WEEK THREE – FINAL THOUGHTS
Insights on Jesus Weeps (John 11: 1-37) NIV
(As a reference, this passage is repeated at the end of this section.)
NOTE TO GROUP LEADER: This is the final week on “Insights on Jesus weeps”. It is a time for personal reflection and to share our experiences and how they relate to the passage. Allow the group to consider if this exercise and discussion have provided clarity for our lives and how we live from day to day. Allow the discussion to flow freely so that individuals feel that they have been heard. Try to ensure that everyone had an opportunity to share. Do not insist that a person share but offer him or her the opportunity. The closing reflection and prayer may be read by the Group Leader, or one or two members of the group may be asked to read aloud. (Items needed: Closing Reflection, Closing Song, Discussion Questions):
Follow the order as indicated below:
- Closing Reflection
- Closing song with words
- Discussion Questions
- Closing Song (if group wishes)
Closing Reflection and Prayer:
As we begin the passage, Martha and Mary, Lazarus’ sisters, have sent a message to Jesus, asking him to come immediately because their brother is dying. They are suffering, and fear that without Jesus’ intervention, their brother will surely die. Jesus delayed several days before arriving in Bethany. And, as He had told his disciples, Lazarus would surely die. This is hardly the answer they wanted to hear. But, he assured them that Lazarus would live again and that Lazarus’ death and resurrection would be proof “so that you may believe.” Despite this message, even Jesus, seeing Mary and Martha’s pain at the loss of their brother, was drawn into their suffering and He “wept.”
If we have lost someone, we fully understand the pain that Martha and Mary felt. We too may have knelt before Jesus and asked Him to intervene. How many times have we said, “Lord, if only you had come sooner, He would not have died?” Or, “I would not have suffered so much.” The reality of the present loss is too painful even though we may, in principle, accept and believe in a new tomorrow, full of hope, full of beautiful anticipation — in the “resurrection” of the body on the last day. But, now, at this moment, we just feel the pain of loss, the pain of separation. And, so, we cry… as Jesus did.
As human beings, our pain is manifested in many ways – sometimes with anger, sometimes with distraction, sometimes with withdrawal, sometimes with desperation… sometimes with tears. Our tears may be silent tears that only our soul may feel, or they may be quiet tears streaming down our cheeks, or more intense sobs and wailing.
Jesus showed us that all these emotions have value. As a human being, he felt these emotions and acknowledged them in others. He cries with us as we suffer – even though He knows that suffering is a temporary condition and, if we accept Him as the Resurrection and the Life, we will live fully and joyfully with Him.
Jesus wept.
He wept with Martha and Mary – even though He knew that He would raise Lazarus up from the dead.
He wept tears of blood the night of his passion in the Garden of Gethsemane. In his humanity, He felt fear and he asked God, “My Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by” — all the while knowing that in three days He would rise again in all His Godly splendor. His suffering and death were necessary for Him to be resurrected.
We too weep and experience suffering. They become the precursors of a new day through which we grow in depth, understanding and compassion.
Jesus showed us that without working through our pain and without tears, we could not fully experience and appreciate the new day, a resurrection.
Let us pray:
Dearest Lord,
You know better than anyone the pain and the losses I have had.
Sometimes I questioned what I felt was your decision.
Sometimes I was angry and I rejected you because,
as far as I was concerned.
You could have kept my loved one alive!
I didn’t want to accept that, perhaps,
my loved one needed to move forward on the journey.
I was afraid. I felt a deep sense of loneliness and loss.
I had forgotten that you were there with me —
Weeping with me, consoling me and
telling me that, despite my pain, all would be alright.
Help me to be like Martha who trusted you implicitly,
who believed that even with Lazarus having been dead for four days,
You could do anything. And, in the end, no matter what,
You are “the resurrection and the light…”
And that “Whoever lives by believing in [you] will never die.”
I heard those words. I hear them now.
But, Lord, like Doubting Thomas, I need to see for myself.
Help me to open my heart to your message of hope. Help me trust You.
Give me the joy of anticipation, instead of the fear of emptiness.
Give me the hope of a new life… a perfect life in You.
Amen.
Closing discussion questions:
- What thoughts did you have as you read the final reflection? Can you identify with some of these thoughts and explain why?
- Did the prayer mirror your thoughts at all? If so, how? If not, why not? What would you change, add or delete from the prayer?
- Does the song call out to you? How? What is it telling us?
- Share a moment when you “wept.” Why did you weep? Explain your feelings. How did you feel after you wept? Did the pain subside? How did you handle it?
- What is the overall message of John 11: 1-37 for you?
- Have you ever lost someone who was dear to you? How did you react? What did it mean for you? What/who helped you get through the pain?
- Share your thoughts on death. What does it mean?
- Reflect on the last three weeks of bible study. Share your spiritual and emotional journey. What questions did you have? What concerns did you address? Did you gain any insights or have questions answered?
- Closing Question for “Insights on Jesus Weeps”: Have these three weeks of Bible Study given you any sense of wellness, a sense of hope? If so, how? If not, why not?
Closing Song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8RIZlNYl4ok&list=TLPQMDIwODIwMjKrwcLFNWposw&index=8
Rise Up (Lazarus)
Song by Cain
In the dark and all alone, growing comfortable
Are you too scared to move and walk out of this tomb?
Buried underneath, the lies that you believed
Safe and sound, stuck in the ground
Too lost to be found
You’re just asleep and it’s time to leave
Come on and rise up, take a breath, you’re alive now
Can’t you hear the voice of Jesus calling us
Out from the grave like Lazarus
You’re brand new, the power of death couldn’t hold you
Can’t you hear the voice of Jesus calling us
Out from the grave like Lazarus
Rise up, rise up, rise up
Out from the grave like Lazarus
When He said your name, the thing that filled your veins
Was more than blood, it’s the kind of love that washes sin away
Now the door is open wide and the stones been rolled aside
The old is gone, the Light has come, so
Come on and rise up, take a breath, you’re alive now
Can’t you hear the voice of Jesus calling us
Out from the grave like Lazarus
You’re brand new, the power of death couldn’t hold you
Can’t you hear the voice of Jesus calling us
Out from the grave like Lazarus
Rise up (like Lazarus) rise up, rise up
Out from the grave like Lazarus
NOTE TO GROUP LEADER: At the end of the session, you may want to allow the group to have a few moments for open discussion about the session and what it may have meant for them.
(John 11: 1-37) NIV
The Death of Lazarus
11 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”
9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”
11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus[a]) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
Jesus Comforts the Sisters of Lazarus
17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles[b] from Jerusalem,19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
28 After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” 29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
35 Jesus wept.
36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”