Teaching Summary: Jesus Raises the Dead

Teaching Text: John 11:38–46

How do we keep believing when it feels like God has let us down?

John’s seventh sign is a story about love, delay, grief and the decision to trust.

When Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. This was not a stranger. Lazarus, Mary, and Martha were dear friends. They had hosted Jesus in their home. They loved him, and he loved them. When Lazarus became sick, the sisters sent word: “Lord, the one you love is sick.” Yet Jesus delayed.

By the time he came, hope seemed sealed behind a stone.

Martha met him first. Through tears and faith she said, “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Jesus answered her with words that reframed everything: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even though they die.”

Mary came weeping. The mourners wept. And when Jesus saw their grief, he wept too.

Jesus is not distant from human sorrow. He stands beside the grieving, tears in his eyes, deeply moved.

The Psalms tell us, “The LORD is close to the brokenhearted.” In Bethany we see that compassion embodied. Jesus does not merely witness our pain; he enters it.

When you find yourself in a painful place, how do you picture Jesus? Distracted? Indifferent? Absent?

Or standing beside you, full of compassion, deeply moved?

Jesus approached the tomb and said, “Take away the stone.”

Martha protested. The concern was real: the body had been there four days. Grief clouded hope. The request seemed inappropriate, even unbearable.

Jesus did not rebuke her. He helped her.

“Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

In John’s Gospel, belief is not a box to check. It is not mere agreement. Belief is relational trust that grows through encounter with Jesus.

So they took away the stone.

Jesus prayed aloud, not because the Father needed persuasion, but so the people would see and believe. Then he cried out in a loud voice:

“Lazarus, come out!”

And the dead man came out.

Do not rush past this moment. This is not ordinary. It is breathtaking. Terrifying. Dead people do not come back to life. Yet Lazarus emerged, still wrapped in burial cloths, and Jesus said, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

What do you do with that?

Here is where we struggle. We want understanding before trust. We want explanations before surrender. We demand to know why before we can move forward.

Understanding has value, but it is not the doorway to healing.

Many who witnessed this miracle believed in Jesus. Others reported him to the authorities. No one understood what they had seen but everyone responded.

Trust is a choice.

Mary and Martha had every reason to question Jesus. He delayed. He did not prevent their loss. He asked them to remove the stone. None of it made sense.

And yet Jesus asked: Do you trust me?

What have we learned?

God’s love does not always provide immediate relief.

Jesus walks toward suffering, not away from it.

Resurrection is not merely an event, it is a person.

Jesus enters our sorrow with compassion.

Trust matters more than understanding.

Jesus brings dead things to life.

So how might we respond?

Personally: Where does hope feel sealed behind a stone in your life? Name it this week and invite Jesus to be near.

Communally: Jesus told them to unbind Lazarus. Who can you show up for this week? Whose burdens can you help loosen? Speak words of life. Meet someone. Listen well.

Spiritually: This week, practice noticing Jesus with you in ordinary moments.

When anxiety rises, when grief surfaces, when you feel overwhelmed, pause and pray:

“Jesus, be with me here.”

Not a long prayer. Just awareness.

Because trust grows when we discover we are not alone.

This sign is not only about what Jesus did then. It reveals who he is now.

He stands with us in grief.

He calls life from death.

He invites us to trust him, even when we do not understand.