More from Tim Keller's chapter on John 11 from his book, Encounters With Jesus:
(Find Part 1 here)
Verse 38 "Jesus, once more deeply moved came to the tomb."
I get frustrated with virtually every English translation of this verse. [It] contains a Greek word that means to "bellow with anger".... Jesus is absolutely furious. He's bellowing with rage- he is roaring. Who or what is he angry at?
Jesus is raging against death. Jesus is looking squarely at our greatest nightmare- the loss of life, the loss of loved ones and of love- and he's incensed. He's mad at evil and suffering, and even though he's God, he's not mad at himself. What does that mean?
First, it means that evil and death are the result of sin and not of God's original design. He did not make a world filled with sickness, suffering and death. But you might ask, if God is that unhappy with the world as it is, why doesn't he just show up and stop it? Why doesn't he just appear on earth and end all evil? But that question reveals a lack of self-knowledge. The Bible says- and we know deep down- that so much that is wrong with the world is wrong because of the human heart. So much of the misery of life here is due to selfishness, pride, cruelty, anger, oppression, war and violence. Which means that if Jesus Christ had come to earth with the sword of God's wrath against evil, none of us would have been left to tell about it. We all have evil and self-centredness deep inside us.
However, Jesus did not come with a sword in his hands; he came with nails in his hands. He did not come to bring judgment, he came to bear judgment.
Jesus knew that if he raised Lazarus from the dead, the religious establishment would try to kill him. [v53 "So from that day on they plotted to take his life."] And so he knew the only way to bring Lazarus out of the grave was to put himself into the grave...If he was going to save us from death, he was going to have to have to go to the cross, and bear the judgment we deserve...Yet knowing and experiencing all that, he cried, "Lazarus, come out."
The witnesses said about Jesus, "See how he loved Lazarus"; but really we must behold how he loves us. He became human, mortal, vulnerable, killable- all out of love for us.
(Find Part 1 here)
Verse 38 "Jesus, once more deeply moved came to the tomb."
I get frustrated with virtually every English translation of this verse. [It] contains a Greek word that means to "bellow with anger".... Jesus is absolutely furious. He's bellowing with rage- he is roaring. Who or what is he angry at?
Jesus is raging against death. Jesus is looking squarely at our greatest nightmare- the loss of life, the loss of loved ones and of love- and he's incensed. He's mad at evil and suffering, and even though he's God, he's not mad at himself. What does that mean?
First, it means that evil and death are the result of sin and not of God's original design. He did not make a world filled with sickness, suffering and death. But you might ask, if God is that unhappy with the world as it is, why doesn't he just show up and stop it? Why doesn't he just appear on earth and end all evil? But that question reveals a lack of self-knowledge. The Bible says- and we know deep down- that so much that is wrong with the world is wrong because of the human heart. So much of the misery of life here is due to selfishness, pride, cruelty, anger, oppression, war and violence. Which means that if Jesus Christ had come to earth with the sword of God's wrath against evil, none of us would have been left to tell about it. We all have evil and self-centredness deep inside us.
However, Jesus did not come with a sword in his hands; he came with nails in his hands. He did not come to bring judgment, he came to bear judgment.
Jesus knew that if he raised Lazarus from the dead, the religious establishment would try to kill him. [v53 "So from that day on they plotted to take his life."] And so he knew the only way to bring Lazarus out of the grave was to put himself into the grave...If he was going to save us from death, he was going to have to have to go to the cross, and bear the judgment we deserve...Yet knowing and experiencing all that, he cried, "Lazarus, come out."
The witnesses said about Jesus, "See how he loved Lazarus"; but really we must behold how he loves us. He became human, mortal, vulnerable, killable- all out of love for us.
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