He is...We Are To Be: The Resurrection and the Life - John 11:17-27
Have you ever had one of those moments
where your spirit is just so deeply disturbed because of a person’s words or
actions, that you want to scream, or weep?
Maybe it is with a child, trying to get them ready to go out of the
house on a cold morning? Maybe the
conversation goes a little something like this:
“Put on your coat, It’s time to go.”
“I don’t like my coat, I want to wear
my grey jacket.”
“It’s too cold for your jacket, put on
your coat.”
“I don’t want to wear my coat, I want
to wear my jacket.”
“Look, it is really cold outside, it
is cold enough to snow.”
“Snow?
It’s snowing outside. I want to
see the snow.”
“No, It’s not snowing, it is just that
cold. It is too cold to wear your
jacket, you need to put on your coat.
Understand?”
“Yes sir. Can I go see the snow now?”
“There’s no snow, we need to go now,
let’s get your coat on.”
“Okay.” And he picks up his jacket to
put it on.
“Not your jacket, your coat.”
“But I don’t want to wear my coat.”
“Aaaggghhh!”
Now the Scriptures do not tell us that
Jesus said, “Aaaggghhh,” but shortly after our passage this morning, as Jesus
is still dealing with the death of his friend Lazarus, we read that twice Jesus
was greatly disturbed in Spirit. Many of
us have grown up thinking that reflects Jesus’ sadness over the loss of
Lazarus, that this being “greatly disturbed” is just how much sorry filled His
heart. However, in looking into the
Greek words translated as “greatly disturbed and deeply moved,” we find that
the words are translated in a variety of ways, none of which are sorrowful, but
more of anger and agitation…”to snort with anger,” “to rebuke sternly,” to
“murmur against,” and then one that many of us husbands have experienced and
heard when we have done the wrong thing yet again, “to sigh with annoyance.” We almost have to wonder if there was a
little eye-roll that went with Jesus’ sigh.
What was Jesus frustrated with, what
was he sighing about? It was the fact
that He was surrounded by folks that just did not get it. They had been around Him. They had listened to Him. He had taught, and he thought they had taken
it all in. Yet first, in the first part
of this story, Jesus and the disciples go back and forth as at first Jesus
tells the disciples upon learning that Lazarus was sick questioned Jesus, and
figured since Jesus favored Lazarus so much, they would be hurrying to
Bethany. Jesus, however, 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.”
Jesus then hung out where he was for two days. The next thing we know Jesus is telling them
it is time to go to Bethany because Lazarus is asleep and Jesus needs to wake
him up. The disciples say, “Well Lord,
if he’s asleep, he’ll wake up.” Jesus
responds, “Guys, don’t you get it, he’s dead.”
He gets to Bethany and out comes
Martha, “Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
Jesus tells her that Lazarus will rise
again, prompting Martha to say, I know that on the final day of history, he
will rise in the resurrection.
Jesus responded with the next of our
“I Am” statements, “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?”
Martha says, “Yes, Lord, I believe
that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”
Martha then calls for Mary and tells
Mary that Jesus wants to talk to her…we don’t read that, maybe He did, or maybe
Martha just wants Mary to try and figure out what Jesus is getting at talking
about being the resurrection and the life and all. Whichever is the case, Mary, with tears
running down her face says the same thing that Martha had said, “Lord if you
had been here, my brother would not have died.”
This is when Jesus, possibly about
ready to pull his hair out, sighs. As
they take Him to the tomb and He sees the rest of the people weeping He sighs
again. Why does He keep sighing? I am thinking because he is a loving caring
Savior who sighs to relieve the frustration instead of yelling, “DON’T Y’ALL
GET IT…I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE…LAZARUS IS STILL CONNECTED TO ME…HE
HAS NOT PERISHED FOREVER…HE SLEEPS WAITING FOR THE DAY OF RESURRECTION.” Jesus, though, did not yell at the people, he
simply tells them to move the stone, and after giving Martha a “Didn’t I tell
you that if you believed you would see God’s glory” when she complained that
Lazarus would stink, He turned to God and said, “Father, you always hear me,
You even know what I am about to ask, but so that these folks who just don’t
get it may believe, let’s do this thing.”
Then Jesus, turning from talking to God sets a long distance record for
giving rescue breathing saying, “Lazarus, come out!” Suddenly, a resuscitated Lazarus appears.
We have discussed each week in our
journey of Jesus’ identification with God by using the “I Am” statement that
would harken the listener’s ears back to God’s appearance to Moses at the
burning bush. We admitted it would be
controversial for them, for they would have heard Jesus identifying Himself
with God. However, that is not
controversial for us, living on this side of the empty tomb, for we know that
Jesus is God made flesh who dwelt among us.
We though, have wrestled with our own controversy, because we realize
that we can no longer use the excuse for doing what we want by saying, “But I’m
not Jesus,” because we understand that Jesus gave to us the same mission that
God the Father gave Him and Paul reminds us that we, as the Church, are the living breathing Body of Christ in
the world today, so that with each one of these “I Am” statements that Jesus
makes, we are to understand that we, as the Church, are to be those very things
in the world today.
We have already reflected on “I am the
Bread of Life” promising true fulfillment of our hungers; “I am the Light of
the World” shining God’s ordering, revealing, gathering light into the
darkness; “I am the Gate” as the entrance to eternal, abundant life; and “I am
the Good Shepherd,” as the one who leads us to the abundant life and protects
us from that which would seek to separate us from God.
So today we come and hear Jesus in the
midst of a gathering of mourners say, “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.”
Then we watch Jesus grow frustrated as those around Him just don’t get
it…the just don’t understand the point He is trying to make. He gets frustrated because all they can see
and hear and feel and touch is death.
Their sole and soul focus point is death. They were looking for life in the places of
death and only seeing death.
We know the end of the story. We know that Jesus resuscitates Lazarus and
his life goes on…that is until Lazarus has to die again. We do understand that Lazarus was not resurrected
to eternal life, he was just resuscitated.
He would have to die all over again—we know this because if he was still
walking around he would have appeared on every talk show, television show, and
news broadcast we have ever watched. We
know the end of the story, so we get it.
Or do we?
Again, the problem with Martha, Mary,
and those around the tomb was that they were looking for life in a place of
death—in the cemetery, in the grave yard, in the tomb. There was no life to be found there, and they
knew it, so they mourned and wept. How
often do we do the same? How often do we
look in the wrong place, even the places of death, trying to find life?
It happens when we look for life and
the renewal of our life in our bank accounts and retirement funds. If that is where we look for life, then one
day we will find ourselves weeping when we look and the balance has hit zero
(or negative)…when the stocks crash and our investments are wiped out.
It happens when we look for life and
the renewal of life in our jobs and careers…only to have a day come when we get
laid off, fired, or even retire…and what we claimed was life or life-giving is
no longer there…and we weep outside the tomb.
It can happen when we look for life
and the renewal of life in our families and friendships, because one day one of
those friends or family members is going to disappoint us…they will fail to
show up when we need them, they will do things that disappoint us, and even if
neither of those things happen, one day they will, like Lazarus, lie in the
grave…leaving us to mourn.
It can happen when we look for life
and the renewal of life in pleasure, in what makes us feel good…because
eventually we will need more and more and more of whatever earthly thing is
bringing us pleasure and we will find that rather than being life-giving, it is
life stealing…leading straight to our death.
It can happen when we look for life
and the renewal of life in popularity or fame—because eventually, whether it is
mere seconds or a number of years, that fifteen minutes of fame will come and
go and folks will see our picture and say, “who is that?” And hearing that, we experience the pain and
sorrow of death.
It is in these places of death that
Jesus stands and says, “I Am the Resurrection and the Life…Lazarus come
forth…Lee come forth…Ed come forth…Ken come forth…Tami come forth…Ruth Ann come
forth…” To each one of us, He calls and says, come find life, find abundant
life, find a renewed life in Me. Come to
me and when the things of this world try to leave you wasted and without life,
they will lose because I will give You life.”
It is only Christ who will never leave
us, never desert us, never disappoint us, never fail us. In Him we find the love of God that is
greater than anything in this world, even death itself cannot separate us from
the love of God...for just as God brought Christ back triumphantly from the
tomb, so He has promised each of us. Yet
we do not have to wait for that Day of Resurrection to experience a new and
resurrected life in Christ…if we surrender our lives to Him, then we will find
that He raises us daily and gives us new life.
If we have surrendered our lives to Him, then when fame fades, power
plunges, pleasure perishes, families and friends fail us, and careers careen,
we will find that we still have life.
And as Jesus gives us life, He calls
us to be the Resurrection and the Life.
He calls us to be centers of life renewing and life giving power. We are to be a people that do not steal
life—through harsh words and hatred, through betrayal and backstabbing, or
through broken promises and belittlement.
We are to be places of hope, joy, love, and peace. Our words and our actions should be
life-giving. As the Resurrection and the
Life, we are to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, touch the outcast (whether they
are cast out because of disease, sin, age, or skin)…we are to visit the sick,
bind up the broken-hearted, and cast out the demons (of addiction,
self-loathing, and hopelessness). We are
to go to the places of death, just as Jesus came into the places of our death, and
through our actions shout, “Come out…” and then help take off the burial
clothes that still bind the folks as we witness a new life begun.
In the Name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
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