The Resurrection and the Life

300 Illustrations for Preachers Sickness and Death Can’t Be Avoided Forever

The cover of Time magazine for June 22, 2009, has the photo of a hospital bed with the caption above in a bold red box: “How Not To End Up Here.” The subtitle at the bottom of the page says, “It’s All About Prevention.”

The cover story is about avoiding getting sick, thus preventing the cost of expensive treatments. The truth, however, is that while we may delay the sick bed or the deathbed, no one can avoid them forever.

-Jesus offers us eternal life through faith in Him

I. Jesus Challenges Martha to Believe vv. 17-27

In our passage this morning, tragedy has struck. Jesus was notified that a friend, Lazarus was sick. Jesus delayed coming to Bethany and was too late. Lazarus was dead.

On the road, Martha, one of Lazarus’s sisters goes to Jesus

This is not a total surprise. She is a doer, who busied herself with work when Jesus was at their house (see Luke 10)

She greets Jesus with great sorrow, but a bit of hope: God will do anything that Jesus asks

She dares to believe, but she won’t even say what she really desires

This seems like too much to ask!

Jesus challenges her to clarify her belief:

This is not just about a future hope of a new life for Lazarus some day in the future

This is about a new life for Lazarus on this day

How can we find hope?

Through an eternal life that overcomes and transcends death; though we die in the flesh we will certainly live again!

By faith, trusting in Jesus who is the Resurrection; our new life is found in Him

In Christ, who defeats death and becomes the beginning, the firstfruits of the Resurrection

This eternal life is yours, if you will believe in Jesus!

1 Corinthians 15:20–26

[20] But in fact Christ has been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. [21] For as by a man came death, by a man has come also the resurrection of the dead. [22] For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive. [23] But each in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, then at his coming those who belong to Christ. [24] Then comes the end, when he delivers the kingdom to God the Father after destroying every rule and every authority and power. [25] For he must reign until he has put all his enemies under his feet. [26] The last enemy to be destroyed is death. (ESV)

On one occasion Michelangelo, the great artist, turned on his fellow artists in a spirit of indignation. He said: “Why do you keep filling gallery after gallery with endless pictures on the one theme of Christ in weakness, Christ on the Cross, and most of all, Christ hanging dead? Why do you concentrate on the passing episode as if it were the last work, as if the curtain dropped on Him with disaster and defeat? That dreadful scene lasted…a few hours. But to the unending eternity, Christ is alive; the stone has been rolled away and He rules and reigns and triumphs!”

II. Jesus Calms Mary in Grief vv. 28-37

Mary, Martha’s sister has remained in the house, but now Jesus calls her to Him

She is a different personality. While Martha was busy serving Jesus, Mary enjoyed His presence

I don’t think that it’s accidental that she needs and receives the presence of Jesus in this moment

Martha was challenged to believe; Mary was comforted by presence

This is always one of the most moving moments in the ministry of Jesus:

Mary comes to Him, with a crowd following behind

All of them are weeping for Lazarus and his sisters, while Mary collapses at Jesus’s feet

How will Jesus respond to their grief?

He is deeply moved, even troubled in HIs spirit

This is not out of ignorance, for He knows that He is about to raise Lazarus from the dead

Instead, it is an act of deep empathy for someone He loved and sorrow for one who has suffered

Jesus joins Mary in her grief and does something deeply human: He weeps!

Matthew 5:4

[4] “Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted. (ESV)

-Jesus is able to proclaim this promise because He will be the One to keep it!

III. Jesus Calls Lazarus to New Life vv. 38-44

Jesus makes a bold move; He goes to the grave of Lazarus and commands the people to open it

Martha, ever practical warns Jesus. He will stink by now, the scene is one of decay and despair. The smell of death surrounds it.

Jesus then offers a slight reprimand: The only way to see the glory of God will be to open the tomb!

How does Jesus reveal the glory of God here?

He does it publicly, so that others can know that He has been sent by God, so that they will believe in Him!

He does it with a call to live:

Lazarus is made alive

Lazarus is invited out of the grave and into a new life

It’s quite a scene. Lazarus is still bound by grave clothes when he comes out

It is time to take off the grave clothes

It is time to truly live!

Jesus is calling you to life! Will you answer?

A pensioner who turned 85 today hopes to outlive his grandchildren with a place in cryogenic storage at a US facility.

Alan Sinclair plans to go into deep freeze in a tank at the Cryonics Institute (CI) in Michigan after his clinical death.

He is signed up to an expanding scheme where patients from around the world are ‘suspended’ in liquid nitrogen at -196C.

If the grandfather’s ‘best bet’ on the cryopreservation method pays off, he may one day live beyond the youngest generations of his family — none of whom is signed up to the £22,990 scheme.

‘It’s just another birthday, I’d prefer not to be 85 but I can’t alter that,’ he said. ‘Coming out of suspension at 185 or 1085 is a good idea but like anyone else going into suspension, there is no guarantee.

‘For me, it’s the only possible chance you’ve got of coming back, as I quite like life and you are not going to come back if you are eaten by worms. There’s even less chance if you are burnt.

‘Being frozen with the hope that science will some day allow you to be woken up is the best bet.’