Posted: 3/14/07
Bible Studies for Life Series for March 25
Jesus restores our life
• John 11:1-44
First Baptist Church, Stanton
Professional golfer Paul Azinger was riding as high as anyone ever could in this life. He had reached his own American dream. Then Azinger was diagnosed with cancer at age 33. He had just won a PGA championship and had 10 tournament victories to his credit.
He wrote: “A genuine feeling of fear came over me. I could die from cancer. Then another reality hit me even harder. I’m going to die eventually anyway, whether from cancer or something else. It’s just a question of when. Everything I had accomplished in golf became meaningless to me. All I wanted to do was live.”
Then he remembered something that Larry Moody, who teaches a Bible study on the pro golf tour, had said to him: “Zinger, we’re not in the land of the living going to the land of the dying. We’re in the land of the dying trying to get to the land of the living.”
What are we to do when faced with impossible situations? Where do we turn in life’s most desperate moments?
Our Bible study helps us answer one of life’s deepest questions: Who can help me through situations that seem hopeless?
The first section of our Bible study is John 11:1, 3, 6-7.
A man named Lazarus was a close friend of Jesus and was deathly ill. Mary and Martha are sisters to Lazarus, and they appeal to Jesus—“Lord, the one you love is sick” (John 11:3).
Jesus loved this family and stayed with them often. Friendship did not gain them some special privilege with the Son of Man. As Lazarus grew sicker with each passing day, these close friends of Jesus heard no word from him. Days went by, and still no word from Jesus. Jesus was directed by divine timing. Jesus did not come as a genie to be manipulated by friends or crisis. Jesus came to do the saving work his Father called him to do on this earth. Jesus knew in this situation all glory would go to God—no matter how desperate the situation.
The next section of our Bible study is John 11:20-27.
As Jesus approached the home of Mary and Martha, Martha ran to meet him. She told him if he had been there her brother would not have died. When Jesus said Lazarus would be raised from the dead, Martha understood Jesus to be referring to a future event. Jesus said: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).
Martha’s response is given, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who is coming into the world” (John 11:27).
We must remind ourselves we are not immune from the trials of this life—no one is. This passage shows us that some of the closest friends of Jesus faced the same harsh struggles of life we do. Jesus loved them greatly, but they were not exempt.
The presence of pain and suffering in the lives of faithful followers of Jesus can teach us that Christians do not have different experiences in life. Rather, they experience life differently. Our hope in Jesus does not insulate us from life’s difficulties, but it does provide a way through them and beyond them. God uses difficult experiences to make us more compassionate servants for him as we comfort others.
Our final section of Bible study is found in John 11:38-40, 43-44.
Jesus went to where Lazarus was buried and raised him to life, calling him forth from the tomb. Jesus commanded those standing there to unbind Lazarus and let him go. Jesus often tells us to do something in the situation. It may or may not make sense to us at the time, but we should trust Jesus and do what he tells us.
With the healing of Lazarus, John records for us a miracle with a message—Jesus Christ is God’s answer to death. God receives the glory for this miracle of life. People around this miracle proclaimed God’s glory and Jesus’ power over death.
I so wish we could have a Larry King kind of interview with Lazarus. We could ask a million questions. We might get them all answered, or we might not. We still would give God the glory and look to Jesus as the life giver. We also would come to realize that one day the grip of death would reach out again for Jesus’ friend Lazarus. The greatest claim on the life of Lazarus was from the testimony of Jesus himself.
“Whosoever lives and believes in me shall never die …” (John 11:26).
Discussion questions
• How do we trust Jesus when we feel helpless?
• Why doesn’t God’s timing fit ours?
• How do our trials glorify God?
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