38 Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39 Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.”
It was a "cave", likely man-made, hewn from the rock.
I've been in one of these caves; they are littered throughout Jerusalem and the surrounding area..
They are small; I had to crouch/crawl into the opening. They are not especially comfortable to navigate.
They have a main chamber, with little off-shoots and nooks where bodies are laid. As the need arises, you are able to carve out more space from the main chamber to "increase capacity".
When Jesus asks for the stone to be removed, Martha is likely assuming (based on the sorrow that Jesus has displayed in the previous verses) that Jesus wants to visit the body of his friend, one last time.
Jewish burial does not, typically, entail any kind of embalming. As I mentioned in the last process, the expectation is that you bury the body ASAP.
So, Martha is right to say, "If we open this thing up, it could be bad." The body's internal organs have started breaking down. Gas and fluids are probably being expelled, as the decomposition takes place. Like, I mentioned in the last post, Lazarus is very dead.
A miracle seems beyond possibility to Martha.
40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”
And yet, Jesus performs this miracle, regardless of Martha's inability to understand what's happening.
So, what does this mean? I think we can appreciate a miracle without totally understanding the reason for the miracle.
Jesus is about to raise Lazarus from the dead. That act will be irrefutable in a few verses, and yet, despite that fact people will still crucify him. They will still deny him as the Messiah. To see the "glory of God" is to see and believe in the Son.
41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
Jesus' prayer should be seen as prescriptive.
When we approach the throne of God, we should enter first with thanksgiving... regardless of a current situation.
From Psalm 100:4, "Enter into his gates with thanksgiving... and bless his name."
42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”
Jesus speaks confidently to His Heavenly Father. He does so audibly, for the sake of those watching.
And because of Jesus, we should have that very same confidence when we approach God in prayer! We can boldly ask anything, in Jesus' name.
That's what the book of Hebrews means when it says he is our intercessor. He speaks to God, on our behalf. And God always hears what His Son has to say! So, we know that our prayers are heard and answered.
43 When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.”
Jesus speaks to Lazarus. And Lazarus hears him from beyond the grave. He doesn't need any magical help. The power is in the Word of God.
It is the same power that spoke the universes into existence. It is the power that gives all things life. (John 1) And it is the power that will give all things new life.
When we read the story of Lazarus, we see a glimpse of our own future. Jesus will return, just as he left, and when he comes he will call us into new life, perfect life.
44 The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Lazarus is completely restored to life. He is not a zombie. The decay of his body wasn't just halted, it was completely reversed in the instant Jesus spoke.
"Unbind him" - He has been freed from the captivity of death. Lazarus will die again, but he and all who are in Christ will have eternal freedom.
No more grave clothes.
45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him, 46 but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
It is amazing to think that these men, these Pharisees and chief priests are being told that a man has been raised from a dead, and their reaction is anything other than worship!
They don't even question the miracle, but they question the miracle worker. (Don't miss the forest for the trees)
Here's my point: What Jesus did was awesome. Who Jesus is, is even better.
Instead, these men turn inward, once again, seeking only to preserve their own standing, or the political standing of Israel.
"our place" - The Holy Land? The Temple? Their place amongst the powers of the world?
The irony here is that as John is writing these words, all they had feared has come true. The Temple has been destroyed. Jerusalem has been sieged. They lost everything they held unto.
49 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
Verses 49-53 are extremely interesting.
To be clear, "that year" just means "at that time". Caiaphas was high priest for many years. That honor was not passed year-to-year.
The words Caiaphas is speaking are true! Yet, many commentators suggest that this was an involuntary prophecy, where even Caiaphas does not totally understand what he is saying.
One chapter earlier, in John 10, Jesus had said that there were sheep "not of this fold" that he bring into the greater flock of God.
As I said in the last study, this miracle was the point of no return. Jesus will die, even if it is the last thing these men do. But God has a funny way of making his will seem like our idea, until he completely blows our plans out of the water.
54 Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.
Jesus and his disciples knew before they came to Bethany, that it was dangerous for them to be in Judea. Now
Ephraim, likely, referring to a town north of Jerusalem, near Samaria. I've not been able to pin-down an exact location.
55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves.
We know that it was during the Passover that Jesus was arrested, tried, an killed. These are the days leading up to the holiday, when the city would have been preparing for travelers from throughout Israel.
To "purify themselves" - ritual cleansing (mikvah)... similar to what John would have done in the Jordan.
This was a pretty normal practice before entering into the Temple.
56 They were looking for Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” 57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.
There's not much to add here... Christ is not interested in his own self-preservation.
He will go to Jerusalem. He will give up himself. He doesn't back down from the fight.
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