LAZARUS, COME FORTH!      

Salt Creek Bible Church   Palm Sunday, 2003

Sermon by Pastor Dennis Gleason

Love-letter lament:

Dearest Jimmy,

No words could ever express the great unhappiness I've felt since breaking our engagement. Please say you'll take me back. No one could ever take your place in my heart, so please forgive me. I love you, I love you, I love you!  

Yours forever, Marie.

P.S., And congratulations on winning the state lottery.     

Today as we consider another “sign” performed by Jesus we are going to consider the Love of Jesus Christ for Lazarus. That love is different from the love of people in this world as illustrated by Marie.  We want to consider three things: The Perspective, Power and Purpose of Jesus and this expression of his love for his friends. 

Jesus Raises Lazarus from the Dead  -- John 11:38-44

³⁸And again Jesus was deeply troubled. Then they came to the grave. It was a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. ³⁹“Roll the stone aside,” Jesus told them.

But Martha, the dead man’s sister, said, “Lord, by now the smell will be terrible because he has been dead for four days.”

⁴⁰Jesus responded, “Didn’t I tell you that you will see God’s glory if you believe?” ⁴¹So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, “Father, thank you for hearing me. ⁴²You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so they will believe you sent me.” ⁴³Then Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴And Lazarus came out, bound in graveclothes, his face wrapped in a headcloth. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him go!”

 Our first thought is related to Perspective.  

If we were to define it,  we would recognize that Perspective is how you see something. 

What perspective should we have about love?  Love is Action.  Let me illustrate what I am thinking about with this illustration from a man by the name of Dave Simmons:

 “…I took Helen (eight years old) and Brandon (five years old) to the Cloverleaf Mall in Hattiesburg to do a little shopping. As we drove up, we spotted a Peterbilt eighteen-wheeler parked with a big sign on it that said, "Petting Zoo." The kids jumped up in a rush and asked, "Daddy, Daddy. Can we go? Please. Please. Can we go?"

"Sure," I said, flipping them both a quarter before walking into Sears. They bolted away, and I felt free to take my time looking for a scroll saw. A petting zoo consists of a portable fence erected in the mall with about six inches of sawdust and a hundred little furry baby animals of all kinds. Kids pay their money and stay in the enclosure enraptured with the squirmy little critters while their moms and dads shop.

A few minutes later, I turned around and saw Helen walking along behind me. I was shocked to see she preferred the hardware department to the petting zoo. Recognizing my error, I bent down and asked her what was wrong.

She looked up at me with those giant limpid brown eyes and said sadly, "Well, Daddy, it cost fifty cents. So, I gave Brandon my quarter." Then she said the most beautiful thing I ever heard. She repeated the family motto. The family motto is in "Love is Action!"

She had given Brandon her quarter, and no one loves cuddly furry creatures more than Helen. She had watched both of us do and say "Love is Action!" for years around the house and Kings Arrow Ranch. She had heard and seen "Love is Action," and now she had incorporated it into her little lifestyle. It had become part of her.

What do you think I did? Well, not what you might think. As soon as I finished my errands, I took Helen to the petting zoo. We stood by the fence and watched Brandon go crazy petting and feeding the animals. Helen stood with her hands and chin resting on the fence and just watched Brandon. I had fifty cents burning a hole in my pocket; I never offered it to Helen, and she never asked for it.

Because she knew the whole family motto. It's not "Love is Action." It's "Love is SACRIFICIAL Action!" Love always pays a price. Love always costs something. Love is expensive. When you love, benefits accrue to another's account. Love is for you, not for me. Love gives; it doesn't grab. Helen gave her quarter to Brandon and wanted to follow through with her lesson. She knew she had to taste the sacrifice. She wanted to experience that total family motto. Love is sacrificial action.          

The story of Lazarus, Martha and Mary begins here in verse 1 of chapter 11.  Lazarus was sick.. He was from Bethany, a small village on just outside of Jerusalem. You will remember that Mary and Martha often entertained Jesus in their home.  On one occasion, Martha was concerned about serving Jesus and became upset at Mary when she was not helping get things ready for Jesus and their other guests. Mary sat at Jesus’ feet with a disciple’s devotion instead.  When confronted by Martha regarding Mary’s choice, Jesus told Martha that Mary had made the better choice.

The sisters sent word to Jesus that Lazarus was sick.  Jesus’ response was that the sickness was not unto death but was for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified by it.

This introduces us to Jesus’ perspective:  

The illness was not unto death.

God would be glorified through it.

Jesus loved Martha, Mary and Lazarus but…

He stayed where he was two days longer. He continued in the work he was doing there.

After the two days, he told his disciples “Let’s go to Judea again.”

“Lazarus has fallen asleep.” (verse 11)…by this he meant that Lazarus was dead.

I want you to be clear on the picture that John is painting here for us.  Jesus received the word that his friend Lazarus was sick.  It is clearly stated that Jesus loved this family. But he did not go to them in their hour of need. He stayed where he was. He delayed his return to Bethany in the face of that illness. Jesus knows that Lazarus is dead. In fact if you trace out the events as they unfold you will see that Lazarus died on the day they sent word to Jesus. The distance Jesus is away from Bethany is about a full day’s journey.  It takes one day for the word about Lazarus to get to him.  He remains there two more days and then returns to Bethany which is the fourth day. When Jesus gets to Bethany and the home of Lazarus’ family he has been in the grave for four days.  

Why?  Why doesn’t Jesus go immediately to Mary and Martha? If he really loved them, why did he delay?  Both Martha and Mary state the obvious when Jesus arrives:  Martha says:  “”Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.” (vs 21) .  I think we have to understand by this that she feels here that Jesus could have prevented his death.  If he had only come when  they sent word things would have been different, she says.  Mary on the other hand, says the same thing.  However, I think her intention was something like this:  “I wish it had been possible for you to have been here.”  Her attitude of devotion and worship seems to indicate that was her intention.

His perspective is this:  His love has led him not to hurry to their side.  It is because he loved them that he delayed his arrival. He has allowed enough time to pass so that Lazarus’ death will be certified so that there will be no doubt as to what is going to happen.  He has died and this fact creates an opportunity for the display of the Glory of God.

Jesus sees death as sleep.  Lazarus is asleep he says.  You see death, ending and distress.  I see sleep, beginning and harmony. For you see, the essential part of Lazarus’ personality is asleep.  Jesus tarried because he loved them.  He went because he loved them.

You will only find that Jesus raised three people from the dead.  Jairus’ daughter, the son of the widow of Nain and Lazarus. The little girl  and the widow’s son were done quickly after the spirit departed from their bodies.  Here he waits for four days before raising Lazarus.  And no one expects Jesus to do so…We see that when we hear Jesus’ command to remove the stone. Her response is to protest that it has been four days that he has been in the tomb. It is too late!

When he speaks to Martha he does not tell her:  “he who believes in me though he dies shall live again.”  What he says is this:  “He who believes in me though he dies yet shall he live.” What is the difference?  It is this:  Jesus does not see Lazarus as dead. Lazarus is alive even when from all appearances from an earthly perspective he is dead.  He is alive…and to prove his point, when Jesus calls out “Lazarus come forth!”  He speaks to Lazarus as if he can hear him.  He is simply calling the spirit of Lazarus back to the body. We see people as dead.  We talk about them as if they are dead when they are not.  They are alive…their spirit has gone to the place where spirits go to await the resurrection body and the great day of Christ’s return.  

Jesus expects to be heard.  And Lazarus hears and obeys his command.

Jesus only raised someone from the dead three times.  We might wonder why in the face of such suffering and loss to those Jesus loved.  Think of it in this way:  Those whose spirits had gone on were in a better place. And to call them back into this world, back into an imperfect body would be to place them in a place of limitation.  There would be a future sorrow for the day would come when they would be separated from their loved ones again. It would be a tearing at the fabric of their lives and the love they shared. For this reason he was reticent to do it.

We have been talking about Jesus’ perspective.  Part of that persepective was this:  Jesus wept.  When confronted with the results of sin and the sorrow this family is sharing he is moved to tears. These are tears of sympathy. In a little while he will wipe away the tears, but they are still there now and while they are there he will enter into the fellowship of suffering and sorrow.

This brings us to consider the Power of Jesus.

The Jews seeing the tears Jesus shed over Lazarus are moved to comment:  “Behold how he loved him”. They thought that Jesus wept because he had lost Lazarus.  “Look at those  tears, they prove that Jesus loved him. In verse 37 they wonder about his power.  Couldn’t he who healed the blind, have kept Lazarus from dying?

Did Jesus have the power to do so?  Of course, He did!  It is obvious from the results here that he did have the power to do that. He chose to do it differently.  He could have kept Lazarus alive during the illness. He chose not to.

When he comes to the family he asks the question:  “Where have you laid him?”  If you look at your New Testament you will find that this is the only time Jesus ever asks anyone for information.  This is not an indication that he needs information but that he is ready to act on their behalf.  Remember Love is action…sacrificial action. The sacrificial part of this will be evident in the latter part of this section when the Jews, the rulers, Sadducees and Pharisees determine to kill him.  From this time one they will be looking for an opportunity to kill Jesus. And of course they will succeed.

What does all this tell us about the Purpose of Jesus?

Jesus speaks to the disciples when he tells them that Lazarus is dead and tells them this: “ I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe…” (11:15)  To the sisters at the tomb, he says:  “Did I not say to you, if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”  When praying to his Heavenly Father he says:  “…that they may believe that Thou didst send me.”

The purpose in all of this is that people might believe:

That Jesus is the life…and whoever believes in Him will have that life.

That God might be glorified in that belief

That is the whole point of this miracle as a sign…it points to the perspective, power and purpose of God to bring people into the life of God by faith in His Son Jesus Christ. It points to Jesus as the life of God which is freely available to people who will simply believe.  

By way of application for our own lives, what does this have to say to us today?

Perspective: Whatever difficulties and problems we have in this life are not viewed the in the same way by Jesus.  Jesus sees things differently than we do.  His perspective is different from ours.  He is sympathetic to our sorrow, our difficulties and the challenges we face in this world.  He sees what we are going through and he will meet us there in love. But He will not necessarily change the situation confronting us.  

For example, Death which is such a final thing to us…is simply a change in the manifestation of a person and the spirit which comprises his essential being. The spirit leaves the body and goes to the place where spirits await the second coming of Christ.  It is a place of blessing and from God’s perspective it is as the twinkling of an eye.  

Power:  He has the power to change any of it in an instant.  And there are times when we pray and believe Him that things are changed.  But there are times when he does not do so. That is because of His perspective and His purpose.  If he does not act in a manner that you want it will not be a matter of a lack of power to affect your situation. It will be a matter of His purpose for you. He has a plan for you.  He will work in your life to get you where you will believe Him…trust Him…obey Him.

Purpose means the resolving of all that appears to be discord into the harmony of God’s perfect will and perfect action.  He is doing what he is doing in your life with the intent that you will believe Him.

He allows things so that we might trust him and believe that He is the Son of God who loves us and who died that we might have his life.  Because he loves us, he acts in our lives as he does.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord.”  (Jeremiah 29:11-14a)

As it always is, the choice is ours.  It is a matter of our will…to choose to trust Him, to believe in Him, to receive the life he offers us that is forever.  Do you believe it?  Do you love Him?  If so…then act on the love you have for Jesus as your life touches the life of someone else.

 Let me close with this thought:  In his book Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis wrote, "Do not waste your time bothering whether you 'love' your neighbor…act as if you did. As soon as we do this, we find one of the great secrets. When you are behaving as if you loved someone, you will presently come to love him. If you injure someone you dislike, you will find yourself disliking him more.  If you do him a good turn, you will find yourself disliking him less."

I have been reminded of the lines of a country western song that go something like this:  “A little less talk if you please.  A lot more action is what I need.”  Love is action.  It is easy for us to talk love and a little more difficult to live it…to act in love.  With that in mind, how will you express that kind of love to those around you?  How might this perspective on love change your relationships with your loved ones?  Think about it and see what God leads you to do to express your love to others.

--Dennis Gleason