are about to see that is never too late for the kingdom of God to invade the kingdom of darkness and bring victory.

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”