Come & See - Week 5 - The One Who Still Raises

Devotional

Day 1: When Love Waits Two Days

Jesus’ delay confused Mary and Martha, but his love wasn’t absent. He lingered not to abandon them, but to reveal resurrection where they expected only healing. His timing often feels like silence, yet it’s the soil where deeper trust grows. What seems like neglect is actually love preparing a greater glory. Faith begins not in our urgency, but in his unchanging heart. [13:02]

“Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.” (John 11:5–6, ESV)

Reflection: Where have you interpreted God’s timing as indifference? How might his delay be an invitation to trust his love over your understanding?

Day 2: “Even Now” in the Tomb’s Shadow

Martha’s grief held both accusation and faith: “If you had been here…” yet “even now.” Disappointment and belief can coexist. Jesus meets raw honesty not with correction, but with revelation of his identity. To bring shattered hopes to him is not weakness—it’s the doorway to encountering “I am the resurrection.” [17:17]

“Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.’” (John 11:25, ESV)

Reflection: What “if only” lingers in your heart? How can you voice both your disappointment and your “even now” to Jesus today?

Day 3: Letting Jesus See the Grave

The mourners’ “Come and see, Lord” invited Jesus into their pain. Faith isn’t hiding graves but uncovering them to the One who weeps with us. Jesus enters messiness without flinching, turning tombs into altars. Trust grows when we stop guarding our wounds and let him stand where death stinks. [22:14]

“When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and troubled. […] Jesus wept.” (John 11:33, 35 ESV)

Reflection: What part of your story feels too “buried” to bring to Jesus? What would it look like to say, “Come and see” instead of “It’s too late”?

Day 4: Rolling Away Stones Before Miracles

Jesus didn’t move the stone himself. Obedience precedes the miracle—faith acts while death still seems final. Removing grave-clothes of doubt, shame, or resignation is messy work, but resurrection requires surrendered hands. Trust isn’t certainty about outcomes, but confidence in the Voice that calls dead things alive. [28:14]

“Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ […] ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’” (John 11:39–40, ESV)

Reflection: What “stone” have you resisted moving because the situation feels too dead? What practical step could embody your trust in Jesus’ power today?

Day 5: Grave Clothes and Walking Free

Lazarus emerged alive but bound. Jesus didn’t unravel the linens—the community did. Resurrection life requires both divine power and human partnership. Freedom often comes through others’ hands removing shame, speaking truth, or holding space. We live unchained not by our strength, but by answering the call to “come out.” [32:41]

“The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’” (John 11:44, ESV)

Reflection: Where has Jesus given you life, but you still feel bound? Who might help you walk fully into freedom this week?

Sermon Summary

John 11 opens with a crisis that love does not avoid. The sisters send, Lord, the one you love is sick, and the text grounds faith not in human strength but in Jesus’ love. Jesus hears, promises, This sickness will not end in death, and then waits two days. The delay sits where love and confusion meet, and John insists that Jesus’ timing is not loveless. Jesus prepares not prevention but resurrection, not an avoided funeral but revealed glory at the tomb.

Martha greets Jesus with a sentence carrying faith and ache in the same breath: Lord, if you had been here. The grief is real, the tomb is real, yet her confession stretches forward, even now. Jesus shifts resurrection from someday to Someone, saying, I am the resurrection and the life. Resurrection is not a task he performs; resurrection names who he is. Where Jesus stands, life is present, and where he speaks, death has to listen. The confession steadies faith beyond outcomes; if faith rests on who Jesus is, faith can stand even when understanding is thin.

Mary arrives and falls at his feet; the scene grows heavy with communal weeping. The mourners say to Jesus, Come and see, Lord, and invite him to the place of pain. The text shows Jesus going, not shaming grief but sharing it, and Jesus wept becomes a window into the heart of the Savior who holds resurrection in one hand and tears in the other. Faith not only comes to see Jesus; faith invites Jesus to come and see the tomb.

The tomb stands sealed by a stone that says, Final. Jesus commands, Take away the stone, and invites participation before evidence. Martha warns of the odor, but Jesus orders the sequence, Believe, then see. Faith moves the stone while Lazarus is still dead. Trust obeys because of the One standing before the grave, not because circumstances have already shifted.

Jesus lifts his eyes to the Father, then calls, Lazarus, come out. The voice that spoke creation now addresses a cave, and death yields. One word from Jesus brings life where death seemed final. Lazarus shuffles out alive yet bound, and Jesus commands the community, Take off the grave clothes and let him go. Jesus raises the dead; his people help the living walk free. The sign calls the church to bring disappointment and delay to Jesus, invite him to the real tombs, obey before seeing, and trust the voice that still raises.

Key Takeaways

1. Delay is not love’s denial A postponed answer can be the place where glory is revealed and affections are proved. Love may wait in order to give more than a quick fix, preparing resurrection instead of mere relief. Faith learns to read silence as strategy, not absence. Hope grows roots in the two-day stretch. [13:47]
2. Faith prays even now Honest grief can still reach for God without pretending the tomb isn’t real. “Even now” refuses cynicism and keeps the conversation with Jesus open when explanations run out. That posture does not shrink pain; it places pain where life can find it. Such faith cries and still believes. [17:17]
3. Invite Jesus to the tomb Come and see, Lord is the prayer that opens sealed places to the presence that heals. Jesus does not rush past tears; he shares them and walks to the cave. Vulnerability becomes the doorway where compassion stands alongside power. The Savior meets sorrow before he moves the stone. [22:41]
4. Move the stone before seeing Obedience often comes before evidence, because trust rests in who commands, not in what appears. Rolling the stone risks odor and exposure, but it also makes room for glory. Believe, then see is the kingdom order that trains the heart to follow a Person rather than outcomes. [28:14]
5. One word overrules the grave The voice that calmed storms and called disciples cancels death’s supposed finality. Resurrection is not motivational uplift; it is the invasion of divine life. When Jesus speaks, dead faith, joy, and purpose receive breath again. His word reaches farther than any stone can seal. [30:54]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[02:43] - Come and See invitation
[03:19] - Philip and Nathanael moment
[04:39] - Lazarus and what seems final
[10:49] - Faith begins with being loved
[13:47] - Delay is not denial
[17:17] - Disappointment and “even now”
[19:32] - I am the resurrection and life
[22:14] - Come and see, Lord, the tomb
[23:35] - Jesus wept
[26:07] - Take away the stone
[28:14] - Believe first, then see glory
[29:49] - Jesus calls, “Lazarus, come out”
[32:41] - Grave clothes and community
[34:51] - Prayer and response

Bible Study Guide

Bible Reading
John 11:1-44 (ESV)

Observation Questions

In John 11:4, Jesus says Lazarus’ sickness “will not end in death,” yet He waits two days before acting. What does this delay reveal about His priorities? [13:47]
Martha says to Jesus, “Even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you” (John 11:22). How does her statement blend faith with unresolved grief? [17:17]
When Jesus arrives at the tomb, He commands, “Take away the stone” (John 11:39). Why does He involve others in this act before performing the miracle? [28:14]
The text says Jesus was “deeply moved” and wept (John 11:33-35). How does His emotional response contrast with His divine power over death? [23:35]

Interpretation Questions

Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25). How does this statement reframe Martha’s understanding of resurrection as a distant event? [19:32]
The mourners tell Jesus, “Come and see” the tomb (John 11:34). Why is inviting Jesus into places of pain a critical step for faith? [22:41]
Martha objects to moving the stone because of the odor (John 11:39). What fears or hesitations might keep people from obeying Jesus’ commands when outcomes are uncertain? [28:14]
Lazarus emerges alive but still bound in grave clothes (John 11:44). What does this detail suggest about the role of community in living out newfound freedom? [32:41]

Application Questions

“Delay is not love’s denial.” Where in your life have you interpreted God’s timing as absence? How might His delay be preparing something deeper than immediate relief? [13:47]
Martha’s “even now” prayer holds disappointment and hope together. What situation in your life needs an “even now” prayer—honest about pain yet open to God’s intervention? [17:17]
Jesus invites people to “take away the stone” while Lazarus is still dead. What step of obedience is God asking you to take before seeing evidence of change (e.g., forgiveness, repentance, vulnerability)? [28:14]
The community helped Lazarus remove his grave clothes. Who in your life needs practical support to walk in freedom from old habits, shame, or brokenness? How can you participate? [32:41]
Jesus wept with those grieving, even though He knew resurrection was coming. How can you practice holding space for others’ pain without rushing to “fix” it?
Are there “tombs” in your life (buried hopes, relationships, or callings) you’ve sealed off as “final”? What would it look like to invite Jesus to “come and see” those places today? [22:41]
The sermon emphasizes that “faith rests on who Jesus is, not outcomes.” How can you anchor your trust in Christ’s character rather than your circumstances this week?

Sermon Clips

Right? If he loves me, he will come before things get worse. But here's what John 11 teaches us. A delay from Jesus is not a denial of his love. Right? A delay from Jesus is not a denial of his love. And it's hard to believe when you're the one waiting. Because here's what I've learned from my own life. Delay is one of the greatest tests of faith. Right? It's easy to believe Jesus when the answer comes quickly, but it's harder to believe that Jesus loves me when, what, it feels like heaven is quiet. [00:13:47] (35 seconds)

But Jesus' delay wasn't because, my friends, he'd he'd love them any less. His delay because he was about to reveal something greater. Right? Mary and Martha wanted healing. Jesus was preparing resurrection. Right? They wanted Jesus to prevent death. He was preparing to reveal his glory, right, and his power over death. Right? They wanted Jesus before the tomb. He was about to reveal his glory at the tomb. And so the invitation for us today is, Come and see Jesus in the delay, right? His timing may confuse you and I, but here's the reality. His love has never changed. [00:14:22] (44 seconds)

And this is the true heart of this passage. He doesn't say I don't I I I know about a resurrection. I can perform a resurrection. He says, I am the resurrection and the life. Resurrection is something that he just does it's not something he does. It's it's who he is. Right? Where Jesus is, my friends, life is present. Right where he speaks, death has to listen. Right where Jesus stands, grave is no longer final. And that, my friends, is where faith is built. Faith is not only built by what can Jesus can do for me, it's built on who he is. [00:19:45] (41 seconds)

Then Jesus says in verse 44, take off the grave clothes and let him go. That is powerful. Here's the thing, my friends. Jesus gives Lazarus life, but he calls the community to help him walk in freedom. Right? He's alive, but he's still wearing that that has belonged to death. And so many of us here, we're sitting here and God has made us alive today. But here's the thing, we're still wrapped in old things. Right? Old habits, old bitterness, Old ways of thinking. But Jesus did not raise Lazarus to so that he can live bound. He raised him, my friend, so he could be free. [00:32:41] (43 seconds)

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Come & See - Week 5 - The One Who Still Raises | Rob Kropf