Reading:
John 10:40-11:57.
You will recognize that
with this story, or incident, we are at the last stage in
the life and ministry of the Lord Jesus. He had left
Judaea because the Jewish rulers were planning to kill
Him, but now He boldly returned to that district, and the
result of this last sign will be that they definitely
take counsel to kill Him. The disciples knew quite well
that for Him to return to Judaea meant death:
"The disciples say unto him, Teacher, the Jews were
but now seeking to stone thee; and goest thou thither
again?" Jesus knew, and the disciples
knew quite well, that Judaea meant death.
We have been seeing
that Jesus had been meeting the meaning of death in many
forms, and had overcome every form of it with life.
Firstly, at the
marriage in Cana of Galilee, where the wine faded, He met
that aspect of death which is disappointment and failure
- and death always means that. He overcame it with life.
Then, later, He was
back in Cana again and the nobleman of Capernaum met Him
because his little child was sick unto death. Jesus just
spoke the word where He was, and at that very moment,
away in Capernaum, the child was healed. Death always
speaks of time - it is a time matter. The time we die is
the end of our time on this earth. But in one moment
Jesus spoke and many miles away the child was healed. It
would have taken Jesus many hours to have gone from Cana
to Capernaum. It took the nobleman from one o'clock in
the afternoon until the sun went down, and then he had to
start again the next morning. But Jesus spoke the word
and in that moment all time was dismissed. The time
factor in death was overcome in His life.
Then we had Him at the
Pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem with the poor man bound to
his bed for thirty-eight years. His bed had tied him to
the earth all his life and, as we saw, he was a picture
of Israel under the bondage of the law. And the Lord
Jesus lifted that man out of his whole bondage in a
moment with His life. Death is bondage. The writer of the
Letter to the Hebrews speaks of those who "through
fear of death were all their lifetime subject to
bondage" (Hebrews 2:15). Death in the form of
bondage to the law was overcome by the life of Christ.
Then we went back to
Galilee with Him and saw Him feeding the five thousand,
and those few little loaves and fishes were multiplied
till everybody was filled, and there was much left over.
Death always means limitation - it puts a limit to
everything. But Jesus, by life, overcame all limitation
there in Galilee. We could say that there was no end to
this life that He gave in that bread. If there had been
twenty thousand people, or fifty thousand, it would have
been just the same. Death is limitation, and that is more
true spiritually even than physically. Spiritual death is
a great limitation, but the life which Jesus gives
removes all limitation.
We went on to see Him
walking on the sea, and we saw His ascendancy over
natural laws. Now the most natural law is death. It is
certainly something very unnatural if you never die! But
on the lake in that storm Jesus triumphed over all
natural laws. Where the disciples were threatened with
death by the power of nature Jesus by life set
aside the natural forces.
And then we came to the
sixth sign, the giving of sight to the man born blind.
Death is always blindness - and that is more true
spiritually even than physically. Spiritual death is
spiritual blindness, and in this matter we are all born
dead, because we are spiritually blind from birth. But
Jesus gave sight to the man born blind, and the sign was
that the life that is in Jesus sets aside the blindness
of spiritual death.
So we have seen Jesus
meeting the meaning of death in all these different
forms. Every one of these incidents sets forth as a sign,
or as a type, some form of death, and Jesus, by the power
of His divine life, the life that was in Him. met all
these forms of death. And He changed death into life with
His life.
Now we come to the
seventh sign, and in this one all those six are brought
together. This is the way in which to read the story of
the raising of Lazarus. It is all-inclusive - all the
forms of death are gathered together and dealt with fully
and finally by Jesus Christ. This is why the Holy Spirit
of Wisdom led John to conclude all his signs with this
one. True to spiritual principle, seven includes all the
others, for, if you know anything about Bible numbers,
you know that seven is the number of spiritual fullness.
You reach spiritual finality when you come to seven. We
have only to turn to the last book of the Bible, for that
is the book of the final things. Everything there is
coming to finality and to fullness. And the number which
is most prominent in that book is number seven. There are
the seven churches, the seven lampstands, the seven
spirits of God, the seven last plagues, the seven last
trumpets - and so you go on through the book with number
seven, because in it everything is brought to fullness
and finality. All the Bible is gathered into the last
book. It begins with the book of Genesis - "the
tree of life, which is in the Paradise of God"
(Revelation 2:7) - the river of life flowing out.
So number seven is the
number of spiritual fullness. And, true to that
principle, the Holy Spirit led John to put this sign of
the raising of Lazarus right at the end, because in this
sign we have death in its fullness overcome by Jesus
Christ, the Resurrection and the Life. Jesus was moving
in an environment of death in its fullness. Everybody
knew that His coming back into the vicinity of Jerusalem
meant death for Him. He knew it; the disciples knew it;
other people knew it; and the rulers were waiting for Him
to come back to put it into effect. The whole atmosphere
was full of death. And here, just a little way out of
Jerusalem, was Lazarus dying and dead.
But look at Jesus! His
attitude toward the death of Lazarus signified His own
attitude toward death. He was told that Lazarus was
dying; and then He knew in His spirit that Lazarus was
dead. He also knew in His spirit that He, too, would be
dead before long. How did He face this situation? Look at
the quiet way in which He met it all. There was no panic,
no sense of emergency, no fear, no despair and no hurry.
He was completely master of the situation, and as He was
master of the situation with Lazarus, so He was master of
His own death. There is no suggestion here in the case of
Lazarus that death was a victory, nor that death was the
master. Jesus was not worried about it for one moment. He
could just move serenely in the midst of it and toward
it.
That is very
impressive. You see what it means? Let us just go over it
again. Jesus knew that in a few days the Council in
Jerusalem would have decided to destroy Him there and
then, and He knew that coming back near Jerusalem meant
that for Him, but He just came back quietly, without any
fear. He was completely master of the whole situation -
and that is in the sign of Lazarus.
Oh, everybody was
trying to make Him hurry up! They were looking upon this
situation as a terrible tragedy, as something terribly
serious, and they could not understand why Jesus was not
taking it more seriously. He was such a master of the
situation that it was almost as though it was nothing to
Him.
But we have said that
there are one or two things that we must notice. While
that is all true where Jesus was concerned, He must let
people know that death is death, and death means that
everything is put beyond any kind of human ability. When
we are dead that is the end of all our ability to do
anything. Jesus had to let it be known that death really
is death, and means that the situation is beyond man's
resource to do anything. It is altogether beyond natural
power and natural hope. Jesus took very great care to see
that that was how things were and that people knew it.
That is why He stayed two days where He was, and then
took another two days before He got near the place at
all. He let this whole situation go beyond human hope,
and He did that quite deliberately because He was
teaching the disciples a spiritual lesson: that death is
death and only God Almighty can do anything when it is
like that. No one but the Lord can do anything. Now,
while this was a sign in the case of Lazarus physically,
behind the sign there is a great spiritual meaning.
Presently Jesus will be
dead, and when that happens only God Almighty can do
anything about it. There is no more future unless He
comes into the situation. No natural power can do
anything at all.
That, dear friends, is
what union with Christ in His death means. You know from
Romans 6 that we have been "united with him in
the likeness of his death" (verse 5), and Paul
said elsewhere: "I have been crucified with
Christ" (Galatians 2:20). What does it
mean to be united with Christ in His death? It means to
be put into the position where there is no hope
whatsoever for anything unless the Lord does it. When
Paul said: "I have been crucified with
Christ" he added: "No longer I, but
Christ". No longer 'I'! What a big 'I'
that was with Saul of Tarsus! He was just one big 'I' -
'I' in natural strength. See him in his persecuting of
the church! He put forth all his mighty strength. And we
all know about the great 'I' of his wisdom. Saul of
Tarsus was a man of considerable natural wisdom and he
had much natural knowledge. He was a man of mighty zeal
and enthusiasm - a very big 'I'. Now that very big 'I'
says "I have been crucified and it is no longer
I". It is no longer natural strength, natural wisdom
and understanding, nor natural zeal and enthusiasm, and
whatever more there was of 'I'. It is no longer 'I' - 'I
have been crucified with Christ, and there is nothing
more possible unless it is the Lord'.
Oh, the Church has not
learnt this lesson yet! We can read the Letters to the
Romans and to the Galatians, but it is as it was with
Israel. It is said that they read the Scriptures every
Sabbath, but they were perfectly blind to what they were
reading. Look at the tremendous lot of 'I' there is in
Christianity, although we have Romans 6 and Galatians
2:20 in our hands!
We were saying that
when Jesus died that was the end of all natural hope; the
only hope was that God came in and raised Him from the
dead. That is the sign of the raising of Lazarus.
First of all, Jesus had
to make everybody know that death is death, and the end
of all hope so far as man is concerned. No one could do
anything about it. These poor sisters struggled with the
situation and tried to find some hope, but they were
defeated in every attempt, and they had to accept the
situation. Lazarus was dead, and there was no doubt about
it. He had died four days before. That is the first thing
that Jesus had to teach.
But I hope that you are
thinking in spiritual terms and not just natural.
Spiritual death is real spiritual death, and to be
spiritually dead means that there is no natural hope
whatsoever. When Jesus had established that fact, then He
went over to the other side and showed that He, and
He alone, was the Resurrection and the Life. The
situation was not hopeless when He was on the
scene. The life that was in Him was superior to the whole
situation - and that is true spiritually as it is
naturally.
Now we have to run over
the six signs again, because we have said that they are
all gathered up into number seven.
The marriage at Cana in
Galilee: We said that the wine that Jesus made had about
it a new and different quality from the old wine, an
altogether better quality. The master of the feast said: "Thou
hast kept the good wine until now" (John 2:10).
And the life that Jesus gives has about it a quality that
is altogether different. Of course, this does not appear
on the surface in the sign of Lazarus, but it does not
want much imagination. If Lazarus had been your beloved
brother and you had lost him in death, and for so long as
to mean that there was no hope whatever (in that country
four days of death was a very utter thing: they said "Lord,
by this time he stinketh, for he hath been dead four
days"), and then he had been raised from
the dead and given back to you, would you not find
something more in having him in resurrection than you had
before? Remember Mary Magdalene. She lost her Master, and
then in the garden she found Him again. When He said to
her 'Mary', she turned and said 'Rabboni' - 'My great
Master'. She used to call Him 'Rabbi', that is, just
'Master', but now she said 'Rabboni', and tried to take
Him by the feet. She said: 'I lost You once, but I am
never going to lose You again. You are more dear to me
today than ever before.' And I believe that is how it was
at Bethany. There was a new quality in resurrection, an
altogether different kind of life, more precious than
ever before. So Lazarus took up sign number one, the
marriage in Cana.
And then this seventh
sign took up this matter of the nobleman's son being
healed. We pointed out that in this sign all time and all
distance were dismissed by the word of Jesus. All the
miles and all the hours were simply dismissed in a moment
of time. Now look at this story of Lazarus. Oh, what an
important thing time was with these people! Why does He
not hurry and come? Why does He stay away for so long?
And now the brother has been dead for four days. What a
factor time was! And what a factor distance was! And the
best that a sister can say is: "I know that he
shall rise again in the resurrection at the last
day" - and only the Lord knows when that will
be! Jesus came on the scene and with a word all time and
all distance were dismissed. The life that is in Christ
destroys time - it is eternal life. So Lazarus took up
the second sign.
And then, what about
the poor man at the Pool of Bethesda? He was bound to the
earth by his bed and his infirmity for thirty-eight
years. That was a living death - bound by the law. And
Jesus, by life, released that man. Lazarus took that up: "Lazarus,
come forth" - and the grave had no power to
hold him. 'Loose him and let him go.' Here is the
liberating power of the life which Jesus gives. So the
man at the Pool of Bethesda is included in the sign of
Lazarus.
Is it necessary to go
on with the rest? We saw in the feeding of the five
thousand how limitless is the life which Jesus gives. It
can just go on, and on, and on. And how long will it go
on? As long as Jesus lives! Just that long and no longer
- but what do you believe about that? 'He ever liveth'
(Hebrews 7:25)... "I am... the Living one; and I
was dead, and behold, I am alive unto the ages of the
ages" (Revelation 1:18 - R.V. margin). And
the life that Jesus gives will go on just as long as
Jesus does. "I am the resurrection, and the
life". And that is taken up in this sign of
Lazarus.
As to the walking on
the sea: we saw in Him the power which transcends all
natural forces. Well, that is so obvious in Lazarus! What
were the natural laws in his case? Well, death,
corruption and all that that means. That is the natural
law, and Jesus put His feet on top of that. He walked on
those waters; He had that under Him, and He brought
Lazarus up in spite of all natural laws.
And as to the man who
was born blind: we saw that he was a man who was born
with a great handicap, and Jesus took hold of that very
handicap and made it the instrument of His glory. Here
Lazarus has a handicap. You may take it that the sisters
did everything they could to stop Lazarus from dying.
They evidently were people who had money, and we can be
quite sure that they had the best medical advice. They
did everything that Lazarus should get well, but he was
born with the handicap that he must die some time or
other, and now his handicap was at work. And, like the
man who was born without sight, it was a hopeless
situation naturally. What did Jesus say about it? "This
sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God,
that the Son of God may be glorified thereby." Although
death may come in, it has not the last word. The last
word is with Jesus, and so He turned the handicap into
His own glory.
We have to note, as we
close, that all this became true in the experience of the
disciples. You must go over the seven signs again and see
them in a spiritual way in the after life of the
disciples. This is what Jesus came to bring us in His own
person, for He said: "I am the resurrection, and
the life".
Now, dear friends, if
we are disciples, and every Christian ought to be, these
are the things that we ought to be learning in our own
spiritual experience. You go away and sit down quietly
with these seven things, and you will see every one of
them in the Epistles of the New Testament which were
written after Jesus had gone to heaven. The New Testament
is full of these things. We are told that we are to have
'the eyes of our hearts enlightened', that 'we can know
Him and the power of His resurrection', and that we can
be 'set free from the bondage of the law'.
All these are the
things which make up the true Christian life. All we have
to ask ourselves is: 'Am I learning this in the School of
Christ? What do I know about this in my spiritual
experience?' I am happy to think that many of you know
quite a lot about it. We are not just doing Bible Study
or giving addresses on subjects in the Bible. We are
speaking of spiritual experience. We can say with John: "That
which we have seen with our eyes... and our hands
handled, concerning the Word of Life" (1 John
1:1).
Now this is what we all
have to know, for it is the very essence of the life in
Christ.
We must leave it there,
but we must, every one, ask the Lord to teach us what
this means and to bring us into the reality of this great
life.