John 11:17-44. Death and Illness

Christians first visited the court of King Edwin of Northumbria early in the seventh century. He had never heard of Christianity before. The capital of Scotland was named after this king, Edwin-burgh or Edinburgh. The king invited these missionaries to a banquet in the Great Hall and there, in that rush-lit hall they discussed this new religion. During the meal a sparrow flew in the door at one end of the hall,, fluttered through the light and shadows and then flew out at the other end of the hall into the darkness. King Edwin turned to the Christian missionaries and said,

“Our life is like that sparrow. We come in from the unknown,, we pass through the hall of life and we go out into the unknown. Can your religion tell me anything about what happens out there?”

This is a critical question for any religion – does it give real answers to the greatest questions of life. In particular, what assurance can it give to a person who is dying.

There are probably no greater problems facing all of us than sickness and death. Whatever our social or financial status we will all face these issues at some time, either in ourselves or in those we love.

When John’s gospel is carefully analysed it contains a record of only twenty days in the life of Jesus and in many of these he is facing the real problems that humans face.

The Problem of Illness

This account of the illness and death of Lazarus forces us to face the problem of sickness. There are some churches and cults who teach that because Jesus healed and raised the dead, and because he is the same yesterday, today and forever (Hebrews 13:8), we should expect him to do the same today. They teach that the reason that this is rare is a lack of faith. Too often their answer to a lack of faith is to whisk up peoples’ emotions so they will believe anything! This is far from the teaching and the behaviour of Jesus and his apostles. Honesty must be a mark of God’s people, there is no place for exaggeration or lying in promoting God’s cause. In my daily Bible reading this morning I was reading some Proverbs. The following proverbs struck me forcibly,

“A truthful witness does not deceive, but a false witness pours out lies.” Proverbs 14:5

“A truthful witness saves lives, but a false witness is deceitful.” Proverbs 14:25

Some years ago I was involved in a student mission in a Scottish city. One afternoon we walked through a square in the centre of the city. There a local church had set up a stall with a large banner that said,

“If you are sick, come and be healed.”

Were they really suggesting that patients with terminal cancer or who had had a leg amputated could find new bodies with their help? It is relevant that the so called ‘Christian healers’ do not go into the psycho-geriatric or amputee wards in our hospitals!

It is right and proper to bring any concerns we have to the Lord in prayer, but not right to try and dictate to him how and when he should answer. The sisters of Lazarus get the balance right when they simply say,

“Lord, the one you love is sick.” John 11:3

We know that John was very careful in his selection of the miracles Jesus did; the ones he chose were all striking but they also had secondary messages, besides showing the extraordinary power Jesus had. John had told us why he selected these miraculous signs at the end of his book,

“Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples which are not recorded in this book. But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.” John 20:30-31

It is striking that Jesus actually allowed his friend Lazarus to become ill, to suffer and then to die. His family, who were deeply loved by Jesus, undoubtedly suffered too. The reason for Jesus’ inaction was that he wanted to demonstrate to the world a vital truth, that he is the Saviour of the world as well as its creator and Lord.

The word ‘dispensation’ is seldom used today, it is used of different periods of time. The Bible is clear that God works in different periods of time, in different dispensations, in different ways. There was clearly a difference in the ways he worked miraculously during the exodus from Egypt to later periods. All that God did in the times of Jesus were exceptional. Jesus’ miracles were used to mark him out as the Messiah so it would be most strange if these were happening all the time. God is the same, he never changes throughout the centuries, but his activities clearly do vary. In Old Testament times God’s people were told to enter the Promised Land and build a temple. In the New Testament, the only land stressed is that in the new creation, the heavenly Jerusalem. There is no directive for Christians to build beautiful buildings such as cathedrals, clothed with gold and expensive artwork in this world. God’s temple is now the people of God, the church. Buildings were not Jesus’ priorities! All God’s people need is a building they can gather in to hear God’s word being taught. His longing is for people to enter his kingdom and so be saved.

It should be emphasised that the term ‘dispensation’ is different from ‘dispensationalism’. This term has been used to describe the mistaken belief that Israel and the church are two separate peoples of God. Such people consider the prophecies concerning Israel will be fulfilled, not in the church, but in the literal nation of Israel, possibly in a ‘millennium’ period.

In the Old Testament, as God’s people wandered through the wilderness, something strange happened,

“Yet the LORD says, "During the forty years that I led you through the wilderness, your clothes did not wear out, nor did the sandals on your feet.” Deuteronomy 29:5

This is not a promise to God’s people today, our clothes and shoes certainly do wear out.

Yet there is a continuity in other areas. God has always hated rebellion and sin. In the Old Testament such rebellion was punished with all sorts of troubles and eventually exile. God still hates our sin. Could this be the explanation why many churches are weak today, why God is not blessing us? We have certainly gone weak on the doctrine of a real God who is angry at sin; we have domesticated God! Yet the New Testament teaches,

“It is a dreadful thing to fall into the hands of the living God.” Hebrews 10:31

In C.S. Lewis’ book, “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe’ Aslan, the lion, represents the Lord Jesus. Susan who had thought of Aslan as a cuddly tame being is put right by Mr Beaver,

“Aslan is a lion - the Lion, the great Lion."

"Ooh" said Susan. "I'd thought he was a man. Is he quite safe? I shall feel rather nervous about meeting a lion"…

"Safe?" said Mr Beaver ..."Who said anything about safe? 'Course he isn't safe. But he's good. He's the King, I tell you.”

The reason for illness

Jesus taught that most illnesses are not due to an individual’s sin but occur simply because we live in a degenerate world. When Jesus met a man who had been born blind the question was asked by his disciples,

“‘Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents that he was born blind?’

‘Neither this man nor his parents sinned,’ said Jesus, ‘but this has happened that the work of God might be displayed in his life.’” John 9:3

However occasionally illness can be the direct result of sin or irresponsibility. Paul warns Christians not to trifle with religion and church but to be genuinely godly. He warns that those who are active in churches but not sincere may even become ill because of this,

“A man ought to examine himself before he eats of the bread and drinks of the cup. For anyone who eats and drinks without recognising the body of the Lord eats and drinks judgment on himself. That is why many among you are weak and sick and a number have fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 11:28-31

There are some Christians leaders however who say that there should be no differences between how God works in different eras and places as God is ‘always the same, yesterday, today and forever’ (Hebrews 13:8). However to say that, because God did something in the Old Testament, he wants to do the same today, cannot be assumed. Similarly, to assume that what God did to authenticate Jesus when he was on earth is what he wants to do today is unwarranted. God is the same, his message of ‘salvation by faith alone’ is the same, his gift of the Holy Spirit to his people is the same, but what he chooses to do supernaturally varies. People who advocate a ‘healing ministry’ today will often quote a prophecy about the coming Messiah in Isaiah,

“Surely he took our infirmities and carried our sorrows, yet we considered him stricken by God, smitten by him and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was upon him, and by his wounds we are healed. We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to his own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.” Isaiah 53:4-6

The opening phrase can be translated,

“Surely he has born our sickness and carried our pains.”

Jesus did act as a substitute for us when he bore our sin, the sin that separates us from God, when he died on that cross. We can be included in this when we truly turn to him, asking him to remove our guilt and fill us with his Spirit so that we have the power to live very different lives that honour him.

However, some are saying more, they think that Jesus will also remove our pain and suffering. This is not the understanding given in the New Testament which teaches that this prophecy has already been fulfilled when Jesus entered this world and died for us. This prophecy refers to Jesus who, when in Palestine, did heal the sick – it was fulfilled by him then. When Jesus healed Peter’s mother-in-law who was lying sick with a fever, and then that same evening healed many who were sick and demon possessed, Matthew writes,

“This was to fulfil what was spoken through the prophet Isaiah: ‘He took our infirmities and carried our diseases.’” Matthew 8:17

Matthew stresses that that prophecy has been fulfilled. The remarkable events that took place in the times of Jesus have never been repeated. Those miracles occurred to substantiate who Jesus was, and the greatest miracle was when Jesus became our sacrifice by dying on that cross. If people want evidence about Jesus they should go back to the first hand witnesses who saw these miracles, his death and resurrection, and heard Jesus teach. Even in Jesus’ day many followed him in a superficial way, because they saw the miraculous signs and not because they were convicted about their own need for the salvation that Jesus alone could give them.

Peter also refers to this prophecy in Isaiah in his first letter, and he understands the whole passage to be about the forgiveness of sin that Jesus won for his people.

“He himself bore our sins in his body on the tree, so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness; by his wounds you have been healed.” 1 Peter 2:24

Christ’s apostle here interprets Isaiah’s prophecy to be about sin, not sickness. The purpose is that we should ‘live for righteousness’, not health. Peter goes on to say,

“For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.” 1 Peter 2:25

This is the greatest healing in the New Testament. God encourages us all to ask for this and, if genuinely wanted, is always given. However many devout and real Christians ask for physical healing and sometimes God refuses to act over this.

A local newspaper article said,

“If God is there, why doesn’t he write a sign in the sky so we can all believe?”

The answer is that he has written them down in a much more durable place than the sky, they are written in the gospel record. In the gospels, and in non-biblical writings such as Josephus, the evidence for Jesus and his miracles is very strong. Even his enemies admitted that Jesus performed extraordinary signs. The problem we have today is not a lack of miracles but our hardened hearts. The Jews in Jesus day knew of the miracles but did not want to submit to God.

The Problem of Death

Death is an issue that modern society and families don’t want to confront. If you attend a humanist funeral there is no hope; atheists have no answer to confront death. H.J. Blackham’s Penguin book ‘Humanism’ attempted to present ‘the human face’ in ‘tackling human life in this world’. However it contains nothing about suffering, pain or death. In contrast John tackles the issue head on. He wants people to think about the purpose of life, a purpose that must stand even when people are on their death bed. He wants people to find life eternal and to do that necessitates answering the massive questions about death.

In his gospel John carefully selects seven major miracles which all have a double meaning. Firstly they demonstrate the miraculous power of Jesus but then each one has an application for us. The blind man sees but John wants us all to see who Jesus really is. Jesus feeds the five thousand but he wants to satisfy our deepest needs. In this story about the raising of Lazarus he is teaching us about the power of Jesus but also that he has the answer to our deaths.

Death is not sentimentalised. Neither Jesus nor John call death a brother that is to be welcomed. They would not agree with Peter Pan who said,

“To die would be an awfully big adventure”

They would not agree with JK Rowling who caused Professor Dumbledore to say,

“To a well-organised mind, death is but the next great adventure”

Christians will also face these crises, no-one is immune. As death is caused by disease or accidents no Christian will be exempt from suffering either.

“He must reign till he has put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” 1 Corinthians 15:25-26

Jesus called death an enemy and death brings real bitterness even for Christians. However it is a very unpleasant doorway to the next life, the really permanent life. In this world soon all our names, and memories of us, will disappear.

Jesus wants us all to know that there is glorious news to guide and support us as we pass through this troubled life. John is stressing that the one who died on that cross is the one who, before he died, had defeated death. The Synoptic gospels, (Matthew, Mark and Luke – so called because they have a similar perspective) have a number of other stories about Jesus defeating death.

The widow of Nain’s dead son raised. Many witnessed this. Luke 7:11-17

The 12 year old daughter of Jairus, the synagogue ruler was raised. Luke 8:49-56

After Jesus died there was an earthquake and some dead people rose to life, perhaps as a precursor of what would happen three days later. Matthew 27:50-54

This man, Jesus, who could overcome death, voluntarily went to his own death to pay the price for our sin.

Is it God’s purpose to raise the dead and heal those who are terminally ill with cancer today? Some Christians assume this is what God wants to do and pray to this end. However, when I was working as a cancer surgeon I never saw such prayers answered as people wanted - inevitably such patients died.

When Paul was in prison, brooding over his own fate, he wrote to his friends,

“For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. If I am to go on living in the body, this will mean fruitful labour for me. Yet what shall I choose? I do not know! I am torn between the two: I desire to depart and be with Christ, which is better by far; but it is more necessary for you that I remain in the body.” Philippians 1:21-24

Paul finds it hard to know what to pray for. He knows that to go and be with Christ will be wonderful. If a Christian is dying, is it better for them for us to ask that they be brought back to this sad old world? Then they will have to go through the wretched business of dying all over again.

Lazarus was restored to this old mortal existence and he had to die again. He had to suffer in this world but there was a purpose – that the Lord Jesus should be glorified.

The statistical evidence is obvious, God, with all his power, is choosing not to answer prayers to bring people back from the dead. However his glory is undiminished because of this.

Conclusions

1. Christians today will succumb to sickness and death

Lazarus, Mary and Martha were very close friends of Jesus. He loved them dearly, as we are repeatedly told in this chapter, and frequently stayed in their house. We are also told that Lazarus was ill 5-6 times in these few verses. Yet Jesus seemed to do nothing in spite of the tears, distress and undoubted prayers of the family. We are not to follow the delusion taught by Christian Science, which is neither Christian nor science. The teachings were radically simple. The founder and leader of the cult, Mary Baker Eddy, taught that disease was unreal because the human body and the entire material world were mere illusions of the credulous, a waking dream. Those who awoke and knew the “Truth” could be instantaneously healed. Not true of course even though some believed it - until they died! Yet still similar teachings have been invading the gullible fringes of Christian churches.

2. When sick, Christians should turn to Jesus for help

“Jesus, the one you love is sick.” John 11:3

This is a beautiful simple prayer. There was no bullying. There was no suggestion that the larger the number of people praying would somehow twist his arm and change God’s mind. It is similar to the simple prayer of Mary, Jesus’ mother, when a crisis hit a family wedding and they ran out of wine,

“They have no more wine.” John 2:3

This is surely how we should teach each other to pray.

3. Jesus still delays wakening us from ‘sleep’

Some are puzzled why Jesus waits to respond to our requests for help.

“Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed there two more days.” John 11:6

He has his reasons. However he has promised us that there will be a permanent resurrection with a new type of body, much more real than the old physical body that Lazarus had to return to for a few more years. The Bible teaches that we will all die, unless Jesus returns first, but we will be raised to meet God later..

“But if Christ is in you, your body is dead because of sin, yet your spirit is alive because of righteousness. And if the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead is living in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit, who lives in you.” Romans 8:10-11

“But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the first-fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive.” 1 Corinthians 15:20-22

4. Suffering and death are meant to teach us what is important

The story of Lazarus has been recorded for us so that we recognise our need for new life. Some object to this teaching but Jesus is very clear. Sometimes it takes a shock to wake us up. C.S.Lewis had suffered much. He lost his mother at an early age, saw his dad emotionally abandon him, suffered from a respiratory illness as a teenager, fought and was wounded in World War I, and finally had to bury his beloved wife. Lewis wrote about all of his heartache in his book ‘The Problem of Pain’. In this work, Lewis penned one of his most famous lines:

“Pain insists upon being attended to. God whispers to us in our pleasures, speaks in our conscience, but shouts in our pain: it is His megaphone to rouse a deaf world.”

Jesus was not afraid to use painful circumstances to help people think through how they stand before God.

“Now there were some present at that time who told Jesus about the Galileans whose blood Pilate had mixed with their sacrifices. Jesus answered, “Do you think that these Galileans were worse sinners than all the other Galileans because they suffered this way? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish. Or those eighteen who died when the tower in Siloam fell on them—do you think they were more guilty than all the others living in Jerusalem? I tell you, no! But unless you repent, you too will all perish.” Luke 13:1-5

Here Jesus faces up to two disasters. A group of Galileans had been killed by Roman soldiers when they came to sacrifice in the temple. Today there would be much political fighting over such an event. But Jesus uses it to ask people whether they are ready to meet God. A tower block in south Jerusalem collapsed killing eighteen people. Today there would be public enquiries investigating the builder, the architect, the planning consent and the like. Jesus avoids such controversies but addresses the lesson everyone should learn from such disasters. Are we, those still alive, right with God?

BVP