© Rev. Lance Carrithers, all rights reserved.  Permission required to copy any portion of this message by any means. Email for permission: lance@firstchurchdc.com

Lenten Series: See I Make All Things New

#4 Jesus Encounters Lazarus

John 11: 1-45

            Nicodemus encountered Jesus, and was renewed from a child of darkness to a child of light.   The Samaritan woman encountered Jesus, and was renewed from an invisible woman of shame to a powerful evangelist.   The man born blind encountered Jesus, and he was renewed as a sighted man—not just the physical sight of his optical nerve, but the spiritual sight and understanding of a disciple.

            Encounters with the Son.  New Life.  That’s the thesis we’ve been exploring  through this Lenten season.  Those who encounter Jesus and believe are made new.   Perhaps nothing illustrates that like our story this week.

            The story of the raising of Lazarus is full of emotion and meaning.  It begins when Mary and Martha, close friends of Jesus, send him the message that their brother Lazarus is close to death.  They believe Jesus can heal Lazarus, prevent his death.   But Jesus does not come running, in fact delays his trip two days telling his disciples that Lazarus’ illness will glorify God.   Eventually Jesus walks to Bethany—and there is tension.  Not just tension over Lazarus’ serious illness, but tension that as Jesus nears Jerusalem, his enemies will be laying in wait to kill him.   Two men’s lives are one the line here.

            When Jesus arrives in Bethany, Lazarus is dead.  In fact, he has been dead four days, lying in the tomb.   Not only had Jesus not gotten there in time to prevent his death he had even missed the funeral.

            As Jesus approaches, Martha  comes out to meet him with accusations.  “Had you been here….had you come, Lazarus would not be dead.”   What follows is a conversation with Martha about the divine nature of Jesus and his power over both illness and death.  Speaking with Martha, Jesus does not offer apologies or condolences.

            “Your brother will rise up,” he tells her.

             “Yes, I know,” she says.  “He will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

            Jesus says to Martha, “I AM the resurrection and the life, whoever believes in me, even if he dies will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.    

            “Do you believe this?” he asks. 

             And Martha replies "I believe that you are the Messiah the Son of God the one coming into the world."

            Many of Christians will readily say they believe that Jesus will give them eternal life one day,  but act as if he has no power to improve their lives right here right now.  We often are like Martha saying, "Lord I know that Lazarus will rise on the last day," not realizing that Jesus will bring new life that very day.   If Jesus has the power to give us life after we are dead, then he certainly has the power to give us life here and now.

            Jesus says to Martha, "I AM the resurrection and the life." He didn't say "I will be" or "I'm gonna' be" he said "I AM!"  This is the same Lord who proclaimed that he came so that his children might have life and have life abundantly.  Jesus posses the power of God to raise us up, here, now!  To lift us out of whatever emotional pit we are in; to call us forth from what ever spiritual cave we are in, to roll away the stones of self despair, and loose the grave clothes of self pity. 

            As Martha’s faithfulness evokes a revelation by Jesus of his true identity as the Christ, it is Mary’s simple, yet overwhelming grief that reveals Jesus genuine humanity.    Jesus calls for Mary and she comes to the place where he had encountered Martha.  Her words are similar.  “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”   But Mary’s tears move Jesus to reveal his humanity.   Jesus himself is “greatly disturbed in spirit.”  The ancient language here suggests that Jesus trembled or shuddered.  And then, when Mary invites Jesus to come to see the tomb of her brother, Jesus himself can no longer control his emotions, and his own tears flow.

            After this Jesus comes to the tomb, and again John uses these words, “greatly disturbed.”   Trembling and shuddering in his grief.  “It was a cave, John writes, with a stone against it.”  Jesus orders them to take away the stone.    Martha protests, "Lord, surely there will be a stench."   Ah, we must not miss the point.   The realities of death are before us.  The rot.  The odor.  The physical symptoms of decay.  The stone will be removed to either reveal the repugnant realities of death, or…to reveal the glory of God.

            How often have we taken Jesus to our gravesites, where we look at the tombstone and say, "Lord, its just too bad you weren't here in time to save my loved one before he died." "Too bad you weren't here to save my marriage before it died." "Too bad you weren't here to cure my cancer before it spread." "Too bad you weren't here to save my business before it went under." "Too bad you weren't here to prevent all those disappointments and heartaches and breakdowns before they occurred."

            Then Jesus says, "Roll the stone away." And we protest, "Lord, that stinks!" "I don't want to dredge all that up again. It's too painful to look at. Just leave it buried there and let me mourn in peace."

            In Bethany, after the stone is removed Jesus thanks God and cries with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth."   The words are enough.   Lazarus, still enwrapped in his burial cloth, walks out of the tomb.  And the gape-jawed folks who witness it are told to unbind him, and let him go.

            The old preacher of my childhood church, Brother Solter once said that it was a good thing Jesus did not simply say, “Come forth,  Lazarus.”   For in the split second between the phrase come forth, and Lazarus, all the graves would have surely opened.   Jesus says, “Lazarus, come forth!” so that only Lazarus, by name, would be raised that day.   I don’t know if that is so or not, but it’s a testimony—a witness to a belief in the mighty power of Christ!   And I thank that old preacher for that.  He believed!

            Dr. Paul Stuckey, a Methodist preacher tells the story of a classified ad he once saw in a Milwaukee Wisconsin newspaper.   Big, bold letters.   “Used Tombstone.”  The ad’s text read as follows:  “Used tombstone for sale.  Real bargain to someone named ‘Dingo.”   For more information call…”

            Lazarus…no longer in need of a marker to identify his grave.

            But Jesus is clear….those who believe in Him will no longer need a marker to announce to the world their death.   Those who believe can cast off their own tombstones.   They will proclaim their life!    In fact, those who live and believe will never die!

            Ah—do you believe Martha? 

Jesus asks the same question of us.  “Do you believe that I am the resurrection and the life?  Do you believe that I can mend all the brokenness and wounds of your life?  Do you believe that I not only offer you resurrection in the future but also the fullness of life now in the present?”  Jesus proclaims that he is both the resurrection and the life.  He promises future resurrection but also invites us to share now in the fullness of his life.  

            As we encounter the Christ in real, life changing ways, we begin to be renewed by resurrection faith!    We will be known for the vital life we have and offer to others.   We will become new life Christians, this body a new life church! 

            Perhaps you heard the old joke about the man who died during the church service.   The ushers called 911 and the EMS arrived and carried out half of the congregation before they found the corpse!   We laugh, but we also know, it hits too close to home.  

            Robert Schachner and John Whited published in 1989 the Lost Words of the English Language hoping to save a number of English words from oblivion.  One of the words they discovered and listed is the word  “fossarian.”   Do you know what that is?   A fossarian is a minister who sidelines as a grave digger.  
            What an engaging image.  A minister who opens graves.  Seems to me this is an appropriate image for the church.   A church filled with fossarians, those who sideline in the business of opening graves.  Helping to open up the graves of those who have been buried alive in their despair, their bitterness, their resignation.   To be sure, it is Jesus that calls those who have experienced death to come forth.  But notice, he calls to those gathered to assist in rolling away the stone, and again to unbinding the dead once Lazarus has come forth from the grave.    Fossarians!   Those Christ uses to open the graves, and unbind the living who once were dead!

            So, we have here…new life for those who find themselves buried.   AND…new life for those who are called to open the graves and unbind the dead as Jesus’ word calls them into new life.  A new vocation for the church!

            It’s astonishing how things turn out when people encounter Jesus, Christ of the living.  Bringing new life, new sight, new identity, new light to those he touches. 

            “See, I make all things new!” the Christ announces at the complete redemption of the world in the final revelation.  Indeed.  There is new life in Christ, for everyone who encounters and who believes.    “All things new.”   “You.  Me.   All things.   New.  Do you believe?  

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