Weep with those who weep All Age Service (John 11:1-44, Job 1:1-3:26)

John Parker, 3rd May 2015
Part of the Study of the Gospels series, preached at a Fordham Sunday Service service

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Bible Quote 11:1 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
11:2 This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.
11:3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick."
11:4 When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it."
11:5 Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

11:6 Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.
11:7 Then he said to his disciples, "Let us go back to Judea."
11:8 "But Rabbi," they said, "a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?"
11:9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world's light.
11:10 It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light."

11:11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up."
11:12 His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better."
11:13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
11:14 So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead,
11:15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."

11:16 Then Thomas (called Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him."
11:17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.
11:18 Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem,
11:19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.
11:20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

11:21 "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
11:22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."
11:23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
11:24 Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."
11:25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;

11:26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
11:27 "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."
11:28 And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. "The Teacher is here," she said, "and is asking for you."
11:29 When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.
11:30 Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.

11:31 When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
11:32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
11:33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
11:34 "Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied.
11:35 Jesus wept.

11:36 Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"
11:37 But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"
11:38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.
11:39 "Take away the stone," he said. "But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days."
11:40 Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

11:41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
11:42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me."
11:43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"
11:44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
Bible Quote 1:1 In the land of Uz there lived a man whose name was Job. This man was blameless and upright; he feared God and shunned evil.
1:2 He had seven sons and three daughters,
1:3 and he owned seven thousand sheep, three thousand camels, five hundred yoke of oxen and five hundred donkeys, and had a large number of servants. He was the greatest man among all the people of the East.
1:4 His sons used to take turns holding feasts in their homes, and they would invite their three sisters to eat and drink with them.
1:5 When a period of feasting had run its course, Job would send and have them purified. Early in the morning he would sacrifice a burnt offering for each of them, thinking, "Perhaps my children have sinned and cursed God in their hearts." This was Job's regular custom.

1:6 One day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord , and Satan also came with them.
1:7 The Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the Lord , "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."
1:8 Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil."
1:9 "Does Job fear God for nothing?" Satan replied.
1:10 "Have you not put a hedge around him and his household and everything he has? You have blessed the work of his hands, so that his flocks and herds are spread throughout the land.

1:11 But stretch out your hand and strike everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face."
1:12 The Lord said to Satan, "Very well, then, everything he has is in your hands, but on the man himself do not lay a finger." Then Satan went out from the presence of the Lord .
1:13 One day when Job's sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house,
1:14 a messenger came to Job and said, "The oxen were plowing and the donkeys were grazing nearby,
1:15 and the Sabeans attacked and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"

1:16 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The fire of God fell from the sky and burned up the sheep and the servants, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
1:17 While he was still speaking, another messenger came and said, "The Chaldeans formed three raiding parties and swept down on your camels and carried them off. They put the servants to the sword, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
1:18 While he was still speaking, yet another messenger came and said, "Your sons and daughters were feasting and drinking wine at the oldest brother's house,
1:19 when suddenly a mighty wind swept in from the desert and struck the four corners of the house. It collapsed on them and they are dead, and I am the only one who has escaped to tell you!"
1:20 At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship

1:21 and said: "Naked I came from my mother's womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised."
1:22 In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

2:1 On another day the angels came to present themselves before the Lord , and Satan also came with them to present himself before him.
2:2 And the Lord said to Satan, "Where have you come from?" Satan answered the Lord , "From roaming through the earth and going back and forth in it."
2:3 Then the Lord said to Satan, "Have you considered my servant Job? There is no one on earth like him; he is blameless and upright, a man who fears God and shuns evil. And he still maintains his integrity, though you incited me against him to ruin him without any reason."
2:4 "Skin for skin!" Satan replied. "A man will give all he has for his own life.
2:5 But stretch out your hand and strike his flesh and bones, and he will surely curse you to your face."

2:6 The Lord said to Satan, "Very well, then, he is in your hands; but you must spare his life."
2:7 So Satan went out from the presence of the Lord and afflicted Job with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
2:8 Then Job took a piece of broken pottery and scraped himself with it as he sat among the ashes.
2:9 His wife said to him, "Are you still holding on to your integrity? Curse God and die!"
2:10 He replied, "You are talking like a foolish woman. Shall we accept good from God, and not trouble?" In all this, Job did not sin in what he said.

2:11 When Job's three friends, Eliphaz the Temanite, Bildad the Shuhite and Zophar the Naamathite, heard about all the troubles that had come upon him, they set out from their homes and met together by agreement to go and sympathize with him and comfort him.
2:12 When they saw him from a distance, they could hardly recognize him; they began to weep aloud, and they tore their robes and sprinkled dust on their heads.
2:13 Then they sat on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights. No one said a word to him, because they saw how great his suffering was.

3:1 After this, Job opened his mouth and cursed the day of his birth.
3:2 He said:
3:3 "May the day of my birth perish, and the night it was said, 'A boy is born!'
3:4 That day-may it turn to darkness; may God above not care about it; may no light shine upon it.
3:5 May darkness and deep shadow claim it once more; may a cloud settle over it; may blackness overwhelm its light.

3:6 That night-may thick darkness seize it; may it not be included among the days of the year nor be entered in any of the months.
3:7 May that night be barren; may no shout of joy be heard in it.
3:8 May those who curse days curse that day, those who are ready to rouse Leviathan.
3:9 May its morning stars become dark; may it wait for daylight in vain and not see the first rays of dawn,
3:10 for it did not shut the doors of the womb on me to hide trouble from my eyes.

3:11 "Why did I not perish at birth, and die as I came from the womb?
3:12 Why were there knees to receive me and breasts that I might be nursed?
3:13 For now I would be lying down in peace; I would be asleep and at rest
3:14 with kings and counselors of the earth, who built for themselves places now lying in ruins,
3:15 with rulers who had gold, who filled their houses with silver.

3:16 Or why was I not hidden in the ground like a stillborn child, like an infant who never saw the light of day?
3:17 There the wicked cease from turmoil, and there the weary are at rest.
3:18 Captives also enjoy their ease; they no longer hear the slave driver's shout.
3:19 The small and the great are there, and the slave is freed from his master.
3:20 "Why is light given to those in misery, and life to the bitter of soul,

3:21 to those who long for death that does not come, who search for it more than for hidden treasure,
3:22 who are filled with gladness and rejoice when they reach the grave?
3:23 Why is life given to a man whose way is hidden, whom God has hedged in?
3:24 For sighing comes to me instead of food; my groans pour out like water.
3:25 What I feared has come upon me; what I dreaded has happened to me.

3:26 I have no peace, no quietness; I have no rest, but only turmoil."
  1. 2nd March 2024

    Hello Paul…an old friend writing from St Luke’s days…so enjoyed last Sunday’s message…have just lost a very dear aunt and needed your encouraging and reassuring words…she was a believer ,suffered horribly… died peacefully eventually thank God.

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