““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.” Jesus *said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they removed the stone. And Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 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.” And when He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 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.”””

— John 11:39-44 NASB

You may remember that Jesus said at the beginning of the chapter that Lazarus’s sickness would not end in death, but for the glory of God and that Jesus, the Son of God, would be glorified in it. Well, it could be that those who sent the message of Lazarus’s sickness to Jesus shared this response with Mary and Martha and this is what Jesus was referring to when He told Martha if she believed she’d see the glory of God. Or this could have been something Jesus told Martha in His earlier exchange with her that was not previously recorded, yet is being referred back to now. Either way, the question that may have come to your mind earlier is what is the glory of God Jesus wanted Martha to see? And here’s where I want to share a Bible study tool with you that I want you to keep in mind whenever you read the Scriptures. The glory of God is the “heavy weight”, as it’s referred to in the original language, of the revelation of God’s reputation or character of love! It is this powerful revelation made manifest in the resurrection of Lazarus that vindicated every claim of Jesus up to that point, especially that He was indeed the prophesied Messiah, the Son of God, the divine equal to the Father! This is why Jesus responds to families grieving the loss of a loved one by drawing close to…

REVEAL HIS GLORY BY FAITH-ANCHORING RESURRECTION POWER.

My own grandmother, Hazel Barns, whom we affectionately called Mamita, which is Spanish for little mama, died at age 101 in January of 2017. She was born in 1915; the very year that Ellen G. White died. When she died and we were all at the funeral, I was invited to not only be there as her grandson, but also to be there in the capacity of a pastor. I shared a message of comfort and encouragement to our grieving family and tried to be present and strong for everyone else who was there to grieve. Yet, I would not fully grieve her passing for an entire year. What happened was I was driving home from the grocery store when a song came on by Casting Crowns called, “Hallelujah”, which in the 3rd verse portrays the glory of the resurrection of the righteous at the second coming of Christ. As the powerful lyrics hit my soul, what vividly came to my mind was my grandmother “Mamita” rising from the grave, wrapped in bright linen and an expression of sheer joy on her face as she was caught up to meet the Lord in the air! I began to weep like a baby all the way until I got home. I had finally allowed myself to grieve her passing. Yet I didn’t merely weep because I missed her, but because my faith was anchored in the power of the resurrection, when I know I shall see her again!

King David was also captivated by the glory of God revealed in His resurrection power. He writes of this when prophesying about the Messiah in a song recorded in Psalm 16:10, which says,..

““For You will not abandon my soul to Sheol; You will not allow Your Holy One to undergo decay.””

— Psalm 16:10 NASB

What David is saying here is that he has the sure hope of his own resurrection, because his faith is anchored in the resurrection of God’s Holy One, which is another Old Testament way of saying the Messiah! And because Jesus Messiah rose from the grave, the Bible declares that the same power that rose Him from the grave can give you a resurrected life right now and anchor your faith in the sure hope that your dead loved ones will be resurrected to life eternal with you!

You see my dear friends, one day death will literally die. I said death will die! It shall be finally crushed under the overwhelming, heavy weight of the glory of God’s love manifested in Christ’s resurrection power! His is a love that’s stronger than death and it makes a real difference when you live your life from this place of undying hope. It makes a difference in how you grieve. It makes a difference in your ongoing mental, emotional, spiritual and even physical health.

Verse 45 let’s us know that when many of the Jews witnessed Jesus resurrect Lazarus, many of them believed in Jesus. And this is what can happen, when through faith in Jesus, you allow your grief to give way to glory. For…

Jesus responds to families grieving the loss of a loved one by drawing close to give them room to sort out what they believe about God, to grieve with them while being in incomprehensible suffering, and to reveal His glory by faith-anchoring resurrection power.

You see, Jesus raising Lazarus to life was done at the risk of His own life. It was the crowning sign, the concrete evidence that He was indeed the Messiah, the Son of the living God. He did it in the very presence of those who were actively plotting His death so that they were without excuse as to the authenticity of His claim to be the Messiah as they had Him crucified. You see, because just as surely as Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave, is just as surely as Jesus would Himself rise from the grave, to the sheer terror of those who placed Him on the cross! And therefore, by grace, Jesus’ victory is now yours through faith in Him.

Respond to the Good News about Jesus