"I Am the Resurrection and the Life" | John 11:1–44

Show Notes

Episode 728: 
In this episode, we dive into one of the most profound and emotional stories in the New Testament: the raising of Lazarus from the dead, as recounted in John 11:1-44. We discuss the significance of Jesus' declaration, "I am the resurrection and the life," and how this miracle of raising Lazarus is arguably the most significant miracle Jesus performed outside of his own resurrection. We highlight the buzz this event created, especially as it occurred just before Passover, drawing many people to witness the miracle.

What is The Bible Guys?

Whether you’ve been following Jesus for years or you’re just starting to ask questions, there’s a seat for you here.

Join Jeff and Chris for honest conversations about Scripture, faith, and the everyday stuff we all navigate. With humor, personal stories, and plenty of back-and-forth, The Bible Guys explore what the Bible says and how it connects to your life.

Subscribe, bring your questions, and get to know the Bible one conversation at a time. Head over to TheBibleGuys.com for more information!

You're listening to the Bible Guys, a podcast where a couple of friends talk about the Bible in fun in practical ways. Good morning, Jeff, it was so close I got you that. Yeah, I was for it's a three feet yeah, okay, I was. I was gonna seject everybody to three in a row. Yeah. If you're new to the podcast, Chris on occasion will delight all of our listeners with his rendition of good morning. Yes from from Singing in the Ringing. In the Rain, and the previous two he went back to back, Monday and Tuesday. I will give you a fake dollar if you could tell me who sings that song in the original movie Singing in the Ring. No, okay, well, actually he participates. But who's the lead of that song? A girl? Yes? Yes, who's who is it? It's Princess Leah's mom. It's Kerry Fisher's y Fisher's mom. Yes, yeah, I don't know. Well they're both dead, yeah, kay Fisher's mom Debbie Reynolds. Oh okay, there it is very good. Okay, so we are. This first minute has been incredible. Okay, people, if you like the first minute, just wait for the next twenty. Four whatever, incredible whatever. Jesus says, I am the Resurrection and the life, which is a famous saying. And if he were doing this podcast, he might cover the story of the raising of Lazarus. Oh this might You're right, yes, Oh that's a good one. He probably would. In fact, I would argue and say, this is probably the biggest miracle outside of his own resurrection that took place in the life of Jesus. Oh definitely. Would it created a buzzouldn't it? Well? It did. In fact, this is right before passover, and it says that people showed up at Passover because they heard that he raised lives. Was a big deal. Yeah. So anyway, before we get to that, Desiree has a segment for us called would you rather? These are fun, they're always would you rather? Yeah? And it usually gives us two awful. Choice and it gives people a little insight into the the dynamic relationship the two of us have. Yeah, and and more importantly enigma that is Jeff fort. And Chris Well, yeah. Okay, would you rather have to do finger guns? Would you? It's so funny? Would you rather have to do finger guns? Every time you make eye contact? That is so funny or shout I'm a genius every time you get something. Right. Well, I already do the I'm a genius thing every time I get something sort of sort. Of maybe not really, you don't, but but it is. It is maybe something that you might have an easier time doing. Yeah, but the guns, the guns every time you make eye contact. Yeah, yeah, yeah, you would really want. To think about this every time you make eye contact. Dude, Come on, I'd have to do I'm a genius because as you could downplay the I'm a genius, and but you can't downplay this. So the only time you have to shout I am a genius is every time you're right, which is which is rare. Okay, okay, right, So you'd have to do finger guns way more often. Is that it? Or not look anybody in the eye. Yeah, well there you go walk around your eyes closed. Okay, So what do you choose? Genius genius? Yeah? Okay, me too. Yeah, that's I think you'd have to do it way less often. Yes, would you rather have a voice that echoes dramatically or a laugh that sounds like a kazoo. That's a weird set of questions right there. Weird choices. Yeah, echoes dramatically, it's that that's my voice whenever I do like a dramatic voice, like like the like the the Monster Truck shows. Yeah, Tuesday, Tuesday, Tuesday. Yeah, but it's saying echoes dramatically. It's your whole voice, which means every time you speak, or just a laugh that sounds like you speak for a living. Yeah. As opposed to the laugh as a kazoo, I think I think we'd have to. I'd have to do the laugh as a kazoo. Well I would too, because nobody could, you know, have all of their voice echo. Well, we're not professional laughers, we're professional speakers, right, yeah, yes, yeah, yeah. Wow, professional speakers. Wow. I guess that is true. I never think about that all right. Number three? Would you rather only be able to speak in dad jokes or have to laugh at every dad joke you hear, even the bad ones? Oh that's easy, just laugh at the bad ones, holy cos. Well no, it's actually laugh at every dad joke, even the bad ones. Yes, that's what I'm saying. I would laugh at every dad joke. Yes, it's actually a pleasure to laugh because every dad joke. Only being able to speak in dad jokes means again, as professional speakers, right, it may be difficult for us to actually. And by the way, even those who don't speak as professional speakers. Yeah, you still speak, that's right. You can't just speak in dad jokes like Desire's in the back right there, and Josh is listening, he's doing the audio. They couldn't live their lives only in dad jokes. Yes, you're right, Yeah, you're correct. Yeah. And they're not speakers, they're sound people. All right. Would you rather have a fridge that sings opera when opened or a toaster that screams when your toast is ready? A fridge that sings opera went opened? That that sounds hilarious, by the way. A toature that screams, oh, definitely, a toasture that screams when your toast is ready. You open your. Fridge way more at number one number two. Opera could be rough. In the morning, it depends on what song. Well, in the mornings it's still pretty rough. I don't know. You you sneak out of it. You can never sneaking at at midnight's net. That's true. So our fridge does sing. Our fridge has Alexa built into it. Oh does it? Yeah, yeah, yeah, so Bonnie always has it playing music anyways. Oh that's funny. And but screaming when your toast is ready is helpful. Actually, so you put them so. I'd love it. Yeah, you like that? Be great? Okay, Hey I bought your toaster. Oh it's great. Yeah, yeah, you bought me a toaster and and it actually toasts. If our listeners are wondering what kind of relationship we have, we have a toaster buying relationship. Yes, that's the level of our friendship. And he bought me a toaster for my birthday and it's and it toasts the face of Bob Ross on the toaster and onto onto the toast. And I have to tell you, I have never loved the gift more. I love it and and uh and then you and you left me a note and you said, yes, you said to the most creative person that I know. That's right, which I will never forget. So you and Bob Ross, I appreciate the two of you are rate at the same level on my list creative people, creative people, and. Only only he says, we'll make a happy tree. We'll just make this a happy tree. It's right. Yeah, I don't say that, but I do do it when I paint, I make happy trees all the time. How could you not? Right? That's right? All right? Number five? Would you rather exit every conversation with a bow and farewell peasants or enter every room with jazz hands and a wink? You have got to be killing This is hilarious. These are good ones, This is these are great. Okay, exit every conversation with a bow and saying farewell peasants. I already do that. Yeah, right, you do that. The arm now as the boss. Okay, today, for the rest of the meetings we have today, it is farewell peasants, Farewell peasants. So I have a meeting. I have a meeting for Transform one, and we're gonna go down to Bethesda. We're gonna meet with the staff. Farewell. Okay, let's let's table that idea about. Let's decide not to do. I don't think I could do that to them. Well, then when you walk in, then it has to be jazz hands. Jazz hands, which is more my style, it is, right, Yeah. I think that's what she did, is she chose our styles and gave us one sid well, of course, of course that's what happened. That Farewell Peasants is you. Jazz hands in a week is me? For sure. I know that Farewell Peasants is me, But the jazz hands and winks not me. Well, it's you when you're joking. Yeah, yeah, yeah, right, I mean you don't think. That you just you could easily joke that way, that's right. Yeah. So yeah, I mean like like I would really embrace jazz hands in a wink. Yes, right, I would do it as a joke. So those are great. Okay, that might be my favorite one we've done in quite some time. I agree, those are great there, I agree. Yeah, way to go, good John Desk. Talking about some of the favorite things you've ever done. Hey, speaking of jazz hands in a wink, that's I believe that's what Lazar's did when he came out of it too. Doesn't say it, but in no. In my mind, I picture Lazar is doing jazz hands in a wink. No, that's okay. I was gonna say. One of the favorite things Jesus ever did was raised his friend from the day. Yours is better? Yep. Okay, So we are in John chapter eleven, yep, and we're one through forty four, so we go to get with it. I got a lot of reading to do. We're not gonna be able to talk very much about it. We're just gonna read the story. Trust you can be able to pick up. Excuse me. So it says a man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters Mary and Martha. This is the Mary who later poured the expense of perfume on the Lord's feet and wiped her them with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was sick, so the two sisters sent a message to Jesus, telling him, Lord, your dear friend is very sick. But when Jesus heard about it, he said, lazarus is sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God, so that the Son of God will receive glory from this. So, although Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days. Finally he said to his disciples, let's go back to Judea. But his disciples objected, Rabbi, They said, only a few days ago the people in Judee were trying to stone you are you going there again? Jesus replied, there are twelve hours of daylight every day. During the day, people can walk safely. They can see because they have the light of this world. But at night there is danger of stumbling because they have no light. And then he said, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. But now I will go and wake him up. Disciples said, Lord, if he's sleeping, he will soon get better. They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died. So he told them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and for your sakes, I'm glad I wasn't there. For now you will really believe. Come, let's go see him. Tom has nicknamed the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, let's go too and die with Jesus. When Jesus arrived in Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem, and many of the people had come to console Martha and marrying their loss. When I got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. Martha said that Jesus, Lord, if only you'd been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask. Jesus told her, your brother will rise again. Yes, Martha said, he will rise when everyone else rises on the last day. Jesus told her, I am the resurrection in the life. Anyone who believes in me will live even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this, Martha, Yes, Lord, she told him, I've always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who's coming too the world from God. Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her the teacher is here, wants to see you, So Mary immediately went to him. Jesus stayed outside the village at the place where Martha met him. When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus's grave to weep, so they followed her there. When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feets. Of Lord, if only you'd been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. Where have you put him? He asked? They told him, Lord, come and see, and then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said how much he loved him, but some said this man healed a blind man. Couldn't you have kept the Lazarus from dying? There's always critics it was so funny. Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb a cave with a stone rolled across his entrance. Rolled the stone aside, Jesus told them, But Martha, the dead man's sister, protested the Lord. He's been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible. And the King, James says he thinking think so funny. Jesus responded, didn't I tell you that you would see God's glory if you believe. So they rolled the stone aside, and then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, they will believe you sent me. Then Jesus shouted, Lazarus come out, and the dead men came out, his hands and feet bound in graves clothes, and his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them unwrap him and let him go, loose him and set him free. Oh that's where we end. Yep. That's it verse forty four. Yep. And so yeah, there it is. What a great story. And Jesus very intentionally stayed back. And what was he at Beseta? Was he? And no, no, he's down in Judea. And now he was in Jerusalem and then in Judea and he left. So Bethany is just over the hill of the Mount of Olives. If Bethany's on the backside of the same hill that we would call the amount of Olives, on the other side facing the Eastern gate in Jerusalem. Okay, yeah, so he's just outside the city of Jerusalem. So he ends up staying there on purpose, knowing that he's going to raise lads Us from the dead. He says to his disciples, Hey, once you see this, you're really going to believe, right, So he knows the entire time he gets there. This is gonna be amazing. This is gonna be amazing. Buckle up, right. That's really essentially what he's doing is preparing them for for something that's going to be great. And he even says, Lazarus is dead, but it's not going to end in death. I'm gonna go wake him up. So he's announcing the miracle even before he does it. So can you even imagine, you know, they said, well, wait a minute, if he's sleeping, is gonna get better? No, no, he's dead. Now come with me, And so he'd already said I'm gonna wake him up, and then he says no, no, no, no, he's dead, which means they can figure it out. Like you know, he didn't say I'm going to raise him from the tomb, but he said I'm going to wake him up and it's not going to end in death. So it's pretty clear that he's announcing to his disciples beforehand that he's going to raise Lazarus from the dead. And now Peter, James and John they would have seen Jesus raised the young girl, right, So, but they were told not to tell anybody, so I often wonder did they tell the others, like did they tell the other ones or did they. Care to John? Yeah, yeah, Oh that's interesting. I don't know. Yeah. So so you know, with this. One, I think everybody was seeing the little girl. Right, but you know how it is. I mean other towns, right, I mean like other towns far away. It didn't necessarily have to travel all the way back. Not to mention, Jesus told the whole room not to tell anybody, right, give her something to eat? Remember, So So yeah, I just I often wonder if Peter, James and John is like, oh I believe this because we've seen this, And then I'm wondering if the other nine are just like what do you mean, Like, are you actually going to raise somebody from the dead? And I wonder if they had no knowledge of the girl. Oh yeah, so that that phrase, don't tell anybody. We didn't talk about this yesterday. It's funny that we're talking about it now. Yeah, that that phrase. I've heard some scholars say. It's not like stay silent and if you say anything, I'm going to be mad at you. It's a secret, right, It's not that it's there's no need to brag about this. Let the deed speak for itself. That's more along those lines, because like the maniac of Cadera, he comes out. He was insane, he was they chain him up. He's running naked and howling at the moon in the middle of the of the tombs, right, that's where he's living, full of demons, the Bible says, and then Jesus cast the demons out. Next thing you know, he's sitting clothed in his right mind in front of Jesus. Jesus, I want to follow you, and Jesus, don't go tell anybody what happened, just write go home. Well, everybody would have seen it, and so Jesus isn't saying keep it a secret. Jesus is saying, let what happened to you speak louder than your words, speak about it. That's that's what he's saying. So it may not have been keep it a secret as much as it was let the deed speak for itself, because everybody saw the little girl walking around. It's not like it was a secret. Yeah, right, And could be that. Remember, he was always see he seemed like he always was conscious about his fame, right like like like for instance, there are times where he said, hey, I've not told anybody this. Uh so, so don't tell anybody, right, I'm not ready for you know, he told his Yeah, he told his mom, My time is not yet come. He was he was pretty aware and in tune of releasing information about himself in stages, right and and and uh and you know it wasn't even halfway through his ministry before, you know, even his own disciples said, I'm pretty certain you're the Christ, the son of the Living God, right after they'd seen multiple miracles. So I think that, uh, I think that the h that could have been attached to this don't tell anybody kind of thing. So you have Mary Martha and Lazarus. Mary Martha and Lazarus are brother and sisters, yes, and they live together. And there's some of Jesus's closest personal friends. Yes, Jesus stays with them many times. They have a friendship with Jesus that is different than almost any other interaction you see in the Bible period. With Jesus, he has a fondness and a friendship with his disciples, and he says at one point, you don't have to call me master, you're my friends, right, that kind of thing. But with these ones they're not like following disciples everywhere Jesus goes. They're not just packing up. But when Jesus is in town, he always stays at their house. They hang out, They sit at Jesus' feet and listen to him speak. They fix the dinners, they hosted the events, all that kind of stuff, and it seems to be a meaningful friendship, and there's something sort of sweet here. On the one side, Jesus wants to go, but doesn't because he knows that the miracle is more important than than just a healing. Let's raising from the dead, and this is going to be one of those signs that gets everybody's attention that I really am who I claim to be. So he has to wait. But then when he shows up, Martha comes out first, which is interesting because in a previous story, Martha's the one in the kitchen and Marry is the one with Jesus right right, And this time Martha comes out and she said, Lord, if you've been here, he would have lived. Yeah, right, And so he talks about faith. But this you can imagine she's not accusing him. I think she's crying with him. You know, you've been with people before, and after they found out a loved one died, and those days afterwards just this overwhelming grief. And I think she probably, you know, just fell onto his shoulder and like, Lord, if you'd been here, he would have lived. Why didn't you come? Yeah? Right. The one person they knew who could have solved this and kept Lazarus from dying never came. He was close enough to come, but he didn't come, right, Yeah. And she knew it. Yeah, and not to mention the disciples certainly knew that because it said he intentionally stayed there for what was it, four more days? Yeah, four days? Yeah, and so and he'd been dead for four days, right, right, And and yeah, I think that that's yeah, that's great. That's but he says, man, if you believe in me, you'll never die, right, And she said, I've always believed you're the Messiah. That's a powerful that's one of the most powerful declarations. Hers and Peters, I think are the two most powerful declarations. Yeah, prior to the crucifixion of Jesus. Right, I've always believed you're the Messiah, the son of God, the one who came into the world from God. So then she goes back and she gets married. Hey, Mary, Mary, Jesus is here, which is surprising because before Mary was the one who'd run out and sit at Jesus' feet. She's the one who always wanted to be with Jesus. Yeah, but he let her down, and so the Bible says she stayed back. This is a conscious choice not to come to Jesus, right, Martha did and she at this moment, and you know, when we're in a crisis, we either run to Jesus or we run from him. And in this moment, she's tempted to stay until he calls her. She hears his voice, and she comes to him very quickly. The Bible says she immediately went to him when he calls to her. That's awesome. Yeah, and let's not forget that, you know, I'm sure you've preached her as before where we talk about the symbolism of taking off the grave clothes. Right, So, you know, like every course, every person who gets raised to walk in a brand new life, you know, like every time a person accepts Christ. You know, it's it's the Bible says, we go from death to life. We have a brand new life. We walk different, we think different, we act different. We are empowered by the Holy Spirit. Right, we're transformed, we are made new. All of those things, you know, the symbolism of Jesus going in the earth and coming out of the earth is what baptism represents, and in the whole brand new thing. So so symbolically Lazarus coming out of the grave. It's interesting that Jesus says a couple of things. Number one, help him right, like, help him walk, he hasn't walked in a couple of days. Help him walk, And number two, take off his grave clothes. And so that could be a really good word picture and a good symbolism for us when we become Christians. The number one is we have to take off the old grave clothes, the dead things, right, the things that bring death in our lives. And there are so many things, old habits, old sins, old mistakes, old you know, worldviews, mindsets, all those things you know, or even even like you know, habits that bring you down the wrong road. All of those things those are like grave clothes. They are things of our past. There are things that are only going to lead to death, right, and so we take those things off, take those old things off. You're not dead anymore. Now you're alive, take them off. And then the second thing is is you know, help him means you know, it could be symbolic of we need help from other Christians. Right, we should be discipled by others. We should look to others as mentors. We should you know, gain spiritual advice or godly advice. We should seek advice, you know. We we can't just become a Christian and think to ourselves that we're strong enough to go ahead and conquer the world. Just us in God. The equation is us in God and others. God designed us to be a part of the Church and other Christians in our lives, especially those who are going to help us along the way. So one of the things I love about this story rate before the resurrection part of this is when the Bible says that Jesus was angry, yeah, right, and then it says he wept, yes, And so there's so much emotion in this moment for Jesus. So I believe he was angry at death itself, right, the fact that death is even a thing. It was never supposed to be a thing. Right, Death is a consequence of sin, and so I think that that was part of it was the enemy is the one who you know brings death, the enemy of humanity, and I think he's angry, and it says he was still angry when he arrived at the tomb, right, So this is really ticked off. But in the middle it says he wept, and I think he wept because he loved them. I think he wept because he was empathizing with their grief. And then I think he also knew what it was going to take to overcome death ultimately. Well, have you ever lost Well, that's a silly question. I went to your father's funeral. I was going to say, have you ever. Lost someone close to you? Right, So it's very different between the one hundred funerals that you did previous people that other people have lost, right, and then going to a funeral where you experienced true loss. Oh yeah, right. So if you think about it, this is actually the only death recorded in the scriptures because it doesn't record Joseph's death. You know, we are to assume that Joseph is not a part of you know, Jesus' life, and somewhere along the way he died. But it literally has zero syllable indicating that. But this one that's a dear friend. It's a dear friend, and he experiences true loss and and and so it records that he weeps. Now, it doesn't mean he didn't weep with Joseph, right, right, It just means this one's recorded. Yeah, this was a meaningful, a meaningful moment for him, and he wept. But one of the things I love about Jesus. Which could be the reason why he's so mad at death, because now it's personal for him relationally as a human. Well, one of the things I love about Jesus is, you know, he healed Jerris's daughter who was dead. He healed the widow's son. He just walked up on a funeral, and he heals the widowed son and rais him from the dead. Here, he's very emotionally engaged with this whole situation. He's mad at death. He's weeping over the fact that his friend has died, and then he raises him from the dead. One of the things I love about Jesus is he ruins every funeral he shows up to. That's awesome, right, that's great, that's what he does. And so Jesus specializes in raising dead things back to life. And so maybe you've already done the funeral on your marriage, or maybe you've already done the funeral on your finances, or on your career or on your future. Jesus specializes in showing up and ruining every funeral. In his mind, it's not over. He has the ability to bring it back to life. Yeah. And then the last sentence is have you ever used John eleven thirty five as the shortest verse in the Bible. And the Bible dress Jesus wept ye too. All Right, that's our time. We'll see you next time on the Bible. Guys,