He Stinketh

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So 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 this man from dying?” Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Introduction

We have come to the end of this series. Today we have the greatest sign of them all. In fact, the case could me made that after the resurrection this is the highpoint of the gospel.No where is it made clearer that Jesus is the incarnation of God. God’s ultimate revelation of God’s self. This is a great way to end the season of Epiphany. So let’s get to it.

Background/Context

This happens after Jesus’ encounter with the religious authorities for healing the blind man on the sabbath. His argument with them ends with him telling them that he is the good shepherd and his sheep know and hears his voice and he knows them. He in essence is accusing the leaders of being bad shepherds and not really caring for their sheep. The controversy continues to swirl around him.

John 10

John 10:19–21 NRSV

Again the Jews were divided because of these words. Many of them were saying, “He has a demon and is out of his mind. Why listen to him?” Others were saying, “These are not the words of one who has a demon. Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?”

John Jumps ahead to winter and the feast of dedication and pole gathered around him and demanded that Jesus tell them plainly that he is the Messiah. he doesn’t tell them plainly, but says he and the Ftaher are one. They try to arrest him but he escapes “across the Jordan” to where John baptized.

Exegesis

Let’s start with how it looks like Jesus wanted Lazarus to die. On a close reading you will see this is not the case. By the time the messengers reached Jesus Lazarus was dead. The disciples are confused by this so Jesus has to tell them:

John 11:14 NRSV

Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead.

So they leave to go to Bethany and Thomas makes the statement let’s go die with him. This is really an ironic statement and John uses it as a literary technique to build suspense for the crucifixion and resurrection. They arrive in Bethany where we learn that Lazarus has been dead for 4 days. This is an important detail, because Jews at the time believed that the soul hovered around the body for 3 days. So Lazarus was truly dead!

;

First of all it appears that Jesus has arrived too late to do any good.

And it appears to the sisters that Jesus has arrived too late to do any good. Everyone knows he can heal, but he has not raised anyone from the dead This is reflected in Martha’s words,

Everyone knows he can heal, but in this gospel he has not raised anyone from the dead This is reflected in Martha’s words,

John 11:21–22 NRSV

Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”

Martha knows Jesus could have kept the death from happening. And she HOPES he might be able to do something else.

John 11:23–27 NRSV

Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

21 "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask." Martha knows Jesus could have kept the death from happening. And she HOPES he might be able to do something else. 23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Notice Mary says she knows Lazarus will rise on the last day. But Jesus says, Yes, but realize that I am the embodiment of the last day I am the resurrection and the life.

Notice Mary says she knows Lazarus will rise on the last day. But Jesus says, Yes, but realize that I am the embodiment of the last day I am the resurrection and the life.

23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." 24 Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Notice Mary says she knows Lazarus will rise on the last day. But Jesus says, Yes, but realize that I am the embodiment of the last day I am the resurrection and the life.

He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26 and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" 27 "Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

Do you see what Jesus is saying here? He is telling us that if we believe him, death has no hold on us. Our victory is already won! We are already children of the resurrection; all we are doing is waiting to claim that prize! Do you see how that promise frees us to live in the here and now, not having to worry or be in denial about our deaths! It means, if we are in Jesus that our future is determined by our faith rather than our death.

In this weeks warm up I talked about scholars disagreeing on how to translate verses 33 and 38 here they are from the NLT

John 11:33 NLT

When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled.

John 11:38 NRSV

Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.

John 11:38

Jesus was angry at a number of things here. Probably the professional mourners whose grief was artificial, probably at the lack of understanding that the Messiah has power over death, and probably death itself and its presence in the creation.

This is heavy stuff here and has the power to radically change your world view and truly transform your life. it was the same for John’s audience and is the same for us!

Application

In a poll taken a few years ago 93% of Americans believed in a heaven. And 70% of the 93% believed they were going to be there. What about you? Do you ever think about that? If we are like most Americans we are death deniers. If you run a google search on death denial in America you receive almost 20 million hits. That is there are 20 million articles out there that discuss how Americans live in a death denying culture, yet most of us believe we are going to heaven. A recent Newsweek article said this “Bottom line: we all die. And yet, we have a hard time talking about death and dying. And when we do, there is discomfort and difficulty speaking about this topic. We are a death-denying culture and by not being open about death and dying, we leave ourselves unprepared to face other deaths and, ultimately, our own.”

Scrooge Video

One of the saddest things I do as a Pastor is be a “rent a pastor” at a funeral. That happens when the deceased has not belonged to a community of faith. Usually the families caught in this predicament don’t know where to turn for help or what to do for their loved one. They are left making decisions that their loved one should have made long before their death. We do not want to think about our deaths and we do not want to talk about it. Often times because we do not want to face such things, we stay away from faith communities. We seem to think that all faith communities are about Is where one winds up after death. That is not a life-affirming stance that is a death-focused stance. Christian faith communities are about affirming life! And if not they should be!

You see in our competitive culture aging and death seem to be the ultimate losses. We say we have lost our youth instead of affirming the fact that we have gained wisdom and experience. We spend hours and tons of money trying to look younger. It is the same thing with death we see it as a defeat. When we spend all our energy trying to deny death, to avoid the inevitable, we wind up not living to our fullest. There is more to living and dying than a bucket list. Good movie, but the philosophy of it is pure hedonism. You have to gain all the fleshy pleasure you can before you die. That does not affirm life, it denies death. A bucket list is the last act of defiance at dying.

Jesus turns our culture upside down on this issue. It is obvious that Jesus does not like death, it is obvious he does not embrace death. No, he overcomes death. As he says he is the resurrection and the life. Jesus makes the statement that the resurrection is in him and it is here now and in the future. Jesus demonstrates the power that God has given him over death. Jesus, like his father is the life giver.

Jesus is telling us that if we believe him, death has no hold on us. Our victory is already won! We are already children of the resurrection; all we are doing is waiting to claim that prize! Do you see how that promise frees us to live in the here in now, not having to worry or be in denial about our deaths! It means, now listen, that if we are in Jesus that our future is determined by our faith rather than our death.

This is the ultimate hope! If we do not have to fear death, what is there to fear? Our lives as believers should not be overpowered with images of death, rather we should bask in the reality of life with God forever! That frees us to enjoy the life we have in this world, by embracing our life in the right now instead of worrying about death and the hereafter. Our place is secure. We hear this scripture read at funerals way too often. Now, what I mean this is a life affirming scripture and should be understood as such. It should be associated with the transformed life in the here and now, more so than life after death!

You know according to many psychiatrists and theologians our anxiety lay in our own awareness of our mortality. In fact, many theologians and psychologists will tell you the root of our anxiety comes from our own self-awareness. It comes from the fact that we know we exist and we know that this existence will end. That is the root of all anxiety and worry, deep down inside has to do with our own mortality. If that is really the case then in our denial, we are death fixated.

Sherry and I spent a number of weeks with her Mother as she slowly died from heart failure. The last couple of years of her life were not pleasant. She suffered mightily and the last several weeks of her life were even worse. She was ready for God to take her home. But God wasn't ready to take her home. I never heard her curse the darkness once, but I wouldn't have blamed her. There is no good way to die. I have witnessed a number of deaths and I haven't seen one yet that was good. But I do know this, that everyone I have ever witnessed die I have felt the presence of God. He was standing with us in our suffering and grief. Please never, ever forget that Jesus wept at the tomb of Lazarus. As Sherry's Mother died her sense of peace with what was going on gave us a sense of peace. She suffered, we suffered, but in that suffering Christ was standing with us. And, because the risen Lord was beside us, He gave us victory. He didn't remove the suffering. He did something better. The Christ who has gone to heaven and sits and the right hand of God, with angels, authorities and powers stood beside us. He stood beside us with the hope. Do you know the hope? It is in the promise he made to Lazarus sister, "Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again." Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day." Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world." Do you believe this?”

Beloved go forth to live! Death is defeated! That is the ultimate sign of God’s revelation in Jesus Christ!

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