When Jesus Seems Late: Lazarus and the Glory of God

Introduction

A friend is sick. His family sends word to Jesus. And Jesus doesn't move. He stays two more days where he is, and by the time he reaches Bethany, Lazarus has been dead four days. The stone is already in place. The smell has already started, according to Martha. Humanly speaking, it's over.

On Sunday, March 22, at Paris Grenelle, Narcisse Ipote opened John 11 before the congregation. The title the Bible itself gives this chapter, he says, is brutal: "The Death of a Friend of Jesus." And yet, from the very first verses, Jesus looks at things differently: "This sickness will not end in death. It is for the glory of God."

This sermon brings you back to a simple question: when God seems to be delaying in your life, what do you do with your faith? What if the delay wasn't what you think it is?

Sermon Outline

1. God's silence is never his absence

"Lord, the one you love is sick." The two sisters send this short, weighted message. They ask nothing, they simply state the fact. They know it will be enough. Yet Jesus stays. He waits. He lets the days pass.

Narcisse Ipote asks the question straight out: we do the same. We pray morning and evening, day after day. "Lord, Lord, Lord." And nothing changes. The unemployment drags on. The sickness stays. The family conflict settles in. You feel like the Lord is late.

But that delay is not a lack of love. It's a plan bigger than your understanding. God's silence never means his absence. Christ knew Lazarus was sick. He knew he deeply loved this family. And yet he didn't run. He didn't give in to urgency.

2. When Jesus seems to arrive too late

Four days in the tomb. In the Jewish culture of the time, this meant the soul had permanently left the body. Every human hope was extinguished. It is at this exact moment that Jesus arrives.

Martha runs to meet him and says these words: "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." The preacher points out the beauty of this statement. It's honest faith, mixed with frustration. It's real faith, but with limits. Martha believes, but she believes with an "if" and a "too late."

How often is that you? God can heal (but not me. God can open doors), but not this time. God acts (but will he act for me? Your faith is often held back by human realism), by what you see, what you calculate, what you think is possible.

3. The New Caledonia story

Narcisse Ipote then shares a personal story. In 2002, newly married, he was living in Abidjan with his wife. They met someone who lived in New Caledonia. An idea took root. They said to each other, "Let's ask the Lord for something extraordinary. Let's ask him for the grace to go live there."

They prayed every day, morning and evening. The first opportunity that opened up was Nigeria, in Lagos. "Lagos and New Caledonia are nothing alike." They went anyway. Then the Maldives. "The Lord answered our prayer," they told themselves, "as if the Lord didn't know geography." Then Singapore, for four years. "It was wild, it felt completely over."

And one day, his wife said to him, "There's an opportunity in New Caledonia. Do you want to go?" His first reaction: "The Lord answered, but too late." She replied, "No, we've been praying for this the whole time. The Lord answered at the right time, at the moment that was his moment."

The preacher draws a line that made the whole room smile: "The Lord is not Amazon. The Lord is not Uber." You don't order God with a delivery time displayed on the screen. God's timing is not your timing.

4. "I am the resurrection and the life"

Before Martha, Jesus makes one of the greatest declarations in the Gospel: "I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

Narcisse Ipote highlights the nuance. Jesus doesn't say, "I give resurrection." He says, "I am the resurrection." He's not offering a solution. He's presenting himself as the solution.

And this is where the Christian life is decided. The question today isn't: can my situation change? The question is: do I believe in the one who can change everything? That's not the same faith. One puts its trust in a hoped-for outcome. The other puts its trust in a person. Biblical faith is the second kind.

5. Jesus wept: God feels your pain

Two words. The shortest verse in the Bible. Short, but profound. Jesus is fully God, but also fully man. He took on the human condition all the way. He knows what it is to suffer. He knows what death is. He feels the loss. He feels the injustice.

God is not indifferent to your situation. When you cry, he doesn't look down on you as if to say "you're overreacting." He weeps with you. That's what should reassure you as you stand before the tomb.

6. "If you believe, you will see the glory of God"

"Take away the stone." Jesus gives the command. Martha resists: "Lord, by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been dead four days." In other words: it's really over, there's no point. And Jesus answers, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"

Narcisse Ipote brings out the radical reversal. Our logic says: I see first, then I believe. Jesus says: you believe first, then you will see. We don't see in order to believe, we believe in order to see. That's the nuance that changes everything.

In your situation today (sickness, unemployment, a personal stall, family conflict), the word stays the same: if you believe, you will see the glory of God.

7. Saved, but still bound

Lazarus comes out of the tomb. Alive. But still bound. His feet and hands wrapped in strips of linen, his face covered with a cloth. Jesus then says, "Untie him and let him go."

Narcisse Ipote sees a powerful image here. Many Christians are in that same state. Saved in Jesus Christ, but still bound. Bound by fears. Bound by habits. Bound by wounds. Bound by invisible chains that keep them from moving forward.

God doesn't just want to give you life. He wants to set you free. Free from your fears, free from your wounds, free from everything that still holds you captive even though Christ has already entered your life. The devil, for his part, does not want you to live out this freedom and this joy in Christ.

Key Takeaways

• God's silence is not his absence, it is often the setting for a plan bigger than your understanding.
• Jesus never arrives late. He arrives at the right time, the moment when his glory can be seen most clearly.
• Faith isn't placed in a hoped-for outcome, it's placed in the person of Jesus, who is the resurrection and the life.
• We don't see in order to believe; we believe in order to see. Faith comes before the manifestation.
• Being saved isn't enough, Jesus also wants to untie you from what still holds you in chains.

Personal Application

1. In what situation do you feel like Jesus is "taking too long" right now? What is happening in your heart during this wait?
2. Is your faith placed in a specific outcome (healing, an open door, a spouse, a job) or in the person of Jesus himself? What difference does that make for you practically this week?
3. Where do you believe "on the last day," like Martha, but not "right now"? What abandoned prayer could you take up again?
4. What "stone" is Jesus asking you to roll away today, even though the situation looks closed to you?
5. Are you saved but still bound? Name a specific fear, wound, or habit that still holds you, and bring it to Jesus with this prayer: "Lord, untie me and let me go."

Scriptures Cited

• John 11:1-44 · The death and resurrection of Lazarus.
• John 11:4 · "This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God."
• John 11:21-22 · "Lord, if you would have been here, my brother wouldn't have died."
• John 11:25-26 · "I am the resurrection and the life. Do you believe this?"
• John 11:35 · "Jesus wept."
• John 11:40 · "Didn't I tell you that if you believed, you would see God's glory?"
• John 11:44 · "Free him, and let him go."

FAQ

Why did Jesus wait for Lazarus to die before going to Bethany?

Jesus says it himself: "This sickness will not end in death. It is for the glory of God." His delay is not a lack of love, it's a plan bigger than human understanding. God's silence never means his absence. He waits for the moment when the display of his glory will be most visible to those around him, and for the faith of his disciples.

What does "If you believe, you will see the glory of God" mean?

Jesus reverses our logic. We want to see first and believe second. He says the opposite: faith comes before the manifestation. To believe is to trust the one who can change everything, even before the situation changes. It's not certainty about an outcome, it's trust in a person: Jesus, who is himself the resurrection and the life.

Why does Jesus ask for Lazarus to be untied after raising him?

Lazarus comes out alive, but still bound by the wrappings of the tomb. It's a picture of many believers: saved in Christ, but still chained by fears, wounds, habits. Jesus doesn't just want to give us life, he wants to set us free. "Untie him and let him go." Salvation is secured; freedom is a journey.

Conclusion

Maybe this morning, you recognized yourself in this story. Maybe you've said, like Martha: "Lord, if you had been here…" Maybe your situation looks like Lazarus's, a sickness, a closed door, an endless wait, a weary heart.

Narcisse Ipote closes with a line worth holding on to: "What you call death, He calls sleep." Jesus said, "Our friend Lazarus is asleep, and I am going there to wake him up." What you consider finished in your life, he may be calling sleep.

As long as Jesus is speaking, it isn't over. Standing before the tomb, he cried out, "Lazarus, come out." And Lazarus came out. Lazarus didn't take the first step, Jesus called him. Today, he is calling you by name. Come out of your discouragement. Come out of your invisible chains. Come out of your delay.

So the question remains, simple as ever: do you believe this?