You made it into the word. All right. Hopefully we will sing at the end. Perhaps boldly I approach.
All right, I think one of these need to go. Probably this one, right? Good. Good morning to all of you out there at home, wherever you are.
And I'd like to say happy Mother's Day. Let's pray. We thank you a lot for the privilege to be here today, to sing praises to you, to listen to your word, and to have a limited fellowship in person. But we thank you because this is the day that the Lord has made.
And so we rejoice and we'll be glad in it. I pray that the word spoken this morning will strengthen and comfort hearts. We bring Jesus to our focus so that we'll know that he's in control and that he cares. I pray that he will speak to us where we are at.
I just ask that your spirit will take the word and will touch lives and change lives. Thank you, Lord, for your wonderful words. Thank you, Lord, in Jesus' name, amen. So happy Mother's Day.
And I believe last Mother's Day, I also had to share words, and it was on Zoom. Not particularly sure I liked it. I think that was my first time of having to go on a little phase because Zoom or any of those media things. But I had to adjust.
And here we are, a year after we have to celebrate Mother's Day, share God's word through the cyber world. But I believe God's spirit is not limited by cyber or luck, they're off. He can take God's word and then speak to us. I pray that God will speak to you today as we look through his word.
I am looking at Mary and Mother this morning. I've titled the message to commendable women. I believe around Christmas 2018, or there about Christmas day, Christmas evening, normally on Christmas time, we have a family get together. If you know my family, we are many.
So normally we get together anywhere between 25 to 30 or 40 people sometimes. But it's so happening in 2018 that the power went out on Christmas just as we're about to get together. And my little boy, who was six years old, that time screamed, fatastrophe. So I think he was trying to say fatastrophe.
That was bank. He said fatastrophe. So we are in the era of fatastrophe with COVID. And so we have to respond in a way that brings glory to God.
And I am going to be sharing with you from John chapter 11, a very, very familiar passage. And I want to have two themes as I share from John chapter 11. The first one is centered around the Lord Jesus Christ. And he says that the Lord Jesus Christ is in control.
And also that he cares. And the second one is centered around two women, Mary and Mother, women that exemplified how to respond to Christ. So let's read together. I don't know if you can see what we have there, but I've put the passage together.
And I've titled this section of the passage. For this, we need Jesus. Mary and Mother's request. A man named Lazarus was sick.
He lived in Bethany with his sister, Mary and Mother. This is the Mary who let up for the expensive perfume on Jesus' feet and wiped them with her hair. Our brother Lazarus was sick. So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, Lord, your dear friend is very sick.
But when Jesus heard about it, he said, Lazarus sickness will not end in death. No, it happened for the glory of God. So that the Son of God will receive glory from this. So although Jesus loved Mother, Mary and Lazarus, instead where he was for the next two days, finally he said to his disciples, let's go back to Judea.
But his disciples objected, Rabbi they said, only a few days ago the people in Judea were trying to stone you. Are you going there again? Jesus replied, there are 12 hours of daylight every day. During the day people can walk safely, they can see because they have the light of this world.
But at night there is danger of stumbling because they have no light. Then he said, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep. But now I will go and wake him up. The disciples said, Lord, if he is sleeping, he will soon get better.
They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping, but Jesus meant Lazarus had died. So he told them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And for your sex, I am glad I wasn't there. For now you will really believe, come let's go see him.
Thomas nicknamed the twin, said to his fellow disciples, let's go to and die with Jesus. So for this we need Jesus. My projector is now moving. All right, so we come to a story that involves three siblings, Mary, Mother, and Lazarus.
And they lived together in a village called Bethany, which was about two months from Jerusalem. And Bethany, although it was a very tiny village, it was also a very famous place because of these three siblings. It was the place where Jesus began his triumphant entry into Jerusalem. And it was also the place where he began his journey back to heaven, ascension.
So these three siblings, Mary, Mother, and Lazarus opened their home to Jesus. If you read scripture, you'll notice that in looked at the 10 verse, 38 to 42, Jesus was teaching in that home. And while he was teaching, Mary was listening. While Mother was busy preparing food.
And we also noticed also in John 12, verse 1 to 2, that in that home, Jesus was served food by Mother. So Mother was one of those to do, ladies, she, action lady, practical, took her responsibility seriously, make sure that when Jesus was in the home that he was scared for, I will say she was very, very good with regard to hospitality. And we also noticed in John 12, we read that in that same home, Jesus was anointed by Mary. And so I'd like to suggest to you that these three siblings, the two sisters in particular, make their home to be hospitable.
I would like to say that it was Jesus second home, as far as we can tell. If I'm scripture, we understand that Jesus spent more time in this home than in attending other home, apart from maybe its own home, at least based on scripture. So my first point that I like to make is that the ladies opened their home up for Jesus and then served him. That's a wonderful thing.
But something happened. These siblings experienced a crisis when one of their brothers died, or six, or he not died. He was just sick. Just sick.
So the two sisters, Mary and Mother, did something very, very practical again. They sent for Jesus. So they sent that Jesus should come. So we read the two sisters sent a message to Jesus, telling him, Lord, your dear friend is very sick.
The implied message is that come quickly. Come and act, come and do something. Lazarus is very sick. And so they were expecting that he will respond.
He will act and help them in their desperate need. But Jesus delayed. So we read, so although Jesus loved Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, he stayed where he was for the next two days. I'd like you to notice that Jesus loved Martha.
I'd like you to notice that Jesus loved Mary. I'd like you to notice that Jesus also loved Lazarus. Yet, he stayed for the next two days and didn't respond, so to speak, to the ladies' request. So why did he delay?
Why wait? Why not act? We understand from scripture again that we read. But when Jesus said about it, he said, Lazarus' sickness will not end in death.
No, it happened for the glory of God so that the Son of God will receive glory from this. So he delayed because he understood that this is for God's glory. And then also in talking to his disciples when he wanted to go back, he said, I'm glad that I wasn't there. And for your sex, I'm glad I wasn't there.
For now on, you will really believe. So in order to build faith in the hearts of the disciples and in order to bring glory to God, that's why he delayed. That's strange. Delays, in that manner seems quite strange.
We want the action, we want the result immediately. And yet, it seems to have delayed. But I'd like you again to notice with me that his delay does not mean that he didn't love matter. It doesn't mean that he didn't love Mary.
And it doesn't mean that he didn't love Lazarus. So, but again, when there are delays, right now we are in, I'll call it a COVID lockdown delay, we need to read these circumstances in light of God's love. So when there are delays and processes that we don't understand, we have to take it that the one who is in control has purpose. Sometimes we don't see those purpose or we don't understand it.
And so we have to trust him. And God delays in whatever form it comes. They're usually there and seem like something that goes against human logic, the way we think, the way we like things to happen. And sometimes they can be confusing.
Sometimes they can make us to question God and not know what he's doing. But we need to trust God in the midst of delays and in the midst of confusion, knowing that God sees the big picture and he's in control. And we need to trust God when he gives processes that seems not to make sense. I'll put three examples here, just to remind us that the battle of Jericho, from the human standpoint, when Joshua the ninth before the battle stood up and then looked around, I'm sure he had planned this strategy on how he was going to execute the battle.
And then God showed up and say, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. You are going to walk around the city once, every day for the next six days. And on the seventh day, you are going to walk around the city seven times and then you are going to shout when the trumpet is blown. I am sure that when Joshua listened to this strategy, it made no sense.
It started with a very ridiculous battle plan. And again, he did it on, I remember, in the book of Judges, he had 32,000 men ready to fight the Midianites and God showed up and caught the army to size to 300. And said, all you need to do is to have trumpets and have a touches in a pot of clear and then climb the heels surrounding the place. And when I, the trumpet blows, break the pots and let the light shine and then shout and Vicky will come.
I am pretty sure that everyone in Gideon's army probably thought that this makes no sense. So God's processes don't always make sense and delays don't always make sense. But God sees the bigger picture. So, and I believe God's delays and processes are meant to focus our attention on him and our faith on him and him alone.
Not in our abilities, not in our resources or knowledge, great as those things may be. But the delays and processes are meant to focus our attention on him. So the sisters, the right thing, when they sent for the Lord Jesus Christ, I've called that prayer, said, for this crisis, for this situation that we face, we need Jesus. And so they sent for him to come but he delayed.
And I believe that must have been very frustrating. And Jesus was going to answer their prayer but in a very, very unusual way, a very, very unusual way. Nobody could predict the way he was going to answer their prayer. Not the sisters, not their friends, not even the disciples.
But he told them that he was going to answer it. All right, so the first part of the message is for this we need Jesus. And I have encapsulated that as prayer, telling him about the needs that you have. Mary and Martha did that.
I like to have sisters like Mary and Martha, ones that take me to the Lord Jesus Christ, in terms of needs. So they did that for Lazarus. So after I told the second aspect, for this we have Jesus. So let's read.
When Jesus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in his grave for four days, verse 20. When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if only you have been here, my brother would not have died.
But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask. The Lord Jesus told her, your brother will rise again. Yes, Martha said, he would rise when everyone else rises at the last day. And then Jesus told her, I am the resurrection and the life.
Anyone, notice what anyone who believes in me will leave, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never die. Never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?
Yes, Lord, she told him. I have always believed that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God. So for this we have Jesus, for this crisis. We have Jesus and he has a message.
Martha's conversation. So when Jesus showed up, Martha met him. And when she met him, she called him Lord, even though he had delayed. She expressed her disappointment.
If only you had been here, my brother would not have died. If only you had been here. It was more like Lord, why did he take you so long to come? If only you had been here, my brother would not have died.
And she also made a request. Even now God will give you what you ask. Well, Jesus responded to a request with a promise. Your brother will leave again.
He gave a specific promise. Your brother will leave again. Yes, Martha, quickly responded. Yeah, we know he will.
There's a future expectation on the resurrection at the last day he will leave again. And then Jesus responded with an enduring truth, an equation. He responded to why by saying, I am the resurrection and the life, anyone, anyone who believes in me will leave. Even after dying, everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never die.
That is an enduring truth that is very, very liberating. I am the resurrection and the life, anyone, that will be anyone who believes. It doesn't matter whether the person believed during the time of Martha and Mary. It doesn't matter whether the person believed in the time of the civil war.
It doesn't matter whether the person believed in the time of slavery. It doesn't matter whether the person believes now, anyone who believes in me will leave, even after dying. So in the midst of COVID and all the devastation that has happened, believe us, have hope. Believe us, have hope.
And you also say, everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never die. And then she asks, matter a question. Do you believe this? Matter responded, yes Lord, I have always believed that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.
Now I wanted to notice that matter started by expressing a disappointment, if only you have come. Our eyes was on a circumstance. My brother has died, you didn't show up, very disappointed. And then she kind of people somehow, after looking at the Lord, said, I know that even if you ask God for something, He will give it to you.
And Jesus gave a promise, your brother will leave again. He kind of held on to that promise, but say, yeah, I know it will happen in the future. And so Jesus had to tell him that the resurrection is standing in front of you, the one that holds the key of life and death. And ask her, do you believe?
And she ended by confessing that he is the Messiah, the Son of God. She called him Lord at the beginning. And then she called him, noted that he is the Messiah, the Son of God. I believe this is one of those things that Peter said, whom do you say the Son of Man is?
You are the Christ, the Son of God. So matter is funded by shifting our eyes from a circumstance and fixing our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ in the middle of our grief, in the middle of our disappointment. She fixed our eyes on the Lord Jesus Christ. That's something that we need to do.
That's a good lesson. For this we have Jesus, for this we have Jesus. I also wanted to notice something else in this passage. Jesus transformed the doctrine of the resurrection.
If you are a good student of scripture, you realize that if all we knew about the resurrection was from the Old Testament, sometimes there's an element of confusion. For example, some would read the book of a chlissist that says, when you die, that's it. So it died and be buried. And sometimes people were not sure what it is.
They had a sense that existed, but they didn't know what it meant. So Jesus moved the resurrection out of the shadows, I will say, into the light. By his teaching and also by his miracle. And in some resurrection, it thought that the resurrection of the human body is real.
And death is real. There's absolutely no question about it. Everybody knows this. And also that there is life after death.
And that the human body will want they be raised by the power of God. I want you to notice that because I will live in an age where they think, let's say things like, yeah, once you die, that's the end. No, it's not the end. In fact, the story of Lazarus tells us that the soul and the body and the spirit will come back together, regardless of where or how it happened.
So Jesus moved the resurrection out of the shadows into the light. He did something else. He moved it out of the book into a person himself. He declared in John chapter 11, verse 25, I am the resurrection.
When one is sick, you notice that I put my notes in my slides to make it easy so that I don't have to read. So when one is sick, you don't really need to read medical books. You need a doctor. And also when one is sued, if you are sued, you need a lawyer.
Not books full of law issues. So when one faces the last enemy, which every one of us is bound to face, unless the Lord comes and takes us on. Death. We need a savior, not just a doctor in written in a book.
And so that's why he declared that he is the resurrection and the life. And one more thing. He moved the resurrection out of the future into the present. So, Matta was looking to the future.
Matta said, yes, my brother will rise again when everyone else rises at the last day. And when we read later on, you realize that his friends, so our friends were looking to the past. They said, this man, he or the blind man, couldn't he have kept this man from dying? But Jesus tried to focus the attention to the present.
I am. I am the resurrection. So wherever Jesus is, God's resurrection power is available. In fact, the elections to verse 20 says that, no longer either lives but Christ lives in me.
The life that I now live, I live by the power. Son of God loved me and gave himself for me. So he moved the resurrection out of the future into the present. So there is resurrection power available for all of us, all believers, because we have the one who is the resurrection and the life.
So notice, I have said for this, we have Jesus. That's what, at least he was present there. He was present to let Matta understand that he's in control, that death doesn't have the final say. Now, Jesus also responded to Mary's grief.
Mary was griefed as well. So let's read. When Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she felt at his feet and said, Lord, if only you have been here, my brother would not have died. Notice, when Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger well done with him and he was deeply troubled.
Where have you put him? He asked them. They told him, Lord, come and see. Then Jesus went.
The people who were standing nearby said, see how much he loved him. But some say this man healed a blind man, couldn't he have kept Lazarus from dying. So she responded to Matta Elia, now she's responding to Mary. Notice, when Mary made Jesus during her grief, so ran this appointment, she called him Lord.
I am sure that when we have sorrows, grief, and disappointment, sometimes we attempted not to call him Lord. We attempted to call him everything but Lord. She called him Lord. She also fell at his feet and then expressed that disappointment, if only you had been here.
My brother would not have died. So she made him express her disappointment. She still called him Lord. She was crying, no doubt, and weeping.
And the song would say she was probably emotional. She had the right to be. Her brother had died. And so her grief, crying was very natural, very real.
But I also wanted to notice something about this lady Mary. We have in scripture recorded that she made Jesus three times, at least on three occasions. Might have been more than that, but at least recorded in scriptures. But there's something special about this woman.
On all the occasions that is recorded in these scriptures, she is always at Jesus' feet, always. In Luke chapter 10 verse 39, Mary said that the Lord's feet, listening to what he had to talk, learning at his feet. In this passage, I read John chapter 11 verse 32, when Mary arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said Lord. So in the middle of a sorrow, she was at his feet.
And in John chapter 12 verse three, Mary took a 10 ounce job of expensive perfume made of from a sense of not, and she amounted to Jesus' feet with it, wiping his feet with her hair. In her worship, she was at his feet. There is something special about this woman. She only, in fact, in scriptures, as we read, she only spoke once.
And this is the only time that she spoke. But in all other occasions, she was at Jesus' feet, learning in sorrow and in worship. And we know that what she did in John chapter 12, at least the commentators let us know that it wasn't just a light thing, it was an expensive thing. That you just have to say that this money should have not have been wasted and things like that.
So whenever she encounters Jesus, the thing I want us to know that she was always at his feet, regardless of the circumstance. This is something to learn. A woman of few words, but deep spiritual insight. So she fell at his feet and called him Lord.
Jesus responded to our weeping. He said, where have you put him? It sounds strange, doesn't it? The one that knew that Lazarus was dead, even before he got there.
The one that made the whole heavens and the one that controls all things is asking them way. Not out of ignorance, but because he was human. Where have you put him? And then he wept.
He wasn't weeping because he felt it was a hopeless situation and a helpless situation. He knew what was going to happen. He knew that Lazarus was going to be brought back to life. He was identifying with our sorrows.
He was entering into their suffering, into their pain, into their circumstance. He was showing his care. As we know in Hebrews, we are told that we don't have a high priest that is not touched with the feelings of our infamities. But in all points, he was tempted just as we are yet without Him.
So he feels our pains and he feels our sorrows. He feels our troubles. He feels our anxiety, our concern, concerning COVID. We must never lose sight of that.
That Jesus cares. He feels our struggles and our pain and our circumstances. He cares. That's why we are told in Isaiah, he's a man of sorrows acquainted with grief himself.
So his response was that of compassion and that of caring. And we need to know for this we have Jesus. When we have grief, when we have difficult circumstances, when we have things we can't explain, things we can't handle. In fact, the method that we have life for this to live, we need Him.
So let's continue because I need to finish quickly. And so Jesus went to the grave with them. In verse 29 or 39, he said, roll the stone away. Jesus told them.
But Matthew, the dead man, sister, protested. Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible. Jesus responded.
Didn't I tell you that you will see God's glory if you believe? So they rolled the stone away. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here so that they will believe you sent me.
Then Jesus shouted, Lazarus, come out. And the dead man came out his hands and feet bound in grave clothes. His face wrapped in a head cloth. Jesus told them, unwrap him and let him go.
I don't know if you have thought about this passage. I'm sure you have, but you probably haven't, because sometimes when we read these things, we think they are stories. They're not really stories that happen to people. This way, real people will experience.
When Jesus got to the graveyard and then he said, roll the stone away. I'm sure the people around looked, what is he saying? What is he asking? This is strange.
And the matter was weak to remind him. He called him Lord, she did. But he had been dead for four days. And the smell would be terrible.
The point she was trying to make is that this would be embarrassing. We bury people, at least because we know the decay process so that they don't smell. And you're asking us to roll the way the stone. This is not a great idea.
This is a terrible idea. That's what she was saying. But then Jesus responded, didn't I tell you that you would see God's glory if you believe? I'm sure Martha probably said, we had closure to this.
And you're about to open up this wound. But I'm going to trust you. I'm going to obey you. I'm going to be dependent on you, regardless of the outcome.
I'm not sure what this will do. But I'm just going to obey you. So she might have looked at me and said, the master said, we should. And that's what we are going to do.
I don't believe that would have rolled the stone without consent from Martha and Mary. And so they did. And then when Jesus prayed and spoke, Lazarus came forth. I looked at Mary and Martha and I said, they trusted.
And they obeyed. They lean on him. And all they had to go with was his words. That's the only thing they had, because he had said so.
So they lean on him and they say, we will obey you. Even if this leads to an embarrassing situation, we will obey you, regardless. And the outcome was anything but what everybody expected. Jesus demonstrated his logic by bringing back Lazarus from the grave.
Two sisters, obedient, dependent, dependent on the Lord, and they lived life believing that he was sufficient. The only thing they had to go with was the Word of God. That's what we have, the Word of God. They believe I must take the Word and live life based on the Word.
These are strong sisters, I will say. They demonstrate that Jesus can be trusted and that he won't let us down. The challenge for all of us is that what is your this? You remember my title for this?
You have Jesus. That was why I started it. For this, you need Jesus. For this, you have Jesus.
But the thing is that every one of us has this. Let me put it this way. As long as you are living, you have this. And if you can't find a specific this, life itself becomes this.
Your life becomes this. Like Mary and Martha, we need Jesus for this. It could be another Christian. You need him.
You need to pray to him to become a Christian because your this is that you know, you are dead man or dead woman walking. You need life. So, and if I believe I take your this to the Lord Jesus Christ, I don't know what it is. I'm sure you are aware, you know, the one that that enacts you, you know, night and day, the issue.
Whatever that may be. You need to take it to the Lord Jesus Christ. And also I've also said for your this, you have Jesus. I see for your dead, you need him and then you have him.
He's there. And so we need to get back to the world and listen to what he has to say. We need to believe and confess him as Lord, not once, not twice, but always. In the middle of our struggles, in the middle of our issues, or in the middle of our this, whatever that is, don't forget to remind yourself that Jesus is Lord, that Jesus is the Messiah, that Jesus is the Son of God, that Jesus is the Savior of the world.
Like the rain collective, people would say, I preach the gospel to myself. Don't forget to preach the gospel to yourself, you know, that Jesus is all of this, not just for others, but for you. And that you have the resurrection and the life. And in spite of your this, which might be some suffering, or some adversity, or some delays on fashion, don't forget to worship the Lord.
These two ladies worship the Lord in spite of the at this, which was a final kind of thing. They still worship the Lord, they declared him as Lord. And follow the our footsteps. Trust and obey.
Like the Son writer says, for there is no other way to be happy in Jesus. I believe we can live life that is fulfilling, life that is meaningful, life that is fruitful, life that is joyous in spite of this. For some of us, COVID has tied us in knots. Life has ceased to exist because of COVID, it ought not to be.
For this, you have Jesus, and for this, you need Jesus. If COVID is trying, you will not take it to the Lord, and trust the Lord to, you know, lead you, and guide you and help you to manage this situation. No doubt about it, we can learn from the sisters, that Jesus is the resurrection and the life, and that he says what he means, and he means what he says, and he has the power to act on his words. Let's pray.
And so Lord, we thank you for your word. Our lives as meaning, they preach a lot, so they told us that he had the origin and the destiny of our life and everything in between. Help us Lord, to realize that without you, we can do nothing, without you, we have no life. And help us to be like Mary and Martha, to lean on you always, and to realize that we are never alone, that we have you on our side.
I pray for all the mothers and all the ladies out there, that Lord will bless them and strengthen them and help them. Thank you for their lives, help them to look to you and to trust you going forward. For those that don't know Jesus as Lord, I pray for salvation for them. Thank you Lord, in Jesus name, amen.
Amen, I like us to sing boldly I approach, if you do.