The Raising of Lazarus, Traditions

In one paragraph

The pastor opened John 11 to a single two-word verse, "Jesus wept," and spent the whole message asking what those two words reveal about who Jesus is and what he asks his people to look like. He argued that the humility, humanity, and holiness on display in that moment are not incidental details but a picture of the Christian life. Guests from 180 Ministries in Denver, a discipleship program...

Read together

1. Acts 2:42 cited as support for meeting daily in homes, teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ
2. Acts 5:42 cited alongside Acts 2:42 for daily in every house teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ
3. John 11:1-44 the primary passage of the sermon, the raising of Lazarus
4. John 11:35 the two-word verse Jesus wept, the central focus of the sermon
5. Leviticus 19:2 God commands his people to be holy as the Lord their God is holy
6. Luke 19 Jesus weeps over Jerusalem because the people do not see God's redemptive plan
7. Philippians 2:1-11 read in full to show Christ's humility, humanity and obedience unto death, and his exaltation
8. Romans 12:15 Paul's instruction to rejoice with those who rejoice and weep with those who weep, traced back to Christ's example
9. Hebrews 4:15 we do not have a high priest who cannot sympathize with our weaknesses, tempted as we are yet without sin
10. 1 Peter 5:7 cast all your anxiety upon him because he cares for you
11. Jude 1:23 referenced as snatching souls from the fire, applied to the work of 180 Ministries

Talk about it

1. Daniel from 180 Ministries said that a praying mother was the reason he was standing there that day, and he urged the congregation not to give up on people trapped in addiction. Is there someone in your life you have been tempted to stop praying for, and what would it look like to keep going?
2. The sermon pointed out that Jesus waited two days before going to Lazarus after hearing he was sick. What does that delay tell you about how God's timing relates to our sense of urgency, and how have you experienced that tension personally?
3. Martha said 'even now, I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you,' even after her brother had already been dead four days. What does that kind of faith look like in a situation where, humanly speaking, it seems too late?
4. The sermon drew a contrast between the classical Greek idea that 'the gods ordained the lot of man to suffer while themselves are free from care' and the picture of Jesus weeping alongside Mary and Martha. How does knowing that Jesus wept change the way you relate to Him when you are grieving or suffering?
5. The sermon said that humility, humanity, and holiness are closely entwined in Jesus, and that the church is called to show all three, including sitting with people in their grief rather than rushing them past it. Where do you find that hardest to do, and why?