Series: “Encounters With Christ”
"Talking To a Dead Man"

Since Ash Wednesday I’ve been preaching from the Gospel of John, looking at the encounters various people had with Jesus. Today we're going to back up to the 11th chapter of John, and look at an encounter with Christ that's kind of "out of this world". Turn to John, chapter 11.

Three of Jesus' close friends are sisters Mary and Martha and their brother Lazarus. John writes, "Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair;" - I talked about that in my sermon several weeks ago - "her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, 'Lord, he whom you love is ill'" (John 11:1-3).

Lazarus is ill, and his sisters send word to Jesus, apparently hoping He will come and heal their brother. You would think that the Lord who had healed so many sick people would rush to the side of His dear friend and make him well. This isn't what happens. "But when Jesus heard it, he said, 'This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.' Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was" (John 11:4-6). Jesus delays going to Lazarus. He has something greater in mind than just a physical healing.

After two days Jesus says to His disciples, "Let's go back to Judea." (That would take them near Jerusalem). “Isn't that too dangerous?” they argue. The religious authorities are looking for a chance to kill Him. Don't worry, He says, my life will end when God says it's time. "After saying this, he told them, 'Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.' The disciples said to him, 'Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right'" (verses 11-12). Good, they say! If he's asleep he'll be ok. They don't quite get it. Jesus has to spell it out: "Read my lips. Lazarus is dead. D E A D!"

So they make their way back to the little village of Bethany. But in the meantime Lazarus has died, and been in the tomb 4 days. Martha gets word that Jesus is approaching, so she heads out to meet Him. "Martha said to Jesus, 'Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died'" (verse 21).

“Lord, if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.” Haven't you ever felt something like that? "Jesus, if you had just been there, my friend, my family member, wouldn't have been in that accident." “Lord, I know you could have healed that little girl; if you had just intervened and been there she wouldn't have died."

Martha continues, "'But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.'
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'" (verses 22-24). Martha has a lot of faith! She believes that her brother Lazarus will live again on resurrection day!

Look at this incredible claim of Jesus: "Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die'" (verses 25-26). In response she voices a great affirmation of faith in Him! "She said to him, 'Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world'" (verse 27).

Martha goes back to get her sister Mary. Mary comes, along with a whole group of mourners. Mary says the same thing, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." Look at what comes next: "When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. He said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to him, 'Lord, come and see.' Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, 'See how he loved him!" (verses 33-36).

Jesus knows what it is to have someone you really love die. Death was not merely a minor annoyance for Jesus. Overcome with sadness, He cries.

Still very emotional Jesus goes to the tomb where Lazarus is buried. There’s a stone at the entrance. "Roll it away," He orders. Martha interrupts, "Oh Lord, by now, the odor will be bad!" (I love the King James Version, "Lord, by this time he stinketh”). Jesus says to Martha, “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” He prays a short prayer, and then He yells, "Lazarus, come out!!"

Imagine you're standing there with your eyes fastened on the entrance to the tomb. There are nervous whispers. You hear some rustling around inside. And then there’s a unified gasp as the corpse staggers to the cave entrance. Good grief! "The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, 'Unbind him, and let him go'" (verse 44).

There's something about this story that's very funny, and I never picked up on it until I saw a routine done by Christian comedian and singer, Mark Lowry. Show Mark Lowry video clip. Here’s this dead man-come-back-to-life, somehow flopping his way out of the tomb after being buried for 4 days!

Have you ever met anyone who could resurrect a dead person? Jesus can! He can even conquer death!

Death – the “big-D” – is still that ultimate enemy that every one of us faces! We may try to avoid the reality of death, or thinking about our own death. I believe our American culture is getting better at accepting death as a part of life – what with the rise of the hospice movement, and discussions about end of life issues, etc. But in many ways we are still a death-denying culture: glorifying youthfulness, immersing ourselves in pleasures and material things to divert us from thinking about the ending of our life. But we are mortal.
We won't live on this earth forever.

I remember death intruded into my early childhood years when my grandfather died at a relatively young age. Then I was still very young when an uncle died in his 30’s of some strange infection. And I vividly recall feeling sad and empty as a 6th grader when a pleasant, curly-haired 2nd grader in our school was hit by a car, and a few days later died.
Death had invaded my childhood turf, even though I had posted “No Trespassing” signs all around.

The Bible calls death an enemy. 1 Corinthians 15:26 says, “The last enemy to be destroyed is death.” I realize that in some cases death is a blessing. If someone is suffering terribly with an incurable illness, or if an aged person has lived a long and productive life and is frail and weak, death can be a release and a blessing. But wouldn’t it be better if that person we love so much didn’t have to die at all? It’s been over 20 years since my dad died, and I wish he were still alive. I still miss him. I still miss Nancy’s mom and dad (and I’m sure she does too).

What do you believe about life after death? Do you have any hope that after you die, you will be raised to some kind of meaningful life again? You can choose not to believe in life after death. Go ahead - nobody's stopping you. Or, you can choose to base your belief in life after death on the latest philosophical speculation, or what some spiritual guru or some movie star or what Oprah says. But I'm going to go to Jesus for the answers! And you know why? Because He was able to raise Lazarus from the dead! And you turn to chapter 20 in John’s gospel, and see how He himself was raised from the dead after being in a tomb for 3 days!

The Bible takes death seriously. Death is real. It spells the end of life. We breathe
our last and we are gone. But God has the power to bring to life again what was dead, and to fashion a resurrection body.

Our physical body cannot function in eternity. The Bible says, “Flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God” (1 Corinthians 15:50). There was this Texas preacher conducting the funeral of a church member, and he began to get carried away with his eloquence. Looking over at the casket he said, “My friends, these remains are not our brother. They are but the empty shell. The nut has gone above.”

This shell, this physical body, isn’t fit for heaven. We need a new body, a resurrection body. Some new form for retaining and communicating our essential personhood – what makes you you and me me.

The promise of a resurrection of the body comes when we put our faith in Christ. Look again at Jesus’ claim: "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die" (John 11:25-26).

Jesus asked Martha, "Do you believe this?" And He asks you that question too. After He raised Lazarus, it says that many believed in him. "Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him" (John 11:45).
It goes on to say that when the religious leaders (the chief priests and Pharisees) heard about it, instead of believing in Jesus, they were even more determined to put Him to death. Not only that, it says, “So the chief priests planned to put Lazarus to death as well, since it was on account of him that many of the Jews were deserting and were believing in Jesus” (John 12:10-11). Get rid of the evidence!

Will you choose to believe in Jesus? And to “believe” in the Bible doesn’t mean just believing some things about Him – it means putting your whole trust in Him. Having a relationship with Him. Allowing Him to live out His life through you.

But you know what? Raising someone who is physically dead, like Lazarus, is not the only kind of resurrection Jesus pulls off! The Bible says that there is a spiritual death
to which we are all subject. We are "dead in our sins". As we are, because of our sins, we are spiritually dead, and separated from God. But when we give our lives over to Christ, our sins are forgiven, and we are brought close to God. We come alive spiritually!

Ephesians 2:4-6 says, “But God, who is rich in mercy, out of the great love with which he loved us even when we were dead through our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ…and raised us up with him.” To be a Christian means that we’ve already experienced a resurrection! We begin to live a new life in Christ. Jesus comes to live in us and He opens up all kinds of possibilities for new beginnings, “mini-resurrections”.

Theologian and author Robert McAfee Brown was an Army chaplain in World War II, on a troopship in which 1500 Marines were coming back to the States from Japan for discharge. He was surprised when a small group of Marines came to him and asked him to lead a Bible study. Near the end of the trip home they were studying John 11, Jesus’ words, “I am the resurrection and the life.” After they had studied it, a Marine came to him and said, “Everything in that chapter is pointing to me.”

He went on to say he was in hell for the last 6 months. He had gone straight into the Marines from college, sent to Japan. He was bored with life, and had gotten into trouble, big trouble. Nobody knew about it, but God knew about it. He felt guilty. He felt as if his life was ruined, that he could never face his family although they wouldn’t have to ever know. He felt he had killed himself and was something of a dead man. But the young Marine went on: “After reading this chapter, I have become alive again. I know that this resurrection Jesus was talking about is real, here and now, for He has raised me from death to life.”

We don’t have to wait until we die physically to experience the resurrection power of Jesus! The resurrection life, eternal life, begins now! (In fact, if it doesn’t begin now, it’s too late!) When Christ is in us, we can live with the miracle of mini-resurrections every day! New beginnings. Mending of relationships. Restoring of broken dreams. Healing of hurts. The power of love and forgiveness.

A few years ago I came across a prayer, a meditation, that talks about living in the wonder of Christ's resurrection. Settle in for a moment. You may keep your eyes open as you listen, but be listening for God to speak hope to you. Slide presentation and music.

Prayer

The older we get, the more difficult it becomes to believe in a God who does resurrections. We grow up and experience the limitations of life and the pain of death. Eventually we decide it’s really hard to live out of wonderment. It’s easier to live out of doubt.

And yet, every once in a while, a fresh glimpse of the miraculous catches our attention. Little “aftershocks” of God’s creative energy break out and attempt to rekindle the wonderment. How do you explain these everyday miracles?

We see God’s hand, and the thought occurs that if God can do this, God can give us life. God can use that same skill and power to work in the difficult places in our lives; in broken relationships, in dreams gone sour, in families in strife, in hopes deeply buried.

Death is reversible. God recreates life. As we go to God in a time of prayer, let’s take a few moments to silently be in God’s presence. Let’s open ourselves up and listen to God’s desire for our miracle.

(Pause for silent prayer)

Thank you, Lord. There is no other one we can talk to in this way. You are Lord. You do resurrections on a daily basis. Rekindle our sense of wonder.

Harry L. Kaufhold, Jr.
Sermon preached at Lititz United Methodist Church
March 23, 2008

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