Leap of Faith

Big Idea of the Message:

Trusting Jesus with your life can be a scary leap of faith.

Proclamation

As we jump into this narrative we find Mary and Martha dealing with something that every one of us will deal with or have already dealt with - death;

As a background Jesus was told that Lazarus, their brother and His friend, was extremely sick, however Jesus waited before going to them;

So now we pick up where Jesus has arrived and Lazarus has been dead four days;

Know we find Jesus responding to a concern of Martha’s the concern is that He did not come quickly (or quick enough for her desire) when heard about her brother which is the reason her brother died;

So here we see Jesus making a proclamation of Who He is and what He is able to do;

So what is a proclamation - “a public or official announcement, especially one dealing with a matter of great importance”;

Jesus identifies Who He is “ I am the resurrection and the life.”;

But, like many of us, Martha knows the who of who He is yet she is not looking for that, what she is looking the doing of who He is;

Do you, in the deepest part of your heart, soul and mind grasp who Jesus truly is or are you looking for the doing of who He is?

Belief

Jesus use four words to ask a question of extreme depth that should cause us to take a deeper examination of our faith, He asked Martha “Do you believe this?”;

How deep does your faith run in times of trial or grief, how easily can your faith be shaken;

Martha’s responds may be similar to ours “Yes, Lord I believe...” but does she trust that He is able, in the present, to do what He says;

Where is your belief today, are you superficially saying “Yes, Lord I believe” but in a much deeper manner wondering can He or will He;

Are you ready to get beyond the shallow relationship?

Faith

In the movie,Indiana Jones The Last Crusade, Indiana is trying to get to the Holy Grail to get water to heal his father who has just been shot. To get there he must overcome obstacles. The last and most terrifying obstacle is to cross a chasm. After staring at it, Indiana realizes that “it’s a leap of faith,” while in the background, his father is saying, “You must believe.” He takes the “leap” and lands on an invisible bridge (directed by Steven Spielberg [Paramount Pictures, 1989], 1:47:07). That is the type of leap that Jesus is calling on Martha and all of us to take when we find ourselves in the chapter called death. It is a leap of faith across a chasm of doubt where we cannot clearly see how we will survive this—but we make the leap anyway. (Ministry Pass)

In v. 27 Martha agrees with the who He is but it seems like she’s not sure if He can do, in the present, what the future promises - resurrection;

Now understand Jesus was extremely close to Mary, Martha and Lazarus;

They had access to Him when He was in the area, He sat with them in there home;

Yet does Martha’s faith seem to fit what she should have known;

Notice in v. 28, after she gave a simple response to a deep question she went away;

Do you sometimes just walk away when Jesus wants depth?

The Cross

Let’s jump back to v. 25 as we begin to wind-down;

Jesus points out the most import part of the gospel - “He who believes in Me...”

That’s where we need to park and explore;

Share the gospel!

Application Point:

There are moments in our lives where we just do not understand what is happening, and that is when we especially need to trust Jesus.