Sermon: Lord, if you had been here! John 11 March 10, 2001
I. Introduction
A. You know it’s going to be a bad day when:
1. you get pulled over and you haven’t even left your driveway
2. your birthday cake collapses from the weight of the candles
3. you call your answering service and they tell you it’s none of your business who called
4. the blind date you had anxiously been awaiting turns out to be your older sister.
5. you wake up to discover that your waterbed broke and then you remember you don’t have a waterbed.
6. and one appropriate for our time - you know its going to be a ad day when your income tax check bounces
B. Funny because the of reality of it all
1. too close to real
2. we understand
3. we are thankful it isn’t us
4. Bad days are a reality of life
5. they come without notice or effort - real days when
a) when bills push you in bankruptcy
b) when home no longer is a place of sanctuary but a battlefield
c) when death looms over your family
d) when separation and divorce shatter the lives of a man woman
e) illness, unexplained losses and disappointments fracture the very essence of who we are
6. and the laughter of a bad day turns to pain
7. we wonder how could God have let this happen
a) where was God
b) if he had only been here
II. Today’s Scripture
A. we find even
1. when Jesus was present on this earth
2. when Jesus had already physical time and time again had demonstrated the power and authority God - when he had already proven he could give life to the dead
3. some of his disciples - some of those who loved him -- are left hurting, weeping and crying out
a) Lord, if you had been here!
b) LET US PRAY!
B. This mornings lesson comes from the Gospel of John Chapter 12:1
1. Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha
a) Jesus Knew this family
(1) knew them well
(2) may recall that Jesus had dinner with them in their home and would again
(a) Mary had poured perfume on Jesus feet and wiped them dry with her hair.
(b) Martha had fixed him dinner
(3) they had a special relationship
(a) VS 5 - “Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus
(b) not a - I love everybody kind of love
(i) mary martha lazarus and jesus were friends
(ii) they had spent time together
(iii) they were imitate knowing friends
(iv) Mary Martha and Lazarus were disciples of Jesus
b) So it is only natural that Mary and Martha would inform the Lord that Lazarus was sick - LOOK AT Vs 3
(1) they didn’t explicitly ask Jesus to come
(2) perhaps that request is implicit in their notification
(a) they thought Jesus would automatically come out of his love for Lazarus and when he heard Lazarus was sick
(3) perhaps they believed that Jesus could heal Lazarus from where he was and they didn’t need to ask him
(4) in any event, it is clear Mary and Martha EXPECTED Jesus to heal Lazarus
c) But Jesus waits…..(pause)… and Lazarus dies
C. After Lazarus had died
1. FOUR DAYS AFTER LAZARUS DIES - jesus shows up
a) Important, significant to the story
(1) the jewish people believed that the soul resided in the vicinity of the body of a deceased for three days, hoping to rejoin the body - life was still possible but
(2) after four days passed the soul gave up and departed - and there was no more hope. It was over - the person was dead.
(3) the fact that Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days meant that there was no possibility of his would rejoining his body.
(a) it meant it was hopeless
b) Four days after Lazarus dies Martha hears that Jesus is coming and she runs out to him
(1) we are talking about running out the door
(2) we are talking a little distance from the home
(3) in her anguish Martha runs to Jesus tears streaming down her cheek
c) VS 21 -
d) Martha had believed Jesus could have saved lazarus
(1) her voice trembles with disappointment
(a) her underlying words to Jesus is
(i) how could you not have come and healed Lazarus
(ii) we trusted you, we believed in you and now
(iii) my brother , Lazarus, the one you said you loved , is dead
(b) but even in her despair and disappointment she can’t give up on Jesus totally
(i) VS 22
(a) Sunday school answer
(b) voice lacks conviction
(c) and the pain and sorrow over the loss of her brother pours from her heart
(ii) VS 23-27
(a) and so Jesus sends for Mary
e) Mary comes to Jesus
(1) VS 32 - When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him she fell at his feet (STOP)
(a) weeping, not just crying understand
(b) it is an uncontrolled, unrestrained wailing and shrieking
(i) from the Jewish point of view the more unrestrained the weeping was the more honor it paid to the dead
(2) and Mary had deeply loved her brother and she collapses in a puddle of grief and despair at Jesus’ feet
(3) Continue with vs 32 - “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died!
(a) can you hear the pain in her voice
(b) if you have ever lost someone you love - you understand the pain she is suffering - her heart is crushed
(4) AND VS 33 - (WATCH AND SKIP)
2. AND JESUS WEPT!
a) shortest verse in the Bible
(1) the one verse everyone memorizes
(2) yet it is a difficult passage
b) verb implies Jesus was angry
(1) why would Jesus have been angry
(a) Perhaps Jesus is angry at Martha and Mary’s lak of faith
(b) perhaps he is angry that the Jews - outsiders - are intruding on this very private and personal situation
(c) perhaps he is angry because he knows this will lead to his own death
(d) perhaps he is angry because he has to bring Lazarus back from eternal life - heaven
(e) perhaps he is angry because he finds himself face to face with the realm of Satan represented by death
(f) BUT I believe the best explanation - is the obvious one
(i) I believe that in our darkness moments, in the depth of our own personal pain and suffering - JESUS COMES AND SHARES IN THE PAIN AND SUFFERING -
(ii) And Jesus weeps!
III. Application
A. Even now as he is gazing into your heart, as he sees your hurt, your burden, your sorrow - TEARS COME TO HIS EYES as he wraps his loving arms around
1. as he must have done that day as he dropped to his knees beside Mary and he weeps
2. our God is not an impersonal God - a God who does care - who is aloof and separate from us
a) He is the companion of the broken hearted Pss 38:16
b) He is the great counselor John 14:6
c) He is the one who brings good from the ruins of life Romans 8:28
d) He is a God who bends low out of the heavens to catch your tears as they fall
3. AND HE IS A GOD WHO EVEN IN THE MIDST OF OUR TRADGEY, PAIN AND SORROW IS IN CONTROL
a) look back with me if you will to VS 4
b) Jesus knew what was about to happen
(1) he knew Lazarus was going to die
(2) he knew that there was going to pain and anguish for Martha and Mary
(3) he knew that Lazarus illness was for God’s Glory
(a) what does that mean?
(i) it means that ---- Lazarus’ illness -----Lazarus’ death provided an opportunity for people to see the presence of God in their midst, ---- to witness God’s power ----- to experience God’s love
(ii) not that God killed Lazarus - made him ill --- but that God brought Glory in the midst of it
4. It means that even in the tough times of our lives, in the times when we think God has all but deserted us, in the times when it seems as if four days have passed and there is no hope-----------our lives can glorify God
a) it’s one thing to have faith when everything is going right
b) it is another to have faith when everything is going wrong
c) Faith in the midst of adversity is a powerful witness.
(1) IT GLORIFIES GOD AND THAT GIVES US HOPE!!!
B. NOT HOPE THAT bad things won’t happen to us, not hope that God will fix all of our problems so we won’t suffer or hurt
1. for even as Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead - he did not save him from death
2. Lazarus died a physical death, an earthly death, he left this world
3. just like you and I will someday
C. BUT in his life, in his death and resurrection and death again Lazarus’ brought glory to God
1. GLORY THAT YOU CAN ONLY GIVE WHEN YOU KNOW ETERNAL LIFE IN CHRIST JESUS
IV. Closing
Tomorrow morning," the surgeon began, "I’ll open up your heart..." "You’ll find Jesus there," the boy interrupted.
The surgeon looked up, annoyed. "I’ll cut your heart open," he continued, "to see how much damage has been done..." "But when you open up my heart, you’ll find Jesus in there."
The surgeon looked to the parents, who sat quietly. "When I see how much damage has been done, I’ll sew your heart and chest back up and I’ll plan what to do next."
"But you’ll find Jesus in my heart. The Bible says He lives there. The hymns all say He lives there. You’ll find Him in my heart."
The surgeon had had enough. "I’ll tell you what I’ll find in your heart. I’ll find damaged muscle, low blood supply, and weakened vessels. "You’ll find Jesus there too. He lives there." The surgeon left.
The next day surgeon sat in his office, recording his notes from the surgery,"...damaged aorta, damaged pulmonary vein, widespread muscle degeneration. No hopes for transplant, no hope for cure. Prognosis:, " here he paused, "death within one year." He stopped the recorder, but there was more to be said.
"Why?" he asked aloud. "Why did You do this? You’ve put him here; You’ve put him in this pain; and You’ve cursed him to an early death. Why?" The surgeon’s tears were hot, but his anger was hotter. "You created that boy, and You created that heart. He’ll be dead in months. Why?"
And in the midst of his anger and tears the great counselor, the one who cares for the broken hearted came. And the surgeon wept. (PAUSE)
The surgeon sat beside the boy’s bed; the boy’s parents sat across from him. As the boy awoke and whispered, "Did you cut open my heart?" "Yes," said the surgeon. "What did you find?" asked the boy. "I found Jesus," said the surgeon.
IN THE MIDST OF OUR PAIN, our hurts, our sorrows - we will find Jesus there - and somehow in the midst of all it may we bring glory to God that may others find him there too.
Amen and Amen!
