Lent 2011 Week 5

Lent week 5 year A

John Chapter 11:1-44 I am the Resurrection and the Life (abridged)

 4 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.” 5 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6 So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. 17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

 21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”

 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”

 24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”

 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

 27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.

   “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”

 40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”

 41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”

 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.

   Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

This passage gives us a story of Jesus interacting with disciples and friends, which also reflects his ministry of compassion and teaching. Although we are dealing with death in all its devastation and mourning and sadness, this picture of life in this home, and its inhabitants' interaction with their friend and Teacher, Jesus, is moving one. "Jesus wept," It's the shortest verse in the Bible and one of the most beautiful. God, creator of the universe, witness to millions of lives and deaths, sorrows and sufferings, creator of galaxies and solar systems, weeps for the loss of his friend. Mary, Martha and Lazarus, are not only disciples, who call Him Lord and Master, but they are friends for whom He, too, cares for. It shows God cares, that God is not a remote, unfeeling God but a God who loves us and feels pain when we suffer, who mourns when our heart is breaking too, when tears overwhelm us and desolation overtakes us. He's been there, He understands our pain and sorrow and He bleeds for us on the Cross ultimately.

All three of these people in this home are important precisely because of their differences in character. Lazarus' resurrection will play a decisive role in the authorities' determination to finally condemn Jesus. Lazarus himself will become a symbol and a hunted man. But the distinct differences we are given in the Gospels in the portrayal of Martha and Mary teach us something else very important: that each one of us comes to the Lord with our own relationship, through our own characters and personalities. Mary sits and mourns, sitting is the correct posture when mourning and greeting mourners at this time. Sometimes we need just the comfort of doing nothing, alone with our grief. Martha, is busy organising, on the move, she needs to be busy to cope with her grief, yet her grief doesn't paralyse her. She has the faith in Jesus to believe that death is not the end. Martha believes before her brother is raised from the dead. Mary, Martha and Lazarus, are among His closest friends. Yet even with them, He is still teaching, and still asking more of their faith. He is the resurrection and the life. This is the fullness of faith that He asks, before raising Lazarus.

Jesus offers us life. He is the source of life. That’s the point of this sign from John's Gospel. When Jesus said to Martha “ I am the Resurrection and the Life” – it wasn’t just a little theological statement. Rather, Jesus was presenting her and also us therefore, with a challenge. He is asking:

“Do you believe me, when I say this? Do you want the life that I am offering?

Ask yourself the same question this week. Do you believe that Jesus is the Resurrection and the Life?

2 weeks to Easter...