QUESTION #37 And whosoever liveth and believeth in Me shall never die. Believest thou this?

QUESTIONS JESUS ASKED BIBLE STUDY

     Read John 11:1-44 KJV: 

 

  And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? (John 11:26)

  Where have ye laid him? (John 11:34)

  Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? (John 11:40)

 

THE RAISING OF LAZARUS

Reference: John 11:1-44

 

The raising of Lazarus is a miracle of Jesus recounted only in the Gospel of John in which Jesus brings Lazarus of Bethany back to life four days after his burial. In John, this is the last of the miracles that Jesus performs before His own death and resurrection. 

 

Lazarus was one of Jesus’ closest friends. In fact, we’re told Jesus loved him. When Lazarus fell ill, his sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.” In John’s account he states that Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. But when Jesus heard the news, he waited two more days before going to Lazarus’s hometown of Bethany. Jesus knew He would do a great miracle for the glory of God, and that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.

 

When Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been dead and in the tomb for four days. When Martha discovered that Jesus was on His way, she went out to meet Him. “Lord,” she said, “if you had been here my brother would not have died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.”

 

Jesus told Martha, “Your brother shall rise again.” But Martha thought He was talking about the final resurrection of the dead.

 

Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Martha said, “Yes Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.”

 

Martha then went and told Mary that Jesus was there and wanted to see her. When Mary met Jesus, she was grieving with strong emotion over her brother’s death. She fell at Jesus’ feet and said, “Lord if you would have been here, my brother would not have died.” The Jews with her were also weeping and mourning. Deeply moved by their grief, Jesus wept with them. 

 

The tears of Jesus cause us to ponder. He did not weep because his friend was dead, for he knew he would restore his life. The crowd thought they knew why he cried -- because he loved Lazarus and mourned his loss. But Jesus knew he had not lost Lazarus, so why might he have wept?

 

Jesus identifies with us in our pain and loss. He comes to us in our weakness and broken-ness. Though He knew He was about to raise Lazarus from the dead, Jesus wept when he saw the tears of Mary and her companions. This is Jesus being truly human. 

 

Jesus then went to the tomb of Lazarus with Mary, Martha, and the rest of the mourners. There he asked them to remove the stone that covered the cave. Martha, said unto Him, “Lord by now he stinketh, for he has been dead for four days.” Jesus said unto her, “Did I not say unto thee, that, if thou would just believe, thou should see the glory of God?”

 

Jesus looked up to heaven and prayed to His Father, then in a loud voice he cried: “Lazarus, come forth!” When Lazarus came forth from the tomb, Jesus told the people to remove his grave clothes. Then many of the Jews which seen the thing that Jesus did, believed on Him.

 

From that day forth the chief priests and Pharisees took counsel together for to put Jesus to death. They feared that if they did nothing, all men would believe on Him: and the Romans would come and take away their place and nation. Jesus therefore did not walk openly among the Jews anymore.

 

After Lazarus was raised from the dead, the chief priests and Pharisees plotted to kill him also, because so many witnesses to the miracle believed in Jesus. The enemies of Christ couldn’t deny the miracle; the next best thing, in their view, was to destroy the evidence -- in this case, the evidence was a living, breathing person. But they couldn’t stop the truth from spreading.

 

Did the chief priests follow through with their plans to kill Lazarus? The Bible doesn’t tell us what happened to him after Jesus’ crucifixion. He’s never mentioned again. 

 

Lazarus means GOD HAS HELPED, past tense, already done. To have a name that in hindsight is a prophecy is remarkable. His parents named him long before he needed the Christ to restore his life.

 

Through the story of Lazarus, the Bible delivers a powerful message to the world: Jesus Christ has power over death and the grave, and those who believe in Him receive resurrection to eternal life.

 

“I (Jesus) am the resurrection, and the life. He that believes in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die.”

 

“Do you believe this?”

 

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