“DIVINE LIFE: OVERCOMING DEATH IN ITS FULLNESS”

Scripture Reading: John 10:40-11:57

You will recognize that with this ‘story’, or ‘incident, we are at ‘the last stage’ in ‘the Life and Ministry of the Lord Jesus’. 

‘He’ had left ‘Judea’ because ‘the Jewish rulers’ were planning to kill ‘Him’, but now ‘He’ boldly returned to that ‘district’, and ‘the result’ of this ‘Sign’ will be that they definitely take counsel to kill ‘Him’.  

‘The disciples’ knew quite well that for ‘Him’ to return to ‘Judea’ meant death: “The disciples said unto Him, ‘Teacher, the Jews were just now seeking to stone You; and are you going there again?” (John 11:8)

‘Jesus’ knew, and ‘the disciples’ knew quite well, that ‘Judea’ meant death.  

We have been seeing that ‘Jesus’ had been meeting ‘the meaning of death’ in many forms, and had overcome every form of it with ‘Life’.  

Firstly, at ‘the Marriage in Cana of Galilee’, where 
‘the wine’ failed, ‘He’ met that ‘aspect of death’ which is 
‘disappointment’ and ‘failure’ - and ‘death’ always means that.   

‘He’ overcame it with ‘Life’. 

Then, later, ‘He’ was back in ‘Cana’ again and ‘the Nobleman of Capernaum’ met ‘Him’ because his little child was ‘sick unto death’.  

‘The Lord Jesus’ just spoke ‘the Word’ where ‘He’ was, and at ‘that very moment’, away in ‘Capernaum’, this child was healed.  

‘Death’ always speaks of ‘time’ - it is a ‘time matter’.  

‘The time’ we die is ‘the end’ of ‘our time’ on this ‘earth’. 

But in one moment ‘Jesus’ spoke and many miles away ‘the child’ was healed.  

It would have taken ‘the Lord Jesus’ many hours to have gone from ‘Cana’ to ‘Capernaum’.  

It took ‘the Nobleman’ from ‘one o’clock in the afternoon’ until ‘the Sun’ went down, and then he had to start again ‘the next morning’.  

But ‘the Lord Jesus’ spoke ‘the Word’ and in that ‘moment’ all ‘time’ was dismissed.  

‘The time factor in death’ was overcome in ‘His Life’.  

Then we had ‘Him’ at ‘the pool of Bethesda in Jerusalem’ with ‘the poor man’ bound to ‘his bed’ for ‘thirty-eight  years’.  

‘His bed’ had tied him to ‘the earth’ all ‘his life’ and, as we saw, he was a ‘picture of Israel’ under ‘the bondage of the Law’. 

And ‘the Lord Jesus’ lifted that ‘man’ out of ‘his whole bondage’ in a ‘moment’ with ‘His Life’.  

‘Death’ is ‘bondage’.  

‘The writer to the Hebrews’ speaks of those who “through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage”.  (Hebrews 2:15) 

‘Death’ in ‘the form of bondage to the Law’ was overcome by ‘the Life of Christ’.  

Then we went back to ‘Galilee’ with ‘Him’ and saw ‘Him’ ‘feeding the five thousand’, and those ‘few little loaves and fish’ were multiplied until ‘everybody’ was filled, and there was much left over.  

‘Death’ always means ‘limitation’ - it puts a ‘limit’ to ‘everything’. 

But ‘the Lord Jesus’, by ‘Life’, overcame all ‘limitation’ there in ‘Galilee’.  

We could say that there was no end to this ‘Life’ that ‘He’ gave in that ‘bread’.  

If there had been ‘twenty thousand people’, or ‘fifty thousand’, it would have been just the same.  

‘Death’ is ‘limitation’, and that is more true ‘spiritually’ even than ‘physically’.  

‘Spiritual death’ is a ‘great limitation’, but ‘the Life’ which ‘the Lord Jesus’ gives removes all ‘limitation’.  

We went on to see ‘Him’ walking on ‘the Sea’, and we saw ‘His ascendancy’ over ‘natural laws’.  

Now ‘the most natural law’ is ‘death’.  

It is certainly something very ‘unnatural’ if you never ‘die’! 

But on ‘the Sea’ in that ‘Storm’ ‘the Lord Jesus’ triumphed over all ‘natural laws’.  

Where ‘the disciples’ were threatened with ‘death’ by ‘the power of nature’ ‘the Lord Jesus’ by ‘Life’ set aside ‘the natural forces’. 

And then we come to ‘the sixth Sign’, ‘the giving of sight to the man born blind’.  

‘Death’ is always ‘blindness’ - and that is more true ‘spiritually’ even than ‘physically’.  

‘Spiritual death’ is ‘Spiritual blindness’, and in this matter we are all born ‘dead’ because we are ‘Spiritually blind’ from ‘birth’.  

But ‘the Lord Jesus’ gave ‘Sight’ to ‘the man born blind’, and ‘the Sign’ was that ‘the Life’ that is ‘in Jesus’ sets aside ‘the blindness’ of ‘Spiritual death’.  

And so we have seen ‘the Lord Jesus’ meeting ‘the meaning of death’ in all these ‘different forms’.  

Every one of these ‘incidents’ sets forth as a ‘Sign’, or as a ‘type’, some form of ‘death’, and ‘the Lord Jesus’, by ‘the Power’ of ‘His Divine Life’, ‘the Life’ that was ‘in Him’, met all these ‘forms of death’.  

And ‘He’ changed ‘death’ into ‘Life’ with ‘His Life’.  

Now we come to ‘the seventh Sign’, and in this ‘one’ all those ‘six’ are brought together.  

This is the way in which to read ‘the story’ of ‘the raising of Lazarus’.   

It is all-inclusive - all ‘the forms of death’ are gathered together and dealt with fully and finally by ‘the Lord Jesus Christ.  

This is why ‘the Holy Spirit of Wisdom’ led ‘John’ to conclude all his ‘Signs’ with this ‘one’.  

True to ‘Spiritual principle’, ‘seven’ includes all ‘the others’, for, if you know anything about ‘Bible numbers’, you know of course that ‘seven’ is ‘the number of Spiritual fullness’.  

We reach ‘Spiritual finality’ when we come to ‘seven’.  

We have only to turn to ‘the last Book of the Bible’, for that is ‘the Book’ of ‘the final things’.  

Everything there is coming to ‘finality’ and to ‘fullness’.  

And the number which is most prominent in that ‘Book’ is number ‘seven’.  

There are ‘the seven Churches’, ‘the seven Lamps’, ‘the seven Spirits of God’, ‘the seven last Plagues’, ‘the seven last Trumpets’ - and so we go on through ‘the Book’ with  number ‘seven’, because in it everything is brought to ‘fullness’ and ‘finality’. 

All ‘the Bible’ is gathered into ‘the last Book’.

It begins with ‘the Book of of Genesis’ - “the Tree of Life, which is in the Paradise of God” (Rev.2:7) - ‘the River of Life flowing out’.  

So number ‘seven’ is ‘the number’ of ‘Spiritual fullness’. 

And, true to that ‘principle’, ‘the Holy Spirit’ led ‘John’ to put this ‘Sign’ of ‘the raising of Lazarus’ right at ‘the end’, because in this ‘Sign’ we have ‘death in its fullness  overcome by ‘the Lord Jesus Christ’, ‘the Resurrection, and the Life’.  

‘The Lord Jesus’ was moving in an environment of ‘death in its fullness.  

Everybody knew that ‘His’ coming back into ‘the vicinity of Jerusalem’ meant ‘death’ for ‘Him’. 

‘He’ knew it; ‘the disciples’ knew it; ‘other people’ knew it; and ‘the rulers’ were waiting for ‘Him’ to come back to put it into ‘effect’.  

‘The whole atmosphere’ was full of ‘death’.  

And here, just a little way out of ‘Jerusalem’, was ‘Lazarus’ dying and ‘dead’.  

But look at ‘the Lord Jesus’! 

‘His attitude’ toward ‘the death of Lazarus’ signified ‘His own  attitude’ toward ‘death’.  

‘He’ was told that ‘Lazarus’ was dying; and then ‘He’ knew in ‘His Spirit’ that ‘Lazarus’ was ‘dead’.  

‘He’ also knew in ‘His Spirit’ that ‘He’, too, would be ‘dead’ before long.  

How did ‘He’ face this ‘situation’? 

Look at ‘the quiet way’ in which ‘He’ met it all.  

There was no ‘panic’, no ‘sense of emergency’, no ‘fear’, no ‘despair’, and no ‘hurry’.  

‘He’ was completely ‘master of the situation’, and as ‘He’ was ‘master of the situation’ with ‘Lazarus’, so ‘He’ was ‘master of ‘His own death’.’  

There is no ‘suggestion’ here in ‘the case of Lazarus’ that ‘death’ was a ‘victory’, nor that ‘death’ was ‘the master’. 

‘The Lord Jesus’ was not worried about it for ‘one moment’.  

‘He’ could just move serenely in the midst of it and toward it.  

Do you see what it means? 

Let us just go over it again.  

‘The Lord Jesus’ knew that in a few days ‘the council in Jerusalem’ would have decided to destroy ‘Him’ there and then, and ‘He’ knew that coming back near ‘Jerusalem’ meant that for ‘Him’, but ‘He’ just came back ‘quietly’, without any ‘fear’.  

‘He’ was completely ‘master of the whole situation’ - and that is in ‘the Sign of Lazarus’.  

Yes, everybody was trying to make ‘Him’ hurry up! 

They were looking upon this ‘situation’ as a ‘terrible tragedy’, as something ‘terribly serious’, and they could not understand why ‘the Lord Jesus’ was not taking it more ‘seriously’.  

‘He’ was such a ‘master of the situation’ that it was almost as though it was nothing to ‘Him’.  

But we have said that there are ‘one’ or ‘two things’ that we must notice.  

While that is all ‘true’ where ‘the Lord Jesus’ is concerned, ‘He’ must let ‘people’ know that ‘death’ is ‘death’, and ‘death’ means that everything is put beyond any ‘kind of human ability’.  

When we are ‘dead’ that is ‘the end’ of all ‘our ability’ to do ‘anything’.  

It is altogether beyond ‘natural power’ and ‘natural hope’.  

‘The Lord Jesus’ took ‘very great care’ to see that that was how ‘things’ were and that ‘people’ knew it. 

That is why ‘He’ stayed ‘two days’ where ‘He’ was, and then took another ‘two days’ before ‘He’ got near ‘the place’ at all.  

‘He’ let this ‘whole situation’ go beyond ‘human hope’, and ‘He’ did that ‘quite deliberately’, because ‘He’ was teaching ‘the disciples’ a ‘Spiritual lesson’: that ‘death’ is death and only ‘God Almighty’ can do anything when it is like that. 

No one but ‘the Lord Jesus’ can do anything.   

Now, while this was a ‘Sign’ in ‘the case of Lazarus’ ‘physically’, behind ‘the Sign’ there is a ‘great Spiritual meaning’.  

Presently ‘the Lord Jesus’ will be dead, and when that happens only ‘God Almighty’ can do anything about it.

We shall look at this further when we continue ‘next Sunday’, Lord willing!

You will recall that we are currently involved with ‘the seventh Sign’ in ‘the Gospel of John’.

When we concluded ‘last Sunday’ I stated that, while this was a ‘Sign’ in ‘the case of Lazarus’ ‘physically’, behind ‘the Sign’ there is a ‘great Spiritual meaning’.  

Presently ‘the Lord Jesus’ will be ‘dead’, and when that happens only ‘God Almighty’ can do anything about it. 

There is no more ‘future’ unless ‘He’, ‘God Almighty’ comes into ‘the situation’.  

No ‘natural power’ can do anything at all.  

Now listen, that is what ‘Union with Christ in His death’ means.  

You know from ‘Romans 6’ that we have been “united with Him in the likeness of His death” (verse 5), and ‘Paul’ said elsewhere: “I have been crucified with Christ”. (Gal.2:20) 

What does it mean to be ‘united with Christ in His death’? 

It means to be put into ‘the position’ where there is no ‘hope’ whatsoever for anything unless ‘the Lord’ does it.  

When ‘Paul’ said; “I have been crucified with Christ” he added: “No longer I, but Christ”.  

No longer ‘I’ !

What a big ‘I’ that was with ‘Saul of Tarsus’! 

He was just one big ‘I’ in ‘natural strength’.  

See him in ‘his persecuting of the Church’! 

He put forth all ‘his mighty strength’! 

And we all know about ‘the great ‘I’ of ‘his wisdom’. 

‘Saul of Tarsus’ was a ‘man’ of considerable ‘natural wisdom’ and he had much ‘natural knowledge’.  

He was a man of ‘great zeal’ and ‘enthusiasm’-a very big ‘I’.  

Now that very big ‘I’ says “I have been crucified and it is no longer I”.  

It is no longer ‘natural strength’, ‘natural wisdom’ and ‘understanding’, nor ‘natural zeal’ and ‘enthusiasm’, and whatever more was of ‘I’.  

It is no longer ‘I’ - ‘I have been crucified with Christ’, and there is nothing more possible unless it is ‘the Lord’. 

Notice: ‘the Church’ has not learned this ‘lesson’ yet! 

We can read ‘the letter to the Romans’ and to ‘the Galatians’, but it is as it was with ‘Israel’. 

It is said that they read ‘the Scriptures’ every ‘Sabbath’, but they were perfectly ‘blind’ to what they were reading. 

Anyone who has received ‘Spiritual sight’ and ‘understanding’, who bears witness as to ‘the Truth’ that being ‘united with Christ in His death’ means ‘the end of all natural abilities’, and so on, is ‘ostracized’, is accused of preaching ‘the opposite’ of what everybody else is preaching, often stands alone as one having been cast out. 

Look at this tremendous lot of ‘I’ expressed in natural (‘God given talents and abilities’) there is in ‘Christianity’, although we have ‘Romans 6’ and ‘Galatians 2:20’ in our hands! 

We were saying that when ‘the Lord Jesus’ died that was ‘the end’ of all ‘natural hope’; ‘the only hope’ was that ‘God’ came in and raised ‘Him’ from ‘the dead’.  

And that is ‘the Sign’ of ‘the raising of Lazarus’.  

First of all, ‘the Lord Jesus’ had to make everybody know that ‘death’ is death, and the end of all ‘hope’ so far as ‘man’ with all ‘his natural abilities’ is concerned.  

These ‘poor sisters’ struggled with ‘the situation’ and tried to find some ‘hope’, but they were defeated in every ‘attempt’, and there was no doubt about it.  

He had died ‘four days’ before.  

That is ‘the first thing’ that ‘the Lord Jesus’ had to ‘teach’.  

But I hope that you are thinking in ‘Spiritual terms’ and not just ‘natural’.  

‘Spiritual death’ is real ‘death’, and to be ‘spiritually dead’ means that there is no ‘natural hope’ whatsoever. 

When ‘the Lord Jesus’ had established that fact, then ‘He’ went over to ‘the other side’ and showed that ‘He’, and ‘He’ alone, was ‘the Resurrection’, and ‘the Life’.  

‘The situation’ was not ‘hopeless’ when ‘He’ was on ‘the scene’.  

‘The Life’ that was ‘in Him’ was superior to ‘the whole situation’ - and that is true ‘Spiritually’ as it is ‘naturally’.  

Now we have to run over ‘the six Signs’ again, because we have said that they are all gathered up into ‘number seven’.  

‘The Marriage at Cana in Galilee’: we said that ‘the Wine’ that ‘the Lord Jesus’ made had about it a ‘new’ and ‘different quality’ from ‘the old wine’, an altogether ‘better quality’.  

‘The master of the feast’ said: “You have kept the good wine until now”. (John 2:10) 

And ‘the Life’ that ‘Jesus’ gives has about it a ‘quality’ that is altogether ‘different’.   

Of course, this does not appear on ‘the surface’ in ‘the Sign  of Lazarus’, but it does not need much ‘imagination’.    

If ‘Lazarus’ had been ‘your beloved brother’ and you had lost him in ‘death’, and for so long as to mean that there was no ‘hope’ whatever (in that country ‘four days’ of ‘death’ was a ‘very utter thing’: they said  “Lord, by this time he stinks, for he has been dead four days”), and then he had been raised from the dead and given back to you, would you not find something more in having him in ‘Resurrection’ than you had before? 

Remember ‘Mary Magdalene’.  

She lost her ‘Master’, and then in ‘the garden’ she found ‘Him’ again.  

When ‘He’ said to her ‘Mary’, she turned and said ‘Rabboni’ - ‘my great Master’.  

She used to call ‘Him’ “Rabbi”, that is, just ‘Master’, but now she said “Rabboni”, and tried to take ‘Him’ by ‘His feet’.  

She said: ‘I lost You once, but I am never going to lose You again’. - ‘You are more dear to me today than ever before’.  

And I believe that is how it was at ‘Bethany’.  

There was a ‘new quality’ in ‘Resurrection’, an altogether different kind of ‘Life’, more precious than ever before.

So ‘Lazarus’ took up ‘Sign’ number one, ‘the Marriage at Cana.  

And then ‘the seventh Sign’ took up this matter of ‘the Nobleman’s son being healed’.  

We pointed out that in this ‘Sign’ all ‘time’ and all ‘distance’ were dismissed by ‘the Word of Jesus’.  

All ‘the miles’ and all ‘the hours’ were simply dismissed in a ‘moment of time’.  

Now look at this ‘story of Lazarus’.  

What an important thing ‘time’ was with these people! 

Why does ‘He’ not hurry and come? 

Why does ‘He’ stay away for so long? 

And now ‘the brother’ had been dead for ‘four days’.  

What a factor ‘time’ was! 

And what a factor ‘distance’ was! 

And the best that a ‘sister’ can say is: “I know that he shall rise again in the Resurrection at the last day.” - and only ‘the Lord’ knows when that will be! 

‘The Lord Jesus’ came on ‘the scene’ and with a ‘Word’ all ‘time’ and all ‘distance’ were dismissed.  

‘The Life’ that is ‘in Christ’ destroys ‘time’ - it is ‘the Eternal Life’.  

So ‘Lazarus’ took up ‘the second Sign’.  

And then, what about ‘the poor man at the pool of  Bethesda’? 

He was bound to ‘the earth’ by ‘his bed’ and ‘his infirmity’  for ‘thirty-eight years’.  

That was a ‘living death’ - ‘bound by the Law’.  

And ‘the Lord Jesus’, by ‘Life’, released that ‘man’.  

‘Lazarus’ took that up: “Lazarus, come forth” - and ‘the grave’ had no ‘power’ to hold him.  

‘Loose and let him go’!  

Here is ‘the liberating power’ of ‘the Life’ which ‘the Lord Jesus’ gives.  

So ‘the man at the pool of Bethesda’ is included in this ‘Sign of Lazarus’.  

Well, is it necessary to go on with ‘the rest’? 

We saw in ‘the feeding of the five thousand’ how limitless  is ‘the Life’ which ‘the Lord Jesus’ gives.  

It can just go on, and on, and on.  

And how long will it go on? 

As long as ‘the Lord Jesus’ lives! 

Just that long and no longer - but what do you believe about that? 

‘He ever lives’  (Heb.7:25)...“I am...the Living One; and I was dead, and behold, I am alive unto the ages of the ages”. (Rev.1:18)

And ‘the Life’ that ‘the Lord Jesus’ gives will go on just as long as ‘the Lord Jesus’ does.  

“I am the Resurrection, and the Life”.  

And that is taken up in this ‘Sign of Lazarus’.  

As to ‘the walking on the sea’: we saw ‘in Him’, ‘the power’ which transcends all ‘natural forces’.  

Of course, that is so obvious in ‘Lazarus’.  

What were ‘the natural laws’ in this case? 

Well, death, corruption and all that that means. 

That is ‘the natural law’, and ‘the Lord Jesus’ put ‘His feet’ on top of that. 

‘He’ walked on those waters; ‘He’ had that under ‘Him’, and ‘He’ brought ‘Lazarus’ up in spite of all ‘natural laws’.  

And as to ‘the man who was born blind’: we saw that he was a man who was born with a ‘great handicap’, and ‘the Lord Jesus’ took hold of that ‘very handicap’ and made it ‘the instrument of His Glory’.  

Here ‘Lazarus’ has a ‘handicap’.  

We may take it that ‘his sisters’ did everything they could to stop ‘Lazarus’ from dying.  

They evidently were people who had money, and we can be quite sure that they had ‘the best medical advice’.  

They did everything that ‘Lazarus’ should get well, but he was born with ‘the handicap’ that he must die some time or other, and now his ‘handicap’ was at work.  

And, like ‘the man who was born without sight’, it was a ‘hopeless situation’ naturally.  

But what did ‘the Lord Jesus’ say about it? 

“This sickness is not unto death, but for the Glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified thereby”. 

Although ‘death’ may come in, it has not ‘the last word’.  

‘The last word’ is with ‘the Lord Jesus’, and so ‘He’ turned ‘the handicap’ into ‘His own Glory’.

We have to note, as we close, that all this became ‘true’ in ‘the experience’ of ‘the disciples’.  

Well, you must go over ‘the seven Signs’ again and see them in a ‘Spiritual way’ in ‘the after Life’ of ‘the disciples’.  

This is what ‘the Lord Jesus’ came to bring us in ‘His own Person’, for ‘He’ said: “I am the Resurrection, and the Life”. 

Now if we are ‘disciples’, and every ‘Christian’ ought to be, these are ‘the things’ that we ought to be learning in ‘our own Spiritual experience’. 

You go away and sit down quietly with these ‘seven things’, and you will see ‘every one of them’ in ‘the Epistles’ of ‘the New Testament’ which were written after ‘Jesus’ had gone to ‘Heaven’.  

‘The New Testament’ is full of ‘the things’.  

We are told that we are to have “the eyes of our hearts enlightened”, that we can “know Him and the power of His Resurrection”, and that we can be “set free from the bondage of the Law”.  

All these are ‘the things’ which make up ‘the true Christian Life’.  

All we have to ask ourselves is: am I learning this in ‘the School of Christ’? - What do I know about this in ‘my Spiritual experience’? 

Well, we must leave it there, but we must, every one of us, ask ‘the Lord’ to teach us what this ‘means’, and to bring us into ‘the Reality’ of this ‘great Life’.