[Sermon Archive] - [Weekly Devotional Guide]

This Week's Sermon THE FIFTH SUNDAY IN LENT 09 March 2008 "I AM the Resurrection and the Life" John 11:1-45 LSB Series A Vicar Heath A. Trampe Soli Deo Gloria!

A recent paper by noted church historian Dr. Lawrence Rast suggests that there are many Jesuses in American culture. Some people want Jesus to be their buddy, simply someone to play soccer with or have a friendly chat. A little over a century ago, it was suggested that Jesus is a politician. He's been campaigning for heaven (Satan's been campaigning for hell), and if we'll just vote for Jesus, then we'll enter into paradise. Still others see Jesus of Nazareth as a great teacher and philosopher. They certainly appreciate His ideas, but they don't want to take everything He says at face value-after all, He lived 2,000 years ago, how relevant could He be?

Dr. Rast goes on to suggest, and quite correctly, that there is only one true Jesus. This is the Jesus of Scripture-the Messiah foretold by the prophets in the Old Testament. In today's text, Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, proving that He is, in fact, the coming Messiah. He has already turned water into wine, healed an official's son, fed the 5,000, healed a man born blind, and now He raises Lazarus, which is the culmination of His earthly ministry. In doing so, we are shown without a doubt that the true

I. Filled with emotion, Christ performed the last sign of His Messiahship by bringing Lazarus back to life. (vv. 1-44)
--In His humanity, Christ was deeply troubled over the death of His friend.
--In His divinity, Christ was able to bring Lazarus back to life.
II. In Christ, we will face persecution, but we will never feel death's sting. (vv. 45-53)
--Many followed Christ because of His miracles, but the Jewish religious leaders sought to kill Him.
--By following Christ, "a thousand plagues and crosses will be his [my] daily bread" (LSB 724, stanza 6), "but the heaven I shall inherit makes me rejoice and sing" (stanza 10).

So what's the harm in picturing Jesus as someone to include in a game of checkers or as a homeboy to hang out with? Certainly Jesus has proven Himself to be a friend and more than a friend, even going so far as to say that we are now heirs to the heavenly Father through Him. We know from this text that Lazarus was Jesus' friend as well. The extent of this earthly friendship we may never know, but Lazarus' sisters implied that Jesus loved him. Having a buddy to do things with is fine when we're feeling well, but what about when we're sick and dying?

When Jesus heard that his friend Lazarus was ill and that his sisters, Mary and Martha, were distraught, He decided to pay them a visit. It wasn't by chance that Christ heard about this illness; Mary and Martha immediately sent for Him saying "Lord, he whom You love is ill". Lazarus didn't have a cold and it was very possible that he would die soon. Jesus shows His divine omnipotence before even traveling to meet the sisters. He proclaims to His disciples, with no other notifications from the sisters, that "Lazarus has died". The Disciples, rightly fearing for the life of their Master, persuade him not to go, saying "Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?" Upon this admission, Jesus states His true purpose for the visit: "Lazarus has died, and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe". Jesus, knowing that He could have prevented the death of His friend, instead chose to teach His disciples and all Christians a great lesson concerning the resurrection of believers.

Death, although holding a great power over us, has no power over Christ. He indicates almost nonchalantly that He will go to Lazarus and that the disciples are going to learn a lesson in the meantime. Death frightens us because of the power of sin and corruption in our flesh. As Paul so boldly states, "the wages of sin is death" (Romans 6:23). We are terrified of death because we fear that God will judge us unfavorably. As sinful as we may be, Lazarus was a sinner as well. Christ visits Bethany not to condemn Lazarus, but to bring the Good News of salvation.

Mary and Martha both prove to be faithful Christians, telling Christ that had he been there, Lazarus wouldn't have died. However, upon His telling them that "Lazarus will rise again," they sort of look at their feet and mumble something about the resurrection on the last day. Whether He wanted to cut to the chase or He knew that it needed to be said, Jesus made this bold proclamation concerning Himself: "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". This is Jesus. He's not a buddy or a pal; He's the Resurrection and the Life. As though He could feel the tension in the room, Jesus followed that statement with a simple "do you believe this?" Well, do you?

Those of you in attendance at Divine Service this morning know Jesus. You sing hymns of praise to Him as your Savior week after week. You faithfully receive His body and blood in the Sacrament of the Altar, believing that by it you are receiving forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. Whether or not you cross yourselves, you are reminded again and again that you have been baptized, and that through it you are forgiven of sins, rescued from death and devil, and given eternal salvation, as the Words and promises of God declare. However, despite these miracles, and despite your confession of Jesus Christ as Lord, death and the knowledge of your sins still ominously hovers over you.

Like the peasant Johannes from Bo Giertz's Hammer of God, you feel as though you have done nothing but evil despite God's love for you. You think ill of your fellow brothers and sisters in Christ and judge them. You know that Christ has died for sinners, but you realize that your sin may be too great for salvation. Surely the 'pure in heart' will ascend to heaven, but not you. These thoughts and many others like them terrify you with the stinging reality that you don't deserve to go to heaven.

In Paul Gerhardt's beloved hymn of faith "If God Himself Be for Me" (LSB 724), he proclaims the saving power of Jesus Christ in the life of the Christian. However, despite these irreplaceable gifts, he also mentions the trials that we will face in the sixth stanza.

This is what we have to look forward to in this life. Satan has made enmity with those who cling to Christ, and he is indeed a powerful adversary. Although sin and Satan can put our mortal bodies to death, we take literally the prophecy of Isaiah when he foretold of the Christ "He will swallow up death forever" (Isaiah 25:8).

Jesus, proclaiming that He Himself is the Resurrection and the Life, is brought to the tomb of Lazarus, whom He raises from the dead with a simple "Lazarus, come out". Before He did this, however, He wept for his friend, because Lazarus had paid the dearest price for his sin. Jesus isn't some sort of robot that God sent to earth to zap life into everyone. He felt our pain and experienced our emotions. As the writer to the Hebrew's states, "For we do not have a High Priest [Jesus] who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15). As much God as He was man, Jesus has no trouble raising His friend, or us, from the dead.

As significant as the actual raising was, the words that Jesus spoke to bring him from the dead are just as important. "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". Jesus wanted no confusion as to whether He was a philosopher, a buddy, or a robot. He wanted everyone to know Him as the Son of God and our Savior.

How could we expect to escape persecution when Christ Himself faced so much during His ministry? Upon raising Lazarus, some of the Jews went to the Jewish religious leaders, who immediately plotted Jesus' death, saying "If we let Him go on like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation". Not wanting to lose their wealth and status, the Pharisees and other leaders of the Jewish church began serious deliberations to kill Jesus from that point on.

We know the rest of the story. Jesus would soon ride triumphantly into Jerusalem, where He would shortly go from celebrity to convict and face a grueling and torturous death on the cross. Carrying the full weight of our sins upon His shoulders, His death would have been especially vicious, but He endured all of it without sinning so that we might not experience true death. Will you die? Yes. And you are dying, every day. Our sinful flesh cannot live forever. However, Christ has paid the price of our sins, which is an especially vivid reality during the 40 days of Lent.

As we prepare to enter into Holy Week, we need to remember who Christ truly was and is. He's not our buddy, someone to have casual chats with or to play a game with. He's not a philosopher who simply wanted us to learn from His ideas. And He certainly wasn't a politician. He described Himself as the Resurrection and the Life, a God-man who has power over death and the devil. Jesus didn't die for us so that we'd end up in hell or stuck in the ground. Like Johannes from the previous illustration came to know, Christ's forgiveness is greater than your sin. We will enter into heavenly splendor on our last day here on earth when we, like Lazarus before us, are called from the grave to join in fellowship with our Savior, our Lord, our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.