Sermon Tone Analysis

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Introduction

Friends, it has been an incredibly sad and difficult week for the church family.

Every one of us has a broken heart, and many tears have been shed this week as we try to come to terms with the sudden loss of our beloved pastor.

As can be expected under the circumstances, grief can sometimes be accompanied by confusion, uncertainty and anxiety as we contemplate what has happened, and what lay ahead of us.

It can feel like the ground has been taken out from underneath us, the air taken out of our lungs, and the world seems like a very different place.

The impact that he made on his generation and the one to follow has also been

How are we meant to respond?

What path do we take going forward?

And how do we understand God’s will and purpose in all of this?

In the account of Lazarus, there are some reflections that I believe are very helpful to us in our sorrow and grieving.

But also, this account of Jesus raising of Lazarus from death to life paints a picture for us that helps us to find solid ground...

...and to focus on what is sure and certain, so that our confidence will be found - not in ourselves, nor in our reasoning - but in the eternal sufficiency and glory of Jesus Christ.

be found in ourselves or in our reasoning, but in the eternal sufficiency of Jesus Christ.

It is Good to Grieve

Beloved, the first reflection I see in this account of Lazarus is that it is both appropriate and good to grieve when we experience the loss of someone we love dearly.

In the case of Mary, Martha and Lazarus - 3 siblings from a village called Bethany - we can see that there was a genuine love which they had for each other, and that the community as well showed much love and affection for the family.

When Lazarus fell ill, it was his sisters who cared for him and his sisters who went in search of the Lord, who they knew they could rely on in their hour of desperation.

We also see genuine love and affection being shown for the family by the whole community, as they came and surrounded the sisters to comfort them in their hour of grief.

Later in the narrative, in verse 31, we see that when Mary left the house to go to Jesus, the community that were at the house with her to console her, followed her out, thinking she was going to the tomb.

They cared very deeply for her and wanted to be there for her, to comfort and console her.

There is something very holy about a community of believers, covenant brothers and sisters as we are, coming together to bring comfort to Barry’s family.

As brothers and sisters, we are all members of the same body.

When one part of the body hurts, the whole body feels it.

We share in each other’s joy, and we share in each other’s pain.

As brothers and sisters, we all share in each other’s joy and rejoice together, and we also share in each other’s suffering, hardship and pain.

It is then so natural, for the whole body to draw near to the family who have felt the pain of loss and to share that pain with them.

When

What we have seen over the past few days has just been a tremendous picture of this body and our unity in Christ.

The people of this church have drawn together and have surrounded Wendy and the family in a beautiful way, bringing comfort in any way that they could think of.

But the body isn’t just Cambridge Baptist - pastors and Christians from the other churches in the city, and even Christians from other parts of South Africa and the world have overwhelmingly offered messages of support and offered spiritual and physical help in ways that just make me so grateful to be a child of God and to witness the unity and the beauty of the body of Christ.

Sometimes when we want to comfort the family, we want to say something profound that will express our heartfelt sorrow and that will offer some hope or encouragement, but we don’t know what to say.

It is difficult to find words at such times.

But the truth is that having the perfect words is not what the comfort of the saints is all about.

It is often simple things like a long hug, a squeeze of the hand, and the shedding of tears together that are most profoundly meaningful.

Family, we see a powerful

I can’t think of a better example of this than verse 35.

It is only two words, and the shortest verse in all the Bible, but it is also one of the most profound verses in all the Bible.

Jesus wept.

He is Lord, the fullness of God in flesh, and yet here we see His humanity being communicated in the most profound way imaginable.

Friends, if Jesus was so deeply moved by the grief felt by the family that he himself was moved to tears, then I believe it is safe to say that it is appropriate and good for us too, to shed tears and to grieve the loss of our beloved pastor, husband, father, son, brother and friend.

However, brothers and sisters, I don’t want you to mistake grief for despair.

When Jesus cried with Lazarus’ sisters over Lazarus, He did so knowing full well what powerful miracle he was about to perform.

Jesus’ tears were not tears of despair.

He felt every weight of grief that they did over the brokenness of this world and the effects of sin that have brought death into God’s perfect creation...

But He always knew that he was going to give Lazarus life again.

In verse 11 Jesus told his disciples “our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.”

Jesus knew that the outcome of it all would be great rejoicing over Lazarus being raised to life.

And therefore the second truth that I want us to reflect on is that:

2. It is Good to Rejoice

In verses 20 - 27 we see Martha running to Jesus when she sees him coming.

Solomon says in “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;”

Solomon says in “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;”

Solomon says in “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven.

A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;”

And she says to Him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you."

Jesus grieved with Lazarus family, but his tears were not tears of despair.

In fact, one might even want to ask, why did Jesus cry any tears at all?

Surely he was well aware of what miracle he was about to perform?

You see,

4 days had past since Lazarus had died.

But still, Martha had hope, and all of her hope rested exclusively on the Lord Jesus.

Jesus said to her “Your brother will rise again”

Mary’s response gives the impression that she didn’t understand fully what the Lord was saying

She humbly responds “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”

Now in those days the question of resurrection and life after death was hotly debated.

The Pharisees believed in life after death, the Sadducees did not.

Mary obviously rightly believed in the resurrection.

But you see Jesus is telling Mary something which she has not yet grasped.

Jesus doesn’t just teach the resurrection… Jesus IS the resurrection.

Jesus holds the keys to life and death, they are his to command.

His power and sovereignty over death is gloriously displayed in verses 43 and 44, when he commanded with a loud voice “LAZARUS, COME OUT”

....and immediately life entered Lazarus dead body and he came out, still wrapped in cloth.

And I want to propose to you, that it is a good thing that the Lord Jesus said Larazus’ name, because such is His power that if He had simply shouted “COME OUT”, I think that all the dead in the world would have jumped to their feet.

Such is the power and authority of the Lord Jesus Christ.

And if I may just at this moment encourage and comfort you with these words...

Especially those of you who were with Barry in those last moments...

We often think to ourselves… if only I could have done more, I should have done better....

Maybe if I had done this, or maybe I should have done that.

My precious brothers and sisters, when Jesus called Barry’s name, there was no power in the universe that could stop him from responding to Jesus’ call.

Don’t you grieve to despair over what might have been.

Rather praise God that Barry’s name was written in the Lamb’s book of life, and that Jesus has from the before the foundation of the world chosen to call him home.

Jesus said to Mary “I am the resurrection and the life.

Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die."

In verses 21 and 22, we see Martha running to meet Jesus when she sees Him coming, and she says to Him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you."

My friends, it is good for us to rejoice today in the grace of God, because Barry believed in Jesus Christ.

We grieve the effects of sin, which brought about the Fall and death - enemies of God’s perfect creation.

All of her hope lay exclusively and firmly in the Lord Jesus Christ's power to raise her brother from the dead.