“Encounters with Jesus:
Mary, Martha, and Lazarus”
John 11:1-53

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Pastor Kevin Vogts
Trinity Lutheran Church
Paola, Kansas
Fourth Sunday after Pentecost—June 17, 2018

Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.  Amen.

For the past several weeks we have been looking at specific personalities recorded in the Gospel of John and their “Encounters with Jesus.”  We began with Nicodemus, who came to Jesus at night and asked how to be “born again.”  It was Nicodemus to whom Jesus proclaimed the most famous, familiar verse in the Bible: “For God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

We continued with “The Woman at the Well,” to whom Jesus declares, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water. . . welling up to eternal life.”

Last week we looked at Jesus’ encounter with “The Man Born Blind,” who proclaimed with joy  , “I was blind but now I see!”

This morning we conclude our series of “Encounters with Jesus” with three of the closest, dearest friends he had during his earthly life: Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.

The name Lazarus comes from the Hebrew “Eliezer” and means, “One Whom God Helps.”  The irony is that at first Jesus did NOT come to help his close friend Lazarus.  Today’s Gospel Reading begins, “Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha . . .  So the sisters sent word to Jesus, ‘Lord, the one you love is sick.’  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.’  Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.”

Why doesn’t Jesus hurry when he gets the SOS from Martha? Doesn’t he care about his dear friends in their time of need?  What sort of love is this, that he deliberately waits around two days, until Lazarus is dead and buried?  There are probably situations in your life when you have called out desperately to God for help, but as with Mary, Martha, and Lazarus in their time of desperate need, it seems he does not care or come to help, at least in the way or with the timing that you expected. 

Psalm 51 says, “For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.  Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.”  Because we know our transgressions and our sin is always before us, in situations when we are suffering or in need and we plead to God for help but he seems not to answer, we may fear that God is rejecting our prayers and punishing us as we all deserve.

That is why it is important first of all to note that although Jesus doesn’t rush to Lazarus’s bedside, John assures us it’s not because he doesn’t care about Lazarus.  For, he immediately adds, “Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.”  In the same way, when God doesn’t answer in the way or with the timing that you expected, it does NOT mean that he doesn’t care, that he doesn’t love you, or that he has rejected your prayers, or is punishing you.

“Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.  Then he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go back to Judea. . .  our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.’  His disciples replied, ‘Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.’  Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.  So then he told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead.’”

This is one of many places in Scripture where death is described with the comforting imagery of sleep.  Today’s Old Testament Reading describes in a very dramatic way how the Lord will awaken us all from the sleep of death to the joys of eternal life: “This is what the Sovereign Lord says: ‘O my people, I am going to open your graves and bring you up from them.’”  As Jesus tells Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, even though he dies, yet shall he live.”

“On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. . . ‘Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.’”  Jesus had often visited the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.  They had heard him preach and teach.  They knew all about his miracles, perhaps had witnessed some of his miracles themselves.  The Gospel of Matthew reports, “Great crowds came to him, bringing the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute and many others, and laid them at his feet; and he healed them.”  So, Mary and Martha knew Jesus could have healed their brother.  “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

But, there were even greater miracles he performed.  At least two times before this he had raised the dead, the son of the widow of Nain and Jairus’ daughter.  That’s what Martha means when she says, “But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

“Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’  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. Whoever believes in me, even though he dies, yet shall he live; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’”

The raising of Lazarus from the dead was Jesus’ last, greatest miracle before his own suffering, death, and resurrection.  In fact, as we see from the end of today’s Gospel Reading, it was this miracle that prompted his enemies to plot to take his life.  But, before he performs this last, greatest miracle, Jesus wants to make sure Mary and Martha understand its significance.  Do they think that he is just a great teacher?  Do they think that he is just an amazing miracle worker?  Do they think that he is just a remarkable MAN?  “‘Whoever believes in me, even though he dies, yet shall he live . .  Do you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she told him, ‘I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.’”

This miracle means he is more than just a great teacher, he is more than just an amazing miracle worker, he is more than just a remarkable MAN.  This miracle means he is “the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world,” the promised Messiah, your Savior.  As the Lord says in today’s Old Testament Reading, “Then you, my people, will know that I am the Lord, when I open your graves and bring you up from them.”

Paul says in 1st Corinthians, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death. . .  Thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.”  The power Jesus demonstrates even over death in the raising of Lazarus is Good News for you.  For, Jesus promises that, just like Lazarus, even though you die, yet shall you live.  “For my Father’s will is that everyone who looks to the Son and believes in him shall have eternal life, and I will raise him up at the last day. . .  Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out.”  Paul puts it this way in today’s Epistle Reading, “We know that the one who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus . . . Therefore we do not lose heart.”

“‘Where have you laid him?’ he asked. ‘Come and see, Lord,’ they replied.  Jesus wept.”  Those last two words form the shortest verse in the Bible: “Jesus wept.”  The text of the Bible wasn’t divided into chapters and verses until about 1500, but I wonder if those who created the verse divisions made those words into their own short, separate verse because they are so extraordinary, and an example for us from our Lord himself. 

I had very little experience with death growing up.  In fact, the first funeral I ever attended was also the first funeral I ever conducted, during my vicarage or pastoral internship year.  As I explained to the pastor who was supervising me, up to that point no one I personally knew, no one in my family or my extended family, had ever died.  But, since entering the Ministry 30 years ago, I have conducted hundreds of funerals, and spent many hours with grieving families.  One thing that really surprised me at first was how apologetic many family members would be.  Many times I’ve heard people say things like, “I’m so sorry I’m crying, Pastor.”  “I know my faith should be stronger.”

But, the shortest verse in the Bible tells us that at the graveside of his close friend Lazarus, “Jesus wept.”  Tears of grief are not a sign of a lack of faith.  For, Mary and Martha confess their faith in Jesus and their sure hope that, “he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”  Yet, though they have this hope and faith, Mary, and Martha, and even Jesus himself, weep with grief over the loss of their brother and friend.  Which leads us to see that there is no contradiction in being certain of the resurrection of the dead, while, at the same time, grieving over the loss of a loved one.  The two can, and often do, coexist together.  And, the Book of Revelation promises that in heaven, “God will wipe away every tear from their eyes. . . There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain.”

“‘Take away the stone,’ he said. . . Jesus called in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ 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.’”

Spiritually, all of us were like Lazarus, as Paul says in Ephesians, “As for you, you were dead in your trespasses and sins.”  Just as by the power of his Word Jesus called forth Lazarus from the tomb and gave him new life physically, by the power of his Word he has called you to faith and given you a spiritual resurrection, made you spiritually “born again.” 

Caiaphas didn’t realize what he was saying at the end of today’s Gospel Reading, but he was quite right when he said, “It is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”  That’s exactly what happened on the cross.  Instead of us receiving the punishment our sins deserve, one Man died for us, in our place, so that your sins are all forgiven, and you shall not perish but have eternal life.

What do you think were the first things Lazarus did when he walked out of that grave?   Surely he first thanked Jesus.  And so it is with us following our spiritual resurrection.  That’s why we’re here today.  The first thing we do on the first day of every week is to gather and thank Jesus for the victory he won for us over sin and death.

Next, I suppose that even though Lazarus’ decaying flesh had evidently been miraculously restored, after three days in a dusty tomb don’t you supposed Lazarus probably took a bath.  And so it is with us following our spiritual resurrection.  For, as Paul says in 1st Corinthians, in the Sacrament of Holy Baptism, “You were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.”

I supposed that Lazarus then had something to eat and drink.  And so it is with us following our spiritual resurrection.  “Take, eat, this is my body . . . Take, drink this is my blood.” 

In the Parable of the Prodigal Son, Jesus says, “We had to celebrate and be glad, because this brother of yours was dead and is alive again.”  The Bible records several other times that Jesus was a dinner guest at the home of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus.  That day, they had prepared a somber funeral dinner, but it turned instead into a joyous celebration of the great miracle of Lazarus’ resurrection.

In the Old Testament the Sabbath was actually on Saturday.  But, early on Christians began worshipping instead on Sunday, the day on which Christ rose from the dead.  Every Sunday is for us a joyous celebration of the great miracle of Christ’s resurrection, and the hope we have in Christ of eternal life.  “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, even though he dies, yet shall he live.”

Amen.