MPC, 28th December 2003.John 11:1-53 - "Life - Be In It!"
Maurie Cropper MPC, 28th December 2003.
Benjamin Franklin was famous for the role he played in bringing about American Independence. He's also famous for the quote "...NOTHING IN THIS WORLD IS CERTAIN, EXCEPT DEATH AND TAXES." Which might have been true in Benjamin Franklin's day, where tax-collectors went from town to town, door to door, person to person, with a tax-collector's money-bag in hand. But with tax-evasion or avoidance a huge growth industry... taxes is no longer a certainty. Which means '...nothing in this world can be certain, except death!'
Yet it's interesting isn't it, that the MOST CERTAIN THING IN THIS WORLD, DEATH... rarely comes up in conversation, is avoided at dinner parties; not normally part of family conversations; even close friends cannot bring themselves to talking about it. In fact I've been to many a funeral where the subject of death... yet alone the WORD DEATH... is never mentioned!
The subject of death is avoided at all costs!
I wonder why?
Is it simply that the subject is generally seen as off limits? Or is it a fear of the inevitable? Or a sense 'of the unknown'? Or embarrassment about possible emotions that might be stirred-up?
There is of course a need to be sensitive to particular situations and people's life experiences. Most of us here today have experienced the death of someone or something close to us. A family member or a pet. Only, this week, some of our church family have experienced the sorrow associated with death.
As our bible reading has shown, death brings immense pain, sorrow and suffering... and sometimes unmeasurable grief.
Yet, even if the time and the environment is okay... we just don't talk about death.
So, It's interesting that when we come to this most striking miracle story involving the subject of death, it's narrated in the plainest and most matter-of-fact style.
Central to the story is Lazarus. John quickly brings us up-to-speed on where Lazarus lives and who he's related to. He's from Bethany and he's the brother of Mary and Martha. John reminds us that it's the same Mary who had earlier poured perfume on Jesus' feet and wiped it in with her long hair.
Jesus is summoned to care for his SICK friend Lazarus but decides to wait a couple more days. It's only later we find out why he waited, but we get a hint that something big is in the air when Jesus says in v.4 "This sickness will not end in death. No, it's for God's glory so that God;s Son may be glorified through it."
I mean, who's said anything about death! And what's Lazarus being sick got to do with this stuff about being God and his Son being glorified?
And what's going on anyway? If Jesus really loved Lazarus, what's he doing hanging around for another couple of days before he gets going to Bethany?
Then John breaks off from that story to tell another story which serves to increase the intensity of what's happening around Jesus.
This story within a story picks up on the issue of Jesus' safety in going anywhere near Jerusalem. A place where his life has already been threatened more than once. After all, Bethany, where Lazarus is, is only a couple of kilometers from Jerusalem.
Jesus' friends try to talk him out of going, and when he tells them that in fact Lazarus is already dead the intensity builds even further! I would have thought that was all the more reason not to go. But Jesus is adamant about going. And in frustration the disciple Thomas says in v16: "Well let's all go, that we may die with him."
This is incredible. Things are really hotting up.
What started off as a report that Lazarus was sick, has now lead to Lazarus being dead... Jesus likely to die... and now all the disciples as well!! What's going to come next?
Then in verse 17 John returns to the first story involving Lazarus and his two sisters.
He tells us that on arriving at Bethany the news isn't good, Lazarus has been dead for four days. His two sisters, Martha and Mary are being consoled by a group of Jews from Jerusalem.
In the disciples minds it couldn't get much worse.
Because just as Jesus had said, Lazarus is definitely dead, and not only that... there's a bunch of Jews from Jerusalem... maybe even some who'd previously tried to kill Jesus... they're there consoling Lazarus' family... when if only Jesus had acted earlier he could have been there getting all the glory for making Lazarus better. What a mess-up!! Lazarus is dead. Really dead! Jesus is probably about to cop it, and so are we!
John tells us that hearing that Jesus has arrived, Martha goes out to meet him and says to Jesus: "Lord, if you'd been here my brother would not have died." But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask." I get a sense that there's a bit of a rebuke in her tone. Like when she had earlier demanded that Jesus instruct her sister Mary to help in the kitchen in an earlier incident.
Anyway, as their conversation continues the tension once again mounts.
Jesus said to her: "Your brother will rise again"
But Martha didn't understand what Jesus meant. She's thinking Jesus is referring to the "resurrection at the last day". The resurrection of all the dead at a time set by God.
And isn't Jesus just fantastic with his response?
In a couple of lines, the conversation has gone from her brother Lazarus rising from the dead, to the resurrection that everyone will experience... and to Jesus BEING BEHIND THAT RESURRECTION AND THE ETERNAL LIFE THAT FLOWS FROM IT.
Jesus has discerned the right moment to deliver some very precious news to Martha.
Pick it up at v24-26.
"Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus said to her "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
Yes Lord, she told him, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who has come into the world." And then she goes off to tell her sister.
From Martha's response I don't think that she twigged to just how important this news was, not only for Lazarus, but for her. Maybe it's because this is the same Martha who had earlier been too busy to listen to Jesus, and complained about her sister sitting listening to Jesus instead of helping with the housework.
Maybe she was just too distracted by the recent death of Lazarus.
John tells us that she goes home, not with the exciting news that Jesus has assured her that their brother will again live, and that one day they will all live again... she goes home and simply says: v28 "The Teacher is here... and he's asking for you."
AND WHAT ABOUT YOU. HAVE YOU BEEN TOO DISTRACTED, TOO BUSY TO LISTEN TO WHAT THE BIBLE SAYS ABOUT JESUS?
As for Mary, with a bunch of Jews tagging along, she goes out to Jesus and through says exactly the same thing as Martha... "Lord, if you'd been here my brother would not have died." But note the difference between Martha's and Mary's approach. Unlike Martha, Mary falls again at the feet of Jesus. And John tells us that where she had earlier poured perfume, she now pours out her tears... on the feet of Jesus.
And while Jesus hadn't been moved by Martha's approach, he is now - as it says in v33 "deeply moved in spirit and troubled." And in v35 we're told: "Jesus wept." DEEPLY MOVED, TROUBLED, AND WEEPING.
This is the King of the universe! Weeping over the destruction and pain, and suffering that has been brought about by man's rebellion. Mankind's foolish and stupid desire to rule in place of God... has wreaked misery and untold hurt on everyone and everything in this world!
Could things ever get worse?
Is there anything that could top the pain and suffering of God's creation?
AND it's in this context that John continues to increase the tension.
As the story unfolds, v38, Jesus is once more deeply moved as they come to the tomb of Lazarus and says "Take away the stone."
And it's the impetuous Martha who, maybe with a further little rebuke intended, states the obvious: But lord... by this time there's a bad odor, for he's been dead four days."
I've read that story heaps of times, but it wasn't until I went on a study tour of missionary work in the Philippines ten years ago, that I fully grasped what it must have been like for Martha and Mary and everyone else on that day.
I witnessed a couple of village funerals. At these funerals the dead person is placed upon what is know as a 'death chair'. It's a crudely crafted high-back chair made out of saplings. Over many days, people are invited to visit the dead person. One of the dead persons had been strapped to their 'death chair' for four days. We were invited by the family down into their small mud hut. The stench was terrible as the body was in a state of decay. I won't go into anymore details.
But the point John is making is that if Jesus' plan to raise Lazarus from death was to have any real impact, then Lazarus had to be dead for at least four days. His body had to be breaking down.
It's at this point that Jesus prays to His Father in heaven. It's a remarkable prayer. It assumes that Jesus has already asked for Lazarus' life, and now he thanks his Father for the answer. That's not surprising... but it assumes that the raising of Lazarus had been determined for some time. Maybe... even 4 days! Did his hearers pick that up?
And the public nature of the prayer isn't playing to the gallery, but it's seeking to draw those listening into the intimacy of Jesus' OWN RELATIONSHIP WITH THE FATHER. The Son may ask; the Father gives.
But did his hearers pick that up?
So after emphasising his dependence on his Heavenly Father by talking to Him in the presence of everyone, Jesus calls: "Lazarus, come out!"
Then, still in the 'trappings of death'... Lazarus comes out wrapped with the same strips of linen that his loved ones had previously secured around his dead body.
What an amazing thing to happen. And curiously it's not reported anywhere by Matthew, Mark or Luke. But then the others mention the raising of Jairus' daughter and John doesn't. I guess one raising of a dead person is enough for anyone to witness and then to write about. I mean, it's a pretty amazing miracle!! Once would be plenty enough for me.
BUT OF COURSE... IT'S NOT UNTIL ANOTHER TOMB WITH ANOTHER STONE IS OPENED LATER... .that the significance of this sign becomes clearer.
So why did John report this miracle?
Well, one reason was that John wanted to record the historical facts so that people might believe and by believing gain eternal life. John says as much in a later chapter. Before we go there, take note to which disciple Jesus is talking to in verse 16. It's Thomas - called Didymus, who appears to be willing to follow Jesus to his death. Now flick over to chapter 20. It's after the resurrection of Jesus and in v24 it's Thomas - called Didymus who's in the picture. He doesn't believe that Jesus, who he had been willing to die with, has risen from the dead. And it's only after Thomas places his fingers into the healed wounds of Jesus that he believes and says in v28 "My Lord and my God!
Then Jesus says these words:
29... Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.
Then John adds a very important postscript explaining why he recorded the particular miracles, including this one about Lazarus. Listen to his explanation... ..especially to v31.
30Jesus did many other miraculous signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book. 31But these are written that you may believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.
There's no doubt in my mind that John was so taken by Jesus' words to Thomas, "...blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" that he wanted a written record not only for for the people of his own time, BUT ALSO FOR ALL PEOPLE FOR ALL TIME - INCLUDING US AND EVERYONE BETWEEN THEN & NOW!
John wanted to record that Jesus, in his obedience to ..and dependence upon the the Father, has the authority to give life to whoever he wants to.
This miracle of the raising of Lazarus is a dramatic presentation of what Jesus spoke of in chapter 5. What he said back then in Jerusalem he's now doing for all to see.
John chapter 5:24 "I tell you the truth, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be condemned; he has crossed over from death to life."
I reckon that these words of Jesus about his ability to give life would have still been ringing in the ears of his listeners as he approached his dead friend Lazarus. So the raising of Lazarus from death isn't magic or hokey-pokey. It's Jesus doing what he's capable of doing. What he said all along that he would do. And yes, it's also a very BIG SIGN to prepare people for what was to come. His own death & resurrection.
Not that the penny dropped for those who were with him at the time he gave life to Lazarus. They would only make that connection later on after his death, resurrection and ascension into heaven.
In fact from v45 on it's reported that some believed, others didn't, and that some in their unbelief decided to carry through with killing Jesus, and by chapter 12 even Lazarus.
SO WHAT ABOUT YOU. HAS THE PENNY DROPPED? YOU HAVE THE FACTS - ARE YOU PREPARED?
Because this is where the rubber hits the road for YOU & ME!! I don't want to beat around the bush.
I mean... it's been important to understand the text... and the context in which it was written. And to get the facts that John recorded into our head. Because facts ought to be the basis of our belief. Belief that gives us both assurance of things past and present... and a hope for the present and the future.
But facts alone can leave you feeling dry. Full of info yes, but info that can be kept at arms length. Even good info about Jesus can be kept at arms length and never impact your life.
I reckon that's where Martha was at. She had the best info she would ever hear, and from the only one who could deliver on it. Yet the facts went straight through to the keeper and she remained at arms length to Jesus.
And even though Martha might believe in Jesus; even though she addresses him with lofty titles, her responses show that she doesn't yet believe in his power to give life.
The best info from the Master Himself and she didn't have her ears TURNED ON! Jesus remains at arms length. He may as well still be the baby in manger. Sure, he's the Christ who's come into the world. But to all the Martha's in the world... .TURN YOUR EARS ON!! Drop your guard and let the words of Jesus impact you.
Oh, yeah... death will come to us all. But for believers... eternal life is guaranteed. JESUS IS the resurrection and the life. If you believe in JESUS you will live, you're given eternal life.
So, just as Jesus asked Martha, let me ask you: DO YOU BELIEVE THIS? DO YOU?
Because if you do... and here's where I wind up my talk, if you already believe that that Jesus is the giver of eternal life, if you have already believed that, and have assurance of eternal life... then let me ask this: How is it evident in your life?
If our belief is based on Jesus... then our relationships, and our behaviour needs to be modeled on Jesus. How is your marriage? How do you treat your partner, and if you have any... your children? Do you respect your parents? Do you value your friendships and put effort into others? Do you pray about sharing the good news of Jesus with someone else? The next time the subject of death comes up, will it stir you to share your assurance of eternal life?
Just what does your assurance of eternal life with Jesus look like as you live for him in this world?
And if you are like Martha... you might even believe Jesus is the Son of God who was always going to come into the world... but not able to say Jesus is the giver of eternal life... then are you going to keep Him at arms length... keep Him wrapped in a baby's blanket and in a manger so that He has no deeper impact on your life?
Or are you willing to think more deeply and more seriously on Jesus as the giver of eternal life?
Are you willing to go home and re-read this passage, asking God to help you to believe, to say you're sorry to Him for keeping Him at arms length, seeking His forgiveness, and asking Him to give you assurance that His Son Jesus IS THE GIVER OF ETERNAL LIFE?
The giving of life to Lazarus by Jesus was an amazing event. Yet it was a sign of the much bigger event of His own death, resurrection and ascension to eternal life, and a sign that we too can enjoy the giving of eternal life from Jesus the giver of life.
We cannot keep God at arms length forever.
We have to get personal with God.
He's not going away. So you have to deal with your relationship with God.
I reckon Paul did a great job in wrapping up the whole subject of death, and hope in eternal life through Jesus, when he wrote to the church in Thessalonica and with these words I'll finish.
Thessalonians 4: 13 - 17
Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.
We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in him.
According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever.