I say that Jesus was already the resurrection before Lazarus was raised. I tell of a sealed tomb, a large stone, and four days of deep grief in Bethany. I recount Martha’s words of faith mixed with disappointment and how Jesus wept with them. I explain that the miracle revealed who Jesus is but did not make him who he was. I urge listeners to trust God’s character even when their circumstances do not change. We ask whether we can still worship when the miracle does not come. Four days had passed since the breath left Lazarus, and I describe the sorrow that filled a house in Bethany. I tell of a great stone placed before a rock‑cut tomb and of sisters who mourned, certain that help had come too late. I speak the words Martha spoke in her grief: Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. I then make a central claim drawn from John 11:25: I am the resurrection and the life. I emphasize that Jesus declares this identity while Lazarus still lies in the tomb, before the stone is moved and before any change in circumstance occurs. I wrestle with what that declaration means for faith and for truth. I argue that the miracle of raising Lazarus reveals who Jesus is, but it does not construct his identity. The event demonstrates an already existing reality. Thus we must not allow our changing fortunes to rewrite the character of God. I close by urging listeners to anchor hope not in shifting outcomes but in the eternal reality of Christ who was, is, and remains the resurrection.

Takeaways:

• I declare that Jesus was already the resurrection before Lazarus was called from the tomb.
• We must not let our circumstances become the measure of God's character or faithfulness.
• I saw that Jesus entered the family's grief and wept, showing his compassion in sorrow.
• We learned that Lazarus's restoration pointed to Christ's power, but it differed from Christ's final resurrection.
• I urge us to anchor our hope in the death and resurrection of Jesus rather than temporal change.

Four days.

Four days since the last breath left his body.

Four days since the mourners gathered.

Four days since his sisters stood helplessly as the body of their beloved brother was carried into a tomb.

And now a great stone stands between the living and the dead.

The house that once echoed with conversation has fallen into mourning.

Friends have gathered to offer condolences.

The funeral has taken place.

The grave has been sealed.

And the man who could have prevented all of this has finally arrived.

His name is Jesus.

But there is a problem.

According to everyone gathered in Bethany, Jesus is four days too late.

The man they had called upon to heal their brother has arrived after their brother has died.

And when Martha hears that Jesus is approaching, she goes out to meet him.

Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.

What an extraordinary sentence.

It is a statement of faith wrapped in disappointment.

She believes Jesus could have prevented the tragedy, but she cannot understand why he did not arrive when they needed him.

And I wonder how many of us have stood in our own circumstance and whispered something remarkably similar.

Lord, if you had been here, perhaps the marriage would have survived.

If you had been here, perhaps the business would not have collapsed.

If you had been here, perhaps the diagnosis would have been different.

If you had been here, perhaps the person I loved would still be alive.

And yet, what Martha does not fully understand is that the one standing before her is not merely a man who has arrived late to a funeral.

He is the eternal Son of God who existed before the first human being ever took a breath.

Welcome to the Message with NJN to the fifth installment of our series.

He is still God.

In our previous message, before the Crown, before the Fortune, we explored the lives of David and Job.

We discovered that David's crown did not make God sovereign, and Job's extraordinary wealth did not make God faithful.

We established that prosperity is a blessing to steward, not an identity to worship.

And whether we are standing in a palace or sitting sitting among the ashes of everything we have lost, God remains God.

So today we move from the throne room of Israel to a tomb in Bethany, and we are going to discover something extraordinary.

Before the stone was rolled away, he was still God.

Now, to appreciate the significance of what happens in Bethany, we must understand something about the identity of Jesus.

The Gospel of John does not begin with the birth of Christ in Bethlehem.

It begins before creation.

John 1:1 3 declares, in the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God.

God and the Word was God.

And then the passage tells us that all things were made through Him.

Think about the implications.

The one who stood outside Lazarus's tomb was not somebody who had recently acquired divine authority.

He was the Eternal Word through whom all things came into existence.

Before there was a Bethany, he was God.

Before there was an Abraham, he was God.

Before there was a Moses, before there was a David, before there was a Lazarus, he was God.

And when he entered the world in human flesh, he did not cease to be who he eternally was.

Now return with me to Martha.

Her brother has just died, her family is grieving, and Jesus has finally arrived.

As their conversation unfolds, Jesus tells her that her brother will rise again.

Martha responds that she knows Lazarus will rise in the resurrection on the last day.

And then Jesus makes one of the most astonishing declarations in all of scripture.

John, chapter 11, verse 25.

I am the resurrection and the life.

He that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live.

Did you hear that?

Jesus does not say, I know how to perform a resurrection.

He does not say, I have discovered the secret to overcoming death.

He does not even say, I possess the power of resurrection.

Although his power is clearly evident.

He says, I am the resurrection and the life.

And I want you to notice when he makes this declaration, Lazarus is still dead.

The stone is still covering the entrance.

The mourners are still grieving.

Nothing about the circumstances has changed.

But Jesus has already declared who he is.

You see, the resurrection of Lazarus would demonstrate something about the identity of Jesus.

But the resurrection of Lazarus would not make Jesus who he was.

Jesus was already the resurrection before Lazarus was resurrected.

And I believe this is one of the most important revelations in our series.

Because so often we wait for our circumstances to improve before we acknowledge the goodness, power and faithfulness of the Lord.

When the healing comes, we call him our healer.

When the money arrives, we call him our provider.

When the breakthrough happens, we celebrate his power.

But there is nothing, and there is nothing wrong with celebrating the wonderful things God does.

But his identity cannot be dependent on our circumstances.

The miracle reveals something about God.

God.

The miracle does not create something within God.

And that distinction changes the way we understand prosperity, suffering, faith and prayer.

Because if God's goodness depends on my circumstances, then my understanding of God will change every time my circumstances change.

When I have money, God is good.

When I lose money, I begin to question his goodness.

When I am healthy, God is good and God is faithful.

When I become ill, I begin to wonder whether he has abandoned me.

And before long, my theology has become a reflection of my circumstances rather than a conviction grounded in the character of God.

But there is something else in the story that I find deeply moving.

In many English translations of the Bible, Jesus wept two words.

And yet those two words reveal something extraordinary about the heart of Christ.

Jesus knows what he is about to do.

He knows that Lazarus will be called out of the tomb.

He knows that the grief surrounding him is about to give way to astonishing joy.

And still he weeps.

Now think about that.

The uncertainty of the coming miracle does not make the present suffering meaningless to Jesus.

And he does not stand before the grieving family and tell them that their tears are evidence of an adequate faith.

He does not dismiss their sorrow because he knows how the story will end.

He enters their grief.

And I think somebody listening needs to hear that.

Your pain is not insignificant simply because God is sovereign.

Your disappointment is not imaginary simply because you believe in his goodness.

And your tears are not necessarily evidence that you have lost your faith.

Sometimes faith weeps.

Sometimes faith asks the difficult questions.

Sometimes faith stands before the tomb and struggles to understand why things have happened the way they have.

But the presence of tears does not mean the absence of God.

Jesus himself wept.

And if the Son of God could weep in the presence of suffering, then surely we must make room for human grief within our understanding of Christian faith.

Now the story reaches its extraordinary climax.

Jesus approaches the tomb and instructs those gathered to remove the stone.

But Martha objects.

Lazarus has been dead for four days, and she knows what happens to a human body after death.

This is not a situation that can be resolved through positive thinking, clever strategy, or.

Or human determination.

The man is dead, Right?

He's dead.

And yet Jesus orders the stone to be removed.

Then, standing before the open tomb, he calls out with a loud voice, lazarus, come forth.

And the Bible tells us that the man who had been dead came out.

Now imagine that moment.

The astonishment, the disbelief, the overwhelming joy of two sisters who had buried their brother, now stood alive before stood before them alive.

The tomb that had seemed to represent the final chapter of Lazarus's life had become the setting for an extraordinary demonstration of Christ's power.

But I want us to be careful about what this miracle means.

Lazarus was restored to ordinary mortal life.

He would eventually face death again.

The resurrection of Jesus Christ, which we encounter later in the gospel, is greater still.

Christ rises from the dead in victory over death, becoming the foundation of the Christian hope of eternal life.

And that is why we must never reduce the message of Jesus to the promise that every earthly difficulty will disappear.

There are faithful Christians who have prayed for healing and still died.

There are parents who have buried children.

There are people who have watched businesses collapse, marriages end, and cherished dreams remain unfulfilled.

Their experiences do not invalidate the identity of Jesus.

And the story of Lazarus does not give us permission to promise that every person we love will be restored to us in this present life.

But through the death and resurrection of Christ, Scripture gives believers a hope that reaches beyond the limits of this life.

And that is the great prosperity we.

That is the greatest prosperity we could ever receive.

Not merely the ability to acquire possessions that time will eventually take away, not merely the privilege of occupying positions from which we will one day retire, but the gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Now, I want you to travel with me once more.

Before Lazarus emerged from the tomb, Jesus was the resurrection.

Before the waters of the Red Sea divided, God was almighty.

Before Isaac was born, God was faithful.

Before David wore the crown, God was sovereign.

Before Job accumulated his fortune, God was good.

And before the foundations of the earth were laid, he was God.

Do you see the pattern?

The events change, the circumstances change, the people change.

But God did not change.

And I want you to bring that truth into your own life.

Before your business becomes successful, you still got.

Before your financial circumstances improve, you're still God.

Before the promotion comes, before the medical results change, before the child is born, before the relationship is restored, he is still God.

And even when the outcome is not what you hoped for, he is still God.

So pursue prosperity, build the business, develop your gifts, create the wealth, provide for your family, seek medical treatment, pray for healing, hope for the future.

But do not allow your circumstances to become the ultimate measure of God's character.

Because if Jesus was already the resurrection while Lazarus remained in the tomb, and surely we can recognize his sovereignty Even when the answers to our prayers have not yet arrived, the stone does not have to move for him to remain God.

Let us pray.

Heavenly Father, thank you for revealing yourself to us through Jesus Christ.

Thank you that your goodness is not determined by our circumstances and that your faithfulness does not disappear in seasons of suffering.

For those who are grieving, bring comfort.

For those who are ill, we ask for healing and strength.

For those facing financial hardship, grant provision, wisdom and opportunity.

Teach us to pursue prosperity without making it the foundation of our faith.

And when life brings us to places where we cannot understand what you are doing, help us to remember who you have revealed yourself to be.

Above all, anchor our hope in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ in his name.

Amen.

And as we close here is one final thought I want to leave with you.

Throughout this series, we have examined extraordinary demonstrations of God's power.

We have witnessed the creation of the universe, the birth of Isaac, the opening of the Red Sea, the rise of David, the suffering of Job, and now the resurrection of Lazarus.

But all these stories lead us toward a question that may be more important than anything we have discussed so far.

What happens when the miracle does not come?

What happens when God does not intervene in the way we desperately hoped he would?

Can we still worship Him?

Can we still trust Him?

Can we still declare he is good?

In our final message, we will travel to ancient Babylon, where three young Hebrew men stand before a blazing furnace.

They believe God has the power to deliver them.

But then they make a declaration that represents one of the highest expressions of faith recorded in Scripture.

They tell the king that even if their God does not deliver them, they will not bow down to his idol.

That is where the series has been leading.

Our sixth and final message is Even if he doesn't, and until then, remember, before the stone was rolled away, he is God.

When Lazarus walked out, he was God.

And even when the stone in your own life remains unmoved, he is still God.