Jesus Wept (John 11) George Rickert Funeral
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Today we are here to celebrate and remember the life of George Rickert.
A Husband, a Father, and a brother to us all in Christ.
Who has now gone to be with Christ, His Lord and Savior.
It seems like it was just the other day that I met with George, Gerry, and Ryan at the Dockside restaurant in Breezy,
After they had been attending Eagles Nest for a few weeks.
And right away I noticed that George was a pretty smiley guy.
Which was nice, because not everybody is!
But George definitely was.
Now sure, some of that might be personality,
But I’m convinced a big part of that wasn’t just personality,
Because I think a big part of it was the joy George had as a born-again follower of Jesus Christ.
Which the only reason we can have any hope today in face of such painful suffering and loss.
And yet, even though we have hope,
Only a fool would say we shouldn’t grieve.
Which is why the Apostle Paul writes:
13 But we do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep, that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.
When it comes to grieving, but not as those without hope,
This is actually something we see in our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, in John chapter 11,
where Jesus receives word from his close friends Mary and Martha that their brother Lazarus is sick and dying.
And though Jesus loved and cared deeply for Lazarus and his sisters,
He doesn’t do what you expect Him to do.
Not at all!
Instead of coming right away and healing Lazarus, just as Jesus healed countless others during His earthly ministry,
He intentionally waits before coming to see him.
In fact, in verse 4, Jesus tells His disciples not worry, because:
John 11:4 (ESV)
4 … “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”
So Jesus then waits for two full days before even starting in Lazarus’s direction,
And after that, He then tells His disciples in verse 11 that it is time to go see Lazarus, because Lazarus had fallen asleep, and Jesus is going to wake him up.
But the disciples aren’t understanding Jesus,
and so they say: Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.”
After all if you’re sick - sleep is one of the things you need the most - so let the poor man sleep!
But Jesus wasn’t talking about natural sleep
No, He was using sleep as a euphemism for death.
And so in verse 14, Jesus says:
John 11:14–15 (ESV)
14 … “Lazarus has died, 15 and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
OK, so what’s going on here is that Jesus seems to have intentionally and carefully planned for Lazarus to die
so that He could raise him from the dead.
and we’ve given two reasons so far for why:
First, that God might be glorified,
And secondly, that it might lead others to faith in Christ.
So Jesus and His disciples finally arrive,
But by the time they do, Lazarus has already been in the tomb for four days.
And by day four, you’re not just dead - you’re really dead.
In fact, in Jewish tradition during this time,
it was commonly believed that the soul (or spirit) hovered near the body for three days after death, hoping to reenter it.
But after the third day,
the soul was thought to depart permanently,
as decomposition began, marking the person as fully and irrevocably dead.
So Jesus shows up on day 4, just to make sure no one would doubt that Lazarus’s resurrection was legitimate.
So as Jesus approaches,
Martha runs out to meet Him,
And says: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died!”
and then says: “Even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”
And Jesus responds saying: “Your brother will rise again.”
But Martha knows that, and says in verse 24, “I know that he will again in the resurrection on the last day.”
And her point is, she wants Lazarus resurrected now - just just on the last day.
And then Jesus gives us a profound truth!
In verse 25 it reads:
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
And that’s the profound question we must ask.
Do we believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life?
And that a “Sure” answer.
You cannot answer that question that way.
Let me illustrate why.
When it comes to trusting in Jesus as the resurrection the life,
It’s a lot like falling off a cliff.
Which I wouldn’t recommend.
But stay with me,
Image there you are, falling off a cliff,
And you look out of the corner of your eye and you see a root hanging out of the cliff,
And you think: “I wonder if that cliff can hold me… sure…. maybe….”
Are you saved from falling off the cliff?
No!
Of course not!
And that’s because you’re only saved if you’re “sure, maybe” answer turns into a “yes, I believe and trust” answer.
Into, a “Yes, I’m going to put my trust in that branch and grab onto it with all of my might.”
Sure, you might still have some doubts - who honestly doesn’t?
But if those doubts prevent you from trusting and grabbing that branch, you’re lost.
And in verse 24, we see the kind of response we need to have when it comes to trusting in Jesus as the resurrection and the life,
24 Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
So Jesus then continues on to the house,
He meets Mary, who falls at His feet and also says: “Lord if you had been here my brother would not have died.”
Then in verse 33 we read:
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34 And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” 35 Jesus wept. 36 So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”
That’s remarkable!
Think about this with me for a minute.
Jesus is moments away from raising Lazarus from the dead...
Just moments away.
And so His response seems quite odd considering He not only planned for Lazarus’s death
But also planned to raise him from the dead.
And yet,
The text tells us that “Jesus was deeply moved” and that “He wept.”
So why would Jesus react this way?
Do you see why?
It’s because our God is not indifferent to our suffering or our loss.
He cares… and He cares immensely!
In fact, it says again that as Jesus approached Lazarus’s tomb He was “deeply moved again”
Which I think is one of the worst translations in the entire English Bible.
The Greek word here is the word em-bree-MAH-oh-my (ἐμβριμάομαι)
Which means, “to “groan,” “snort with anger,” or “bellow” with rage.”
Which means that Jesus is absolutely furious with emotion towards the death of His friend
He’s bellowing with rage, like a roaring hurt lion.
But what is He roaring at?
He’s roaring at death itself.
Jesus doesn’t just say, “Look, you better get used to it. Death is a natural part of life! – Everybody dies!”
No. He doesn’t do dare that.
Jesus is looking squarely in the face of our greatest nightmare—the loss of life and loved ones—and He’s enraged by it!
Do you see what this means for us?
it means that God isn’t indifferent to our suffering!
He’s not!
He’s enraged with emotion about it, like a hurt and roaring lion!
And so while the Bible doesn’t ever tell us the ultimate reason why God allows suffering and death,
it tells us something so much better,
it tells us the reason it can’t be!
It can’t be because God doesn’t love us!
How do we know that?
Not only because of Jesus’s response here,
But because of Jesus’s ultimate response to sin and death,
Which was to face the agonies of the cross, so He could defeat sin and death once and for all,
So that He could be resurrection and the life for whoever believes in him.
Yes, they will still die, but through Him, they shall live!
I’ve spent a good portion of my life studying the various world religions,
And I can tell you, there’s absolutely NOTHING like this in any of them.
For in Christianity and Christianity alone,
do we find a God who enters into our suffering to face its full blow so that we wouldn’t have to.
The Bible makes it clear,
Our sin created a debt, and it was a debt that demanded payment:
The Bible says, “For the wages of sin is death but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord!”
and yet, Jesus lived the life we should have lives, and then died the death that deserve,
so that we might live,
and He didn’t do this out of some reluctant obligation,
He did this out of His incredible love for us!
And the cross proved it once and for all, that God is really on our side.
Hearing about God’s great love for us and how far He was willing to go to save us can move us emotionally and sometimes even bring us to tears.
But hear me when I say, that unless it draws you into a relationship with Him it won’t do anything for us.
We must grab hold of His love,
Just as the person falling off a cliff must grab hole of that branch.
We aren’t simply talking about living a good life or being a moral person – that’s not Christianity and that’s not the message of Jesus - Not at all!
Instead, the message of Jesus it not about what we have to do to find God,
it’s a love story about what God has already done for us so that we can be with Him.
Which means that all of our religious & moral effort must lead us to the vital moment when we turn to God in faith & say:
“God, you must do this, for I cannot - My moral achievements outside of Christ are for naught - But filthy rags before you they lay - Repulsive, reviling, insulting are they - And so I surrender my all to you - Trusting by faith that your promises are true”
How do we do that?
How do we grab the root and be saved?
As Romans chapter 10 says :
Romans 10:9–13 (ESV)
9 … if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. 10 For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved. 11 For the Scripture says, “Everyone who believes in him will not be put to shame.” 12 For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; for the same Lord is Lord of all, bestowing his riches on all who call on him. 13 For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.”
When Paul says, “You will be saved.”
It’s not a metaphor,
and it isn’t make believe or wishful thinking.
It salvation from sin, death, and hell
it is PHYSICAL bodily resurrection from the dead,
Not to live in some spiritual heaven on puffy clouds playing harps.
It’s physical resurrection to life on this very planet!
And it comes to us as a gift that is available to all who trust in Jesus Christ, the son of the living God as their Lord & Savior.
When Jesus Christ rose again on the 3rd day,
which was an announcement to all of the world that God truly does love us,
that death has been defeated,
and the grave had been overcome!
And if that’s not a reason to be a perpetually smiley guy, just like George was,
Then I don’t know what is.
9 But, as it is written, “What no eye has seen, nor ear heard, nor the heart of man imagined, what God has prepared for those who love him”—
Amen