John 11:1-16
Getting Ready for a Resurrection
Introduce chapter 11.
We see in chapter 11 the 7th miracle that Jesus performed in John’s Gospel. He raised Lazarus from the dead. Apart from His own resurrection this is no doubt the greatest of His miracles.
This was not the first resurrection that Jesus performed in His ministry. He raised Jairus’ daughter in Mark 5. In Luke 7 He raised the son of a widow.
Although the focus of this chapter revolves around the actual miracle, we need to see the point of this chapter. It is not simply for the sake of Lazarus that Jesus brings him back from the dead, nor is it to comfort the grieving family. Jesus says there are two reasons for this miracle. First in verse 4 it is for the glory of God and second in verse 15 it is so that the disciples may believe.
Chapter 11 begins a major shift in John’s Gospel. At the end of chapter 10 the Jews tried to seize Jesus to arrest Him, but, Jesus left Jerusalem. This marked the end of His public ministry to Israel in John’s Gospel. From this point on Jesus remains within His close circle, not returning to Jerusalem until a couple months later when He is crucified at Passover.
We are going to look at the first 16 verses, which prepare the way for the miracle to happen. Next week we’ll look at the actual miracle.
Turning to Christ in Troubled Times (v1-3)
In verses 1-3 we see the first point: Turning to Christ in Troubled Times. “Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love is sick.’”
Lazarus, Martha, and Mary are siblings. They lived in Bethany, which was about 2 miles east of Jerusalem on the other side of the Mount of Olives. The situation is grave, Lazarus is sick and his death is imminent.
How many of us have been here before? A loved one is sick and dying and there seems nothing that can be done except to turn to the Lord and seek Him. We can relate can’t we? The fear, the worry, the grief.
And yet we see how right their response was in sending for the Lord. There is no comfort and no encouragement like that found in our Great Shepherd. We know that we can go to Him boldly (Heb 4:16) and that He hears our prayers. We know that we can cast all our anxieties on Him because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). And we know that we can do all things – including facing death – because of the One who gives us strength (Php 4:13).
But I think there was a reason they turned to Jesus here: It’s the relationship they had with Him. John shows us 2 aspects of their relationship first, they were devoted to Him; they worshiped Him. In verse 2 John identifies Mary as the woman who poured perfume on Jesus’ feet and wiped it with her hair. Now, John doesn’t describe this event until chapter 12, but when we get there and see it we see a very humble act of worship. She loved Jesus. Martha and Lazarus loved Jesus and worshiped Him.
Secondly, the relationship was one in which they were very dear to Jesus. In verse 3 they say, “the one you love is sick.” The Greek word for love there in verse 3 is philos. Philos is the love of friendship; it means to be fond of someone and devoted to them in a special way. There is a special attachment Jesus has with this family. He loved them.
Now there’s something we should see here about the this situation. Each of the Lord’s miracle’s are manifestations of His glory (John 2:11). Every time He did some supernatural act of power, it was another expression of His glory. Now, understanding that, I want to remind you that each one of the 6 miracle’s that John has shown us so far have come in times of crisis.
The turning of water into wine came at a crucial moment that would otherwise ended in humiliation for the newlyweds and their families; the nobleman’s son in chapter 4 was sick and about to die; the storm that was about to drown the disciples and here comes Jesus walking on the water; the thousands of people who are nearly going to faint because they have not eaten for so long.
When people’s back’s were up against a wall, and when humanly speaking there was no answer, and when the odds were against them, it was in those times of trouble that Jesus did something magnificent so that the glory of God was manifest.
Here’s the principle – here is the take home point: we more readily turn to Jesus in the trials of our lives when our relationship with Him is defined by two things: our worship of Him and His love for us.
The Timing of God (v4-6)
So Jesus receives word that Lazarus, whom He loves, is sick. Notice how Jesus responds in verses 4-6, “When he heard this, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.’ Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was 2 more days.”
When Jesus says that this sickness will not end it death, He is not saying that Lazarus won’t die as a result of this sickness. Lazarus as we know did die. Actually he died while the messenger was on his way to Jesus before he arrived to give Jesus the message. What Jesus is saying is that death will not be final. Death will not be the ultimate outcome of this disease. He was speaking from His eternal perspective and not the human here and now perspective.
Why doesn’t Jesus respond right away to this message? We must first realize that it isn’t because He doesn’t love them. On the contrary, John emphasizes for us that there was a great deal of love that Jesus had for them in verses 3 and 5. We have to see this special relationship here. Jesus loved them as very dear friends in His ministry.
But, He doesn’t heal Lazarus. He doesn’t even come right away when He hears the news. When Jairus came to Him to come and heal his daughter Jesus set off right away. When the centurion in Matthew 8 asked Him to heal His servant Jesus took off right away. On many other occasions Jesus responded immediately to the requests, why would He not respond now? Of all people we would think that this family would be first on Jesus’ to do list.
We have wrestled with this in our own lives, haven’t we? Why doesn’t God answer my prayers? If anything this passage is reaffirming God’s love for His children even though He may not answer their prayers right away. It also shows us that God acts on His time, not ours. And I would rather trust the all-knowing, all-powerful God than my own “not-so-powerful, don’t-know-much” self.
And I think even more importantly, we see here that, yes, there are many times when it is not God’s will to heal. Many will tell you that it is never God’s will for a believer to be sick; that it is wrong and that it is because of a lack of faith, or, hidden sin, or God’s judgment in your life. I don’t see any of those things mentioned here. What I do see is a family that was loved tremendously by Jesus. What I do see is a family that loved and worshiped Jesus in an exemplary way. What I do see is that this does not cause Jesus to heal Lazarus or prevent him from dying. What I do see is Jesus declaring that this sickness is for the glory of God.
Jesus says rather that this sickness is for God’s glory and so that God’s Son will be glorified. The glory of God will be manifest in His life-giving power. Death will not triumph over Lazarus in the end, but, rather, the indestructible life of God will conquer death and give life to him. God’s Son has the keys to death and Hades (Revelation 1:18). In the end death will be thrown into the lake of fire. Death has been swallowed up in victory – Where o death is your victory? Jesus stands in victory over you o death. All who believe in the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ have overcome death. There is no fear of you anymore because life is in Jesus Christ’s name and we are His – not yours.
Verses 7-10
So now 2 days pass and Jesus finally decides to go to Bethany. Notice verses 7-8, “Then he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go back to Judea.’ ‘But Rabbi,’ they said, ‘a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?’” The disciples are referring to what we saw at the end of chapter 10 when the Jews accused Him of blasphemy while He was in Jerusalem and tried to stone Him. That’s when He escaped their grasp and went to where He is now in the region of Perea, which is where John the Baptist had been preaching in the early days.
We might be able to understand the confusion of the disciples. First Jesus had a huge following then He lost all of His followers. They may be wondering how a kingdom is going to be set up with His methods. The Jews had tried to stone Him multiple times and He has escaped their grasp. If I’m a disciple I’m thinking, “Look Jesus, you’ve made it out alive every time so far, but, if you just throw yourself in the lion’s den you can’t keep thinking you’re going to make it out alive.” And besides, we’ve got a good thing going on here is Perea. At the end of chapter 10 it says that many were believing in Jesus. In other words, He was gaining back the following He had lost. Does He really want to leave now while there is so much growth? Why needlessly risk going back? Do another long-distance healing.”
And then Jesus answers them quite strangely in verses 9-10, “Are there not 12 hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light.” Sounds perplexing, right? Well, it’s a Hebrew illustration. The Jews divided the day into two 12 hour parts – daytime and nighttime. Jesus is saying you can’t change the time, you can’t lengthen it and you can’t shorten it. There’s 12 hours of daylight and there’s 12 hours of darkness. And what Jesus is driving at is that God has prescribed the boundaries for His life. God is in charge of His life and His death. The disciples can’t lengthen His life any further than what God has ordained by trying to delay Him and the Jews cannot shorten His life any sooner by trying to kill Him. We’ve seen that many times as Jesus escapes being arrested or being stoned. While He is in the world He is the light of the world. There are 12 hours of light in the day – it can’t change. Jesus time on earth is set by God and nothing will change it.
Therefore, He has nothing to fear in going to Judea. When His time comes it will be according to the Father’s will and according to the Father’s calendar.
That’s true for everyone. Psalm 139:16 says, “Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” You are not in control of your life. You did not give yourself life, you cannot prolong or shorten your life, you cannot save your life.
Now in verses 11-14 it says, “After he had said this, he went on to tell them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.’ His disciples replied, ‘Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.’ Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead.’”
Lazarus is dead. Now the only way Jesus knows that is because He is the all-knowing God. Humanly speaking the latest news He had was what the messenger came with 2 days earlier. They didn’t have cell phones, and texting and emails to stay in touch 24/7. But Jesus is God and because He is God He knows already that Lazarus is dead.
Now notice what Jesus says – He says that Lazarus has fallen asleep. Did you know that the Bible describes the death of believers as sleep? They are not annihilated and they are not unconscious. They rest peacefully with the Lord until the time comes when Jesus says He will wake them up! It’s a figure of speech – He’s talking about resurrection from the dead when their souls will be rejoined with their glorified resurrection bodies.
The disciples don’t understand Jesus, so He has to tell them straight out that Lazarus is dead. And notice how important verse 15 is when Jesus says, “and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Jesus says He’s glad that He wasn’t there to save Lazarus from dying. And the reason He’s glad is for the sake of the disciples. If ever the disciple’s were confused now is that time.
What did Jesus mean?
Well notice that this is the last miracle Jesus does before He is crucified. The last of Jesus’ powerful miracles they would remember would be that He overpowered death by raising Lazarus from the dead. Can you think of anything more important for them to see before Jesus Himself is crucified? Can you think of anything better to strengthen their faith as they were soon going to be watching Him dying on the cross? He told them, “I must be betrayed into the hands of the chief priests and elders, crucified, and die, and then rise from the dead”. He told them in chapter 10, “I lay down my life on my own accord, no one takes it from me. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it up again.”
Jesus is demonstrating for their faith that He is God, and that as God He is the One who gives life and has power over death.
And that is what John wants us to know. He wrote so that you may know how to have eternal life. He wrote so that you know the name of the only One who can give it to you. He wrote so that you know who to turn to and believe in so that you can have that life.
It’s no coincidence that John begins His Gospel by focusing on the life of God: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life and that life was the light of men.” Before everything else there was the living God; before there was death there was life – the eternal, uncreated, indestructible, full, and self-existent life of God. And after death is thrown in to the lake of fire, there will only be the life of God and all those who are His. In Him was life….in Him. Jesus Christ is the One who has life-giving power; He is the One who has power over death.
But the disciples didn’t know what was going on. And yet Thomas gives a very interesting response. He says in verse 16, “Let us go also that we may die with Him.” Now I have to say although this sounds pessimistic, I admire Thomas’s response. He was willing to die with Jesus. He believed Jesus was going to be killed if they went back, and he also believed all of them would be killed as well – and he was willing to go still. That is courage. Now we are reminded that Thomas, as well as Peter and the rest of the disciples ended up abandoning Jesus when He was arrested, so Thomas wasn’t exactly ready to die yet for Jesus. But do you know that later - after the resurrection - Thomas was martyred for preaching the gospel in Asia? So in the end, Thomas was willing to die because of Jesus.
Do you know why? Flip over to chapter 20 verse 25. ……
Thomas would not be ready to die for Jesus until He knew Jesus had given Him life. He couldn’t go to his bloody death without the conviction that Jesus Christ would raise Him up to glorious life. That’s what Thomas saw, and that’s when He was ready to die for Jesus.
That’s what you must see if you’re going to die for Jesus. Do you see that Jesus is the only life-giver and that without Him you are dead? You can have His life because He offers it to you. It’s life that is received, not rewarded for a good life.
Getting Ready for a Resurrection
Introduce chapter 11.
We see in chapter 11 the 7th miracle that Jesus performed in John’s Gospel. He raised Lazarus from the dead. Apart from His own resurrection this is no doubt the greatest of His miracles.
This was not the first resurrection that Jesus performed in His ministry. He raised Jairus’ daughter in Mark 5. In Luke 7 He raised the son of a widow.
Although the focus of this chapter revolves around the actual miracle, we need to see the point of this chapter. It is not simply for the sake of Lazarus that Jesus brings him back from the dead, nor is it to comfort the grieving family. Jesus says there are two reasons for this miracle. First in verse 4 it is for the glory of God and second in verse 15 it is so that the disciples may believe.
Chapter 11 begins a major shift in John’s Gospel. At the end of chapter 10 the Jews tried to seize Jesus to arrest Him, but, Jesus left Jerusalem. This marked the end of His public ministry to Israel in John’s Gospel. From this point on Jesus remains within His close circle, not returning to Jerusalem until a couple months later when He is crucified at Passover.
We are going to look at the first 16 verses, which prepare the way for the miracle to happen. Next week we’ll look at the actual miracle.
Turning to Christ in Troubled Times (v1-3)
In verses 1-3 we see the first point: Turning to Christ in Troubled Times. “Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love is sick.’”
Lazarus, Martha, and Mary are siblings. They lived in Bethany, which was about 2 miles east of Jerusalem on the other side of the Mount of Olives. The situation is grave, Lazarus is sick and his death is imminent.
How many of us have been here before? A loved one is sick and dying and there seems nothing that can be done except to turn to the Lord and seek Him. We can relate can’t we? The fear, the worry, the grief.
And yet we see how right their response was in sending for the Lord. There is no comfort and no encouragement like that found in our Great Shepherd. We know that we can go to Him boldly (Heb 4:16) and that He hears our prayers. We know that we can cast all our anxieties on Him because He cares for us (1 Peter 5:7). And we know that we can do all things – including facing death – because of the One who gives us strength (Php 4:13).
But I think there was a reason they turned to Jesus here: It’s the relationship they had with Him. John shows us 2 aspects of their relationship first, they were devoted to Him; they worshiped Him. In verse 2 John identifies Mary as the woman who poured perfume on Jesus’ feet and wiped it with her hair. Now, John doesn’t describe this event until chapter 12, but when we get there and see it we see a very humble act of worship. She loved Jesus. Martha and Lazarus loved Jesus and worshiped Him.
Secondly, the relationship was one in which they were very dear to Jesus. In verse 3 they say, “the one you love is sick.” The Greek word for love there in verse 3 is philos. Philos is the love of friendship; it means to be fond of someone and devoted to them in a special way. There is a special attachment Jesus has with this family. He loved them.
Now there’s something we should see here about the this situation. Each of the Lord’s miracle’s are manifestations of His glory (John 2:11). Every time He did some supernatural act of power, it was another expression of His glory. Now, understanding that, I want to remind you that each one of the 6 miracle’s that John has shown us so far have come in times of crisis.
The turning of water into wine came at a crucial moment that would otherwise ended in humiliation for the newlyweds and their families; the nobleman’s son in chapter 4 was sick and about to die; the storm that was about to drown the disciples and here comes Jesus walking on the water; the thousands of people who are nearly going to faint because they have not eaten for so long.
When people’s back’s were up against a wall, and when humanly speaking there was no answer, and when the odds were against them, it was in those times of trouble that Jesus did something magnificent so that the glory of God was manifest.
Here’s the principle – here is the take home point: we more readily turn to Jesus in the trials of our lives when our relationship with Him is defined by two things: our worship of Him and His love for us.
The Timing of God (v4-6)
So Jesus receives word that Lazarus, whom He loves, is sick. Notice how Jesus responds in verses 4-6, “When he heard this, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.’ Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was 2 more days.”
When Jesus says that this sickness will not end it death, He is not saying that Lazarus won’t die as a result of this sickness. Lazarus as we know did die. Actually he died while the messenger was on his way to Jesus before he arrived to give Jesus the message. What Jesus is saying is that death will not be final. Death will not be the ultimate outcome of this disease. He was speaking from His eternal perspective and not the human here and now perspective.
Why doesn’t Jesus respond right away to this message? We must first realize that it isn’t because He doesn’t love them. On the contrary, John emphasizes for us that there was a great deal of love that Jesus had for them in verses 3 and 5. We have to see this special relationship here. Jesus loved them as very dear friends in His ministry.
But, He doesn’t heal Lazarus. He doesn’t even come right away when He hears the news. When Jairus came to Him to come and heal his daughter Jesus set off right away. When the centurion in Matthew 8 asked Him to heal His servant Jesus took off right away. On many other occasions Jesus responded immediately to the requests, why would He not respond now? Of all people we would think that this family would be first on Jesus’ to do list.
We have wrestled with this in our own lives, haven’t we? Why doesn’t God answer my prayers? If anything this passage is reaffirming God’s love for His children even though He may not answer their prayers right away. It also shows us that God acts on His time, not ours. And I would rather trust the all-knowing, all-powerful God than my own “not-so-powerful, don’t-know-much” self.
And I think even more importantly, we see here that, yes, there are many times when it is not God’s will to heal. Many will tell you that it is never God’s will for a believer to be sick; that it is wrong and that it is because of a lack of faith, or, hidden sin, or God’s judgment in your life. I don’t see any of those things mentioned here. What I do see is a family that was loved tremendously by Jesus. What I do see is a family that loved and worshiped Jesus in an exemplary way. What I do see is that this does not cause Jesus to heal Lazarus or prevent him from dying. What I do see is Jesus declaring that this sickness is for the glory of God.
Jesus says rather that this sickness is for God’s glory and so that God’s Son will be glorified. The glory of God will be manifest in His life-giving power. Death will not triumph over Lazarus in the end, but, rather, the indestructible life of God will conquer death and give life to him. God’s Son has the keys to death and Hades (Revelation 1:18). In the end death will be thrown into the lake of fire. Death has been swallowed up in victory – Where o death is your victory? Jesus stands in victory over you o death. All who believe in the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ have overcome death. There is no fear of you anymore because life is in Jesus Christ’s name and we are His – not yours.
Verses 7-10
So now 2 days pass and Jesus finally decides to go to Bethany. Notice verses 7-8, “Then he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go back to Judea.’ ‘But Rabbi,’ they said, ‘a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?’” The disciples are referring to what we saw at the end of chapter 10 when the Jews accused Him of blasphemy while He was in Jerusalem and tried to stone Him. That’s when He escaped their grasp and went to where He is now in the region of Perea, which is where John the Baptist had been preaching in the early days.
We might be able to understand the confusion of the disciples. First Jesus had a huge following then He lost all of His followers. They may be wondering how a kingdom is going to be set up with His methods. The Jews had tried to stone Him multiple times and He has escaped their grasp. If I’m a disciple I’m thinking, “Look Jesus, you’ve made it out alive every time so far, but, if you just throw yourself in the lion’s den you can’t keep thinking you’re going to make it out alive.” And besides, we’ve got a good thing going on here is Perea. At the end of chapter 10 it says that many were believing in Jesus. In other words, He was gaining back the following He had lost. Does He really want to leave now while there is so much growth? Why needlessly risk going back? Do another long-distance healing.”
And then Jesus answers them quite strangely in verses 9-10, “Are there not 12 hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light. It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light.” Sounds perplexing, right? Well, it’s a Hebrew illustration. The Jews divided the day into two 12 hour parts – daytime and nighttime. Jesus is saying you can’t change the time, you can’t lengthen it and you can’t shorten it. There’s 12 hours of daylight and there’s 12 hours of darkness. And what Jesus is driving at is that God has prescribed the boundaries for His life. God is in charge of His life and His death. The disciples can’t lengthen His life any further than what God has ordained by trying to delay Him and the Jews cannot shorten His life any sooner by trying to kill Him. We’ve seen that many times as Jesus escapes being arrested or being stoned. While He is in the world He is the light of the world. There are 12 hours of light in the day – it can’t change. Jesus time on earth is set by God and nothing will change it.
Therefore, He has nothing to fear in going to Judea. When His time comes it will be according to the Father’s will and according to the Father’s calendar.
That’s true for everyone. Psalm 139:16 says, “Your eyes saw my unformed body. All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.” You are not in control of your life. You did not give yourself life, you cannot prolong or shorten your life, you cannot save your life.
Now in verses 11-14 it says, “After he had said this, he went on to tell them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.’ His disciples replied, ‘Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.’ Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. So then he told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead.’”
Lazarus is dead. Now the only way Jesus knows that is because He is the all-knowing God. Humanly speaking the latest news He had was what the messenger came with 2 days earlier. They didn’t have cell phones, and texting and emails to stay in touch 24/7. But Jesus is God and because He is God He knows already that Lazarus is dead.
Now notice what Jesus says – He says that Lazarus has fallen asleep. Did you know that the Bible describes the death of believers as sleep? They are not annihilated and they are not unconscious. They rest peacefully with the Lord until the time comes when Jesus says He will wake them up! It’s a figure of speech – He’s talking about resurrection from the dead when their souls will be rejoined with their glorified resurrection bodies.
The disciples don’t understand Jesus, so He has to tell them straight out that Lazarus is dead. And notice how important verse 15 is when Jesus says, “and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Jesus says He’s glad that He wasn’t there to save Lazarus from dying. And the reason He’s glad is for the sake of the disciples. If ever the disciple’s were confused now is that time.
What did Jesus mean?
Well notice that this is the last miracle Jesus does before He is crucified. The last of Jesus’ powerful miracles they would remember would be that He overpowered death by raising Lazarus from the dead. Can you think of anything more important for them to see before Jesus Himself is crucified? Can you think of anything better to strengthen their faith as they were soon going to be watching Him dying on the cross? He told them, “I must be betrayed into the hands of the chief priests and elders, crucified, and die, and then rise from the dead”. He told them in chapter 10, “I lay down my life on my own accord, no one takes it from me. I have power to lay it down and I have power to take it up again.”
Jesus is demonstrating for their faith that He is God, and that as God He is the One who gives life and has power over death.
And that is what John wants us to know. He wrote so that you may know how to have eternal life. He wrote so that you know the name of the only One who can give it to you. He wrote so that you know who to turn to and believe in so that you can have that life.
It’s no coincidence that John begins His Gospel by focusing on the life of God: “In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God. He was with God in the beginning. Through Him all things were made; without Him nothing was made that has been made. In Him was life and that life was the light of men.” Before everything else there was the living God; before there was death there was life – the eternal, uncreated, indestructible, full, and self-existent life of God. And after death is thrown in to the lake of fire, there will only be the life of God and all those who are His. In Him was life….in Him. Jesus Christ is the One who has life-giving power; He is the One who has power over death.
But the disciples didn’t know what was going on. And yet Thomas gives a very interesting response. He says in verse 16, “Let us go also that we may die with Him.” Now I have to say although this sounds pessimistic, I admire Thomas’s response. He was willing to die with Jesus. He believed Jesus was going to be killed if they went back, and he also believed all of them would be killed as well – and he was willing to go still. That is courage. Now we are reminded that Thomas, as well as Peter and the rest of the disciples ended up abandoning Jesus when He was arrested, so Thomas wasn’t exactly ready to die yet for Jesus. But do you know that later - after the resurrection - Thomas was martyred for preaching the gospel in Asia? So in the end, Thomas was willing to die because of Jesus.
Do you know why? Flip over to chapter 20 verse 25. ……
Thomas would not be ready to die for Jesus until He knew Jesus had given Him life. He couldn’t go to his bloody death without the conviction that Jesus Christ would raise Him up to glorious life. That’s what Thomas saw, and that’s when He was ready to die for Jesus.
That’s what you must see if you’re going to die for Jesus. Do you see that Jesus is the only life-giver and that without Him you are dead? You can have His life because He offers it to you. It’s life that is received, not rewarded for a good life.
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