Scripture Reading: John 11:1-44
The Gospel of John is the fulfillment of the tabernacle and all the offerings. This Gospel is also deep and profound in the matter of the divine life. The cases in chapters 3 through 11 give us a full picture of the divine life in its different aspects.
The first case, that of Nicodemus, reveals how the natural man, no matter how good he may be, needs regeneration. The last case, that of Lazarus, indicates that we all are dead and in need of resurrection. Hence, the first case indicates regeneration, and the last case indicates resurrection.
In chapter 4 we have the case of an immoral Samaritan woman who pretended to be religious and to be a worshipper of God. From this case we see that she needed the living water to satisfy the thirst in her human life and also needed the reality with which and by which to render God the kind of worship that satisfies Him. We all need Christ as the living water and as our reality. For our daily life we need a fountain of living water to satisfy our thirst, and for our worship of God we need Christ as the reality of all the offerings. If we have Christ as the reality of the offerings, we will be able to offer God the Father the worship He is seeking.
In chapter 5 we have the case of the impotent man. Apparently, this is the case of a sick person. But according to the context of this chapter, we see that the Lord Jesus did not regard him as sick — He regarded him as dead. After the Lord enlivened the impotent man, He went on to speak about passing out of death into life: “Truly, truly, I say to you, He who hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life, and does not come into judgment but has passed out of death into life” (v. 24). Then the Lord spoke about two aspects of resurrection, the spiritual aspect and the physical aspect.
In 5:25 we have the Lord’s word concerning the spiritual aspect of resurrection: “Truly, truly, I say to you, An hour is coming, and it is now, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God, and those who hear will live.” In this verse the Lord referred not to those who are dead physically but to those who are dead in spirit, as in Ephesians 2:1 and 5. Hence, in this verse to live means to be alive in spirit. This is not resurrection in the physical body, as mentioned in John 5:28 and 29.
In 5:28 and 29 the Lord Jesus said, “An hour is coming in which all in the tombs will hear His voice and will come forth: those who have done good, to the resurrection of life; and those who have practiced evil, to the resurrection of judgment.” Those who are in the tombs are those who are physically dead and buried in the tomb. Hence, their coming forth from the tomb in verse 29 is the resurrection in the physical body.
The Lord’s work today is to resurrect those who are dead in their spirit. All of us were resurrected in spirit at the time of our regeneration. Once we were dead, but we heard the Lord’s voice, repented, and believed in Him. As a result, we were regenerated and spiritually resurrected.
As we have pointed out, verses 28 and 29 speak of the resurrection of those who are physically dead. “The resurrection of life” will be the resurrection of believers before the millennium (Rev. 20:4, 6; 1 Cor. 15:23, 52; 1 Thes. 4:16). The dead believers will be resurrected to enjoy eternal life at the coming back of the Lord Jesus. Hence, it is called the resurrection of life. The resurrection of judgment refers to the resurrection of the unbelievers after the millennium (Rev. 20:5, 12). All the dead unbelievers will be resurrected after the thousand years to be judged at the great white throne (vv. 11-15). Hence, it is called the resurrection of judgment.
Chapter 5 of the Gospel of John is actually a chapter dealing with resurrection in both a spiritual and physical sense. However, in this chapter the emphasis is on the spiritual aspect of resurrection. In the sight of the life-giving Christ, the impotent man, who had been sick for thirty-eight years, was dead. Therefore, when the Lord Jesus spoke to him, and he received the Lord’s word, he was resurrected. This was an instance of someone passing out of death into life.
In chapter 6 we have the case of a hungry multitude around the Sea of Galilee. The fact that the Lord Jesus fed this multitude indicates that He is the true life-feeder. The Lord Jesus said to the people, “Work not for the food which perishes, but for the food which abides unto eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you” (v. 27). This food is the Lord Jesus Himself. He is the bread of life, the living bread, the true bread of God that came down out of heaven (vv. 32-33, 35, 51). Because the Lord is the bread of life, He can fill our hunger.
In chapter 7 of John’s Gospel we have the case of the thirsty ones at the Feast of Tabernacles. At the Feast of Tabernacles the people enjoyed all that had been gathered in at the time of harvest. They enjoyed this rich ingathering with God and with one another. However, not even that enjoyment could satisfy them. Therefore, “on the last day, the great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink. He who believes into Me, as the Scripture said, out of his innermost being shall flow rivers of living water” (vv. 37-38). Here we have a word concerning the quenching of our thirst.
In chapter 8 we have a case involving immorality; in chapter 9, the case of the blind man; in chapter 10, a further definition of the case in chapter 9; and in chapter 11, the case of the death of Lazarus. In these three cases we have the matters of sin, blindness, and death, the three main characteristics of fallen human beings.
Sin is one of the basic problems of fallen mankind. In chapter 8 we have an instance of a particular act of sin. However, in this chapter the Lord Jesus went on to speak regarding the sin that dwells in our nature. In 8:34 He said, “Truly, truly, I say to you, Everyone who commits sin is a slave of sin.” This chapter reveals that the Son of God can set us free from the bondage of sin (v. 36). This bondage is not merely related to outward sins, to sins in our conduct, but it is related especially to inward sin, to the sin that dwells in our nature. Paul speaks very clearly about this indwelling sin in Romans 7: “If what I do not will, this I do, it is no longer I that work it out but sin that dwells in me” (v. 20).
In Philippians 3:6 Paul could say of himself that “as to the righteousness which is in the law” he had “become blameless.” But in Romans 7:7 and 8a we see that Paul could not overcome the inward sin of coveting: “What then shall we say? Is the law sin? Absolutely not! But I did not know sin except through the law; for neither did I know coveting, except the law had said, ‘You shall not covet.’ But sin, seizing the opportunity through the commandment, worked out in me coveting of every kind.” Paul may have succeeded in keeping the first nine of the Ten Commandments, but he had no way to keep the last one, the commandment concerning coveting. Paul came to realize that within his fallen nature there was something called “sin.” In Romans 7 he could say that this sin deceived him and killed him (v. 11) and that he himself was “sold under sin” (v. 14). Therefore, Paul could say, “What I work out, I do not acknowledge; for what I will, this I do not practice; but what I hate, this I do...Now then it is no longer I that work it out but sin that dwells in me” (vv. 15, 17).
In chapter 8 of the Gospel of John the Lord Jesus was actually dealing with indwelling sin. Some may claim that they do not commit sins outwardly, but who is without sin inwardly? Apparently, in your outward behavior, you may not commit sins. Nevertheless, you have sin dwelling in your nature. This indwelling sin brings us into bondage.
We need to be set free, delivered, from this bondage not by our own efforts but by the life-giving Christ. What we need is another life, a life that can overcome sin and also carry out God’s purpose and do His will. This life, the divine life, is Christ Himself. Therefore, we need Christ to be our life. If we have Christ inwardly as our life, then we will be set free from the bondage of sin. The revelation in John 8 is that the Lord sets us free from the bondage of sin through being life to us.
Another basic problem of fallen mankind is blindness. Blindness issues in darkness. When we are blind, everything is in darkness. The case of the blind man in John 9 is the case of a man blind from birth (v. 1), not the case of someone who became blind due to illness.
As fallen people, from birth we all are sinful and blind. This means that we were born sinful and blind. Moreover, we were born dead. From birth we have these three basic problems — sin, blindness, and death. The gospel is preached not only to sinners who commit sins but also to sinners who are sin. In ourselves we are sin, for we were born sinful. We were born sin. As we have seen, we were also born blind and dead; that is, we were born in darkness and in death. For this reason, in Ephesians 2:5 Paul says that God made us alive together with Christ, even when we were dead in offenses.
Because we were born sinful, blind, and dead, we need a gospel that can solve these problems. We need a gospel that can set us free from the bondage of sin and can give us sight. By receiving sight through the gospel, we also receive marvelous light to see the things concerning God and our destiny. We also need a gospel that can resurrect us. We need not only to be healed — we need to be resurrected. A salvation that frees us from sin, gives us sight and light, and resurrects us will usher us into God’s dwelling place and bring us into the Holy of Holies. Eventually, in the Gospel of John we are brought into the Holy of Holies. We are brought into the dwelling place of God.
In order to understand the Gospel of John, we need to know all the stories in this Gospel. However, it is not sufficient merely to know the stories. If we would get into the depths of the truth in this book, we need to have the extract of each chapter. All these chapters are actually concerned with the extracts of the Gospel of John. These extracts are related to the signs in this Gospel. John himself tells us that in writing this Gospel he selected certain signs performed by the Lord Jesus, signs that reveal different aspects of the divine life: “Moreover indeed many other signs also Jesus did before His disciples, which are not written in this book. But these have been written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that believing, you may have life in His name” (20:30-31).
The record in the Gospel of John is different from that in the so-called synoptic Gospels — Matthew, Mark, and Luke. It is not John’s intention to describe the miraculous acts of Christ. Rather, John’s intention is to depict the divine life, portraying this invisible life through a number of visible cases. All these cases are signs.
In chapter 11 we have the case of Lazarus. In this chapter the Lord said, “I am the resurrection and the life” (v. 25). Both resurrection and life are invisible. If we did not have a tangible case, we could not understand resurrection and life. Hence, here in this chapter is a specific case of a dead person who was resurrected. Through this case we can come to know what resurrection is. Actually, resurrection is the person of the Lord Jesus Himself. This means that resurrection is not mainly what the Lord does; resurrection is primarily what the Lord is. Because Christ is resurrection, when we have Him, we have resurrection. When He is present, resurrection is present also.
In our study of the Gospel of John we need to see the significance of all the signs. Then we will have the extract of this Gospel. Not only are the cases recorded in this Gospel signs, but the main points revealed in each chapter also are signs. For instance, in chapter 11 there are five main points: death, sickness, the Lord’s delay, men’s opinion, and resurrection. All these points are signs. Even the Lord’s delay is a sign. It is important that we understand what this delay signifies. The opinions expressed in this chapter are also signs. When we grasp the significance of these signs, we will have the extract of this chapter.
Let us now consider the signs in chapter 11. The first of these signs is the sign of death. Death signifies the last of the negative things to be dealt with. This is proved by Paul’s word in 1 Corinthians 15:26: “Death, the last enemy, is being abolished.”
The last negative thing in us, the last problem that needs to be dealt with, is death. Many Christians know that they have weaknesses, but they are not conscious of the problem of death. In the sight of God, everyone is dying. As soon as an infant is born, that infant begins the process of dying. If we did not have eternal life, our whole being would be in this process of dying.
The older a person becomes, the more he thinks about dying. An elderly person knows that death awaits him. He realizes that most of the years allotted to him have been used up and that very little time is left. My point here is that, as far as the natural life is concerned, we all are dying. The more we realize this, the more we will thank the Lord that we have eternal life.
Because we were born dead and because the element of death is in the fiber of our being, we need the Lord’s life-giving salvation. In John 11 death is a sign of the last negative factor that remains to be dealt with. This is the significance of the sign of death in chapter 11 of the Gospel of John.
