The Four-Day Wait

The Four-Day Wait
N. Keith Shepherd

I. Introduction

II. The Four-Day Funeral

John 11:1-7 (NLT)

John 11:14-15 (NLT)

John 11:20-21 (NLT) ²⁰When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him. But Mary stayed in the house. ²¹Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

Lord, if only you had

John 11:23-24 (NLT) ²³Jesus told her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴“Yes,” Martha said, “he will rise when everyone else rises, at the last day.”

A. A delay is not a . It’s a waiting room for .

John 11:25-26 (NLT) ²⁵Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. ²⁶Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, Martha?”

Exodus 3:13-14 (NLT) ¹³But Moses protested, “If I go to the people of Israel and tell them, ‘The God of your ancestors has sent me to you,’ they will ask me, ‘What is his name?’ Then what should I tell them?” ¹⁴God replied to Moses, “I AM WHO I AM. Say this to the people of Israel: I AM has sent me to you.”

B. Because Jesus is who HE IS—God— will not .

C. Do believe this?

III. The God Who Groans

John 11:27-28 (NLT) ²⁷“Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I have always believed you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who has come into the world from God.” ²⁸Then she returned to Mary. She called Mary aside from the mourners and told her, “The Teacher is here and wants to see you.”

John 11:32 (NLT) When Mary 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 11:33-34 (NLT)

A. Jesus is not angry at our . He is angry at the cause of our .

Ephesians 4:26-27 (NIV) ²⁶“In your anger do not sin”: Do not let the sun go down while you are still angry, ²⁷and do not give the devil a foothold.

John 11:35 (NLT) Then Jesus wept.

B. Jesus doesn’t us for our grief. He it.

IV. The Dress Rehearsal

John 11:38-39 (NLT)

John 11:40-44 (NLT)

“I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Do you believe this, ?”

V. Conclusion