Jesus, once again deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.Jesus therefore, again groaning in himself, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it.Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay against it.
4 sermons cite this verse
… The working power, the working wonder, the God that works on our behalf, the God that does the impossible, the God that starts when we come to the end of us. Verse 38, it says, Jesus once more deeply moved, filled with compassion, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. Take away the stone, he said. But Lord, said Martha, the sister of the dead man, by this time there's a bad odor, for he has been there for four days. Then Jesus said, did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? Verse 39, he shows up, doesn't say why he's late. I love a play-by-play. I love all the details. Tell me what the weather is, what you wore, what it smelled like. I want to know all the details. He didn't give any details. Chad would have been grateful for no details. He walked into the scene. He said, take away the tomb. …
But some of them said, Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died? So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone lay across it. Jesus said, Take away the stone. Martha, the dead man's sister, said to him, Lord, by now there will be a stench. He has been dead for four days. Jesus said to her, did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me. But because of the crowd here, I have said this, that they may believe that you have sent me. And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out. The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands and his face wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, untie him and let him go. Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him. The Gospel of the Lord. …
… of the blind man just two chapters ago have kept this man from dying? In verse 38, Jesus once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. Take away the stone, he said. When you read this, it's interesting. The word translated deeply moved is not a compassionate term, though we often read it that way because it comes right after Jesus weeping. It's actually a term of like fierce and ferocious anger and fury, which begs the question, what what's Jesus mad at? I don't think it's Martha. I don't think it's Mary. It's certainly not Lazarus who's dead. I don't think it's all the other Jews that are there weeping. I think Jesus, with tears streaming down his face, is grieved by the loss of his friend and simultaneously is angry at sin and its effects on his creation. He stares at death and he knows the battle that lies ahead. B.B. Warfield commenting on this said, Jesus advances to the tomb, not weak and sniffling, but as a champion preparing for conflict. …
… and then once more deeply moved, he came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance, and he said, take away the stone. But Lord, by this time there's a bad odor. Second time we're hearing this, he's been there four days. Can we just pause for a moment? Are there any stones across any caves in your story today? Is there any dream or a vision or a marriage or any health situation or any friendship, relationship that's now shattered, someone who's estranged from you, something that has a stone put across it and maybe even smells bad right now? There's been decay in the story? I think God's inviting us into more than just the spectator seat today to an event that happened in Bethany. I think God is wanting us to realize that the resurrection and the life is in this gathering right now. The Jesus who came out of that tomb is in this gathering right now. And he wants us to, yes, scoot up to the edge of our seat to see again that he can change any story. …