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- 0:00 – Introduction to today’s Bible study and recap of the first three parts of this series
- 4:00 – A look at the responses to Lazarus’s resurrection
- 8:00 – Mary’s response of gratitude
- 10:21 – The Pharisees’ response of rejection
- 14:49 – Jesus’s resurrection invites our responses
- 16:36 – An invitation to receive Jesus
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A Close Look At The Responses to Lazarus’s Resurrection
Before we jump into the scripture and discussion, let’s set the stage:
Lazarus had been dead for 4 days – and Jesus brought him back to life. The truth of the resurrection of Lazarus was a fact.
Whether or not they believed that Lazarus had been raised from the dead didn’t change the fact that Lazarus had been raised from the dead because was now standing there talking to them.
But his resurrection gave them an opportunity to make a decision – it gave them an invitation to respond.
My belief in a set of facts doesn’t change whether or not the facts are true. My belief in whether or not the facts are true changes ME.
So when Lazarus was raised from the dead by Jesus – here are the 2 responses – and each person made their own decision – he or she either believed in Jesus or they rejected Him.
The first way they responded was by believing in Jesus – and we see Mary filled with gratitude!
Let’s look at John 11:45; John 12:1-11.
- The people from Jerusalem who were with Mary, believed in Jesus.
- Martha later gives a dinner in Jesus honor and she serves Jesus and the guests.
- Mary takes expensive perfume and pours it on Jesus’ feet and wipes his feet with her hair. It was a YEAR’s worth of wages! (A denarius is what someone would make in working 1 day – so 300 would be equivalent to a year’s wages.)
- The entire house was filled with this aroma/fragrance of the perfume.
- Beautiful picture of response to what Jesus has done for them.
The second way people responded was to reject Jesus.
- Some of the ones with Mary went to the Pharisees.
- Chief Priests & Pharisees gathered the council together and even said “This man performs many signs”. But instead of believing, they were so concerned about losing their own power that they decided to try to kill Jesus.
- Judas’s response was a stark contrast to Mary’s. He was witness to these miracles – to the resurrection of Lazarus, to blind eyes being opened, deaf ears being able to hear, people who couldn’t walk being able to take a step… Judas had seen it all but instead of responding by believing, trusting, and being filled with gratitude, he acts like he cares about the poor and ends up betraying Jesus.
Each person had an individual choice to make then and each person is invited to make an individual choice now.
If you’ve never received Jesus as your Savior and you want to accept His gift of eternal life, just talk to God and say something like this:
“God, I believe I’m a sinner. I believe I deserve to be separated from you forever. But I believe that Jesus died on the cross to pay for my sin.
I believe He rose from the dead. And I’m putting my faith and trust in Jesus and in what He did to save me.
Give me new life in Jesus. Amen.”
Scripture From This Episode
Main Scripture Passage From This Episode:
John 11:45-John 12:11
45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what he 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 gathered the council and said, “What are we to do? For this man performs 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 But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, “You know nothing at all. 50 Nor do you understand that it is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.” 51 He did not say this of his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, 52 and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who are scattered abroad. 53 So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.
54 Jesus therefore no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there to the region near the wilderness, to a town called Ephraim, and there he stayed with the disciples.
55 Now the Passover of the Jews was at hand, and many went up from the country to Jerusalem before the Passover to purify themselves. 56 They were looking for[f] Jesus and saying to one another as they stood in the temple, “What do you think? That he will not come to the feast at all?” 57 Now the chief priests and the Pharisees had given orders that if anyone knew where he was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest him.
Chapter 12 Six days before the Passover, Jesus therefore came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. 2 So they gave a dinner for him there. Martha served, and Lazarus was one of those reclining with him at table. 3 Mary therefore took a pound[a] of expensive ointment made from pure nard, and anointed the feet of Jesus and wiped his feet with her hair. The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume. 4 But Judas Iscariot, one of his disciples (he who was about to betray him), said, 5 “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii[b] and given to the poor?” 6 He said this, not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief, and having charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it. 7 Jesus said, “Leave her alone, so that she may keep it[c] for the day of my burial. 8 For the poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
The Plot to Kill Lazarus
9 When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus[d] was there, they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. 10 So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, 11 because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus.
Other Scriptures Mentioned In this Episode:
Romans 5:8 but God shows his love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.
Romans 6:23 For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
John 3:16 “For God so loved the world,[i] that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life.
The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Text Edition: 2016. Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers.
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Watch Full Episode:
![Responding to the Resurrection - Lessons from Lazarus (Part 4/4) [Friday Devotionals with Terra] - Episode 456](https://rachelngom.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Lessons-from-Lazarus-4-pin-683x1024.png)
![Responding to the Resurrection - Lessons from Lazarus (Part 4/4) [Friday Devotionals with Terra] - Episode 456](https://rachelngom.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/03/Lessons-from-Lazarus-4-pin.png)
