Easter Never Gets Old Series

The answer is simple: Jesus cares deeply for people. Jesus is not indifferent to our pain. He weeps when we weep. He understands the hardships of humanity. He is compassionate and gentle. He sees Mary and Martha and the all of Lazarus’ friends that are grieving…and what does he do? He weeps right alongside them. It doesn’t just say that his eyes were watery…it says that he wept. It was a sobbing, snot-flying, ugly cry. And look at the response of the Jews who were watching…verse 36 say, “See how he loved him!”

Jesus is so unlike me. There are times when I hear of other people’s struggles or I watch a war going on in Ukraine and while I care, I’m not necessarily moved to tears. In fact, my heart can be indifferent at times. But not Jesus. Jesus always identifies with our pain and brokenness and cares deeply about what we are going through. But I also think that what’s going on here is about more than just his friends pain. Jesus, as part of the Trinity, was the Master Creator of the world…and death was not part of his original design. Our text says that “Jesus was deeply moved in his Spirit and greatly troubled.” Basically what that means is that Jesus was mad at death.

Sadly, sin entered the world through our first parents, Adam and Eve, when they sinned in the Garden…and ever since then, sin has been part of our world. Romans 5:12: Therefore, just as sin came into the world through one man, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men because all sinned. As Jesus is standing before Lazarus’ tomb, there’s a lot more going on than JUST weeping for Lazarus. He is upset at the mess that sin has made of his creation…and he’s reminded how much he detests death.

So Jesus weeps over the brokenness of his friend…and at the same time over our brokenness too. But here’s the best part of the story…Jesus doesn’t JUST weep, he takes action. He does something about the brokenness in front of him. Jesus is not content to give the old, “I’m sorry for your loss” speech. Jesus put legs under his love and proves to us that….

2. HE (JESUS) IS ABLE TO OVERCOME – vs 38-44

Let me ask you a question…on a very basic level, what was Lazarus’ real problem. Here’s the answer: It’s the same thing that many of US fear – it’s death. Think of all the things we do to try to prolong our lives. We try to eat or not eat certain foods. We wear seatbelts. Some of us exercise like idiots…I know a guy currently running 50 miles every day for 50 days, every day in a different state…all in the name of good health. Some of us rely on medication to keep us alive…and generally speaking, we all try to care of our bodies so we’ll live longer. But death has a 100% success rate. There’s nothing WE can do to solve this problem...to escape death. One day, we will ALL be in Lazarus’ shoes.

It’s been said that death and taxes are the only sure things in life…in fact, tomorrow is Tax Day when we will be reminded that there is no escape from taxes. But here’s what I want you to believe with every fiber of your being. There IS a way of escape when it comes to death. Look at verses 38-39: Jesus…came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Now here’s a pro tip – if you want to make sure your kids understand the real meaning of Easter, trap them in a cave for a few days, Amen?