During these Sundays in Lent we have spent time looking at some of the most memorable events and characters of the Bible. We have looked at Nicodemus, the woman of Samaria, and the man born blind. This week we look at one of the most familiar stories of the entire Bible, the story of the raising of Lazarus. Almost anyone who is only faintly acquainted with the Bible has heard of how Jesus raised Lazarus from the grave. The scripture from the Book of John, chapter 11 is a long one. But rather than going through the story in the chapter from top to bottom, I have chosen to isolate some outstanding lessons from it which can be of benefit to all of us no matter what our situations may be. We are looking at lessons from Lazarus.
I
The first lesson is this: the delay of deliverance is not the denial of deliverance. We notice something unusual in the first part of this chapter. Mary and Martha, the sisters of Lazarus, sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was sick. Evidently his illness was serious. No doubt the sisters believed that when Jesus heard the news of their brother’s illness he would immediately come to their aid and possibly heal Lazarus. They were issuing a cry for deliverance.
When a loved one is sick we send out the news in the hope that someone will come to attend to us in our need. The natural reaction when we hear that relatives or dear friends are sick is to rush to their side to see what we can do for them. We would expect Jesus to come immediately to assist his dear friends, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus. But Jesus does just the opposite.
One of the most amazing verses in the Bible is verse 6 which says that when Jesus heard that Lazarus was sick he spent 2 days longer in the same place where he was. Imagine that! He deliberately waited for 2 more days before he came to them. But when he got there we know the results of his coming. His delay in answering their call did not mean a denial of their call. Jesus came late but he was still on time. God always has our best interests at heart, but he acts according to his own agenda and timetable, not ours. Jesus has a purpose in waiting to come to Bethany where Mary and Martha were.
In fact we are told in verse 4 why he delayed coming. It was so that God would be honored and glorified through it. Mary and Martha sort of scolded Jesus when they saw him by saying, “Lord, if you had been here our brother would not have died.” There is something within us that wants to tell God what to do. Mary and Martha looked for a healing of their brother, but Jesus had in mind a resurrection of their brother. God would receive greater glory from a rising from the dead than by a healing of the sick. God acts from his sovereign perspective. In most cases we don’t know the purpose of God.
In this setting we saw why Jesus delayed his coming. But most of the time in our lives when Jesus seems to delay his coming to our rescue, we don’t know the reason for the delay. We get impatient and wonder why God doesn’t do something about our situation. But a delay does not mean a denial. God uses his divine prerogative as to when to make his move on our behalf. He always shows up at the right time.
Of course we’re using the term show up or comes in a figurative sense, since God doesn’t have to show up because he is always with us. But he makes his move at the right time. God may seem to be late, but he is right on time. He doesn’t act on our timetable, but his. He doesn’t act on our terms, but on his terms. God knows what he is doing. He moves in mysterious ways his wonders to perform. His ways are past finding out. God will bring deliverance. His answer may be not now, but it is never no. The hardest thing we have to do is to wait on God for our change to come. We have to realize that a delay is not a denial. God always comes to deliver us in his own way and time. Whenever God chooses to deliver us we are blessed by his deliverance.
Martha reflects this attitude when she says that even though her brother might not have died if Jesus had been there, she knows that whatever Jesus requests from God will be granted. Jesus may have been late coming to her, but he has a blessing for her anyhow. She wished Jesus had been there earlier, but now that he is here she believes everything will be alright. She has confidence that Jesus will meet her needs in her situation. We must believe and trust that God is in our situations of life. No matter how long our troubles might last, no matter how long we have prayed for deliverance, we must continue to hold on and trust God anyhow. Have you ever asked God for something that was denied? But God gave you something better than what you asked for. He does exceedingly abundantly above all we can ask or think. We ask something from God and he surprises us and gives us more than what we asked for. God is full of surprises. You can’t figure God out so we might as well trust him in all situations of life. One of the best lessons we can learn from the Lazarus story is that delay does not mean denial. God will come in his own time and in his own way.
II
But the second lesson from Lazarus is this: the display of disconsolation is not the despair of disconsolation. The shortest verse in the Bible says that Jesus wept. That may not only be the shortest verse in the Bible, but it may be one of the greatest. Jesus wept. Jesus displays sorrow. Some say that Jesus wept because in keeping with a couple of verses earlier he seems to be disturbed, perhaps over the people’s lack of trust and dependence on him in time of trouble. But I disagree with that interpretation.
I believe Jesus shed real tears. Jesus experienced real sorrow. This says to me that Jesus knows and understands what I am going through. Jesus weeps when I weep. He does not stand detached from the human experience and separated from our dimensions of feelings. He understands and cares. How more could he express the fact that he cares than by weeping with us?
Some years ago one of the leading elders of the church I was serving in Western Pa. questioned me when I said that there was something God didn’t understand. He felt that God always knew and understood everything. But I believe that until Jesus Christ came to this earth as a man, God did not understand the human experience. He may have understood something about it, but he could not experience it for himself. Jesus came that he might experience everything about the human existence. He went through a school of suffering that he might really appreciate the full dimension of human experience.
Jesus knows all about our troubles. He has been where we are. He has experienced what we experience. He not only came to save us from our sins, he went through it all. He suffered as we suffer. He was bruised as we are bruised. He was hurt as we are hurt. He was weary as we are weary. He was forsaken as we are forsaken. He was ridiculed as we are ridiculed. He wept as we weep. Jesus wept.
There is something therapeutic about weeping with others. Have you ever walked almost literally in the feet of others that you could weep with them? When I did my pastoral training we were taught to be objective as we related to people in their distressful situations. We were not to get too emotionally involved. We must maintain some objectivity. We were not to drag our own emotional baggage into their situation. That may be true to a certain extent. But sometimes I believe you must get as close to people as you can so that you can almost feel what they are feeling. Sometimes you may weep with them.
I remember when I was doing some chaplaincy work at Fox Chase Cancer Center visiting cancer patients, I would get so emotionally involved with them that I would weep with them. I don’t think that is necessarily a bad thing. For my part I am glad this verse is in the Bible. Jesus wept. It means when I am weeping Jesus is also weeping. He understands my situation so completely that he experiences the same things I experience. Jesus can put himself in our situation. God can put himself in our shoes. God really does understand and God weeps with us. We can’t put ourselves in another person’s situation. We may even weep with them but we can’t really experience what they are experiencing. Only God really understands what we are going through.
But the display of disconsolation does not mean the despair of disconsolation. Paul says we weep and grieve but not as those who have no hope. Some have said why did Jesus weep when he knew that in a few minutes he would raise Lazarus from the grave? Only Jesus knew what was going to happen. His display of grief was not the despair of grief. He knew that the one who was dead would rise in a few minutes. We may display our grief and disconsolation. It is natural to grieve on any sad occasion such as the death of a loved one. But display does not mean despair.
We may display grief but we are never in despair because of grief. We may be grieving, yet despite our tears we know that earth has no sorrow that heaven cannot heal. We grieve but we are not in despair because although weeping may endure for a night joy comes in the morning. We grieve but we are not in despair because God can make a way out of no way. We grieve but we are not in despair because the Lord is on our side. We grieve but we are not in despair because God is walking with us each step of the way. We grieve but we are not in despair because our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. We grieve but we are not in despair because we are leaning on the everlasting arms. We grieve but we are not in despair because our faith looks up to Jesus, the Lamb of Calvary. We grieve but we are not in despair because we know that God will take care of us. The display of disconsolation is not the despair of disconsolation. We grieve but we are not in despair.
III
But now we come to the next lesson. The next lesson is: the dread of death is not the destiny of death. We cannot deny the dread of death. Death can be a dreadful event. None of us who are well and fairly satisfied with our lives wants to die. My mother when she was 92, half blind, old and decrepit wanted to die. Some people who are sick and can’t get well get tired of living and want to die. But even then they may feel like the song which talks about being tired of living but afraid of dying. There is something within us that wants to keep on surviving and living no matter how bad things are. After all none of us really knows what is on the other side of the veil. Very few of us get to the point that we can sing a song written by one of the great classic composers called “Come, Sweet Death.”
In most cases death is not sweet, but bitter--bitter for the one experiencing it and bitter for those left behind. There is an element of dread in death, no matter how we try to sugar coat it. We are hesitant in saying that so and so died. Instead we say that he or she passed away or expired. You can’t get around it, but there is an element of dread surrounding death.
But the lesson in the Lazarus story is that death does not have the final word. When Martha told Jesus that if he had been there her brother would not have died, Jesus said, “Your brother shall rise again.” She replied, ”I know he shall rise again in the resurrection of the last day.” But Jesus uttered in return one of the great I am’s of the book of John. He said “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me although he may die, yet he shall live and he who believes in me shall never die.” Do we get the import of what Jesus is saying here? The dead shall live and the living shall never die. That’s what he is saying in a nutshell. The destiny of death is to be defeated.
But there is a catch to it. There is a qualification and a disclaimer in this statement. There is a tendency for us to pick up on the idea that life goes on forever. We hear that the dead are still living and the living shall never die. That the dead are still living and the living shall never die can express the concept of the immortality of the soul which was the philosophy of the ancient Greeks.
But Jesus qualifies that by saying he is the resurrection and the life. In other words there is no life outside of Jesus. To escape the dread of death we must pay attention to the disclaimer. We are not talking about eternal existence, but eternal life. The popular concept is that the soul of the deceased person lives forever. But the Christian concept is the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting which all come through Jesus Christ. The destiny of death was decided at the cross. Jesus Christ decided the destiny of death by his death and resurrection. Death is a defeated enemy. Death is called the last enemy, but it is a defeated enemy. The destiny of death is defeat.
But the defeat of death only comes through the victory of Christ. There is another disclaimer in the “I am the resurrection” statement of Jesus. Only those who believe in Christ shall live. Life, real life, spiritual life, is only for those who believe and trust in Jesus. Without Jesus there is no life. Without Jesus there is only death, or as the Bible calls it, hell.
In reality hell is the separation from Christ who is the life. The dread of death is not the destiny of death. But this is only true for those who are in Christ, for those who believe in him, for those are the ones who have this life Jesus is talking about. The dread of death still remains for those who do not believe in Jesus Christ. Only those who believe in Him have life because life is only found in him who is the resurrection and the life. The dread of death still remains for those who are outside of Christ. What about those who are outside of Christ?
My wife and I were talking the other day about how everybody is an universalist at a funeral. At a funeral we hope everybody is going to heaven. The deceased can be a gambler, a whoremonger, a thief, a member of the Mofia, no matter what the person has been or has done, everybody is going to heaven. I have been there.
I have officiated at funerals where there was no indication that the deceased knew Christ as Savior. I fervently hope that everybody will be in heaven. But the idea that everybody is going to heaven is not biblically or theologically sound. Heaven means to celebrate life with Christ for eternity. Jesus is the resurrection and the life for all those who believe in him. The promise is only for the faithful. For all others the dread of death still remains.
After Jesus made his I am the resurrection and the life statement, he asked Martha if she believed that. She answered that she believed that he was the Christ, the son of God who was to come to the world. In a sense she did not answer the question. But in another sense she did answer it. She believed in Jesus Christ who is the resurrection and the life. You can escape the dread of death by believing in Jesus Christ who is the resurrection and the life. There is no death with Christ and no life without Christ.
Now that Jesus has made his statement of being the resurrection and the life, he proceeds to demonstrate the fact of it. He said he was the resurrection and the life and now he proceeds to demonstrate it at the tomb of Lazarus. Jesus got to the tomb of Lazarus.
It was a cave and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take the stone away.” When Jesus told the folks to take away the stone in front of the tomb, Martha protested saying, “but Lord already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” The Jews believed that the soul lingered near the body for three days so that death was truly final on the 4th day. Jesus told Martha, “Did not I tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God? Take away the stone.”
Then Jesus lifted his eyes to heaven and prayed, “Father I thank you for having heard me.” You see the Father had already heard the prayer of the Son. Jesus said, “Father I know you always hear me. But for the sake of those standing here, I want you to answer so that these folks will see that I have come from you. I don’t do anything of my own will, Father. I came to do your will and it is your will that this man come up out of the grave.” Then he cried, “Lazarus, come out.” Some people have said that if Jesus had not called Lazarus by name all the dead would have gotten up. But the call was for Lazarus especially.
But the raising of Lazarus would be a forerunner of the real resurrection. This was not a real resurrection because Lazarus died a second time. He was raised to a mortal life which would die again. But the real resurrection came on Easter Sunday morning when Jesus rose from the dead to die no more. Lazarus’ resurrection was temporary, but Jesus’ resurrection was permanent. But Lazarus’ resurrection is a preview and a dry run of our own resurrections.
But our resurrections will be different. Lazarus was raised to a mortal life which would end again. But we shall be raised to a resurrected life which shall endure forever. We are reminded of what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 15. “The trumpet shall sound and the dead will be raised incorruptible. The corruptible body must put on the incorruptible and the mortal body must put on immortality.” When this happens says Paul, death will have been dealt a mortal blow.
Death’s destiny is to be destroyed by the victory of Jesus Christ. When the dead in Christ shall rise we can ask death a rhetorical question. O death where is your victory?. O death where is your sting? Death has been swallowed up in the victory of Jesus Christ.
Someday we shall hear our names called. On that resurrection morning we shall rise. We shall hear Christ say to us, “Get up it‘s morning. Arise from your sleep. Wake up. Get up. Morning has come.” And we like Lazarus shall come forth on that great resurrection morning. We shall rise. The dread of death will be overcome. In Christ there is no death. Christ is the resurrection and the life.
IV
But the story of Lazarus has one more lesson for us. There is a spiritual meaning which speaks to us in the here and now. The final lesson is this: the deadness of your day is not God’s desire for your day. There is always the promise of resurrection in our individual lives. Jesus wants us to come alive. Jesus wants us to experience resurrection right now. There are situations in our lives which need reviving and resurrection. We can experience death in so many ways.
Our hopes can die. Our joys can die. Our loves can die. Our peace can die. Our aspirations can die. We can be overcome by a defeatist spirit which can be as deadly as death itself. But Jesus is the resurrection for all the dead places in our lives. Jesus calls us to come out of all those situations which have us bound in grave clothes of defeat. The deadness of your day is not God’s desire for your day.
Jesus speaks to all those dead issues in our lives and tells us to come alive. All those dead things in our lives can live again. That’s also the lesson of the dry bones in Ezekiel. We can come alive.
Maybe your hope lies dormant and dead within your spirit. Maybe you are despondent about the closing of this church. But Jesus calls and hope comes alive once more in your life. Maybe joy has been killed through some tragic event in your life. But Jesus calls and the joy is rekindled within your spirit. Maybe your peace has been disturbed by some turbulence in your life. But Jesus calls and the peace that passes all understanding rises like a river and attends all your ways. Maybe your love for family members and friends has been fractured and mortally wounded by some incident and lies dead in the grave of your heart. But Jesus calls and love once more comes alive in your heart.
Let Jesus call to the things that lie dead within you. He calls and all the dead things in you can come alive. The deadness of your day is not God’s desire for your day. God wants us to come alive. Let Jesus call you this day to new life. Come alive in Christ. The Lazarus story tells us that Jesus wants us to come alive. Come alive, get up, and experience life to its fullest.
Come alive, get up, and enjoy every day as a gift from God. Come alive, get up, and let Jesus live in your life. Come alive, get up, and let the Lord be the strength of your life. Come alive, get up, and morning by morning new mercies you will see. Come alive, get up, and see what God can do in your life. Don’t remain in the grave of all your fears and doubts. Get up!
Lessons from Lazarus: The delay of deliverance is not the denial of deliverance. The display of disconsolation is not the despair of disconsolation. The dread of death is not the destiny of death. The deadness of your day is not God’s desire for your day.
The lessons teach us to come alive and be blessed by God every day.
