March 26, 2023 — Lent 5A

“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.” Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.’ John 11:33-45

It does hurt when our loved ones pass away – but we inherently know that even the special people in our lives are not going to live forever. But death has this funny habit of making us worry about the unknown, especially about our fears about death, and dying. It is a truism that none of us can add a single hour to our life in the act of worrying. But worrying comes so easy to so many of us. There are so many stories in the bible where people are anxious and frightened about the death of a loved one – Mary and Martha at the death of their brother Lazarus – Jacob, also known as Israel, when he thought his son Joseph was dead. Mary and Martha were nearly inconsolable – Jacob was inconsolable. But none of them lost faith in G-d. In fact Martha says to Jesus “I know that my brother will rise again, in the resurrection on the last day.” That is Martha’s faith – even if it was an Old Testament understanding of resurrection of the dead. But Jesus leads her to understand that the “Messiah” is standing right in front of her. He will go on to raise Lazarus, her brother – he will be raised by the “One” who IS the “resurrection and the life.”

Jesus is the resurrection and the life, and to demonstrate that he knows what he is speaking about – he turns to the tomb and says “Lazarus, Come out”. And Lazarus did come out – he was alive. But he would die a second time. Jesus offers us a resurrection where death will be no more – death will be defeated. Jesus, my friends, connects us to life – this is what our faith in Jesus is all about. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. This is what we place our hope for the future – that we will see our loved ones again, on the last day – in the resurrection. It is G-d’s promise made manifest through the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Dave