Bible ReadingJohn 11:1-44 A man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord’s feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother, Lazarus, was sick. So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, “Lord, your dear friend is very sick.” But when Jesus heard about it he said, “Lazarus’s sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this.” So although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days. Finally, he said to his disciples, “Let’s go back to Judea.” When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days. Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem, and many of the people had come to console Martha and Mary in their loss. When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask.” Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” “Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?” “Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.” Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.” So Mary immediately went to him. Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where Martha met him. When the people who were at the house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to Lazarus’s grave to weep. So they followed her there. When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. “Where have you put him?” he asked them. They told him, “Lord, come and see.” Then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said, “See how much he loved him!” But some said, “This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?” Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. “Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them. But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, “Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.” Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.” Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”
[24:43] [33:58] [38:48] [48:16] [54:03] [01:02:37] [01:04:15]Luke 8:5-15 A farmer went out to plant his seed. As he scattered it across his field, some seed fell on a footpath, where it was stepped on, and the birds ate it. Other seed fell among rocks. It began to grow, but the plant soon wilted and died for lack of moisture. Other seed fell among thorns that grew up with it and choked out the tender plants. Still other seed fell on fertile soil. This seed grew and produced a crop that was a hundred times as much as had been planted!” When he had said this, he called out, “Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.” His disciples asked him what this parable meant. He replied, “You are permitted to understand the secrets of the Kingdom of God. But I use parables to teach the others so that the Scriptures might be fulfilled: ‘When they look, they won’t really see. When they hear, they won’t understand.’ “This is the meaning of the parable: The seed is God’s word. The seeds that fell on the footpath represent those who hear the message, only to have the devil come and take it away from their hearts and prevent them from believing and being saved. The seeds on the rocky soil represent those who hear the message and receive it with joy. But since they don’t have deep roots, they believe for a while, then they fall away when they face temptation. The seeds that fell among the thorns represent those who hear the message, but all too quickly the message is crowded out by the cares and riches and pleasures of this life. And so they never grow into maturity. And the seeds that fell on the good soil represent honest, good-hearted people who hear God’s word, cling to it, and patiently produce a huge harvest.
[27:38] [30:28] [32:13]John 9:2-3 “Rabbi,” his disciples asked him, “why was this man born blind? Was it because of his own sins or his parents’ sins?” “It was not because of his sins or his parents’ sins,” Jesus answered. “This happened so the power of God could be seen in him."
[37:00]Observation questions- In John 11, what are the different ways Martha and Mary come to Jesus, and what exact sentence do they both say to him? [53:08]
- According to Luke 8, what happens to seed that falls on the footpath, and what makes that image useful for thinking about hardened places in the heart? [30:28]
- In John 11, what details show both Jesus’ love for this family and the fact that he delayed coming to them? [38:48]
- After Lazarus comes out of the tomb, what does Jesus do himself, and what does he tell the crowd to do? [01:04:47]
Interpretation questions- John says that Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, and therefore stayed two more days. What does that show about the difference between divine love and the kind of help people usually expect? [38:48]
- Jesus tells Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life,” instead of giving her a full explanation. What does that suggest about what grieving people most need from Jesus? [51:18]
- Jesus knew Lazarus would come out of the tomb, and still he wept. What does that reveal about the heart of Christ toward pain, loss, and death? [57:23]
- The crowd asks, “Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?” How does that question connect with the questions people still ask when a stone does not move on their timeline? [59:35]
Application questions- Where has pain been made small with phrases like “it wasn’t that bad,” “I should be over this by now,” or “other people had it worse”? What might it look like to stop calling that wound small before God? [01:06:09]
- What is one area of the heart that feels compacted right now—by sickness, grief, evil, another person, Satan’s lies, or even personal choices? What makes that area hard to bring into the light? [32:13]
- Mary and Martha both brought disappointment straight to Jesus: “Lord, if only you had been here.” Is there any honest sentence like that waiting to be spoken to him now? What would it sound like in plain words? [54:03]
- Some people learned to survive by being tough, quiet, useful, or “fine.” How has that instinct helped in one season but made grief harder in another? [25:40]
- Jesus does not answer pain from a distance; he is present in it. In this season, what would it look like to seek his presence instead of demanding an explanation first? [01:04:15]
- Jesus raised Lazarus, but the crowd helped remove the grave clothes. Is there someone nearby who does not need advice as much as steady presence, patience, and compassion? What could that kind of help look like this week? [01:13:29]
- For anyone carrying the ache of a stone that did not move, what would it mean to trust that unanswered prayer is not the final word? How does the hope of Christ change the way that sorrow is carried today? [01:10:03]
