Do You Believe This?

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John 11:17-27

Do You Believe This?

Do You Believe This? Funerals are rightly solemn occasions in which we grapple with the inescapability of our greatest and final human enemy, death. Some people are so skittish about death that they don’t go to funerals, but avoiding funerals does not mean that one can avoid death. In this passage, Jesus finally arrives at Bethany to join the many from there and from nearby Jerusalem who have gathered to console Martha and Mary, the bereaved sisters of Jesus’ dead friend, Lazarus. Against the backdrop of death and burial, Jesus probes the faith of his grieving friend, Martha, by making the fifth of his seven great “I am” statements in the gospel of John and then adding this searching question: “Do you believe this?” In 11:17-19 we see the CONTEXT of that question. In 11:20-27 we see the CONTENT embedded in it. Finally, we must draw a CONCLUSION from the question and its answer. John 11:17-27 17 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21 Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” I.

CONTEXT (11:17-19) a. “Four” (v. 17). The four days since Lazarus had died may have been especially significant for what follows. There was a Jewish tradition (reflected in rabbinic literature that many commentators on John reference) that the soul hovered near the body for three days until decomposition began to take place, at which point the soul left for good and death was complete and final. The four days can be accounted for by assuming that Lazarus died just after the messengers left to find Jesus (v.3), by adding the two days that Jesus waited after receiving the message (v. 6), and by taking another full day for Jesus to journey to Bethany in Judea (cf. 1:28 for a different “Bethany” on the east side of the Jordan River, to which Jesus retreated after the Jewish authorities tried to kill him, according to 10:31-40 and 11:7-8). b. “Two” (11:18-19). The two miles between Jerusalem and Bethany would explain why so many witnesses for the great miracle of raising Lazarus from the grave were present. Apparently Lazarus’ family was at least somewhat prominent, evidenced by the entertaining that they did (Luke 10:38-42), the cost of Mary’s perfume (John 12:3-6), and the large number of Jews who had come to them from the nearby capital city (John 11:19).

II.

CONTENT (11:20-27) a. Do. Questions in Greek are expressed by what we call a semi-colon (;) and what that language regards as a question mark (?). That Jesus asks a question at the end of verse 26 seems remarkable to some readers because they have not been encouraged to ask questions at church. But questions are immensely valuable for turning our assumptions into convictions. And questions are also the means by which we examine ourselves to see whether we are in the faith (2 Corinthians 13:5). Two questions that have become famous in evangelical circles through “Evangelism Explosion” are as follows: ©2015 Second Presbyterian Church. All Rights Reserved.

John 11:17-27

Do You Believe This?

1. Have you come to the place in your spiritual thinking that you know for certain that if you were to die today you would go to be with God in heaven? 2. What would you say if you were to die today and God asked you, “Why should I let you in the gates of my holy heaven?” b. You. It was to a woman named Martha that Jesus asked this question in verse 26; however, John makes it clear that this incident with Lazarus and his family was included in his gospel account “so that you [all readers!] might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you might have life in his name” (John 20:30-31). c. Believe. This word is so critically important for human salvation that theologians have clarified it to show how it includes three aspects, classically expressed by three Latin words. 1. Notitia (understanding or comprehension) 2. Assensus (assent or agreement) 3. Fiducia (trust or commitment) The first two aspects of faith or belief are not complete by themselves. James refers to them as the faith of demons (James 2:19)! Demons understand that Christians believe Jesus is the Son of God, and they agree that He is the Son of God (Mark 3:11). But they are in rebellion against the Son of God and hate Him! True faith must involve personal engagement expressed in “works” that reflect it (James 2:18, 26). One may understand the design of a chair and even agree that in theory it would hold one up, but one does not have faith in that chair until one rests all one’s weight on it. One may say he or she has faith in Jesus as the resurrection and the life, but if one is afraid of death are the words simply hollow? If we hold on too tightly to the goods of this world, we should wonder if we truly believe. If we harbor prejudice against other people who have the same faith in Christ that we do, perhaps we do not truly believe (see Acts 10:15, 28). d. This. Jesus shows in His question that general belief in anything is not salvation faith. He is asking us across the centuries if we believe that HE (personally) is the resurrection (the source for the general resurrection of the righteous at the end of time) and the life (the source of eternal life, forever in quantity and full in quality). Martha not only affirms those truths but adds two other crucial ones: HE is the Christ (Greek for the Hebrew “Messiah,” which English translates as “Anointed One”), and He is the Son of God (v. 27). III.

CONCLUSION (11:27) Going back to the funeral setting with which this sermon began, we must decide our personal convictions about John 11:25-26. If in fact Jesus rose bodily and permanently from death, as He enabled Lazarus temporarily to do, then we who believe should comfort ourselves and one another with the conviction that “the glass is always half-full.”

Discussion Questions 1. “DO?” What was the attitude of the church or family you grew up in about asking questions?

2. “YOU” What would you say is the biggest current obstacle you face personally to faith in Christ as the Son of God, the resurrection and the life?

©2015 Second Presbyterian Church. All Rights Reserved.

John 11:17-27

Do You Believe This?

3. “BELIEVE” What do you think are some practical manifestations or indications that a person truly believes that Jesus is the resurrection and the life? How should such a belief affect one’s attitude toward death? One’s goals in life? One’s relationships with others? One’s guilt and regret? One’s joy? Other?

4. “THIS” What do you think Jesus intended by “this” in John 11:26, and what aspect of the “this” is the most meaningful to you this week?

5. (Overall) How do you personally answer those two “Evangelism Explosion” questions listed above? (see part II.)

©2015 Second Presbyterian Church. All Rights Reserved.