Increasing Our Faith

Absolutely delightful! Just what we'd like to see. We appreciate all of the young people participating in the choir and being able to go through a gorgeous hymn. It's exciting to see them and to see their enthusiasm and see their singing in praise to God and certainly in appreciation of what God has done for them and for all of us. So I thank every one of them and for the parents who are helping be able to make that happen. I thank you for that. Just a wonderful thing to add to services today. As all of you know, our Passover service is tomorrow evening and a couple of weeks ago I went over some information regarding the Passover and regarding, in a sense, some of the serious side of the death of Jesus Christ.

And yet I'd like for us to focus not only on that because that is what we think about as we examine ourselves and ask God to show us what we're like. Because that's really what we're doing. That's what we're doing right now, brethren. And we're doing that as we go into the Passover, but we're really doing that even as we celebrate the Days of Unleavened Bread. The Days of Unleavened Bread are about learning more and God showing us more about how it is that we can reflect Him, how we can reflect His Son, how we can actually live the unleavened lives that we all desire to live.

And so I wanted to remind all of you, not only of somewhat of the sober side of the Passover, but also the absolute joy, the absolute delight, the absolute wonderful blessing it is to appreciate what Jesus Christ did for all of us.

Because there's truly a joy in what He has offered us. And that's something that, in a sense, I think we should be reminded of, because it's not solely just a somber time. It is really a joyous time. It's a wonderful time. Because what we're celebrating is not simply the fact that Jesus died and that by doing so, He has, as we think about that death, as we think about what it means to us, as we think about how it affects us, it convicts us, it commits us, it motivates us.

But see, there's more beyond that. There's more beyond that that gives us hope, that gives us encouragement. Because see, what is it that happened? See, after He died, which of course was a part of the plan of God from the very beginning, after He died, He was buried. And He was there in the grave for three days and three nights, and then He was resurrected in power. See, the power of His resurrection is what's available to us as members of the Church of God and as recipients of the Holy Spirit.

See, that power is a power to heal, it's a power to help, it's a power to make us righteous. See, I can't make myself righteous, and neither can you. We can seek God's righteousness, and that's what we all pray for and should want. But see, the only way we're going to be righteous is for Christ to live in us. And it is through His power and the power of the Holy Spirit that that's actually achieved. I'd like for us to look in 1 Corinthians. 1 Corinthians 15.

We see a statement that Paul makes in the first part of 1 Corinthians 15. And he says, I want to remind you, brethren, of the good news that I have proclaimed to you, which you in turn received, and which you also stand, through which also you are being saved, if you hold firmly to the message that I have proclaimed to you, that you have come to believe in vain. But in verse 3 he says, I handed on to you as of first importance what I in turn have received, and what it is that he had handed on, what it is he had passed down, what he had given them, was that, as he writes here in verse 3, of first importance I gave to you what was given to me, that Jesus Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures, and he was buried, and that he was raised on the third day in accordance with the Scripture, and that he appeared to Peter into the twelve, and then he appeared to more than five hundred brethren.

He appeared later to James and the apostles, and finally he appeared to Paul. See, what's he talking about here? Well, you should know that 1 Corinthians 15 is about the resurrection.

It's about the resurrection that is, for many, many of us, for us yet to be. It talks about different timings of resurrections. But what I want to point out to you is what Jesus did in that he explained, even before he went through the trial that he was going to go through, and of course he predicted numerous times, I'm going to die, I'm going to be in the grave, and I'm going to be resurrected.

Now, I'm sure the disciples wondered, what is he talking about? How is that going to happen? And of course, they didn't seem to really believe it until after the fact, and they looked back and see exactly what happened. But see, what I want to focus on today is that, you know, that resurrection, the power of that resurrection, was clearly within, you know, the directive of Jesus Christ. And he even talked about it before. He talked about it before we get to the Passover service that he observed with his disciples. Because it was on that day, as Mr.

Brandon was telling us about, on that day of the Passover, that he was meeting in the evening before with his disciples, and that he would later be taken, and he would be misused throughout the night and throughout the next day, be tried, be crucified, and ultimately die before he needed to be put into the grave toward the end of that day. See, all of that's happening during that 24-hour period of time. It's happening during the Passover day. And we are, of course, following that pattern as we observe the New Testament Passover service at the beginning, the very beginning of the 14th of the first month, as it corresponds to tomorrow evening for us here in this time.

But I think it's remarkable when we see what it is that Jesus said, and really what it is that he explained about his power over the resurrection. And I want to show us this as we can go back to John 11. John 11 is actually a remarkable chapter. It's a remarkable chapter because it describes something that is extremely rare. Now, John 11 is not about the resurrection of Jesus. The resurrection of Jesus occurs, of course, a little bit later. But John 11 explains a lot. It explains a lot about the power that Jesus Christ had, the power that he has, and the power that he is able to extend to us.

And we find here in this exchange in John 11 that there are kind of three main characters. Well, I guess you'd have to add Christ to be one of the main character because he was the one who was doing the teaching. But you find three family members that he was working with. And you also find that there were a number of Jews who were there, and they were aware of what was going on.

And they wondered about this man who was among them and how it was that he could do what he had done and how it was that he could heal the sick. And of course, they thought that was a problem. Amazingly, he shows that he can do miracles and they want to kill him. He does a miracle and they want to kill the person he resurrects, being Lazarus. So we find in this chapter the family of Lazarus and of Martha and Mary, these brothers and sisters.

They were of one family. They were very well familiar with Jesus Christ. He was, it seems as if he was well aware of the family. He was interested in this family. He loved this family. And actually, when you look at this chapter, you see that Lazarus was somewhat of a, you know, he really didn't have much to do with anything. Almost nothing. All he did was die. And then, of course, as we know at the end, he was resurrected. And then later, you know, that created a stir. That created a stir among the Jews because they were starting to wonder, maybe we ought to get rid of him.

Maybe we ought to kill Lazarus because, you know, this is quite the problem. Here he is. He's up walking around. We all know he died. And so Lazarus is, he's kind of a, you know, he's a, what you would say, he was a bit player in the play. He didn't have too much to do. It doesn't really say that he said anything. But we do see some interaction with Martha. Jesus had interaction with Martha where he was teaching her. And he had some interaction with Mary. That's very important. Very, very significant. Because he loved this family. And yet, let's start in chapter 11 of John and go through this and see how it was that he was displaying his remarkable power over life and death.

He was going to explain this. And he was going to encourage belief. He was going to encourage faith in who he was. That he wasn't just another human being. He was someone they were familiar with. He was a familiar character to Lazarus and Mary and Martha. But he was far more than that.

And he was going to show them that. And of course, in so doing, he was going to increase their faith. He was going to increase their faith in the power of God. In the power that God had given Jesus Christ. To be able, in this case, to raise the dead. So here in verse 1, a certain man was ill. Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. So Bethany was a couple of miles outside of Jerusalem. It was a town that Jesus had been in before. He had visited others there. He had been even to their home before. But it says Mary, in verse 2, was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair.

And her brother Lazarus was ill. So we actually see that statement that John makes. That Mary was the one who does this as far as the one who anoints Jesus. In chapter 12, the first few verses, you can read that account. How that Mary was very, very moved to be able to anoint the feet of Jesus. And of course, she was criticized for it. And Jesus said, don't criticize her. She's doing the right thing. She has the right focus. She has a right awareness. But John points this out as far as who it is that was doing this particular act for Jesus. But in verse 3, it says, whenever Lazarus was ill, he said the sisters sent a message to Jesus saying, Lord, he whom you love is ill. And so obviously he was familiar with Lazarus. He knew him. Maybe he had spent some time with him.

I don't know whether they had built some tables and chairs together.

I don't really know whether he was a carpenter like Jesus was.

But, you know, undoubtedly he knew who he was. He knew who these characters were.

As they sent for him, you find something odd. Verse 4, Jesus heard about it, and he said, this illness does not lead to death.

Rather, it is for God's glory so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.

So he said, this entire affair, this entire situation where Lazarus finds himself ill and actually is going to die, it's not going to conclude with Lazarus being dead.

The purpose for this activity, the purpose for this particular incident, even the purpose for this illness, was in order to glorify the Son of God, in order to magnify his name before others. And, of course, whether it affected a lot of people right then or not, you know, it doesn't seem to be, but it certainly can affect us. It certainly should affect us. It certainly should affect other people because this is who we worship. This is who we praise. This is who we are grateful for as our Savior. And so he said, this illness does not lead to death, but it is for the glory of God. And accordingly, although Jesus loved Martha and he loved Mary and he loved Lazarus, verse 6, after having heard that he was ill, he stayed there two days longer in the place where he was.

You know, it didn't look like he hustled over there to try to help him, and that clearly was not the case. And actually, as we all know, Jesus could have just told Lazarus, be healed, and that would have taken care of it. You see other examples where he's healing the sick and caring for them just by his command, just by his directive. And yet, in this case, you know, this was not the plan. There was more to be revealed. There was more to be given.

And so in verse 7, after having waited a couple of days, after this he said to the disciples, let's go to Judea now. And so the disciples said to him, Rabbi, the Jews, we're just now trying to stone you, and you're going there again? Of course, they could see, you know, some of the facts. They could see that the Jews didn't like Jesus. They could see that, you know, he might be in jeopardy. They could see we don't have any way to protect you.

They could see, you know, the physical problem with going there. But Jesus simply answered in verse 9, or they're not 12 hours in a day or of daylight, and those who walk during the day do not stumble because they see the light of this world. But those who walk in night stumble because the light is not in them. Now, he may have said that for a number of reasons. Essentially, you know, I'm not wanting to go through every reason he might have said that, but essentially he was saying, I need to do the work that I have been given to do, the work that I'm mission to do, commission to do. I need to do that while I can. I may not have a whole lot longer, and I think as far as the timing of this, I would say I don't know exactly how much before his final Passover with his disciples and ultimately his crucifixion and death, but it wasn't. You know, it didn't appear to be, but a few months perhaps before that time. And so he said, I don't have just a whole lot of time to do my work, but one thing I'm going to do, I'm going to show you the glory of God. I'm going to show you something that you need to be impressed by. So he said in verse 11, after saying this, he told them, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, and I'm going there to wake him up.

And so he knew what had happened, whether that was communicated to him by someone or whether he just knew. He knew what had taken place. But he says, Lazarus has fallen asleep and I'm going to awaken him. And the disciples said, well, Lord, if he's fallen asleep, he'll be okay. Just like with most of us, we can get tired and we can want to go to sleep. And sometimes we can sleep, and sometimes we can't. At least, that's what I'm finding. I can't sleep, even when I want to sleep.

This morning, I usually get up fairly early on the Sabbath, but about 5.30, all of a sudden I thought there was this light in my room. I thought, what in the world? And, of course, we usually turn out all the lights at night and my wife sleeps much better if it's totally dark, not if I forget a light or if one's in the kitchen or whatever. That usually somehow gets into our room. But all of a sudden, about 5.30, there was just light shining into my room. And I thought, what? I must have left some lights on. This is not going to be good. And I got up and started looking and I said, boy, it was coming from the windows.

And so I looked out in the street and the neighbor next door has had a lot of health problems and has had to run to the hospital numerous times, several times. And sure enough, the fire truck and the ambulance were sitting there. The fire truck had some significant lights on it, and they were shining into my window. So it was waking me up. I don't know what that has to do with this. Anyway, Lazarus had fallen asleep and the disciples thought, well, we were talking about going to sleep. And I wasn't going to sleep this morning, not with that light on, I can tell you.

Anyway, they thought, well, if he's asleep, he'll wake up. That's okay. But Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death. See, and that's in a sense, that was the way he viewed it. That's what he looked at it as. He's simply asleep. Even someone who is dead to Jesus Christ is simply asleep because he has the power to resurrect them from the dead. He has that authority. He has that ability. And he's going to show that. He's going to show the glory of God in this particular example. And so when he saw that they didn't really understand what he was talking about, Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And for your sake, I am glad that I was not there.

So that you may believe. See, here he was telling them, this is part of what I would like for you to remember. I want you to be impressed by the fact that you have been drawn to follow me.

You have been drawn to be my disciples. You are learning and you are growing, and you've seen miracles occur. But even beyond that, I want you to thoroughly and unequivocally know who I am and what I can do. Because I'm not just another human being. See, I'm different. And I am the Son of God. And you have to believe that. You have to not only believe that, but you have to stake your life on that. And so he was wanting them to believe who he was, to believe he had the power over death, to believe that he could resurrect and give life to anyone in any way that he would choose.

And certainly he had the power to help out in this situation. And so he said, let us go on. And Thomas said, well, let's go with him so that we can all die with him. They didn't have a lot of hope on this trip. It didn't sound like they thought, uh-oh, the Jews are after him. We're following him. They're going to catch him. You know, what's going to happen? I know Thomas, Thomas actually has several different interactions with Christ here in the Gospels. And, you know, this one kind of points out, well, we're going to follow him, but, you know, this may not turn out well. This may, this may be a bad move, but it turned out fine, of course. In verse 17, when Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. And so I don't know how long he diddled around. He obviously delayed. He obviously waited on purpose for a couple of days, and then he had to travel over there from wherever he was. And so by the time he gets there, Lazarus has been dead and buried for four days. And actually, what we find here with his interaction with Martha and his interaction with Mary, I think it reveals several increasing levels of faith. Several increasing levels of faith are described because, you know, there is a certain level of just knowledge that people can have of knowing who someone is. They may know Jesus. They may know, yeah, he's special. But see, they can also learn later on, well, you know, he's really the Messiah. He's the Son of God. He is far more than just another man. And of course, they can learn beyond that. You know, he has power to heal the sick. He can raise the dead. All power has been given to him. And that's why we worship him. That's why we rejoice with him as he calls us and makes us a part of his family. And so when Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been dead. And in verse 18, now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away.

And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother.

And when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, see, actually, you know, this was quite a commotion.

Lazarus had been sick. Maybe he'd been sick for a while. Maybe it was a sudden illness. But whatever it was, he died. And now he's been buried. And the Jews have come from Jerusalem to console. They've come to try to be somewhat encouraging to Martha and to Mary. And when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him while Mary stayed at home.

You actually see two or three accounts about Martha and Mary, both of them somewhat indicative of kind of the personalities that they had and the approach that they had, the interest that they had in certain things. And in some ways, you find kind of the outlook that they had and that Jesus loved both of them. You know, they were not exactly the same. They were sisters. They were different. And yet he loved both of them as well as having loved Lazarus. And so when Martha met Jesus in verse 21, she said, Lord, if you have been here, my brother would not have died. That's the way I read this. You know, it's almost like Martha is chewing him out. Why didn't you show up? Because, you know, we sent for you and we know you could have healed him. And yet now, you know, you come several days later. I don't know what took you so long. But Lord, if you had been here, you would have been able to heal him. If you had been here, my brother would not have died. But she went ahead to say, even now, I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him. See, Martha did have some faith in Jesus. She had a belief in who he was. She understood. Well, I mean, it would be really hard. It would be really hard to believe that Jesus was who he said he was. Even doing the things that he did. Because you can look over there and you can see he's just another man. He's just a person. He can do miraculous things, but he's just a person. That would have been hard to fully believe. And even for all of us, you know, that's hard for us to even think of another human. If I were to pick out Mr. Johnson back there, you know, if I was to think, there's something really special about him. He can heal the sick.

He can do miracles. That would have been unusual. That would have been very unusual for Mary and Martha to look at Jesus and, you know, they kind of know who he is. They know some of his background and yet their faith needs to grow. Martha's faith needs to grow. In a sense, she's kind of chiding Christ for not getting there sooner, but she says, well, I know whatever you say God could do for you. She had a certain level of belief, a certain level of faith. And so Christ was telling her and helping her to see that, well, you know, there's more to it and I'm going to show you. So in verse 23, Jesus said, your brother will rise again. Okay, that was a great, great statement to make. He had just died and in order to be encouraging, he was willing to tell her, able to tell her, your brother will rise again. And of course, she answered in response by saying, well, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.

See, so we not only see that, well, she knows who Jesus is. She's not exactly sure why he didn't show up earlier and she's not exactly sure what he's going to do, but she knows that God would help him whatever he wanted to do and she believed the scriptures. See, where'd she get that idea?

Well, that idea comes from the Old Testament. It comes from the book of Daniel. It comes from the book of Job and other Old Testament verses that point out a resurrection in the last day.

So she was familiar with that and she said, well, I know. I mean, that's, you know, whenever that is, I don't know when that is and neither do any of us. We don't know when the last day will be and that resurrection will occur, but we know that's going to happen. But, of course, you know, that's hope. That's hope that's going to happen. We're looking forward to that. We anticipate that and we believe that that will occur. But Jesus answered her inquiry. Well, I know about Him rising in the last day and Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life.

Those who believe in Me, even though they die, will live. And everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. So He made a pronouncement that He had not directly stated before. But what He was telling her was, look, I am the resurrection. I have power over the resurrection, over someone who has died, to cause them to come back to life. I have power over life and death. And if you believe in Me, if you have a firm conviction and faith in Jesus Christ, well, then your assurance of the future is very stable. It's very secure. Now, I think as human beings, we can believe even part of that and still not fully understand the depth of it. Still not fully know exactly what Jesus was saying, but here He made it quite clear. I am the resurrection and I am the life and those who believe in Me, even though they die, will live. And He said, do you really believe this? And she said, yes. Lord, I believe that You are the Messiah, the Son of God, the One coming into the world.

And so again, she said, okay, I believe, I think I believe that You are fulfilling what, again, the Old Testament said that someone would come. A prophet would come and would be extraordinary, would be the Messiah. And so, she heard growing faith. Christ was working with. He was helping her understand a little more, helping her to comprehend a little more fully. And of course, He was going to make it even more emphatic here in just a little bit. But He was working with her and helping her. She believed the Word of God. She believed who Jesus was. And yet, perhaps, she was yet to really understand His power over death. And I know she was certainly yet to understand His power to act right now. Because, see, she was saying, well, He will be resurrected in the future. She wasn't focusing on the fact that what Jesus was here to do was, I'm going to resurrect Him right now. And see, whenever we are laboring with our own problems and trials and difficulties, I think it's encouraging to know that we serve someone who is able to immediately change the situation, to improve the situation. He doesn't always immediately do that for our good.

But He can. He can. And He wants us to have faith in His ability to do that and His power over the resurrection. In verse 28, when she had said this, she went back and she went to her sister, Mary, and told her, you know, the teacher is here and he's calling for you. So apparently Jesus must have asked, well, where's Mary? I see you're here. You've come out here and kind of scolded me for not showing up on time. And yet, I know that you know who I am. I know that you know what I've just told you, that I have power over the resurrection. And so I think her faith was increasing as she was going along here. But what we find was that Jesus had asked for Mary. And when Mary heard about it, when Martha told her, the master or the teacher is calling, when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to Him. And now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but He was still in the place where Martha had met Him. And the Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought she was going to the tomb to weep.

See, this is this is a scenario that John describes and how it was affecting different people. And they didn't fully know why it was that Martha kind of rushed out. Or Mary, in this case, had rushed out. But she had rushed out because Jesus had called for her. He had asked for her to come. Where is she? I know I'm working with you, Martha. I know that Mary has some insight into this as well. And so in verse 32, when Mary came where Jesus was and saw Him, it doesn't appear to me that she was chiding Him for not showing up. She said the exact same thing. But what it says is, when Mary came where Jesus was and saw Him, she knelt at His feet. You know, it doesn't say that Martha did that. Martha was still learning. Just who do we need to worship? Who do we need to respect? Who do we need to kneel before? And Mary was an example, maybe having listened a little more in the past. Mary was an example of someone who came to Jesus and just simply said, as she knelt down and worshiped to Him, Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn't have died.

See, she said the same thing that Martha had, but I think it's in a completely different tone.

It's in a completely different respect that clearly needed to be extended to Jesus. And so her faith was being strengthened as well. In verse 33, when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping, He was greatly disturbed and deeply moved. And so He said, well, where have they laid Him? And they said, well, Lord, come and see. And it says in verse 35 that Jesus wept as well. Now, I don't think He was weeping because Lazarus died because He knew all along what was going to happen. He knew even having delayed coming that He allowed Him to doubt in order to point out who He was, in order to point out His power and His might and even His power over death.

And so the Jews, as they saw Jesus weeping, said, well, see how He loved Him. But some of them said, well, couldn't He have opened the eyes of... could not He who have opened the eyes of the blind have kept this man from dying? See, they're still kind of skeptical about why is He here and what is He doing? What is He going to do now? I think they may have been even suspect of what He might do from what He had said if Martha had told Him. But Mary had a deep respect for Jesus and actually see that reflected in chapter 12 in verse 3 where Mary took the pound of costly ointment and anointed Jesus, feed and wipe them with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance. And Jesus said, leave her alone. She has done this and she might keep it for the day of my burial.

And so He kind of chided the disciples for their disputing over the fact that they didn't have the money to feed the poor. He says, you'll always have those who need, but you won't have Me. Now, He was focusing and wanting them to focus on Him. And brethren, He wants us to focus on Him today. That He is the source of our power. He is the source of success in the work that we are doing. And He's the source of each and every one of our success as we view and look toward eternal life. So verse 38, Jesus again, greatly disturbed, came to the tomb and it was a cave and the stone was lying against it. And He said, well, take away the stone. And again, Martha kind of intervenes here. The sister of Lazarus said to her, Lord, already there's a stench. There's a bad odor because He's been dead for four days.

And so she's again kind of, you know, she's wavering. She's wondering, you know, well, you know, that doesn't seem like a very good idea. You know, you waited too long to get here and now you want to open. You know, that again, I think, just shows in a sense kind of a way that Martha was looking at it. And yet, Jesus said in verse 40, did I not tell you that if you believe, if you have a strong belief, a strong faith, if we're asking God to increase our faith, to increase our appreciation of Him and our appreciation of His Son, that you would see the glory of God. See, that's what He was going to show them. He said, that's what He told His disciples earlier. That's why we're going so that God can be glorified.

So they took away the stone and Jesus looked upward. And what He had to say is a very short prayer. It's a very short prayer and it's an example to us, perhaps. And yet, there was a definite purpose in what He had to say. Because what He asked in verse 41 and in verse 42 was that He asked the Father to help these people. That's what He was really doing. He was asking the Father to help Mary and to help Martha. He was going to help Lazarus, surely, and even to help the many Jews who were there around them. Because they're going to see the glory of God. They're going to see the power that God has over the dead. The power of the resurrection.

And so He said, I know, Father, that You always hear me.

See, I don't know whether my prayer is always that confident. In a sense, I think it is. Or, in a sense, I want to be always heard by God. But sometimes I might think, I don't know.

I'm not as confident as Jesus was. But, of course, what Jesus said was, Father, I thank You for always hearing me. I know that You sent me here to the earth. You sent me as a sacrifice for sin.

You gave me a mission. You gave me that job. And I'm portraying that to Your people.

He went ahead in verse 42 to say, I know that You always hear me.

But I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here.

So He says, even my speaking out loud and talking to You, Father, is for everybody else's benefit.

It's for those who are standing around who are watching. And what He wanted to achieve was so that they may believe that You sent me. So that they may believe that I'm not just the Son of Man, that I'm not just the Son of Joseph and Mary, but that I'm the Son of God. And that I have been sent here with a mission. And I've been sent with great power and great authority. And that I'm willingly giving my life as a sacrifice as the Lamb of God. He was going to be doing that here in just a short period of time. But He said to His Father, you know, I'm even speaking these things so that those who are hearing may believe that You sent me and that they will know who I am.

And so when He had said this, He cried with a loud voice, Lasworth, come forth! Come forth! And the dead man came out in his hands and feet, bound with strips of cloth and his face wrapped in a cloth. And Jesus said, unbind Him and let Him go.

So He displayed the power of God. He displayed His power over death. He displayed a power that He has in the resurrection of the dead. And of course, verse 45 indicates what some of the reactions were. You read on down further and some of them ran to the high priest and wanted to report Him. They wanted to paddle on what Jesus would do. And now, it's just totally incomprehensible the type of contempt that the religious leaders had for Jesus.

They hated. They were so jealous of what He was able to do. And of course, they knew He's replacing us. He is overtaking us. We can't do any of these things. And He is the Son of God.

And so, what's their reaction? Worshiping? No. Kill Him. Get rid of Him.

And yet in verse 45, it says, many of the Jews, therefore, who had come with Mary and who had seen what Jesus did, believed in Him. Some of them were affected. Some of them were moved. Some of them, their hearts were touched. And perhaps some of them later became a part of a group who were disciples, who were following Jesus and who were later on a part of the Church of God. I don't know.

But this would certainly have been an impressive thing to have seen. If they were thoroughly aware of the circumstances and of what Lazarus had been through and how long he had been in the grave and how that Jesus came and caused him to rise from the dead, you know, that's the amazing thing. It's also interesting down in chapter 12 verse 9 that the religious leaders, for the most part, were so intent on trying to dismiss and discredit Jesus that they thought, well, we need to get rid of Lazarus, too. And the great crowd of Jews learned that Lazarus was there. They came not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. But the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus.

Horrors. They were actually going to be believing in the Son of God. They were going to be believing in the one who could give them eternal life. You know, their attitude is just completely ridiculous. Instead of worshiping the one who could help them, you know, they wanted to kill him. They wanted to kill the evidence. They wanted to get rid of Lazarus. They wanted to stop what Jesus was doing. But see, this is, you know, this is an account that simply describes how it was that Jesus affected people whenever he interacted with them. And in this case, dealing with Martha, I think Martha probably was very impressed. And I believe her faith was increasing. And certainly, as she saw this, I'm sure she was a far more convicted and far more committed believer than she had been before. And I certainly know from the response and from the attitude that Mary had, you know, that she reveled in worshiping the one who could redeem her from death.

She appreciated that. She was willing to kneel before Christ. She was willing to wash his feet with her hair. You know, it seems hard to do to me. But that, again, was an attitude of worship, an attitude of service. And so what we find in these accounts, and certainly some of the Jews came to a greater belief, if they believed at all, some of them really became believers.

They began to have faith in Jesus Christ. And yet, brethren, that's why, as we observe the Passover, as we appreciate His death, His burial, and His resurrection, as we read there in 1 Corinthians, as we appreciate all of that, it should inspire our faith. It should uplift us in being able to be stronger in our commitments and in our desire to serve and our desire to live like Jesus did. And certainly, I think it should help us as we recognize that we believe in the Son of God, we believe in His power over death, and for them it clearly was an eye-changing or an eye-opening, a life-changing experience. And I think the more we dwell on these type of things, see, they had an encounter with the Son of God. And in some ways, we've also had that same type of encounter, not in the exact same way, but certainly we know that God has drawn us to Jesus Christ. He has drawn us to Jesus Christ to be a part of the Church of God and to be infused with His power, to be infused with the Spirit of God. And so, certainly, as their faith was elevated, as they went through this experience with Jesus, I would hope that as we study this, as we read it, as we contemplate it, as we add it to the joy that we have as we commit ourselves and rededicate ourselves to Jesus Christ, that that can strengthen our faith. See, our faith can grow as well. And I think our faith does grow as we draw closer to Jesus Christ.

Thankfully, God rehearses this for us every year, and certainly it shouldn't be something we don't think about the rest of the year. It should be a driving force for us throughout the rest of the year. But thankfully, God does focus our minds on Jesus Christ here at the time of the Passover, and clearly His Passover sacrifice was given to save us. But also, even as He was showing Martha, it's not just simply that I'm going to save you in the future. I am here, and I have the power from God to be able to help you, to help you here and now, even as He was going to do for Lazarus. So help us to...we can ask God to help us to grow in our faith in Jesus Christ, appreciate the fact, as He states here, I am the resurrection and the life. I have power over death. And because of that, we can live lives of happiness, we can live lives of joy, we can live lives of appreciation, and certainly we can live lives of gratitude and thanksgiving for the wonderful blessings that He has extended to us through the Son of God, our Savior, Jesus Christ.