The Gospel reading from John 11, which we read this morning, is another sign that Jesus is the true Messiah.
In the Gospel of John we have 7 of these signs:
• Jesus changed water into wine (2:1-11)
• Jesus healed the officials son (4:46-54)
• Jesus healed the paralytic (5:1-9)
• Jesus fed the 5000 (6:1-14)
• Jesus walked on water (6:15-25)
• Jesus gives sight to the blind man (9:1-12)
• And now Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead (11:1-45)
The purpose for each of these signs was not so people would say,
"Ahh look at Jesus he can turn my bath tub of water into wine."
"Or mate just bring along 2 loaves of bread and 5 fishes and lets see how this unbelievable chef can make food stretch. Lets invite him around to my next party."
The purpose was so that people would believe that Jesus is the Son of God, the Messiah.
Their Saviour.
And that You would believe He is your saviour.
At times we seem to forget this.
At times we are a little like Martha in verse 21,
aren’t we.
When she says, “21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
As I reflect on my own prayers….
How often have I prayed things like;
Lord give me,
make my life more comfortable,
make my life better,
take away this bad situation.
And I get a bit anxious when Jesus does something like he does in verse 6. ’When he heard Lazarus was sick, he stayed there a further 2 days’,
ie. he waited two days before going to see Lazarus…(If a doctor did this today you would probably want to sue them!!!)
How about you??
Do you get a bit anxious with God when he doesn’t seem to answer your prayers right away in the way you want them answered?
Perhaps we are trying to force God to operate according to our timelines, rather than us operating to God’s.
Recently I heard it said, “The problem we have in dealing with God is that we have two standards….
We expect God to be instant, fast and super quick in responding to us
Yet we like to go about our week at our own pace, fitting God and others in when it suits us.”
Also maybe there is something else we should be asking God, when we experience difficulties or suffering.
In addition to asking God to improve our situation,
perhaps we should ask God to use our situations for His good.
To use the situations we experience so that others may believe in Him.
If we look at the outcome of this morning’s reading we see that as a result of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead many people believed in Him.
I would like you to think about that this week.
Each day ask God in your prayers to use the situations you are encountering, whether they be good, bad and ordinary, so that others may experience the Messiah, so others may experience Jesus, and believe in Him!!!
And what better way to illustrate this than through death.
Death is one of the most difficult things we face.
People have a real difficult time talking about it, let alone dealing with.
Many newspapers will not report about suicides or death.
Sometimes we use friendly words to get around talking about it.
Recently the Victorian State Government in reviewing safety around the Western Gate Bridge were surprised to discover there is a real problem.
Around 42 people attempt suicide each year from that bridge and at least half of these suicide attempts are successful.
Yet few are talked about.
However death is something we need to prepare for.
Death is inevitable.
And when we lose someone close to us, because we love them, we miss them.
We would gladly like them to still be around…don’t we?
And when people lose a loved one it is expected that they will be grieving from between two months to two years.
Many things happen during this time.
Granger Westberg, in His book, Good Grief, highlights 10 things people go through when grieving that include blaming others, shock, not being able to see any future, distressed, to seeing hope, to struggling with difficulties in resuming life. If anyone is interested in this feel free to contact me for details.
Grieving can be a very difficult time.
When we see someone grieving the danger for us is either to leave them alone,
or to force them to move along to forget about the loss or losses they are experiencing straight away
Jesus does not take either of these approaches.
One of the first things he does is he highlights that with Him there is hope, that death is not the end. Listen to verse 4:
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."
This is what Christ is constantly doing for you everyday.
Everyday when you expose yourself to Jesus, by reading scripture, undertaking bible studies, praying, listening to Christian songs,
everytime you attend worship and meet with other Christians in small groups,
Jesus is saying to you I will lead you to a better place.
A place that is out of this world.
And a better place is something we need.
If you think about it the world we currently live in, could really be called the place of the dying.
From the day we are born we are dying
and yet Jesus does not want us to be stuck here.
He wants to take us to the place of the living.
To do this though He must suffer.
And in today’s reading we see that he was prepared to suffer for Lazarus.
To go to Lazarus so that he could be raised from the dead meant going to a geographical place where:
He had been:
• He had been arrested on two occasions in this location (as we read in John 8:44, and 10:39).
• People were out to kill him in this location (as we read in John 7:25).
• In this location people tried to stone him on at least 2 occasions (as we read in John 8:59 and 10:31).
And not only this but Jesus draws his disciples into this situation.
Into an uncomfortable situation.
And often we are placed in such situations.
Jesus has placed us in situations today, so others may believe.
And unfortunately it is not always comfortable.
And when we get belong side people who are grieving, who are facing difficulties over a loss,
we may also experience suffering with them.
We may need to go out of our way to spend time with them.
To be there for them.
We may need to be like Jesus, and ‘weep with them’
Isn’t that awesome?….
Even though Jesus knew he could defeat this death
perform the miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead
He cried with Mary and Martha.
He cried with them simply because he loved them.
And he cries with us….when we are crying.
It maybe uncomfortable for us to cry with others however it demonstrates something.
It demonstrates our love for them.
And as Christians it also demonstrates Jesus’ love for others.
However not only do we experience suffering.
We also benefit from Jesus’ suffering.
Jesus suffering allows us to be taken to the place of the living.
It is through this suffering and his death that each of us gain a new life.
Jesus was prepared to suffer for you.
And he suffered for you.
And in doing so he gives you a new life.
He gives you hope.
So our outlook on life is not limited to one that ends when we die.
It is not one constrained to this world.
It extends beyond this world.
We can look to a future.
A life that is not dominated by wars, death, ecological disasters, increasing poverty.
We look to heaven.
The place where nothing perishes, spoils or fades
So like a footballer who celebrates on winning a premiership after months of struggling through painful and hard training,
God invites you to celebrate with Him…
but we don’t have to wait to our lives are perfect in heaven
because he has already won the victory over death for you.
He showed this through raising Lazarus from the dead,
where he brought joy into the lives of Mary and Martha.
And he demonstrated this through being raised from the dead himself.
Giving you new life so you can celebrate.
Sure death still exists and we shouldn’t ignore it.
However death is not something final for a Christian, it does not mean there is no hope.
So we are part of the joyful celebration of life.
Because as St Paul reminds us Romans 6
We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death
in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life.
This is something to be thankful for and celebrate
Amen
