WEBVTT 00:00:03.200 --> 00:00:06.200 Well, hey, everybody. This is a much chiller 00:00:06.200 --> 00:00:10.099 greeting. Welcome to Pursuing Jesus. Hello, everyone. 00:00:10.300 --> 00:00:13.919 It is good to have you with us on episode 22. 00:00:14.460 --> 00:00:18.320 22? 22. I don't know about you, but I'm feeling 00:00:18.320 --> 00:00:21.260 22. Everything will be all right, as long as 00:00:21.260 --> 00:00:23.280 I'm standing next to you. Well, you have definitely 00:00:23.280 --> 00:00:27.339 felt 22 sooner than I have felt 22. I just had 00:00:27.339 --> 00:00:29.059 that revelation of like, okay, wait, hold on. 00:00:29.120 --> 00:00:32.859 I think Ben turned 22 and he had a theme song 00:00:32.859 --> 00:00:36.340 available for him for turning 22. He did. Now, 00:00:36.479 --> 00:00:40.259 I was still in my Taylor Swift is for girls era. 00:00:40.640 --> 00:00:44.619 Yeah. And seeing that I am not a girl, I did 00:00:44.619 --> 00:00:47.320 not celebrate that way. Although Madison did 00:00:47.320 --> 00:00:50.280 sing it to me the day I turned 22. Which it makes 00:00:50.280 --> 00:00:53.939 sense. Because she is a. Girl. Yeah. So I only 00:00:53.939 --> 00:00:57.500 have one Taylor Swift experience. Okay. So this 00:00:57.500 --> 00:01:01.320 would have been early college. Okay. When she 00:01:01.320 --> 00:01:04.480 had had just her debut album out. So she was 00:01:04.480 --> 00:01:07.480 small. When she was still country. Yes, because 00:01:07.480 --> 00:01:11.000 me and Tiffany went to a Rascal Flats concert. 00:01:11.260 --> 00:01:14.000 Ooh. I'm admitting that. It is on the internet. 00:01:14.060 --> 00:01:16.299 People now know I have been to a Rascal Flats 00:01:16.299 --> 00:01:18.019 concert. Dude, I'm envious. I love those guys. 00:01:19.680 --> 00:01:23.340 So we went to the concert. Taylor Swift was the 00:01:23.340 --> 00:01:26.540 opening act. No way. Yep. That was back when 00:01:26.540 --> 00:01:30.560 she played fiddle. And she put on... a much better 00:01:30.560 --> 00:01:34.359 show than Rascal Flatts. I mean, blew them out 00:01:34.359 --> 00:01:38.239 of the water with just her and like a few band 00:01:38.239 --> 00:01:41.780 members on stage, but her stage performance was 00:01:41.780 --> 00:01:45.280 amazing. Well, good for her. It makes sense where 00:01:45.280 --> 00:01:47.640 she has ended up where she is with the big concert 00:01:47.640 --> 00:01:49.900 she has because the girl can do it. I mean, you 00:01:49.900 --> 00:01:52.040 knew she was trouble when she walked in. I did. 00:01:52.099 --> 00:01:54.560 I did. I understood that song reference. I'm 00:01:54.560 --> 00:01:56.219 desperately searching for more Taylor Swift. 00:01:56.760 --> 00:02:01.359 You've been constantly doing it. But even though 00:02:01.359 --> 00:02:04.180 I don't have the 22 connection, you know what 00:02:04.180 --> 00:02:08.520 year I was born? 17. Why did you start with 17? 00:02:11.240 --> 00:02:15.379 1984. Dude, 1984. Yeah. So there's been a lot 00:02:15.379 --> 00:02:18.439 of references to 1984 in pop culture. Well, yeah, 00:02:18.460 --> 00:02:22.490 because of the book. Have you read that? I'm 00:02:22.490 --> 00:02:25.050 actually a big fan of 1984. I have read the book. 00:02:25.409 --> 00:02:27.930 You've got that one, and the whole point of 1984 00:02:27.930 --> 00:02:31.909 is world domination will come through global 00:02:31.909 --> 00:02:36.590 spying and people being suppressed, but you also 00:02:36.590 --> 00:02:39.530 have Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I have 00:02:39.530 --> 00:02:42.310 not read that. He was a contemporary of Orwell. 00:02:42.919 --> 00:02:45.580 And his argument was not that the world would 00:02:45.580 --> 00:02:48.599 come under global control by mass policing. It 00:02:48.599 --> 00:02:50.360 was actually that people would please themselves 00:02:50.360 --> 00:02:52.560 to death. The whole thing is that the society 00:02:52.560 --> 00:02:56.740 keeps them sedated, medicated, entertained at 00:02:56.740 --> 00:02:58.879 all times, in every sense of the word. Well, 00:02:58.879 --> 00:03:02.099 that's not happening at all. Give it a read with 00:03:02.099 --> 00:03:05.439 all the free time. It is borderline prophetic. 00:03:05.599 --> 00:03:08.180 It's one of those things. I definitely do not 00:03:08.180 --> 00:03:11.139 read enough fiction. I mean, literally, in the 00:03:11.139 --> 00:03:14.250 past, In the past, I don't know, let's say 10 00:03:14.250 --> 00:03:19.090 years. Yeah. 1984 is one of the very few fiction 00:03:19.090 --> 00:03:22.039 books I have read. besides the harry potter series 00:03:22.039 --> 00:03:26.520 three times yeah for a second i thought you meant 00:03:26.520 --> 00:03:28.960 you had read 1984 three times and i've read the 00:03:28.960 --> 00:03:32.379 harry potter series three times in the past 10 00:03:32.379 --> 00:03:35.099 years uh i need to i need to put harry potter 00:03:35.099 --> 00:03:37.560 down i just enjoy it's a great good versus evil 00:03:37.560 --> 00:03:39.500 story yeah but i need i need to pick up some 00:03:39.500 --> 00:03:41.599 other fiction man i really do well so the the 00:03:41.599 --> 00:03:44.879 the water is wide on that one and so like you 00:03:44.879 --> 00:03:47.080 get fiction that you read for entertainment Right. 00:03:47.159 --> 00:03:49.419 Yeah. Um, but you also end up with fiction that 00:03:49.419 --> 00:03:52.180 you read for like, like it's got a deeper meaning. 00:03:52.240 --> 00:03:54.120 Like, like recently I read a book called Jaber 00:03:54.120 --> 00:03:56.240 Crow and it's just about this dude who grows 00:03:56.240 --> 00:04:00.620 up in this fictional town in Kentucky. Um, book 00:04:00.620 --> 00:04:04.400 take the book starts in like 1898, just a little 00:04:04.400 --> 00:04:08.539 after you were born. Um, and, uh, and he, it 00:04:08.539 --> 00:04:11.360 walks him through the sixties. So it's this weird 00:04:11.360 --> 00:04:16.240 first person perspective of, um, like watching 00:04:16.240 --> 00:04:20.040 the world go from a very agrarian, non -industrialized, 00:04:20.100 --> 00:04:24.779 not connected place to like, like he lives through 00:04:24.779 --> 00:04:27.000 the world wars. He lives through Vietnam. He 00:04:27.000 --> 00:04:28.939 lives through the space race. And like, it's 00:04:28.939 --> 00:04:31.220 just this dude watching the world go by and it's, 00:04:31.220 --> 00:04:34.100 it's long winded and a slow burn and contemplative. 00:04:34.240 --> 00:04:37.220 And it taught me the value of time. Interesting. 00:04:37.339 --> 00:04:39.519 So now that is interesting. So I don't know if 00:04:39.519 --> 00:04:43.079 this is a specific category. I'm not a, I'm not 00:04:43.079 --> 00:04:45.949 a bookworm. Sure, we'll go with that. A bookworm, 00:04:45.990 --> 00:04:49.629 a bibliophile. There you go. There's a big word. 00:04:51.129 --> 00:04:54.529 Why use big word when small word do jobs? Yeah, 00:04:54.529 --> 00:04:59.670 yeah, yeah. Anyways, but I did read. So there 00:04:59.670 --> 00:05:03.050 was a nonfiction book I read, but it was written 00:05:03.050 --> 00:05:05.649 in a fiction style. It was a leadership book. 00:05:05.709 --> 00:05:07.949 Yeah. And it was a leadership book that was written 00:05:07.949 --> 00:05:12.930 using storytelling as the ability. to give the 00:05:12.930 --> 00:05:14.709 leadership principles. That's a compelling medium. 00:05:14.730 --> 00:05:17.850 And it was incredible. Yeah. It was so good. 00:05:18.069 --> 00:05:18.990 I don't know, like I said, I don't know if that's 00:05:18.990 --> 00:05:21.610 its own genre or what it is. And I'm terrible 00:05:21.610 --> 00:05:24.449 at remembering book names, author names, or even 00:05:24.449 --> 00:05:26.350 quotes. And so I can't tell you what the book 00:05:26.350 --> 00:05:28.250 was. It's because you're so focused on the Bible. 00:05:29.230 --> 00:05:31.689 See, you know my heart. Yeah, exactly. That is 00:05:31.689 --> 00:05:33.269 the reason that is on the internet right now. 00:05:33.310 --> 00:05:37.660 Yes, correct. Oh, man. Well, I do feel the need 00:05:37.660 --> 00:05:39.579 to explain a little bit of what we're doing today. 00:05:39.680 --> 00:05:42.579 Yeah. Oh, yeah. Do it. So Memorial fam, this 00:05:42.579 --> 00:05:46.480 is pursuing Jesus from the crib. On location. 00:05:46.800 --> 00:05:50.180 On location. So Sean and I are currently sitting 00:05:50.180 --> 00:05:52.660 in his living room. You know what? This is such 00:05:52.660 --> 00:05:55.500 a different feeling. I am chilling on my couch. 00:05:55.560 --> 00:05:59.339 Yeah. Surrounded by my dogs. That's not literally. 00:06:00.199 --> 00:06:02.279 my, my puppies. Am I not one of your dogs, bro? 00:06:02.379 --> 00:06:05.040 You are one of my dogs, but my actual pets as 00:06:05.040 --> 00:06:07.939 well. Okay. And then, you know, my son is across 00:06:07.939 --> 00:06:10.220 from us just chilling on his phone and we did 00:06:10.220 --> 00:06:12.660 offer him a mic. We tried to get him on the mic, 00:06:12.720 --> 00:06:15.600 but I understand. I understand. He does. Right. 00:06:18.160 --> 00:06:20.680 But this is kind of fun, man. This is kind of 00:06:20.680 --> 00:06:24.500 fun just chilling in the house. Obviously, it's 00:06:24.500 --> 00:06:27.040 a very comfortable scenario for us to just talk 00:06:27.040 --> 00:06:30.120 about random stuff. That's what we've opened 00:06:30.120 --> 00:06:34.160 with for a lot of time so far. It's okay. We've 00:06:34.160 --> 00:06:35.860 got about the same amount of time as we usually 00:06:35.860 --> 00:06:39.269 do. Okay. Um, but just with the kind of the, 00:06:39.290 --> 00:06:42.490 the different environment and, uh, the, the sort 00:06:42.490 --> 00:06:44.170 of the chiller pace. I mean, like you and I are 00:06:44.170 --> 00:06:46.310 talking about this off mic, just sort of wanting 00:06:46.310 --> 00:06:50.750 to today's zero in on one major test. Cause there 00:06:50.750 --> 00:06:52.449 was in this, for those of you that have been 00:06:52.449 --> 00:06:55.069 doing the pursuing Jesus book and you're up to 00:06:55.069 --> 00:06:58.689 date with us this week, there was a massive story 00:06:58.689 --> 00:07:02.329 that took up four days. Correct. And so we decided 00:07:02.329 --> 00:07:05.509 like, let's just zoom in on not a particular 00:07:05.509 --> 00:07:08.990 day. but on the story that took up four days 00:07:08.990 --> 00:07:12.069 of the week. Yes. And there's so much to draw 00:07:12.069 --> 00:07:14.850 from like the John 11 narrative of like Jesus 00:07:14.850 --> 00:07:17.449 and Lazarus. Yeah. Because it really is in three 00:07:17.449 --> 00:07:20.790 acts, right? So you get the, we'll call it the, 00:07:20.810 --> 00:07:24.910 oh man. So you get the prequels. The first movement 00:07:24.910 --> 00:07:27.709 here we have is Jesus hears about the death of 00:07:27.709 --> 00:07:30.949 Lazarus. He's talking to the disciples about 00:07:30.949 --> 00:07:36.170 it, right? And then. You have the Jesus comes 00:07:36.170 --> 00:07:38.230 into town discourse, and he has this conversation 00:07:38.230 --> 00:07:41.629 with Martha. And then, of course, you have the 00:07:41.629 --> 00:07:46.970 ending where you see Jesus actually raise Lazarus. 00:07:47.250 --> 00:07:50.350 And so you really do have three unique movements 00:07:50.350 --> 00:07:52.589 of this that I think are worth us touching on. 00:07:52.980 --> 00:07:55.800 Yeah. So, Sean, how about this? What do you say? 00:07:56.399 --> 00:07:58.779 Maybe we say we read through verse 16. We park 00:07:58.779 --> 00:08:00.600 it there for a little bit. Yeah, and just kind 00:08:00.600 --> 00:08:02.699 of let's talk about that, and we'll go over that 00:08:02.699 --> 00:08:03.800 for a little bit, and then we'll just go from 00:08:03.800 --> 00:08:04.920 there and see how much time we have. We'll go 00:08:04.920 --> 00:08:06.699 by movement. Miles, does that sound good to you? 00:08:07.259 --> 00:08:09.079 Okay, he's giving us a nod. Miles gave us a head 00:08:09.079 --> 00:08:10.699 nod, so I think we're good. Excellent. Good. 00:08:12.279 --> 00:08:15.259 Now a man was sick, Lazarus, from Bethany, the 00:08:15.259 --> 00:08:19.279 village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was 00:08:19.279 --> 00:08:21.939 the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and 00:08:21.939 --> 00:08:24.620 wiped his feet with her hair, and it was her 00:08:24.620 --> 00:08:27.959 brother Lazarus who was sick. So the sisters 00:08:27.959 --> 00:08:30.620 sent a message to him, Lord, the one you love 00:08:30.620 --> 00:08:34.799 is sick. When Jesus heard it, he said, this sickness 00:08:34.799 --> 00:08:37.820 will not end in death, but it is for the glory 00:08:37.820 --> 00:08:40.600 of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified 00:08:40.600 --> 00:08:44.840 through it. Now Jesus loved Martha. her sister 00:08:44.840 --> 00:08:48.379 and Lazarus. So, when he heard that he was sick, 00:08:48.480 --> 00:08:51.840 he stayed two more days in the place where he 00:08:51.840 --> 00:08:55.899 was. Then after that, he said to the disciples, 00:08:56.179 --> 00:08:59.600 let's go to Judea again. Rabbi, the disciples 00:08:59.600 --> 00:09:03.059 told him, just now the Jews tried to stone you 00:09:03.059 --> 00:09:06.179 and you're going there again? Aren't there 12 00:09:06.179 --> 00:09:09.440 hours in a day? Jesus answered, if anyone walks 00:09:09.440 --> 00:09:11.879 during the day, he doesn't stumble because he 00:09:11.879 --> 00:09:15.320 sees the light of the world. But if anyone walks 00:09:15.320 --> 00:09:18.139 during the night, he does stumble, because the 00:09:18.139 --> 00:09:21.080 light is not in him. He said this, and then he 00:09:21.080 --> 00:09:23.539 told them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, 00:09:23.779 --> 00:09:27.879 but I am on my way to wake him up. Then the disciples 00:09:27.879 --> 00:09:30.320 said to him, Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he 00:09:30.320 --> 00:09:33.399 will get well. Jesus, however, was speaking about 00:09:33.399 --> 00:09:35.919 his death, but they thought he was speaking about 00:09:35.919 --> 00:09:39.580 natural sleep. So Jesus then told them plainly, 00:09:40.210 --> 00:09:44.149 Lazarus has died. I'm glad that for you that 00:09:44.149 --> 00:09:46.669 I wasn't there so that you may believe, but let's 00:09:46.669 --> 00:09:49.169 go to him. Then Thomas called the twin, said 00:09:49.169 --> 00:09:51.690 to his fellow disciples, let's go to so that 00:09:51.690 --> 00:09:56.049 we may die with him. There's a lot there, like 00:09:56.049 --> 00:09:59.149 a lot, a lot there, even in verse. So context 00:09:59.149 --> 00:10:01.250 is important, right? And then they touch on that, 00:10:01.289 --> 00:10:04.970 that Jesus just like. majorly irritated. Yes. 00:10:05.090 --> 00:10:07.669 A ton of that. He kicked the anthill. Yeah. And 00:10:07.669 --> 00:10:09.389 then he left and then he left and they, and they 00:10:09.389 --> 00:10:11.750 did pick up stones to stone him because he repeatedly 00:10:11.750 --> 00:10:15.629 made claims to be equal with the father or literally 00:10:15.629 --> 00:10:18.090 just God himself. He, he claimed that before 00:10:18.090 --> 00:10:21.309 Abraham was born, he had always existed. Um, 00:10:21.409 --> 00:10:24.250 and so, so brief side note, like, like if anybody 00:10:24.250 --> 00:10:26.730 ever tells you and your discussions that, you 00:10:26.730 --> 00:10:30.389 know, that Jesus never claimed to be God. If 00:10:30.389 --> 00:10:32.509 they take kind of the moral teacher route, like, 00:10:32.570 --> 00:10:36.009 like John eight through nine is a great place 00:10:36.009 --> 00:10:37.769 to take them of just like, you know, guys, I 00:10:37.769 --> 00:10:39.909 appreciate that, but that's not true. And it's 00:10:39.909 --> 00:10:41.710 actually, that is that, that is an argument that 00:10:41.710 --> 00:10:44.950 is taught to people to try to refute Judaism, 00:10:44.950 --> 00:10:48.870 to try to refute Christianity is to try to get, 00:10:48.929 --> 00:10:52.009 is try to manipulate and say that Jesus never 00:10:52.009 --> 00:10:54.850 claimed to be God. Right. And so that's one of 00:10:54.850 --> 00:10:56.649 those things that this is why apologetics is 00:10:56.649 --> 00:10:58.570 so important. This is why knowing our Bible is 00:10:58.570 --> 00:11:00.850 so important, so that you can know where to go 00:11:00.850 --> 00:11:03.610 to defend your faith. No, absolutely. Absolutely. 00:11:04.070 --> 00:11:07.509 So in the text, though, so keep that in your 00:11:07.509 --> 00:11:09.970 mind, because I think that's important as we 00:11:09.970 --> 00:11:14.289 move on. Man, even in verse two, you see that 00:11:14.289 --> 00:11:18.059 these folks have a previous history with... Jesus. 00:11:18.340 --> 00:11:21.419 There's a relationship that has been built here. 00:11:21.580 --> 00:11:23.620 And there are two seeds of that, right? You see 00:11:23.620 --> 00:11:26.799 one, that Mary was the lady who anointed the 00:11:26.799 --> 00:11:28.259 Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her 00:11:28.259 --> 00:11:33.159 hair. And so Mary has a real understanding of 00:11:33.159 --> 00:11:36.919 her position before God. Oh my gosh, yes. And 00:11:36.919 --> 00:11:41.120 that's where her request, hey, he whom you love 00:11:41.120 --> 00:11:45.480 is ill, comes from. And so for us, we can learn 00:11:45.480 --> 00:11:49.679 from her example of, When you're in a difficult 00:11:49.679 --> 00:11:53.379 position, like when, when things are not looking 00:11:53.379 --> 00:11:56.779 pretty, remind yourself of how the Lord has worked 00:11:56.779 --> 00:11:58.940 in your life up until that point, because the 00:11:58.940 --> 00:12:00.720 relationship that he builds with you is not for 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:03.080 nothing. Yeah. I mean, it's like, it's, that 00:12:03.080 --> 00:12:05.860 would be like, that would be like if, if I got 00:12:05.860 --> 00:12:09.000 a flat tire before and you came and helped me 00:12:09.000 --> 00:12:11.440 change a tire, although like disclaimer, I know 00:12:11.440 --> 00:12:12.919 how to change a tire. I took the auto maintenance 00:12:12.919 --> 00:12:14.799 merit badge and boy Scouts like, like I'm set. 00:12:15.340 --> 00:12:17.909 That's the thing. It's a thing. If you help me 00:12:17.909 --> 00:12:20.330 change a tire before, I can call on you because 00:12:20.330 --> 00:12:22.450 I know that you know how to do it. Yeah. And 00:12:22.450 --> 00:12:24.309 you've shown me that you're willing to help me. 00:12:24.389 --> 00:12:29.769 Yeah. And so Mary, who is sitting in the right 00:12:29.769 --> 00:12:32.509 place before Jesus, knows that she's completely 00:12:32.509 --> 00:12:37.830 dependent on him, says, Lord, Lord. Not rabbi. 00:12:37.909 --> 00:12:42.549 No. But Lord. And whether this is... I don't 00:12:42.549 --> 00:12:43.830 have the Greek in front of me, and so I don't 00:12:43.830 --> 00:12:45.990 know whether this is dominus, like what they 00:12:45.990 --> 00:12:49.009 would say is a term of respect, or Adonai, which 00:12:49.009 --> 00:12:51.769 means Lord God. But either way, this is a term 00:12:51.769 --> 00:12:59.950 of submission. He whom you love is ill. But look 00:12:59.950 --> 00:13:01.970 how Jesus responds to this. When Jesus heard 00:13:01.970 --> 00:13:04.129 it, he said, this illness does not lead to death. 00:13:04.190 --> 00:13:06.710 It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of 00:13:06.710 --> 00:13:10.200 God may be glorified through it. The thing that 00:13:10.200 --> 00:13:13.960 stood out to me as I was reading verse four is 00:13:13.960 --> 00:13:18.059 when Jesus makes a promise, he keeps it right. 00:13:18.100 --> 00:13:19.720 Like you see that in this text, you see that, 00:13:19.740 --> 00:13:23.860 that this illness does not lead to death, but 00:13:23.860 --> 00:13:26.820 we often fill in our own interpretation of what 00:13:26.820 --> 00:13:29.860 his promises mean. Like, like I think in my own 00:13:29.860 --> 00:13:33.340 life, I assume that God will take the most direct 00:13:33.340 --> 00:13:35.419 route. What do you mean by that? What I mean 00:13:35.419 --> 00:13:38.559 by it is this. Psalm 122. He will keep you from 00:13:38.559 --> 00:13:43.620 all evils. Or Psalm 91. You need not fear the 00:13:43.620 --> 00:13:45.960 terror that stalks in the night, nor the arrow 00:13:45.960 --> 00:13:48.659 that flies by day. A thousand may fall at your 00:13:48.659 --> 00:13:50.899 side, but you will only see the recompense of 00:13:50.899 --> 00:13:55.679 the wicked. My brain first reading says, Ben's 00:13:55.679 --> 00:13:58.539 not going to get sick. It says he will keep you 00:13:58.539 --> 00:14:00.120 from the deadly pestilence, right? Interesting. 00:14:00.259 --> 00:14:03.620 Because that is the closest, nearest explanation 00:14:03.620 --> 00:14:08.039 that I can get. Right. Right? But we do get sick. 00:14:08.200 --> 00:14:10.120 Yes, we do. Our bodies are frail. Sometimes the 00:14:10.120 --> 00:14:12.240 pestilence that stalks in the night does strike 00:14:12.240 --> 00:14:15.220 us. Yeah. Sometimes the arrow by day does hit 00:14:15.220 --> 00:14:19.440 us. Yes, it does. But the Lord's promise that 00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:22.940 he will keep us from these things. is a lot closer 00:14:22.940 --> 00:14:25.840 to, I feel like, and I mean, check me if I'm 00:14:25.840 --> 00:14:27.840 wrong here. The Lord's promise in this is a lot 00:14:27.840 --> 00:14:32.179 closer to, I will prevent this or I will carry 00:14:32.179 --> 00:14:34.879 you through it. And in the end, I will make all 00:14:34.879 --> 00:14:39.179 things new. No, I agree. I think you have your 00:14:39.179 --> 00:14:43.899 finger on the pulse of that one correct for what 00:14:43.899 --> 00:14:46.240 you're saying there. I absolutely agree. You 00:14:46.240 --> 00:14:48.759 know, if I could take a moment and look at this 00:14:48.759 --> 00:14:52.549 passage and kind of, The thing that overwhelms 00:14:52.549 --> 00:14:57.230 me is looking at this part of it is just that 00:14:57.230 --> 00:14:59.110 relationship that you were talking about earlier. 00:14:59.230 --> 00:15:02.129 Yeah. When we look at verse three and it talks 00:15:02.129 --> 00:15:04.570 about Lord, as you said, we looked at Lord, the 00:15:04.570 --> 00:15:08.879 one you love is sick. And then later on. in verse 00:15:08.879 --> 00:15:12.740 5, now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. 00:15:13.059 --> 00:15:16.700 And so, to see the emotions playing out in this 00:15:16.700 --> 00:15:19.080 story, I think we talked about this in the podcast 00:15:19.080 --> 00:15:22.259 last week, that there's many times that we don't 00:15:22.259 --> 00:15:25.720 get to see a lot of those personalities or emotions. 00:15:26.100 --> 00:15:28.240 We get to see them in some passages, but this 00:15:28.240 --> 00:15:31.980 is one of those special ones, that because John 00:15:31.980 --> 00:15:36.600 uses some particular language, it's a lot easier 00:15:36.600 --> 00:15:41.139 to feel what's going on in this passage. And 00:15:41.139 --> 00:15:43.840 I think that's on purpose because I mean, we're 00:15:43.840 --> 00:15:46.940 talking about death here, you know, but what 00:15:46.940 --> 00:15:51.100 I love about this is that when, obviously it 00:15:51.100 --> 00:15:55.200 says her brother Lazarus was sick. I don't think 00:15:55.200 --> 00:15:58.179 that this was a common cold, right? This was 00:15:58.179 --> 00:16:02.000 a serious sickness. I mean, obviously it led 00:16:02.000 --> 00:16:03.639 to his death, but whatever was going on in the 00:16:03.639 --> 00:16:07.470 moment, they knew. This is not good. Correct. 00:16:07.549 --> 00:16:11.350 They knew this is not good, and they trusted 00:16:11.350 --> 00:16:17.029 Jesus so much. I mean, already at this point 00:16:17.029 --> 00:16:21.490 in this relationship, they knew who he was. Yes. 00:16:21.509 --> 00:16:26.730 They knew he had the power, the character, and 00:16:26.730 --> 00:16:30.090 the love to do something. And you see Martha 00:16:30.090 --> 00:16:33.970 say that explicitly in Act 2. And so now it ends 00:16:33.970 --> 00:16:36.429 up being different than what they think. Precisely. 00:16:36.429 --> 00:16:40.370 Right? But the trust that they have with Jesus 00:16:40.370 --> 00:16:43.929 because they have a relationship with him. Yeah. 00:16:44.210 --> 00:16:46.250 That's incredible. And that's where it starts. 00:16:46.850 --> 00:16:50.129 I think that some people wonder, like they look 00:16:50.129 --> 00:16:51.950 at this very beginning part and it's like, man, 00:16:52.029 --> 00:16:54.009 I wish I had a relationship with Jesus like that. 00:16:54.610 --> 00:16:58.019 It's obtainable. Absolutely. Relationships take 00:16:58.019 --> 00:17:00.940 work. Relationships take trust. And even this, 00:17:00.960 --> 00:17:04.440 the story that's pointed out, Mary humbled herself, 00:17:05.019 --> 00:17:10.960 put herself on the ground, and wiped Jesus' feet 00:17:10.960 --> 00:17:15.619 with her hair. I mean, talk about a total position 00:17:15.619 --> 00:17:21.440 of humility. And of course, you respond to Jesus 00:17:21.440 --> 00:17:25.009 in ways like that. Jesus is going to respond 00:17:25.009 --> 00:17:30.849 back. And not even in a reciprocal way. No. It's 00:17:30.849 --> 00:17:33.890 not like you're gaining Jesus' favor more because 00:17:33.890 --> 00:17:36.470 you're more submissive. As you further submit 00:17:36.470 --> 00:17:40.269 to him, you are better able to receive that relationship 00:17:40.269 --> 00:17:42.589 with Jesus. Exactly. Exactly. Thank you for clarifying 00:17:42.589 --> 00:17:46.150 that. Because what you see here, we are seeing 00:17:46.150 --> 00:17:49.559 the heart of what Mary wants. Yeah. And she just 00:17:49.559 --> 00:17:53.180 wants to be near Jesus. And think about whenever 00:17:53.180 --> 00:17:56.140 something in your life like this, like her brother's 00:17:56.140 --> 00:17:58.619 dying, her brother who she has an incredible 00:17:58.619 --> 00:18:00.640 relationship with, this person that she's close 00:18:00.640 --> 00:18:03.400 with is dying. Who do you want to be around during 00:18:03.400 --> 00:18:05.180 those moments but the people that you're most 00:18:05.180 --> 00:18:07.160 intimate with, the people that you have a close 00:18:07.160 --> 00:18:09.599 relationship? And for her, one of those people 00:18:09.599 --> 00:18:12.759 is Jesus. That's incredible. You know, one of 00:18:12.759 --> 00:18:15.200 the other things that stood out to me is at the 00:18:15.200 --> 00:18:20.680 very end of this act, here is verse 14, when 00:18:20.680 --> 00:18:22.740 the disciples are still like... what do you mean 00:18:22.740 --> 00:18:25.279 he's asleep? You know, uh, which by the way, 00:18:25.299 --> 00:18:27.279 like, I feel like that's me so many times. Like 00:18:27.279 --> 00:18:29.500 I'm like, I see something in scripture or the 00:18:29.500 --> 00:18:31.160 Holy spirit speaks to me and tells me to do something. 00:18:31.319 --> 00:18:33.559 I'm like, I miss it. But what do you mean? Yeah. 00:18:33.839 --> 00:18:35.900 What do you, what do you, what do you mean? What 00:18:35.900 --> 00:18:37.700 do you mean? You know? And so, but like, like 00:18:37.700 --> 00:18:39.559 praise God that he communicates to us directly. 00:18:39.619 --> 00:18:41.420 Like, just like Jesus does here, just like he 00:18:41.420 --> 00:18:43.480 does with us when we miss it. It's not like he's 00:18:43.480 --> 00:18:45.279 waiting on us to miss it. Like he's like, he 00:18:45.279 --> 00:18:49.339 goes and Jesus told them plainly Lazarus has 00:18:49.339 --> 00:18:53.730 died. And for your sake, I am glad I was not 00:18:53.730 --> 00:18:56.269 there, that you may believe, but let us go to 00:18:56.269 --> 00:19:02.529 him. That's crazy. I am glad. Jesus sees the 00:19:02.529 --> 00:19:06.119 ultimate good. Yes. In circumstances, even when 00:19:06.119 --> 00:19:08.940 we can't see it. Yeah. I mean, like I would never, 00:19:09.059 --> 00:19:11.319 I mean, like as Christians, we're put into places 00:19:11.319 --> 00:19:14.019 where when people are grieving, they ask us questions. 00:19:14.180 --> 00:19:16.019 Yeah, they do. Doesn't matter whether we're pastors, 00:19:16.259 --> 00:19:18.299 doesn't matter whether we're Sunday school teachers 00:19:18.299 --> 00:19:20.819 or deacons or whatever. Yeah. If you bear the 00:19:20.819 --> 00:19:22.240 name of Jesus, they're going to ask you these 00:19:22.240 --> 00:19:25.920 things. And I couldn't say, I'm glad this happened. 00:19:26.920 --> 00:19:29.880 You know? Right. But Jesus, knowing the full 00:19:29.880 --> 00:19:32.079 set of circumstances, knowing what was to come, 00:19:32.220 --> 00:19:34.799 I am glad that I was not there so that you may 00:19:34.799 --> 00:19:39.220 believe. Yeah. He sees the situation, and we're 00:19:39.220 --> 00:19:41.160 going to see that Jesus gets emotional over the 00:19:41.160 --> 00:19:43.059 situation and the relationships and all of this, 00:19:43.099 --> 00:19:47.380 but he knows there is a purpose, and there is 00:19:47.380 --> 00:19:50.460 a purpose behind what is about to happen, what 00:19:50.460 --> 00:19:53.559 has happened, and he knows that is the greater 00:19:53.559 --> 00:19:56.819 good. And we can trust him with that. And that's 00:19:56.819 --> 00:20:01.859 a good example for us, that when we have no idea 00:20:01.859 --> 00:20:04.859 why, we find ourselves asking why questions. 00:20:05.480 --> 00:20:08.200 Those aren't too big for him. You'll even see 00:20:08.200 --> 00:20:11.519 Jesus get asked some why questions by Martha 00:20:11.519 --> 00:20:15.380 and by Mary, and he doesn't dodge them. He doesn't 00:20:15.380 --> 00:20:19.519 sidestep them. He doesn't rebuke them. He answers 00:20:19.519 --> 00:20:21.240 with more of his character, more of his presence, 00:20:21.339 --> 00:20:24.680 and with more hope. Let's go to Act 2, man. I 00:20:24.680 --> 00:20:26.799 feel like this is a natural place for it. Moving 00:20:26.799 --> 00:20:32.059 on. Jesus and his disciples come back into Judea, 00:20:32.059 --> 00:20:36.279 and Martha catches wind that Jesus is coming. 00:20:36.740 --> 00:20:39.819 And so she meets him on the road. Mary can't 00:20:39.819 --> 00:20:42.339 handle it. Which, there you go. You have two 00:20:42.339 --> 00:20:44.859 different forms of grief. Yes. And both are okay. 00:20:45.039 --> 00:20:47.039 And they are. And that's why I wanted to bring 00:20:47.039 --> 00:20:49.680 this up is that people respond to grief differently. 00:20:49.799 --> 00:20:54.220 Yes. Some people run to others and they need, 00:20:54.460 --> 00:20:59.000 they desire that immediate support. Other ones, 00:20:59.019 --> 00:21:02.960 they take time to process. And Jesus validates 00:21:02.960 --> 00:21:05.680 both experiences. Yes, he does. Ah, I love it. 00:21:05.740 --> 00:21:09.680 So Martha shows up and says, Lord, there it is 00:21:09.680 --> 00:21:12.759 again, that Lord, that submission. If you had 00:21:12.759 --> 00:21:16.599 been here, my brother would not have died. But 00:21:16.599 --> 00:21:19.039 even now I know that whatever you ask from God, 00:21:19.119 --> 00:21:21.079 God will give you. Jesus said to her, your brother 00:21:21.079 --> 00:21:23.960 will rise again. Martha said to him, I know that 00:21:23.960 --> 00:21:25.740 he will rise again in the resurrection on the 00:21:25.740 --> 00:21:31.519 last day. And Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection 00:21:31.519 --> 00:21:33.880 and the life. Whoever believes in me, though 00:21:33.880 --> 00:21:36.420 he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives 00:21:36.420 --> 00:21:39.450 and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe 00:21:39.450 --> 00:21:42.269 this? She said to him, yes, Lord, I believe that 00:21:42.269 --> 00:21:45.730 you are the Christ, the son of God who is coming 00:21:45.730 --> 00:21:49.009 into the world. You know what? I want a statement. 00:21:49.029 --> 00:21:51.309 You know what I love about Martha here? What's 00:21:51.309 --> 00:21:54.730 that? She is straight up with Jesus about her 00:21:54.730 --> 00:21:56.890 wrestling in belief. Yeah. Because think of it. 00:21:56.890 --> 00:22:00.150 Look at this. First, she says, if you were here, 00:22:00.190 --> 00:22:02.890 he wouldn't have died. Then she says, but you 00:22:02.890 --> 00:22:04.750 still might be able to do something about it. 00:22:05.269 --> 00:22:07.569 Talk about faith right there with that statement. 00:22:07.650 --> 00:22:11.789 But then she says on the last day, not right 00:22:11.789 --> 00:22:15.029 now. And then do you think, I wonder if that 00:22:15.029 --> 00:22:17.130 is like there, she's showing faith, but there's 00:22:17.130 --> 00:22:18.410 still that little bit of doubt, like just in 00:22:18.410 --> 00:22:20.609 case, like just in case, like, I don't know. 00:22:20.630 --> 00:22:22.490 I think it's exactly what it is. Yeah. I mean, 00:22:22.490 --> 00:22:25.049 I mean, she's, she's to not get herself disappointed. 00:22:25.170 --> 00:22:28.390 Maybe dude, we all do that. Yeah. The second 00:22:28.390 --> 00:22:31.299 that you learn disappointment. in a human context, 00:22:31.460 --> 00:22:33.700 you can't help but apply it to God. Yeah. The 00:22:33.700 --> 00:22:35.559 second that things don't go your way and you, 00:22:35.640 --> 00:22:38.500 and that particular shade of blue comes over 00:22:38.500 --> 00:22:42.240 you, you can't help but apply it to God. And 00:22:42.240 --> 00:22:49.039 so Jesus answers her imperfect faith. Yeah. Valid, 00:22:49.039 --> 00:22:51.900 but imperfect. I like that. Yeah. With a promise. 00:22:53.859 --> 00:22:58.000 Martha, you're beating around this resurrection 00:22:58.000 --> 00:23:03.440 bush, but I, I am the resurrection and the life. 00:23:03.759 --> 00:23:07.759 You know, it is so, gosh, I mean, as you're talking 00:23:07.759 --> 00:23:09.380 about this and we're looking at Martha, I mean, 00:23:09.400 --> 00:23:13.140 how awesome is it to know we don't have to have 00:23:13.140 --> 00:23:16.559 perfect faith. Jesus is going to respond to us 00:23:16.559 --> 00:23:19.779 in our imperfect faith. Seriously. With love, 00:23:19.859 --> 00:23:25.420 with reassurance of his promise of who he is. 00:23:26.289 --> 00:23:28.430 It's like we don't have to have it all together 00:23:28.430 --> 00:23:32.390 to come to Jesus. No. We come to him as we are, 00:23:32.549 --> 00:23:37.690 and he accepts us as we are and loves us and 00:23:37.690 --> 00:23:40.710 then guides us to where he wants us to be. Yes. 00:23:41.190 --> 00:23:45.269 And he delights to have it so. Like the book 00:23:45.269 --> 00:23:48.049 of Zephaniah, like major deep cut of the Bible. 00:23:48.109 --> 00:23:51.849 I was like, there's a drop. The book of Zephaniah, 00:23:51.990 --> 00:23:54.569 there's a gentleman in my life who I respect 00:23:54.569 --> 00:23:57.430 very, very much who loves to remind me of, I 00:23:57.430 --> 00:23:59.230 think it's Zephaniah 3, where it says that the 00:23:59.230 --> 00:24:04.460 Lord will rejoice over you with singing. With 00:24:04.460 --> 00:24:08.279 singing. And the notion there is not that once 00:24:08.279 --> 00:24:10.180 you've gotten it all figured out, he's like, 00:24:10.240 --> 00:24:14.180 oh, thank goodness. It's more of an idea of when 00:24:14.180 --> 00:24:17.900 the father sees you coming, he celebrates. It 00:24:17.900 --> 00:24:24.500 shows that joy. It shows that joy. Yeah. I love 00:24:24.500 --> 00:24:26.700 the twofold promise here. The Bible likes to 00:24:26.700 --> 00:24:29.900 do this, where Jesus will offer a promise that 00:24:29.900 --> 00:24:32.299 is immediately applicable to the people that 00:24:32.299 --> 00:24:35.359 he's talking to, or the apostles will say something 00:24:35.359 --> 00:24:38.140 specifically to the people he's writing an epistle 00:24:38.140 --> 00:24:40.940 to, but it's got a bigger ramification for us. 00:24:41.319 --> 00:24:44.279 So Jesus says, whoever believes in me, though 00:24:44.279 --> 00:24:46.720 he shall die, yet he shall live. Spoiler alert, 00:24:46.900 --> 00:24:49.640 though Lazarus died, because he believed in Jesus, 00:24:49.740 --> 00:24:53.049 though he died, yet he shall live. And everyone 00:24:53.049 --> 00:24:58.210 who believes in me shall never die. That shifts 00:24:58.210 --> 00:25:03.009 to, we have eternal security that we will not 00:25:03.009 --> 00:25:05.569 eternally perish. That second death that the 00:25:05.569 --> 00:25:07.789 book of Revelation talks about. But he also ends 00:25:07.789 --> 00:25:10.109 it with, I guess you could say, a challenge. 00:25:10.410 --> 00:25:15.009 Do you believe this? He makes these statements, 00:25:15.109 --> 00:25:19.009 but then he puts it on them. Once again, we come 00:25:19.009 --> 00:25:20.950 with imperfect faith, but then he's guiding. 00:25:21.619 --> 00:25:23.720 Yeah. I mean, that's the, and that's the rhythm 00:25:23.720 --> 00:25:26.059 of worship too. Like, like this is, this is a 00:25:26.059 --> 00:25:28.579 bit of an aside, but I think it's, it's pertinent 00:25:28.579 --> 00:25:31.200 to what we're talking about. Please continue 00:25:31.200 --> 00:25:35.279 worship pastor. Listen, man, the rhythm of worship 00:25:35.279 --> 00:25:38.700 is revelation and response. You see this in scripture 00:25:38.700 --> 00:25:42.599 all the time. God reveals himself to his people. 00:25:42.920 --> 00:25:46.099 whether that be physically manifesting or he 00:25:46.099 --> 00:25:48.920 gives them a truth about them. And then that 00:25:48.920 --> 00:25:52.400 revelation compels them to respond. And we get 00:25:52.400 --> 00:25:54.400 to choose how we respond, whether we respond 00:25:54.400 --> 00:25:57.500 in worship, whether we respond in rejection of 00:25:57.500 --> 00:26:00.380 him. Like it's like that passage in Isaiah, behold, 00:26:00.539 --> 00:26:03.059 my people have committed two evils. They have 00:26:03.059 --> 00:26:07.160 forsaken their God. That's the revelation. And 00:26:07.160 --> 00:26:08.859 they have hewn out for themselves broken cisterns 00:26:08.859 --> 00:26:11.460 that cannot hold any water. Revelation and response. 00:26:11.460 --> 00:26:15.019 Well, Jesus is the living water. Amen. But here, 00:26:15.119 --> 00:26:17.920 I am the resurrection and the life. I am revealing 00:26:17.920 --> 00:26:23.279 myself to you. Do you believe this? I love it. 00:26:23.380 --> 00:26:28.220 Reveal and respond. Yeah. But we see more of 00:26:28.220 --> 00:26:30.279 Jesus' heart kind of in the conclusion of Act 00:26:30.279 --> 00:26:34.039 2 here. Yes. When Jesus comes to Mary. Because 00:26:34.039 --> 00:26:36.819 now we've got the different grieving process. 00:26:37.099 --> 00:26:38.819 The different grieving process. He responds to 00:26:38.819 --> 00:26:42.220 Martha with one way, and now we see how he's 00:26:42.220 --> 00:26:46.359 going to respond to Mary. Yes. Now, I love how 00:26:46.359 --> 00:26:50.680 Martha, encouraged by her conversation with Jesus, 00:26:50.940 --> 00:26:54.519 goes and gets Mary. And I think that there's 00:26:54.519 --> 00:26:57.359 a lesson in that for us as believers. I think 00:26:57.359 --> 00:27:00.400 it's 2 Corinthians that says, we are comforted 00:27:00.400 --> 00:27:04.910 so that we can comfort others. So we have a responsibility 00:27:04.910 --> 00:27:08.890 to when we are given comfort, when the Lord speaks 00:27:08.890 --> 00:27:11.490 to us, when the Lord shows us a path forward 00:27:11.490 --> 00:27:14.789 to carry that to other people, because he may 00:27:14.789 --> 00:27:18.769 have comforted you so that you can go and show 00:27:18.769 --> 00:27:21.410 his same love to that other person so that you 00:27:21.410 --> 00:27:24.569 can be Jesus to them. And so Martha goes and 00:27:24.569 --> 00:27:28.509 gets Mary. This is verse 32 now. When Mary came 00:27:28.509 --> 00:27:31.450 to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his 00:27:31.450 --> 00:27:34.569 feet. saying, Lord, if you had been here, my 00:27:34.569 --> 00:27:37.450 brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her 00:27:37.450 --> 00:27:40.049 weeping and the Jews had come to her also weeping, 00:27:40.089 --> 00:27:44.609 he was deeply moved. And all that he asks is, 00:27:44.650 --> 00:27:46.230 where have you laid him? She says, Lord, come 00:27:46.230 --> 00:27:50.210 and see. And Jesus wept. Here's the thing that 00:27:50.210 --> 00:27:52.630 stood out to me about this section of text. Yeah. 00:27:53.089 --> 00:27:55.789 You talked about Martha and Mary grieving differently 00:27:55.789 --> 00:27:57.910 and needing different things. Yeah. Martha needed 00:27:57.910 --> 00:28:00.920 answers. And we see from like the Mary Martha 00:28:00.920 --> 00:28:03.279 story where she's like more logistical focused 00:28:03.279 --> 00:28:06.440 about hosting and all that stuff. Yep. It makes 00:28:06.440 --> 00:28:07.980 sense. She needs answers. You want to know what 00:28:07.980 --> 00:28:11.599 Mary needed? Mary needed to see Jesus weep. Yeah. 00:28:11.700 --> 00:28:16.220 Mary needed to didn't like Jesus knew exactly 00:28:16.220 --> 00:28:18.359 what they both needed. Mary didn't need answers. 00:28:18.660 --> 00:28:22.799 Mary didn't need an explanation. She falls on 00:28:22.799 --> 00:28:25.460 her face before him and she presents the problem 00:28:25.460 --> 00:28:30.660 and all he does is cry with her. Yeah. We have 00:28:30.660 --> 00:28:34.660 a savior who weeps for us. It's like the book 00:28:34.660 --> 00:28:36.920 of Isaiah. I feel like I've talked about Isaiah 00:28:36.920 --> 00:28:38.220 a lot today. It's just where I'm sitting these 00:28:38.220 --> 00:28:42.180 days. Like surely he has borne our sorrows. He's 00:28:42.180 --> 00:28:46.940 acquainted with grief. Like Jesus knows exactly 00:28:46.940 --> 00:28:51.460 what it's like to suffer perfectly well, what 00:28:51.460 --> 00:28:53.839 it's like for us to suffer. And so how could 00:28:53.839 --> 00:28:58.980 he not cry? I picture him thinking, of the day 00:28:58.980 --> 00:29:01.680 that he created the world, the day that he knit 00:29:01.680 --> 00:29:05.279 Mary and Martha and Lazarus together in their 00:29:05.279 --> 00:29:08.579 mother's womb. And I pictured the design that 00:29:08.579 --> 00:29:11.579 he had for the Garden of Eden, free from sin, 00:29:11.700 --> 00:29:14.480 free from death, free from suffering, paradise. 00:29:15.259 --> 00:29:18.119 And I can see him weeping not only for the pain 00:29:18.119 --> 00:29:22.900 of loss, but for the, this is not what I intended 00:29:22.900 --> 00:29:26.460 for you. Because he can see it all. And he can 00:29:26.460 --> 00:29:31.359 see the redeemed potential, the pre -Eden potential 00:29:31.359 --> 00:29:33.660 for how all this could have gone. And it's so 00:29:33.660 --> 00:29:36.319 different. And I feel like it's important for 00:29:36.319 --> 00:29:39.039 us to mention this. We have a savior that weeps 00:29:39.039 --> 00:29:42.660 with us. We got a lot of reason to weep in our 00:29:42.660 --> 00:29:45.640 country, in our nation. Even individual life 00:29:45.640 --> 00:29:47.619 circumstance can just drive us to our knees, 00:29:47.839 --> 00:29:53.609 dude. But as we grieve. The Psalms promise that 00:29:53.609 --> 00:29:55.910 he keeps all of our tears in a bottle. Yeah. 00:29:56.190 --> 00:30:01.809 As we lose, he promises that not a sparrow falls 00:30:01.809 --> 00:30:06.809 without him taking notice. As we feel like we 00:30:06.809 --> 00:30:09.690 are broken and broken and broken, he promises 00:30:09.690 --> 00:30:12.430 a bruised reed I will not break. That is the 00:30:12.430 --> 00:30:15.809 Savior that we see in this text. So I was rereading 00:30:15.809 --> 00:30:18.349 this this morning. Yeah. And specifically this 00:30:18.349 --> 00:30:21.759 part of the story, I was... Reading it over, 00:30:21.900 --> 00:30:24.880 I was sitting right over there at my kitchen 00:30:24.880 --> 00:30:29.220 table. I had my coffee cup, and I got to verse 00:30:29.220 --> 00:30:33.180 32. It says, as soon as Mary came to where Jesus 00:30:33.180 --> 00:30:36.559 was and saw him, she fell at his feet and told 00:30:36.559 --> 00:30:39.799 him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't 00:30:39.799 --> 00:30:43.200 have died. And I'm picturing the situation, and 00:30:43.200 --> 00:30:46.420 once again, there's so much emotion in what's 00:30:46.420 --> 00:30:50.289 going on. I don't know exactly what she's going 00:30:50.289 --> 00:30:52.470 through. I have not experienced this kind of 00:30:52.470 --> 00:30:57.029 death, but I'm understanding a little bit of 00:30:57.029 --> 00:30:59.569 the emotion that's going on here with what's 00:30:59.569 --> 00:31:01.910 going on and how she could have brought herself 00:31:01.910 --> 00:31:04.250 and then fallen at the feet of Jesus. And then 00:31:04.250 --> 00:31:07.289 I read when Jesus saw her crying, the Jews who 00:31:07.289 --> 00:31:11.640 were... who had come with her, he was deeply 00:31:11.640 --> 00:31:13.299 moved in his spirit and troubled. Where have 00:31:13.299 --> 00:31:15.319 you put him? He asked. I mean, I love that. His 00:31:15.319 --> 00:31:18.920 response, he's right there. Jesus sees her crying. 00:31:19.099 --> 00:31:22.440 He sees the emotion. He's deeply moved. And right 00:31:22.440 --> 00:31:25.160 there, there's action that Jesus wants to take. 00:31:25.640 --> 00:31:28.319 Where have you put him? Lord, they told him, 00:31:28.319 --> 00:31:31.000 come and see. And then there's the famous short 00:31:31.000 --> 00:31:35.119 verse, Jesus wept. I read that this morning. 00:31:36.329 --> 00:31:41.569 And I was overwhelmed with how much Jesus loves 00:31:41.569 --> 00:31:46.029 me. I'm reading this and thinking of how much 00:31:46.029 --> 00:31:52.650 Jesus truly loves his creation. Seriously. Like 00:31:52.650 --> 00:31:57.470 we don't worship a distant God that is just in 00:31:57.470 --> 00:32:01.160 the cosmos watching us. Be like, oh, you screwed 00:32:01.160 --> 00:32:03.680 up again. You screwed up again. You dumb, dumb 00:32:03.680 --> 00:32:05.980 human. You screwed up again. How dare you screw 00:32:05.980 --> 00:32:10.279 up again? Like, no. I worship a savior. I believe 00:32:10.279 --> 00:32:14.400 in a God that meets me where I am, grieves when 00:32:14.400 --> 00:32:18.970 I grieve. loves when I love, rejoices when I 00:32:18.970 --> 00:32:23.549 rejoice, and he is there to guide me in my imperfection. 00:32:23.710 --> 00:32:27.150 And I'll be honest, I'm man enough. I started 00:32:27.150 --> 00:32:30.089 to cry at my table by myself this morning thinking 00:32:30.089 --> 00:32:33.190 about how much Jesus loved me. I became overwhelmed 00:32:33.190 --> 00:32:36.589 with his love. What I love about this text is 00:32:36.589 --> 00:32:41.890 that not only does Jesus empathize, like truly 00:32:41.890 --> 00:32:46.150 empathize. feel those emotions with Martha and 00:32:46.150 --> 00:32:50.829 Mary, he takes the next step. It's not like, 00:32:50.910 --> 00:32:53.569 oh, I'm just going to sit with you in this. This 00:32:53.569 --> 00:32:57.230 is where he takes his promise and fulfills it, 00:32:57.369 --> 00:32:59.950 right? Deeply moved again, Jesus comes to the 00:32:59.950 --> 00:33:02.490 tomb. It was a cave and a stone was against it. 00:33:02.549 --> 00:33:05.289 And Jesus goes, take away the stone. Now here 00:33:05.289 --> 00:33:08.220 we see Martha wrestle again, right? because Martha 00:33:08.220 --> 00:33:11.059 believes that Jesus can do anything. She's wrestling 00:33:11.059 --> 00:33:12.700 with his Messiah hood, but she's like, it's going 00:33:12.700 --> 00:33:15.059 to stink in there. She's still responding as 00:33:15.059 --> 00:33:17.819 Martha does. We have the same type of thing we 00:33:17.819 --> 00:33:19.880 saw earlier. She's still giving these little, 00:33:19.920 --> 00:33:22.980 these little words. Yeah. And honestly, man, 00:33:23.099 --> 00:33:26.119 same here. Yeah. Even in some of the moments 00:33:26.119 --> 00:33:29.259 where I've watched God work the most up until 00:33:29.259 --> 00:33:31.940 the very moment that he has done that great deliverance. 00:33:32.440 --> 00:33:37.039 I've struggled the belief. 100%. And even going 00:33:37.039 --> 00:33:38.400 back to what we were talking about earlier with 00:33:38.400 --> 00:33:40.920 Martha, there's been times in my life that God 00:33:40.920 --> 00:33:45.299 has given me confirmation multiple times that 00:33:45.299 --> 00:33:48.500 this is what he wants, but I'm still like, but 00:33:48.500 --> 00:33:53.039 what if? But that's that imperfect faith. It 00:33:53.039 --> 00:33:55.539 is. And you know what? Rather than him sitting 00:33:55.539 --> 00:33:59.029 up there and going, really don't trust me. He 00:33:59.029 --> 00:34:02.190 again and again allows these things to happen 00:34:02.190 --> 00:34:05.549 to grow our faith. Absolutely. So we can continue 00:34:05.549 --> 00:34:07.769 to point back to see what he's done, see what 00:34:07.769 --> 00:34:10.650 he's done. And what he's done shows us who he 00:34:10.650 --> 00:34:14.309 is. And so Jesus goes, did I not tell you that 00:34:14.309 --> 00:34:17.789 if you believe you would see the glory of God, 00:34:17.869 --> 00:34:22.469 Hey, watch this. Watch. Yeah. You know how I 00:34:22.469 --> 00:34:26.460 said, I am the resurrection and the life. And 00:34:26.460 --> 00:34:30.300 he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. 00:34:30.940 --> 00:34:38.500 Can you imagine the heavy silence? Dude, after 00:34:38.500 --> 00:34:42.079 those three words are mentioned, I'm just like, 00:34:42.139 --> 00:34:44.360 everybody's looking at each other, looking at 00:34:44.360 --> 00:34:48.260 Jesus, looking at the black hole of the tomb. 00:34:48.480 --> 00:34:51.599 Like, oh my gosh, this is about to happen. It's 00:34:51.599 --> 00:34:54.869 almost cinematic. And maybe not even, oh my gosh, 00:34:54.909 --> 00:34:57.530 this is about to happen. But like he said, what? 00:34:57.750 --> 00:35:01.909 Yeah. You know, and you slowly see this silhouette 00:35:01.909 --> 00:35:06.349 fill the hole in the cave. And this man wrapped 00:35:06.349 --> 00:35:09.769 in bandages walks out. But how does Jesus respond? 00:35:10.389 --> 00:35:13.510 Unbind him and let him go. Get those grave clothes 00:35:13.510 --> 00:35:15.889 off. When we have been brought from death to 00:35:15.889 --> 00:35:20.250 life, there is evidence of the grave, but there's 00:35:20.250 --> 00:35:23.719 a promise of a future life. It is so interesting 00:35:23.719 --> 00:35:26.239 as humans. We still want to hold on to grave 00:35:26.239 --> 00:35:29.039 clothes, don't we? Of course we do. You know, 00:35:29.039 --> 00:35:30.960 and that is that thing that even though we see 00:35:30.960 --> 00:35:34.280 how amazing Jesus is, and it's going back to 00:35:34.280 --> 00:35:37.199 that imperfect faith again, it's like, man, we 00:35:37.199 --> 00:35:41.659 hold on to the stinking, rotting grave clothes 00:35:41.659 --> 00:35:45.519 that we just need to let go of. But there's something 00:35:45.519 --> 00:35:48.539 about that old life that is hard to let go at 00:35:48.539 --> 00:35:52.260 times. But yet, even in those moments, Jesus 00:35:52.260 --> 00:35:55.980 still says, come to me. Yes, absolutely. And 00:35:55.980 --> 00:35:59.480 as Jesus calls us to throw down those grave clothes, 00:35:59.739 --> 00:36:04.840 he is calling us deeper into himself. The process 00:36:04.840 --> 00:36:08.639 of moving closer to Jesus in relationship is 00:36:08.639 --> 00:36:12.539 synonymous with casting off sin and engaging 00:36:12.539 --> 00:36:14.639 in righteousness. Because if you do it without 00:36:14.639 --> 00:36:18.880 him, that's legalism. If you try to remove... 00:36:19.599 --> 00:36:22.780 your grave clothes on your own without involving 00:36:22.780 --> 00:36:26.280 him in the process. And I think that's a common 00:36:26.280 --> 00:36:29.579 response. Of course. Continue. And he's the one 00:36:29.579 --> 00:36:32.019 who says what comes off first. Go deeper. Think 00:36:32.019 --> 00:36:34.360 about this. So you and I will spend the rest 00:36:34.360 --> 00:36:37.639 of our lives battling sin. Yes, we will. And 00:36:37.639 --> 00:36:42.139 battling unbelief and battling all manner of. 00:36:43.260 --> 00:36:45.500 Even just thought processes that don't honor 00:36:45.500 --> 00:36:48.099 Jesus, right? Yeah, absolutely. Scripture says 00:36:48.099 --> 00:36:50.980 that he is the author and the perfecter of our 00:36:50.980 --> 00:36:54.059 faith. Yes. He wrote this thing. Yes. He's the 00:36:54.059 --> 00:36:56.699 one who's driving the boat. He's the one who's 00:36:56.699 --> 00:37:00.500 put the gas in the engine. Yes. And so we have 00:37:00.500 --> 00:37:02.639 to be in relationship with him and he will point 00:37:02.639 --> 00:37:04.960 out the areas that he wants you to start with. 00:37:05.179 --> 00:37:09.840 Yeah. What I know about him is that he will also 00:37:09.840 --> 00:37:12.380 point out the areas that we don't see. Yeah, 00:37:12.400 --> 00:37:15.659 because those are definitely the dangerous areas 00:37:15.659 --> 00:37:18.460 in our lives. Absolutely. That we can feel like 00:37:18.460 --> 00:37:24.940 we have reached the goal. We're there. I've done 00:37:24.940 --> 00:37:27.679 it. I have overcome these things. And that's 00:37:27.679 --> 00:37:32.699 when Jesus can humble us and continue to guide 00:37:32.699 --> 00:37:35.820 us on that path. Well, it's like, so I'll close 00:37:35.820 --> 00:37:37.500 with this because I feel like this is a really 00:37:37.500 --> 00:37:39.840 good quote to share. C .S. Lewis has a book called 00:37:39.840 --> 00:37:43.039 Mere Christianity. And in it, he compares our 00:37:43.039 --> 00:37:45.239 sanctification process, the process of us becoming 00:37:45.239 --> 00:37:48.519 more like Jesus, to us being a house. When we 00:37:48.519 --> 00:37:51.159 start the Christian life, we assume that Jesus 00:37:51.159 --> 00:37:53.900 is going to keep the house the same. He's going 00:37:53.900 --> 00:37:55.760 to change out the paint. He might throw down 00:37:55.760 --> 00:37:58.440 some carpet over the hardwoods, but we expect 00:37:58.440 --> 00:38:01.579 to stay the same. generally speaking, house, 00:38:01.780 --> 00:38:03.599 same floor plan. He's just going to change a 00:38:03.599 --> 00:38:06.820 little bit. We get really uncomfortable when 00:38:06.820 --> 00:38:10.300 he begins to tear out a wall, when he begins 00:38:10.300 --> 00:38:12.400 to build another wing, when he puts a staircase 00:38:12.400 --> 00:38:14.940 there, why would you put a staircase there? And 00:38:14.940 --> 00:38:18.119 we find that he's not here to renovate the house. 00:38:18.599 --> 00:38:21.699 He's here to build a new one. And I feel like 00:38:21.699 --> 00:38:25.920 that's important to note as we look at Jesus 00:38:25.920 --> 00:38:29.079 helping us take off our grave clothes. Now that's 00:38:29.079 --> 00:38:30.780 Drex in the background barking. This is at the 00:38:30.780 --> 00:38:33.260 crib edition. Sean, anything else you want to 00:38:33.260 --> 00:38:35.619 add to this text before we sign off here? Not 00:38:35.619 --> 00:38:37.880 really, man. We've had some great conversations. 00:38:38.539 --> 00:38:41.019 I think there's been a theme of looking at our 00:38:41.019 --> 00:38:44.280 imperfect faith, and it's been really good to 00:38:44.280 --> 00:38:49.500 really get deep into a passage, a passage that 00:38:49.500 --> 00:38:52.940 has some serious things going on to it. But once 00:38:52.940 --> 00:38:55.139 again, like we try to do so often on this podcast. 00:38:55.849 --> 00:38:58.269 How does it affect us? What has this got to do 00:38:58.269 --> 00:39:00.289 with our lives and our relationship with Jesus? 00:39:00.489 --> 00:39:02.309 And I think we've done a great job of that today. 00:39:02.510 --> 00:39:05.030 I think so, too. I'm excited to continue to dig 00:39:05.030 --> 00:39:07.250 into pursuing Jesus. And to conclude, I'd like 00:39:07.250 --> 00:39:10.349 to introduce our celebrity guest today. This 00:39:10.349 --> 00:39:12.469 is Marvel, the Pomeranian. Let's see if Marvel 00:39:12.469 --> 00:39:13.690 will talk. Marvel has a specific theological 00:39:13.690 --> 00:39:23.980 music for us. This has been Pursuing Jesus. We'll 00:39:23.980 --> 00:39:25.519 catch you guys next week. All right, guys, this 00:39:25.519 --> 00:39:31.159 is Sean. I will see you guys later. Pursuing 00:39:31.159 --> 00:39:34.159 Jesus is a ministry of Memorial Baptist Church 00:39:34.159 --> 00:39:36.619 in Norwood, North Carolina. To learn more about 00:39:36.619 --> 00:39:40.599 our church, please visit memorial4norwood .com.