THE SHOUTS OF JESUS

Part One

Jesus’ Power Over Death

 By Michael K. Farrar, O.D.

© God’s Breath Publications

 

This series called “The Shouts of Jesus” will cover the three specific instances recorded in scripture where Jesus did not just speak words; but shouted them loudly. We will see that in these scriptures each “shout” demonstrates a specific ministry to mankind; His power over death, His payment for our sin and His provision for His Church. While Jesus may have shouted numerous times during his life we only see three instances recorded in scripture that specifically state that He shouted loudly. We will see that this triad of shouts; are intimately tied together in the ministry of Jesus to mankind. We will also discover that two of these “shouts of Jesus” occur in past history and one shout will occur in the future yet to come.

 

For the most part, shouting is often deemed rude, abusive and irritating, that is until you consider situations that warrant shouting. When there is danger, sometimes shouting is the only thing that can warn others of impending doom or injury. When it is necessary to emphasize the significant importance of an instruction in training that could save a life; it would be appropriate to shout, such as in the armed forces of a superior officer training recruits. Shouting can also be used in speaking situations to emphasize a point of truth or a significant concept that must be grasped for someone’s personal benefit.

 

While Jesus may have shouted numerous times during his life we only see three instances recorded in scripture that specifically state that He shouted loudly. We will see that this “triad of shouts” are intimately tied together in the ministry of Jesus to mankind. My focus in this series is to show the significance of each shout expressed by Jesus at the specific time it is spoken and how it relates not only to His earthly ministry, but also the eternal will of God for mankind.

 

In John chapter 10 we see that Jesus was walking in the temple in the portico of Solomon. Jews gathered around Him and asked Him if He was the “Christ.” During His answer he states, “I and the Father are one.” This enrages the Jews because Jesus is claiming to be God and as a result they attempt to stone Him to death. Though they attempt to seize Him, Jesus eludes their grasp and He travels to Jordan to the place where John the Baptist was first baptizing. John records for us in the first ten chapters of His book almost three years of the life and ministry of Jesus. The next chapters of the book of John record the last few weeks of the life of Jesus.

 

I would encourage you to follow along in John 11 as I discuss this first shout of Jesus. We learn in John chapter 11 that while Jesus is in Jordan that a beloved friend of Jesus becomes deathly ill. His friend’s name is Lazarus (a common name); who is the brother of Mary (who had anointed Jesus with expensive Spikenard perfume) and Martha her sister. Martha and Mary send messengers to Jesus to inform Him of Lazarus’ serious illness. Jesus responds to their message by saying to the messengers and His disciples that, “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” This statement explains why Jesus does not leave immediately to minister to His friend Lazarus whom He loves deeply. He is doing His Father’s will by waiting so that the events that are yet to take place will strengthen the faith of His followers in God the Father.

 

Here we see it illustrated to us that there are some storms of life that take place that God allows in order to bring Himself glory. His glory might be manifested in the miraculous way He answers prayer through divine intervention or it may be in the way we grow in faith through the storm we are going through as we rely upon the Holy Spirit and the prayers of others.

 

There are two other reasons we face hard times in life. First, we must remember that we live in a fallen world and bad things can happen due to evil individuals and the curse put upon creation because of the sin of mankind. Secondly, it is also true at times that we bring storms into our life because of our own actions of sin or unwise decisions. When storms happen for any of these reasons, we can always seek to bring God glory in the situation, by trusting in His provision, relying upon His power to sustain us and allowing others to minister to us. Pastor Herschel York tells us that, “If my joy is rooted in my comfort, then my joy cannot last. But if my joy is rooted in God’s glory, then my joy cannot leave!” This is true no matter what hardships we face in life and no matter the cause of them. We must always seek to live in the midst of difficulties with a joy grounded in bringing God glory.

 

Jesus waits two days before He informs His disciples that He wishes to leave for Bethany to minister to Lazarus. They protest this action because Jesus was threatened to be stoned to death by the Jews in this area. Jesus shares that He must minister as God directs through His will when He is called. He uses an illustration of walking in the daylight (obeying the Lord when called to do so) versus avoiding walking in the dark of night (when God wishes you to not to move forward). Jesus apparently confuses His disciples by stating that Lazarus has fallen asleep and that He is called to go awake Him. The disciples do not understand and want Jesus to let Lazarus rest in his sleep so that he may recover from his illness. The issue here is that Jesus is speaking in spiritual concepts that apparently the disciples do not understand. Jesus knows that Lazarus has already died and that his body is simply “sleeping” waiting for future resurrection and his spirit is in the care of God. Jesus finally has to speak on the level of the disciples and tells them that Lazarus has died. We often see this issue with followers of Christ and His disciples. They accept Him as their teacher, but without the Holy Spirit living within them to explain His teaching they are relying only upon their fleshly reasoning abilities. We will see this again when Jesus meets Martha and Mary.

 

DOCTRINAL NOTE: When we die and our body “sleeps” waiting for the resurrection on the Day of Christ, this is NOT the belief of “soul sleep.” The body is sleeping, not the spirit. When Christians die, their spirit exits their body to go be with Jesus Christ in Heaven. The body waits for the return of Christ where it will be transformed into a glorified body and be reunited with the spirit of the person that has been in the presence of God in Heaven since physical death.) It is also interesting that our word for Cemetery comes from a Greek word meaning sleep; Cemetery means “a place of sleep.” But it is sleep of the physical body, not the spirit.

 

Jesus also states, “Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe, but let us go to him.” Here we see divine knowledge of the purpose behind the death of Lazarus as well as the reason Jesus waits two days until deciding to travel to Bethany.

 

We find out later in John 11 that Lazarus apparently died soon after the messengers were sent by Mary and Martha to inform Jesus. If we do the math; we come up with Lazarus being in the grave for four days. It took the messengers a day’s journey to reach Jesus. Jesus waited two days before leaving for Bethany and it would take a He and his disciples a day’s journey to reach Lazarus’ tomb. This explains the statement in John 11:17; that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days.

 

Because Jesus’ relationship with His Father was so intimate, He knew the purpose behind the death of Lazarus was “for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it” (John 11:4). It is also possible that Jesus waited four days before coming to Bethany to make sure it was clear to everyone, especially the Jews, that Lazarus was absolutely and verifiably dead.

 

The Jews did not embalm their dead or stop decay; unlike Egyptians who did everything they could to preserve the corpse. It was Jewish practice to wrap the dead body in a plain white cotton burial shroud, which they sprinkled with spices to reduce the smell of the decaying body. John MacArthur gives us details as to what takes place once the body is placed in the tomb.

 

“Here’s what happens in four days, pretty grisly stuff.  The heart has stopped beating.  The body cells are then deprived of oxygen, and they begin to die.  Blood drains from throughout the circulatory system and pools in the low places.  Muscles begin to stiffen in what is known commonly by the Latin, rigor mortis.  That sets in after three hours. By 24 hours, the body has lost all its heat.  The muscles then lose their rigor mortis in 36 hours, and by 72 hours rigor mortis has vanished.  All stiffness is gone and the body is soft.  Looking a little bit deeper, as cells begin to die, bacteria go to work.  Your body is filled with bacteria, but that’s another subject.  The bacteria in the body of a dead person begin to attack, breaking the cells down.  The decomposing tissue takes on a horrific look and smell and emits green liquids by the 72nd hour.  The tissue releases hydrogen sulfide and methane as well as other gases.  A horrible smell is emitted.  Insects and animals will consume parts of the body if they can get at it.”

 

Another possible reason that Jesus wished to wait four days to substantiate the veracity of the death of Lazarus was the influence on people of a Jewish superstition. Some imaginative Jews believed that a person’s spirit lingered near the dead body the first three days after death. Waiting a full four days would not only prove Lazarus was absolutely dead and his body had begun to decay, but that any such erroneous superstitions of the Jews could also be dispelled.

 

We now come to the first recorded instance of Jesus loudly shouting which can be found in John chapter 11. We start in verse 17.

John 11:17-44

“17 So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off; 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. 20 Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went to meet Him, but Mary stayed at the house. 21 Martha then said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 “Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I have believed that You are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.”

 

Martha was a very informed and astute follower of Jesus. Her faith told her that if Jesus had been present before her brother Lazarus had died He could and would have prevented her brother’s death. Her faith was strong and she continued speaking to Jesus stating, “Even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” Jesus knowing what God has empowered Him to do replies to her saying, “Your brother will rise again.” Mary responds by saying, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus again responds knowing what His Father is leading Him to do, to bring glory to God His Father and Himself as well. “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?” Martha responds with appropriate faith and knowledge trusting in Her Lord, but still unaware of what He is about to do. We would probably respond in like manner if we were Martha. There are powers and miracles that God can do that are beyond our comprehension. While we believe as followers of Christ that God is all-powerful, how often do we find doubt in our heart and mind or question the omniscience of our Lord?

 

Martha leaves Jesus and runs to her sister Mary whom she knows loves Jesus; for she is the woman who had anointed Jesus feet with the very expensive oil of Spikenard in an act of worship earlier in Jesus’ ministry.

 

“28 When she had said this, she went away and called Mary her sister, saying secretly, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” 29 And when she heard it, she got up quickly and was coming to Him.”

 

Mary quickly leaves to meet Jesus.

 

“30 Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met Him. 31 Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and consoling her, when they saw that Mary got up quickly and went out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32 Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled.”

 

Jesus was still outside of the village near where he had met Martha. Mary hurried to where Jesus was and the Jews who had been consoling Mary and Martha followed her. When Mary meets Jesus, she falls at His feet weeping and almost verbatim states the same thoughts that her sister Martha had shared, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Jesus’ response to the weeping Mary and the mournful crowd is curious when we evaluate how the original language communicates it. Various translations state that Jesus was;

 

“deeply moved”(NASB, NIV),

“groaned”(NKJV),

“deeply moved in spirit and troubled. [He chafed in spirit and sighed and was disturbed.]”(AMP),

“moved with indignation and deeply troubled.”(Living Bible)

“a deep anger welled up within him.”(Message)

“moved with indignation in His spirit, and deeply troubled himself.”(Wuest Expanded NT)

 

The Greek words for Jesus’ demeanor and response to everyone weeping at the death of Lazarus are first “embrimaomai” which means; to snort with anger; to have indignation on, to blame, groan, murmur against. It includes the connotation of anger, outrage or indignation. The other word is “tarasso” meaning to stir or agitate.” There is debate over how to interpret Jesus’ response to the people and their reaction to the death. Jesus possibly appears to be angry over the painful reality of death before Him as mourners cry tears of sadness over the loss of their family member and friend. We can only guess as to the extent and variety of deep emotions Jesus experienced in this situation. He may be disturbed by the effects that death has on people so close to Him as they respond to the loss of a loved one. The sin of Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden initiated the curse of death on mankind and here in living color Jesus witnesses the grief and mourning that such a punishment causes. Jesus may have been righteously angry at the effect of death on those He loved. One holy purpose for His ministry to mankind was to defeat the curse of death. Another possibility as well is that Jesus was also angry and displeased with the mourners who were acting like pagan unbelievers who had no hope in God or Himself to intervene in the situation. Whatever the case, Jesus will soon be overwhelmed with emotion even more.

 

“34 and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews were saying, “See how He loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not this man, who opened the eyes of the blind man, have kept this man also from dying?”

 

Jesus asks, “Where have you laid him?” Jesus is told to come and see the tomb where the family has laid the body of Lazarus. We are told at this point that Jesus begins to weep. Here we see the deep compassion of Jesus for those who are grieving the loss of someone they love. Here we see the humanity of Jesus as He weeps. Jesus weeps for those who are mourning and He weeps for what Lazarus has experienced as well, even though He knows He is about to raise Lazarus from the grave. He possibly weeps because He is to raise Lazarus from the grave, He knows Lazarus will have to experience death once again. This expression of emotion communicates to us that even though Jesus was in complete control of the events that are taking place, He is not distant from the emotions associated with such a situation. His divine love for His friends and followers reflects the love His Father has for them as well. This divine love is also expressed towards us by the Holy Spirit who lives within us as followers of Christ when we face hardship and trauma in life.

 

As we move to the next verse we see it reemphasized that Jesus is once again deeply moved as He comes upon the tomb of Lazarus.

 

“38 So Jesus, again being deeply moved within, came to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.”

 

As I mentioned earlier, the Jews did not perform any type of embalming to preserve the body so the odor of the decaying corpse would attract scavenging animals. For this reason the bodies of the dead would be placed in tombs with stones rolled in front of the opening to prevent such animals from disturbing the bodies of dead loved ones. It may also have served to keep thieves from raiding the tombs in case gifts were left in memorial.

 

“39 Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” Martha, the sister of the deceased, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.”

 

Jesus instructs the stone in front of the entrance to the tomb be removed but Martha protests. She states that the horrible stench from the decaying body will be unbearable for not only Jesus but everyone else present.

 

Jesus does not cease in His efforts to fulfill the will of His Father in Heaven. He states,

 

“40 Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”41a So they removed the stone.”

 

After the stone is removed, Jesus gazes into the heavens and prays to His Heavenly Father. We have seen Jesus’ humanity as He weeps. Soon we will see His divinity as He raises Lazarus from the grave.

 

“41b Then Jesus raised His eyes, and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42 “I knew that You always hear Me; but because of the people standing around I said it, so that they may believe that You sent Me.”

 

Jesus did not have to pray out loud for His Father to hear Him, but He did it so others could witness His intimate relationship with God. In His prayer Jesus shares some important truths with those around Him. First, He verifies that His Father has heard Him. This communicates to those present that God can hear their prayers as well. It tells us today that God hears us too. Jesus also prays aloud to verify that God has sent Him to do the will of His Heavenly Father and this includes the raising of Lazarus from the grave as we are about to see. This miraculous act He is about to do will again, verify that God has sent Jesus to do the work of His Heavenly Father.

 

Now comes the first SHOUT of Jesus recorded in scripture. It is a Holy shout to demonstrate the power of God to raise the dead from the grave. It is a loud command by God’s Holy Son to demonstrate His purity and power, His power over death and the grave. It is an authoritative order for nature to obey Jesus. Jesus created the entire Universe and the laws that govern the operation of it. This shout is a demonstration of power that verifies that Jesus is the sinless Son of God and death has no hold on those He loves.

 

43 When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth.” 44 The man who had died came forth, bound hand and foot with wrappings, and his face was wrapped around with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

 

Jesus’ SHOUT is simple and to the point. There is no elaboration of verbose words. Just a simple “Lazarus, come Forth.” Some have said that Jesus spoke the name of Lazarus specifically so that it would prevent everyone in the graveyard from coming back to life. That may possibly be true, but it might also simply be that Jesus was there for Lazarus and his family to do the will of God. He wanted everyone present to know that God wished to bring this miracle specifically to this family and as a witness to God’s power. This miraculous action brought glory to God and His Son Jesus Christ. It also brought verification to the faith of those present who believed in Jesus. It also set in motion the movement of religious leaders to plan the death of Jesus. This was no surprise to Jesus for He knew why He was on the earth. He had always known that His purpose was to glorify God and die for the sins of mankind. His calling was sure. His determination and commitment to His Father was tenacious. The depth of His love for mankind was infinite. His purity and holiness was spotless, which qualified only Him for the act of dying for the sins of all men and women.

 

This shout of Jesus demonstrates for us His power over death. It is an example of what God will do with our bodies after we die if we have accepted Jesus as our Lord and Savior. There is one difference between us and Lazarus though. Lazarus would eventually die again; and he will not be raised again until the return of Jesus on the Day of Christ. On that day another shout of Jesus will be heard. But that is covered in the last of this three-part series.