Walk In The Day To See The Light

3-22-26

Hoonah-Hadley

John 11:1-44

Call to Worship Psalm 130

Daily Verse John 11:9

Walk In The Day To See The Light

“Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, they do not stumble, because they see the light of this world.’” Herein the last and greatest of Jesus public miracles as recorded in the gospel of John. Several introductory observations: This, His final demonstration if you will of His mastery of human problems. If we might, convincing proof of who He claimed to be. The progress of belief in the human consciousness and its varying degrees. What the miraculous healing power of God does to all present. How “The Light” exposes darkness. And, whatever else God may wish to reveal to us through His living and active word. The context of these verses took place during the last winter of Jesus life, following His withdrawal into Perea (10:40) and prior to the His last Passover, (12:1) His anointing at Bethany, the Triumphal entry and more, much, much more. It is nearly impossible to preach from anywhere in the bible and not be confronted with division, contrast, light and darkness, belief and unbelief. One of the major observations in this discourse is all the different characters involved and their many different responses to having the Son of God in their midst, going about His Father’s business. It is helpful for us regardless of where the teaching comes from to place ourselves in the story and ask the question, which of these characters most describes my response to the gospel message, to the presence of the Son of God in my life? We have “a certain sick man, Lazarus of Bethany”, we have Mary and her sister Martha, the disciples, and “many of the Jews had joined…”

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We have in this story what is known as an allegory. An allegory is a literary or pictorial device in which each character, object or event symbolically illustrates an idea, moral, or religious principle. 11:1 “Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.” This is not the Lazarus in Luke 16:20, the parable with the rich man. This Lazarus is named only in the Gospel of John and is identified by his association with Mary and Martha, an indicator that he was not well known, but they were. We have a “certain sick man”. This in itself is nothing unusual about life, sickness and death are the common heritage of humanity. The importance of this particular situation and its corresponding reactions is what Jesus does with it, what He teaches us through it. Vs. 2 “It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.” Herein one of the major lessons within the lesson. Those who tend to, and lend to the ministry of our Lord will not only find favor in His eyes, but even those attached to them may be the recipients of His miraculous healing powers. In Matthew 26:6-13 Mary’s story is told. “And when Jesus was in Bethany…a woman came to Him having an alabaster flask of very costly fragrant oil, and she poured it on His head…For she has done a good work for Me…Assuredly, I say to you, wherever this gospel is preached in the whole world, what this woman has done will also be told as a memorial to her.” This no small thing. The value of this oil was equivalent to about a year’s wages for the common laborer. It was imported from the Himalayan region and was considered a luxury item due to its rarity and high quality. She did this to prepare Christ’s body for burial. (vs. 12) What gifts do we possess that we might pour out on the ministry of our risen Savior? “When His disciples saw it, they were indignant.”

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In its simplicity here in Matthew, there are servants of Christ that give their all, and there are disciples of Christ that are indignant to those servants. Which one are you? Vs. 10 “But when Jesus was aware of it, He said to them, ‘Why do you trouble the woman? For she has done a good work for Me.’” We know that Judas was behind this indignation, to say that he was a “troubler” is a massive understatement, in truth, it was his appointment. For those of you that are fault finders to our Lords servants, consider the title “Troubler”, get on your knees and beg for God’s mercy. Remember, Jesus Christ describes our character throughout scriptures with allegories, objects, symbols and events. Is our life a fragrant offering to our Lord, or are we indignant disciples, our lives given to division? John 11:4 “When 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.’” Say what? Jesus is Jesus, He’s in the world but not of it. His response to death, or blindness, or poverty or any other human condition is not what we expect. His response is supernatural. For Christ, this is another opportunity for the manifestation of divine power, another appointment to exhibit not only His complete mastery over death, but also the situation at hand. Observation, Jesus is never frantic or anxious about anything. Remember the boat being tossed about, the disciples fearful that they would perish, what’s Jesus doing during that storm? Taking a nap. Bad news doesn’t alarm Him. Sad news doesn’t paralyze Him. He is steady, calm, confident. Are we not to be Christ like? Could we use a little more of Jesus in our characters when bad news is on the doorstep? It’s not the roar of the storm, the clamor of the crowd, indignant disciples or fault-finding Pharisees, but the gentle whisper, “Be still and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10) Our goal, Christ likeness, confident.

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Vs. 5 “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.” Martha was bold, Mary pessimistic, Lazarus sick, which one are you? Good news, Jesus loved each one. Vs. 6-8 “So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days…Then after this He said…’Let us go to Judea again.’ The disciples said to Him, ‘Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?’” Jesus reply confirms that duty, not safety, obedience not fear was His first obligation. The disciples question Him here. Just because we don’t understand Him or what He says or does doesn’t make sense, doesn’t mean He is mistaken, He is not. So it is with our lives, we know the instructions come from Him because of their quiet persistence. When we begin to weigh the pros and cons, doubt, debate, fear enter into our minds, none of it is from God. We walk by faith, not by sight. (2 Cor. 5:7) Faith is not intellectual understanding, it is obedience even when I can’t see the way ahead. Whatever He says to do, do it. (John 2:5) Vs. 9 “Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, they do not stumble because they see the light of the world.’’” Herein the allegory, if you “walk”, if you live your life “in the day”, according to God’s word, you will “not stumble”, you will not trip over everything, find fault, make excuses, mismanage your time, money and gifts, among other things, “because they see the light of the world”, because you will have eyes that see Jesus, the way, the truth and the life. (John 14:6) But if you have eyes and do not see (Ps. 115:5-7) and you walk in the night vs. 11, you’ll stumble, “because the light is not in you.” If you walk according to God’s economy, His word, the truth, the light, the way, if you abide in Him, He in you, if you seek Him with all your heart, mind and soul, life will not trip you up, not even death will have dominion over you. For Christ conquered death. Do you see the light? Amen!