Of Life

Jesus Prevails Over Death

3.22.26 [John 11:17-43] River of Life (5th Sunday in Lent)

When someone is dying, we expect their loved ones to drop everything and see them. Of course, there are circumstances when that’s just not possible, but it remains the predominant expectation. Drop everything and do whatever it takes to get there and see them. 

Of course, if you’ve lost a loved one or two, you know that that doesn’t always happen. Sometimes, it’s a matter of circumstances. The death is too sudden. The loved ones are too far away or in no condition to travel. But that’s not always the case. 

Sometimes, people don’t rush to the sides of their dying friends or family—even when they physically could. In those situations, the culprit is typically one of two things. Either it’s a frayed, tense relationship with someone else who might be in the room, or it’s the fear of being vulnerable. Watching someone die is stressful & painful. The finality is frightening. So many people don’t know what to say, what to do, or how to process the whole ordeal as it’s happening. So they avoid it altogether. We may not respect that way of dealing with death, but we can understand it from some people. But not all. 

We wouldn’t understand if the doctor in the family didn’t draw near. Even if there is nothing they can do, we’d expect them to be there. 

At the beginning of John 11, we are told that a beloved friend of Jesus’, Jn. 11:1 a man named Lazarus was sick. His sisters sent word to Jesus. Jn. 11:3 Lord, the one you love is sick.

His response was remarkably optimistic. Jesus declared Jn. 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. While this was good news, it’s not exactly what Mary and Martha were hoping for when they sent word to Jesus about Lazarus. They were respectfully requesting Jesus to come and miraculously heal their brother. But he didn’t. He stayed right where he was for two more days. Then, without any word coming from Bethany, Jesus told his disciples what had happened. Jn. 11: 14 Lazarus is dead. Let us go to him. 

That’s where our text picks up this morning. And it helps us understand Mary and Martha’s grief and disappointment. These women were sisters, but, as is often the case, that doesn’t mean they thought or acted the same. 

In Luke 10, these women are hosting Jesus and his disciples in their home. Martha is the task-oriented type. Mary is a people person. Mary preferred to sit at Jesus’ feet and listen to him teach, while Martha was getting everything ready in their home as the hostess.  

That glimpse into their personalities matches what we see here. Martha is assertive, going out to meet Jesus. Mary is more contemplative, staying at home with the many mourners. 

In these two sisters, we observe different, but typical ways of processing grief and loss. Despite their different ways of working through the death of their brother, they are on the same page when it comes to Jesus. They’ve been talking about the response they got back from Jesus and his absence. It’s likely Jesus’ response this sickness won’t end in death came to the sisters on the same day Lazarus died. You can understand why they both said: Jn. 11:21,32  Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Were they angry? Were they disappointed? Were they confused? The Bible doesn’t tell us, but any or all of these reactions would be reasonable. 

Almost every single believer has been here before. Almost every single Christian has experienced the waves of emotions and the swelling of doubt when going through a painful ordeal like this. It doesn’t have to be the death of a loved one. Any deep loss will provoke this kind of pain and grief. Maybe we lose a lifelong friend for speaking God’s truth or political issues. Perhaps it’s a long, drawn-out struggle with a chronic illness or some undiagnosed condition. Our pain might come from financial ruin or family drama. Our sorrow might stem from a series of prayers that feel unheard. But nothing matches the sting of death. In all those other cases, it feels like there’s still hope. But death feels final. 

In some cases, we react to loss like Martha. We are assertive. We take our confusion, our disappointment, and our anger right to God. We think and say things to God that start with the phrase if you had….and end with the conclusion this would not have happened. We grapple with God’s promises and how they have not produced the circumstances we expected. What we know about God doesn’t seem to match what we see in this world or what we experience in our lives. 

In other cases, we may withdraw as Mary did. We look for comfort in other places. We wallow for more than a little while. There may even be a part of us that doesn’t really want to hear from God for a while. 

But this story doesn’t just show us how people respond to pain and loss. We don’t need the Bible to tell us that. The Bible reveals how God responds to pain and loss and even death. Listen carefully. 

Jn. 11: 5-6 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. That’s a hard truth for us to handle. God’s love for his people does not mean that he protects his people from suffering any kind of loss. God does not shelter his own from experiencing sorrow. God does not even prevent the death of his people. Instead, as we see, God prevails over death for his people. 

But, before we jump to the dramatic and powerful conclusion to this story, I want you to see what Jesus does in the middle for the ones he loves. 

For type-A Martha, Jesus lays before her the power, the love, and the promises of God. Jn. 11:23 Your brother will rise again. That alone was reason enough to not grieve without hope. But Jesus expands her hope. Jn. 11:25 I am the resurrection and the life. Your brother, and you, and anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die. Jn. 11:26 And whoever lives by believing in me will never die. In asking her a series of questions, Jesus was dealing tenderly with the bruised reed of Martha’s faith. He wanted her to recognize that anger over death, disappointment in losing her brother, were not faithless responses. 

For type-B Mary, Jesus takes a different tack. Jesus does not chide her for not going out to meet him. But he also does not give Mary the same response he gave Martha. When he saw her weeping, Jn. 11:33 he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. Jn. 11:35 Jesus wept with her. 

He knew what he was going to do. He knew that in three short words, he would turn her grief to joy. He knew that this sickness would not end in death, as he had promised. He knew that God would be glorified through what he was about to do in Bethany. But he still wept. 

He wept because God takes no pleasure in death. It was not the way he designed this world to work. It was not what he wanted for his own people. Yet, death is what he chose for himself. For his beloved. 

God did not prevent the death of his one and only Son, but instead God prevailed over death for his people. That is the glory of God. 

When the time had fully come, God sent his Son into a world of sin and death. When the set time had arrived, God sent his Son into a world that had been ravaged by the prince of darkness, the father of lies. God saw mankind dying in sin, and dropped everything and did something about it. The one who is the resurrection and the life endured crucifixion and death so that whoever believes in him would live and never die. 

And like Martha, you believe this. You know that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who came into this world to set us free from the power of sin and death. You know that Jesus is your Substitute and your Savior. You know that God has been glorified in being lifted up on a cross and rising from the grave. You know that God triumphs over death itself. 

But you need to be reminded of this when you suffer grievous losses. Because in those moments, when you are hurting and you’re grieving, you will think and say things like If you had…then this woudn’t have happened. In those tender moments, remember this. The Great I AM is with you. He is keeping all of his promises, even when he does not keep you from grieving. He loves you even when you lose someone you love. He is powerful, even when he does not act when and where and how you would wield his power. 

He is the Resurrection. And the Resurrection holds little value to a world that is not terrorized by death. But God sent his Son into the world Heb. 2:15 to free those who have been held in lifelong slavery to their fear of death. Because God came into this world and tasted death for us, we need not fear death anymore. Christ has remodeled the grave from the pit of despair into the portal of life.  

He is the Life. He created life with his powerful Word. He sustains life i this world, by ruling all things. He gives life to us through his Word and Sacraments. He has the power to bring back to life, but more importantly, he has the power to bring us to eternal life. That is God’s glorious goal for all those he loves. 

God does not prevent death; he prevails over death. God does not protect us from any loss or pain. He gifts us what can never be lost or stolen—a treasure laid up in heaven. He blesses us with a peace that passes all understanding, surpassing even our deepest pains. We have a Savior who sympathizes with us in our weaknesses and losses. We have a Christ who consoles us and comforts us. We have a God who weeps with us, who counts our tears and values the lives of those he loves. We have a Lord who loves us more than we know.  Amen.