Lent 5 ILCWA9

John 11:17–27 NIV

17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. 21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

John 11:38–45 NIV

38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” 40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” 45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

(NIV)

38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” 40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” 45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

The Death of Lazarus

38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” 40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” 45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

11 Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) 3 So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”

Have you ever experienced receiving similar news? Someone close to you, a relative or a dear friend, has taken ill or been injured and this is no ordinary illness or injury. The situation is critical. Their health is so compromised that they may not recover. Sometimes, it is so bad that it seems clear that they will not recover. What do you do?

As Christians we would pray for that person and entrust them into the care of our Lord trusting that God would bring healing, relief, strength, and hope to that person. Most likely we would also drop everything and try to see them perhaps for one last time. (Country music song,)

We may think of a song by Blake Shelton: This is about a mother who considers her son a "baby" no matter what age he is: "I don't care if you're eighty, you'll always be my baby." As he grows up, he works at some jobs, then turns 21 in Cincinnati. He gets a call from far away to come home because his mother is dying. When he gets there, she has already passed away, and he never got to say goodbye, so he kisses her and cries like a "baby."

Several weeks ago it was reported by social media that the pastor of St. John’s Lutheran Church in Watertown, WI (who had been treated for cancer since August of 2019) had fallen and was so weak that he was taken to hospice and that no further treatment would be taking place. His fellow pastors quickly vlsited him. His wife sat by his side during his last days. His grown children who lived out of state hastened to come see their father. Since he was a good friend of mine, my wife and I planned to see him knowing that we could not heal him or bring him relief but we wanted to pray with him and say our “good byes”.

Even though we are often not able to heal the one who is sick or prevent what is happening, we consider it important to have that one last meaningful exchange with our loved one before they depart in peace. If we know the situation is dire and time is off the essence, we will make every effort to do so.

It seems surprising then how Jesus reacts to the news his dear friend Lazarus was sick.

(NIV)

4 When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, 7 and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”

Jesus responds by saying what seems to be untrue. He says the sickness will not end in death. And yet, Lazarus died. How can we justify this seeming contradiction? The answer comes in understanding that in this tremendous miracle, the death of Lazarus would only be temporary. And so, Jesus does NOT hasten to visit Lazarus.

But after two days, he announces his plan to go. (NIV)

8 “But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”

9 Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. 10 It is when a person walks at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”

The disciples object. Thinking maybe that Jesus has delayed because he feared his enemies. Jesus responds that in spite of the apparent danger, he had important work to do. And so he is committed to going. He then uses a figure of speech to explain what he would do.

11 After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”

John 11:12–16 NIV

12 His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” 13 Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep. 14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

Jesus says that he will wake up Lazarus. This would be his greatest miracle up to that time.

This next part of the account we can also relate to from our own experience. Our loved one, relative, close friend, fellow member of the congregation, has died. We gather together to comfort one another, to reminisce about the past, to celebrate their life, and also to receive and give comfort from God’s Word. It is a time of deep emotion. The grief fills our hearts, we are saddened, we shed tears of sorrow, we are distraught. Men and women who never cry are left sobbing. Others may not show it outwardly but in their hearts they are deeply affected.

Jesus, even though he knew that very soon the tears of sorrow would be turned to tears of joy, expressed deep emotion over the death of his good friend and was empathetic to Mary and Martha’s response. John succintly tells us, “Jesus wept.”

Application: The reassures us that we have a God who cares deeply for us. He is not some dispassionate being far away who is not aware and does not care about his people. God the Father loves us so much that he gave Jesus to be our Savior. Jesus cares for us so much that he died for our sins and even now intercedes for us. The Holy Spirit comes to our aid when we pray presenting our requests to God in ways that words cannot express. “He cares for you” is not just some wishful thought but a profound expression of trust in our God who would do and has done everything to save us and to give us relief in our distress.

Jesus then performed that tremendous miracle. He raised Lazarus (whose body was already decaying) from the death and restored him in full health to his family.

In this section we have some of the most cherished promises of eternal life.

John 11:23–26 NIV

23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

As a pastor, I have had the opportunity to speak these words over a period of three decades to those who have looked for comfort when their own loved one has passed away whether it was a sudden, unexpected death or at the end of a long period of illness and suffering. I have also as an adult child, experienced the deaths of my parents, my two brother-in-laws, a sister-in-law, and many other relatives. I have also been affected by the deaths of neighbors, class mates, friends, etc. I accept that “if Jesus has willed it,” they would not have died. But I also trust that even though they died, their sickness, accident, etc. does not end in death. God may not raise them up almost immediately after they die as was the case with Lazarus. But God will raise them up on the Last Day.

This is also expressed in 2 Corinthians 4:13–18 (NIV): 13 It is written: “I believed; therefore I have spoken.” Since we have that same spirit of faith, we also believe and therefore speak, 14 because we know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you to himself. 15 All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God. 16 Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day. 17 For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. 18 So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.

Conclusion

At the beginning of the sermon we noted how Jesus had received word of how his good frieind Lazarus was sick. We continue to hear very similar messages every day. During the current COVID-19 pandemic, we are informed every day how many people throughout the world, in our nation, in our state, and in our county are sick from this virus. We are even told the number of people who have died. Because we don’t know many or perhaps any of those people, the emotional impact of what is happening is not nearly as profound as when we hear someone close to us is sick, dying, or has died. It is not that the news is not important. It just isn’t as impactful to us. Please don’t neglect praying for them. When it is someone close to us, our need for comfort is greater. Jesus gives us this comfort by showing his compassion for those he loves (and God so loves the world) and by dying on the cross so that all who believe in him will have eternal life. He assures us that he is the resurrection and life. Our hope in times of sickness and death is that Jesus can heal and even if someone does succumb, he has the power to raise them and us from the dead on the last day.

Therefore, (NIV): 3 Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves receive from God. 5 For just as we share abundantly in the sufferings of Christ, so also our comfort abounds through Christ. 6 If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. 7 And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. Amen.