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| Allesandro Magnasco's The Raising of Lazarus (1715-1740) |
Given the literary context of the passage, it seems that John's point was a simple one--to demonstrate the power, authority, and divinity of Jesus Christ. Chapters 2-11 are a series of accounts of Jesus' miracles and teachings, each of which reveals Jesus' incredible authority, and each account is more incredible than the one preceding. This dynamic crescendo begins with Jesus turning water into wine (a trick possibly replicated by a magician) and reaches its zenith when Jesus raises his friend Lazarus four days after his death (something no one else can accomplish).
No expositor should make the claim that John 11:1-44 is about anything other than Jesus' incomparable power and authority. However, this passage does secondarily reveal a good deal of truth about pain and suffering and can minister to a congregation that is wading through the swamps of despondency.
The question this outline is meant to address is How could a good God allow pain and suffering?
1. Pain and suffering is a human reality that Jesus accepted. (John 11:1-3) This passage does not reveal the origin of pain and suffering, but it does deal with it soberly and clearly. The Scriptures are not the least bit escapist; God's inspired word is loaded with shocking, in-your-face accounts of suffering. It is a human reality that the Scriptures do not gloss over. Hedonism drowns it out with pleasure, while stoicism tempers it by mitigating the emotions. The biblical mind, however, can embrace its reality. [1]
2. Pain and suffering is ultimately for Jesus' glory. (John 11:4) After hearing about Lazarus' illness, Jesus says, "It is for the glory of God, so that the son of God may be glorified through it." The telos (end, purpose, or goal) of pain and suffering is the glory of Jesus, not the pain in and of itself. A god that inflicts suffering for suffering's sake is cosmic sadist, but the God of the Scriptures, embodied in Jesus Christ, has a higher purpose, and that purpose is not pain, but glory. [2]
3. Pain and suffering is NOT a sign that Jesus doesn't love us. (John 11:5) In the context of this passage, Jesus clearly has the authority to snap his fingers and heal Lazarus immediately from afar. However, he chooses not to do so. One might be tempted to conclude that Jesus did not love Lazarus or his sisters. However, John tells us, "...Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus." It is a false logical step to conclude that Jesus doesn't love us, because we experience pain and suffering. (see footnote [2])
4. Pain and suffering is intentionally wielded by Jesus. (John 11:6-10) Verse 6 is a remarkable passage. Jesus was out of town and was asked to go to Bethany to save his beloved friend Lazarus from his terminal illness. And yet, "when he heard
that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer..." How can this be? In that two days, Lazarus died. Why would Jesus do something so terrible? This passage reveals that Jesus' delay (and consequent death of Lazarus) is no accident. It is not as if Jesus did the best he could but, due to human free will and sinfulness, it just wasn't enough. Jesus intentionally delayed his arrival, thereby sovereignly permitting (causing?) the death of Lazarus. Jesus is sovereign over our problems, not wringing his hands in worry from the sidelines.
5. Pain and suffering is something that Jesus was "glad" about. (John 11:11-16) This is perhaps the most perplexing element of the account. Jesus says to his disciples, "Lazarus has died, and for your
sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe." Let Jesus' words sink in. Is this not incredibly insensitive? Jesus is "glad" that Lazarus died? Keep in mind that this is the last great miracle (other than Jesus' own resurrection) that is listed by John. The disciples had to get it. They had to understand, because, if the disciples don't understand, the world doesn't hear the Gospel. Lazarus' death was one of the most influential moments in the disciples' lives, because it caused them to realize that Jesus is not just a miracle worker. He is the resurrection and the life. (Jn 11:25) Jesus loved Lazarus and his sisters, but God's outworking story is about more than Lazarus and his sisters (and us).
6. Pain and suffering causes us to ask "Where were you, Jesus?" (John 11:17-32) Three times, Jesus is reminded by those mourning for Lazarus that Jesus' presence could have prevented Lazarus' death. (John 11:21, 32, 37) The reader's immediate response is to judge those saying this as lacking faith. However, Jesus never rebukes them. At the heart of these statements is the assumption that Jesus can, in fact, heal a man. Martha even states that Jesus can have anything that he asks from his Father, including the revivification of Lazarus. These statements were made out of faith, not lack of it. Essentially, they aren't questioning Jesus' power, but rather his purpose. The Scriptures seem to invite us to ask God about his purposes, so long as we humbly understand that God is under no obligation to explain himself.
7. Pain and suffering was embraced by Jesus, rather than eliminated. (John 11:33-37) Because it is the shortest verse in the Bible, it is often treated tritely, but these two words could be an entire theological study unto themselves--"Jesus wept." (Jn. 11:35) [4] Jesus is the creator, sustainer, and Lord of the entire universe. He commands legions of angels. He has eternal being. He knows all and commands all. He could have prevented Lazarus' death, and he even tarried intentionally so that Lazarus would die. And yet, he weeps. This illustrates a major theological doctrine. Rather than taking away the pain and suffering of this world, Jesus entered into it. Why did Jesus weep? Because his close friend just died, and he is sad about it. He is broken. God is more than capable of taking away our pains and sorrows and yet he does not. Instead, he thought it better to leave them in place and join us in them--in a fellowship of suffering. [3] (see Hebrews 4:14-16)
8. Pain and suffering is told to flee by Jesus. (John 11:38-44) Pain and suffering is not the end of the story. In the end of this account, Jesus says, "Lazarus, come out." Jesus is in control always and forever. At the end of this, he commands death to flee, and this will be the case for all of us in Christ in the end. He will command death, addiction, pain, suffering, tears, depression, abuse, and misery to flee. Then, after we've spent 10,000 years in glory, we'll look back on this life and it will be little more than a small, distant memory. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians 4:17 (ESV), "For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison." If we can't see that the weight of our suffering now is "light [and] momentary," it is not because we don't understand our current suffering but because we don't understand the "eternal weight of glory." We don't need to escape the pain of this world, but we do need to think more of the weightier joys of the next.
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I pray that this outline will provide hope to those in the midst of pain. Also, I hope that some teacher or pastor will find this to be a helpful scaffolding from which to construct their own sermon. If you have other insights or questions, please comment below.
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[1] Likewise, good art embraces the dark side of reality and depicts it as it is. This is why "Christian" movies and visual arts are so often boring and one-dimensional--they escape the reality of pain and suffering in the world by not truly depicting it. It is understandable that someone hesitates to depict sin (the ultimate root of pain and suffering), but the Bible itself is loaded with it. Christians must learn to see and depict this world as it really is.
[2] Just to illustrate how a being can inflict (or permit) pain and suffering with a higher purpose, consider the parent who disciplines his child (with pain) for the higher purpose of lovingly training the child. Pain may be wielded out of love.
[3] A beneficial conversation to have with a congregation is to ask Why might God think it was better to join us in suffering, rather than just taking it away? What is gained by suffering with others, including God? Just by way of illustration, think of a child whose parents never allow him to fail or feel pain. His parents make sure that he only ever experiences happiness, success, and acceptance. What kind of child will he be? In my experience as a high school teacher, that child is usually miserable, scared, and weak. Could this be God's reasoning?
[4] Much ink has been spilled in effort to explain theologically why Jesus was weeping here, but it all seems to be unnecessary. Jesus is simply crying, because he is a human being whose dear friend has just died. It's that simple. I'm not sure why this is so so hard to accept, unless many are just afraid to let Jesus be too human. However, it has been the declaration of both the Scriptures and the Church that Jesus is both fully human and fully divine.
When we read C. S. Lewis' The Problem of Pain for English, I found that analogies like the parenting one (which you included in the footnotes) helped me to understand this "problem" more than anything else. this was a great post and an excellent sermon, I'm sure.
ReplyDelete-Michael Gattis
Honestly, I never really considered that the passage was teaching about pain and suffering. Its weird to me how a person can read a passage over and over and still never grasp the true meaning of it. I loved the point you made that pain and suffering is not a sign that Jesus doesn't love and care about us. Great post! -JESSICA WILSON
ReplyDeleteI have learned through reading certain books that Christ gives us suffering to learn and to grow. There have been times in my life when I don't get why He does certain things, but later on I know the real purpose of the whole thing. He does things the hard way but if it was easy Christianity wouldn't be what is it. He shows His true love for us through our suffering.
ReplyDeleteI have always wandered how a good God could allow pain and suffering. I didnt quite understand that God sent his son Jesus to die and suffer for us. God also allows pain and suffering because it can make christians grow closer to God. Although i dont quite understand why there is pain God said He wouldnt give us more than we can handle.-josiah smith
ReplyDeleteUltimately it is our own fault that we experience pain and suffering because we are the ones who choose to sin. Everyone asks the question "how can a good God allow pain and suffering?" but no one seems to take into account that Jesus suffered the most, and he did it for us. Our pain and suffering will never be as immense as Christ's was when he died for us.
ReplyDelete-Saige Wood
Ive always wondered why God allows us to go through pain and suffering. Now I have an idea that he does it for our benefit, although at times it might be rough.
ReplyDeleteLeeah richards
I remember you telling that John 11:35 is a significant verse when we mention it during class one day. This post also reminds me of the North Korean speaker and the pain and sufferings he has been through. It is very difficult to understand what God is planning in our pains and sufferings, but I should find comfort in Jesus and have trust in him as my savior.
ReplyDeleteAccording to the Bible, how many Old Testament prophets raised people from the dead? Answer: Two. Elijah and Elisha.
DeleteThat's it. And they only did it three times. So the act of raising someone from the dead would have been seen as a very, very big deal. It was not like healing someone of a disease or casting out demons. Lots of people, it seems, could do those miracles. Nope, raising someone from the dead was the big kahuna of all miracles!
In the Gospel of John chapter 11, we are told that Lazarus had been dead for four days. His body was decomposing to the point that he stunk. Lazarus death and burial were very public events. His tomb was a known location. Many Jews had come to mourn with Mary and Martha and some of them were wondering why the great miracle worker, Jesus, had not come and healed his friend Lazarus; essentially blaming Jesus for letting Lazarus die.
Let's step back and look at the facts asserted in this passage: Only two OT prophets had raised people from the dead, and these two prophets were considered probably the two greatest Jewish prophets of all time: Elijah and Elisha. If this story is true, the supernatural powers of Jesus were on par with the supernatural powers of the greatest Jewish prophets of all time! If this event really did occur, it should have shocked the Jewish people to their very core---a new Elijah was among them! This event must have been the most shocking event to have occurred in the lives of every living Jewish man and woman on the planet. The news of this event would have spread to every Jewish community across the globe.
And yet...Paul, a devout and highly educated Jew, says not one word about it. Not one. Not in his epistles; not in the Book of Acts. Think about that. What would be the most powerful sign to the Jews living in Asia Minor and Greece---the very people to whom Paul was preaching and attempting to convert---to support the claim that Jesus of Nazareth himself had been raised from the dead? Answer: The very public, very well documented raising from the dead of Lazarus of Bethany by Jesus!
But nope. No mention of this great miracle by Paul. (A review of Paul's epistles indicates that Paul seems to have known very little if anything about the historical Jesus. Read here.)
And there is one more very, very odd thing about the Raising-of-Lazarus-from-the-Dead Miracle: the author of the Gospel of John, the very last gospel to be written, is the only gospel author to mention this amazing miracle! The authors of Mark, Matthew, and Luke say NOTHING about the miracle of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead. Nothing.
To continue reading:
http://www.lutherwasnotbornagain.com/2016/01/the-story-of-lazarus-is-blatant.html