John 11, reading at verse one through 17. Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. Therefore the sister sent to him saying, Lord, behold, Whom you love is sick. 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. Now, Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was. And after this, he said to the disciples, let us go to Judea again. The disciples said to him, Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone you. And are you going there again? And Jesus answered, are there not 12 hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks in the night, he stumbles because the light is not in him. These things 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. Then Jesus said to them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And I'm glad for your sakes that I was not there like you may believe. Nevertheless, let us go to him. And Thomas, who is called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, let us also go that we may die with him." Here ends the scripture reading, as I said, verse 6, but I will also be picking up on various verses throughout this passage. Beloved congregation, It must have been a slow news week back in June. I suspect most of us saw or read something about it. I also suspect most of us have forgotten it. What was it, you ask? Well, it was a headline in our major daily newspapers. It was the lead-off item for primetime TV news in Canada that evening. It was this, half of all Canadians will have cancer. The ratio will increase as we age. Only 60% will survive it. And that figure will decrease as we age. Shocking bit of news at the time. But it really wasn't all that much new. We know cancer is on the increase. Several of us have it, know that we have it. Some of us have had it, and some of us have it but aren't even aware of it yet. And perhaps some can say, yes, I had it. A lot better, but the reality is that cancer is such a devastating term that once it has been used, its echo never leaves us. Many lives have been touched and taken, often in the case of so-called bystanders, have been scarred by this destructive disease. Of course, many of you know I have very close-hand experience in the loss of my first wife. and something which is powerfully brought home to me in various ways whenever I hear of cancer. I think that in the last year, all of those who have died or been stricken by cancer were people considerably younger than me. Of course, that's a figure that grows too as I get older. But then you hear those chilling words Widespread, no cure. And so we pray, and many people are praying for them. There are always many people praying when there's an illness or a calamity strikes one member of the body, and that's a good thing. It's a Christian virtue, and it's a Christian requirement. But prayer can be a dangerous thing. You say, what are you saying? Yes, it's true. Prayer can be a dangerous thing if we do not understand what prayer, real prayer, should be. The Apostle Paul, the Holy Spirit through the Apostle Paul, If Philippians 4 has given precious instruction about prayer, he says, be anxious. The Old Virgin says, be careful, full of care for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. That's Philippians 4, verse 6. And then verse 7, he says, and the peace of God will guard your hearts no matter what goes on. And there's a note of quiet confidence in this. This is not the frantic crying out to God that we sometimes think all effectual prayer should be. Well, not all prayer is of such a level of purity. And even then, not all pure prayers are answered. as requested, something Paul also knew. And he passed on to us, having three times asked God to remove that particular physical impairment. And the answer he received, you can read that in 2 Corinthians 12, my grace is sufficient for you. So let's never think that the volume of our prayers as such would be effectual with God. The passage before us, It's very well known and teaches us some valuable and necessary lessons about prayer, special prayer in times of special need. And because the heart of the passage, that is the resurrection of Lazarus, is such an explosive display of God's power, coming at such a critical time in the ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ, just days before his own death. And it's such a sparkling guarantee of the future of believers. We tend perhaps to overlook a few what we may say are minor benefits, which in themselves are of tremendous practical importance and value in the life of faith. And speaking this afternoon as announced, on Jesus delays in going to Lazarus. And we hope to explain and to explore what this means. We'll see, first of all, a heavy trial and a bitter disappointment, and finally, a gracious surprise. So Lazarus is sick. Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, the beloved friend of Jesus, is sick. First of all, should that even have happened to one so close to the Lord? Could he not have kept them from sickness? And what kind of sickness was it? Was it cancer also? Or heart failure? No, it was more likely some quick-acting infectious illness, a kind of a virus perhaps. It seems likely as the illness must have come on suddenly and then went through to its lethal end in a matter of a few days. In any event, we know he was sick. And we do know this was from God in a direct way. Now, all things are directed by God, so also our illnesses, but often we can say no more than this is part of living in a fallen world in which all good things have been broken and damaged. It's not always wise to ask, why is God sending this to me? And really, sometimes that question is, Why me, Lord? What have I done to deserve this? We usually do not know. Often we will never know the answer. Here it is different. One link follows another in this history. The sickness, the message for Jesus to come. You can Be sure there was much prayer behind that. The delay, then the death of Lazarus, the return of Jesus, and then the raising of the dead man. And the direct result of that is the plot to kill Jesus now. And you can read that further on, I believe it's in verse 53. At that time, then from that day on, they plotted to put him to death. For then they said, look, the whole world has gone after him. And so all these elements are steps that reach the fullness of time. I mentioned that this morning. In due time, Christ died for us. Well, this was all used to bring it up to that moment, to bring about the salvation miracle of the atonement. And this golden thread runs throughout the entire account. Now, of course, Mary and Martha didn't know this. And we, in similar circumstances, we don't have much knowledge either. Mary and Martha were being tried and tested and prepared for something greater. And maybe they felt like singing Psalm 73 with Asaph, that it goes well with the godless, but they had everything going against them. And maybe we have that too sometimes. Lazarus was sick and Jesus is absent. Why of all people Lazarus and why now? Their home had been an oasis of rest for Jesus. He loved them, and they loved to be with him. They were among his dearest friends. And you know, you have that sometimes. You have many friends, but there are some who are so precious to you. When you're with them, you can rest. You can be totally yourself. And when he visited, it was never too much for Martha, and she would work hard and prepare the best food for him. Maybe, maybe, Jesus being fully human, maybe he had a favorite dish that she would prepare for him. And Mary, she anointed his feet with oil, that one. She sensed some of the deep meaning of his redemptive work, and she would sit by him, and with rapt attention, listen to every word from his lips. There are no such details about Lazarus except they said of him, the one you love. Jesus loved Lazarus. He was fond of him. He enjoyed his friendship and his company. And into this home comes a cruel disturber. Death lays his cold hand on Lazarus and beckons him to follow. At the first symptoms, the sisters may have been somewhat concerned, and I imagine the reaction would be to try some home remedy. They didn't have much else. There were physicians available, but you don't read anything of that. But it may have been the same with us. We start with a bit of a fever and We say, lie down, and cool cloth on the head, and drink some water. And maybe they had some herbal issues or herbal remedies, and they darken the room, and they keep it quiet, but it doesn't help. And the symptoms become severe, and the sisters become more and more worried. And they begin talking, oh, if Jesus were only here, he's the great healer. He has healed so many, even lepers. And he's opened the eyes of the blind. He's even raised the dead. One word from him would drive the sickness out. Why is he not here right now? And where is Jesus? Well, you read the preceding chapter, the last few verses, you know he ran away. He's across the river, across the Jordan, somewhere he had to escape. The opponents were after him, and so he left. Now, I said he ran away. No, it was not yet his time. And somehow Mary and Martha knew where he was staying, and they sent a messenger to him with the message, Lord, behold, he whom you love is sick. That's all. There's no please. There's not even Jesus, please come and heal him. The message is enough. If Jesus wants to come, he will, but he could also just speak a word or even think from there and cure him. They left it to him, but they trusted he would help. And we can imagine when the messenger left, there was some peace and hope settling into the home, and Jesus would know what to do. And Lazarus, we've sent word to Jesus, surely he will help. Just try to rest for a while. He is on the way. And we have experienced, too, how quickly things could change and life be turned upside down. Everything seems to be going well. Family is healthy and happy and productive. Involved also in what we may call kingdom work of some kind. It's peaceful, it's thankful, and you're happy. And then one phone call, one email, it's like a bomb bursting in the midst of your life. It's your own personal 9-11 event. sending word to Jesus that alone can give ease of mind and peace of mind. That's our own version of Lord behold he or she whom you love and whom we love is sick. But our world has imploded, family is shattered, and the future is bleak. And what a blessing if we know we can go to Jesus with our problems and our cares and our fears, even if there's not yet any indication the problems are resolving, that the concerns are ebbing away, that the situation is back to normal. We need to know this exercise of faith, sending word to Jesus. We all have or will have problems, also sicknesses and other things. We need not list any particular issues known amongst us, the physical needs, which also bring with them inevitably spiritual needs. We do know that half of all Canadians will get cancer, and I want to use that figure now representative of all the ills of life, physical, spiritual, financial, whatever. Half of us will get cancer, but 100% of us will die. And why are you asking? Because sin has made of this one-time paradise a big hospital and a huge cemetery. And then, of course, you know there is a hurt that goes deeper than the physical. It's the hurt of discovering you are a sinner. It's the pain realizing you're completely lacking in anything good, anything that God will accept as good. Your decency has not met the demands of His law, and your kindness falls far short of the love that He demands from you for your neighbor and for Him. And when and how do you learn that? When the Holy Spirit shines the light of His law into your life, and you begin to see there's failure, there's shortcoming, there's error. There's unwillingness, there's coldness. And then we see that our home remedies of being active in this or that are of no use. In fact, there are dangers. They may even mask the symptoms for a little while. They make you feel good about what you're doing in the kingdom and all these wonderful things, and I'm not knocking those things as such. But if they mask the symptoms of the underlying illness, that just allows the disease to rage on unnoticed. and our promises to improve are worthless, for they're empty, we cannot improve. And then we learn to need God, and our true happiness is only in him. Psalm 145, verse six, that we begin to see, happy is he who has the God of Jacob for his help, whose hope is in the Lord, his God. Have you ever been in trouble? Has there ever been concern about illness which was serious or other events? Again, I use the illness picture representative of all that can go wrong from our point of view. So it's a concern so great that it grips your heart in ice, as it were, and you think of the future for your spouse, for your child, how will this turn out? And how will we manage if we lose each other? Or what will happen to this child if she keeps on going this dangerous road? And is there grief because we've already lost someone near and dear to us? It has given such a twist to your life that set it on a relentless path of sorrow. And did it bring you to the Lord? Did you find comfort there? You see, that changes the whole thing, of course. Have you ever been in trouble because of yourself? What you found inside your own heart and your own mind, has there been or is there perhaps this hard to describe sense of emptiness, the sense of having missed out on something beautiful, but you're not sure what it is? There's restlessness covered in a quest for something of interest and beauty and enjoyment here in this world. But always, it's just beyond your reach. When you get to it, you say, no, that's not it either. The great church father Augustine, 1600 years ago, wrote, our heart is restless until it finds rest in you, oh God. See, that's the end. That's the only solution. resting in God through the grace earned by the Lord Jesus Christ, resting at the foot of the cross, living out of his resurrection. But it often takes a long while to get to that point. It was a bitter disappointment, my second point. The messenger comes to Jesus, and when we read, when Jesus heard that, he said, what do we read? okay fellas drop everything let's go we might expect that it involves lazarus such a close friend of jesus jesus was always ready to help no matter how tired he never sent people away mark and his gospel account repeatedly speaks of crowds swirling around him so that there was no time to eat, no time to rest. Jesus never sent them away, he even fed them. Now surely, Lazarus being sick, he will go to him as quickly as possible. But no, don't overlook that first word, so, or thus, or therefore, so. When he heard he was sick, the most devastating reversal of what we would think, he stayed two more days in the place where he was. So, and you scratch your head, don't overlook the little words, you scratch your head and you say, what in the world is going on? Because he was sick, he stayed two more days. Oh, what a shock and what a disappointment. Yes, John has already written the words of Jesus, this sickness is not unto death, it's not terminal. I don't know about you, but I've heard those words before. Doctors, I think, use them quite regularly. It's not terminal, not terminal. Yes, we do believe Jesus. This is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it. Well, you wonder how far that penetrated. Does Jesus not realize just how serious it is? He stayed another two days. Oh, no doubt he was preaching and healing. And no, it was not a vacation. It was not a long weekend being interrupted. But can he not understand what Mary and Martha must be going through just now? And go back to Bethany in your mind, you see them pacing back and forth, looking out the window, out the doorway, walking down the road, just past the first bend for a longer view, and saying, where is he? Oh yes, Lazarus, he's on the way for sure. We know something important must have held him up. And meanwhile, to each other, he always came for others. Why not for us? You see, there's that question, for others, why not? For me. Why not for my husband, my wife, my son, my daughter? This cuts right to the quick, this is where the pain is the deepest and it applies in all such cases whether it is primarily and on the first level a matter of physical healing or solving some other problem or lifting a burden or a matter of faith and assurance and light in the darkness. But you know what's really happening here? What's going on under the surface? The Lord is teaching us a difficult spiritual lesson and he's giving them a strenuous spiritual workout that is learning to accept and in time to adore the sovereignty of God. And when we come to that point, then we begin to come to peace. You see, there's still a lot of people like Mary and Martha, not just in Bethany of 2,000 years ago, but also today. I believe there's some sitting in church right now, right here. I don't know who, I don't know how many, but people who looked at Jesus with expectation, but nothing seems to change, and he's staying where he is, and he's not coming any closer. And we've sent messages to him. And prayer, prayer sometimes so intense that it seems God must have heard them. And you had such confidence that God had heard and that he would heal them and he would fix it. And you could even begin to sing with David, with my God, I can leap over walls, I can run through a troop. You didn't get it yet, but you're sure it's coming. And you're full of happy expectations. And perhaps you did not dare to say aloud you had Jesus, but you're living out of his promises. And then after a while, the bitter disappointment. Jesus stayed where he was. He came to others, but not to you. Others were delivered. They testified God is good, but for you nothing has changed. In fact, it got worse. My husband died. My child is still sick or struggling with severe health issues or wandered off into the world. Money is either scarce or I got it in so much abundance that it's become a trap, and the worst of all, I long for closeness with Jesus, but where is it, and where is he? That's how it was at Bethany. Lazarus became sicker, the needs rose higher, Jesus was not there, and finally the sickness conquered, and Lazarus died. And Jesus stayed two days where he was. while his good friend Lazarus lay dying and did die. Now when death strikes, physical death now we're talking, it's always a deep cut and a sore wound, but when Jesus is there, there's someone to hold you up and to cling to. If you know, especially if you know your loved one has died in the Lord, that makes all the difference. But to face death without Jesus for the dying one or for the bystanders, what a frightful prospect. Then death becomes victorious. An unbelief and doubt calls out, he came for others, but not for you. And then you're reminded also, the journey to the grave is still a one-way trip. No one has ever come back. And it's no wonder that people say and have sung, is that all there is to it? Death, illness, a spiritual vacuum, loneliness, bitter disappointment. But wait, it's not the end. The end is a gracious surprise. We know the end. We don't have to say much about the actual event of Jesus meeting the sisters and calling the brother to life. We focus on the words. Now, just before the text of verse four, Jesus had said, and I referred to already, this sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it. It's interesting that John placed this so prominently in his account before the telling of the real great event. And the climax and the main point is not the death and raising of Lazarus, but the death and the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. The ultimate goal is the glory of God, but that never stands on its own. The glory of God is related to the well-being of his people. He wants it that way. It is as if it spills over into their lives. Now, their faith needs to be strengthened. It's going to be severely tested. For Jesus is going to die, and that will shake them to the core of their being, and they will be filled with despair, and Jesus is training them not to falter. That's the point here. That's why he delayed, so that the timing would make it all clear to them. But they didn't get it. Now, there may well be another aspect. The religion of the Jews of the day had become much polluted. There was formalism and emptiness, also much nonsense introduced by various rabbis over the ages, many schools of rabbinical thought with each having its own adherence. And one such school taught that at death the soul hovers around the body for three days and it is confused. Its home has changed so drastically, it's been expelled, it wants to come back in and enter and it cannot and then it leaves. But it takes three days, thus four days Are you starting to get the picture? Four days are really necessary to prove that the dead are really dead. This probably came from a rabbi called Ben Katra. And according to this rabbi's teaching, the power for raising such dead was limited to the Messiah. And very likely this played a role at this time. So you get the picture? All the more reason for the Pharisees to get rid of him now that people would know he had to be the Messiah. And so they say the whole world's gone after him and therefore kill him now. Now what's going to make a greater impression? Healing a sick Lazarus or raising a dead Lazarus? And now we understand by John wrote, and so when he heard Lazarus was sick he delayed two days. And it was a total of four days that Lazarus had been in the grave before Jesus came. So that the miracle and the glory would be all the greater and the less and all the more deeply ingrained into them. And their despair when Jesus died a few days later should have been immediately dispelled by one word, Lazarus. Remember Lazarus, he was really dead. He defeated death in the case of Lazarus and at least two others. And that's why on the way to Emmaus, talking to those two disciples, Jesus called them fools and slow of heart to understand all that the prophets have spoken. We might think that was pretty rough on his part. But he himself had declared his power over death before he died, but they just didn't get it. He delayed two days, but he did come after that. And two days, and yes, so he also was in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, raised on the third day. Two days of total darkness and hopelessness and fear and despair. But on the morning of the third day, Jesus arose from the dead. Two days. And how they can oppress. And so often the Lord delays for two days, figuratively speaking, of course. and desperately we try sometimes to help ourselves and we realize it is utterly helpless and everything reeks of death but after two days at his time death must flee and so God's people may be crushed in the dust they may be bound up in the grave of sin and they cannot go any lower and after two days They raised high in the salvation work by Israel's God. And is this not often our problem? We try to tell God what time it is, what day it is. We want answers right now. It's always been a problem for God's people, and it has not become any better or any easier for us. We're living in a time of instant communication and instant service and instant gratification. It hasn't done much to teach us patience. It hasn't done much to teach us patience in the natural realm, and certainly not in the physical. The Lord comes at His time, and it often means we must wait for a day. sometimes even for two. And waiting can be such a blessed spiritual exercise. Began by saying that half of our population will get cancer and 60% will survive it. A professional study has told us that and the big newspapers have reported it, so it must be right. But the Bible tells us, and experience verifies, that 100% of this population will die. And you know what the reaction is in general? I'll use a rather miserable expression used by young people sometimes, yada, yada, yada. In other words, we pay no attention. or we pretend to pay no attention. But it is true. Depressing, is it not? Depressing. It is if our vision and expectation goes no further than that of Mary and Martha at the moment. And it is if we are still focused on what is and not on what will be. And it is if we are living as still before the cross and before the resurrection of Jesus Christ, and it is if we think the miracle of raising Lazarus is the be-all and the end-all of this account, and if we have read over and ignored the key to understanding it, this is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it. Now need we spell out the application? I'm not going to. I'm just going to say this. Time is short. The matter is urgent. The ancient word of Isaiah 55, 6 still stands in all of its vigor, glory, and sweetness. Seek the Lord while he may be found and call upon him while he is near. Is Jesus delaying? Trust him. He will come to those who wait for him. And waiting expectantly does not mean waiting to have full answers to all our questions. It does not mean we will have everything put in order as we think it should be. It does not mean that miraculous healing is guaranteed to take place. Amputated arms and legs do not grow back. And I'm using this as a figure for all physical and other distresses and disabilities. Is God not able to do so? No question about that. And in the general resurrection, there will be the universal proof of that fact demonstrated in whole and glorified renewed bodies glowing with eternal health. But that is still two days away. And we wait for it. With groaning, holding on to the Word of God by Paul in Romans 8, we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves, groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, that is, the redemption of our body. We hope for what we do not see, eagerly wait for it with perseverance. And yes, yet two days, and the Lord will stand at the grave of sin and call with a mighty voice, And yet, two days and he will appear as the glorious judge and separate the sheep from the goats. And some of those goats may well include ones whom we have loved in this life. And then for Christ's sake, we will be able to take leave of them. And yet two days, and the songs of the world, the songs of empty victory and hopeless despair will be stilled, and the song of the church will fill heaven and earth. And yet two days, and Jesus throws open wide the doors of heaven and says, lo, here I am. Amen.