2026-10-18 Sunday Service - Bro Jonathan Mayinzi - Coming Back To Life

Jesus declares that Lazarus’s sickness is “not unto death,” yet Lazarus dies before Jesus arrives. The promise does not mean death will never come. It means death will not be the end. God knows the end from the beginning, and the valley does not cancel his word. What looks like delay becomes the setting for his glory and for a confidence in his power that the disciples could not have gained beforehand.

Martha believes her brother will rise in the resurrection at the last day, but Jesus brings that hope into the present: he is the resurrection and the life. The same God who spoke to Moses holds authority over death, hell, and the grave. Mary and Martha know that Jesus could have prevented their loss. They have not yet seen what he can do after the funeral. His tears reveal his love, while his command reveals that the grave cannot have the final say.

Jesus tells the people to take away the stone. The smell, the grief, and the embarrassment are real, but none of them should keep the grave closed. Hidden death must be brought into the open. Believers are called to move the stone of the heart and lay broken places before God rather than protect them behind pride.

When Jesus calls Lazarus forth, his word repairs what death has ruined. Yet Lazarus still wears the grave clothes that people wrapped around him. Christ gives life, and the church receives the responsibility to loose the living from those remaining bonds.

The altar brings that same call to surrender. Like the costly sacrifice brought to the tabernacle, surrender involves something precious, not merely something convenient. Coming back to life means opening the heart, releasing what holds it back, and trusting the God who puts broken things back together.

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Key Takeaways

• 1. Death Does Not Determine The Ending. Jesus’s promise did not keep Lazarus from entering the grave, but it did establish that the grave would not be his end. Faith must distinguish between what happens along the way and what God has declared about the outcome. The valley can become the place where confidence in God grows beyond what comfort alone could produce. [37:04]
• 2. Resurrection Is Present In Jesus Christ. Martha placed resurrection at the last day, while Jesus stood before her as the resurrection and the life. Her understanding of his power was real, but the loss before her had exposed how much remained unseen. Faith rests in Christ’s authority even when the situation has moved beyond every familiar possibility. [43:22]
• 3. The Stone Must Be Moved. Jesus commanded the people to uncover the very place they had reason to keep sealed. Martha’s concern about the smell brings the embarrassment of exposure into view, but keeping the stone in place would resist his command. The heart opens to healing when pride no longer protects what needs to be laid before God. [49:25]
• 4. Living People Still Need Unwrapping. Lazarus came out alive, but he came out bound. Jesus restored his life and then gave the surrounding people the work of removing his grave clothes. The church must welcome those God has brought to life and help them experience freedom rather than leave them standing in the remnants of their burial. [58:33]
• 5. Full Surrender Releases What Holds Back. The altar brings a decision about what a person will give to God and what will remain tightly held. A few guarded things can keep a believer from stepping into the place of blessing. Surrender takes God’s restoring power seriously enough to open the heart rather than merely stand near the door. [1:06:21]

Youtube Chapters

• [00:00] - Welcome
• [25:16] - Praise and the Anointing That Breaks Yokes
• [26:50] - Finding a Church and Coming Home
• [28:45] - Lazarus and the Promise of Life
• [33:03] - God Restores Family and Belonging
• [36:32] - Death Is Not the End
• [40:49] - Worship Beyond Personal Preference
• [42:47] - Jesus Is the Resurrection and the Life
• [47:17] - Christ’s Tears and Faith Under Trial
• [49:25] - Taking Away the Stone
• [55:43] - Lazarus Comes Forth
• [58:33] - The Church Removes the Grave Clothes
• [1:00:33] - The Costly Sacrifice at the Tabernacle
• [1:06:21] - Full Surrender and the Open Heart

Bible Reading

John 11:1-44
“Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 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.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 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.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” 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.” [28:45]

Exodus 3:14
“God said to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM.” And he said, “Say this to the people of Israel: ‘I AM has sent me to you.” [44:23]

Revelation 3:20
“Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and eat with him, and he with me.” [01:07:07]

Observation questions

1. In John 11:1–16, how does Jesus respond to the news of Lazarus’s sickness, and what purpose does he give for his absence? [31:19]
2. In John 11:21–27, what does Martha believe about her brother’s future, and how does Jesus direct her attention to who he is? [43:22]
3. What do Jesus’s emotions and the crowd’s different reactions reveal about the scene before he reaches Lazarus’s tomb in John 11:33–38? [47:17]
4. In John 11:39–44, what does Jesus do that the people cannot do, and what tasks does he give the people before and after Lazarus comes out? [58:25]

Interpretation questions

1. How does the outcome of Lazarus’s story help explain Jesus’s earlier announcement about his sickness? What difference is there between a promise of God’s final victory and an expectation that suffering will never come? [37:28]
2. Martha believes in a future resurrection, but Jesus calls her to trust him while she is grieving. How does his identity as the resurrection and the life deepen the hope available to someone facing loss? [45:03]
3. Martha raises a real concern about opening the tomb. How does her response help explain why shame or fear of exposure can make a person reluctant to bring broken places before God? [50:46]
4. Lazarus receives life from Jesus but still needs others to remove his burial wrappings. What does this distinction suggest about the church’s responsibility toward someone beginning a new life in Christ? [58:33]

Application questions

1. Have you faced a season when God’s timing seemed hard to reconcile with his love? What helped you trust him, and what support would help you in a season like that now? [38:05]
2. Jesus’s tears show that his power does not make him distant from grief. When you are hurting, do you find it easier to trust his power or his care? How might bringing your honest grief to him change the way you pray? [47:33]
3. Moving the stone pictures opening guarded places of the heart to God. Without sharing more than you feel comfortable sharing, what fear or concern makes that difficult for you? What might one honest step toward openness look like this week? [50:01]
4. Living people still need help becoming free from old bonds. Is there a habit, shame, or old label you are struggling to leave behind? What kind of help from a trusted believer would be welcome? [59:16]
5. Who in your church might need patient friendship as they grow in faith? What could you do this week to help that person experience belonging rather than feel judged by their past? [59:30]
6. Surrender involves what is precious, not merely what is convenient. Is there a plan, comfort, or desire for control that you sense you need to entrust to God? What would a willing, practical step of surrender look like? [01:06:33]