The Hour Has Come
The Hour Has Come • Sermon • Submitted
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· 6 viewsThe Raising of Lazarus Death is real. But it is not final. A dress rehearsal for Easter.
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The Hour Has Come: The 7th Sign
The Hour Has Come: The 7th Sign
The final sign in the gospel of John. The HOUR has come. Or at least it is drawing near.
And the story that is told in our text today is perfect for the first Sunday of Lent. Because during Lent, we take a posture of penitence, of repentance, of humility. We remember our mortality (Ash Wednesday reminds us that we are dust and to dust we shall return. Death is real.) Fasting or taking on a spiritual discipline during Lent is meant to help keep focus during the season. We seek to walk with Jesus as He walks towards His crucifixion.
But the Sundays of Lent are not meant to be sombre necessarily. The fasting breaks on Sundays. They function as mini-Easters. Or, if you will, they are rehearsals for Easter Sunday.
Before we hear the text read, a few words about the setting and the cast…
Setting: Bethany (a little less than two miles from Jerusalem)
Cast:
Lazarus - ill and then dead. And then - spoiler! - ALIVE
Mary & Martha - Lazarus’ sisters, who we meet in Luke (and where Martha kind of gets a bad rap… but here, she gets a second chance)
John points out that this Mary is the one who in the very next chapter will anoint Jesus’ feet, wiping them with her hair
Elsewhere, Jesus is with His disciples
But there is one more bit of ensemble cast. Watch for them…
v 19 Many Jews had come to comfort Martha and Mary after their brother’s death
v 31 When the Jews who were comforting Mary in the house saw her get up quickly and leave, they followed her.
As we have explored the signs in John’s gospel, we have noted the way John usually sets them… sign, conversation (or dialogue where people wonder about what has happened) and then Jesus explains.
In this final sign, the order is reversed. We get a discourse, then some dialogue and the sign is last. It’s as though John doesn’t want his readers to miss what is going on. And so Jesus offers some teaching, and then we see conversation between Jesus and Martha and then Jesus and Mary. And finally, and rather quickly at the end, Jesus performs the sign.
So, with that in mind, Ron, will you come and read for us?
[READING]
Death is real. But death is not final.
In what we just heard read for us, we saw Jesus acknowledge the former (death is real) and demonstrate the latter (but it is not final).
In order to take a closer look, let’s explore what we see Jesus do in this text…
v 5-6 Jesus stayed where He was. (What?! Why?!)
John 11:5–6 (CEB)
5 Jesus loved Martha, her sister, and Lazarus. 6 When he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed where he was.
v 7 Jesus returned to Judea and comes to Bethany.
v 8-16 Jesus teaches His disciples - and they struggle to understand (if he’s only sleeping, why are we going to Bethany? No, he’s actually dead. I was speaking in metaphors. Sorry about that, I know it’s sometimes hard to know when to take Me literally…)
v 17 Jesus arrives in Bethany and discovers that his friend has been dead for 4 days. (now this is partly to help us know that Lazarus is not just a little bit dead. Without getting too graphic, there would already be the stench of death…Lazarus is sleeping the sleep of death.
v 20-27 Jesus has a conversation with Martha
v 32-33 Jesus has an interaction with Mary
Both sisters say the same thing to Jesus. “If you had been here...”
But notice that Jesus doesn’t respond in the same way to each of these women.
He has a conversation with Martha. Because Martha follows her “If you had been here...” with a statement about the “resurrection”… and I love how Jesus responds to her by saying “Yes, Martha. And.”
“Yes, there is a resurrection coming. Off in the far distance. But there’s more than that Martha. It’s better than just a distant hope. I am the resurrection and the life. I am the distant hope brought near. I am the future reality brought into the present moment.”
And then with Mary, he is moved by her grief AND by the grief of her community. The Jews who have come to comfort her, are also grieving the death of Lazarus.
And v 33 tells us that in response to Mary’s tears and the weeping of the Jews who were there with her, two things happened. Jesus was moved. And he asked a question.
John 11:33–35 (CEB)
33 When Jesus saw her crying and the Jews who had come with her crying also, he was deeply disturbed and troubled. 34 He asked, “Where have you laid him?”
They replied, “Lord, come and see.”
35 Jesus began to cry. Jesus wept.
Now the answer to Jesus question should set off some bells for us. What do they say when Jesus asks, “Where have you laid him?”
COME AND SEE.
Wait. These were Jesus’ words of invitation back in John chapter 1 when he was calling disciples. In Matthew, Mark and Luke, Jesus says, Come and follow me but in John it is “Come and see.”
And now it is Jesus, the Word made flesh, being invited to come and see. And does. And He weeps.
Death is real.
Real enough that seeing it for Himself, seeing the impact death has on Martha and on Mary and on their community, and seeing the reality of a tomb… Jesus, the One in the beginning was with God and who was God, and who is now standing here Word made flesh, weeps.
Because death is real. Remember that you are dust and to dust you shall return.
But death is not final.
v 39 Remove the stone.
Now. Let’s press pause for a second and put ourselves in two places.
In the moment of the Lazarus story, we have to wonder what Jesus is doing. And indeed, the people there wonder. Um. Jesus. Not a good idea. It’s been four days. You’re upset. Come, let’s go back to the house and have a cup of tea.
But also in the moment of the bigger story. And for those of us who know what’s coming later in the gospel. Remove the stone. Take away the stone. Or, we begin to anticipate a stone that has been rolled away...
v 41 Jesus speaks to His Father and then He shouts,
v 43 “Lazarus, come out!”
And Lazarus does. Wrapped in the cloths of death. For death is real. But death is not final.
v 44 Jesus commands those who are there… Martha, Mary and their community, Jews who had done what exactly what was required of them, they had shown up. To grieve and to comfort the sisters by sharing in their grief. And of course, the disciples are there witnessing all of this, too. And Jesus commands “them”… “Untie him. Take off the grave clothes And let him go.”
Some believed. And some went running to report Jesus to the religious authorities.
This whole story reminds us that Death is real. But that death is not final.
But Jesus is present even in the reality of death. Not just in the miracle, in the sign of resurrection.
He comes. He has a conversation that enlarges Martha’s vision and understanding of resurrection - both the distant hope of resurrection, but also the way that future hope invades the present moment.
Jesus is moved and disturbed by the grief that the reality of death brings. And He doesn’t ask Mary or her companions to stop crying. He doesn’t offer them some positive mindset or even some theological truth. He enters into their grief and mingles it with his own. After all, He loved Lazarus, too. And His love for Lazarus and His love for Martha and for Mary results in lamenting death. In lamenting grief. Jesus weeps.
And then Jesus does what only Jesus can do. After all, we can minister to Martha - gently expanding ideas about hope and life and the resurrection. We can offer our presence the way Jesus does to Mary. We can join in when people are hurting. We can weep.
But Jesus alone can speak to the dead and expect life.
The Working Preacher podcast put it so beautifully:
“We live now where Martha is located. Where death is still real. And yet she lives by the promise that what is real now is not final. That the Lifegiver who is with us where death is real is also the One who brings us through into that life that only God can give through the promise of resurrection.”
And so today we gather at the Table. And the Table is a place where we acknowledge that Death is real. But that death is not final.
Christ has died. Christ is risen. Christ will come again.