Lazarus and the Feast of Trumpets

Well, good afternoon. Happy Feast of Trumpets. Well, as Mr. McGuire said, I guess I'm done with the sermon because the special music just took my closing, ending passages. So thank you, ladies.

You sang it much better than I'm going to speak it in a little bit. I'll still go there later on. It's just so profound what the Apostle Paul wrote for us there in 1 Corinthians chapter 15. But I wish everyone a wonderful Holy Day. We made it to another series of God's Holy Days. It always does feel like an accomplishment to get to his Holy Days. There's lots of distractions, lots of things going on, lots of challenges. I know we all, many of us, are facing difficulties in different ways, but you're here. You were here this morning. Those online, you're here with us again, and it is tremendous to be at another one of God's Holy Days. I want to just take a few minutes and thank everyone who helped bring today together from the special music, the choir, this morning to the ensemble, three violins. I can only imagine what the Schaeffer's put out in string instruments for all their children to be able to play different instruments over the time, but thank you for that. Was this Caroline's first time in the choir this morning? I thought that was your first time. Great job! It's wonderful to have you part of the choir now as well.

Thank you for the afternoon special music. We really appreciate the ladies and all the work that's gone into that, and Ann Arbor, and also the flowers. I don't know how Linda fit all this into her car. I know what she drives, and I don't know how this all fit in. And from the audience, it looks like a whole bunch of pillows. I just want to run up and kind of dive into it.

It's just going to hold me up. It's so fluffy, and so thank you for that. It's a beautiful arrangement, and I appreciate the beauty God gives us at this time of the year as the seasons start to transition. We are now on to fall. I know you can all go, aww. But you guys know where my heart is at. I love the warmth because it seems like our summers are so, it seems like they go by so quickly, and then we're into winter. But I appreciate what God gives us in his creation as the seasons change and as we continue to see the beauty that he has surrounded us with every single season that we have year-round. And so I just want to take a moment and just thank everyone who had different parts to play today and to make this all come together so that we can be here honoring our God and to be taught from his word and to glorify him as we always do. This is no surprise and comes to no surprise to any of you, but one of the things that the ministry of Jesus Christ is tasked with is to perform funerals and memorials for those who die. This is a tremendous honor to be one who has done this now for God's people and for others in our community from time to time. It's one that is heavy at times because of the semblance of saying goodbye and recognizing that this life is not permanent, but it's also one that surprised me in a way of the joy that it also brings because we know the truth of God's word and the comfort that that gives us. Our goodbyes are not forever. Our goodbyes are temporary, and for those who go before us, we know that we'll see them again as they've continued to live in the faith, follow and run their race to the very end, and their crown is awaiting them at the return of their Lord and Savior, their Lord and Savior whom they gave their own life for in a spiritual way, right? Like those of us who are baptized have done. We recognize, we counted the cost, we have given up our life in a lot of ways, the things that we have maybe entertained in the past, aspects of our personality and our character that didn't align with God and with Jesus Christ, and we became a new creation when we came out of that water. Now, did we come out of perfect creation? No, right? This guy's still got a lot of work to do. That's what my mom always says. Oh, I better be careful. Mom could be online with us right now. I'll wave if she is.

But we always joke that mom is ready, and mom continues to be with us because God's not done with all the work that he's doing and still needs to finish in her life, right? Mom makes that joke, so I'm not just doing it at her expense, but I think we can all say that, right? We are all works in progress, and this day symbolizes, in one instance, the return of our Lord and Savior, when those who have ran their races will be resurrected at his return to meet him and join him in the air as he descends. How that all happens? How that all works out? Okay, I don't know, right? But we do know that it's a promise from God and that he is not one to break his promises. As we continue through this day, we recognize the significance, and from our study, and from keeping this Feast of Trumpets many times, that Christ will return, and when he does, he will put down the kings and the powers of this nation. Those who think they have everything figured out, those who think they know the best way to rule, he's going to say, you're still grossly missing the mark, and he will return a way of life that was planted all the way back in the Garden of Eden, when God walked with mankind, and we look forward to when he will come and re-establish his reign on this earth. It also represents the resurrection, as I mentioned, of God's firstfruits, those who ran their races to the end and who are asleep in their graves. Intertwined with the symbolism of this day is that wonderful aspect of the deep relationship that God has with his people. And as we just mentioned, when Christ returns, those who have diligently followed him will be resurrected. And this isn't a resurrection to join him in the heavens, to sit on clouds, or to play musical instruments, or to look into the face of their Creator for all of eternity. This is what some, as we know, religions teach. No, God has a plan to involve you and me to help establish his kingdom on this earth. We looked at this morning, we are to be kings and... and kings...

princes. Princess, yes, kings and princes. I was like, I know this, right? I should know this. I was trying to think of kingly princes, as some even put it. And this is an amazing opportunity, priests, excuse me, kings... I knew if I kept saying it long enough, it would finally cement. Kings and priests, and some even say kingly priests, combining the two as being a better description of how we will serve. And this is a tremendous opportunity that God is going to use his family, his children, to continue to be involved and to help bring healing to this nation and to this world that desperately needs it. There are many passages that talk about what happens upon one's death, but one passage I enjoy sharing in memorial services is an interaction that we have between Jesus and Martha during one of Martha's most challenging moments of her life. This interaction is found in John chapter 11. We're going to spend pretty much the entirety in this passage as we dive in to the account here. For those of us who've lost someone very dear to us and very close, the loss that we experience reaches deep into an inward part of us that normally does not hurt, especially does not hurt in the way that it does in loss. It's devastating for a time, but the memory of the loss remains with us forever.

This passage from John 11 is one of those passages from Scripture that we can easily put ourselves into the shoes and the emotions and of the events that are unfolding. I invite you to walk along with me and to immerse yourself into this story, allowing it to come to life in your mind.

Pick a character. Pick a couple different characters and maybe change the character as we go along. Because all the characters in this account have profound meaning in how they interact not only with their Lord and Savior, but also how Jesus interacted with them. It's a powerful story and one that I have been looking forward to share with you on this day.

We will draw some lessons from this passage, which I believe have a close connection to this Feast of Trumpets we are celebrating today. So let's go ahead and begin right at the beginning of John 11 and verse 1. It says, now a certain man was sick. And notice how many times it says sick in these couple of verses. Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha, it was that Martha who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore, the sisters sent to him, they sent a message through another person to Jesus because he was about 10 hours away from Bethany.

And so they sent a message letting him know that their brother, the one whom Jesus also loved, was sick. And the message said, Lord, behold, him whom you love is sick. When we consider what God originally wanted for mankind to enjoy as his creation, he held nothing back for mankind. He put Adam and Eve in a perfect garden, he surrounded them with plenty of food to eat, and they literally had everything that they needed.

He walked with them, and they personally knew their God. Illness and disease did not exist, and sin had not entered into their conscience, nor had guilt. Now, some of these things I try to think about, what would it be like to live in the garden? What would it have been feel like today if we could experience this existence that Adam and Eve experienced for a time with God?

I've never lived without guilt, right? Well, maybe when I was real little and I punched my brother and I didn't care, right? That doesn't count, right? Because we're doing stupid stuff at that point. We're not really aware of what we're doing. We're not seeing the magnitude. So that doesn't count. But at some point, when we disobeyed our parents, when we lied because we were taught maybe in a church that you don't lie, and then you did it, and you realize now you upset God, we've lived a lot of our life with guilt in one fashion or another.

We've lived our lives of recognizing we've let our creator down. We've lived our lives recognizing we have at times squandered the blessing that God has given us with His truth and with His understanding because we then give it up to go and do what we want to do and to break His teaching or His commandment or we allowed our own nature to grab hold of the steering wheel and drive us into a ditch.

All of these things are the reality of our existence today. And so to picture what Adam and Eve had in this perfect garden, it's hard for my mind to go there and fully, because I can't experience that. It's not the life that I've lived.

But in this moment of Adam and Eve having everything that God wanted them to have and God held nothing back from them, they disobeyed God and literally everything changed. The sickness of sin entered into mankind and has been with us ever since. The sickness goes to the core of who we are because it originates from our own pride and our own selfish nature as well from our hearts and our minds.

And as much as we wish we could not sin, we have sinned, and sadly we continue to sin. And so there's a connection to sickness. There's a connection to sin and a connection to death that we see in this account. Continuing on to verse 4, it says, when Jesus heard that, he said, this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God that the Son of God may be glorified through it.

Jesus often spoke with a much deeper level of understanding than just the surface level, which many were used to hearing. Part of his message as God in the flesh was to magnify their understanding, which he did often. So it would be no stretch for Jesus to have in his mind the unchanging truth that the wages of sin cost permanent death. But as Jesus would give his life for the sins of mankind, he would provide a way for this type of permanent death to be overcome. So we see that two glorifications of God would be realized.

The first being the miracle of bringing Lazarus back to life would be one glorification. The second is the still to come resurrection of the saints to eternal life at the return of Jesus Christ. Continuing with this account, he says, now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. There's no lack of understanding here. Jesus loved them deeply. But notice verse 6, so when he had heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was.

This seems almost like a paradox of Scripture, right? It doesn't really add up. If Jesus really loved them, he would have gone and left everything and went straight to Lazarus immediately so that he could be healed and made whole again and continue to live.

But he waited two more days. It almost seemed, again, that it doesn't add up. But as with everything Jesus did, there is a deep meaning behind this action. The Father and the Son loved humanity in the fullness of all that love means. Yet they allow hardship, difficulty, and death to occur on this earth. It seems that some even, well we know that some even don't believe that God is good because he allows death. He allows hurt. He allows tragedies. He allows bad things to happen to what seems like good people. So some argue, how could they follow and love a God who would allow those types of things to occur on this earth? However, a significant part of what we celebrate during these fall holy days is the reality that Jesus Christ will return and bring his healing and his help to all of humanity. God is allowing the consequences of sin to be realized in a deep and profound way through the physical death that all experience on this earth. But he is also going to bring the resurrection to demonstrate the extent of his love, giving everyone a chance to know him and have a deep and meaningful relationship with him. The only way for humanity to understand the consequences of sin is to physically experience the deterioration of physical life and die. But through his love, we will also experience the opportunity to live again as his children. This is what we read about in John 3 verses 16 and 17. You can turn there if you want, but I'm going to just reference these passages. John 3 verse 16, for God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten son that whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. Whoever believes. He goes on to say, for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world which encompasses everyone through him might be saved.

Matthew Henry's concise commentary shares this thought on John 11, the beginning of John 11, which we've already read. It says, it is no new thing for those whom Christ loves to be sick.

He came not to preserve his people from these afflictions, but to save them from their sins and from the wrath to come. Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. The families are greatly favored in which love and peace abound. God has gracious intentions even when he seems to delay. When the work of deliverance temporal or spiritual, public or personal is delayed, it is but waiting for the right time. Now, this is sometimes hard to be in these shoes, right? It's hard to wait on God. It's hard to see destruction and challenges in society around us. It's hard to see bad things happen to good people. But God is in this for the long game, right? He's not in it just for to come quickly and to just make everything nice and fix things.

It goes counter to our own personality, right? Because if we have our children or we have kids in our midst and we see they're about to get hurt, we rush over and do everything we can to protect them and keep them from getting hurt. That's what God has put into our hearts. That's that same emotion that God has himself. But he's telling and showing us that I have to let mankind recognize what they have done in the significance of trying to do things their way. And I need them to see there's an enemy who is going around creating problems, creating causes that they have to also internally desire to reject. And they have to recognize that their own nature many times has led them down a path of destruction because of the things they want, the things that they feel, and therefore they have to recognize how far they have transgressed my law.

Now that can seem harsh again that God is that type of father who is looking after us. But it's also the reality that there is no other way to learn some lessons than to realize the challenges that we have in this physical body. So we're not viewing a paradox of Scripture in verses 5 and 6 that Jesus loved Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, but then delayed himself for two whole days. That just it almost seems like it doesn't add up, but it's not a paradox of Scripture, but rather it's the perfect working of an all-knowing God. This is sometimes, again, hard to process and understand, but many things we go through in life ultimately is to bring glory to God.

Continuing on in verse 11, John 11 verse 11, he says, these things he said, and after what he said, and after that he said to them, our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up. Then his disciples said, Lord, if he sleeps, he will get well. However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that he was speaking about taking rest and sleep. This is another reference to the deeper meaning of this day and that Jesus is working to bring light through this whole example. This reference to sleep is the state that all enter when they die. Also, another proof from Jesus himself about what happens when one dies. People do not go to heaven. Rather, they have no consciousness and they sleep in their graves. Jesus understood this. He's teaching this, and so we know it to be a truth. Continuing verse 14, then Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go. And thus, they begin their journey to Bethany, about a 10-hour trip. I know that some of you have not experienced a death close to your family or you may not have supported others in their grief immediately following the loss of a loved one, but for those of us who have been in that situation, we understand the dynamics that are at play. It's an encounter and a time that is unlike any other time or any other experience that we go through. To walk into someone else's pain and their pain and their sadness in that moment. To come into a difficult situation, knowing that nothing I can say is going to change the emotions and the feelings that that person is feeling, but that person is desiring another person's presence. One that is breathing and alive. One that is there to sit next to them or to comfort them with their presence alone. For those of us who've been there with family or loved ones or friends, in that moment we recognize the heaviness that that person is feeling. We recognize the sadness, maybe the anguish, maybe the agitation, maybe the lostness. Seeing their eyes just focus on one spot in the room and not being able to really focus anyplace else. In human terms, it's kind of a surreal experience to be there with someone in that time because it goes counter to what we want to do in life. We want the parades, we want the parties, we want the celebrations, right? That's what feels good. We want to do everything we can to avoid death because of its permanence and its sorrow. But God has given us this side for us to, again, recognize the significance of what sin has done to Him and to everything He has created. It's also to allow us to see the greater of what He's doing with humanity and with all people who have ever lived. There's coming a time that we see in Scripture when all will have an opportunity to come out of their graves and to know God.

I can't imagine the significance of that. I mean, we can imagine it, right? I can't fully grasp the significance of that. We went to, and I shared this one of the congregations, I think this past Sabbath, that when we get in our car and we go to our Detroit congregation, the GPS says that the Unity East Church will be closed when you arrive. And we kind of laugh and say, no, it won't. We're going to be there. And what we, Laura and I paused this weekend and said, could you imagine the time when on a Saturday that the churches are all open and that if somebody puts in their GPS on Sunday that they're going to go to Unity East, that then they're going to get the message? I'm sorry, but Unity East may be closed when you arrive on a Sunday. God is waiting for the perfect time to bring up everyone so that they can understand and know Him and to realize there is a better way to go, a righteous way to go. And this is not the whole way of day to...

I'm grabbing somebody else's thunder during the Feast of Tabernacles, right, and the eighth day.

But this day has a connection because He's also going to resurrect us, His firstfruits, our brothers and sisters who've gone before us and have ran their race again to the end.

In the situation with Mary, Martha and Lazarus, their home had become one where God's blessing was evident and surrounded them all. Yet in this moment that Jesus is now on a 10-hour journey to Bethany, their home has become a place of mourning. And Jesus walks right into the middle, into the midst of their grief and their sorrow. Continue with me in verse 17.

So when Jesus came, He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem about two miles away, and many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother. Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. Now Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. I think at times we have all wrestled with God because of the different things we have gone through in our lives, as I believe Martha was wrestling with her Lord in this moment. Maybe it's through a sore trial that we have experienced, or possibly seeing the evil and hurt in the world and wondering why God is not intervening. Martha and Mary may have even received word that Jesus had received the message about Lazarus's illness, but it took him days to come. This might have been something both Mary and Martha were wrestling with, but because we see that Mary will make the exact same comment here in a few verses later.

They were most likely wrestling with their Lord, not understanding why He didn't do something else. Why He didn't intervene. Why He didn't just call up to His Father and say, heal this man 10 hours away because you can do anything. Why didn't Jesus do that?

But then notice what Martha says next, demonstrating her faith in our God. It's kind of like that back and forth journey that you and I have at times when we wrestle with God, but then somebody encourages us or we pray or we go back to Scripture and we're like, no, I'm not going to give in to my own frustration or my own hurt. I'm going to go back to God. Notice what she says, verse 22, but even now I know that whatever you ask God, God will give you.

And Jesus said to her, your brother will rise again. And Martha said to Him, I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. It's tremendous of what Martha understood about the resurrection and when it occurs. Because many times people will just say, well, the resurrections are in the book of Revelation. It's hard to understand. Revelation is a mystery. There's all these symbolism and resurrections and I, it's a lot. It's a puzzle that can't be put together. Well, let's just go back to the gospel account. Let's go back to Jesus and Martha. She understood when this would be not only a resurrection, but when it would occur. We see this plainly here as an example of the last day. Again, proof that those who sleep in their graves will be raised from their death in a future time still to come. Let's continue in verse 25. Jesus said to her, I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me, though he may die, he shall live. Again, pointing to a future time when many will live again. And whoever lives and believes in me shall never die. Again, on a reference to eternal death. And he asked the question, do you believe this? She said to him, yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who has come into the world. Martha understood very clearly who Jesus was and what belief in him meant for those who followed after Christ. She knew this was not the end for her brother Lazarus, and her hope was placed in her Lord. And it seems by this account she looked again to him to perform a miracle.

But I also wonder if Martha was still wrestling with her Lord on this one. Did she really know what Jesus would do next? Verse 28, and when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary, her sister, saying, The teacher has come and is calling for you. As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house and comforting her when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her saying, She is going to the tomb to weep there. Then when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying to him, Notice, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Same exact phrasing as Martha. That's why I believe the two were wrestling with this same question. Message was sent to Jesus. They're waiting for his response. Two sisters in their grief and in their loss, saying, When he comes, this will all be made right. And then they get a message back that he isn't coming for a couple days or what? Verse 33, Therefore when Jesus saw her weeping, and I want us to put ourselves again in the shoes of the situation, pick a character.

Therefore when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled. As we often see with our English language, comparing it to the Greek that the New Testament was originally written, then there's a lot of words that just don't carry the same weight as in our English language. And as it was translated, there's many words they can use to try to fill in those gaps. But I want to dive into the word groaned and troubled here because the meaning of what's going on here is so profound and is such a powerful tie-in to this feast of trumpets that we're celebrating. From Strong's Greek Dictionary, it means to snort with anger. It can mean this. To snort with anger, kind of like a horse. Have you ever seen a horse snorting? They're angry. They're not happy. It's kind of like that. To snort with anger or to have indignation on, that is to blame. So there's a cause. There's a root cause. There's someone who's responsible and to have indignation on, that is to blame. From the complete word study dictionary, it can mean to roar, to storm with anger, to be enraged, or to be greatly moved or agitated. The word troubled from Thayer's Greek Dictionary means to agitate, like movement of its parts to and fro. Can't help but think of like a washing machine. You know, they call it an agi... is it an agitator or that thing that moves on the inside of some of the... because it goes back and forth and it roughs up the clothing or it makes some... I don't know what the official term is. I'm not the Maytag man. Give me a break here. It makes a close claim. You guys know what I'm saying. But that's what it means to agitate. This movement of parts back and fro.

This word troubled can also mean to cause one inward commotion, to take away his calmness of mind or to make restless. These are some really strong and descriptive words that Jesus is experiencing outwardly that the Apostle John is able to see his Lord and Master troubled, agitated, struggling. This inner commotion that he can sense and he's recording this gospel account for us. So the question for us to consider, why would Jesus be enraged and agitated and why would he have inward commotion and be restless? This almost seems out of character for our Lord and Savior. We open this message by considering the greatness of God's love and his plan for his pinnacle creation, mankind. And when mankind was deceived and gave into the temptation of sin, it greatly saddened and hurt him deeply. He was the perfect Father and only wanted the best for his children. Yet because he is holy and hates sin, he must punish the sinner. Jesus knew who was responsible for sin and who would ultimately be held responsible for his lies and his evil, which we will look at on the Day of Atonement next week. But we're in John. Turn to John 10. One chapter earlier. John 10 and verse 10.

We have an account where Jesus is talking about the shepherd protects the flock and he's the door and he sits there and he acts as a protector for the sheep. And in verse 10 he says, the thief does not come, because this is who he's saying I'm protecting you from and a good shepherd protects from these people. He says the thief does not come except for to what? To steal, to kill, and to destroy. I think these thoughts were still in Jesus's mind as he was agitated, troubled, had this commotion inside. He knew who was responsible and who's the accuser of the brethren and the one who has misled and deceived his children. Not only all the way back to the garden, but he has seen the same story repeated time and time and time for thousands of years Jesus Christ has seen. And now he's experiencing like you and I would at a graveside recognizing the significance that this evil one has played and the part he has played in hurting God's creation. The only creation made in the image of God, Satan has hated and has done everything he can to destroy. And this is who Jesus is referring to when he says he accepts to steal and to kill and destroy. He says, I have come that they may have life and that they may have it more abundantly.

I am the Good Shepherd. The Good Shepherd gives his life for the sheep.

I truly feel this is what Jesus is experiencing in this moment. He's recognizing the magnitude of everyone's grief, of the hurt, the heartache, and as much as he wishes, Lazarus would live on forever because he loved him and he knew that he was one who followed after him. He knew that he couldn't just make him an eternal being. It wasn't the time.

So again, John 11, verse 33.

Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who came with her weeping, he groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And he said, Where have you laid him? And they said to him, Lord, come and see.

And then in verse 35 it says, Jesus wept. All the Greek lexicons and dictionaries are in agreement that this means that Jesus literally shed tears.

I don't believe Jesus was weeping because he was grieving the loss of his friend because he already knew the plan was for Lazarus to come back to life. Why would he grieve if Lazarus was going to live again?

I feel it's very clear that he was weeping because of the impact that sin has had on mankind and that death is a consequence. This is not what God wanted when they made, again, mankind in their own image. It was the exact opposite. They wanted you, me, and all of humanity to be their children forever. It's okay for you and me to be greatly moved by the effects of sin on humanity. It's okay for you and me to be agitated, but as Christ was perfect and he did not sin, we also must be perfect and our anger towards sin. Sometimes we can't help but weep for the effects that sin has had on mankind. There is just so much to be sorrowful about.

I don't want to spend a ton of time because it's negative, right? It's sad to recognize the direction that mankind has gone. We're talking about a story that is the same song, different verse that has gone on for all of time. We can look at the hurt that goes all the way back to the Garden of Eden, the hurt that happened very quickly after when the first murder occurred, and then hurt after hurt after hurt, and it continues on up into our time today.

It's okay for us to be agitated at sin. It's okay for us to weep for the hurts and for the sadness that we see in life, because when we do, we partake in a way of what Christ is experiencing here with Mary and Martha. These are raw emotions. These were internal emotions. Christ wasn't doing this to put on a show. He wasn't doing this so other people are like, oh, he has feelings, and he must have loved Lazarus. He wasn't doing it for anything other than the emotion, raw emotion, that he had, because he knew who was responsible for sin, and it agitated him. He also knew it wasn't his time to fix this yet. His goal, his mission, was to give his life so that you and I can have life. His goal was to be a witness of a better time to come, so that you and I can have hope for the races that we're running. His goal was to complete the plan that was set before him, that was set before the foundations of the earth, so that you and I can be part of his family as his children, along with the Father.

If we had to bring him down to human terms, like you and me, he probably wished he could hit the fast forward button to the end of time, and just be like, let's bring it now, right? Let's have dessert before dinner. Let's get to the good part. Let's get to when humanity is saved.

That's me and you saying, like, that's what we would do. But in his perfect timing, he will return, as we've heard about multiple times today. And until that day comes, we have a responsibility and a task in front of us to continue to run our race and to be a light and an example to everyone around us. Sometimes we weep, and that's okay. Verse 36, it says, then the Jews said, See how he loved him. And some of them said, Could not this man who opened the eyes of the blind also have kept this man from dying? Then Jesus, again groaning in himself, this agitation, came to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to him, Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days. Jesus said to her, Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God? This is why I'm not sure that Mary fully understood, or Martha, excuse me, fully understood earlier what Jesus was going to do in this moment as she continued to wrestle with her God. Because if she fully understood that this was the plan all the way earlier when she ran out and met him, then when they said, Roll back the stone, she would have said, Yes, roll back that stone! This is it! This is the time! But instead, she was like, Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa, it's not going to be very pretty in there. I think she still didn't understand earlier what her Lord would do. Verse 41, Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying, and Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me, and I know that you always hear me, but because of the people who are standing by, I said this, that they may believe that you've sent me. Now, when he had said these things, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, Come forth! I'm not doing it justice, but I don't want to shouting. I don't know if her sound system is tuned for me to start shouting.

He cried with a loud voice. Let those words sink in for a moment.

The word voice in the Greek is the Greek word phonae, which is spelled P-H-O-N-E, just like our phone, right? Phone, phonae, which can refer to a man's voice, but what I find more interesting is the connection that this word also has to the Feast of Trumpets that we are celebrating today. The word phonae can also mean a sound or a tone, as in a musical instrument. Speaking of Jesus' second coming at the end of the age, Matthew 24 and verse 31 says, And he will send his angels with a great sound, phonae, He will send his angels with a great sound of a trumpet, and they will gather together his elect from the four winds, from one end of heaven to the other. I believe there was dramatic intention in Jesus' voice when he said those words. As it says, as John recorded, he cried out with a loud voice, and I'm not going to shout, Lazarus, come forth. I wonder if it would have been another miracle performed. You know, if I stood here and just shouted, I would probably sound a lot like almost any other man who shouted. But this is Jesus. I'm reading between Scripture a little bit, but maybe it was blaring.

Maybe it sounded like he had a whole array of speakers like they use in some of these colosseums, and he shouted, Lazarus, come forth. And everybody's ears, they immediately covered their ears because of the symbolism of what he was doing in this moment and what he will do in the future in the resurrection when that trumpet blast occurs. I think there's a tie-in. I do believe there's a connection here. Verse 44 says, and he who had died came out bound hand and foot and grave closed, and his face was wrapped with a cloth, and Jesus said to them, Loose him and let him go. Then many of the Jews who had come to marry and had seen the things Jesus did believed in him.

The account of Jesus resurrecting Lazarus is deeply rich in meaning and serves as a type of the first resurrection, which will occur at the return of Jesus Christ. It's a powerful reminder of the depth of God's love for mankind and the personal relationship that he wants to have with his creation. We've had references and looked at Leviticus 23 and Numbers 19, which talks about the observance of this day and the word trumpet and the word teruah, as we have heard a couple different times. This word meaning clamor, this acclamation of joy, this jubilant loud noise, rejoicing, the shouting. There is tremendous joy in God's heart and in his plan, which will unfold at some point when those who are his, those who are his saints, will hear that trumpet blast and will rise from their graves. This is what God has been working towards since sin entered into the Garden of Eden. This is why he's had to allow sadness to come in, but there's going to be a time that he says, no more, Satan. No more. This is it. And it's a beautiful time to come that we will again talk about in about a week's time, a little bit more than a week's time. But as we begin to close, I want to look at a few last scriptures because what Jesus demonstrated here in John 11 and what we're celebrating today fills in a tremendous gap of understanding, lacking from many Christian churches today, many other circles. They don't understand what the resurrections completely mean. They don't understand the significance of these holy days that we observe and why God has given them to us as gifts. Turn with me to John 5 earlier in this Gospel account of John, John 5, 25 and through 29.

We, because of this understanding and because of God's revelation to us and opening our mind, we are tremendously blessed to understand this truth. We're not lost with wondering what happens after death. Our family members who have preceded us, whether they understood and were called by God or whether they can just live their life or whether they went to other churches, they're not lost. We know where they're at. This hope that we have in our heart is tremendous. This is where going all the way back to the beginning when I was talking about how those in the ministry of Jesus Christ have the honor of performing funerals. And I said that it's not always a really sad moment because we have a hope unlike anybody else because we know what happens after death.

I've sometimes even wondered when we go to funerals, there's often a lot of talking going on among us. And I sometimes wonder what the other family thinks, like family members who don't understand the truth that we have. Do they wonder if we're being disrespectful or that we aren't honoring the dead because we're having a conversation? But I look at the knowledge that we have and I look and I recognize there's a hope and a joy that we have that no other explanation for what happens after death fills in the gap. It's not just that God wants us to have eternal life and to go on to live, but just like our families and how we want our children and we want our families to operate and have relationships and have love for one another and to be there for one another, to share meals together, to do all these fun things together as a healthy family should, God wants that for us and for all of humanity. That fills in so many gaps that a lot of other beliefs in heaven and what happens after death doesn't fill. There's a hole that it leaves. Notice what John says. John 5 and verse 25. I'm in Matthew.

Excuse me. John 5.

John 5 and verse 25. He says, Most assuredly I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God and those who hear will live. For as a father has life in himself, so he has granted the Son to have life in himself, and he has given him authority to execute judgment also because he is the Son of man. Do not marvel at this, for the hour is coming in which all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come forth, those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of condemnation. Let's look at also 1 Thessalonians chapter 4.

1 Thessalonians 4 verses 13 through 18.

We're going to get to a word here that is voice again, and it's the same word, phonae, that we looked at earlier in the Greeks. When we get there, this is that same voice that Jesus spoke with when it says he spoke with a loud voice, this noise. Notice 1 Thessalonians 14 verse 13. But I do not want you to be ignorant, some translations say uninformed, brethren, concerning those who have fallen asleep. West you sorrow as others who have no hope. This is what differentiates our understanding and why we can go to a funeral for one of our brothers or sisters and while we're sad, we're going to miss them. We can recognize aspects of their personality that we just connected with. We're going to miss the phone calls, we'll miss the hugs, we'll miss the maybe battling through life's challenges together arm in arm, right? There's aspects that we miss and we lose, but we don't grieve as others do, right? Because we have a hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so God will bring with him those who sleep in Jesus. For this we say to you by the word of the Lord that we who are alive and remain until the coming of the Lord will by no means precede those who are asleep. For the Lord himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice, fone, of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. Then we who are alive and remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and thus we shall always be with the Lord. I love this this verse as well. Therefore comfort one another with these words. God has recorded and given us a truth that brings true comfort in one of life's most difficult moments.

When we can go in and enter into someone's home or be present with them immediately after a loss, when their motions are all across the board, they're lost, not recognizing really day from night, don't know what tomorrow's going to bring necessarily, and we can just sit there with them, recognizing the comfort that God gives us to know the truth of Scripture and to be able to, if appropriate, share and encourage and pray with them, that the comfort that God gives us, they can feel in this moment from Him. There's so much power in being with someone and being present with them in these moments. It's not I don't wake up saying, I hope I get to do this today. It's not those kind of things that we look forward to, but when we have the opportunity to be alight and to be present and to be part of this family that God has given us, there's not a more precious moment to be present with another brother or sister. Let's turn to 1 Corinthians as well, chapter 15.

As we heard in the special music.

1 Corinthians 15.

Let's start in verse 12.

Paul says, Now if Christ has preached that He has been raised from the dead, how do some among you say there is no resurrection of the dead? This is of controversy. This is something that he's battling. This is a mistruth that's being shared in the church in Corinth. He says, But if there is no resurrection of the dead, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, then our preaching is empty, and your faith is also empty. He doesn't hold punches here. Yes, and we are found false witnesses of God because we have testified of God that He did, that He raised up Christ, whom He did not raise up, if in fact the dead do not rise. For if the dead do not rise, then Christ is not risen. And if Christ is not risen, your faith is futile, and you are still in your sins.

It's a huge passage here to just recognize and to comprehend that the truth, Jesus is either resurrected and we have life, or He's not, and everything that we're doing here today is pointless. That's what Paul is getting at here in this passage. But we have seen the depth of Scripture. We know that we have a Savior. He goes on, verse 18, Then also those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If in this life only we have hope in Christ, meaning a man who was not resurrected, if that's all that we have hope in, we are of all men the most pitiable.

But now Christ has risen from the dead and has become the first fruits of those who have fallen asleep. For since by man came death, by man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order Christ the first fruits afterward those who are Christ at his coming. Then comes the end when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father and when he puts an end to all rule and all authority and power. For he must reign till he has put all enemies under his feet. The last enemy that will be destroyed is death. Skip ahead to verse 42. So also is the resurrection of the dead. The body is sown in corruption. It is raised in corruption. It is sown in dishonor. It is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness. It is raised in power. It is sown a natural body. It is raised a spiritual body. There is a natural body and there is a spiritual body and so it is written the first man Adam became a living being. The last Adam or Jesus Christ became a life-giving spirit. Verse 47. The first man was of the earth made of dust. The second man is the Lord from the heavens. From the heaven. And let's continue in verse 50.

changed for this corruptible must put on incorruption and this mortal must put on immortality. So when this corruptible has put on incorruption and this mortal has put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your sting? O Hades, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin and the strength of sin is the law. But thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brethren, be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord. This is precious. Money can't buy this understanding that God has given us, nor can it pay for the life of our Savior. But this is our destiny to be His children raised at His return. And there's so much depth to this Holy Day. We've looked at and I appreciated all the messages we've heard today because it's examined this Holy Day and the significance of what God is doing for many different facets. But this day is profound in its meaning of what the future holds for us and for our brothers and sisters and all of those saints that have gone and gave their life prior to ours. A day of a reunion of sorts that I can't begin to wrap my mind around. A day of joy that I can't comprehend. A day of hope that I can't wait to see fulfilled. A day of promise that can't be broken.

This is why it's an honor to memorialize our brothers and sisters. This is why we can leave a funeral not horribly upset and down because we see and know a better way to come.

We have hope and we have joy because this is the hope and the joy that Jesus shared with Martha and Mary. This is the joy in which He gave His life so that we could maintain. And this is the joy that He wants us to enter in in His Kingdom. Let's close in Revelation 21. Now, Revelation 21 is not connected with this Holy Day. This is going to be after all the Holy Days come to a conclusion. This is when the new earth, new heavens, and the new earth are established. But I want to go here because we all have goals in life, right? We all have end goals, something that we're on a journey today to reach a larger goal at the end. This is part of the end goal for God. This is why He is doing everything that He is doing, everything that He has done. This is why He continues to permit good, bad things to happen to good people because He's bringing a time forward that is unlike anything this world has ever experienced. But it takes a process. It takes time. But it will arrive. Revelation 21 in verse 1. It says, Now I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away. Also there was no more sea than I, John, saw the whole earth. And then I, John, saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from heaven, saying, Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and He will dwell with them, and they shall be His people. God Himself will be with them and be their God. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. There shall be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. There shall be no more pain, for the former things have passed away. What an amazing picture this paints. Because here's Christ in John 11 being agitated, being stirred up on the inside, being angry. Here's Jesus weeping. But the time is coming when all of this will be done. It says, Then he who sat on the throne said, Behold, I make all things new. And he said to me, Right, for these words are true and faithful. And he said to me, It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end. And I will give of the fountain of the water of life freely to him who thirsts. He who overcomes me and you, many others, shall inherit all things, and I will be his God, and he shall be my son.