march 26 2023
2023 Lent 5, March 26th
Old Testament: Ezekiel 37:1-14
Psalm: Psalm 130
Epistle: Romans 8:1-11
Gospel: John 11:1-45 (46, 53, 12:10-11)
Sermon Text: John 11:17-53
Sermon Title: “I Am the Resurrection and the Life”
Grace to you and peace, from God the Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
After Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, “many of the Jews believed in Him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done”. (John 11:45b-46) “So, from that day on, they made plans to put Jesus to death … they gave orders that if anyone knew where He was, he should let them know, so that they might arrest Him”. (John 11:53, 57) Later “the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, because on account of him, many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus”. (John 12:10-11)
Last week, we heard the man who was healed of his (physical and spiritual) blindness by Jesus, almost immediately begin to suffer because of his faith in Him. The Pharisees interrogated him, mocked him, and eventually threw him out of the synagogue, having already decided that anyone who confessed Jesus as the Christ would suffer this fate. Jesus’ final word to them on that day was, “If you were blind, you would have no guilt, but now that you say, we see, your guilt remains”. (John 9:41)
But they took no warning from Jesus’ words, rather they continued in their evil behavior against Him and those who followed Him. In chapter 10, the Jews said of Jesus, “He is insane and has a demon; why listen to Him”. (John 10:20b) “Again, they sought to arrest Him”. (John 10:39) Today, Jesus performed the greatest physical miracle of His ministry, so far, by raising Lazarus after he had been dead four days, and the leaders of the Jews still opposed Him. It did not matter what Jesus did or said, they were against Him.
Now, Jesus heard that Lazarus was ill and instead of going to him immediately, He delayed going for two days; by which time Lazarus had already died. In a moment we will hear some of the Jews complaining about His decision to wait. Jesus plainly told the disciples why, saying, “Lazarus has died and for your sake, I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him”. (John 11:14b-15) Jesus is glad He was not there? Yes! Glad because He knows that He will demonstrate to the disciples, complete power over death by raising Lazarus bodily from the dead.
It is another miracle or sign proving who Jesus is; both true man and true God. To paraphrase last week’s Gospel, “it was not that Lazarus sinned, or his parents, but that the works of God might be displayed in him” (John 9:3) by being raised from the dead. Again, Lazarus died so that the works of God would be manifested in him.
“Now, when Jesus came, He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them about their brother. So, when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met Him, but Mary remained seated in the house”. (John 11:17-20)
Martha approached Jesus and said, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You”. (John 11:21-22) In Martha here, we have what seems to be a mixture of faith; believing that the dead will be raised on the Last Day, and frustration that Jesus had not come in time to heal her brother in this life. The idea of her brother being raised that day, in the present, did not occur to her.
“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”. (John 11:23-24) Jesus did not contradict Martha’s confession, but rather testified of Himself saying, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live”. (John 11:25)
Jesus affirms that those who believe in Him have eternal life even now saying, “everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. (Martha) Do you believe this”? (John 11:26) All who believe in Jesus will die physically, but the eternal life we have in Him, survives death and the grave, and on the Last Day, body and soul will be reunited in the resurrection. This is what the Lord declared through the prophet Ezekiel, “You shall know that I am the Lord, when I open your graces and raise you from your graves”. (Ezekiel 37:13)
Martha then gives a wonderful confession of faith; “Yes Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world”. (John 11:27) Jesus then is approached by Mary, “for Martha had went and called her sister, saying in private, the Teacher is here and is calling for you. And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to Him”. (John 11:28-29) They share a similar conversation as Mary also asked Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died”. (John 11:32)
“When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, Jesus was deeply moved in His Spirit and greatly troubled … He said, where have you laid him? They said to Him, Lord, come and see. Jesus wept. So, the Jews said; See how He loved him”. (John 11:33-36) Jesus wept even though He knew He would raise up Lazarus in a few moments. Some saw this as a sign of weakness saying, “Could not He who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying”? (John 11:37)
“Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, take away the stone. Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to Jesus; Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days”. (John 11:38-39) Jesus is not deterred in any way. The works of God are to be revealed in what He was about to do.
“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 lifted up His eyes and said, Father, I thank You that you heard me. I know that You always hear Me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that You sent Me”. (John 11:40-42) Jesus prays aloud so that those who heard would also come to saving faith in Him.
“When He had said these things, Jesus 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 (as was the burial custom of the Jews). Jesus said to them, Unbind him and let him go”. (John 11:43-44) Jesus has again borne witness to Himself, that His Words are true; “He is the resurrection and the life”. (John 11:25a)
Now, Lazarus was raised from the dead, but we know that he died again. In this way, his resurrection was different than the resurrection of the body on the Last Day; “when Christ will raise me and all the dead and give eternal life to me and all believers in Christ”. (Third Article explanation, Small Catechism) As Jesus said, “an hour is coming, when all who are in the tombs will hear His voice and come out, those who have done good to the resurrection of life and those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment”. (John 5:28-29)
Just as Jesus had predicted, “many of the Jews … who had seen what He did, believed in Him”. (John 11:45) Sadly, many others, “went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So, the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered the Council and said; what are we to do? For this man performs many signs”. (John 11:46-47)
Remember, these were the religious leaders of Israel. They acknowledged Jesus had done many great miracles, including this most recent one in raising Lazarus. These were clearly signs that only the Messiah/Christ could do, and yet they were so full of hate for Jesus, they rejected Him anyway. They were more concerned with maintaining the status quo, than they were in the truth. “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”. (John 11:48) In other words, as the saying goes, “truth be damned”.
“From that day on, they made plans to put Him to death”. (John 11:53) Not only that, as we heard last Sunday, they were making threats to anyone in the synagogue who dared to speak of Jesus as the Christ. Then a few days later, “the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death too, because on account of him, many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus”. (John 12:10-11) Those who hate Christ, also hate those who belong to Him.
Knowing this (from Scripture) why do we always seem to be seeking to get along with (compromise) those who oppose Jesus and His Gospel? Why do we think we can make peace with the Devil? For, we know that what the Apostle Paul says is true; “to set the mind on things of the flesh is death … hostile to God … cannot please God”. (Romans 8:6-8) This is not what God has intended for “for those who are in Christ Jesus”. (Romans 8:1a)
For Jesus took our sins upon Himself on the cross that He might “destroy the one who has the power of death”. (Hebrews 2:14) We have died with Christ in our baptism and have “been set free from sin”. (Romans 6:7b) Eternal life is ours through faith in Christ alone, “who died once for all” (Romans 6:10a) so that we would “consider ourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus”. (Romans 6:11) Through Christ’s death and bodily resurrection, by the power of the Holy Spirit working through the Word and Sacrament, we have eternal life now and forever. This we believe, teach and confess; “I believe in the resurrection of the body and the life everlasting. Amen.
The peace of God …