Dead Man Walking

Dead Man Walking

John 11:1-45 March 29, 2020

I got my sermon title from that phrase used to describe someone from Death Row heading to their execution. They are called “Dead Man Walking.” It’s an eerie title for someone who is moving invariably toward their death. However, in today’s story, it’s an interesting fit of a title for someone coming back from death to life. It was Danie Defoe who first said, “Nothing is certain but death and taxes.” And yet, it appears that with God, not even death is certain!

Think about a time when you were facing an impossible obstacle. If you’ve never been there, your day is coming. Now imagine how Martha and Mary felt. They knew Jesus loved their family very much, and they knew he could change the outcome for their brother. But he just didn’t arrive in time. Yet, they had enough faith to believe that, even at this point, Jesus could make a difference. Will you believe that in your life?

From this great story, I’ve distilled three truths. See if these relate to you. First,

1. Trust God’s timing

vv. 5-6, 21, 32

Can we all admit that, at some point in our life, we’ve questioned God’s timing? Maybe it was waiting for a raise. I remember in the Army I felt like I would be a captain forever! Or maybe it was trying to have kids. Or maybe it was trying to get kids to move out of the house! Maybe you’ve been waiting for a healing for a long time. You’ve been waiting so long you don’t even know how to pray anymore.

Today’s story had to make Martha and Mary question God’s timing. They must have been really frustrated with Jesus. Each of them greeted him with the same words, in verses 21 and 32: “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” They played what I call the “woulda/coulda/shoulda” game, trying to make sense of tragedy by replaying it in their head. And if you can’t find anyone else to blame, God is an easy target.

So why did Jesus tarry? If you do the math, Lazarus was probably already dead and buried by the time the message was delivered. (Jews buried a body on the same day as death, since they didn’t embalm.) So it’s not like Jesus was intentionally torturing the family. Jesus waited two more days after death, then finally set off for Bethany, arriving at the end of the fourth day.

Jesus had already brought people back to life twice before this. Once he interrupted a funeral procession, told a mother to stop crying, lifted the lid on the casket, and brought back to life her son (Luke 7:11-16)! Another time he raised an official’s daughter back to life (Luke 8:40-56). In both cases, the miracle occurred not long after death. But here—four days later—that period is significant!

The Jews had a belief that a person’s spirit left their body after three days, unable at that point to reunite with the body. What that means is, Lazarus was REALLY dead! Not the timing that Martha or Mary would have preferred, or even poor Lazarus, who had to leave the splendors of heaven to come back to earth, (can you imagine?)! Yet a timing that revealed a Messiah who really is the resurrection and the life.

Trust God’s timing, and #2,

2. Trust God’s heart

vv. 33-36

God gets the timing right every time, and God always has the right motivation: he loves us through and through. Everything God does is out of love, because God is love.

In today’s story, we see God’s heart shine through Jesus’ very human emotions. Jesus had informed his disciples that Lazarus had died but Jesus was going to “wake him up” (v. 11). Jesus knew that a resurrection was imminent. So why did Jesus get so emotional then? If he knew he was going to bring Lazarus back, why did he cry in v. 35? Why did he “quake with tears?” (which is the literal version of the word to “weep”). This is the shortest verse of the Bible, but it’s also one of the largest in terms of impact. What does it mean that God cries? And in verse 38, that Jesus—God in the flesh—is “deeply moved?” Was Jesus just caught up in the heat of the moment, or was there more?

This is just my theory, but I think the answer is both. I think Jesus saw how much his dear friends Mary and Martha were hurting, and how much the others were hurting, and I think Jesus hurt for the hurt that weighs on the whole human race. All of these sons of Adam and daughters of Eve—millions of human beings, ever since the fall—have been caught up in sin and death. If we grieve death, how much more does God grieve death, since he originally created humans to live forever?