Welcome to Season 3 of Love & Context. This season,
we're exploring the life of Jesus step -by -step
and uncovering what His story teaches us about
loving God and others. Here on Love & Context,
we're all about having real conversations about
how to live out that love in practical, everyday
ways, and understanding the Bible in its full
context. We're so glad you're here. Let's dive
into Season 3 of Love & Context. Podcast! Welcome
back! Podcast! It's a podcast! I feel like you're
getting dangerously close to it. Okay, here's
the thing. I watched a video from Charlie Perth,
and he said that you can have up to four notes
in a row that are similar, and then you have
to use a slightly different note, otherwise they're
interpolating or something on each other. And
I'm going to hang my hat on that. So, there you
go. Go for it. Love and Context Podcast. We are
here and we are talking about the life of Jesus
and definitely not random videos we saw on music
copyright law. No, because we don't get those
in our algorithm. The problem is you watch one
and then the algorithm's like, you want all of
these. uh -huh let me put 3 000 of them in your
in your uh yeah um sorry this is a this is neither
here nor there but you guys are getting this
on the podcast anyways you ever go to like fix
something like i need to fix a squeaky hinge
or something and so you look up a video this
is weird thing to look up but and then it's like
oh you like that well here's like seven more
videos of how to fix a squeaky hinge you're like
yeah yeah i know i already did that i don't need
more videos on how to do that yeah Yeah. I get
a lot of, in my YouTube algorithm, a lot of like,
this is how you fix a car. Because I do basic
repairs on my cars. And then when there's something
like, oh, how do I get this type of bolt unstuck
that's stuck or blah, blah, whatever. Look at
it like, oh, cool. I'll try that. And then I'll
be like, you want to know how to replace a transmission
on a car you don't have. I'm like, absolutely
not. Absolutely. Listen, a little bit though,
with your ADHD, do you kind of want to know?
Well, like a little bit, but it's like, I'm also
like, I'm not going to waste my time, like learning
how to replace a transmission on a 1960 something
car. I'm never going to. That's good. Right.
All right. So we have been going through the
life of Jesus and, uh, this is about halfway
through our season or it's probably a little
more than halfway through our season. Um, and
so this, this story, the one we're going. the
portion we're going to cover today is kind of
the hinge point that goes from broad meta narrative
about Jesus. And really we're going to be focusing
on like the last week of his life and then, and
then resurrection, crucifixion, resurrection,
and then his ministry that was taking place during
those period of time. So we are actually in John
11 today and we're going to, it's a fairly lengthy
text. I'm going to read the whole story so we
can hear it. And then we're going to come back
and talk about some things on some broad levels,
but this is the death and resurrection of Lazarus.
So starting in verse 1 of chapter 11, it says,
He heard that Lazarus was sick. He stayed where
he was two more days. And then he said to his
disciples, let us go back to Judea. But Rabbi,
they said, a short while ago, the Jews there
tried to stone you. And yet you are going back.
That's a good reason to stay away. Jesus answered.
Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone
who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for
they see 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
that I was not there so that you may believe,
but let us go to him. Then Thomas, also known
as Didymus, said to the rest of the disciples,
let us go that we may die with him. Okay. I'm
going to pause right there really quick. Only
because remember these guys, like the oldest
is like 21, but most of them are 12 to 14. And
he's like, Lazarus is asleep. And they're like,
well, listen, just let him take a nap. You can
almost audibly hear Jesus in this verse. Like,
go read this and you'll hear, you'll go between
them, you'll hear. He's dead. All right, picking
up in verse 17. On his arrival, Jesus found that
Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four
days. Now 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, 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 of the last day. Do you believe
this? Yes, Lord, she replied. I believe that
you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who has
come into this world. 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 that 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. When Jesus saw her weeping
and the Jews had come along with her also weeping,
he was deeply moved in his spirit and troubled.
Wherever you laid him, he asked, come and see,
Lord, they replied. Jesus wept. By the way, that's
every youth kid's favorite verse. Super easy
to memorize. Then the Jews said, see how he loved
him. But some of them said, could he who has
opened the eyes of the blind man not have kept
this man from dying? 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 in there four days. Then
Jesus said, did I not tell you that? I'd say
so, yeah. Yeah. Then Jesus said, did I not tell
you that if you believe, you will see the glory
of God? So they took away the stone. Then Jesus
looked up and said, Father, I thank you that
you have heard me. I knew that you always hear
me, but I said this for the benefit of those
standing here, that they may believe that you
sent me. When he had said this, Jesus called
in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. The dead
man came out, his hands and his feet wrapped
with strips of linen and a cloth wrapped around
his face. Jesus said to him, take off. the grave
clothes and let him go. Okay. We're going to
stop there. It's quite the story, right? There's
a ton of things going on there. So I think probably
the first thing to note here is that the disciples
do pick up on something that is really important
and that Jesus is aware of too. This event is
going to be a turning point in his ministry.
Because he's been going around, he's been proclaiming
the good news, he's been healing, and he's even
brought people back from perceived death before,
I'm saying perceived as people thought they were
dead, but he brought them back to life. But they
haven't been decomposing kind of thing. And this
is going to be, he's going back to a place where
the Jews already tried to stone him before. And
he's going, and he's basically, we'll get into
it, but he claims to be God. And then he literally
has the power over death. Yeah. And so he's really
setting himself up for a lot of conflict, which
is going to happen all through the next following
week. Actually, I can't remember if it's the
next week or it's the next couple of weeks in
his life, but it's going to culminate in Calvary.
There's some different timeline things going
on here. But it's going to be the next couple
of weeks. And so he's going to be, the destination
is Calvary. He's going to be in Jerusalem. He's
going to be... in a lot of conflict. And so right
at the very beginning, John says that this story
happens and he just goes into a ton of detail.
Now, if you've read some stories, like they have
very little detail on what's going on. And yet
this story, there's so much going on in the story
that John puts in there. And I think one of the
things that we've talked about in the past is
when biblical authors do that, pay attention.
Like they don't put things there just for fun.
Um, so I want to talk about, uh, a couple of
high level things that I think are really interesting
that I think are interesting for just discussion
purposes. Uh, Lazarus is a name that we're very
familiar with, but the etymology is actually
from Eliezer. And, uh, it's, uh, it also comes
from the, uh, Etzer, which we've talked about
in the book of Genesis, which is God helping.
And, uh, so the name is, um, it's like, uh, it's
not an arbitrary name. It actually invites divine
interaction in Psalm vocabulary. If you look
at like Psalm 30 or Psalm 116, it talks about
God is going to help you, or he's going to rescue
you from shale, which is going to be the afterlife
in their, in their conversation in the book of
Psalms. And so the answer is coming to actually
bring, bring you life. Literally, the story starts
with a guy by the name of Eliezer, right? Lazarus
is how we would pronounce it in English. And
he's helped by God. But for most of the story,
he remains dead. And then the tension then amplifies
because now Jesus is going to come and call the
helper back to life. As opposed to in the Psalms,
the helper is asking for God to come when they're
close to death. He's actually calling them back
from the brink of death. It's just interesting.
Yeah. Yeah. So we won't dive into this too much.
There's actually a little bit of debate of whether
Lazarus was his real name or they actually used
the name Lazarus here to illustrate that exact
point. Well, and there's good conversation with
that because how many times in this it says Martha,
the brother of Lazarus, right? So he's making
it very clear, like you should know who he's
talking about. So there's a lot of qualifiers.
So totally legitimate. Yeah. And again, don't
spend a ton of time on it. If you want to go
research that, go do it. It's a fun little rabbit
trail. Well, and it says, there's a statement
in here that says, Jesus, Lazarus, whom you love,
right? And this language is actually very evocative
of Genesis when it talks about when God comes
to Abraham with Isaac and he says, I want you
to take your son whom you love. It's the same
words used in Greek. When we have the Septuagint,
they go back and they translate. This is what
the sages used. Same word that's being used in
this text. It would have been the text of John
for the Greek Old Testament. And so he uses it.
same word here now i think it's interesting that
it would tie to abraham because abraham had a
guy who was a servant that there's a debate whether
or not that's actually his name and his name
was eliezer because he was a helper right and
his job was to go and find the bride for the
beloved son yeah right so there's there's some
interesting imagery going on here yeah right
And then you get verse four and five. One of
the interesting things here is usually if you
hear of a good friend in this culture, a good
friend, or in this case, this would be someone
who's like considered family is sick on their
deathbed. Like usually you would go to them right
away. Yeah. Right. And, but then verse five,
it says, although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and
Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next
two days. Yeah. So, and his disciples, even though
they were young boys at the time, they would
have known that this tradition, this custom of,
okay, your friend is sick. We need to go. Right.
And Jesus is like, no, we're going to stay. Yeah.
It's a practice that now is called sitting Shiva
when somebody is either sick or dying or has
died. So these Jews that come from Jerusalem
and they're sitting with them, they're just sitting
with them in their chaos. Yeah. Right. And even
Thomas mentions this. He says, well, let's go
that we die, too. They're not actually going
to die. You're going to sit there with the person
as they mourn. You're going to just be there
because mourning shouldn't be done in isolation.
It should be done in community. It should be
done around people who love you and support you.
And they're not trying to, like, fix things.
They're just trying to be there with you, mourn
with you. Yeah. But before we even get to that,
like the sitting in Shiva part, like you have
the disciples being like, okay, you want to go
back, but they just tried to kill you. Yeah.
Right? Yeah. I don't know about you, but when
someone like comes after me and wants to kill
me, I don't typically go back to that spot. Well,
last time somebody tried to kill me. Wait, that
actually has not happened to me. But I mean,
yeah, exactly. You know, it's bold to say the
least. Right? Right. I mean, even when Paul was
like getting, um, getting run out of towns and
rocks thrown at him and all these things, he
would go on a missionary journey and he'd come
back a few years later. Right. And I'm like,
he's coming back. One of my favorite stories
in the book of Acts was the disciples like were
stoned with an inch of their life thrown out
of the city. And then when they could get up
and walk, they got up and they went back into
the city and started preaching the gospel again.
Yep. It was just, it's just one of those like,
nice try. Um, so it's, it's, uh, it's interesting.
So there's conversation about Lazarus and Mary
Martha about whether or not, uh, Lazarus was
actually one of the, um, the, uh, lepers that
at some point Jesus had healed as well because,
uh, Bethany, uh, specifically means house of
the poor or house of affliction. And so it may
have been a leper colony. Um, it also does seem
like there are people of means because like Lazarus
is being placed in a tomb. They have a house,
they have like a bunch of different things like
that. Um, even, even the sister, um, Mary who
breaks the perfume seems to have money to be
able to pay for that. Yeah. Right. I said that
was half a year's wages. Yeah. It's like, it's
like a year's wages. Right. And so like, so they
have some, some amount of money and you know,
these people obviously it's entirely possible
they could have been funding Jesus ministry too.
Um, but they talk about the fact that Bethany,
it actually literally means house of affliction.
And I love that Jesus. Uh, so Jesus brings resurrection
to the house of affliction. Right. The miracle
proximity to Jerusalem makes it like this, this
final, like it's like this push is like resurrection
is coming to the least of these to the very house
of affliction. Resurrection comes. Right. Yeah.
But yeah, they're like, okay, are you sure you
want to go? Like rocks are hard. Well, and then
Jesus's response was, well, here's the deal.
Like if we're traveling, like very logical is
like, if we're going during the day, there's
people who like us and we'll be fine. Yeah. Right.
And he's like, you just won't travel at night.
We'll just travel during the day. Yeah. It's
fine. And continuing this whole thing that John's
been doing through his gospel about light and
dark and, you know, like that you should be a
person who travels in the light rather than the
person who travels in the dark. And, uh, and
so. They delay going. He delays going two days,
which then puts in there four days after death.
Now, why is four days significant? I think you've
probably had this taught at some point. A lot
of people have heard this, but in case you have
not, Jewish ideas at that time is that the spirit
did stay around the body for around three days
before it departed. So Jesus is actually legitimately
like stepping in. taking a step into like their
understanding. Yeah. Um, so that there's no conversation
about, well, the spirit was hovering above it
and then Jesus called it back in. No, no, they
want, he wants to make sure they know that he
was dead. Spirit was gone, you know, and he called
it back. That Jesus is actually arriving when
all hope is gone. Right. When all hope is gone,
Jesus is arriving. Um, and then there's that
thing that says, Hey, are you sure you really
want to roll back that stone? Because it stinks.
Yeah. He stinketh is my, I think it's King James
version. He stinketh. And, uh, uh, it's just
one of my favorite translations of that, you
know? And so like, it's, it's a very poignant,
like if anything else was not nailing it on the
head, he's literally decomposing now. Right.
Are you sure you want us to roll this back? And,
uh, and so like, there isn't, there isn't intention
why Jesus is doing, he says, this is not going
to end in death. doesn't mean that Lazarus isn't
going to die. Yeah. Which by the way is a, is
a very, very important word for like us is a
lot of times God is talking, like speaking into
us and, and through the resurrection of Jesus,
our life no longer ends in death, but all of
us are going to die someday. Yeah. Yeah. You
jumped down to verse 20 and I'm skipping the
other verses cause we literally just talked about
them. Yeah. Um, but Martha got word that Jesus
is coming and she went out to meet him, but Mary
stayed in the house. Interesting side note, right?
Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you'd only been
here, my brother would not have died. But even
now I know that the Lord, that God will give
you whatever you ask. So there's this tension
in Mary's comment, right? This tension of like,
if you were here, he'd still be with us. Yeah.
But I know you can still do great things. Yeah.
Right? Or not Mary, Martha's comment. Yeah. Mary's
at the house. But there's that tension, right?
It's really hard not to interchange their names
because, you know, when you, it's kind of like
if you have like two people that are always hanging
out together. I think Matthew Nunley calls us
Benzer. Yeah. Right? It's hard sometimes when
you're trying to. Yeah. So there's this tension
and it's this exact tension we've prayed in our
lives before too, right? Lord, if you just showed
up, this would have happened. But I know you're
still capable. Right? I mean, have you ever said
that prayer? Many times. Right? I mean, you're
talking about like today? Yeah. Yeah. Right.
Right. There's that, there's that tension where
like, where it's like, okay, Lord, this isn't
going the way I want, but I know you're still
in control. Right. This isn't, you're not providing
how I want you to, but I know you're still in
control. You're not doing this how I want you
to, but I know you're still in control. Right.
The expectation from Mary and Martha was they
sent word and that the expectation would have
been as soon as Jesus got that word, he would
have been on his way. Yeah. Well, and especially,
you know, like. Or he got the word and he just
says that he's healed. Like, they've seen it
happen. Yeah. Right? We're talking about Jesus.
We're not talking about some rando, right? Like,
Jesus is the guy who's like, oh, your son's healed.
Yeah. Yeah. And then Jesus' response, your brother
will rise. Yeah. And Martha, yes, he will rise
when everyone else rises on that last day. Yeah.
Right? Still that, like, I believe, but I'm still
struggling to understand what's going on. Jesus,
I'm fully aware that in the future, in our eschological
hope, that he will rise at the end of days, right?
I'm fully aware of that. And that is hopeful.
Thank you for reminding me of that. He's like,
no, that no. I am the resurrection and life,
right? He makes a statement. He says, I am the
resurrection of life. And it is absolutely, if
you're like, man, that sounds a lot like I am
that I am. You should be hearing that because
there's seven I am statements in the gospel of
John. Um, but one of the things that I really,
uh, what he's saying here is he says, um, it's
not, I can perform resurrection, right? They
already know Jesus can perform resurrection.
Cause there's been kids that have died. There's
been people who are on the brink of death. They
already know Jesus can perform resurrection.
He is resurrection. Like Jesus is resurrection.
He is life. He's not, he's not performing it.
That's what he is. That's who he is. And that's,
and it's a, it's an extension of, of like, and
so it's going to be really important. He does
not bring life. He is life. And that there's
a really big difference between that and, uh,
and this, and this like abstract idea of like,
Because, okay, like, for example, when the disciples
get sent out in 12 and 72, they're told to raise
the dead, cast out demons, preach the good news.
Not in that order, by the way. I'm saying it
in the wrong order. Heal the sick and, you know,
but raise the dead is one of them, right? So
there's already a power over life that they've
seen demonstrated in the lives of the disciples
as they go and they do the ministry of Jesus.
But Jesus is not saying that they're going to
do resurrection. He says, I am resurrection.
It's, it's, it's much more significant. And I,
and I, the only reason I'm saying it so many
times is I think we move so, so quickly past
it. Yeah. And then he says, everyone who believes
everyone who lives in me and believes in me will
never die. That sounds like another verse in
John. Sounds a lot like John three. Yeah. Right.
Right. You have this message where he's referring
back to John three, where he's like, I am the
resurrection, the life. Anyone who believes in
me will have life even after dying. And whoever
believes in me will never die. Right. That takes
what it does is, and we've had people interpret
this being like, okay, well, is he talking about
physical death? I was like, no, like we're all
going to physically die someday. Right. Well,
what it does is it removes that fear of physically
dying. death is not the end. Right. Um, there's
a, there's a song that says death is just a doorway
into resurrection life. Right. Um, which, you
know, we'll get there. You don't need to be in
a hurry to get there. Um, so he says that to
her and he says, do you believe this? And she
makes a statement. She says, yes, Lord, I believe
that you are the Messiah, the son of God who
is to come into this world. By the way, I've
heard somebody else say that too. Just last time
it was Peter. Yep. Now, now it's in John is placing
it into the mouth of a woman who is calling.
So there's been Peter and now there's a woman,
which is not well thought of in the, in their
society. Right. As far as like being able to
be a spokesman. Yeah. But John is going to repeatedly
point out that God, Jesus is using women to proclaim
profound truths that he is the Messiah. He is
the son of God. He is, you know, in this capacity,
which is just a really cool, like, we're like,
oh, well, Peter got it. Yeah. So did Martha.
Even in her struggle, even in her doubt, she
gets it. Because she believes him, but she still
hasn't seen Lazarus come back from the dead.
So it's still an intellectual and hopeful belief.
So here's, and then you have a couple interesting
things that happen here. She returned to Mary.
She called Mary aside from the mourners and told
her, the teacher is here and wants to see you.
So Mary immediately left and went to him. This
also begs the question about Martha. So when
she heard Jesus was coming, she hadn't seen him
yet. When she heard that, she left, assuming
that she was with the mourners at the mourner's
table. It is her brother, after all, who died.
She left the mourner's table to go see Jesus.
That would have been a move that would not have
been well thought of by anybody. They'd have
been like, no, we're mourning. The teacher needs
to come to us. Yeah. Instead, she goes, no, we're
mourning, so I'm going to go to Jesus. Yeah.
I feel like that'll preach for a while. Yeah.
Yeah. I made a note here that I actually thought
was really interesting. So this, because we're
doing a study through the Psalms right now at
our church, well, wisdom literature in general,
but lament Psalms tend to follow a pattern of
there's a complaint, there's waiting, there's
a divine action, and then there's praise. Right.
Um, and in this one we have, um, Martha's, their
lament is if you had been here, but then there's
this faith statement. I know that even now, then
there's the divine disclosure from Jesus. He
says, I am the resurrection. And then there's
going to be the actual event and this, in this
party afterwards. right? This praise of like
God's intervention. And it's just interesting
that this actually follows a very similar to
what we see in Psalms in Psalms of lament. This
story does. Yeah. Yeah. And then you have this
weird thing that Jesus kind of does here in verse
30. Jesus stayed. Jesus did a weird thing. Yeah.
Jesus stayed outside the village at the place
where Martha met him. It's an odd detail because
if Jesus was, a good friends, as they say earlier,
why would he not just go to the house of mourning
and sit with them? Cause he's a bad, no, I'm
just kidding. He's not a bad friend. Right. So
in the text doesn't specifically say why he does
this. Right. So there's lots of implications
we could put there, but yeah, I mean, you can
have some, you can have like, cause he knows
where they need to go. Like they want to be at
the house. He's like, no, we need to go to the
tomb. Cause I know what's going to happen. Yeah.
You know, the crazy thing is, and, like, to your
point, it is a weird situation. Like, that's
not normal. So Jesus says, hey, come out and
join me, right? And then ultimately has this
conversation with Mary, right, where it's basically
almost the exact same conversation that he has
with Martha, right? And he sees her weeping,
and then the Jews that came along with her that
were weeping because they're like, oh, maybe
she's going to mourn at the... We should probably
go with her. Yeah. Right. By the way, that's
exactly what they should have done. Right. That's
what good friends do. And he was deeply moved
in spirit and troubled wherever you laid him.
And then they say, come and see Lord. And so
then he goes and it says, Jesus wept. And then
he, so Jesus knows what's going to happen. He
knows that their sorrow is going to turn to joy.
And yet in the moment, he still fills their emotion.
Right. It's, John, when he wrote this, chose
the word, it is, sorry, I'm not a Greek speaker,
so please forgive me. It's, to shed tears silently,
rather than the, which is to wait. Others would
wail, at the tomb, and Jesus' tears are, however,
restrained, they're intimate, yet profoundly
human. So he's not just crying out in the same
way that the mourners are crying out. It's actual,
it's personal tears. Right? And, in a Hebrew
worldview, often tears are going to actually
precede divine interaction, intervention. So
if you think about in second Kings 25, he says,
makes them and he says, I have seen your tears.
I will heal you. Right. Yeah. I have seen your
tears. Then there's this conversation that happens
with the rest of the community that's there.
Right? And it's really short, and we often breeze
over this one, but it's really good to kind of
sit there for a minute. The people who were standing
nearby said, see how much he loves them. But
some said this man healed the blind. He could
have. Couldn't he have kept Lazarus from dying?
Yeah. So referring to like, it's been four days.
There's nothing he can do now. Why is he here?
Why was he late? Like there's this tension that's
going on. Yeah. We often overlook. The teacher
shows up and he's expressing emotion. And there's
two groups of people that are like, man, look
how much he cares. And other people are like,
what took him so long? Yeah. Yeah. And then one
of the emotions that Jesus expresses, which we
breeze over this too, is Jesus was still angry
as he arrived at the tomb. Yeah. There's going
to be various ways to translate that. I think
angry is probably appropriate. Don't think of
it as the way we get angry. Yeah. Right? It's
a different word. Deeply troubled is sometimes
how they'll express it. He's deeply troubled.
So what's he deeply troubled about? Probably
these conversations that are going on. Yeah.
Right? That something profound is happening.
A loss is happening and they're sitting here
talking. Talk and smack. There's another time
in the Bible where this term angry is used describing
a helper that is going to show up. And that is
Moses at the burning bush. Because when Moses
is at the burning bush, he lists his five reasons
why he's not able to go. His last one being like,
I just don't want to. And God in his anger sent
him Aaron, a helper to speak for him. Oh, that's
silly. I mean, there's just helper all over the
place, huh? These ets are moving all over this
place. Right. And so you have kind of that same
language happening here where you have Jesus
was angry when he arrived at the tomb. The cave
where the stone was still rolled across the entrance,
roll the stone aside, Jesus told them. Yeah.
And then of course they have this conversation
about the stench. We talked about like this whole
thing of like four days, um, significance of
that. Um, then Jesus makes a prayer. Um, he's,
he talks to God openly and I just love that.
He says, yeah, I'm doing this so that they can
hear. Cause I already know that you heard me.
Yeah. Right. I already know you and I are already
talking, which by the way, I just, I love you
and I are already having a conversation about
this, but I'm saying this so that they know what
you're doing here. Right. it almost sounds like
it almost sounds I mean working in school district
it almost sounds like that teacher student conversation
I was like So I know that you know that you swung
a fist at this kid, right? That feels a little
real. Did that happen today? So, okay. No, but
right. It's like, it's like, I want you to know
that I know that you know that you did this,
right? But they don't know that we know that
they know. Exactly. Like, that's what this feels
like a little bit where it's like, where he's
talking to God. He's like, I got, we've had this
conversation. I'm saying it out loud. So they
know that I've had this conversation with you
and I'm not. you know messing around And then
Jesus is going to say, Lazarus, come out. By
the way, this is going to echo and mirror in
a very similar way to how creation is spoke into
existence, which is not surprising because John
1 .1, in the beginning was the word, the word
was with God, the word was God, right? Jesus,
the Logos, the Lazarus then sign, then reenacts
Genesis through the lens of new creation, right?
Life summoned from the darkness of the tomb and
the cosmos once called forth from the void or
tohu vavohu to go all the way back to Genesis,
right? And so then this will be reminiscent of
everything that's been declared along. What was
declared cosmically is now enacted personally.
Yeah. That the God who speaks the universe into
existence also calls Lazarus out of a tomb. And
I would say in a very similar way, he does the
same thing to us. Yeah. When we're, when we're
called by name, like that's the logos speaking
our name and calling us to himself. Right. And
the beautiful thing too, is he removed the obstacle.
Right. Like imagine if he, I once heard a comedian
say, he's like, imagine if Jesus called Lazarus
out of the tomb, but forgot to move, roll the
stone away. Yeah. Right. Jesus is like, no, we
need to remove the obstacle. Right. It's not
working. Because he's wrapped up in linen. Right.
So yeah, Jesus is like, no, we need to remove
the obstacle away and I'm going to call you into
life. Well, and then the thing is, is that, um,
because there's, there's so much going on here
in imagery that's going to carry on into later,
um, as well, because like when he comes out,
there's going to say on bind them, of course,
then he's going to have an Exodus or a release
or, um, may even connected to Isaiah 58, six,
which says to loose the chains of injustice,
right? Uh, the year of favor of God's freeing
power. Um, but you know, in a very real sense,
this, this little example is very much of what
Jesus does in our life too, is that when we,
Or call by name. He calls us to him. We trust
in his faithfulness, which is what Paul talks
about in Galatians. We trust in the faithfulness
of Jesus Christ, but he calls us by name, and
he's already swung the door open. The thing that
we have to choose is whether or not we're going
to respond to the call. The door's already swung
wide open. All you have to do is trust Jesus.
Trust that him calling you brings you back to
life. And so, yes, that's a literal thing that
happened, but it's also a metaphorical thing
that happens. Right. And, uh, I think that sometimes,
uh, in maybe in the way we talk about faith,
maybe the way we talk about following Jesus,
we have a lot of like prerequisites we put on
people. I was like to follow Jesus, you, the
tombs open. Yeah. I mean, look, look at this
whole conversation. Yeah. You have Jesus being
like, I'm going to raise this guy from the dead
and then being like, Oh, this like tension of
like, do I believe, I guess I believe in you,
but can you actually do it? And then Jesus being
like, do you believe in me? And then. Yes, I
believe in you. Okay. Roll the stone away. Lazarus
comes to life. How many times has Jesus done
that for us? So many. Where he's like, I'm going
to make this happen in your life. And you're
like, I don't know if that's going to happen.
Yes, Lord, I believe. And he's like, do you believe?
And you're like, yes. Yes, God, I believe. And
then obstacle away. And then he fulfills it.
Yeah. Right? Right. You see that happen over
and over and over again in scripture. Like this
is a theme that you can actually carry into the
old Testament. You can carry into further into
the new Testament and you can put it on your
life too. I think because how many times have
you had a conversation with somebody who's struggling
to trust Jesus? Right. And, or like for the first
time, right. And to make Jesus the centerpiece
of their life. Right. And they say, well, you
know, I've got this, I've got this. And like,
you know, I can't get past these things. I was
like, dude, doors open. all you got to do is
walk through. Like you're, you're talking about
all the things that are keeping you out of the
house doors open. Yeah. All you got to do is
walk through and want to be part of the house.
Yep. And it's like, um, you literally trust that
that door was open for you. Exactly. Right. And
you trust that the person who opened it can take
care of everything that you've got going on,
which he can't. Yeah. Technically already did.
And, uh, and so like, like, I think one reading
these stories literally is really important to
understand the actual story, but then it's really
important that you understand what happened here
because Paul and the new Testament writers are
going to talk about a lot of what Jesus does
here when they're talking about the redemptive
work of, of, um, Are you saying there's intentionality?
No, I would never say that. I would never say
that. I think, I think the, the, the, well, it
is, it is actually important conversation to
have because in some ways there's, there's a
conversation and this is a, this is a way that
it has been said. I don't know if it's necessarily
100 % accurate, but people say they accept Jesus
as their savior and Paul is their Lord. In other
words, they love to accept Jesus, but they actually
want to find the rules with Paul. Problem is
what Paul is doing is he's explaining what Jesus
did to a Gentile audience in different circumstances.
And so one of the, like, I guess the reason I
mentioned it is that I want you, you have to,
the gospels have to be here. They have to be
here. Like what Jesus did so that when he's talking
to different cultures, you're like, oh, I see
what Paul is doing. I see how it's applying to
what they're dealing with in their culture. Like
he is applying to them what Jesus already did
and who he is, which, by the way, is exactly
what we're supposed to do when we bring Jesus
as we help. You know, I mean, if you have a person,
for example, is caught up in. anything. I can't
even think of a specific example. That's how
fried my brain is at the end of the day. I hear
you. Right. Um, you as listeners fill in the
blank and I get to know them because I'm in relationship
with them. I build a relationship with them and
I talk to them and I share my life of Jesus with
them, which by the way is how discipleship and
bringing people to Jesus should work. I'm actually
going to take concepts. I say, Hey, you know
how you're dealing with this. Can I tell you
a story of Jesus and like why you don't have
to do that anymore? Yeah. Right. And, and, uh,
rather than being like, well, you need to understand
this. I said, let me explain how Jesus does this
in your life. Right. Right. For the things you
understand. Um, it can be incredibly helpful.
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. This is a cool story. I love
this story. It's, uh, it is definitely the turning
point because right after this, in fact, if you
read your, uh, read your headings that come right
after it says the plot to kill Jesus. Right.
Uh, because he is, he's becoming a problem for
the religious elites. For the people who want
to control power, he's becoming a problem. Because
he has power. He's walking in the power and authority
of God the Father. And that is problematic for
people that want to grasp power. Which, by the
way, that can be a problem when you're walking
in what Jesus calls you to be. People who want
to grab power might have issues with you. If
you're going to take Jesus' example, the best
way to deal with them is to love them. Have conversations
with them and be willing to literally put your
life on the line for them. Yep. It's a crazy,
crazy upside down kingdom. We're going to be
talking about over the next 20 episodes because
there's a lot of interesting things going on
there. Jesus is going to have a lot of he's going
to confront Rome. He's going to confront the
religious institutions. Ouch. It's going to hurt
us. Yep. Because I think we have to take some
honest looks at what he has to say about the
institution of what the temple had become. And
then we're going to spend, I think we have four
weeks where we're going to be talking about a
couple weeks of the crucifixion, the trial, and
all those things because there's just so much
going on there. Yeah. But this is where it all
starts. Yep. It's the start of the passion. Mm
-hmm. Right? Yep. Well, until next time. Until
next time. And that's a wrap for today's episode
of Love and Context. We hope this conversation
encouraged you and gave you fresh insights into
how we can better love God and others through
the powerful truths of the Bible. We'd love to
hear from you. Send your questions, thoughts,
or suggestions to loveandcontext at gmail .com.
Your feedback means the world to us and helps
shape future episodes. Stay connected with us
on social media for updates, behind -the -scenes
content, and additional resources. You can find
us on Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, and Facebook
at LoveandContext. Love and Context. Be sure
to hit that follow button and join our growing
community. Thanks for being part of the Love
and Context family. Remember, love is at the
heart of it all. Until next time, keep seeking
wisdom, embracing love and living out your faith
in today's world.