A Tomb with a View
A TOMB WITH A VIEW
It Is Not Death to Die
Palm Sunday 2025
Texts: John 11:1-57 (11:25-27); 20:30-31
The story before us unfolds about two months prior to Jesus riding through the gates of Jerusalem on a donkey on Palm Sunday, accompanied by a large multitude praising Him as the Son of David and their long-awaited Messiah. However, the week that began in triumph ultimately ended with the Lord of life being taken to the execution hill outside Jerusalem’s city gates, where the Romans crucified Him for the sins of the world!
As we reflect on this stunning story and its implications for our own lives and inevitable deaths, here are four important points that John would emphasize if we aim to look beyond this final miracle or sign and grasp the larger message Jesus conveys through it.
First, the raising of Lazarus is the final of seven miraculous signs performed by Jesus to reveal His true identity (who He is), His true nature (what He is like), and His true mission (what He came to do). He performs these signs so that His followers will believe that He is the Christ, the Son of God, so that by believing, they may have life in His name (John 20:30-31).
Second, this narrative includes one of the most significant of the seven “I Am” statements Jesus made about Himself in John. While standing with Martha before her brother Lazarus’s tomb, Jesus made this astonishing claim: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he dies, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die!”
Third, this miracle was the catalyst for the events that ultimately led to the murder of Jesus at the end of the following week, as well as the resurrection that occurred three days later.
Finally, this miracle demands a deeply personal and profound response from each of us. Our reaction will have life-or-death consequences. How we respond to what Christ asks of us at Lazarus’ tomb will determine our fate when we are eventually laid to rest in our own tomb.
I) The ___________ of This Miraculous Sign (11:1-4; 11-15)
- John helps us understand that God always has greater purposes behind every circumstance, trial, or affliction we encounter in life. As we have noted many times before, “We only see one or two of the 10,000 things God is doing at any moment in our lives.”
- This is certainly true here: behind Lazarus’ grave illness and tragic death, God had at least three significant purposes.
A) Purpose 1: To ___________ the ___________ of God (11:40)
“Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
B) Purpose 2: To ___________ the Son of God (11:4)
“This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
C) Purpose 3: To Bring About True ___________ in the People of God (11:15)
and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe.
- His disciples needed to ___________ their belief – 11:15.
and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe.
- Mary and Marthy needed to ___________ their belief – 11:27.
She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
- The Jews had to ___________ if they would believe – 11:42.
I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”
- The Pharisees and Sadducees were ___________ in unbelief – 11:46-48.
but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 So the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.”
So, these are the three main purposes behind our story: the stunning display of God’s glory at Lazarus’ tomb, the shocking revelation of Jesus’ glory at the cross, and the fostering of true belief in those who witnessed this sign. But how will Jesus achieve these three significant objectives?
II) The ___________ Behind This Miraculous Sign (11:5-16)
- The central message of this story is that God, who embodies life and both gives and sustains it, shares this life with His Son. Through His death and resurrection, God has bestowed upon Jesus two things: (a) the authority and power to grant eternal life to anyone who believes in Him, and (b) the ability to raise them from their graves to live eternally with Him. But the condition God demands from those who want this kind of life that overcomes death is belief.
- The way Jesus intends to cultivate the kind of belief that God demands in the hearts of His followers is by publicly confronting the power of death and demonstrating His authority over it by resurrecting someone captured by this enemy. And Jesus did this by:
- Demonstrating Love by ___________ ___________ (11:1-16)
- Consoling Devasting Loss and Grief by ___________ ___________ to Himself (11:17-27)
- Confronting Death with Deep ________ and Holy ___________ (11:28-37)
- Overcoming Death by Sovereign _________ and ___________ (11:38-44)
III) The ___________ ___________ to This Miraculous Sign (11:25-27)
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”
- Jesus is claiming more than mere authority to grant eternal life and resurrect dead people back to life.
- He is life, and therefore, death cannot stand in His presence or conquer those who belong to Him and who remain in Him.
- The way He will overcome death and grant this kind of life to those who hear His voice and follow Him is through His own death!
- But there is a condition to receiving this glorious life – wholehearted, unreserved belief. This is precisely what Jesus demanded of Mary – “Do you believe this?” (v. 26). To which she replied, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the World” (v. 27).
IV) The ___________ ___________ to This Miraculous Sign
- From Misunderstanding to ___________ – The Disciples (v 16)
Let us also go that we may die with him!
- From Orthodoxy to ___________ ___________ – Mary and Martha (vv. 25-26)
Yes Lord, I believe you are the Christ, the Son of God who is coming into the world
- From Questioning to ___________ – The Crowds Who Were Watching (vv. 36-37, 45)
11:45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he did, believed in him.
- From Orthodoxy to ___________ and ___________ – Pharisees and Sadducees (vv. 45-57)
“What are we to do? For this man performs many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation!” (vv. 47-48). . . “It is better for you that one man should die for the nation, not that the whole nation should perish (v. 50)! So from that day on, they made plans (schemes) to put him to death” (v. 53)!
Conclusion: The Personal Implications of This Miraculous Sign
What about you? Will you believe? This miracle begins at the tomb of Lazarus, climaxes at the tomb of Jesus, and culminates at your tomb and mine! What will happen on that day – will Jesus call us up out of our tombs to everlasting life and glory or to eternal death and damnation?
- Trust Jesus _______ life!
- Trust Jesus _______ life!
- Trust Jesus _______ _______ life!
If you believe this way, it is not death to die!