Today is the highest day of the church year. Just over 2,000 years ago history took a sharp turn
towards hope and restoration. On the Friday, Jesus took the sins of the world
on himself onto the cross, and by doing so, he took the punishment for all of
our sin on himself; reconciling his people with his Father. That first Easter,
God raised Jesus from the dead as a sign that Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf
was accepted and all our sins are forgiven. Hallelujah!
John sets up the resurrection story of Jesus with the story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead shortly
before his own death. In Lazarus’ death and resurrection, questions come up, like
how Jesus responds to the news that Lazarus is sick, “When
he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for
God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Instead of
leaving right away to be with Lazarus and offering healing, Jesus waits for 2
days before leaving. As they get ready to leave, “Jesus
goes on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going
there to wake him up.” When his disciples don’t understand what he’s
just said, “he tells them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and
for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go
to him.”
Jesus’ goal in Lazarus’ death is to help them believe, but the question is, “Believe what?” When you
read the Bible, listen for echoes: where do we hear something similar, see something
similar. When we listen for these, we begin to get a bigger picture of what’s
happening. The idea of believing but not understanding comes up again and again
in John’s gospel; from the woman at the well, to Thomas, Martha, Mary
Magdalene, and at Jesus’ tomb, Peter and John. They all recognize in their
encounters with Jesus that there’s more going on than they understand. In
John’s gospel, this isn’t a mark of shame. Jesus doesn’t get frustrated,
instead it gives Jesus the opportunity to teach them and help them believe.
At Lazarus’ tomb, Martha hears that Jesus is there and she goes and meets him. Martha goes in the hope
that nothing’s beyond Jesus’ power, “Lord, if you had
been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give
you whatever you ask.” Jesus’ response isn’t necessarily what she hoped
for, “Your brother will rise again.” These are
words that we often offer to each other when a loved one dies, but Martha’s
hoping for something more, but she’s hesitant to push Jesus to directly use his
power. Martha answers Jesus with some resignation in her voice, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Her last hope that Jesus might perform a miracle for Lazarus evaporates away.
Now Jesus goes on, “I am the resurrection and the life.
The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and
whoever lives by believing in me will never die.” He follows this up
with asking, “Do you believe this?” Another
reference to believing, but believe what exactly?
We find it easy to believe this side of Jesus’ resurrection, but for Martha and the early
disciples, believing in resurrection was harder, even though they had seen
Jesus perform miracles and heard his teachings the past 3 years. As I reflect
on these stories, I hear doubt and questions, coupled with a desire to believe,
and an openness to being open to having our worldview shaped by who Jesus is.
I’ve learned that it’s easier to believe our theology as simple knowledge and
harder to actually shape our hearts and lives and allow it to shape us in its
hope, comfort, and faith. Good theology is rooted in the good news of Jesus and
builds up and encourages. In Jesus’ words to Martha, Jesus says he is the resurrection and life, that we have life even though we
die, and that we have eternal life through believing in Jesus. But death
is still a reality that can shake us and leave us with all kinds of questions
even as we live in faith and trust in the resurrection.
Martha responds with a beautiful statement of faith, “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I
believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
She doesn’t say she understands exactly what Jesus has just said, but she
trusts in who Jesus is. And even though Jesus is the Son of God with power over
life and death, he still weeps over Lazarus’ death, over the pain sin has
brought into the world before he raises Lazarus into life again. It reminds me
that it’s good to weep when death touches us, but because Jesus is the resurrection and the life, we weep with hope.
Lazarus’ resurrection points us to Easter morning.
Mary
Magdalene traveled with Jesus as one of his followers and was there at
his crucifixion. Magdalene shows that she came from the town
of Magdala, a fishing town on the western shore of the Sea of Galilee.
The death of Jesus affects her deeply. Luke tells us that Jesus freed her from
7 demons that had possessed her. Jesus gave Mary new life, freeing her from
those demons, filling her with hope and peace. Mary’s one of the group of women
who supported Jesus and his disciples, so Jesus’ death is a huge blow to her.
While it’s still dark, Mary heads to Jesus’ tomb. On Friday, she was with the
group of women who had followed Joseph of Arimathea and saw the tomb he placed
Jesus’ body in. They made plans to come to anoint Jesus’ body with spices and
perfumes.
Mary
goes earlier than the other women to spend some time alone before the other
women show up. Mary sees the stone rolled away and the empty tomb and runs to
tell Peter and John, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know
where they have put him!” Peter and John book it for the tomb. John gets
there first, looks inside, sees the linens Jesus was wrapped in, then Peter
arrives and goes inside. John then writes, “He saw and
believed.” I love his honesty in what he writes next, “They still did not understand from Scripture that Jesus had
to rise from the dead.” So much about God is hard to understand. This is
why the gift of faith is so precious, a gift that relies on trust and the Holy
Spirit’s assurance as the Spirit keeps pointing us to Jesus and the hope we
find in him.
It's
an emotional day coming after an emotional weekend for everyone. There’s the
fear, guilt, and shame that the disciples are going through; there’s Jesus’
death and the death of Judas after he’s unable to deal with his guilt. There’s
lost hope. Yet at the same time, God and Jesus are doing something that’s life
and history changing, but so much of it’s happening behind the scenes where
people aren’t able to see it. This is where faith comes in, just like Job
discovered, just like Joseph told his brothers centuries earlier that what they
had done was all part of God’s plan to save them. As we look at how God worked
in the past, we’re better able to understand how Jesus’ death is part of God’s
plan to save us.
People
react to death differently. Many people fear death today. After almost 25 years
in ministry, I’ve seen how people deal with death. For some, there’s utter
devastation from those without faith and who believe there’s nothing left of
the person they’ve just said good-bye to; there are those who go to all kinds
of lengths to flee from the pain of loss; then there are those who wonder if
there is anything to live for and stick their pain deep down inside and try to
deny it because then they need to deal with the reality of death.
Compare
this to the funerals we’ve had in lately; funerals where there’s sorrow, but it’s
sorrow with hope because of Jesus’ resurrection. Easter resurrection is especially meaningful at times like this, but it
can come with questions. We don’t always understand God’s timing or plans. We mourn because
of our love for the person who died, but we also live in hope because we know
that death has been conquered by Jesus and is now a doorway to eternal life in
God’s presence! In a world that assumes death is the last word, there’s
something amazing when someone discovers that tombs are temporary, that for
those who believe in Jesus, there’s eternal life! After that first Easter, we start
to understand what Jesus means with “Whoever lives and believes
in me will never die.” What we call death in the end is not death for
the follower of Jesus, but a doorway to be with him forever. We possess eternal
life! Hallelujah!
Join
me in celebrating this joy with the words from the Heidelberg Catechism…
Q &A 57 How does “the resurrection of the body” comfort you?
Answer: Not only will my soul be taken immediately after this life to Christ its head, but also my very flesh will be raised by the power of Christ, reunited with my soul, and made like Christ’s glorious body.
Q & A 58
How does the article concerning “life everlasting” comfort you?
Answer: Even as I already now experience in my heart the beginning of eternal joy, so after this life I will have perfect blessedness such as no eye has seen, no ear has heard, no human heart has ever imagined: a blessedness in which to praise God forever.
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