What Jesus Did

[After people told the Pharisees that Jesus had raised Lazarus,] the leading priests and Pharisees called the high council together. "What are we going to do?" they asked each other. "This man certainly performs many miraculous signs. If we allow him to go on like this, soon everyone will believe in him. Then the Roman army will come and destroy both our Temple and our nation."

—John 11:47-48 NLT

Key Thought​

What do you value most in your life? What do you have the greatest...

 

Many of the people who were with ### believed in Jesus when they saw [Lazarus brought back to life]. But some went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

—John 11:45-46 NLT

Key Thought​

Some folks just won't believe. It doesn't matter what they see or what others say; they are determined not to believe in Jesus. How do we explain this kind of thing? People have to will to do God's will if they are going to believe! If they play with sin, they open their hearts for...

 

[After the stone was rolled away from Lazarus' tomb and Jesus thanked the Father for hearing him,] Jesus shouted, "Lazarus, come out!" And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, "Unwrap him and let him go!"

—John 11:43-44 NLT

Key Thought​

I love Jesus' words, "Unwrap him and let him go!" Death cannot bind Lazarus anymore, so don't let his graveclothes bind him either! Think of the power of Jesus'...

 

So they rolled the stone aside [from Lazarus' tomb]. 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."

—John 11:41-42 NLT

Key Thought​

While Jesus hasn't taught his disciples the key principle yet, he is proving it beforehand: The Father hears the Son. There can be no clearer example of this truth than his command in the...

 

Jesus was still angry as he arrived at [###'] tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. "Roll the stone aside," Jesus told them.
But Martha, the dead man's sister, protested, "Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible."

Jesus responded, "Didn't I tell you that you would see God's glory if you believe?"

—John 11:38-40 NLT

Key Thought​

Gritty. The reality of ###' death — the sorrow, disappointment, friendship, finality, grave, and stench — is...

 

The people who were standing nearby [saw Jesus weep and] said, "See how much he loved [###]!" But some said, "This man healed a blind man. Couldn't he have kept ### from dying?"

—John 11:36-37 NLT

Key Thought​

Satan has a way of trying to distort any good thing and corrupt it. We shouldn't be surprised that he would try to distort Jesus' genuine love for ### by casting doubt on why he was so late in coming when he could have helped ###: "He could heal folks, so why didn't he...

 

When Jesus saw [###] weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. "Where have you put [###]?" he asked them.
They told him, "Lord, come and see." Then Jesus wept.

—John 11:33-35 NLT

Key Thought​

I don't know about you, but I am truly blessed by the displays of the Lord's emotions in the Gospels. To know he was tired, hungry, and thirsty is reassuring, but then those are bodily needs. To know that he grew...

 

When the people who were at the house consoling ### saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she was going to ###'s grave to weep. So they followed her there. When ### arrived and saw Jesus, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died."

—John 11:31-32 NLT

Key Thought​

"Where could I go but to the Lord?" These words to an old hymn speak the truth of ###'s heart. Through her confusion and loss, she comes and falls at the feet of...

 

Then [###] returned to [###]. She called [###] aside from the mourners and told her, "The Teacher is here and wants to see you." So [###] immediately went to him. Jesus had stayed outside the village, at the place where [###] met him.

—John 11:28-30 NLT

Key Thought​

I love the faith of this [###] and [###]. Jesus will still be [###]'s Lord even after he is placed in the tomb and all appears to be lost (later in the Gospel of John). [1] And for [###] in our verses today, Jesus...

 

"Yes, Lord," [### told Jesus]. "I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God."

—John 11:27 NLT

Key Thought​

Do you believe? Everything hinges on this faith. Do you believe that Jesus is God's Son, the Messiah, who came to the world from God? This faith is crucial. So say it out loud! Share it with someone else. Someday, every knee will bow and every tongue will confess it. So let's say it now to the praise of Jesus'...