G O D ’ S G L O R Y I N T H E FA C E O F J E S U S C H R I S T

UNIT 24 • SESSION 2

JESUS
IS THE LIFE
MAIN POINT

Jesus revealed that He has power over life and death.

JOHN 11:20-27 • T H E M E S S I A H B R I N G S L I F E F R O M D E AT H
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.”

JOHN 11:38-44 • THE MESSIAH BRINGS GLORY FROM GRIEF

38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay
against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man,
said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of
God?” 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I
thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on
account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When
he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 44 The man
who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped
with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

JOHN 11:45-53 • T H E M E S S I A H B R I N G S S A LVAT I O N F R O M R E J E C T I O N

45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did,
believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus
had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said,
“What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this,
everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and
our nation.” 49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them,
“You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man
should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 He did not say this
of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for
the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God
who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.

96 SESSION 02 • JESUS IS THE LIFE

 MAIN POINT

SCRIPTURE Jesus revealed that He has

READING power over life and death.

1. T H E M E S S I A H B R I N G S L I F E F R O M D E AT H

READ JOHN 11:20-27

Jesus had power to heal, but He didn’t arrive in time to save his friend, Lazarus.
Lazarus’s family was devastated as they prepared for his burial, but Jesus had a
purpose for His delay. He knew Lazarus would die, and He allowed four days to pass
before He acted. In waiting, Jesus was able to demonstrate His authority over death,
not just sickness. Sometimes it can appear that God delays to act in our lives, but
He always has a purpose for when He acts and what He does.

LOOK AT MARTHA’S STATEMENT IN VERSE 21. HAVE YOU EVER FELT THIS WAY ABOUT GOD—
THAT HE DIDN’T COME THROUGH AND LEFT YOU DISAPPOINTED? WHAT HAPPENED?

This isn’t something you’ll likely hear a lot of people admit, but if we are honest,
many of us have felt this way. We’ve desperately wanted something—healing from
physical or mental sickness, a loved one to not pass away, to stop struggling with
addiction, to have more friends, and so on. When God doesn’t answer the way we beg
Him to, we feel like He has let us down. Martha felt this way about the death of her
brother, yet Jesus didn’t scold her. Instead, He reminded her of His power over all
things—even death—and called her to a greater belief.

JESUS HAD ALREADY RESURRECTED AT LEAST TWO OTHERS, YET MARTHA DIDN’T SEEM TO
BELIEVE JESUS COULD TRULY BRING LAZARUS BACK TO LIFE HERE ON EARTH. WHY DO WE
SOMETIMES FAIL TO BELIEVE GOD WILL DO FOR US WHAT HE HAS ALREADY DONE FOR OTHERS?

If you think back, hopefully you can see God working all around you. He still heals
people; He still allows miracles. Even though we witness these things more often than
we realize, we fail to believe God can do great things for us. Maybe our hesitation is
based in fear that He won’t act; maybe it is simply unbelief. But Jesus has power over
everything, and we can believe in His ability to act in our lives.

2. THE MESSIAH BRINGS GLORY FROM GRIEF

READ JOHN 11:38-44

Grief can be consuming. It can steal our joy and our belief in God’s goodness and
sovereignty. It doesn’t feel like it when we are grieving, but God can use grief to
show His power. He may not raise our loved ones back to life, but He equips us to
walk in bold faith—even in our grief. He can bring goodness out of heartache.

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 BIBLICAL
COMMENTARY

JOHN 11:20-27
11:21. “Martha was not only in the midst of the
week of deep mourning that followed Jewish BIG
funerals (there was no time to mourn before the
QUESTION
funeral since burial was on the day of death), but
she was doubtless frustrated and perplexed over WHY DO SIN AND
the failure of Jesus to be there soon enough so DEATH SEEM TO RULE
that her brother would not have died.”6 ON EARTH?

11:24. “Martha recited the standard Old Testament When we read Genesis 1–3,
we get a glimpse of how
view of the resurrection, not practicing the
God intended life to be on
promises Jesus had taught so often. Surely she
earth. Man lived in perfect
knew about the resurrection of the widow’s son relationship with God;
and Jairus’s daughter, but somehow she never he existed without sin,
made the connection that the Lord could do the sickness, or death. He took
same for her brother.” 7 care of the animals and
the earth, and he walked in
the garden with God, even
talking with Him. We know
how much things changed
JOHN 11:38-44 once Eve believed the
serpent’s lie and ate the
11:38. “He is not in anguish over the death of apple. Sin entered creation,
and with it sickness, death,
Lazarus, but rather saddened by the pain and
and hardship. This state is
sadness they feel. He is weeping with those who temporary. God will redeem
weep (Rom. 12:15) because he loves them. The His creation and create
grief caused by death is one facet of death’s evil a new heaven and a new
that caused his anger. He is angry at death and earth (see Rev. 21:3-4).
saddened at grief.”8 As believers, we will be a
part of this new creation
11:39. “It appears to the casual reader that Martha and experience it as
had climbed on board theologically and would no God designed from the
beginning. What seems
longer have any question about what Jesus could do.
to reign here is only
Yet a few minutes later she heard Jesus call for the
temporary. Our God has
removal of the stone and objected, ‘But, Lord . . . by final victory over sin,
this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there death, and sickness.
four days’ (v. 39). So again Martha reminds us of
ourselves—a willingness to verbally proclaim biblical
truth without applying it in our lives.”9

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 MAIN POINT
SCRIPTURE
READING Jesus revealed that He has
power over life and death.

WHAT IS SOMETHING HARD YOU’VE EXPERIENCED AND THOUGHT NO GOOD COULD COME
FROM IT? HOW DO THESE VERSES ENCOURAGE YOU?

When you’ve lost a loved one or experienced trauma, it can be difficult to believe
any good can come from it. God is able to handle our pain and our questions. We
can falsely start to believe that because our circumstances are bad God is also not
good. This can’t be further from the truth. We serve a good God. We serve a God
who hurts with us when we hurt. He can and will bring goodness from your pain
when you surrender it to Him because He can use it to increase your faith.

WHY WAS JESUS “DEEPLY MOVED” (V. 38)? HOW DOES HE SEEM TO FEEL ABOUT DEATH?

In this passage, Jesus expressed anger (see v. 33) and sorrow. He wasn’t angry at the
people there that day, so we can only assume He was angry at the situation of death.
He experienced sorrow along with the family. Jesus holds power over death and came
to abolish it. In this we see that Jesus feels about death much like we do.

3. T H E M E S S I A H B R I N G S S A LVAT I O N F R O M R E J E C T I O N

READ JOHN 11:45-53

Jesus had to shed His blood to bring salvation. The prophet Isaiah prophesied that
Jesus would be rejected and despised (see Isa. 53:3). In the Old Testament, people
could only atone for (make right) their sins through animal sacrifice. Sin demands
blood payment. Jesus experienced rejection on our behalf, leading to the spilling of
His blood so we could be accepted by the Father.

DESCRIBE A TIME WHEN YOU WERE REJECTED. WHAT DOES IT FEEL LIKE TO BE REJECTED?

God wired us for connection with Him and with others, so rejection hurts. We want
to feel accepted. Jesus endured rejection on a level we can’t understand, and He
feels compassion toward us when we are rejected because of Him.

HOW DID REJECTION PLAY A PART IN THE STORY OF SALVATION FOR ALL PEOPLE?

If you look at all of Scripture, God’s people were rejected and despised for following
Him: Noah, David, the prophets, Paul—but every single one played a part in God’s
story of salvation. Jesus faced ultimate rejection and sacrificed Himself for our sin.
Sometimes we will be rejected for what we believe. God can use all things—even our
rejection—to bring Him glory and to bring hope to others.

100 SESSION 02 • JESUS IS THE LIFE

 BIBLICAL
COMMENTARY

JOHN 11:45-53
11:51-52. “In the Old Testament the devotees
and priests would place their hands on the ESSENTIAL
sacrificial animals or scapegoat in identification
(Lev. 16:7–10,20–22), and thus the animals would
DOCTRINE
carry the weight of sin and guilt on behalf of
(for) the worshipers. Accordingly, the worshipers
CHRIST AS SUBSTITUTE
would not bear the punishment of God. Here
At the heart of the
the word of the high priest provides insight into
atonement is Jesus Christ
the means whereby the nation would be spared substituting Himself for
from perishing.”10 sinners as He died on the
cross. This truth is seen
11:53. “Theologically, the supreme revelation of in sacrificial system of
Jesus as life was the occasion of his death; i.e., it the Old Testament, which
provided a picture of
cost Jesus his life to give us eternal life. But his
humanity ’s need for sin to
death provided the basis on which Jew and Gentile be covered and guilt to be
alike could be saved and united in one church.”11 removed by an innocent
sacrifice. Jesus perfectly
revealed and did the will
of God, taking on Himself
human nature with its
demands and necessities
and identifying Himself
completely with humankind
yet without sin. He honored
the divine law by His
personal obedience, and
in His substitutionary
death on the cross, He
made provision for the
redemption of humanity
from sin.

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WHEN HAVE YOU STRUGGLED TO HAVE GREATER FAITH IN GOD’S PLANS?

While we are here in this fallen world, it can feel like sickness and death have the most
power. We can feel helpless against both, and when we focus our attention on these
things, it can weaken our faith. Jesus still has power over all sin, sickness, and death,
though. He defeated them on the cross, and we have a glorious hope that all of these
will pass away when we see His kingdom in its fullness.

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO TAKE ALL OF YOUR EMOTIONS—GOOD AND BAD—TO GOD?

We tend to believe we can’t be completely honest with God about how we feel, but this
isn’t biblical. In the books of Psalms, Lamentations, and Job we see the people spilling
their hearts out to God—they express anger, pain, disappointment, and sorrow. God
can handle our honesty. But these speakers also acknowledged that God is sovereign
and worthy of worship despite hard circumstances. In tough times we can struggle to
remember this, but nothing—not even our deepest sorrows—changes the truth that God
is holy and worthy of our respect. God wants us to be honest with Him so that He can
lovingly speak truth to us. Our greatest disappointments can often increase our faith
more than anything else when we bring them to the Lord.

HOW CAN YOU ALLOW YOUR OWN REJECTION TO POINT OTHERS TO JESUS?

If you are living for Christ, you won’t always fit in with the crowd. There will be
times when people reject you because your beliefs or your standards make them feel
uncomfortable. It’s difficult, but Jesus promised this would happen to us because
it happened to Him. When we are rejected, we can respond in love to those who’ve
rejected us instead of seeking revenge, and we can persevere in following Jesus. When
we do this, we point them to Jesus.

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