Iconic Jesus | Part 6

But the the truth is today, we're gonna look at the story that of a of a man that what happens to him is he could reapply. His circumstance changed.

We're gonna be in John chapter 11 as we close-up this series called iconic Jesus, where we've been looking at this section through the book of John where Jesus is just really trying to land who he is. He keeps making these I am statements. There's seven of them in this book. We're looking at this final one here. And and every time he says I am we've already talked about the first week. I am is a declaration that he is God. But then he puts a descriptor on the end. So he wants them to know, hey. I am the God that's like am God, and he's kinda trying to describe him himself as the true messiah. And what everything he's describing is straight out of the Old Testament, straight out of this because he knew the people he was coming to had had kinda changed their idea of what a messiah was. So if he just showed up and said, I'm the savior. I'm the messiah. And then he didn't do what they expected, they would reject that. Instead, he was resetting. He goes, this is who I am. I am. I am. Today is the final one, and this is kind of the straw that breaks the that is the camel's back? Is that how it goes? I started to say a phrase, and I didn't remember how it ended. But he's a it's this this moment in in this time as Jesus is already having a lot of opposition now. Because every time he makes one of these I am statements, he gets more and more bold. And and like I said a few weeks ago, when when Jesus is revealed in our life, when God comes into our life and he reveals himself for who he is, we have two choices.

We either surrender or we will attack. There's no in between. And what he does in the story we're looking at today is this final, most powerful I am statement he makes, and it definitely makes you make a decision. And after this point,

a bunch of the religious leaders and those who just will not accept him for who he is start to plot to kill him. In other words, Jesus is doing something in this moment to guarantee that he's going to the cross, but he's also giving a foreshadowing of what he's gonna do at the cross.

So that's where we're at in John chapter 11. And as I go through this, here's kind of the what I want us to go. What can we take away as a big idea for this? Then we'll kinda unpackage it. And what we're gonna see is is Jesus says the the I am statement is is he's gonna say in the middle of this passage is I am the resurrection and the life.

And what that means for us is this, is that Jesus is is the only one who can unleash us from death and unwrap us for life.

It's both. We'll see that by the time we get to the end. But I just wanna walk through this story and say, how does he do that? Because because he does wanna unleash us from death and unwrap us for life, but he wants to do this through relating to us. And in the story, we're gonna see how Jesus relates to the different people in the story, and he still

wants to relate to you and I in the same way.

So I'm in John 11. Like I said, if you have your Bibles, pull it out, and here we go. It says a man named Lazarus was sick. He lived in Bethany with his sisters, Mary and Martha. This is the Mary who later poured the expensive perfume on the Lord's feet and wiped them with her hair. Her brother Lazarus was sick.

So the two sisters sent a message to Jesus telling him, Lord, your dear friend is very sick. So it's not only is it their their brother, it's he's a good friend of Jesus too. And they're like, hey. If they're telling Jesus he's sick, it's not like he's got a cold. They're they're they're afraid he's gonna die, and they believe he can come heal him. They've seen him heal.

And so they send this message. But when Jesus heard about it, verse four, Laz he said, Lazarus' sickness will not end in death. Nope. It happened for the glory of God so that the son of God will receive glory from this. So although Jesus loved Martha,

Mary, and Lazarus, said he loved them, he stayed there where he was for the next two days. So he finds out he's sick. They're calling out to him. You need to come. And he goes, don't worry. It's gonna be okay. I love him, but I'm not going.

He sticks around for another couple days. And you realize where he's at is only a few miles from where they're at. He doesn't bother going by. Finally, he said to his disciples, let's go back to Judea. But his disciples

objected. Rabbi, they said, only a few days ago, people in Judea were trying to stone you. Remember last week? Like, they're trying to kill you now. We we we can't go back. They're all concerned and scared. They're like, are you going there again?

Verse nine, Jesus replied, there are twelve hours a day, daylight every day. During the day, people can walk safely. They can see because they have the light of the world. But at night, there is a danger of stumbling because they have no light. He was being really kinda, like, mystical and and and giving them an example, and I don't think they caught on. So he says, then he said, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,

but now I'm gonna go wake him up. So now he's still talking in in in a figure of speech, and they're not getting it. So so they say the disciples said, Lord, if he's sleeping, he'll soon get better. Meaning, he's just sleeping, he's getting well. You know? They thought Jesus meant Lazarus was simply sleeping,

but Jesus meant Lazarus had died. He's dead. I'm gonna go wake him up. So he told them plainly, Lazarus is dead. And for your sakes, I'm glad I wasn't there. For now, you will really believe. Come. Let's go see him. And I love this. Thomas, nicknamed the twin. Remember doubting Thomas?

Seems like he has this great moment of faith. He said to his fellow disciples, let's go too and die with Jesus. He's like, alright. We'll go too, and we'll die. So they're they're convinced they wanna kill you. If we go back, we're gonna die. So think about what's going on so far.

They feel like Jesus is guiding them to death.

And what Mary and Martha are feeling like we'll see in a minute is Jesus left them in death. He left them to death, and now the disciples think he's guiding them to death. Sometimes what Jesus is gonna do, when Jesus shows up, when Jesus responds

to us, when we pray to Jesus, when we follow Jesus, it's gonna be confusing. It's not gonna make any sense because they're like, why would we go that way? We're gonna die. And then remember this, why isn't Jesus showing up? Lazarus is dying, and he's dead.

And and I wanna continue on the story, but I just wanna give you the first principle here of when Jesus wants to unleash us from death and unwrap us for life, he really wants to relate to us. And the first thing we're gonna have to get straight over, you're always gonna be compute confused about what Jesus is doing in your life, even if you're a follower of Jesus, is this. He always relates to us with a response that is purposeful.

Jesus' response to us, whether we're crying out to him

or listening to him, whether we're praying like, hey, where Jesus, you need to come. I got this problem. I got this thing. So what we do now today, we still call out to Jesus in prayer. Or if you're sitting and reading the word and praying and listening to Jesus on where to go in life, he's gonna tell you, want you to go here. Like, that seems stupid. That's dangerous. Or you're in this desperate moment of this dream's gonna die or this person's gonna die or this is gonna die. Jesus needs to show up. We have a definite purpose in mind for what we want Jesus to do. But the thing you have to understand,

especially if you're newer to this Christian thing or you've been in church for a long time, if you don't wanna be set up for constant frustration and eventually just rejecting God in your life, you have to understand that God always responds to us with his purpose. He's called his shot in the beginning

what he's gonna do. He always always responds to us with his purpose. Let me let me share a little bit more. So when Lazarus arrived at Bethany, he was told that Lazarus had already been in the grave for four days. So now they're saying, like, he's been dead four days. Mary and Martha were like, oh, nice of you to show up.

And it it says, Bethany was only a few miles down the road from Jerusalem, and many of the people had come to console Mary Martha and Mary in their loss. When Martha got word that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, but Mary stayed in the house. Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you only if only you had been here,

my brother would not have died. That's a cool statement of faith. She really believed in Oliver that Jesus could heal her, heal him. But there's also a state of not understanding the extent of who Jesus is.

Not having the faith her faith was limited from her understanding of how powerful God is. Because what she assumed by saying that is what? He could have been alive if you had been here, but now it's too late. Now it's too late.

But then she does say, but even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask. So now it's kinda like, I don't know. Maybe? I I don't I don't know. Maybe he could do something?

Jesus told her your brother will rise again. He just flat out told her. But she said, yes, Martha said. He will rise when everyone else rises at the last day. So she's thinking when you when everyone finally is resurrected. And Jesus told her, here comes the statement. He's trying to get her to to go from a dogma,

a faith in dogma, in teaching, in belief, to a faith in Jesus. Because he says, I am the resurrection and the life. You know, he said, he I am. There's that I am saying, but he says resurrection life. He didn't say I am a resurrection

and a life. He didn't say I'm the resurrection and one way to life. He flat out said, I am the resurrection and I am the life. And also, he didn't even just say, I'm I'm not one way. He said, I am the only way, but he also didn't say, I am the resurrection and the way only way to life. That's not even accurate.

He's saying I'm the resurrection and the life. Jesus declared that I am life itself. I was the creator of life. I spoke this into existence. I'm the one that created it. I'm the one that can fix this.

And so he's trying to get her to understand that you're limited. Even though you believe I'm the Messiah, even though you believe I can do all these things, you still think there's something I can't do.

And the reason she was confused is because of this idea of, but Jesus you didn't come when we called you. The disciples are confused because he's like, why do you wanna go back to this dangerous place? Why are you taking us there? Thomas is like, alright, I got faith.

I love you, Jesus. I believe you. I'll go with you. I'll just die with you. You see how limited it is? And the reason is they had a different idea of what the purpose was. And I think we get the same way. We cry out to Jesus or we follow Jesus, and sometimes it feels like Jesus left me in death when I cried out,

or he's leading me to death when I follow him. And and the reality is he keeps going back from the beginning of the story, the middle of the story, he never caves into what their purpose is. He always responds with his. You see, every action he does

was a part of his plan to show the world he's the Messiah. Matter of fact, even what he's gonna do, the miracle he's gonna do, the declaration he makes, isn't even just really it's for Lazarus, but it's not about him. It's about what he's his bigger plan. I was reading in the newspaper the other day because I'm old, but

but it's cool. You read, like and and it was just reported how it's, like, the five hundredth anniversary of when the the church threatened Galileo. They said you have got to stop teaching that the sun is the center of our solar system. See, at this point, the the the church had made a wrong assumption.

Well, if Jesus were the highest creation he had, he loved us so much, and if he died for us, then we're the most important thing. Therefore, when he did all of creation, it all revolves around Earth.

So they believe when the sun rises, the sun sets, that's why they used to say that, it was the sun that was moving. Well, Kelly, if they're looking scientifically, understood that's not the way it works. This our solar system is heliocentric.

He goes, I still believe in Jesus, but does it really have to center around us? Can't the sun be the center of the universe? And they were so mad because they got caught in their dogma, and and they told him you gotta stop teaching this because we are the center of the universe. The sun is not the center of the universe. The sun revolves around us. And he goes, no. We revolve around the sun. And then we got past that. At least, hopefully, most of us. There might be a couple of flat earthers in here that still think a lot of weird stuff. You know, just keep your tinfoil hat on. Don't lose your temper,

and and and you'll calm down once the the things in the jet screen come and the chemicals fall down and mellow you out. The government does that. There you go. I guarantee I made one person mad with that comment in this room. I Guarantee it. But

he they they were and and here's the the truth was our solar system is heliocentric. The sun is the center, and we revolve around it. And you know what? Revolve around it is why we are alive. If we didn't revolve around the sun, there'd be no life on this planet.

We've gotten past that scientifically, but I think spiritually, a lot of us sitting in this room as Christians still act like the sun, the son of God revolves around you. The reason you're frustrated with God and Jesus is like, oh, I had this problem. I prayed and he didn't fix it. Who's orbiting who?

We have life because we revolve around him. He is the center, not me. And when he responds to us through prayer or even leads us somewhere, he's always, always, always gonna call us to his purpose. You're never gonna convince him to revolve around you and come to your purpose.

And this is why so many people end up rejecting Jesus, because when they realize you're not the Messiah I wanted, you're not revolving around our ideas, you're not getting what I wanted, you're not forget it. I don't want you. How about you? Where are you at on that?

Well, not only will he always relate to us with a response to us that is purposeful,

he really wants to relate to us with a connection that is personal. This is cool what happens next. Because if it was just he only responds with his purpose

and doesn't really act like he doesn't really care about us personally, then he just seems like a jerk, doesn't he? Well, get over it. You know? You get hit in the face. Don't rub it. You know? He's like that guy. He's the guy that's like just who cares? Get it. But we see that he literally even though he's gonna only respond, even though it says he loves us and does this, he's still gonna push towards his purpose always,

whether we listen or not. He does wanna connect to us and he cares for us deeply and personally. Because let's let's go on. Here we were. We were down here. When he says to to Martha, he goes, I'm the resurrection life. Anyone who believes in me will live even after dying.

Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this, Martha? Yes, Lord, she told him. I've always believed you're the Messiah, the son of God, the one who has come into the world from God. Then she returned

to Mary. She called Mary aside from the other mourners and told her the teacher is here and wants to see you. So Mary immediately went to him. Jesus had stayed outside the village at the place where Martha met him. When the people who were at house consoling Mary saw her leave so hastily, they assumed she's going to Lazarus' grave to weep, so they followed her there. So now he's got the whole crowd there.

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. Said the same thing her sister said. When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him.

Now listen to rest of story. So the first thing, when he looked at her crying and looked at him, there's three things he says. A deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. So those are the first two. We'll stop there.

So the first response he gets with Mary and this crowd is a deep anger, and he's deeply troubled. What they're saying is he really does care about what's going on. What's weird is he knows what he's about to do. He knows what he's about to do, but he's still frustrated. He still gets upset with them.

For example, that deep anger, which is translated in English deep anger here, what's is this one of those times if you go to some of the words I said last week, I don't like to this very often, but but if you look into the this was written in the Greek language, and some of these words say so much more. He's not angry at them.

And a matter of fact, the word for deep anger in this moment is literally it's kinda funny. The the the phrase deep anger in the Greek is a phrase that me means to snort like a horse.

You know when a horse gets upset?

If you're a horse person, you know, know, and they they they they get really upset. They started snorting a little bit because it's usually what? Something's not right. Something's not the way it's supposed to be. Something's different. They don't trust you. There's a snake nearby. There's something going on. You're doing something weird. Whatever. Something isn't right, and they're getting

agitated. They're getting bothered, and that's what Jesus is doing. He's not bothered by the people. You know what he's bother he knows what he's about to do. He just said on the resurrection and the life. What he's bothered by is death itself.

He's bothered by the sin and brokenness and the fact that these people are all trapped in this broken cycle of death. And now they're mourning, and they're weeping, and they're sad, and he sees it, and he knows it. And he is the resurrection life. He is the great I am. He's the one that created it all. And he's snorting like a horse because he's like, this is not how I made it to be.

This isn't the way it's supposed to be. He when Jesus looks at our sin and brokenness, he's not mad at you and me. He's mad at the death. He's mad at the brokenness. He's mad at that this is so twisted because of our brokenness. We often don't trust him, and we miss life. And he's frustrated.

He's frustrated at the point that he's also deeply troubled. Deeply troubled is a is an expression that means to express agitation or confusion, but not be apathetic.

So not to just be, I'm so mad. I don't care. It's it's very not apathetic. I care about what's going on. I want to do something about it. That's what deeply troubled Some of we get deeply troubled. I don't like this.

This is a deeply troubled says, this is not the way it should be. I am so bothered by this that I'm gonna do something about it.

He knows that we're caught in a cycle of sin and death and brokenness. He knows he's gonna go to the cross to be able to correct that, but he goes, until he comes back, he has patience so we can turn to him and we can find his grace, but he also knows that he has to look at this. And on this day, he goes, typically, I know you're gonna die. I know Lazarus is faithful. I know I'll be with him in all of eternity, but you know what? I am so mad at death that not this day.

Death takes us and we die, and it's a broken world, and I know that, but not today. That's what he's saying. But then he gets even more personal. Here's what he says next. He said, where have you put him? They told him, Lord, come and see. Verse 35, shortest verse in the Bible. Then Jesus wept. He was so bothered and so cared.

Here's Mary weeping at his feet, and he was mad. He goes, where have you kept him? And he just looked, and he was so saddened that she's weeping. You can imagine, he just says, alright. And then I almost imagine him just getting down, putting his arm around Mary, and he just started weeping.

The word there for weep means weep, but in in the New Testament, in this period of time, when they say weep,

it's like you are wailing. It's not like, oh, that's it's not like I when I watch a movie that makes me kinda sentimental, I get a little teary eyed, I know my kids wanna look at you. No, dad. I'm crying. It's not that kind of weeping. It's like uncontrollable wailing.

He wails and weeps with Mary and the rest of the crowd. And here's what's funny. Do you do it because he's got the same sense of hopelessness as them? No. He knows the very thing they're crying about is not gonna be a thing to cry about in the next couple minutes. So why was he crying with them?

Because they're sad.

He may always respond almost with his purpose, but he will cry with us through the pain. If you've had kids, you get this. You ever have a kid do something stupid, so they end up at a doctor, and because they did something,

and now they're gonna need a shot or some procedure to help them that's gonna you know they're gonna lose it. And you know they're getting this because they need it, because they did it. It's their fault. They're they're in pain. And now you gotta explain to them, and now they're starting to cry, especially moms and me.

When your kid just starts losing it, do I have to get out of here? And you know they need it. You know you're not gonna stop. You know the purpose is we have to do this, and you're gonna go there. But they start crying, what do you do? How many cry? How many yell, don't rob it? Sometimes.

You never know what you get with me. I'm that unpredictable parent. You cry with them. That's what'll help you get through those moments when Jesus' purpose doesn't make sense to you.

If you are in a painful moment now that is so confusing, when you're weeping, so is he. Because he wants to connect to us personally.

He gets it. He really does. And then the coolest thing is is the final thing is when I can understand he came to unleash death and unwrap us for for life by relating to us, responding with purpose, connecting personally, we get to this point that we will see that he will have an effect on us that is powerful.

There's purpose, personal, powerful relationship with Jesus. This is when the power can happen. Because it says he wept, but then it says the people who were standing nearby said, see how much he loved him? But But here's what I said, you'll either gonna when you see Jesus for who he is, you'll either go all in

or reject. They go see how much he loved him, but some said, this man healed a blind man. Couldn't he have kept Lazarus from dying?

See, they don't get it. And a lot of us act like that. Jesus has done all this. Why is this dream in my life dying? Why did this happen? Why did this relation die? Why did this happen? Why? Why? Why? A lot of us right now, some of you right now, you're that part of the crowd.

You're listening to this story and go, oh, you said Jesus has all this power, but what about you fill in the blank?

And when we choose that road, we're gonna miss the power he wants to bring into our life.

So Jesus was still angry, it said, as he arrived at the tomb. He's like a

cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. Verse 39, he says, roll the stone aside, Jesus told him. I imagine since he says he's still angry and he's snorting like a horse, he didn't say, excuse me. Verily, verily, shall ye roll the stone aside? He said, is that it? Roll that stone aside. He's he's got a purpose in mind.

But Martha, the dead man's sister, protested. Lord, he's been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible. She's also kinda saying, I really don't want to experience that. Now what you wanna do is you really want me to relive and see the rotting corpse and smell the rotting corpse of my brother? Seriously?

That's what you want me to do? Jesus responded, didn't I tell you here's we're back to purpose. He always takes it back to verb. Didn't I tell you that you would see God's glory if you believe? If you trust me, you're gonna see my power. But you gotta trust me. You have to trust me or you're not gonna see my power.

What are some things in your life that you want God's power to come into, but you won't trust him first?

I'll trust you after you show up. Doesn't work that way.

So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up at the heaven and said, father, thank you for hearing me. This is awesome. He act he prayed, but he says in verse 40, you always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all the people standing here so that they will believe you sent me. Do you realize he just revealed what he's about to do? He's gonna do something powerful. He's gonna bring joy to Mary Martha. He's gonna he's gonna bring Lazarus some joy for a few minutes till he realized, wait, I'm gonna have to die again someday? And then he's gonna be bummed, But in the moment, he'll be happy. But as he goes through this, he's saying it, and you think he did all for it. He did it for them, but it's not about them. He says, here's why I did this. I need these people to know I am who I said I am, and I am the great I am. And he wanted to declare, I am the resurrection life. I'm the one that unleashes death.

I'm the one that unwraps you for life. I'm the one that built you in the first place. I'm the one that created you in the first place, and sin and brokenness has caused his death, but not today. Because I'm gonna show you who I am, and he's actually foreshadowing

what he's gonna do for us at this moment. That's what he's saying, to show that I you sent me. He's basically they need to know I am the Messiah. And what I just did here, once this crowd gets mad, the part that doesn't wanna trust me, and I go to the cross, I'm gonna die and be put in a tomb for three days. And then I'm gonna step out, but no one's gonna call me out. I'm gonna wake up because I am life itself. I'm gonna get up and come back to life because

I am. Period. And you need to know that.

So he says, I said this so they will believe you sent me. Says then Jesus shouted, Lazarus, come out. I love it. Lot a theologian I I read once, a commentator on this passage, it's good that he specified Lazarus. Otherwise, the entire graveyard would have cleared out.

And that would have caused a lot of confusion. Like it did in the book of Matthew,

there's a little story that talks about after Jesus, you know, dies on the cross and he gives up his life and the temple, the curtain tears that separates the holy and holy, the representative of you can't be close to God because of sin, but now that separation is gone. Says an earthquake happened. All the tombs in the area opened up, and when Jesus rose from the dead, hundreds of faithful people that had put faith, they were looking forward to Jesus, got up and walked out and wandered through Jerusalem.

That must have been a weird day, especially for the leaders that saw this happen. They saw this happen and said we're gonna kill Jesus. Then they kill him. Three days later, he disappears. And they're like, uncle Earl?

And that's why a lot of them turned to Jesus at that point. Because it happened in a bigger way.

It says, and the dead man came out. It says his hands and feet were bound in grave clothes, his face wrapped in a head cloth. And here's where they get the big idea from, and Jesus said, unwrap him and let him go. Unwrap him and let him go. You know what's crazy is he he he was dead. He comes out, so Jesus

unleashed him from death, but then he says, you gotta unwrap him for life.

You know why? Because sometimes we read that, and we're all caught up the power of what Jesus just did. That is amazing. But if you ever I'm that guy that when you see something and we go, wait, wait, wait, that was cool, but what about this? I noticed things that are like, wouldn't that been weird?

Think about this. If you stop and really think about what just happened, he calls him out, which is amazing. But the reason he had to say, now you need to unwrap them is when they buried you, they basically wrapped you up like a mummy, really tight.

So he couldn't have even gotten out of it himself. So imagine what it looked like for me even to come out of the the grave. It's like, Lazarus, come out. You would have waited. And then after a minute, it's like, he's either doing this or it's the march of the penguins.

I'm not kidding. That's why he needed help. He could not get out of this. He was bound tight. Could you imagine how weird that would've looked? He comes out. Boom. Boom. Boom. Boom. He calls him out, but then he goes, alright. You need to unwrap him.

You know, that's a literal thing, but there's also a symbolic thing of when Jesus does that, he still does that with us today. He wants to unleash us from death when we put our faith in him. We now can have the eternal life, but he wants to unwrap us so we can start living that life now. Could you imagine if if if he didn't say unwrap them? He's like, alright. Good. We're good. Let's all go. You guys wanna have an after party? And and he would have been, alright, guys.

I mean, how many dance moves do you have? I mean, what is he gonna do? Can you imagine if he went back to life like that and just go, okay. I'm alive and stayed in his grave clothes?

A lot of us, that's what we do. We've we've put our faith in Jesus. We've been unleashed from death, but you're walking through life in the same way you were before you were dead. You're still wearing your grave clothes. You're still confined. There's no freedom in it. Why? I think because we're so used to that,

that the idea of being unwrapped is terrifying. Once again, if you have kids, you get it. You know, as babies in a smaller and smaller living space until it shows up. But then what's the first thing they wanna have you do to get them to calm down? Swaddle them. You wrap them up.

First time I saw a nurse, I was like, really? That tight? It's like it's like it's a baby burrito. That's what it is. They make a burrito. I mean, fold it over. There's the tortilla. You wrap them tight, and then they're like, they could be because they're uncomfortable. They're so used to this that being able to do this

is is unnerving. It's too vulnerable. It's too it's too weird. So they freak out. So sometimes all three of my kids would sometimes just be crying until you swaddled them really tight, and then they were fine.

And sometimes they'd cry and they go, wait. They're already in the burrito. What's going on? And you check everything, you look, and they realize, oh, no. Part of the tortilla came unwrapped. They're getting too loose. Now they're getting mad. And

it's like I'm like, am I hurting them? I don't know. Their face is turning blue, but I don't care. But we're used to that. And the other reason I think why we're used to that or why we're afraid of what's on the other side is the awkwardness and the vulnerability it takes to be unwrapped.

You know why it's called grave clothes? Because that's all the clothes they were wearing in the grave. You ever thought about that? In front of his the whole town, his sisters, and God himself, they unwrapped them.

There was a minute there where people are like, I can't unsee this. Imagine how awkward that was for the people unwrapping them, and how vulnerable Lazarus would have felt in that moment.

You see, you can put put your faith in Jesus and be unleashed from death, but he also wants to unwrap us to live. I wanna unwrap you to live the life I just called you into. And he he does it in the same way he still does today. He asked others to do it. That's what we're supposed to be as the church.

We bring the gospel so Jesus will call your name to come unleashed from death, and then our mission is to listen to the word of God and help unwrap you for life. But a lot of us avoid that because we don't like the vulnerability. You don't like the awkwardness.

Alright? That's why we've talked about having people step up to be small group leaders, and a lot of people don't wanna do that. You know why? A small group leader is someone that helps unwrap someone for life, and it's awkward. And and it's weird to grow in community. It's one thing to sit in a in a in a row. It's

another thing to start learning how to live by sitting in a circle.

But we need that. We need to be willing to go through that awkward moment to have real community. In the Bible, it calls this thing called fellowship, and really the kind of biblical fellowship we need to have is you need to have people in your life that help unwrap you from the death, from the from the grave close.

It means you need people that know you. You're really vulnerable. They know you, but they accept you. But they also support you. But the final thing is they're gonna develop you. They're not gonna let you go grab the grave clothes and start wrapping back up.

I mean, that's really the bottom line of every recovery program. CR that we do here is it's it's you can get unleashed, but the unwrapping is the work. To unwrap, what is the death? What is the clothes? What is the things that I've wrapped myself in death that I just need to get out of here?

Because it doesn't matter. I could be a Christian and have eternal life, but walking around like I'm dead.

So which one are you? You see, Jesus had this moment. He said this. He brought Lazarus back to life on this day. But if you read the rest of the chapter and we go into the rest of the book, it was came back to he was really foreshadowing what he was gonna do. I'm gonna go into a tomb, but I'm gonna call my own name,

and I'm gonna walk out because I am the resurrection life. I'm the one that'll unleash you from the death, but I'll also am the one you need to trust to unwrap you from the dead close that are binding your life right now, that are restricting you from living the freedom of what that life is he gave you.

Matter of fact, that's such an important moment. This is such an important aspect of who Jesus is as God, that this is why he said this last. But it's also why when he was sitting with his disciples the night before he was gonna go to the cross and die for you and I, and if you listen last week, sacrificed

his very soul for us. He did this moment that we call communion now. And he he did this thing where he took he took bread, and he broke it. And he said, this is my body broken for you.

Take and eat. He took the cup, said, this is my blood spilled for you. He says, do this in remembrance of me. It's the one thing he tells us as Christians to gather. If you're wondering, why does the church do communion? Because Jesus said, I want you to do this to remember me. And why does he want us to remember that moment? Because that moment when he goes to the cross,

you see how deeply personal his love is for you and I. And then when he resurrects, you see that he is the resurrection. Resurrection. He is the life. And because of this, we can be unleashed from death, and we can be unwrapped for life.

And the reason I think he tells us this is to be a testimony to those of you that maybe have never heard him call your name. You've never put your faith in Jesus and walked out of the grave and become a Christian.

But for most of us, what communion is supposed to be is a moment to remember that he's the resurrection life and go back and go, how have I put the grave clothes back on? How am I not trusting them? How am I going back to being like Mary and Martha? Well, Jesus, I I know you. I love you. I believe you're the Messiah, but this wouldn't happen if you were here. So we start to doubt, and we start to not embrace the life, and we start to put the grave clothes back on. We start to go back to the old ways. We start to go back, and this is a moment to reflect.

It's a moment to get vulnerable. It's a moment to unwrap your heart before the the lord who loves you and remember that he loves you this much.

So here's what I wanna do. We're gonna sing a song, but we're gonna take communion together. But I'm do one thing. If you're someone that's been unleashed from death, you know Jesus, I want you to just bow your head and start praying.

Start being vulnerable for God. Where are some areas that maybe you're going back to the grave clothes? You're starting to you're starting to march to the penguins again. Be vulnerable with him right now because those things you're struggling with is why he died for you. Just be vulnerable.

But for some of you, I wanna pray with before we do this because the Bible says if you take communion in an unworthy way, you're only heaping judgment upon yourself. Now that sounds ominous.

But what that really means is if you've come here and you've never been unleashed from death, you've never heard Jesus call your name, you've never actually put your faith by choice in Jesus as your Lord and Savior. You've never declared him the resurrection and life. You're wasting your time by doing this.

It doesn't do anything. So if that might be you, I wanna pray with you. I wanna let give you a chance to hear Jesus call your name, and you can hop out of that grave right now. You simply just need to turn from your sin, the broken meaning trying to sin, brokenness, trying to make life work my way,

trying to make God into the one that revolves around you, and just admitting I'm hopeless without you, Jesus. You are the only hope. And I put my faith in what you did. Remember this. You died on the cross for me. You came back to life for me. That's what it means to be a Christian.

So before we take this, I wanna pray. And if if you're someone that has never put your faith in Jesus, I wanna pray with you so then you could take communion for the first time in a genuine way, in a in a relationship with a Lord that loves you, that has unleashed you, wants to unwrap you,

and he wants you to know this. He wants you to know that he's always gonna respond to you with his purpose, but he's always gonna connect with you in a personal way. And he wants his impact to be on you to be powerful if you believe. So before we do this, if if let's just pray.

And if you feel that, Lord, you feel like I've never put my faith in Jesus, I hear him calling my name. Just pray with me in your own heart. Make it your own words. Just something like this. Dear Lord Jesus, you are the resurrection and the life. I realize that now.

And no matter how many times I've been to church or how many ways I've tried to live my life, I know it doesn't work unless it's through you. So right now, I give my life to you. I put my faith in you. I want my life to revolve around you. Thank you for dying for me.

Thank you for letting your body be broken and your blood be spilled and your soul to be sacrificed for me. But thank you that you are the resurrection life, that you called your own name forth, you got up from that grave, proving you are the great I am, and I am so thankful that you are. So forgive me, fill me,

unleash me from death, and help me to learn what it means to be unwrapped for life. Thank you. I pray this in Jesus' name. Amen. If you just prayed with me, welcome. Welcome to the family. I would love when we're done here for you to fill that out on one the I said yes cards so someone can pray for you.

But what you just did is what we're supposed to remember in this moment, is Jesus did this so we could do that. He took the bread and he broke it and said, this is my body broken for you. Take and eat.

He took the cup and said, this is my blood spilt for the forgiveness of sins for you. Take and drink.

In desperation. I turned to heaven and spoke your name into the night. Then through the darkness, your loving kindness tore through the shadows of my soul. The work is finished,