If You Believe You Will See the Glory of God

John 11:28-45

As I have done many times in our study of the Gospel of John, I want to begin today by reminding you of John’s purpose in writing his eyewitness account of Jesus Christ. He states it clearly in John 20:31, “but these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing you may have life in His name.”

John wants us to believe. But John does not want us to have faith in just anyone or anything. He wants us to believe in Jesus, that He is the Christ, that He is the Son of God. John presents Jesus to us as the Eternal Word become flesh, the Lord of glory in the likeness of men. Remember in his opening John wrote (John 1:1,14), “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God… And the Word became 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.”

Two things stand out about Jesus in the Gospel: His powerful divinity and His perfect humanity. It is marvelous how these unite in the God-man: everything is there in Christ to draw out our hearts in adoring love and reverent worship. In His works and His words we see both His mighty power and His blessed tenderness. They display not only His absolute authority, but also His entire dependency. These two lines of truth stunningly meet in John 11. The very chapter which chronicles His mightiest “sign” reveals the principles by which He walked—submission, dependence, obedience. Side by side with the record of His omnipotent voice calling the dead to life again, we read of Him groaning and weeping.

This chapter began with Martha and Mary of Bethany sending word to Jesus that their brother, Lazarus, whom Jesus loved, was sick (John 11:1-3). They trusted Jesus to respond according to that love. When Jesus heard the news, He responded “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it” (John 11:4). Martha and Mary probably understood that message to mean that their brother would not die. But Jesus waited two days after He received the message before beginning His journey to Bethany. Jesus made it clear to His disciples that He had purposely waited until Lazarus was dead because He was planning on “waking him up” (John 11:11) so they would believe (John 11:15).

When Jesus arrived in Bethany Lazarus had been dead for four days (John 11:17). Martha gets word that Jesus has come as rushes out to meet Him (John 11:20). She pours out her grief and disappointment to Jesus saying (John 11:21), “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Jesus assures Her that her brother will rise again (John 11:23), proclaims to her that He is “the resurrection and the life,” (John 11:25), and asks if she believes this (John 11:26). She responds by confessing Jesus is “the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world,” (John 11:27).

So we pick up the story now in John 11:28,

28 And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.” 29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him. 31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, “She is going to the tomb to weep there.”

32 Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. 34 And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” 37 And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?”

38 Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” 41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying.

And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” 44 And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

45 Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him.

The Master has come and is calling for you (John 11:28-31)

John 11:20-31 set the stage for Mary’s encounter with Jesus which follows in John 11:32-37. It seems as though Mary had remained in the house because she did not know Jesus had arrived. Verse 20 tells us that Martha left Jesus, returned to the house and secretly told Mary, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.”

Would you allow me to sermonize on that sentence just a bit this morning? That secret message from Martha to Mary is the public message that we proclaim every time the scriptures are read or the gospel is preached: “The master has come and is calling for you.” Could it be that is why the providence of God has led you to this congregation this morning? You need to hear that the messiah, the Son of God, the Lord Jesus has come. You need to know that through the inspired word of God He is calling you today. How will you answer?

Mary answers this way: she immediately gets up and rushes out to Him (John 11:29). Following along are the mourners who have come from Jerusalem. They don’t know she is going out to meet Jesus. They think she is going out to the tomb, to mourn, and so they follow her out.

Jesus groans, is troubled and weeps (John 11:32-37)

When Mary arrives at the place outside Bethany where Jesus is, she falls at His feet and repeats the words she and Martha must have repeated among themselves many times, “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died” (verse 32). From what we read in verse 33, we realize that Mary’s words to Jesus are interspersed with deep sobbing.

Her words reveal her grief and disappointment. All of Mary’s hope for Lazarus’ healing is gone now that he is dead. I’m sure that it all seems so senseless to Mary, because she knows Jesus could have prevented Lazarus’ death. Why did Jesus wait so long to come?

Jesus knows from the very beginning that the death of Lazarus will be reversed (John 11:4, 11). We might therefore conclude that all of this grieving is, in one sense, needless. But our Lord does not think so. Seeing Mary’s tears, and those of the Jews who have come to mourn with her, Jesus is deeply touched. In verse 33, John employs two terms to describe our Lord’s deep emotional response to the grief of those around Him. The NKJV renders the first term “groaned.” Another version (ESV) translates it “deeply moved.” This word is only used five times in the New Testament. In three of those it has the connotation of sternness as in a stern warning (Matthew 9:30; Mark 1:43) or scolding (Mark 14:5). Thus, another translation says here, “He was angry” (CSB). If Jesus was bristling with indignation, what was He angry at?

It is not that Jesus groans because Lazarus died. Remember, Jesus said He was glad that He was not there to heal Lazarus so that the disciples would believe (11:15). It’s not just the pain that He feels in the loss of a friend. So why this response? Let us look carefully at the text. The first time Jesus expresses this is because of the weeping and wailing of Mary and the crowds (11:33). The second time is when the people say, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?” (John 11:37). I believe the problem is that no one sees who Jesus is. Jesus’ grief and his troubled spirit are not about Lazarus but over so much unbelief. No one believes that Lazarus will live. No one recognizes that Jesus is the resurrection and the life. He understands that He is surrounded by unbelievers, who are representative of a world of unbelievers who are all being catapulted into eternal judgment because they will not receive Him. He understands what sin has done to the world and what unbelief has done to these people who are gathered around Him.

This word for “groaned” was used in extra-biblical Greek to refer to the snorting of a horse preparing for battle. Calvin (Calvin’s Commentaries [Baker], p. 442) sees in this groaning that Jesus is gearing up for the conflict as our champion in the battle against sin and death.

The second term, rendered “troubled,” is the same word used to describe Herod, who is greatly troubled at hearing of the birth of Israel’s King from the magi (Matthew 2:3). When the disciples were on their way across the Sea of Galilee and saw Jesus passing by, walking on the water, they were “troubled” (Matthew 14:26). In John, the term is used by our Lord to describe His troubled soul, as He contemplates the cross (John 12:27), and in chapter 13 when Jesus considers the fact that one of His disciples, seated at the table with Him, will betray Him (John 13:21).

All of this is to let us know that our Lord is greatly affected by the sorrow of those about Him. He does not dab away at a tear or two; He visibly trembles as He weeps. This is observed by those there at the burial place of Lazarus, along with Mary, and they say to each other, “See how He loved him!” (John 11:36).

Even though He knew that He was going to raise Lazarus, it didn’t prevent Him from entering into the sisters’ grief. He experienced deep feelings and grief, just as we do. And even though He knows that one day He will wipe away all of our tears (Rev. 21:4) He still sympathizes with us in all of our sorrows. Lightfoot commented, “The expression used here implies that He now voluntarily and deliberately accepts and makes His own the emotion and the experience from which it is His purpose to deliver men.” (cited by Leon Morris, The Gospel According to John [Eerdmans], p. 557, n. 69).

So after Jesus asks where Lazarus is buried and they respond, “Come and see,” we read the shortest verse in the English New Testament (John 11:35), “Jesus wept.” Jesus could have restrained His tears. After all, He knew that He would soon raise Lazarus. Besides, His tears could be misinterpreted as weakness or frustration on His part. But Jesus did not worry about that. He was completely human (without a sin nature) and His tears show that it’s not wrong to express our feelings as long as our hearts are submissive to God.

It’s worth noting that John uses a different word (11:33) for weeping to describe the loud wailing of Mary and the mourners than the word in 11:35 where “Jesus wept.” This word could be translated, “Jesus burst into tears.” Jesus wept, but He was not wailing in despair. He was not crying out in anguish. In the words of Paul (1 Thess. 4:13), believers are to grieve, but not as those who have no hope.

In 11:36 we read in response to Jesus’ weeping, Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” And they were right, because John has previously underscored Jesus’ love for Martha, Mary, and Lazarus (11:3, 5). In fact, Jesus’ love for these dear friends was the reason He stayed two days longer where He was, allowing Lazarus to die (11:6). Love always seeks the highest good for the one loved, and the highest good for anyone is to grow in faith by getting a greater vision of God’s glory. Both of these aims were behind Jesus’ delay in going to Bethany (11:4, 15, 40).

Some of the Jew there express bewilderment that Lazarus should have died at all: “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?” (verse 37). They had witnessed Jesus’ power to heal when He gave sight to the man born blind (John 9). Anyone who knows anything about Jesus knows that He could have healed Lazarus. What no one seems to believe, at the moment, is that Jesus can and will raise Lazarus from the dead, that very hour!

Lazarus raised (John 11:38-44)

Lazarus is buried in a cave, with a stone covering the opening. This sounds strikingly similar to the burial sight of our Lord (e.g. Matthew 27:60). The raising of Lazarus almost looks like a dress rehearsal for the resurrection of our Lord in the near future. Jesus orders the stone to be rolled away (John 11:39).

Martha, however, objects to our Lord’s instruction to remove the stone. She protests that too much time has passed. The body will certainly smell very bad, she explains. But beyond this, it just seems to reopen a very painful wound. It seems quite obvious that Martha is not expecting Jesus to perform any miracle here, and certainly not the raising of one who has been dead for several days.

So Jesus says, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” Jesus is seeking to stretch her faith. Martha relents, and the stone is removed. It is time to see who Jesus is. It is time to bring believing to a greater level. The way to see the glory of God, to see God for how glorious He really is, is to believe in Jesus Christ. Those who believe, see. God reveals His glory to those who believe. Jesus’ aim in all that He did was to glorify the Father (17:1-5). Jesus is the revelation of God’s glory to us. Hebrews 1:1-3 summarizes this truth,

1 God, who at various times and in various ways spoke in time past to the fathers by the prophets, 2 has in these last days spoken to us by [His] Son, whom He has appointed heir of all things, through whom also He made the worlds; 3 who being the brightness of [His] glory and the express image of His person, and upholding all things by the word of His power, when He had by Himself purged our sins, sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high,

If you believe, you will see the glory of God.

So Jesus prays outloud to the Father so that people will believe And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” (John 11:41b-42). Jesus is working the plan of the Father and relying on the Father.

Having prayed in this manner, Jesus now cries out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” (John 11:43). In shouting with a loud voice, Jesus reveals His confidence that the Father will hear Him, and that Lazarus will rise from the dead. He does not mumble these words under His breath, so that no one will hear what He is saying. No one comes away from this burial place wondering if there is a connection between that shout and Lazarus’ coming forth. It is a clear case of cause and effect. Jesus is the cause of Lazarus’ rising from the dead.

Lazarus emerges, still wrapped up in his burial attire. Jesus says, “Loose him, and let him go.” This miracle shows that Jesus can do what mere men cannot do. Religion could not raise the dead. All that the Jews could do was offer consolation to Mary and Martha. The scribes and Pharisees could not raise the dead. Even modern medicine, with all of its advanced knowledge, cannot raise to life a body that has begun to decompose. But Jesus could do what no mere man could do. He spoke the word and Lazarus instantly came to life.

This miracle validates Jesus’ astounding claims in John 5:21, “For as the Father raises the dead and gives life to them, even so the Son gives life to whom He will.” Jesus added (John 5:28-29), “Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth–those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation.” Because Jesus raised Lazarus, we can know that He will make good on His promise to raise all the dead someday, either for eternal life or for judgment. Jesus is the author and giver of both physical and eternal life. He has all power over death. It proves the claim of Jesus (John 11:25-26), “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.”

This is the glory of Jesus. Jesus raised Lazarus because He is the resurrection. He is the arrival in history of God’s final, glorious renovation of all things, including our bodies. Believers, you will be raised from the dead and shine like the sun in the kingdom of your Father. Lazarus is a preview of your resurrection. Jesus is coming back to this earth in power and great glory. And this event, and this story, and this sermon is window onto that glory.

And therefore it is God saying to you today: “I love you. My love for you is not sparing you suffering and death. It is the gift of myself. My glory.” Do you see Jesus? Do you see Him for who He really is?

Can you see the glory of both Jesus’ humanity and His deity? We see His glorious deity in His omniscience to know that Lazarus is dead and in His power and authority to raise him from the dead (John 11:11, 14). We see His perfect humanity very plainly (John 11:34-35) where Jesus asks the location of the tomb and then He groans, is troubled, and weeps. Alfred Edersheim, (The Life and Times of Jesus the Messiah[Eerdmans] 1:198), wrote this about Jesus:

It has been observed, that by the side of every humiliation connected with the Humanity of the Messiah, the glory of His Divinity was also made to shine forth. The coincidences are manifestly undesigned on the part of the Evangelic writers, and hence all the more striking. Thus, if He was born of the humble Maiden of Nazareth, an Angel announced His birth; if the Infant-Saviour was cradled in a manger, the shining host of heaven hymned His Advent. And so afterwards—if He hungered and was tempted in the wilderness, Angels ministered to Him, even as an Angel strengthened Him in the agony of the garden. If He submitted to baptism, the Voice and vision from heaven attested His Sonship; if enemies threatened, He could miraculously pass through them; if the Jews assailed, there was the Voice of God to glorify Him; if He was nailed to the cross, the sun craped his brightness, and earth quaked; if He was laid in the tomb, Angels kept its watches, and heralded His rising.

Do you see the glory of the God-man, Jesus Christ?

John then records for us the response that he wants for us to have (John 11:45), “Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him.” How about you? Will you believe in Jesus? If you believe, you will see the glory of God.