Roll That Stone Away!

Can you imagine Jesus who is 100% God and 100% human walking into the middle of a situation that would, to most people, seem completely hopeless? Hearing the wailing of friends and family over Lazarus’ death, then listening to Martha and Mary express their heartache? They were so disappointed that He did not come early enough to heal their brother and now their brother is dead.

Yet in the midst of the disappointment and despair, Jesus makes the declaration, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha probably thinks Jesus is simply consoling and comforting her about the future resurrection, but Jesus is not talking about the future life that He has guaranteed, but the present promise of life He now possesses. He states in the present tense:

I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me will live, even though he dies. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this? (John 11:25)

What Jesus was saying that for those who believe in Him even though this person dies physically, their spirit will go to be with God and then wait until the final resurrection. On that day, Jesus will resurrect a new glorified physical body and then unite this physical body with the spirit making the person whole again.

Here, Jesus is asking Martha a personal question. “Do you believe that I am the resurrection and the Life and everyone who places their trust in Me will live right now?

Martha responded: “I have believed” - Martha’s faith in Jesus was not vague - she knew He was the Christ and that He had come from God to redeem the world and give people resurrection life in the future. But there was much more she and her sister needed to learn about Him and trust Him for beyond saving faith and future events.

Jesus was asking her in the present tense, do you believe I am the resurrection and the life right now, that I have the power to give life right now? To prove His point, He asked them “Where is the body?” They said “come and see.” We can tell by these conversations; they were only expecting Jesus to visit the grave. The last thing on their minds was that Jesus would bring their brother back from the dead. Let’s look at John 11:38-44.

38 So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, *came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39 Jesus *said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, *said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” 40 Jesus *said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they removed the stone. And Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 But I knew that You always hear Me; nevertheless, because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.” 43 And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 Out came the man who had died, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus *said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

When they arrived at the tomb Jesus was:

? Moved within

? Moved from above

? Moved to action

1. Moved within

Jesus saw their situation and He felt their anguish. The Greek brings out that Jesus was deeply moved in His emotions with great frustration because their attitude towards death was so final. He didn’t view death in defeat and with despair because He was God incarnate. He is the resurrection and the life. John Calvin said:

Christ does not come to the grave as an idle spectator, but like a wrestler preparing for a contest. Therefore, no wonder that He groans again, for the violent tyranny of death which He had to overcome stands before His eyes.

Jesus isn’t indifferent or apathetic to our personal circumstances or challenges, nor is He ever overwhelmed by them. In fact, nothing overwhelms the Lord, and nothing can ever diminish His power or His love towards us. When Jesus saw the situation and saw everyone mourning, He was moved within and to Martha’s astonishment, He commanded that they (whoever they were) remove the stone from the mouth of the cave and don’t put it back.

Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days and by now the condition of his dead body would have be in pretty bad shape because the Jews didn’t embalm the dead. Martha cautions Him about the obvious - “Lord there will be a stench.” Maybe she didn’t want him to be defiled by touching a dead body, maybe she just didn’t think it was a good idea. It was reasonable that she questioned Jesus’ decision to remove the stone from the tomb but in this case her natural reasoning or opinion was trying to hinder what Jesus was about to do.