Evil and Suffering Disprove God" | Humble Hope #7 | John 11

Devotional

Day 1: The Banality of Evil in Everyday Choices

When evil feels distant or monstrous, we forget how easily it takes root in ordinary lives. The sermon highlighted how even those who committed atrocities in Nazi Germany were not inhuman villains, but people shaped by lies and circumstances. This challenges us to examine our own capacity to normalize harmful patterns. Evil thrives when we stop questioning small compromises. Like Martha’s sister Mary, we must confront the ways we participate in systems that dehumanize others. The call is to vigilance, not superiority. [05:01]

“For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I keep on doing. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I who do it, but sin that dwells within me.” (Romans 7:19–21, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you quietly accepted a “normal” behavior or attitude that conflicts with Jesus’ love? How might small compromises dull your sensitivity to injustice?

Day 2: Meeting the Mind with Resurrection Truth

Jesus didn’t dismiss Martha’s logical struggle but anchored her in deeper reality. When suffering overwhelms, truth becomes lifelines: God’s power, love, and ultimate victory matter more than temporary pain. The resurrection isn’t just a future hope—it redefines present suffering. Like Martha, we’re invited to wrestle intellectually while clinging to Christ’s identity. Truth doesn’t erase tears but gives them context. [14:31]

“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.’” (John 11:25–26, ESV)

Reflection: What unanswered “why” makes trusting God’s character difficult today? How might Jesus’ claim to be “the resurrection” reshape that struggle?

Day 3: God’s Rage Against Death’s Distortion

Jesus’ tears weren’t passive pity but fiery grief over death’s vandalism of creation. His anger at Lazarus’ tomb mirrors God’s hatred for all that corrupts life—disease, oppression, addiction. This divine rage fuels hope: what enrages God will be destroyed. Our tears join His protest against suffering’s intrusion into a world meant for glory. [24:56]

“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. Jesus wept.” (John 11:33–35, ESV)

Reflection: What loss or injustice stirs holy anger in you? How might Jesus’ tears validate your lament while directing it toward hope?

Day 4: Holding God’s Goodness and Evil’s Reality Together

Other worldviews dissolve either God’s power or evil’s reality, but Christianity embraces both. The cross proves God hates suffering more than we do—He entered it to overthrow it. This tension sustains us: evil is real but temporary; God is mysterious but trustworthy. Our pain becomes a protest that echoes heaven’s promise. [35:25]

“He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.” (Revelation 21:4, ESV)

Reflection: When has doubting God’s goodness or evil’s reality tempted you? How does Jesus’ resurrection affirm both truths?

Day 5: Evil Swallowed in Victory at the Cross

The ultimate answer to suffering isn’t philosophy but a person. Jesus didn’t just explain evil—He absorbed it. The cross transforms victims into victors and perpetrators into forgiven. Every tear becomes a seed for resurrection. Our call isn’t to understand evil fully but to cling to the One who guarantees its end. [45:25]

“When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory. O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?’” (1 Corinthians 15:54–55, ESV)

Reflection: What pain feels irredeemable today? How does Jesus’ victory invite you to entrust it to His restoration?

Sermon Summary

John lets the mystery of evil show up in a house Jesus loves. Jesus delays, Lazarus dies, and the question everyone asks rises to the surface: if God can and God cares, why not stop it. The problem of evil stands there, not as a philosophy exercise, but in the grief of friends. Jesus does not erase the question, he reframes it by revealing who God is, what evil is, and where the story is headed.

Martha brings the faithful complaint of the Psalms. Jesus meets her mind with truth. He says, I am the resurrection and the life, and he presses her to remember, not to think less but to remember more of what she already confesses. In Jesus, God is personal and addressable, God is like Jesus, and Jesus has authority over life and death. The true sickness unto death is not pain itself but being cut off from the One who is life, so the aim of life is not a pain-free existence but communion with him.

Mary arrives with the same words, but tears lead the way. Jesus meets her heart with tears. Jesus wept is not sentimentality. John shows a holy anger simmering under those tears, a bellow against the vandalism of death. God in Jesus hates what is not the way it is supposed to be, and his grief announces that suffering is real and wrong, not an illusion to be denied.

The Judeans voice skepticism. John lets their question expose a deeper issue. To call anything evil, a person must already carry a vision of how things should be, and that moral grammar does not sit well in a universe of blind, pitiless indifference. Every other path tends to let go of God or let go of evil. Jesus holds both, because in him God is knowable and evil is real.

Jesus then meets the watching world with works. He raises Lazarus and he sends followers to bind up wounds, do justice, and practice costly mercy, because action gives skeptical neighbors a reason to trust words and tears. And the moment the grave spits Lazarus out, the cross comes into view. At Calvary God makes a way to end evil without ending us. The cross does not answer every why, but it settles what the reason cannot be. It cannot be that he does not love. Jesus himself is God’s answer, and his promise is not mere optimism. Death will be swallowed up in victory, every tear wiped away.

Key Takeaways

1. Question the question of why Asking why already assumes a personal God who can be addressed, a real moral distinction between good and evil, and a sense of how life should be. That realization does not end the ache, but it names the deep commitments hidden in the cry. It also exposes when skepticism borrows moral capital it cannot explain. That clarity can move an honest seeker toward Jesus rather than away. [10:09]
2. Remember more, not think less Martha’s mind needs truth, and Jesus gives it. Remember who he is, not less but more, especially when pain fogs the room. If he is the resurrection and the life, then separation from him is the truest death, and union with him reframes even unanswered questions. Faith does not shrink thought, it stocks it with God’s character. [17:07]
3. Jesus shares tears and rage Mary’s grief meets a God who weeps, and under those tears burns a rage against death’s theft. Jesus is fully human, feeling the wound, and fully God, refusing to call evil acceptable. His compassion is not indifference, it is protest, and that shared sorrow becomes a place to stand when explanations fail. Real love hates what harms the beloved. [23:11]
4. Works make truth credible Lazarus’s tomb becomes the stage for the works of God. Words and tears matter, but action answers a watching world with embodied mercy. Healing, advocacy, and sacrificial service put God’s character on display in ways arguments alone cannot. Love with sleeves rolled up gives neighbors a reason to trust the name of Jesus. [36:16]
5. The cross ends evil, not us If God ended evil by fiat, humanity would be swept away with it. At the cross God judged sin and opened mercy, making a way to defeat evil while rescuing any who cling to Christ. The cross does not decode every tragedy, but it removes the lie that God does not care. Love bled, so hope can hold when sense does not. [42:22]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[02:24] - Framing the universal objection
[06:47] - Turning to John 11
[09:46] - Questioning the question of why
[12:23] - Martha meets Jesus
[13:09] - I am the resurrection and the life
[16:32] - Remember more, not less
[20:14] - Jesus weeps with Mary
[23:11] - Love that rages at death
[29:46] - Skeptics and moral footing
[34:59] - Jesus holds God and evil together
[35:59] - Responding with works of mercy
[41:44] - The cross and the end of evil
[45:25] - Swallowed up in victory

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
John 11:1-44 (ESV)
Revelation 21:4 (ESV) – “He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away.”
1 Corinthians 15:54 (ESV) – “When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: ‘Death is swallowed up in victory.’”

Observation Questions

In John 11, how did Jesus respond differently to Martha (verses 21-27) and Mary (verses 32-35)? What details stand out about his interactions with each sister?
What does Jesus’ statement “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25) reveal about his identity and authority?
How does Revelation 21:4 describe God’s ultimate response to suffering and death?

Interpretation Questions

Why might Jesus have delayed going to Lazarus despite knowing his friend was dying (John 11:6)? How does this challenge common assumptions about God’s timing in suffering?
The sermon mentions that Jesus’ tears (John 11:35) carried “holy anger” against death’s destruction. How does this emotion align with his character as both fully human and fully divine?
How does the cross, referenced in 1 Corinthians 15:54, address the problem of evil without “ending us” ([42:22])?

Application Questions

When facing unanswered “why” questions in suffering, how can intentionally remembering God’s character (e.g., his power, love, and authority) shift your perspective? What practical steps help you “remember more, not think less” ([17:07])?
The sermon describes Jesus’ tears as both compassion and protest against evil. How can grieving with others (rather than offering quick answers) reflect his heart in your relationships?
The sermon emphasizes “works of mercy” as a way to make faith credible. What is one tangible action (e.g., serving, advocating, giving) you could take this week to embody God’s love to someone skeptical or hurting?
How does the promise of “death swallowed up in victory” (1 Corinthians 15:54) reshape your daily choices or priorities when facing pain or injustice?
The cross shows God’s hatred of evil and his refusal to abandon humanity. Where in your life do you need to trust that God’s love is stronger than your failures or the brokenness around you?

Sermon Clips

And so what I want you to see here is that Jesus doesn't just pity our suffering. He he rages against it. He's not indifferent. Jesus is angry at the effects of sin and death because it's so far from God's intentions in creation. It's so far from the goodness that he created in this world. And so what this teaches us is that death and evil are not God's doing. He responds in anger just as we do when he sees the distortion of the way he knows things are supposed to be. He hates it just the same as we do and probably far more than we could even imagine. [00:24:38] (46 seconds)

And therefore, the true sickness that leads to death is not just physical pain. That's not the worst thing that can happen. The worst thing that can happen is that you can find yourself at the end of this life disconnected from the one who is life. And if it were possible to be connected to the one who is life, what would it be worth suffering? What would it be worth going through? That's why Paul says in Romans eight that I consider the sufferings of this world as nothing compared to the glory that will be revealed in Christ. [00:19:00] (33 seconds)

I want you to notice that Mary, Martha's sister, comes out to Jesus, and she actually uses the same exact words as her sister. And yet Jesus responds completely differently. Did you notice that? This is really interesting. So when Jesus sees he saw Martha and he gives her this dose of truth, but then he sees Mary weeping, the crowd weeping, and what does Jesus do? He responds by weeping with them. And so my next point here is that Jesus meets the heart with tears. You call this the ministry of tears. [00:20:44] (44 seconds)

Because one of the things that you have to assume whenever you ask why or you point at something and say that's evil, you have to you have to have a vision of what life should be. You have to have a way of thinking of what things should be like. And so you have to ask the question, why if you don't believe in God, why do you think you have the right to call anything evil or good? If all we are is an accidental mix of water and a few proteins, how can anything be right or wrong or good or bad? It just is. [00:31:20] (35 seconds)

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Evil and Suffering Disprove God" | Humble Hope #7 | John 11 | Pastor Ian Martin