A Word about the Master of Death

Today I want to share a word about the Master of Death, as I comment on passages from John 11. Let’s begin with John 11:1-7: 

Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.) Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby. Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was. Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judaea again.

Death is something that, if the Lord tarries, we all will face.  People almost universally fear death, and, in fact, there is very little difference in the way that believers and nonbelievers feel emotionally about death.  It is almost always a dreaded thing and most of us would also fight tooth and nail to keep our life.  A good example of this is a woman by the name of Jennifer Grunbeck, who’s story was told in the book, Nine Minutes, Twenty Seconds, written by Gary M. Pomerantz. 

She was a passenger in Atlantic Southeast Airlines Flight 529 which crashed in rural Carroll County, GA. in 1995.  She was burned over ninety percent of her body.  By all estimates, she had no chance at all to survive, but she did.  She spent 106 days in a burn unit in Chattanooga, undergoing some of the most painful treatments known to medicine. After she returned home to Massachusetts, she had to endure six hours of physical and occupational therapy a day.  She fought to live and continued to do so.  Even what she endured was not as fearsome as the prospect of death.

The good news for us is that we have someone to turn to who is the Master of Death.  If we know Him, we should have confidence in His care for us, even in the most difficult of times. Let us look at the work of this master as we consider the events of John Chapter 11.

A MASTER WITH A PURPOSE: 

“A certain man” became ill. As we saw in yesterday’s devotional, this is a common occurrence in the world. It is common in the developed world, and it is common in the developing world. It was also common in the New Testament world. 

Also, when a person is sick, it is common to call on loved ones to help, and it was also common for people to call upon Jesus to heal them. Again, as we saw yesterday, Jesus did not come just to heal, but He could, would, and did heal.

This was not just any man, however. Lazarus was the brother of Martha and Mary. This was a family that Jesus had much contact with, and they were a family that Jesus loved. It would be reasonable to expect Jesus to rush over and save Lazarus, but Jesus is someone that you should expect the unexpected from. In fact, Jesus did not respond immediately, but in fact He delayed for some time.

Jesus was nothing if not in intentional in His ministry, and He deliberately delayed. He had good reason; He was not neglecting His friends, but He wanted to honor them. He wanted to use this event for a special miracle. When He was ready, and no sooner, Jesus decided to go to Bethany. How did his followers react to that decision? Let’s read John 11:8-16:

His disciples say unto him, Master, the Jews of late sought to stone thee; and goest thou thither again? Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If any man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because there is no light in him. These things said he: and after that he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well. Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep. Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him. Then said Thomas, which is called Didymus, unto his fellow disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.

A MASTER WITH DETERMINATION: 

In these verses we see that the Disciples were astounded at the idea of going to Judea They knew that there was great resistance to Jesus there and they were afraid that the resistance was too strong for Jesus. They believed that Jesus would be killed, and they did not think that Lazarus’ illness was worth the risk. The bottom line for them is that they were afraid of death, and they didn’t think Jesus was able to do anything about that.

Jesus, however, persisted. He was on a mission; He knew what He was doing. He also knew what He could do. He would not give in to doomsayers. Paul was echoing this ethos when he told young Timothy in 2 Timothy 1:7, “For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.” Jesus was fully confident in His purpose and abilities, even if His closest followers were not.

A lesson for us in this is that we must have confidence in Jesus if we are to follow Him.  We get scared, just like the Disciples. We want to run the other direction, just like the Disciples. We do this, even with entire Canon of Scripture available to us and when we do follow Jesus, we often do it like Thomas, with our hearts in our mouths, rather than like Paul, with a full-hearted confidence. 

So, in His timing, and despite the protests of the Disciples, Jesus went to Bethany. How was He received when He got there? We will find out as we look further in John 11:17-27:

Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already. Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off: And many of the Jews came to Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother. Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house. Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee. Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this? She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.

John 11:32-37 is also revealing:

Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled. And said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him! And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?

A MASTER WITH COMPASSION: 

 Naturally, Martha and Mary (and some of their neighbors, too) were upset with Jesus.  Martha stormed out to confront Jesus, while Mary stayed home and sulked. Both of them blamed Jesus for Lazarus’ death. This blame was misplaced, however.

Human sin in the Garden of Eden brought illness and death into the world, not God. Lazarus, like all people, was a sinner and, like all of us, deserved death and Hell for falling short of the glory of God. Jesus did not owe them, or us, anything. We all need to come to God as beggars, with our hats in our hands.

Jesus reacted with patience to Martha and Mary. This is the classic reaction of God. We deserve judgment and punishment, but He shows us compassion, like a good parent does with an angry child. God will do what is right, not out of anger, but out of love. This patience comes out of confidence, and confidence out of competence. And Jesus was, and is, certainly competent to address the needs of fallen humanity!

Jesus was calm and confident, and verses 38-45 showed His ultimate level of competence:

Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days. Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God? Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me. And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go. Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.

A MASTER WITH POWER: 

 Jesus demonstrated His compassion by His power, but it is instructive think what would have happened had Lazarus not come forth? 

• Jesus would have hurt Martha and Mary beyond measure. 
• He would have risked His life and those of His disciples for nothing. 
• In Judea, the center of Jewish power and politics, He would have been a laughingstock. 
• His life and His ministry would have been in shreds.

Knowing this, many of us might have shied away from trying to raise Lazarus in the public eye the Jesus did. In fact, Jesus, acted in the opposite by crying out with a loud voice! Jesus did it this way on purpose so that He could show His power without any doubt. He knew that Lazarus had been dead four days, bound in grave clothes and placed in a tomb. Martha knew Lazarus was dead and didn’t want to smell the evidence. Yet, Jesus simply spoke, and Lazarus was revived!  No one knows who said it first, but many preachers have said that it is good that Jesus called Lazarus’ name or else everyone in the sound of His voice would have come forth!

Jesus marched into the midst of those who hated Him, risking death the hatred of His loved ones to show His power. Yet, this was no risk because the power was His to exercise and Jesus is still exercising this type of mastery today. This power is available to us today because He doesn’t change. He loves us and offers us access to this power even now!

CONCLUSION: 

 Jesus demonstrated He is the Master of Death and if this is the case, what is there that He can’t control? What is there in your life that He cannot master? Turn to Him and you will experience His power in your life!

Every blessing,

Dr. Otis Corbitt