Lent
Midweek 3 – I Am the Resurrection and the Life
In the Name of Christ the Crucified +
In the Name of Christ the Crucified +
We
have sort of gotten used to death. Doesn’t mean we like it, but
we’ve sort of gotten used to the idea, and now we human beings face
it with a certain amount of weary and wary resignation. “It’s
just what happens. It’s just nature taking its course.” And we
know it is inevitable – death and taxes, the things we can’t
avoid. And our reaction to it is… odd. We know it’s coming, but
we do so much to pretend it isn’t there – it can be the elephant
in the room that we never discuss, that we pretend is far, far away.
And it’s getting worse in American culture today. We worship youth
– you can’t watch TV for an hour without seeing the latest diet
or exercise fad that will make you look younger. We idolize being
young, being a teen, being wild and rebellious… you know, being
able to pretend that our actions don’t have consequences, even
deadly consequences. We want to pretend that we can ignore death,
push it off away, be forever young. We’ll pretend that our
bitterness and anger don’t bring death to our friendships, that
greed and lust don’t kill relationships. And even when loved ones
we know die it's become common not to have a funeral - let’s call
it a celebration of life instead. Our Society fights so hard to
avoid the truth that since the fall death has always been around
mankind, snapping at our heels. And sinful man tries to deal with
it, make accommodations with it, even drink it away or try to pretend
it doesn’t happen, but the simple fact is that this world is full
of stinking, bitter death.
Mary
and Martha hadn’t held a celebration of life for their brother
Lazarus. No. He died. And they had a funeral. And four days after
he died – three days after the funeral, because in Jewish culture
you buried the dead within 24 hours – three days after the funeral
they are still surrounded by mourners. There was less pretend then.
They knew that they were facing down death. Maybe it's that it came
at you quicker then. You didn’t have the medicines to prolong
life, the safety features, the antibiotics. If I had been born in
the time of Christ, I wouldn’t have survived child birth, and I’m
willing to guess most of us in this room have already faced things
that would have been fatal then. It was harder to pretend that death
wasn’t death then. So they didn’t. They mourned. Even Jesus
mourns – He weeps. Jesus is God, God become man to enter into this
fallen world, this world that is constantly attacked and berated at
death’s every whim. And why?
Martha
knew that Jesus was kind and loving – that He did good. But she
thought there was only so much that He could do. And Martha, hearing
that Jesus is coming runs out and she says, “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.”
I’ll admit, I’m not sure what to make of this. Is it a simple
confession of faith – yes, Jesus, You could have healed my brother.
Is it lamenting the what-ifs – oh, if only you had been here,
Jesus. Is it accusation – golly gee willickers gosh darnit Jesus,
You healed half of Galilee, why weren’t You here to heal my
brother? You better fix this! I don’t feel bad being confused –
I’d imagine Martha herself was feeling quite confused. And then
Jesus speaks to her – “Your brother
will rise again.” Again, this isn’t
anything strange. How often do we say this to each other at
funerals? It’s part of our faith – I look for the resurrection
of the body and the life of the world to come. And even Martha
thinks of the resurrection – “I know
that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.”
And there Martha is – thinking forward, sharing that same thought
that so many of us have had at the funerals of loved ones, really
looking forward for the last day, looking for it eagerly.
But
then Jesus speaks again; He announces truth! “Jesus
said to her, ‘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.’”
Jesus did not come to be a mere miracle worker, healing the sick for
a brief time. Jesus did not come to be a mere teacher of morality
and kindness, showing us a better way. Jesus did not come simply to
be a comfort and friend in the midst of the trials we face in this
slow, tedious death that we falsely call life. No – Jesus Christ,
the Son of God, stepped into this fallen, sinful, decaying world
because He Himself is resurrection, because He Himself is life. Over
and above all the nice things, the platitudes that people will say
about Jesus, about His teachings, this truth stands out above all
others. He is the resurrection and the life – and He has come to
destroy death. He didn’t come just to heal Lazarus, just to stop
him from dying for a time. If that was all Martha could have hoped
for, her hopes were set too low. Jesus Christ came to destroy death.
And death was all around Christ. Of course there was death, He was
surrounded by sinful man, and the wages of sin is death. But He
came, and in His own body He put a stop to sin.He was sinless and
perfect. He declared that He would take up our sin, take up our
wages, and put them to death for us on the cross. Behold the Lamb of
God, who takes away the sin of the world, takes it to the cross. He
who is life Himself comes to die, in order that death might be
forever broken, in order that death might be done away with.
Because
Christ Jesus is life – everyone is going to rise. Those who
believe in Christ rise to life everlasting, those who do not believe
to everlasting condemnation – but they are going to rise too…
because Christ Jesus, True God and True Man, the Word of God which
called creation into being, is a Living Man, is Life itself, and
because He lives, every man, woman, and child ever created will live
forever. The grave will not keep them – He is the resurrection and
the life. And this is His joy, what He loves to be. He delights in
giving you life – not just then on the last day, but even life now,
life that shines forth in care and compassion, life that turns you
into a light in the middle of this world of darkness and death,
little foretastes of the life that is to come. He Himself gives a
little foretaste here in John 11 – after our text, well, we know
what happens. “And Jesus lifted up His
eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew
that You always hear Me, but I said this on account of the people
standing around that they may believe that You sent Me.” When He
had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus,
come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound
with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to
them, ‘Unbind him, and let him go.’”
Just a foretaste, a little snippet of what is to come.
But it
is going to be even better come the last day, friends. The same Lord
who calls forth Lazarus will come with a cry of command and with the
voice of an archangel, and all the dead will rise. That’s the way
it has to be, for He is life, He is the resurrection, and when He
comes in Glory, when He comes with His power and divinity totally
unmasked, life and resurrection will be the only thing around for us
to see. But there will be one slight difference then – with
Lazarus, Jesus has to say, “unbind him.” That word “unbind”
is another word for forgiveness. Sin binds, chains us. It had
chained us to death. We are still somewhat wrapped up in death and
sin, even now. But on the last day, when we are risen then, when
forgiveness and life and salvation have taken their full effect –
well, as John says in his 1st
Epistle, “Beloved, we are God’s
children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know
that when He appears we shall be like Him, because we shall see Him
as He is.” On Easter morning, no one
has to unbind Christ – the cloths lay there in the tomb. He is the
resurrection and the life – and what He is, He gives to you. In
the Name of Christ the Crucified +
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