About This Message
Wednesday night Bible study took the church back into John 11 — the same chapter Pastor Roy Jones preached Sunday — and walked it verse by verse, the congregation reading and answering out loud. He taught with a King James Bible in his hand; the church followed in the New King James. Two things are happening in this chapter at once, he said: you are seeing the humanity of Jesus, and you are seeing the divinity of Jesus. The session covered verses 1–28: the message the sisters sent, the two-day wait, the road back to Judea, Thomas speaking up, Martha running out to meet Him — and the sentence the whole night turned on. His topic, given in the middle of the teaching: Jesus, the Giver of Life — if you believe. The focus: John 11:25–27.
The Word — John 11
1Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
2It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.
3Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, “Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick.”
4When Jesus heard that, He said, “This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
5Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
6So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.
John 11:1–6 (NKJV)
7Then after this He said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”
8The disciples said to Him, “Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?”
9Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.
10But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.”
John 11:7–10 (NKJV)
11These things He said, and after that He said to them, “Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up.”
12Then His disciples said, “Lord, if he sleeps he will get well.”
13However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.
14Then Jesus said to them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.
15And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe. Nevertheless let us go to him.”
16Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with Him.”
John 11:11–16 (NKJV)
17So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.
18Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away.
19And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.
20Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.
21Now Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.
22But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.”
John 11:17–22 (NKJV)
23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.
26And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
27She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
28And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, “The Teacher has come and is calling for you.”
John 11:23–28 (NKJV)
17Therefore, to him who knows to do good and does not do it, to him it is sin.
James 4:17 (NKJV)
22So it was that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels to Abraham’s bosom. The rich man also died and was buried.
Luke 16:22 (NKJV)
105Your word is a lamp to my feet And a light to my path.
Psalm 119:105 (NKJV)
10The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.
John 10:10 (NKJV)
1A Psalm of David. The LORD said to my Lord, “Sit at My right hand, Till I make Your enemies Your footstool.”
Psalm 110:1 (NKJV)
9Do you not know that the unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived. Neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor homosexuals, nor sodomites,
1 Corinthians 6:9 (NKJV)
7And when you pray, do not use vain repetitions as the heathen do. For they think that they will be heard for their many words.
Matthew 6:7 (NKJV)
The Message in a Sentence
A family Jesus loved sent Him a pointed message — "the one whom You love is sick" — and Jesus stayed where He was two more days. Not because He didn't care: because this sickness was not unto death, and death would not be the final destination. On the road back to a place that had tried to stone Him, He taught His disciples to walk in the light of their assignment while they still had the light. And when He finally arrived — four days gone — He met a sister whose faith could believe He would have prevented death, but not that He could reverse it, and He answered her doctrine about a far-off resurrection event with a Person standing right in front of her: "I am the resurrection and the life." Jesus is the Giver of life — but He offers it only to those who believe.
The Arc of the Message
Opening — A Message With a Point On It
John makes sure you know this family: Lazarus of Bethany; Mary, the one who anointed the Lord and wiped His feet with her hair; and Martha. The sisters' message isn't casual — "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick." They put a point on it: not just any Lazarus — the one You love. If we love somebody and hear they're sick, we call, we go, we get there as fast as we can. Jesus heard it — and stayed two more days. All through this chapter, two things are on display at once: His humanity, and His divinity.
Development — The Wait, the Road, and the Limitation
"This sickness is not unto death" — and Lazarus died anyway. No contradiction: Jesus never said he wouldn't die; He said death would not be the end of it. Twenty miles of hills and valleys stood between Jesus and Bethany, and still you can't put a limitation on God — yet we spend our lives in dead places of limitation, operating more from what people told us than from what the Lord has said. On the road, Jesus taught the twelve hours of the day: walk in your divine purpose, covered by the Father, and nobody can touch what He purposed; but jump into what He never told you to get in, and you're on your own — and to know the good you're supposed to do and not do it is sin (James 4:17). Thomas — the one everybody remembers for doubting — spoke up with courage: "Let us also go, that we may die with Him." And in Bethany, Martha's faith stopped at a line: "Lord, if You had been here." She believed He could have prevented the death. Reversing it was past her limit — and behind her stood the town's own teaching: a soul hangs around the body three days, and resurrection is an event at the last day. Jesus waited past the third day on purpose, and then He corrected the doctrine itself.
Landing — The Resurrection Is a Person
"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" Life has a condition, and the condition is believing in Jesus — God put the gift of eternal life in Him, and in no one else. Martha's answer is the confession the night lands on: "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world." Then she went and got her sister with the word that still calls today: "The Teacher has come and is calling for you" — and Mary got up quickly, and came.
Key Points
In His Own Words
Illustrations From the Message
"Jump In It" — The Covering Rule
Pastor Jones told it on himself. When he first pastored the church, people started running to the new pastor with everything: "Pastor, this is going on in the church, and that is going on — you need to fix it." He started to jump in and consume it all. And the Lord told him: if you jump in it and I ain't told you to get in it, when you get in it, you better get yourself out. But if I tell you to get in, I've got you covered while you're in it. So to this day, he only moves on what the Lord tells him — the Lord knew what was going on before he ever got there. Know your assignment. Walk in it while you have the light.
Thomas — Remembered Wrong
Everybody knows "doubting Thomas." But look at verse 16, before the doubt ever happened. Jesus announces He's going back to Judea — the place they had just tried to stone Him. The disciples hesitate. And Thomas, called the Twin, says to his fellow disciples: "Let us also go, that we may die with Him." That is not doubt talking. That is a man willing to die with his Lord. Pastor Jones's point: we do this to people all the time — we remember the one bad thing they did and forget every good thing. Thomas believed. Don't let anybody name you by your worst chapter.
SOIL — Go Deeper This Week
S — Scripture: Read John 11:25–26 slowly. Jesus doesn't offer Martha a resurrection event at the end of the world — He says "I am." What exactly does He claim, and what condition does He attach to the life He gives?
O — Observation: Martha's faith moves across this chapter — v. 21 ("if You had been here"), v. 22 ("even now I know"), v. 27 ("Yes, Lord, I believe"). Where does it stop, and where does it land?
I — Interpretation: Why does Jesus stay two more days (v. 6) and arrive on the fourth day — past the three-day teaching about the soul? What is the wait protecting, and who ends up getting the glory?
L — Life application: Name one limitation you've been living under because somebody told you so. This week, find it in the Word yourself — chapter and verse — or let it go.
Dig a Little Deeper
1. Pastor Jones said we operate more from what people told us than from what the Lord has said. What's one "everybody knows" saying about God that you've held onto — and could you find it in the Bible if you had to?
2. The covering rule: don't jump into what God didn't assign — but when He assigns it, you're covered in it. Where are you right now jumped into something God never told you to get in? What would getting out look like?
3. Mary left a room full of comforters the moment she heard the Teacher was calling for her. Who are your comforters — the people who can sit with your grief but can't change it — and what would it cost you to get up quickly and go to Him instead?
This Week's Challenge
Take one thing "everybody told you" about God and hunt it down in the Word yourself this week: find the chapter and verse, or let it go. And every morning before you move, ask out loud: "Lord, is this mine to get in?" — then only move where He says move.
Closing Prayer
Lord Jesus, Giver of life, we thank You that death is not the final destination for those who believe. Forgive us for the limitations we've put on You — for believing You could have prevented it, but not that You can reverse it. Teach us to walk in the light of what You have actually said, not what people told us. Cover us in the assignments You've given, and keep us out of the ones You haven't. And when the Teacher calls, make us quick to rise. We believe You are the Christ, the Son of God. In Your name, amen.