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Death's Defeat
A sermon on John 11 — the resurrection of Lazarus, the fury of Christ against death, and the gospel hidden in the lips of an enemy of God.
The Scene at the Tomb
As the crowd weeps and mourns the death of Lazarus, Jesus arrives. Verse 33: "When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled."
He commands: "Take away the stone." Martha objects — Lazarus has been dead four days, and the body is already decomposing. Jesus responds: "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"
Key Verses
  • John 11:33 — Jesus deeply moved
  • John 11:35 — Jesus wept
  • John 11:39 — Take away the stone
  • John 11:43 — Lazarus, come out
  • John 11:45 — Many believed
Death's Defeat — That People Might Believe
Death is the overriding shadow of this entire story. Lazarus's body is in active decomposition — by day four in the Israeli climate, the face is unrecognizable. This is death's hold, death's finality. And into the face of that death steps Jesus Christ.
Death's Reality
Four days dead. Full decomposition. No preservatives. The stench of death is undeniable.
Christ's Response
Jesus feels deeply — disturbed, troubled, weeping — and then acts with sovereign authority.
The Purpose
That they may believe. Every miracle, every confrontation with death, points to faith in Christ.
A God Who Feels Deeply
The Blessedness of God
God feels perfectly — whatever he feels is perfect because God is perfect. Herman Bavinck writes: "He is the sum of all conceivable perfections, the highest perfection in person, infinitely far removed from all defects and limitations."
God is the happiest being conceivable — perfectly happy relationally within the Trinity, temporally unbound by change or circumstance, and infinitely happy in his very being. This is the happiness God desires to bring us into.
Yet He Also Feels...
Wrath
Romans 1:18 — rising against imperfection and sin
Fury
Romans 2:8 — against unbelief and hard hearts
Grief
Ephesians 4:30 — the Holy Spirit is grieved
The Emotional Life of Christ
Jesus — the radiance of the glory of God, the exact imprint of his nature — walks into a world of sin, brokenness, and death. He does not remain unmoved. He feels compassion, love, and deep disturbance at what sin has done to humanity.
He Groaned
When Jesus saw a man afflicted with deafness, he sighed deeply — an inner groan: "This is not what it was meant to be." (Mark)
He Was Indignant
Confronted with the Pharisees' hard hearts and insensitivity to suffering, he groaned and was filled with indignant anger. (Mark 3:5, 8:12)
He Wept
At the tomb of Lazarus, he burst into tears — not from weakness, but from the deepest movements of compassion and love.
B.B. Warfield: "Joy and sorrow meet in his heart and they kiss each other... They never overmaster him. He remains ever in perfect control."
Raging Indignation at Death
What Moved Him?
Verse 33 — "deeply moved in his spirit" — in the Greek, the image of a horse snorting and stamping its feet. Raging indignation.
John Calvin: Jesus was enraged by death's "unnaturalness, its violent tyranny." He comes to the tomb not in weepy defeat, but as a champion who prepares for conflict — calling out death, challenging it to a duel.
Why the Fury?
Because he who loves men must hate with burning hatred all that does wrong to human beings. He hates sin and death because he loves people.
B.B. Warfield: "Anger always has pain at its root and is a reaction of the soul against what gives it discomfort. The hardness of the Jews' hearts hurt Jesus, and his anger arose in repulsion of this pain."

Death is a horror and travesty of sin — yet in Christ, death has been depowered. We look at it not in fear, but with joy, knowing it is the passage into eternity with Jesus.
The Voice That Commands Death
"He cried out with a loud voice, 'Lazarus, come out.'" — John 11:43
This is no whispered incantation. Wizards and necromancers mutter their spells in fear of their master, death. But Jesus knows no master. He shouts with authority and power — the same voice that said "Let there be light" in Genesis 1:3, the same voice of Psalm 29:4: "The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is full of majesty."
Genesis 1:3
"Let there be light" — and there was light
Psalm 33:9
"He spoke, and it came to be; he commanded, and it stood firm"
John 11:43
"Lazarus, come out" — and the dead man walked out
Spurgeon: "When God speaks, he speaks not weakly, but with a voice full of power... Jesus Christ is the Word of God, and that Word is full of majesty." In the face of such power, what can death do but relinquish its hold?
Salvation by Faith Alone
The Promise
"Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" — John 11:40
Glory is revelation — God being revealed for who he is. And this revelation comes by faith alone. Not faith plus pilgrimage, baptism, or ritual. The Reformers were burned at the stake for this truth: Sola Fide — justification by faith alone in Jesus Christ.
The Prayer
Jesus then prays to his Father — a window into two persons of the Trinity in conversation. He says simply: "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me."
Then: "I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe." The defeat of death has one ultimate goal — that people might believe and have life.
1
Believe
Faith alone in Christ alone — the only condition for seeing the glory of God
2
See
God is revealed — glorified — through the works of Christ before the eyes of those who trust him
3
Live
Resurrection life — full restoration, then exaltation to share in his glory for eternity
The Unwitting Prophet & The Great Exchange
Caiaphas, the high priest — an enemy of God — unwittingly proclaims the gospel: "It is better that one man should die for the people." Never think God cannot work through evil people and vile circumstances to bring about his will.
The Fury He Knew
At the tomb of Lazarus, Jesus experienced the full weight of fury at sin and death. He knew what that wrath represented. And in one week — at Passover — he would voluntarily place himself under it.
"For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin." — 2 Corinthians 5:21
The Cup He Drank
The cup put to his lips was bitter. None of its bitterness was lost to him. But he drank it — as his own will, because it was the Father's will — to drink all of it.
B.B. Warfield: "Nowhere is Jesus the victim of circumstances. He is master of death and willingly places himself under the fury reserved for death so that we might have life."
The Gospel in the Story of Lazarus
The story of Lazarus is a picture of the gospel. The blessed God — full of joy and perfect happiness — sends his Son. His Son dies on the cross, coming under the fury of wrath reserved for sin and death, so that all who believe might enter into the happiness of God for all of eternity.
It is not just life eternal — it is eternal incandescent happiness, joy, and delight in the very presence of God, sharing in the divine fellowship of joy and happiness — all because Jesus went to the cross.
Respond to What You've Heard
As we close, take a quiet moment — just between you and the Lord. Talk back to him about something you heard, learned, were thankful for, convicted by, or brought to worship by.
Gratitude
Thank him for the cross — for the great exchange that makes eternal life possible.
Conviction
Is there unbelief in your heart? He calls out to you as he called to Lazarus — come out.
Worship
The happiest being conceivable invites you into his joy — respond with praise.

Believe. If you want to believe, it is evidence of the Holy Spirit working in your life. The goal of death's defeat is so that people might see — and believe.