Holy Action

Just this last week I have seen a number of ‘famous’ people who have passed away. Eric Dane who was best known for his role on the show Grey’s Anatomy died from ALS. James Van Der Beek known for his role on Dawson’s Creek passed away from cancer. The one that probably most impacted me though was the passing of Rev. Jesse Jackson, who worked with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the Civil Rights Movement and beyond. I am also saddened by the loss of lives from the avalanche in Tahoe this last week as well. As humans we are always saddened when we hear news at the loss of life whenever or wherever it happens. I believe that is why this story of Lazarus is such a powerful one for us because we can all relate to the story and how people are feeling in it.

Not only can we relate to people like the disciples, Mary, Martha, and the mourners, but we also get a glimpse into the real humanity of Jesus in this text. One of the shortest and most loved texts about Jesus is John 11:35 “Jesus began to cry.” In Jesus’ final sign of John’s gospel not only do we get the most powerful sign, raising someone from the dead, which emphasizes the divinity of Jesus, we also get one of the most powerful human emotions that Jesus shows. Jesus cries, or weeps for the loss of life of his friend Lazarus. I believe it is at this moment where we can truly see Jesus as the human he was. Which is kind of ironic because the gospels are all about trying to convince the world he is the Son of Man, that he is divine. At the same time we read them we know he’s divine and we look for the glimpses of his human side. Regardless, we see Jesus share the same basic human emotion, sorrow at the loss of life.

However, this moment of crying is bookended by another phrase that makes us wonder what it is that Jesus is feeling and going through as he prepares to raise his friend Lazarus. I say bookended because our gospel writer John says the same phrase twice. In John 11:33 “When Jesus saw her crying and the Jews who had come with her crying also, he was deeply disturbed and troubled.” and John 11:38 “Jesus was deeply disturbed again when he came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone covered the entrance.” Now I’m going to get very nerdy and technical for a moment because if I don’t my sermon doesn’t make any sense, so stick with me! I’ll make it fun I promise! The Greek word for deeply disturbed has some other ways to be translated. The most common and most literal of them, and I am not making this up, means, “to snort like a horse” according to Expositor’s Bible Commentary. It is a way demonstrating how angry someone is. It would like like us saying that Uncle Bob is as stubborn as a mule.

Jesus is more than just deeply moved he us upset, angry even. But now we have to answer the unasked question: what is he angry about? Is he angry at Mary and Martha for their unbelief? But if that’s the case then Jesus is dismissing Martha’s confession of faith and trust in him that we hear. Is he angry with the mourners because they don’t know that Jesus is the resurrection and the life? Maybe but, to me, Jesus doesn’t seemed concerned at all with the crowds or the leaders watching him. He is there for Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. It’s not until the actual raising of Lazarus that he acknowledges everyone else there. So we’re still left wondering what it is that makes Jesus so upset.

Each sign that Jesus performs points to something greater. Jesus is here to perform his final sign which as I mentioned at the beginning is his ultimate sign. Jesus is here to raise Lazarus from the dead. Jesus is performing a resurrection from the dead which isn’t about how powerful Jesus is, but to point to Jesus telling Martha he is the resurrection and the life. This sign is meant to show that Jesus even has the power over death and that whoever believes in him no longer has to fear death.

Jesus is upset, he’s angry, I believe, because the world lives under the shadow of sin and death. A world of sin and death wasn’t what God wanted when God began to create this world and it is something that has grieved God ever since. When Jesus sees that as a human someone he loves, a friend he calls Lazarus has fallen to the power of death he isn’t just deeply moved, he’s angry that this is how the world works. So Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead as a sign to show that God is more powerful than death and that God desires life for all people.

What makes this whole scene even more moving than it already is, is the way in which it happens. Jesus has been avoiding Jerusalem because the leaders have already been plotting to kill him if he ever comes back. At the beginning of our Lazarus story today we even hear the disciples try to stop him from going because of the threat of his own death. The very act of Jesus going to see Lazarus buried in the tomb would have probably brought about a way for the leaders to try to capture Jesus. Obviously Jesus does more than just go to see Lazarus buried, he raises him from the dead. He has now guaranteed that he has forfeited his life. Saving the life of Lazarus was the the beginning of the end of his own life. It reminds me of what Jesus will say to his friends, his disciples, just a few chapters later, John 15:12–13 “This is my commandment: love each other just as I have loved you. No one has greater love than to give up one’s life for one’s friends.”

Jesus got angry. Not because someone was mean to him or cut in front of him in line for a show. Jesus got angry because sin and death were once again claiming a life. Jesus took that anger and put it into action…into holy action. Jesus saw the ways that this world causes sorrow and pain, how the world uses fear and suffering to keep us down, and Jesus said “enough”. Jesus needs the world to know that God is a God life, that God does not desire mourning, God doesn’t delight in the things of this world that pull us down into darkness and despair. God desires light…God desires joy…God desires restored relationships…God desires life, abundant life. Know that God desires all these things for you and for this whole world. God sent God’s own son into the world so that you would know and experience the love of God in these real tangible ways. Amen.