Bible Study - GOD'S Will (6) - GOD'S Will and the Glory of GOD - John 11:1-4, 38-45 - November 17, 2019

Bible Study – GOD’S Will (6) – GOD’S Will and the Glory of GOD – November 17, 2019


This is our lesson sixth and final lesson in this series entitled “How to Know GOD’S Will.”


Our focus scripture is John 11:1-4, 38-45.


We bring glory to GOD when we obey HIS will.


Yes, Christians bring glory to GOD as they interact with life every day of their lives:


Accept – GOD works on HIS timetable and not on ours.

Seek – Spend time seeking GOD’S agenda for you.

Obey – Obey/put into action what you know GOD desires for you to do.

Trust – Trust the outcome to GOD and wait upon HIM.


When we trust and obey, we wait in great anticipation. It is exciting to see how GOD brings it all about. When it all comes together, we can see with our physical eyes and/or minds the magnificence of GOD, which is HIS GLORY! Let’s explore!


Let’s read John 11:1-4:

Lazarus Dies at Bethany

11 Now a man was sick, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ² Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair, and it was her brother Lazarus who was sick. ³ So the sisters sent a message to him: “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

Mary, Martha and Lazarus were close friends of JESUS. Lazarus was ill, so they sent for JESUS to come with hopes that JESUS would heal him.

⁴ When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness will not end in death but is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

JESUS knew that HIS friend Lazarus would die physically so that GOD would be Glorified and it would establish JESUS as the promised Messiah for those who witnessed this miracle.

 ⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus.

Before we know the rest of the event, one might think, “Gee, is delaying the proper way to respond to the needs of a friend you love?” Let’s read verse 6 ---

 ⁶ So when he heard that he was sick, he stayed two more days in the place where he was.

Why did JESUS delay for “two more days?” Was it a teaching moment for JESUS’ disciples? Was it for the crowd that was gathering at the home of Mary, Martha and Lazarus?

Waiting is often very difficult but when you know that GOD is in charge and rules your life, you wait with great anticipation in what GOD is going to do.

⁷ Then after that, he said to the disciples, “Let’s go to Judea again.”

JESUS had left the area because HIS time had not come. GOD’S timing for all things is perfect.

⁸ “Rabbi,” the disciples told him, “just now the Jews tried to stone you, and you’re going there again?”

⁹ “Aren’t there twelve hours in a day?” Jesus answered. “If anyone walks during the day, he doesn’t stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰ But if anyone walks during the night, he does stumble, because the light is not in him.”

JESUS did not respond to the dictates of man but to the leadership and guidance of GOD, HIS Father. JESUS knew that HIS appointed time was very close and what GOD was going to demonstrate to those gathered because Lazarus died would Glorify GOD and establish JESUS as the promised Messiah. This was also a teaching time for HIS disciples as JESUS stated in our next verses ----

¹¹ He said this, and then he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I’m on my way to wake him up.”

¹² Then the disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.”

¹³ Jesus, however, was speaking about his death, but they thought he was speaking about natural sleep. ¹⁴ So Jesus then told them plainly, “Lazarus has died. ¹⁵ I’m glad for you that I wasn’t there so that you may believe. But let’s go to him.”

¹⁶ Then Thomas (called “Twin”^[a]) said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go too so that we may die with him.”

The Resurrection and the Life

¹⁷ When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was near Jerusalem (less than two miles^[b] away). ¹⁹ Many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother.

Do you see GOD’S plan at work? Many Jews had come to comfort Mary and Martha. Little did they know that they were the ones who would witness GOD’S hand and mighty power at work and see that it came through JESUS.

We get to see another teaching moment for JESUS’ friends, Mary, Martha, JESUS’ disciples and many others.

²⁰ As soon as Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, but Mary remained seated in the house. ²¹ Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died. ²² Yet even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”

²³ “Your brother will rise again,” Jesus told her.

²⁴ Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

Martha knew the teachings of the scripture and JESUS. She sat at the feet of JESUS and listened to HIM teach. JESUS put a magnificent addition to what Martha already knew. JESUS was preparing her for what was about to take place -----

²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me, even if he dies, will live. ²⁶ Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷ “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who comes into the world.”

YES! Martha made her profession of faith in JESUS as the promised Messiah.

Jesus Shares the Sorrow of Death

²⁸ Having said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.”

JESUS is calling for you to accept HIM as your savior or to rededicate your life to HIM and to serve HIM. The choice is yours to make. When you do JESUS joins you in the most secret place in your life, your heart.

²⁹ As soon as Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Jesus had not yet come into the village but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ The Jews who were with her in the house consoling her saw that Mary got up quickly and went out. They followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to cry there.

³² As soon as Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and told him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died!”

³³ When Jesus saw her crying, and the Jews who had come with her crying, he was deeply moved^[c] in his spirit and troubled. ³⁴ “Where have you put him?” he asked.

“Lord,” they told him, “come and see.”

³⁵ Jesus wept.

Why did JESUS weep? The next verse gives us a clue ----

³⁶ So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Couldn’t he who opened the blind man’s eyes also have kept this man from dying?”

Those who gathered had a knowledge of JESUS but the question was, what knowledge? They saw HIM as a miracle worker but not as the promised Messiah. Did Jesus being friends with Mary, Martha and Lazarus mean to those gathered that JESUS should have rushed to them to meet their expectations? Do we think when we face issues in our lives that JESUS should come instantly to meet our needs? YES! And when HE doesn’t, we often complain. Should we pause and ask JESUS, what are YOU trying to teach us? 

Let’s read John 11:38-44:

The Seventh Sign: Raising Lazarus from the Dead.

What are the first six signs revealing JESUS as the promised Messiah.

The Book of John reveals seven signs or miracles that point to JESUS as the promised Messiah:

John 2:1-11 – JESUS turned water into wine. (1^{st sign})

John 4:46=54 – JESUS healed royal official’s son. (2^{nd sign})

John 5:1-15 – JESUS healed a man who had been disabled for 38 years. (3^{rd sign})

John 6:5-14 – JESUS fed a crowd of five thousand. (4^{th sign})

John 6:16-21 – JESUS walked on water. (5^{th sign})

John 9:1-7 – JESUS healed the man who had been born blind. (6^{th sign})

John 11:1-45 – JESUS raised Lazarus from the dead. (7^{th sign})

These are seven signs leading up to the greatest sign of all; GOD raised JESUS from the physically dead to show the world that JESUS is the Promised Messiah. Have you placed your faith in JESUS? If not why not? By doing so, JESUS forgives you for all your sins, past, present and future, gives you eternal life, you instantly receive the miracle of Spiritual rebirth into the family of GOD and you become a citizen of Heaven. What do you have to do? Ask JESUS to forgive you for your sins and for HIM to come into your heart believing that HE gave HIS sinless life for you to pay, in full, for your sins. When you take this step of faith, thank JESUS for your salvation and the confirmation of your salvation by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in your life never to leave you.

Let’s read John 11:38-44:

³⁸ Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. ³⁹ “Remove the stone,” Jesus said.

Martha, the dead man’s sister, told him, “Lord, there is already a stench because he has been dead four days.”

In that day, it was common belief that when a person died their spirit hung around or hovered for 3 days but by the fourth day the person was sure to be dead. Thus, JESUS delayed to reveal GOD’S Glory and confirm that HE was the promised Messiah by waiting.

⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?”

⁴¹ So they removed the stone. Then Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you heard me. ⁴² I know that you always hear me, but because of the crowd standing here I said this, so that they may believe you sent me.” ⁴³ After he said this, he shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴ The dead man came out bound hand and foot with linen strips and with his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unwrap him and let him go.”

Often, when the Holy Spirit commands us to act, we may think it is too late or it will smell bad. But when GOD commands, take a step of faith and leave the results to HIM.

Are there some stones in your life that need to be rolled away but you are afraid of the stench? If GOD leads you to roll away that stone or stones, do it. The unrolled stones are barriers to experiencing the power of GOD and JESUS and prevents us from seeing the Glory of GOD at work.

Many were ecstatic and placed their faith in JESUS as the promised Messiah but some were not. The religious leaders were not happy because they knew that this miracle would confirm to the Jewish people that JESUS is the Messiah. The religious leader’s religious authority would be challenged. They had a problem and they had to deal with it, quickly!

Let’s read John 11:45-57:

The Plot to Kill Jesus

⁴⁵ Therefore, many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what he (JESUS) did believed in him. ⁴⁶ But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

⁴⁷ So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and were saying, “What are we going to do since this man is doing 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.”

⁴⁹ One of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all! ⁵⁰ You’re not considering that it is to your^[d] advantage that one man should die for the people rather than the whole nation perish.” ⁵¹ He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, ⁵² and not for the nation only, but also to unite the scattered children of God. ⁵³ So from that day on they plotted to kill him.

⁵⁴ Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews but departed from there to the countryside near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and he stayed there with the disciples.

⁵⁵ Now the Jewish Passover was near, and many went up to Jerusalem from the country to purify themselves before the Passover. ⁵⁶ They were looking for Jesus and asking one another as they stood in the temple: “What do you think? He won’t come to the festival, will he?” ⁵⁷ The chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should report it so that they could arrest him.

Do you recall 1 Corinthians 2:8 - ⁸ None of the rulers of this age knew this wisdom, because if they had known it, they would not have crucified the Lord of glory.

Little did the religious leaders know that crucifying JESUS was according to GOD’S plan. They thought they were solving their problem but they were carrying our GOD’S plan and purpose.

Scripture reveals to us in Isaiah 55:8 - “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, and your ways are not my ways.”

GOD’S timing is always perfect and HE works in HIS own way and in HIS own time so that HE gets all the Glory and accomplishes HIS will, plan and purpose.

Trust and obey for there are no other ways to be happy in JESUS.

Allow the indwelling Holy Spirit to lead and direct your life according to GOD’S will, plan and purpose for you and your life.

GOD will never ask us to go against HIS character or HIS Word. GOD’S desire is to develop our faith as HE leads us to experiencing HIS power and Glory. As we walk with HIM, HE is building our faith and trust in HIM. Look back at verse 42. JESUS knew that HIS Father always heard HIM. GOD desires for all of HIS children to have such faith in HIM, that when we ask, we trust HIS response because of our faith in HIM.

Blessings!!!