Jesus is a Trustworthy Lord

John 11:20–27 ESV

So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Blessed Lord, You have caused all Holy Scriptures to be written for our learning. Grant that we may so hear them, read, mark, learn, and take them to heart that, by the patience and comfort of Your holy Word, we may embrace and ever hold fast the blessed hope of everlasting life. … through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.

Christmas season is not the time that one normally thinks of death or funerals. We are so focused on family, children, and celebrations. During this time of year, gathering together to mourn the passing of a family member or friend seems so out of place.

On December 28, John G. Chisholm passed away at the age of 76. As his obituary states, he left behind a loving wife Diane, a devoted daughter, Kimberly and and a beloved granddaughter, Martinique, along with those of you who are here today and others who desired to be here but were unable to attend. if it were up to us, short of abolishing death altogether, few of us would desire dealing with it at this time of year.

We are, however, as sad, as angry, or as frustrated as that might cause us to feel. The Chisholm family has had to suddenly shift their thoughts and plans, friends and family have had to adjust their schedules, and in a little while, the earth will have to submit to the demands of the shovel to make space to receive a body that thanks to Adam’s sin, no longer is energized by the breath of life.

There are two responses that humans commonly have to death. The closer the connection, the less likely is apathy to be a reaction, and the more intense are the feelings of sorrow, anger and defeat. A person who claims no belief in God or an after life would seemingly have no hostility towards death, and a person who feels strongly that there is more to life than this one would seemingly view death as a temporary interruption. More often than not, though, the specter of death affects people about the same. It is an enemy, an unflinching foe who steals our hopes, kills our dreams, and destroys our pretensions of power as it shows how trapped we are by sin and death.

It is a curious thing about the Christian faith that, contrary to the assumptions of some, those who profess it, if they are faithful to the historic teachings of the Church, make no claims that faith in Christ will lead to longer lives, a sin-free or a pain-free existence, or control over how we reach our end. Indeed, the central element of the Gospel is quite amazing. We proclaim that God showed His love for us, not by making our lives easy, but by entering into its harshness, its sin, its bitter sufferings and death - and that on a cross.

My father went to sleep one night and never woke up. He was a man who was well-liked and admired here, but that didn’t earn him a “good death.” It just happened that way. Some people left this life last year violently, in some cases because of sinful decisions that they made, in others because of the evil decisions of others. Some people reaped the harvest of living unhealthy lives, not taking care of their bodies, in some cases by choice, and in other cases out of economic necessity.

However we come to be in this setting, it is certain that there will come a day when we will do so. There is something else that I want you to know though. Something that is just as certain as death: The Lord Jesus Christ so identified with mankind that He took flesh, submitted to John’s baptism for repentance even though he knew no sin, experienced the rejection of those whom he came to save, and then experienced all the pain, suffering, and separation that our sin brought in to the human condition as He hung on the cross until he died.

The atheists and agnostics who deny the revelation of Genesis point to the cumulative evidence of funerals and graveyards and say that, even for Jesus, as honorable and wonderful an example and teacher as they acknowledge Him to be, that was the end of the story. the Bible says otherwise, and the preaching of the Gospel is not the message of a wonderful life of service and teaching. It is the message of the perfect Son of God, who experienced death for our sakes. Then on the third day, Jesus rose from the dead, having paid the price for sin and reconciled us to God the Father.

That is the Biblical message of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That is the reason why this gathering, while we acknowledge the reality that death means a separation for us, we also confess that, for those who believe and are baptized, as the Scripture says, they will be saved! Every Worship service, those who trust in the exceeding great and precious promises of God which are ours through our baptismal union with Christ, gather together to confess, “He is risen - He is risen indeed, Hallelujah!”

Good Friday was not the end of the life of Jesus Christ, and December 28, 2019 wasn’t the end of the life of John G. Chisholm. On Easter Sunday, Jesus Christ rose from the dead, and when He returns, John G. Chisholm, and everyone else who died in faith, will rise again. God is not a man that He should lie, or a son of man that He should change his mind. God has said it, will He not do it?

Job 19:25–26 ESV

For I know that my Redeemer lives, and at the last he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God,

This day shall pass, but tomorrow and every Sunday thereafter, Diane and her brothers and sisters in Christ will be reminded that another day is coming. Tomorrow, Diane will be part of the Household of faith that hears Christ’s Word of forgiveness and fellowship in His Body and Blood. Tomorrow, Diane will rejoice with all those who rejoice in the Lord on earth, surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses in the heavenly places that now includes her beloved husband. Because Jesus rose on a Sunday, tomorrow we will celebrate that there is victory over hell and death in the name of Jesus Christ, a victory that John knows as reality, and we confess by faith. Death does not rule the saints, death cannot defeat the saints, death no longer has the last word - Jesus Christ is the last Word!

God has spoken, so let the church say, “Amen.”