The Fifth Sunday in Lent
April 2, 2017
John 11:17-29, 33-45
Destination: Calvary
Stop #5— The Grave of a Friend
On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home. “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” “Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept his man from dying?” Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord, said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him. (NIV1984)
Dear fellow Lenten worshipers,
Out of all the places where I have gathered together with my family and friends the most somber place of all has been at the graveside of a loved one. The finality of a grave is in my opinion unsurpassed in all this world. The reality that a grave proclaims— that reality being that one day each and every one of us will die— the reality that a grave proclaims is in my opinion one of the most sobering realities on earth.
For those reasons alone one might wonder why the train that we are calling Destination Calvary would stop where it does today. Watching as Jesus visits The Grave of a Friend might not be high on our list of favorite things to do. All that changes, however, when we take to heart what our God is teaching us here in our text for this morning. Today then, my friends, let’s see how Jesus’ visit at the grave of His friend gives us an opportunity to see three things concerning Jesus. First we will focus on Jesus’ Person. Then we’ll contemplate Jesus’ Promise. Finally, we’ll rejoice in Jesus’ Power.
Our text for today is much too long to cover completely. Therefore, we are going to select those portions of this text that help us see the Person, the Promise and the Power of Jesus Christ.
When you and I think of Jesus’ life and ministry here on this earth we often focus on the truth that is proclaimed in our celebration of Christmas: Jesus is “Immanuel”— which very literally means— “God with us.” As the children of God we faithfully strive to both remember and proclaim that Jesus of Nazareth is the true eternal Son of God who came into our world specifically to suffer and die on the cross in order to save us from our sins. What we sometimes underemphasize is that Jesus is also a true human being. As a true human being Jesus had friends while He was here on this earth. Three of those friends are found here in our text for today. They are Mary, Martha and Lazarus. Whenever Jesus came through the town of Bethany He always enjoyed staying at the house of His friends. We know, of course, from Scripture that Jesus used these visits with His friends to share with them the one thing needful— the Truths of God’s holy inspired Word. (See Luke 10:38-42) At the same time it is not difficult at all for me to envision Jesus sitting there in the home of Mary and Martha and Lazarus just eating and talking and laughing as friends are known to do.
That personal aspect of Jesus’ close friendship with Mary, Maratha and Lazarus comes out very clearly here in our text. John tells us, “When Jesus saw her (Mary) weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. ‘Where have you laid him?’ he asked. ‘Come and see, Lord,’ they replied. Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him.’” There is only one other place in Scripture where we are specifically told that Jesus cried. In Luke 19 we are told that as Jesus approached the city of Jerusalem on Palm Sunday He “wept over it” (Luke 19:41). Jesus was so concerned about the spiritual welfare of the people in Jerusalem that it broke His heart to know how over the course of just a few days many of them would go from shouting “Hosanna!” to shouting “Crucify him!”
While it may seem like a minor point to concentrate on the shortest verse in the Bible— “Jesus wept”— I think there is great value in it. Our stop here at the grave of Jesus’ friend Lazarus is a beautiful reminder to you of just how personally Jesus cares for you as an individual. Jesus is not only your God, Jesus is not only your Savior, Jesus is not only your Brother— Jesus is your Friend. In fact, Jesus is the greatest Friend that you could ever possibly hope to have! He is a Friend who is both willing and eager to listen to you whenever you need to talk. He is a Friend who cares enough about you that He is willing to sit you down and tell you exactly what He knows you need to hear. He is a Friend who will laugh with you when you are happy and cry with you when you are sad. And most importantly— Jesus is a Friend who will always be there for you, especially when you need Him the most— such as at the graveside of a loved one. That’s the kind of Person your Jesus is.
That truth leads us into the second point that we want to take home with us today. Going back to the opening portion of our text we hear one of the most glorious promises that we could ever hear! Listen once again to this touching conversation between Martha and Jesus, “’Lord,’ Martha said to Jesus, ‘if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha answered, ‘I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ ‘Yes, Lord,’ she told him, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.’”
This, my friends, is the entire Christian faith in a nutshell. Even in the face of death itself Jesus promises, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Even at the graveside of our friends and our loved ones Jesus promises, “He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” And in the end it all comes down to one simple, one powerful and one all-important question: “Do you believe this?” When a person is able to say with Martha, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world” then they have the Lord’s own solemn unbreakable promise that for them physical death is indeed the doorway to eternal life in heaven.
As many of you have already learned, that glorious promise is what we hang on to when we or someone whom we love is ill. As many of you have already learned that glorious promise is our only source of comfort as we stand by the graveside of a friend or a loved one. From the hospital room to the funeral home to the graveside both the reality of sin as well as the seriousness of sin is all too painfully obvious. Deep in our hearts there is no denying that Scripture is correct when it says, “The wages of sin = death: (Romans 6:23a). If that were the only message we knew, if that were all that we had to look forward to in life, think of how hollow and meaningless our existence here on this earth would be! But thanks be to God that here at the graveside of His friend Lazarus Jesus gives to us the glorious promise of eternal life through faith in Him! That promise not only strengthens us on even the darkest and most difficult days of our life, but that promises is what gently and safely carries us into eternity.
Now there are those who say that the promise of eternal life which Jesus makes here in John 11 is just words. There are those who say that the promise of eternal life which the Christian church holds out to you is just wishful thinking. That is why our stop here today at the grave of Jesus’ friend would not be complete if we did not highlight the unparalleled power that Jesus displays here at Stop #5. John goes on to tell us in our text, “Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. ‘Take away the stone,’ he said. ‘But, Lord,’ said Martha, the sister of the dead man, ‘by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.’ Then Jesus said, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, ‘Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.’ When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Take off the grave clothes and let him go.’ Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.’”
Unlike you and I Jesus never makes a promise that He can not keep. Therefore, out of love for His friends, Mary and Martha, and out of concern for the spiritual well-being of everyone who had gathered at the grave of Lazarus Jesus openly reveals that He possesses the power to back up what He promises. Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead — by simply saying the words, “Lazarus, come out!”
That very same power, my friends, will one day call all people out of their graves— including our friends, including our loved ones, including each and every one of us. When the Lord Jesus Christ returns to this earth as the Judge of the living and the dead, when the Lord Jesus Christ speaks those powerful words, “Come out!” no one will be able to pretend they did not hear Him. All the dead— both believers and unbelievers alike— will one day rise from their graves and stand before Jesus as He separates the sheep from the goats. (See Matthew 25) And that, my friends, is yet another reason why the train that we are calling Destination Calvary pulled into Stop #5 this morning.
Before our mortal remains are placed into our grave we need to make sure that we are ready for the day that Jesus calls us out of our grave. How can we be sure we are ready? There is only one way to be sure. There is only one way to be ready. We need to answer for ourselves the question Jesus asked His dear friend Martha: “Do you believe this?”
By the grace of God we are given the privilege of seeing the life-giving power of God in a number of ways. We see the life-giving power of God in action every time we witness the Sacrament of Holy Baptism when an infant or an adult is “born again” through the power of God. Every time we have that privilege we would do well to remember that that same life-giving power was working in our heart at the time of our Christian Baptism. We see that same life-giving power of God at work every time someone stands before the altar of God on the day of their Christian Confirmation and pledges to remain faithful to Jesus until the very point of death. And yes, that same life-giving power is at work in your heart every time you have the privilege of receiving Jesus’ true body and blood in the Sacrament of Holy Communion.
My prayer then this morning is that as we stand alongside of Jesus at the grave of His friend Lazarus that we will take this opportunity we are being given this morning to remember. Remember what our Savior God has freely done for us. (Pointing at the cross) Remember what our Savior God has freely given to us. For when we remember these truths deep in our hearts then we will always be ready to answer that one all-important question, “Do you believe this?” When by the grace of God we are able to join with Martha and answer that question with a resounding “Yes!” then we will know that because of the Person, because of the Promise and because of the Power of our Friend Jesus we will never need to fear either the grave or what lies beyond the grave.
To God be the glory!
Amen