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| Raising Lazarus, 1875, Carl Heinrich Bloch |
The Holy Gospel Lesson
Today's Holy Gospel lesson is written in John 11:1-45
Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it." Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." The disciples said to him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?" Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them." After saying this, he told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him." The disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right." Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him." Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with him." When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him." 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. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world." When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?" Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. (ESV)
Here ends the Gospel lesson for today
Glory be to Thee ,O Christ!
Grace be unto you and peace, from God our Father and from our Lord, Jesus Christ. Amen
“When God Delays”
INTRODUCTION
One of the most difficult situations in the Christian life is when God remains silent to our prayers.
A family I know has two teenagers. Their oldest son has been diagnosed with ADD, and he has been treated for this condition for years. For the past couple of years, the young man has also battled depression undergoing both counseling and medication therapy. His life hasn’t been charmed. He has been a handful to raise. He has struggled and his parents have struggled with him. Throughout the teen’s life, his parents have kept him in prayer. But it seems that God has not heard their prayers. Recently, he has been hanging out with the wrong crowd and getting into drugs. The couple wrestles with why God hasn’t answered their prayers and help their son.
A middle aged woman was pink slipped about a year ago. Since that time, she has been diligent in seeking another job. She’s gone on three second interviews. She’s prayed and prayed that the Lord would open the door for these jobs. They were great jobs. But she was not hired for any of them. She wonders where God is in this situation and why God hasn’t answered her prayers.
We know people with similar stories. WE have similar stories. This story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead allows us to catch a glimpse of what God is doing in our lives and in our world.
JESUS WAITS
Lazarus, a friend of Jesus, was sick in Bethany—a town near to where Jesus was staying. His sisters sent word to Jesus of his predicament. They hoped that Jesus would come and heal Lazarus. Instead, Jesus does a very strange thing, he waits. Mary, Martha, and Lazarus were people whom he loved. Still he waited.
Not only does Jesus wait, but he also makes a rather strange comment to rationalize his waiting. Jesus said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” There appears to be more a stake here than simply curing a serious illness. Jesus sees this as an opportunity for God to be honored and glorified.
We can’t explain all the reasons why God delays, but one explanation is that God delays because he sees the bigger picture. There may be issues with which we need to deal and God’s delaying allows us to address these issues. Perhaps someone else needs to face elements in his or her life that need to be changed and God’s slow response to our prayers allows the individual to do that. God may want something better for us. There may be hundreds of things that God sees that we do not see, which cause God to pause in answering our prayers.
Though God waits, God is still in control. God is still able to answer our prayer. God is still able to be glorified. And, God cares.
JESUS WEEPS
While we wait and we carry on that internal discussion, we sometimes begin to tell ourselves that God doesn’t care about us. “If God did care for us, then God would answer our prayer,” we rationalize to ourselves.
Jesus was very caring in this story, even though he waited. John writes that Jesus loved Mary and Martha. When Jesus arrives at Bethany and he is surrounded by all of the mourners, Jesus feels their grief and pain and begins to weep.
When we shed tears, God sheds tears with us. When we ache at the very core of our being, God aches with us. God shares our suffering, just as he shares our successes and victories.
JESUS WORKS
Martha voices trust in the resurrection from the dead—that things will be made right eventually. Jesus corrects her by proclaiming that he is the resurrection and the life. The resurrection life is now, and the situation is never hopeless.
Jesus is taken to the tomb. He orders the stone rolled away. Martha protests. Jesus calls for Lazarus to come out of the tomb and moments later Lazarus does.
Eventually, Jesus acted, and when he did the people around him realized that a miracle had occurred. They gave glory to God for what had happened. People came to faith. It was also the turning point for the Pharisees who now saw that they needed to quickly eliminate Jesus.
CONCLUSION
We may not have all of the answers, but we can still take comfort in the truth that God is present and in control. God also loves us and wants the very best for us. And, God will be glorified in our lives.
Amen
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The New Revised Standard Version Bible may be quoted and/or reprinted up to and inclusive of five hundred (500) verses without express written permission of the publisher, provided the verses quoted do not amount to a complete book of the Bible or account for fifty percent (50%) of the total work in which they are quoted. Sermon shared by Kevin Ruffcorn, Apr 13, 2011.
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