Dharius Daniels - Did You Forget?

Sometimes you feel like God doesn’t see what’s dying, God doesn’t see what’s happening, God doesn’t see what’s going on, and God is like, «I see the situation; I just have a different interpretation than you. It’s dead to me; it’s sleep. When I get there, I’m going to wake it up.» We cannot understand the content in the Bible without understanding the context. Who was speaking? What was happening? What were they specifically addressing? Was this a broad instruction for all people throughout every period in human history, or was this specific instruction directed at a specific group of people dealing with a specific issue? Was the letter that was written in scripture proactive, or was it reactive? Was it Paul responding to issues that people were facing in the context of this new movement called Christianity? The point I’m making is context matters. You can’t understand chapter 12 without understanding chapter 11. In chapter 12, you see a woman taking expensive perfume nard and putting it on Jesus’s feet, then using her hair to wash his feet. If you only look at chapter 12, you might say, «This is obsessive. This is excessive. This is weird. This is extreme.» But don’t judge her in chapter 12 if you don’t know her story in chapter 11. In her chapter 11, her brother named Lazarus was sick, and they sent word to Jesus saying, «Jesus, we need you to come and intervene in this situation with my brother Lazarus.» They had a relationship with Jesus already—that’s how they knew how to get in touch with him—and they felt that, because of the nature of their relationship, Jesus should have responded quickly. They felt like, «God, I need you to pull up real fast. I don’t care what you’re doing; come back this way. I need you now.» And the Bible says Jesus waited. «Jesus, why aren’t you responding to my situation?» And Jesus is like, «I’m not moving in your situation at the rate you want me to because we have a different interpretation of your situation.» He says, «Watch this, ” in John 11:11. It says, „After he had said this, he went on to tell them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, and I’m going to wake him up.’“ You missed it. At this point, Lazarus was dead, so the disciples were like, „Why are we going?“ Jesus said, „He’s falling asleep; I’m going to wake him up.“ Same situation, different interpretation. Sometimes you feel like God doesn’t see what’s dying, God doesn’t see what’s happening, God doesn’t see what’s going on, and God is like, „I see the situation; I just have a different interpretation than you. It’s dead to me; it’s sleep. When I get there, I’m going to wake it up.“ I don’t know what you think is dead; I don’t know what you think is over; I don’t know what you think can’t be resurrected. I want you to know God has a different interpretation of your situation. So, Jesus says this in John 11:4: „This sickness will not end in death; no, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.“ See, I don’t like this part right here. I don’t like this part because Jesus says, „The sickness will not end in death, ” but Lazarus died. It sounds like Jesus said it wouldn’t end in death, but Lazarus died. But it didn’t. She’s like, „No, it didn’t.“ „Yes, it did; he died. It’s in the text. He was dead for four days.“ You said it would not end in death. You didn’t say it wouldn’t go through death; you said it wouldn’t end in death. By the time I’m done with it, death will not be the final condition of this situation. In other words, this reveals how God uses some things we don’t often discuss. He says, „This sickness won’t end in death; it is for God’s glory.“ Watch this: He didn’t cause the sickness, but He used the sickness to bring in glory. This is a scary part; I don’t like it because most of us in this room—right here in New Jersey and online—we want God to use us, but we don’t want Him to use us like this. „Use me, Lord, ” not like this, though, because when we say „use me, ” we often mean, „Use my gifts; I have some skills; use that. I have some knowledge; use that. I have some expertise; use that.“ But right here, God says, „I not only use your gifts; I use your life.“ And when I use your life, sometimes I let people watch you be buried. Did you hear what I just said? He said, „I will let people watch you be buried so I can make them witness your resurrection.“ Jesus gets to the tomb; I’m done; I’m out of time. Jesus gets to the tomb, and before he even arrives at Bethany, Martha runs out to meet him and says, „If you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.“ The Bible says this; it’s one of the most profound things in scripture. John 11:35 says, „Jesus wept.“ It’s like, „Number one, you’re the reason you’re late, so come on now. I know some of y’all would be petty; you would have said, ‘So, why are you crying now? ’“ Thank you; he wept. „So, you’re the reason you’re late, and two, you said you were about to wake him up, so why are you weeping?“ He’s modeling healthy grief.