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John 11:1-57 ]]>
When Lazarus fell sick, Jesus was far away in Batanea (see the notes at 1:28). During His last time in Jerusalem people attempted to kill Him (10:31,39). He was staying away from Judea and danger even though He could call for twelve legions of angels at any time (Matthew 26:53,54). This section shows a delay in going to see Lazarus followed soon by Jesus' return into danger. The delay would mean that Lazarus was dead for days so that his death and resurrection became well known. Later in John 11, we find that this is directly related to the Sanhedrin's urgent decision to kill Jesus. Raising Lazarus led to Jesus' own death. After this, Jesus would again avoid further public exposure (11:54) until just before His public entry into Jerusalem (12:12).
This miracle as intended and implemented by God would (like 9:4 & 2:11) put the glory of God on display and build the faith of His own. Signs are more than miracles; to be a sign it must signify and show something beyond the sign itself. Jesus will say He is the resurrection and the life; then He will act as One Who is both. Earlier, He said He was the bread of life and the water of life. In John 11 the Lord did not give Lazarus something symbolic of life (such as bread or water) but life itself.
The drama of redemption involved a crucial delay of time so that a death would occur, so that a spectacular miracle would happen which would precipitate the crucifixion itself. The plan of God in every life and in every age is predetermined and detailed. " All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be," Psalm 139:16 That brief delay brought Martha and Mary great grief; later it brought them joy and a greater knowledge of their Lord and His resurrection power.
Only in this Gospel is Lazarus mentioned. Luke 10:38-42 mentions his sisters. Bethany was a village where Jesus would rest (Matthew 21:17). Sometimes He was at the home of Simon the leper (Matthew 26:6). He took His twelve disciples to Bethany, though the Bible does not tell us where they slept. Jesus owned no property and had no residence (Luke 9:58). That Mary could anoint Him with such expensive ointment (12:3) is evidence that this family was not poor.
John wrote as if his readers already know that Mary was the one who poured perfume on Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair. There are a number of Mary's in the Gospels, so the apostle makes clear which one is related to Lazarus. The name "Mary" is from the Hebrew name Miriam, the sister of Moses (Numbers 26:59). Christians relating the story of Jesus, often speak of the Mary who anointed Jesus' feet (Mark 14:9).
The story of Little Red Riding Hood begins: "Once upon a time there lived in a certain village a little country girl; everybody called her Little Red Riding Hood. One day her mother, having made some cakes, said to her, 'Go, my dear, and see how your grandmother is doing '" In this fable, we do not have the names of anyone, nor the country or village, nor the time in history. In contrast, note how specific this Gospel is. The family members are named; they live in a village well known to those of that day. We even know the name of Simon the leper of Bethany in whose house they had a big dinner (Matthew 26:6). God has given us an account that is sufficiently detailed that those who lived in that time could check on the Christian record. Note the care Luke took in assembling his material in Luke 1:1-4. Paul told of the number who had seen Jesus alive after His resurrection, most of whom were still alive when he wrote (1 Corinthians 15:6). Anyone in that time wishing to research the Christian testimony was welcome to do so; it could be verified.
11:2,3 – The sisters were close friends of Jesus. Jesus had withdrawn to a safer place (10:40) a long distance away, yet they knew where to send word to Him about Lazarus being sick. Probably very few in Judea knew where He was. "Where is He?" (7:11) was a question His enemies were asking!
Married people ought not to fall into a pattern of social contact limited to other married couples so that single brothers and sisters are often left to fellowship only among themselves. God has many who will be single all their lives. Further, Jesus' close friendship was not limited by gender; He loved all three, the sisters and the brother (v.5).1 It was natural for the sisters when sending word to Him to refer to Lazarus as "the one You love". (This is written by the apostle who referred to himself in 13:23 as one Jesus loved.)
11:4-6 – When the news of Lazarus' sickness arrived, Lazarus was still alive. After two days Jesus said he had died (vv.11-14). The sisters obviously wanted Jesus to come and heal Lazarus. God had a different and more wonderful plan. The healing of the man born blind was so that "the works of God would be displayed in him" (9:3). For such works of God to be evident, the man had to be born blind! Lazarus' death was necessary for the glory of God to be revealed. (See also v.40.)
11:6 – "Yet when He heard that Lazarus was sick " (v.6). It is better to translate this as "When therefore He heard " or as the ESV does below. It is not that Jesus did not care; John said in v.5 that Jesus loved them! There is a specific reason to delay going to Bethany. At news of the sickness, Jesus stayed for the situation to become what God had chosen. The plan of God was that He would be glorified by means of that death, yet this story would not end in death for Lazarus. Jesus' love for them would be shown even more by them having greater exposure to the glory of God. In other words, by Lazarus dying in that sickness, the benefit to all three close friends would be a greater knowledge of God. Mary Magdalene, weeping outside Jesus' empty tomb (20:11), was disappointed when she could not find His body. The Lord had disappointed her by what would later delight her. Likewise, the delay in going to see His friends in Bethany was a kindness of the Lord to them that they did not immediately understand.
Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. (John 11:5 & 6, ESV)
According to v.15, the delay also benefited the disciples. The Lord said He was glad for their sake that He was not there. This indicates that had He been there, He would have healed Lazarus, but they then would not have seen the sign showing Him as the Resurrection and the Life. Raising Lazarus would encourage their faith.
The will of the Father had decided Jesus' delay. The way the Lord would use this sickness had large consequences in the history of redemption. Raising Lazarus after his death had been so well established in the community that it provoked the Sanhedrin to call a special meeting. In it they decided to put Jesus to death (11:45-57). That death was the salvation of Lazarus, Martha, and Mary! Furthermore, the sign related to the death of Lazarus made more clear to them (and to us as well) that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life. God has chosen to be revealed in more than affirmations. He wanted the action (known to us only through the words of Scripture) of raising the dead man to be a visible acting out of the power Christ will use again at His coming! (1Thessalonians 4:13-18; 1 Corinthians 15:42,43).
What the Apostle John says in v.4 is a major theme in the Gospel of John. In Christ's human flesh we see the glory of God (1:14). A glorious feature of God – mercifully saving His enemies by the blood of Christ (Romans 5:9-11) – could never be known apart from Christ.
It was in His great hour, the time when He went to the cross, that the Son was glorified (17:1). That event showed what He was. It demonstrated God's love (Romans 5:8) and His own (15:13). In the cross, the words: "For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son " take on their rich meaning. In the death of Christ, we come to see both the glory of the obedient Son and the glory of the providing Father.
God had planned a wonderful sequence: Lazarus would become sick and die; Jesus would delay going to Bethany, but would raise him after four days, and the news would shake up Jerusalem. The Jewish leadership would react with a decision to kill Jesus. Thereby, in their murderous act, our Great High Priest would offer the one sacrifice that would forever put away sin, satisfy God, and secure all the blessings stored in God's heart for His people. In John 10, Jesus, speaking as the Good Shepherd, said He would lay down His life for His sheep. The death of Lazarus was a crucial link in the chain of events in fulfilling that commitment. The will of God in the sickness and death of Lazarus would result in our praise of God's glorious grace (Ephesians 1:6). In fact, God works all things – not just the death of one of Jesus' dear friends and the wickedness of Caiaphas (11:47-53) – according to the counsel of His will to the praise of His glory (Ephesians 1:11,12).
11:7,8 – Two days after Jesus learned of Lazarus' sickness, Lazarus died. Jesus knew this supernaturally. The long journey by foot back from Batanea near the Sea of Galilee to the east of the Jordan (see the notes at 1:28) would take about four days.
This raises the matter of danger to Jesus' life. At His recent time in Judea the Jews there tried to stone him (see 10:31-39). They had tried earlier as well (8:59). Yet the Lord said, "Let us go back to Judea." He left to avoid opposition; He returned to raise Lazarus. It is not a contradiction that we should sometimes avoid and at other times ignore danger. The issue is that we should do the Father's will. The disciples felt the danger to themselves also.
11:9,10 – The Lord's analogy is that the world has the sun in the sky so that men may work in daylight. When Jesus refers to light as the kind the world has, that indicates that it is not the light by which He makes His decisions. He operated under the guidance of a different light – the will of His Father. It was His food to do His Father's will (4:34). Hours before His death, He would say to the Father that He has accomplished the work (note 4:34 again!) the Father had assigned to Him (17:4). Jesus being stoned and dying by a way that was not being lifted up on the cross (3:14; 12:32,33) was not the Father's will, so Jesus resisted it. But going to Jerusalem where He would be crucified during Passover was the Father's will, and thus walking in that light, He said, "Let's go!"
Note the Lord said "us" in v.7, and in v. 11 that He was going. Repeating His "Let us" invitation to the disciples in v.15, Thomas thought this meant death and proposed that they all go to die with Him. Christ had said, "Let us" twice and said that He was going. A response was needed; Thomas spoke up bravely, "Let us also go". The "let us go" would be repeated by Christ in 14:31. There it meant leaving the Upper Room, going out to Gethsemane, betrayal, capture, and death.
To say there are twelve hours of daylight is a way to say there is still more time for Him to work. In a similar situation in Luke 13:32-33, Jesus announced that He would keep doing what He was doing, in spite of a death threat from Herod. In John 9:4 the Lord stressed that it was still daylight and the work must continue. Danger does not decide our lives. He had authority to lay down His life. The passions of wicked men would simply become the tool the Lord would use to accomplish His purpose (Acts 4;27,28). As one present for all of this discussion, Judas knew that the intent of those wanting to arrest Jesus was murder. Knowing that, he still took Jesus' enemies to where they could find Him! There was enough light left to go to Bethany and wake up Lazarus.
One way believers in the living Savior express faith is in our attitude to death. Death is an enemy (1 Corinthians 15:26) that brings suffering and sorrow. It is the result of sin (Romans 5:12), yet salvation includes even a body that has died. Thus we speak of death as sleep. The Lord Jesus spoke this way. To Him it is as sleep because He can and will waken the sleeping person. Going to Bethany was to wake up Lazarus. The disciples did not understand; they missed the figurative language. For the Lord to say "Lazarus is dead" was to speak of his temporary condition, but that language does not imply future life, thus the Lord preferred the accuracy of the figurative way of speaking. In four days Lazarus would return to mortal life. God speaks of the death of all His children as sleeping in Christ (1 Corinthians 15:18) as He looks forward to the day of resurrection (1 Thessalonians 4:13-18).
Many remember Thomas as "Doubting Thomas". Here he shows courage and willingness to die like Peter in 13:36. (Usually it is Peter who speaks up for the disciples.) Thomas' name Didymus means "Twin"; note the repetition in the name (Di Dy). When he said, "let us die with Him," that reflects the kind of danger ahead. By going to Bethany, less than three kilometers from Jerusalem, Jesus was approaching the cross. (Luke 9:51)
Lazarus had been in his tomb for four days. Jesus found this to be the case. One of the great mysteries about Christ is that He became fully man, and remained at all times fully God. He could know supernaturally that Lazarus had died (v.11) though He was not there. He could see what Nathanael was doing under the fig tree (1:48-50). It is too deep for us to grasp how Jesus' infinite divine nature and His limited human nature functioned in one Person. So like the Psalmist in Psalm 131, we humbly accept truth about Christ, admitting our limitations in understanding. At all times we must hold with tenacity to all revealed truths about Christ, even when we do not know how to connect them.
The four days is significant because the Jews had their own odd notions about death. They felt that the spirit stayed around the body for three days and that death after four days was too late for a return to life. (We learn such things from those who research those times.)
11:18,19 – That Bethany was so close to Jerusalem and that many Jews went to comfort Martha and Mary is very important. Lazarus and his sisters must have been well-known. Remember that Bethany was a village, not a city. Probably every soul in the village knew them, but so did many in Jerusalem. Jesus was not present to heal and prevent death. He did not arrive to raise Lazarus so early that the comforters would have no occasion to provide comfort. This is the setting God arranged and intended. The light (not of this world, v.9) but the light of the Father's wisdom (Romans 11:33-36) had decided when Jesus would arrive in Bethany. Then He could and would do all that was natural in His human heart for His dear friends. It would also cause a major reaction in Jerusalem. The irony is that raising Lazarus to life resulted in Jesus being put to death!
John wrote in concise form not telling how Martha knew Jesus was nearby. She alone went to meet Him. The sisters had sent word to Jesus (v.3). They naturally hoped He would come right away and save His friend. (It is interesting that the verb to heal in Greek and the verb for save are the same word.) She stated the fact that if He had been there, Lazarus would not have died. She was not rebuking the Lord. We are allowed to express how the Lord's decisions affect us while we groan under some of His decisions. (See Psalms 6, 35, 102 and many more.) The Father did not arrange a situation where Jesus would appear callous in refusing to heal Lazarus. God had simply arranged that Jesus would not be there, and Jesus understanding that was glad (v.15).
Martha knew that Jesus would have prevented her brother's death, and she knew that any request He might make of God the Father would be granted. There is no such thing as Jesus interceding and the Father not granting all that He asks! This is foundational to the Bible's doctrine of the intercession of Christ. Martha knew this but she did not expect to have her brother back that very day, as v.39 makes clear.
11:23-26 – The Lord said her brother would rise again. Martha believed this in the way any orthodox Jew would. It would happen on the last day. (In my opinion, that should make us cautious about thinking there may be multiple resurrections on different "last days". Martha said "last day" since there is only one.)
11:26 – Martha had her theology correct. There will be a resurrection that includes the physical body of her dead brother. At earlier times, distracted Martha gave less attention to sitting at Jesus' feet to learn from His instruction (Luke 10:41,42). When the reality of death removed all other concerns, she really paid attention. The Lord turned the conversation from whether or not she believed in what would happen, to who makes it happen – thus Jesus' famous "I am the Resurrection and the Life."
Standing before Martha was the Son of God, God in the flesh. Whatever the Father does the Son also does (5:19). Since the Father raises the dead and gives them life, the Son likewise gives life to whom He wishes (5:21). He can do this when He wishes as well, as in the case of Jairus' daughter (Mark 5:21-43) and the young man in Nain (Luke 7:11-17). The news from Nain had spread to Judea, so Martha was probably aware of it.
Jesus' words are far more personal than the doctrine Martha had just confessed. He said I and spoke of those who believe in ME. The future resurrection is not simply rising from the grave, it will be the appearance of the Lord Himself with His shout or loud command (1 Thessalonians 4:16). Jesus calling with a loud voice in v.43 is an intentional parallel to what He will do in the last day when the dead hear His voice (5:28,29).
The Lord asserts two things; He is both resurrection and life. This does not mean simply resurrection to a later life with nothing more now. The one who believes in Him possesses eternal life already. Such a person will never die in the sense of losing that eternal life. Unless the Lord comes while we are alive, all who believe will still die physically. Such death cannot interrupt the eternal life of the believer, because "he who believes in Me will live even if he dies." Our Lord is personally both resurrection and life. He has promised both and no believer can be deprived of them. In John 6, Jesus will lose none the Father has given Him. In John 10 no one can snatch them from Him, and in John 11 every believer will live even if he dies! Those who belong to Christ are safe.
11:26,27 – Martha believed the truth that such things are guaranteed to God's people. Jesus then asked if she believed the truth as He just stated it, namely that life and resurrection are His to give. She linked the truth He stated with her clear confession of Who He is, the Christ, the Son of God Who was to come into the world (see Psalm 118:26). The Apostle John wanted this reported to his readers because that is the chief point of his Gospel in 20:30,31. By writing this Gospel, John was simply promoting the message Christ gave of Himself in 11:25,26.
Jesus was always the Son of God, so He is fully the eternal image of the Father. As One sent, the One Who came into the world in our human flesh, Jesus is the Christ with the assigned mission to be the Redeemer of God's people. To John it is so crucial that people understand Who Christ is and what He did. His coming into this world is a matter of history. Without it there is no Christian faith, no gospel; any belief that omits it is false. We believe at a specific time and for a specific duration that the Son of God as the Messiah (or the Christ) was in the world. Martha's belief was based on facts of history and truths of doctrine, and her trust was in the One she confessed.
11:28-32 – It is valuable to have a record of this conversation, the only one in the four Gospels with Martha alone. Mary is a woman noted for her devotion to Christ, yet it was Martha who just made this clear confession.
Martha carried to Mary the invitation from Christ for her to come to Him. The Lord Jesus is consistent in His love for these His friends. He did not come only to wake up Lazarus, but to restore him to his family. Mary's fast exit from the house was not understood by those present to comfort, thus they followed and came to the area where the Lord was. The account does not show Jesus heading to the house of Mary & Martha, but the meeting was outside the village. Since Jesus asked where Lazarus was laid (v.34), this meant that Mary, Martha and Jesus had those comforters follow to Lazarus' tomb AND thus more became witnesses of his resurrection. Had Mary and Martha met Christ together earlier and gone directly to the tomb, the number of witnesses would have been reduced.
That Christ is called the Teacher reveals that even in His resting in their home, He was not taking a break from His assignment to do the Father's work. He taught, and Mary especially was eager to learn from Him. Since teaching was an essential aspect of the Messiah's ministry (see 4:25 and Isaiah 50:4), the content taught is highly treasured in our faith. To treat doctrine with disdain (a common response today) is to miss that Biblical doctrine is simply the teaching of Christ the Teacher! For this Mary had a great appetite.
Mary's words were the same as Martha's about the difference the presence of Christ would have made. It was like Mary, who would wash Jesus' feet and dry them with her hair, that she would fall at His feet.
11:33 & 38 – See below the Appendix 11A: Jesus' Emotion at the Grave of Lazarus. The difficulty here is first a matter of translation to establish the kind of emotion, and secondly, what it was that caused that kind.
No one expected a resurrection! It would be odd for Christ, in the setting of the recent death of His dear friend, to proclaim that He is the resurrection and the life, and then to give Martha and Mary only His words with no action to accompany them. There was not even an acknowledgment by either sister of a hypothetical possibility that He might raise Lazarus right away if He chose to do so. He had been dead for four days.
11:32-37 – The kind of mourning in that culture is shown in the word for weeping. Mary and those with her may have been wailing. When Jesus wept the word is different; it is a word for shedding tears.
The observation that Jesus loved Lazarus is accurate. The conclusion that He could have prevented the death is right. The memory of healing the man born blind (John 9) remained in the consciousness of the people in Jerusalem. The miracle related to Lazarus would have even more impact; no one expected Jesus to raise Lazarus!
11:38-40 – See Appendix 11A below. The objection by Martha is revealing. The Lord took a step closer to Lazarus' resurrection, yet Martha, at that moment thinking like an unbeliever, made an objection that showed no expectation of life for Lazarus. Her faith was not consistent with the truth that her Lord was the Resurrection and the Life, especially since He had indicated His intention to raise Lazarus before the Last Day.
The Lord either said expressly that she would see the glory of God or said things that made that clear earlier. (We never seem to have entire conversations reported in any of the Gospels.) Because God is a pardoning God (Isaiah 55:7), it is His glory to forgive quickly. It is also the glory of God in a new creation to undo the death man's sin has brought. It is the decision of God to wait till the Coming of Christ to raise His children to immortal life, but Christ gave a foretaste of that day in the case of Lazarus, even though poor Lazarus would die again.
This was not the beginning of a prayer for Lazarus. V.41 implies that this had been an earlier matter between the Father and the Son, because the Father had heard Jesus. Martha was right that whatever Christ would ask, the Father would do (v.22). By recording this theme twice, John is eager that this point should have our attention. Anything Jesus asks for He receives. He had asked for the life of Lazarus. By making public the content of His prayer, Christ shows Himself to be the effective Intercessor (Hebrews 7:25; Romans 8:34). The words to His Father "You always hear me" are a wonderful way to grasp the intercession of Christ for His people. The answers Jesus has merited for us are as certain as the resurrection of Lazarus. The benefit to those who heard was that they should see that He has come from the Father and can speak to Him on behalf of His people. If we can believe Christ came from God, then we can believe everything else about Him!
11:43-44 – Christ called for Lazarus to come out. He said this in a loud voice. (See the notes at v.26.) In Greek the order is feet and hands, but in English we tend to say "hands and feet". The feet have a certain priority here; they affect Lazarus walking. Maybe Lazarus came out hopping with his feet tied together.
This ends this part of the story. The Bible is God's Word, and John under the Holy Spirit, did not do what so many journalists today would do. They would ask what it was like at the moment of dying, what it was like when he was dead for four days, and all the human interest angles they could think up. This sign was intended to reveal the glory of God in the ministry of Christ. The Bible was not written to satisfy our curiosity, so the Apostle John does not spoil the sign by deflecting attention away from Christ.
The raising of Lazarus was a sign, because it pointed to something greater than itself. The ultimate resurrection is what Christ will do for all men. First, He had to suffer and rise from the dead Himself. When John reports Jesus' resurrection in 20:5-7, he gave detail of the cloths in which Jesus' body and face were wrapped. The arrangement of these strips of linen and the cloth for the head revealed that Jesus had simply passed through them. No one unwrapped Jesus' body, for the cloths showed how He had simply passed through them in the same way He entered closed rooms (20:19,26). They had all sagged in place. John planned to report this in chapter 20, so he paid special attention in chapter 11 to the burial clothes of Lazarus.
Lazarus had a different kind of resurrection. He returned to mortal life. When Christ comes again, His people will rise to eternal physical life, unlike Lazarus, never to die again. The resurrection of Lazarus was a foretaste of what was to come. It was symbolic of Jesus' future conquest of death for Himself and His people. (Note Ephesians 1:16-21.) In John 10:18 the Lord said He would take up His life again. In John 11 He gave life back to Lazarus. God was glorified in the resurrection of Lazarus (v.4). It has provided us a limited, yet powerful, picture of the future deliverance from death, evil, Satan, and all the consequences of sin.
This is the part of the Bible that tells where the decision was really made to have Jesus killed. In the Synoptics (i.e., Matthew, Mark & Luke) a trial before the Sanhedrin had Jesus present (Matthew 26:57-59). The purpose of that meeting was to make official the decision already made in John 11! By then they only needed some defensible charges as justification for their decision (Matthew 26:59,60). The reasons for Jesus' death at the trial were different (blasphemy according to Matthew 26:65,66) from the earlier decision here in John 11. The real reason for murder is given here: they saw Jesus as growing in influence; thus they were losing their power over the people. Pilate knew that the Jewish leadership were envious of the attention being given to Christ (Mark 15:9,10). Perhaps they did fear that a major messianic movement with many people proclaiming one person as the King of Israel, would provoke the Roman government to react. If Rome did, the members of the Sanhedrin and the Jewish people might lose their privileges as a semi-autonomous nation within the Roman Empire, and religious freedom centered in their temple.
11:45,46 – Many saw and believed; others knowing the Pharisees to be Jesus' opponents went to inform them of this miracle. The Jewish leaders had a major problem with the growing fame of Jesus. What He did in Bethany provided even more credibility that He was the Messiah. See The Divided Response below.
John shows again the opposition that viewed Jesus as evil for healing the man at the Pool of Bethesda, the blind man at the Pool of Siloam, and raising Lazarus. We have no indication that Lazarus was raised on the Sabbath to parallel the other signs in John 5 and 9. So that was probably not the ultimate irritation to the Jewish leadership in Jerusalem. "If we let Him go one like this everyone will believe in Him!" (v.48). That people would follow Christ and turn away from them was justification in their minds for murder!
The Lord Jesus came unto His own people first (Romans 1:16). As a group, except for a remnant (Romans 11:1-6), they did not receive Him (1:11). Those persons who did receive/believe (1:12) among the Jews and Gentiles did not come in a united believing response to Christ as a group. It was only some Jews and later some Gentiles in every place the message was preached. The closest we see in this Gospel to a united response by a community, is in the village of Samaria. We never hear of this village again in the Bible. There many (4:39) and many more (4:41) believed.
After the various positive responses of faith in chapters 1-4, we find stiff rejection of Christ in 5:16-18,40. Many disciples abandoned Him in 6:66-69, and of the Twelve, even one of them was a devil (6:70,71). Members of His family did not believe in Him (7:5). The division about Christ continued in 7:12,13,30,31; 9:16; and 10:19-21. Of all the persons who spoke to Christ in John 8, the only response was rejection, including those who had "believed" in Him!! (8:31) Here in 11:45,46 a division appears again.
Lazarus had been raised after four days in his tomb. In these signs John stresses the element of difficulty: a man crippled for 38 years (John 5), a very large crowd to feed with so little food to spread to all (John 6), a man blind all his life (John 9), and a man dead and decomposing (John 10)! Three of these four signs happened in Jerusalem, the centre of what would soon be official and united resistance to Him. Clearly, miracles alone never sway the hard heart of unbelief (Matthew 11:20-24). We must be born of God (1:13).
The Lazarus incident was clearly the most spectacular of all. The evidence is that this family of three single adults in Bethany was very well known in Jerusalem. The death of Lazarus was well established as fact; then many comforters witnessed his resurrection and believed in Christ (v.45). Some who had seen the same event went off to tell the Pharisees what had happened. Jesus was again being believed in and rejected. Jesus Christ, the only unifier of the human race (Ephesians 2:14,19) is Himself One Who divides (Matthew 10:32-39). When sinners cannot accept the Creator Lord Redeemer Savior, they become estranged from those who do receive Him and eternal division results. In the future day, the Lord will exclude from the New Jerusalem all who would not believe (Revelation 21:6-8) and include all who do (Matthew 8:5-13). Thus it will be fulfilled that in Abraham all the peoples on earth will be blessed (Genesis 12:3).
11:47 – The powerful group that controlled the Sanhedrin was the Sadducee party. The chief priests were Sadducees. In their hatred of Christ, the Pharisee party joined them. Earlier a number with influence resolved to kill Jesus (5:18, and Mark 3:6), but John 11 gives the first meeting of the ruling council where they agreed in the highest level of Jewish authority to pursue His death. Note that they are unable to deny the fact of His many miracles. In the years after the New Testament was completed, they did not deny that He had done such mighty works. What they denied was that God was the source of His works (5:36; 10:37,38). Nicodemus, a member of the Sanhedrin, saw that the signs indicated clearly that Jesus was from God (3:2).
11:48 – Just how John ever knew to be able to record the insider information we find in this section, we do not know for sure, except that he was known to the high priest! (See 18:15.) Possibly Nicodemus was the source. Almost all the rulers were certain that Jesus was not the Messiah. Some thought, perhaps sincerely, that the danger was real that the Romans might come to crush a messianic movement if crowds followed Jesus, proclaiming Him as King of the Jews. The Romans had installed Herod (by this time long dead) and Herod's sons as quasi-Jewish rulers, loyal to Rome. If the Romans reacted strongly, they might decide to revoke all the Jewish privileges in worship (centred in the temple) and the limited freedom the Jewish nation had in their land. With this viewpoint in mind, Caiaphas offered his solution: Jesus must be killed. When they said, "If we let Him go on like this " they speak as if He is in their power. He was not! (Note 11:8-10). God is always in control; there is never an exception.
11:49-53 – They seemed to agree on a double threat: 1.) People believing in Jesus were not following them, and 2.) they supposed the Romans would react in a way that also endangered them. Obviously, they had selfish interests to protect. Caiaphas' simple solution was to kill the one man who was such a danger to them. The Pharisees should have objected that that would be breaking the law – something Jesus pointed out in 7:19. They did not; they agreed with Caiaphas. Caiaphas proposed a small act that would bring a huge benefit. It would be better "for you," a possible way John shows the self-interest in the Sanhedrin's action – better that one should die and not the nation. In this way he suggested a "small" twisting of obedience to God with a major good result. (Killing the Son of God is not small.)
By stating it as he did, Caiaphas the high priest of Israel2 acted unknowingly as a prophet. God had Balaam's donkey speak, and He can use the words of an unbelieving high priest to highlight the benefits of Jesus' death. Caiaphas did not speak politely but arrogantly. He felt all were stupid if they missed his simple solution. The gospel was in his words but not in his mind. John switches from Caiaphas' speech to his own words. The good news from God really is that one man died for the nation, i.e., the people of God.
John did not want his readers to think the death of Christ was for Jews only, the way the sacrifices of the OT were for Israel alone. John said the propitiation for our sins was not only for our sins but also for the sins of the whole world (1 John 2:2). John meant not for Jews only but also for others who are not Jews. In 11:52 these others are called the children of God scattered abroad. It helps to read 11:52 and 1 John 2:2 together. I think they express the same point. Just as Jews thought of other Jews scattered throughout the empire, John here said that the death of Christ is for those children of God spread elsewhere in the world. He probably had elect Gentiles in mind, calling them children of God (1:12) before they were converted! This is similar to Jesus referring to Gentiles He had not yet saved as His sheep (10:16).
John 12 gives the real reason the religious authorities had for putting Jesus to death. Later they would need some explanation they could give to the public. They said it was for blasphemy, something not mentioned in the deliberations of the Sanhedrin in John 11. The charge of blasphemy suggests to the public that their great concern was to defend the Name of God. However, what really mattered the most to them was their privileged role as leaders. If they were concerned about the glory of God, they would have refused to break His sacred commandment about murder. In John 11 they decided to put Him to death; later they were looking for how to do it (Luke 22:2). They had a meeting in the palace of Caiaphas. Even though they were eager to have Him killed, they decided not to do it during the feast when so many pilgrims were in Jerusalem (Matthew 26:1-5). All the other times when people tried to stone Him, it was not God's time. When they had chosen to avoid Jesus' arrest during the feast, it was God's time. Eventually they followed the schedule of God.
The death threats to Jesus were centered mostly in Judea. Mark 3:6 is an exception. He withdrew from the location of hostility (Mark 3:7). In Nazareth, when they attempted to kill Him, Luke reported that He simply went on His way (Luke 4:30). We never read of Jesus entering Nazareth again. He even withdrew from Judea when He heard that John had been arrested (Matthew 4:12).
In John 5, His opponents tried harder to kill Him. John does not say more than that. In John 6 Jesus was in Galilee; in chapter 7 the big question was whether He would return to Jerusalem for the Feast of Tabernacles (7:1-11). The Lord did not inform His brothers of the time He would go. In Judea the Jews were waiting to take His life (7:1). By the end of John 8 they attempted to stone Him. Jesus remained in Jerusalem (chapters 7,8,9,10) because He had work to do there (9:3-5) until the next attempt at stoning and arrest (10:31 & 39). At that time He traveled a long distance to a remote place beyond the Jordan in the vicinity of the Sea of Galilee (10:40). Returning to Bethany to wake up Lazarus (11:7-11) was filled with such danger the disciples reacted to it (11:8-16) but went with Him expecting to die (11:16). Then when the news of raising Lazarus reached the authorities in Jerusalem, they called a special meeting of the Sanhedrin and decided to put Him to death. The decision was made; all that was needed was to find Jesus in some private location so they could arrest Him out of public view. They gave orders that His location should be reported (11:57), thus it would be an offense for people to know and not tell how to find Jesus. In response to this, Jesus withdrew to a location His enemies did not know about, a village called Ephraim (11:54), a place mentioned nowhere else in the New Testament. During Passion Week, Jesus hid Himself again (12:36). The murderous intent of the religious authorities was well understood by Judas, since he was present to observe all these precautions and the escapes from those who would seize Him. That Judas knew all this, makes His treachery more evident.
There was a policy of careful protection of Christ's location, withdrawals from danger, and caution about when He would go to a feast. In light of this, we see more clearly how deliberate it was for Jesus to return to Jerusalem for His last public entrance, riding on a donkey, openly proclaimed as the King of Israel. Somehow the crowd had been informed of His coming (12:12). Jesus' bold public act meant His hour had come; He rode publicly and intentionally into His death, knowing exactly what was ahead as He entered the lion's den. Within that week He would be crucified outside the walls of God's city. This was Passover time and God's great Passover Lamb would be sacrificed for God's people. All who claimed protection from the wrath of God under the blood of this Lamb provided by God (1:29), would be eternally spared from the eternal death God imposes on sinners. Until the time God had appointed, Jesus avoided death that He might die on God's good schedule, where the timing of Passover for His sacrifice would make the gospel message clearer to us all.
11:55-57 – The time Jesus had been away from Jerusalem could not have been very long. He was in Jerusalem in the winter (10:22) and then He was back for Passover in the early spring. People wondered if Jesus would be present since there was so much opposition against Him. The order to report Jesus was well-known. The Greek wording shows that they did not expect Jesus to come to this Passover. People went early to the Passover to purify themselves in case they had, for example, contamination from a dead body or a grave. That kind of contact would make them unclean. (See Numbers 9:1-14.) Later in 18:28, the Jewish authorities would not enter the palace of Pilate because that would make them unclean and not qualified to eat the Passover. To avoid uncleanness, pilgrims went early to Jerusalem so they could have time for cleansing rites if needed. It is a strange situation that there was great concern not to be unclean at this feast time, while the greatest murder in history was already the policy of the highest court in the Jewish nation. 3 A terrible blindness had come over Israel (Romans 11:8).
That Jesus wept is one of the familiar facts of Jesus' life on earth. That skilful Bible teachers have many different interpretations of this section of John 11 is less well known. Likewise, credible translations differ.
When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 4 And he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept.
So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?" Then Jesus, deeply moved again, 5 came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" John 11:31-40 ESV
1. How should a certain verb be translated, the one for "deeply moved"?
2. If it is translated that Jesus was angry, then what is the specific reason for His anger?
Many assume that Jesus' feelings were simply a matter of grieving. They conclude that His feelings were compassion for the grieving sisters weeping at His side and/or perhaps sorrow over Lazarus still in his tomb. How one crucial verb is translated decides what John meant in his account of the nature of Jesus' emotion. Both the NIV and ESV adopt the more generic stance of "deeply moved". That choice makes no definite commitment whether the Lord was also angry about something or simply moved with grief alone. Most recent translations soften the word to groaning, sighing, deeply moved or something similar. The sense of anger is not evident. Recent translations indicate intense emotion.
NEB*: He sighed heavily and was deeply moved
JB (Jerusalem Bible)*: Jesus said in great distress, with a sigh that came straight from the heart
KJV & NKJV: He groaned in the spirit, and was troubled.
NIV: He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled
ESV: He was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled
* (In these, I have guessed, probably correctly, which words in English correspond to embrimaomai.)
What does the Apostle John mean by this word, a word that does not appear many times in the NT? It is used by John only in John 11:33, 38. It appears in Matthew 9:30 and Mark 1:43 to indicate someone being sternly warned. In Mark 14:5 the disciples used it to scold Mary for using such expensive ointment on Christ.
In 11:33 embrimaomai is joined to a different word that means that Jesus was troubled. Some translations add "greatly" in English to ensure that the readers is informed that this word also is a strong word. This word for being troubled is used: of the disciples being terrified (ESV) when they thought they saw a ghost (Mark 6:50); of Herod's consternation In Matthew 2:3; of Jesus announcing His betrayal by Judas John 13:21; and also when He spoke of His impending death (John 12:27); of people being troubled by false doctrine (Galatians 1:7 & Acts 15:24).
From the other uses of the verb, even though they are few, I conclude that embrimaomai in this text is not confined to the emotion of grief. It is used here to show the indignation of Christ.
If indeed Jesus' reaction to the weeping of Mary and others shows a sense of anger, what specifically is the object of that anger? Many can see that the verb embrimaomai conveys a sense of anger, but they find it strange to think Jesus was angry with a sorrowing sister who had just lost her brother. The word alone may be clear, but it may be the setting that makes translators soften the verb. Those who think Jesus was not indignant do not need to explain the object of Jesus' anger! What stirred Jesus' anger? Some suggestions:
1. Was it the sorrow of Mary? This is plainly preposterous! Jesus wept and as a "Man of Sorrows" He could not be angry at her sorrow. We are commanded to weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15).
2. Was it the nature of their mourning? In those days, people often had flute players and professional mourners who were very good at making a loud scene of sorrow with great demonstration of agony, whether sincere or not. See Luke 8:52. (Admittedly, the Greek words for their weeping (v.33) and His (v.35) are not the same.)
3. Was it sorrow over the loss of a friend? In a matter of minutes, Jesus would raise Lazarus from the dead. He began in v.4 by saying this sickness was not unto death. It is more likely that Jesus shared the sorrow of the sisters than that this is His sorrow over Lazarus, but I am not sure of this.
4. Was it that a miracle was forced on Him by friends? This misses the mark, since Jesus announced in advance that the sickness would not end in death and that He would go and wake Lazarus up. The miracle was for the glory of God. It was not forced on Jesus. He never indicated that He was being manipulated.
5. Was it anger at the destruction Satan had brought on humanity through sin? This is a theological explanation that brings to John 11 much truth from other passages of Scripture. It may well be a factor in Jesus' indignation, but nothing John 11 says requires this explanation. Jesus' response was connected to the weeping of Mary and those with her.
6. Was it a reaction to unbelief? I agree with D. A. Carson that this is the best explanation. The Lord had traveled in what was probably a four-day journey to arrive at Bethany. He did not disagree with the response of both Martha and Mary, that if He had been present, their brother would not have died. He told Martha that He was the resurrection and the life (v.25). This was not said simply to affirm a doctrine and a future resurrection; it was explicitly connected to a promise that her brother would rise again. According to a later verse (v.40), He had told her that if she believed she would see the glory of God. Did Jesus, Who had raised two others from death that we know of, make a trip into the dangerous area of Judea to see His close friends Mary and Martha, with no other purpose than to comfort them? Did He proclaim His ability to raise Lazarus with no intention to do it until the day at the end of the world when He raises all other men?
If their sorrow was of the wailing sort, as it seemed to be, that indicates a sorrow akin to the world's despair. The Apostle Paul said we do not mourn for believers the way the world grieves (1 Thessalonians 4:13). John 11 shows a great contradiction. The overwhelming sorrow was oblivious to the presence of the Resurrection and the Life. It is a terrible expression of unbelief. Just as faith pleases God (Hebrews 11:6), unbelief angers Him. Because of what Jesus encountered at the cave of Lazarus, He was indignant.
The word for Jesus' emotional distress is used twice, once in connection with Mary's weeping and the other just prior to Martha's objection against moving the stone. Would not Jesus' order to move that stone be a wonderful sign that He was about to remedy their sorrow? Why reply to the Lord, the Resurrection and the Life, that moving the stone would just allow the stench of a cadaver to escape? Jesus had a different purpose for taking away that stone. His response to Martha was a rebuke that she did not believe (v.40). The Lord did not say such things to rebuke her grief. I suggest that His anger in v.38 was in response to her unbelief. "Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?" Here is Jesus' explanation in the context. We need look no further.
We have plenty of reason to be careful to interpret Scripture with humility. Astute exegetes differ on this passage. Köstenberger notes that there is a "bewildering array of interpretations". Some scholars have been cautious not to treat embrimaomai as expressing Jesus' indignation. Then those who do, differ on what made Jesus angry. Certainly Jesus, who loved the sisters, had feeling for their sorrow. I think He also had indignation at their unbelief. The Lord is angry at every sin while He still loves His children. For us, divine wrath fell on Christ on the cross. It was love and grace that made God direct His anger in that way. Mary and Martha are examples of early believers in Christ. Mary especially is exemplary in devotion, but here the Bible shows even the most devoted souls are frail in faith. Thankfully, it is not our faith that wins heaven for us, but the strong Savior in Whom we place our weak faith.If you would like to discuss this article in our online community, please visit the RPM Forum.
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We have streaks of independence where we want to get things done all on our own.
These attitudes of self--sufficiency will likely have many manifestations.
There is the person who will not let another buy lunch.
There is the husband (it's always the husband) who refuses to stop and ask for directions when lost.
There is the store manager who, instead of delegating, tries to do things well beyond his/her job description.
I know that such tendencies exist in me. I think I'm getting better, but I'm not very good at receiving helpeven when it makes perfect sense.
An obvious example for me is my reluctance to go see a doctor. With all due respect to the doctors among us this morningit's not youit's me.
Irrationally, I try to beat every illness and injury on my own. Foolishly, my instinct is to try and make myself better by sheer will power, and the modicum of knowledge I possess.
I haven't had much success with that, by the way.
It is humbling when we realize that we lack the ability to remedy our own problems.
We do not have to wade very far into the gospel accounts before we see self--sufficient tendencies confronted by Jesus.
What we soon see is that Jesus recruits followers, not according to their fitness, but according to their need.
You've heard me say this before. Contrary to the modern day proverb, God does not help those who help themselves. God helps those who are helpless.
We see this principle very clearly in the calling of Levi in Mark, chapter 2. Parallel accounts can also be found in Matthew 9 and in Luke 5.
Levi, also known by the name Matthew, is noticed by Jesus while sitting at his tax--collection booth.
If there was a lengthy exchange between the two men, we know nothing of it. The only dialogue recorded for our edification is the two--word summons of Jesus: "Follow Me" (2:14).
Again, if there was any hesitation on the part of Levi, we read nothing of itonly that he "got up, and followed (Jesus)" (2:14).
Luke's version tells us that Levi "left everything" behind in order to follow Jesus (Lk. 5:28).
There are, at least, two astonishing aspects to this exchange.
The first astonishing aspect is that Jesus would call Levi in the first place. And the second astonishing aspect is that Levi would respond to the summons by leaving his occupation.
It is astonishing that Jesus would call Levi to be a disciple. As a tax collector, Levi was regarded among the most despicable of society.
Within the Jewish community, Levi was unacceptable on a number of different levels.
Firstly, Levi was politically unacceptable.
As a Jewish man, Levi collected taxes from Jews on behalf of the Roman government. Levi was regarded as a collaborator with the occupying authorities. He grew rich by extorting money from his own people and, as a result, he was politically unacceptable.
Secondly, Levi was religiously unacceptable.
As a tax collector, Levi was considered 'unclean' and was therefore barred from entering the synagogues.
And thirdly, Levi was socially unacceptable.
Orthodox Jews were forbidden to go on a journey with tax collectors, they were forbidden to do business with them, and they were forbidden to dine with them (Boice, The Gospel of Matthew, 149).
And, yet, in spite of all this, it is astonishing to see that Jesus sought after, and called Levi to be His disciple.
R. Kent Hughes says it well: "Jesus sought out the man no one else wanted" (Hughes, Preaching The Word: Luke; Vol.1, 184).
Almost equally astonishing is the fact that Levi answered the call of Jesus, left everything, and followed Him.
1st Century tax collectors were typically quite wealthy. It would have been a considerable sacrifice to leave behind a profession that paid so handsomely in order to follow a religious leader who was offering no stipend.
Bear, also, in mind that if following Jesus had not worked out, the fishermen could have returned to their trade. Levi, however, would not have that option.
It is highly unlikely that the Romans would rehire someone who abandoned their office. For Levi, following Jesus was a definitive break from his previous way of life.
Impressively, there are no signs of reluctance in Levi's decision. There are no signs of regret.
Quite the contrary, Levi throws a party to celebrate his new direction. Jesus attends the banquet as the guest of honour, and we're told that "many tax collectors and 'sinners'" were in attendance (2:15).
But remember, Levi the tax collector was politically, religiously, and socially unacceptable within the Jewish community.
This helps us to understand why the scribes and the Pharisees were startled by the news that Jesus was dining with Levi and his motley crew.
Addressing Jesus' disciples, they ask, "Why does He eat with tax collectors and 'sinners'?" (2:16).
Jesus, overhearing the question, steps in and responds, "It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (2:17).
We know enough about Jesus' view of the scribes and Pharisees to know that He did not actually regard them as "healthy" or "righteous" (see Matthew 23).
The scribes and the Pharisees were only healthy and righteous in their own eyes.
Much like Bryn MacPhail, who is often in denial regarding his weakened physical health, the scribes and Pharisees were in denial about the status of their spiritual health.
Much like Bryn MacPhail, who is determined to overcome every illness by sheer will power, the scribes and Pharisees believed they could fix any religious imperfection by relying on their meticulous compliance to rules.
The scribes and Pharisees were sick, but they would not recognize their spiritual condition.
I can think of nothing more dangerous than to imagine yourself to be well when, in reality, you are desperately sick.
The Bible tells us that sin has made all of humanity sick.
Unfortunately, there are some people, perhaps fearing the Great Physician, who are attempting to treat themselves by simply making adjustments to their outward behaviour.
But this is like applying make--up to cover a facial blemishthe treatment is but superficial.
We need to respond like Levi who, when called by the Divine Doctor, dropped everything in order to follow Him.
We could spend time this morning detailing the various differences between Levi and the Pharisees, but it seems to me that the damning difference has to do with pride.
The Pharisees and the scribes were unwilling to accept a negative diagnosis. They were unwilling to admit to their need.
Levi, by contrast, understood that he was sick, and was eager to be received by Jesus.
It has been rightly said that the difference between the U.S. army and Jesus Christ is that the army won't enlist you unless you are healthy, and Jesus won't enlist you unless you are sick.
I worry that there are people out there who are waiting until they "get everything together" before they come and be a part of a local congregation.
But this is a skewed perception of what the church is. Theologian, J.I. Packer, accurately describes our present context when he says that "The church (is like) a hospital in which nobody is completely well, and anyone can relapse at any time" (Packer, A Quest For Godliness , 65).
You could say that the Kirk is our hospital. You could say that our attendance here today is tantamount to seeking treatment.
And the good news is that we're not terminal. We're not beyond saving…because Jesus the Physician pursues those who recognize that they are sick.
In our day, if we are sick (and if we're not foolish like Bryn MacPhail), we go to a doctor's office or to the hospital.
It's possible for a doctor to make a house call, but that is less common in our day.
In Jesus' day, there were no hospitals or doctor's offices. Accordingly, doctors went to their patients.
Jesus drew on this pattern as He explained to the Pharisees why He was dining with 'sinners'.
As a spiritual doctor, Jesus was visiting with His patientsHe was seeking out those who were sick.
If Jesus is our Divine Physician, it will help us to think about how we typically engage doctors.
Good patients will submit to their doctor's leading and will yield to their doctor's wisdom.
Good patients do not place orders for the medication they prefer, but rather, good patients trust the doctor to provide them with appropriate prescriptions. Friends, this must be our approach as we come before the Great Physician.
We must yield to His wisdom and we must trust that what He has prescribed for us in His Word is best.
We are not required to fix ourselves. We are not capable of fixing ourselves.
Our task is simply to recognize our sickness, and to submit to the Great Physician.
Whenever I swim in the ocean I am reminded of the time I nearly drowned as a young boy.
I was playing in the ocean at Boynton Beach, Florida when a strong undertow caused me to lose my footing.
When the ocean pulled me under, it felt like I would be permanently pinned to the ocean floor. It was a terrifying thing.
I remember trying to get my bearings, and trying to figure out which way was up.
Anyone who has been gripped by an undertow knows the panic one feelsyou wonder if you will ever break free.
You feel totally helpless.
After a few seconds of struggling underwater, I felt my grandfather's hand take hold of my upper arm like a vice grip. My grandfather, with the hand strength only a farmer could possess, pulled me effortlessly to the surface.
When my grandfather grabbed my arm, I remember yielding completely to his strength. I did not resist.
The thought never entered my mind that I should show him that things aren't so bad; or that I could help myself. All I thought was, yes! Thank you!
Friends, this is how it should be when God grips us. It is not wise to wave Him off and act as though we have everything under control.
Your weakness qualifies you for God's help.
Your sickness gives you entry to the office of the Great Physician.
Dear friend, the Doctor will see you now. Go to Him in prayer. Take the medicine He prescribes and you will be made well. Amen.
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This is how John Bunyan begins his classic allegory, Pilgrim's Progress. He illustrates what it looks like to become and grow as a Christian. The allegory is carried along the path of a journey. In that journey, there are many twists and turns. Many setbacks but ultimate progress. It is fundamentally a journey of grace, yet not without confusion.
In the book, How People Change, I say, "Nothing is more obvious than the need for change. Nothing is less obvious than what needs to change and how that change happens (p. 17)." Can you identify with that sentiment? Sometimes change can feel so elusive.
For example, Dan has struggled with the same temptation for years. He has tried countless times to change but to no avail. He doesn't even know where to begin. Nancy struggles with debilitating anxiety and depression. She, too, has tried so many different things to change but nothing seems to help. At first glance, you might think that Dan and Nancy are unique, but they are not. They are normal people trying their best to navigate life and its challenges.
So how do you experience change? How do you grow in grace? How do you begin to experience renewal in an area of your life? In this series of posts, I would like to propose eight basic steps for growth in grace. This is not a simplistic technique, but an attempt to be as practical as possible. Let's start with the first step.
Whenever you start to see areas of struggle in your life, it can immediately produce guilt and shame. The natural instinct is to deny, hide or cover up the struggle. We see this instinctive movement with Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden. Upon their initial disobedience, they hid from God, covered themselves and shifted the blame in an effort to avoid facing their guilt and shame.
Given this natural instinct to hide, cover and blame-shift, it is so important to begin the change process in a place of confidence and safety. I believe this is the pattern of Scripture. Whenever the biblical writers are addressing disobedience or calling believers to further obedience, they almost always start with emphasizing God's covenant love and faithfulness to his people. When there are exceptions, the writers warn their readers first and then remind them of God's steadfast compassion. This is the structure of the 10 commandments. Before God gives the people of Israel his commands, he begins with these words:
I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of Egypt, out of the land of slavery (Exodus 20:2, Deuteronomy 5:6).
This pattern is repeated all throughout Scripture. The commands of God are grounded in the grace of God. Paul does the same thing in Philippians 2:1-4:
If you have any encouragement from being united with Christ, if any comfort from his love, if any fellowship with the Spirit, if any tenderness and compassion, then make my joy complete by being like-minded, having the same love, being one in spirit and purpose. Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.
Notice the pattern. Before he calls them to obedience in verse 2, he grounds them in their relationship with God in Christ. It is then that he says "then." The same pattern can be see in Colossians 3:12:
Therefore, as God's chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience.
Before Paul tells them what they are to do, he tells them who they are: chosen, holy and dearly loved! The final passage that is worth noting is Titus 2:11-14:
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say "No" to all ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age, while we wait for the blessed hope--the glorious appearing of our great God and Savior, Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all wickedness and to purify for himself a people that are his very own, eager to do what is good.
In this passage, Paul points to Jesus' first and second coming to strengthen our hope and resolve to such a degree that we are eager to do what is right. The Gospel restrains ("say no to ungodliness") and deeply motivates us ("eager to do what is good") to grow in faith and obedience.
With this Biblical backdrop in mind, locate a few passages that enable you to relate to God with confidence that you belong to him and you are secure in his gracious and loving embrace. Don't stop there. Start talking to God and thanking him for how he has loved you with an everlasting love. Is there a particular passage that you find comfort in other than the ones I have chosen? Is there a favorite song or hymn that reminds you of his grace? A poem? A phrase? A work of art? A friend who tells you the Great News whenever you see them?
So often we listen to the voice of our conscience that whispers words of guilt, shame and condemnation. These thoughts hum in the background of our minds like white noise preventing us from hearing the clear sound of God's voice. You must fight to replace the false narrator with the true Narrator who speaks the truth about who you are and to whom you truly belong. This is the true and living Creator and Redeemer who has revealed himself in Christ.
Copyright © 2017 Timothy S. Lane
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Our remarks we may conveniently throw under two heads—what he was viewed NATURALLY—and what he was viewed spiritually.
His natural intellect seems to us to have been singularly clear, sound, penetrating, and sagacious. We have in our day met with men of more capacious mind, greater reasoning powers, and more varied and versatile talents—but with few or none so quick-sighted and ready-witted. He seemed at once intuitively to penetrate through the folds of delusion and error, and with a glance of his eye to look into the very heart of everything that he turned his attention to. We venture to say that few people ever spoke to Mr. Gadsby without his knowing pretty well the end of the sentence before they had got halfway through it, or before his quick and humorous eye had not already deciphered the character of the speaker. His quick, ready witted replies, embodying so much in a few words, will be long remembered by those who heard them from the pulpit or in the parlour.
Though not possessed of much education (an advantage, by the way, much overrated), he was a man of much reflection, and may be said in this way to have educated his own mind far better than school or college could have done for him. His mind was of that class which rises according to the emergency. Some minds sink and fail when unusual circumstances and pressing difficulties arise. ... But there are other minds (and Mr. Gadsby's was one of that class) which rise with, and are called out by difficulties and emergencies, and shine most conspicuously when weaker minds give way.
The Lord had appointed Mr. Gadsby to be a leader, and to stand for half a century in the front rank of His spiritual army. He therefore bestowed upon him a mind not to be daunted with difficulties and dangers, but to rise with and to be ready for every new emergency. He was to occupy a post also in keen-witted and energetic Manchester—where, perhaps, of all places in the kingdom, strength, decision, and soundness of mind are most required; and to labor much in the North, where brains or the lack of them are quickly perceived by its sagacious inhabitants. The Lord therefore gave him a mind eminently adapted for his post. Classics and mathematics, grammar and history, and all the lumber of academic learning were not needed; but an acute, sagacious, clear, and sound understanding was required for such a commanding post, as Mr. Gadsby was to occupy. We only knew him when his mental faculties were guided by grace, and made to glorify God; but, viewed in that light, we consider that his mental endowments were admirably fitted for his post.
Benevolence and sympathy with suffering, in every shape and form, we believe to have been natural to Mr. Gadsby; and though it may be hard to define to what extent and in what direction grace enlarged and guided his natural disposition, we do not doubt that, even had he lived and died in a state of nature, the character of humanity, kindness and affection, would have been stamped upon his memory.
But we pass on to view him SPIRITUALLY, and here we freely confess our inability to do him justice. We shall briefly mention first what strikes us as the prominent features of his ministry, and then what we have observed in him as connected with his Christian profession.
Thorough soundness in every point seems to have been peculiarly stamped upon his ministry. Whether he handled doctrine, experience, or precept—his speech and his preaching were sound, clear and scriptural. We know no preacher who was so equally great in these three leading branches of the Christian ministry. Some may have excelled him in clearness and fullness of doctrinal statement; others may have entered more deeply and fully into a Christian's diversified experience; and others may have more powerfully enforced the precepts of the gospel. But we never heard anyone who was so uniformly great in all—and so clearly, ably and scripturally gave to each their place, and yet blended their distinct colors into one harmonious gospel tint. In doctrine he was not dry, in experience he was not visionary, and in precept he was not legal—but, in a way peculiarly his own, he so worked them up together that they were distinct and yet united, relieving each other without confusion, and like the three strands of a rope, strengthening each other without cumbrous knot or loose tangle.
In handling DOCTRINE he showed "integrity" (Titus 2:7), and was singularly free from fanciful interpretations, strained and mystical views upon dark texts, and that false spiritualization which passes with many for wondrous depth, but which he valued at its due worth. In reading his published sermons we have been much struck with the soundness, clearness, simplicity and sobriety of his interpretations. He saw too clearly that his doctrine was the doctrine of the Scriptures to wrest any part of the Word from its connection, or to rest a truth upon a text which did not clearly declare it, when there were so many passages in which the Holy Spirit had plainly revealed it.
His object was not that William Gadsby should be admired for his ingenuity, learning, depth of eloquence—but that the God of all grace should be glorified. He did not dare to make the pulpit a stage for 'creature display', still less a platform from which he might keep up a perpetual excitement by some new view of a passage, some startling paradox, some dazzling array of figures and illustrations—the whole sermon being to illustrate this text—"Who so great a man as I?"
In doctrine his favorite topic was the union of the Church with her covenant Head, and all the spiritual blessings that spring out of that union. Nor did he ever keep back the grand truths which are usually denominated Calvinistic, but which should rather be called 'Bible truths'.
Election, in particular, was a point he much dwelt upon, and it usually occupied a prominent place in all his discourses. No man was less afraid of the doctrine frightening and alarming people, or being a stumbling-block in the way of the enquirer. He had no idea of smuggling people into religion, and insinuating Calvinism so gently that they were made Calvinists almost before they knew it. He knew that the doctrine was of God—and, as the servant of God, he proclaimed it on the walls of Zion.
The doctrine of the Trinity too was a darling topic with him. He well knew that it was the grand foundation stone of revealed truth, and that out of a Triune God flowed all the mercies and blessings that are bestowed upon the Church of Christ.
In a word, he held "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." No novelty in doctrine allured him from the old path. For nearly fifty years he stood upon the battlements of Zion, holding forth the word of life; and from the beginning to the end of his ministry maintained, with undeviating consistency, the same glorious truths, and sealed them at last with his dying breath.
Among innumerable false, unmoved,
Unshaken, unseduced, unterrified,
His loyalty he kept, his love and zeal;
Nor number, nor example, with him wrought,
To swerve from truth, or change his constant mind,
Though single.
In handling EXPERIENCE, into which he seemed more particularly led during the latter years of his life, he neither set up a very high—nor a very low standard. But he always insisted strongly upon such an experimental knowledge of the spirituality of God's law as should completely throw down and cut to pieces all creature righteousness, and always contended for such an experimental knowledge of Christ as should bring pardon and peace. No man ever, we believe, expressed himself more strongly upon the deep corruption of the heart, its deceitfulness, horrible filthiness, and thorough helplessness.
One point we have often admired in his ministry; he would touch upon such spots as no other minister that we know ever dared approach. And this he did in a way peculiar to himself. He did not give glowing descriptions of human depravity; but sometimes in a way of warning, and sometimes with self-abhorrence, and sometimes as a word of encouragement to poor backsliders—he would touch upon sins which would make pious professors lift up their eyes with mock horror. But he hit the right nail on the head, as many of God's children know to their soul's joy. Of sin he never spoke but with the greatest abhorrence; but he was not one of those who are all holiness in the pulpit, and all filthiness out of it.
Another point which we have thought he handled in a way peculiarly his own, and with great sweetness and power, was, to use his favorite expression, "the riches of matchless grace." Were we to mention a text which seems to sum up his preaching, it would be Romans 5:20-21, "Moreover the law entered that sin might abound"—(these were his views upon the law) "but where sin abounded" (what a field for opening up, as he would sometimes do, the aboundings of inward sin and filth!) "grace did much more abound"—here he was at home in tracing out the glories of sovereign, distinguishing grace. The glory of God's grace, from its first rise in the eternal covenant, to its full consummation in future blessedness, was indeed his darling theme. When speaking of the heights of super-angelic glory to which the blessed Redeemer had raised the Church, he was sometimes carried, as it were, beyond himself. A grandeur and dignity clothed his ideas, and he spoke with such power and authority, that it seemed almost as if he had been in the third heaven, and was come back to tell us what he had seen and heard there!
Great originality, all must admit, was stamped upon his ministry. His ideas and expressions were borrowed from none. His figures and comparisons were singularly original and pertinent, and generally conveyed his meaning in a striking manner. Few men's reported sermons bear reading so well as his—that great test whether there is any sterling stuff in them. Very simple, and yet very clear, very full of matter, and that of the choicest kind, with the text thoroughly worked out, and that in the most experimental manner.
A friend of ours and his well characterized, we think, in one sentence Mr. Gadsby's ministry. "It contains," said he, "the cream of all the preachers I ever heard." We think this is an appropriate expression. His sermons were not 'skimmed milk'—but were rich in unction savor, and power—and possessed a fullness and depth such as we find in no other reported sermons that we have seen.
But our limits remind us that we must not dwell too long upon his ministry, and therefore we proceed to drop a few hints on his CHRISTIAN CHARACTER, more especially as it came under our personal observation.
1. One feature we have often admired in Mr. Gadsby's character—his singular HUMILITY. Who ever heard him angle for praise? Who ever heard him boasting of, or even alluding to—his popularity as a preacher—his large congregation—his gifts for the ministry—his acceptance with the people of God—his numerous invitations to preach at different places, and the blessing that generally rested upon his pulpit labors? Who ever perceived him, in the most indirect manner, fishing to learn who had heard him well, and dabbling in that wretched love of flattery—which, disgusting in all, is doubly so in the ministers of the gospel?
We have seen him, after some of the grandest sermons we have ever heard in our lives, sitting with no self-approving smile upon his countenance—no mock-bashful looks, as if waiting to receive the incense of flattery—no self-enthroned dignity of state as king of the pulpit and lord of the vestry—but like a little child, simple and humble, the chief of sinners, and less than the least of all saints. Great as he was as a minister, and deservedly esteemed and loved, there was nothing in him of 'the great master'. No man was ever more free from priestly dignity or fleshly holiness. It was not with him, "I am the great man to be listened to by my knot of admirers—what I say is law—and all you have to do is to approve." Such parlour priest-craft the honest soul of William Gadsby abhorred!
2. His conduct out of the pulpit, as far as our observation goes, was singularly consistent with all his profession in it. We do not speak here of mere outward consistency. What but a lying tongue, ever found a visible blemish in his fifty years ministry? But in the little courtesies of life, who ever entertained a more courteous visitor than he? Who of the numerous friends who at different places received him into their houses ever saw in him an overbearing, fretful, covetous, selfish, proud disposition? Kindness and friendship, and courtesy to all, sometimes even to a fault, shone forth in him.
3. And who ever heard him slander and backbite, or peddle gossip from house to house? Admitted as he was into the bosom of so many families, who ever knew him to talk of what he must have seen and witnessed in so many places? Naturally disposed to humour, what a fund there would have been for his quick and ready-witted tongue! But who ever heard him make any allusion, except to the kindness of his entertainers, or who ever knew him carry tales from one end of England to the other?
4. How singularly free, too, was our departed friend from running down and depreciating brother ministers! We never once heard him drop an unkind allusion or say a disparaging word against a minister of truth. His hand never carried a secret dagger to stab his brethren with. On the contrary, we have thought him too open hearted and long-armed, and too ready to receive as men of God ministers whose only recommendation was a sound Calvinistic creed. If he erred, it was that he thought and spoke too well of some professing godliness—from whom the mask has since dropped. But of this a minister might be sure, that if Mr. Gadsby received him as a brother, he treated him as such behind his back as well as before his face. He never sought to exalt himself by depreciating them, and was the last to say a word to their discredit, or which, if repeated, would wound their minds.
5. And to this we may add, that, as he was the last to depreciate, so was he the last to flatter. His kindness and brotherly love kept him from the one, and his sincerity preserved him from the other. He neither said crude things to wound—nor smooth things to please. He did not tyrannize with violent temper—nor fawn with canting servility. He neither took liberties nor allowed them; he knew his place and kept it; and while, by a calm, courteous demeanor, he preserved the respect due to him as a Christian man and minister, he was frank, free, and obliging. In fact, he rather erred, now and then, as we have hinted, on the side of courtesy. He was desirous of making himself agreeable, and sometimes this led him to repeat the thrice-told tale, and tell the well-known anecdote, sometimes humourous, but usually profitable in its intention, and almost always to depreciate himself.
But we feel we must stop. Our limits do not allow us to dwell upon his extensive labors in the ministry, his frequent and long journeyings to preach the gospel—his self-denying and temperate habits of life—his prudence in domestic and monetary matters—his kindness and liberality to the poor—the noble manliness of his character—and his entire freedom from cant, hypocrisy, and whine. We highly esteemed and loved him, and revere his memory with growing affection. We consider it a privilege to have known him, and would not be in the ranks of those who despised or slandered him for a thousand worlds.
|This article is provided as a ministry of Third Millennium Ministries (IIIM). If you have a question about this article, please If you would like to discuss this article in our online community, please visit the RPM Forum.
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Personal Assistant
NHS AfC: Band 5
- Personal Assistant
- NHS AfC: Band 5
- Fixed Term until 31st March 2019
- Full Time 37.5 hours per week
- Quarry House
- Leeds
- £23,023 - £29,608 per annum
- 23/08/2018 23:59
NHS England leads the NHS in England, setting the priorities and direction of the NHS and informing the national debate to improve health and care. We strongly believe in health and high quality care for all, now and for future generations and want everyone to have greater control of their health and wellbeing, and to be supported to live longer, healthier lives by high quality health and care services that are compassionate, inclusive and constantly-improving.
NHS England shares out more than £100 billion in funds and holds organisations to account for their spending. Our work involves the commissioning of health care services in England, and we support local health services that are led by Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs). We have devised and are delivering a strategic vision for the NHS, along with our partners in health, called the Five Year Forward View.
If the advertised role is based in London on an Agenda for Change Pay Band, it will attract a High Cost Area supplement. This supplement is not applicable to Executive or Senior Manager or Medical Leader positions. For positions offered on a part time basis, salary and any allowances will be adjusted pro rata.
We will not accept applications for this position by CV or via recruitment agencies.
The NHSBSA is responsible for the processing of your application; a privacy notice is attached to advise you on how we will process your personal data.
We are looking to recruit an experienced Personal Assistant to join the Director of NHS Operations and Delivery team. The successful candidate must have proven experience of supporting someone at a very senior manager level, ideally within the NHS or public sector. Excellent organisational skills, flexibility and professional approach to work are important in this role, as well as being able to work under significant time pressure and demonstrating resilience when faced with large workloads. You will need to be highly effective at handling complex diaries, and will have confidence in communicating with range of internal and external stakeholders within the NHS and other Arm's Length Bodies.
In particular the post holder will
- Successfully plan and organise the highly complex diary of the Director. This will include planning and organising a wide range of activities with other professionals and external agencies. Utilise judgmental skills in regards to organising a conflicting diary and managing an unpredictable workload with frequent adjustment to plans.
- Provide and coordinate administrative and secretarial services for the Director's meetings, supporting the Business Manager and undertaking enquiries as and when necessary for the Director and the Operations and Delivery team.
- Provide high quality project, service, initiative and administrative support including information and analysis.
- Provide high quality project, service, initiative and administrative support including information and analysis.
- Undertake reporting and analysis of information to support delivery
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Further details / informal visits contact
Sandra Manu - Senior Business Manager
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