Lent V, Cycle A
March 17, 2002
The Rev. Dr. David M. Wendel
Saint Luke’s Lutheran Church, Colorado Springs, Colorado
Lessons: Ezekial 37:1-14; Romans 8:6-11; St. John 11:1-45
A Dramatic Reading/Meditation on
the Gospel Lesson
Narrator 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; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a
message to Jesus,
Reader 2 “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”
Narrator But when Jesus heard it, he said,
Jesus “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.”
Narrator 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.
Pastor STOP! Don’t you wish that in the midst of real life, you could sometimes just
shout out, “STOP!”, and everything would stop? Once again, we have a very
significant Gospel reading before us, that is full of meaning, that could very
easily slip right by, without our noticing. To keep that from happening, and to
give us time for this account, this interaction, this miracle to sink in, the
gospel reading, and sermon this morning, will be mixed in with each other, so
that the two will flow along, together as we go. So, let’s begin by backing up
a bit, to really hear what Jesus is saying in this beginning section. Would you
read that again, please, beginning, well, beginning at the beginning?
Narrator Now, a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her
sister Martha. Their brother, Lazarus was ill, so the sisters sent a message to Jesus…But when Jesus heard it, he said,
Jesus “This illness does not lead to death, rather, it is for God’s glory, so that the Son
of Man may be glorified through it.”
Narrator Jesus stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
Pastor STOP! How easy it would be to just hear those opening words, and then move
on. Easy, but unfortunate. Because here, right away, we hear so much that
should cause us to stop, and think. Without a doubt, Jesus loved Mary,
Martha and their brother, Lazarus. Jesus has stayed with them many times,
and they had shown great devotion to Jesus. And now, Lazarus is ill. Very
ill, evidently. So ill, that Mary and Martha send for Jesus. We can assume
that they wouldn’t have bothered Jesus for a sniffle, or a cough. It was no
simple matter to send a message like this to someone in another town. It
wasn’t like calling them on the telephone. No, Lazarus must have already
been quite ill, for his sisters to have sent for Jesus. And Jesus, you would
think, would have hurried off to Bethany! Mary and Martha surely expected
that he would. They were surely hoping that Jesus would come right away, to
heal Lazarus of this illness, before it became deadly. But, several odd things
happen, instead. Jesus tells his disciples that this illness is not unto death, so,
he delays two more days, before leaving for Bethany—which is odd, because
in fact, Lazarus dies. It appears Jesus knew this, and that his delay was
intentional—to make sure that Lazarus WOULD die. And then, Jesus tells
His disciples that this illness, is rather, for God’s glory, so that the Son of God
may be glorified through it. Although the disciples didn’t grasp what Jesus
was really saying, what becomes clear, as the event unfolds, is that this illness
was indeed, deadly; but Jesus is saying, not ultimately so. Lazarus would die,
but death wouldn’t have the final word, so to speak. Instead, this illness, that
would end in death, would give Jesus the opportunity, to show God’s power at
work in Him, manifesting His power, not only over illness and demons—but
over death itself! And this, Jesus says, will glorify both the Son of God, and
His Father in heaven! This is a common understanding that Jesus repeats
again and again, especially as recorded in the gospel of John. Last week, the
healing of the man born blind, was an opportunity for Jesus to manifest God’s
glory and power, at work in Him. And what Jesus is trying to tell us, through
the healing last week, and the raising of Lazarus this week, is that in spite of
whatever evil, pain, and suffering we might face in life—whatever grief or
loss or disability—these are opportunities—WE are opportunities, for God’s
presence and power to be manifested, in our lives. That God is at work, in
Jesus, in us, in every situation of our lives, to bring about healing and
wholeness, life and salvation! That’s one of the things Jesus wants to show
us, through this happening. But, there’s more.
Narrator Then after this, Jesus said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” The
disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and
are you going there again?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of
daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see
the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the
light is not in them.” 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,
Reader 1 “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.”
Narrator Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he
was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly,
Jesus Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may
believe. But let us go to him.
Narrator Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples,
Reader 2 Let us also go, that we may die with him.
Narrator When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four
days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of
the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother.
When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while
Mary stayed at home.
Pastor STOP! Well, this surely one of those times when Martha, and Mary would’ve
wished they could just shout “STOP!”, and everything would stop. Their
brother had been seriously ill, and they were waiting for Jesus to come heal
him. Jesus came late, and the illness worsened, and Lazarus died. If only
they could’ve stopped things for a time. If only they could’ve keep Lazarus
alive, for a few more hours or days. They had what we might call, the “If
onlys…” We suffer that too, at times. If only there hadn’t been that car
accident; if only I hadn’t left her at home; if only I could’ve done this or that;
if only he could’ve held on a little longer. Like Martha and Mary, this is our
experience, at times. When a loved one is seriously ill, or has died, we think
of all the possible things that might have been different; we think of all the
things we might have done, differently, so that things might have turned out,
differently. We run the myriad possibilities through our minds, over and over
again, till we either reach a resolve, that tells us we did all we could, given our
limitations, or, we begin to blame. Which is just what Martha did.
Narrator Martha said to Jesus,
Reader 1 Lord, if you have been here, my brother would not have died!
Pastor All in one sentence, Martha combines the “if onlys”, with blaming! Lord, if
only you would have been here, Lazarus would still be alive! A part of us
cringes, to hear someone blaming Jesus for their loved one’s death. While
another part of us wants to whisper, “Amen, sister!” Anyone who has ever
lost a loved one, has stood there with Martha, if we would allow ourselves to.
Oh, we know about cancer, and the broken-ness of creation, and the fact that
no one lives forever. We know about the tentative-ness, and the temporary-
ness of life. But still, when it’s our loved one—when we are the ones feeling
the loss, the big gaping hole that’s left after our mother or father, or son or
daughter, or husband or wife, or close friend or relative has died—there’s part
of us that wants to cry out, with Martha, “Where were you, Jesus? Surely,
you weren’t here, because if you were, my loved one wouldn’t have died!”
We know all the rational, reasonable, medical, existential reasons for why our
loved ones die, but still, we cry out to Jesus, as did Martha, in her loss and
grief. We cry out, with Martha, in our loss and grief. But, can we also
make the affirmation that Martha makes, in her very next words?
Reader 1 Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I
know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.
Narrator Jesus said to her
Jesus Your brother will rise again.
Narrator Martha said to him,
Reader 1 I know that he will rise again, in the resurrection on the last day.
Narrator Jesus said to her,
Jesus 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. Do
you believe this?
Pastor STOP! Now, we’re getting to the heart of the matter. In fact, this is the heart
of everything that Jesus says, especially in these accounts from the gospel of
John we’ve been hearing these last few weeks. The heart of the matter is this:
Do you believe? That was the issue with the Samaritan woman at the well,
that was the issue with the blind man who was healed, and with the Pharisees,
and that’s the issue today, with Martha and Mary, but also with you, and
me…do we believe? Do we believe that no matter what happens to us in life,
that Jesus is the way to the Father, God? Do we believe that for all who
believe in Jesus, even though they die, yet shall they live, and it will be for
them, as if they never die, because they will live, eternally? Truly, this, belief,
this faith, this trust, in Jesus, as Messiah and Savior, is what gives us hope in
the midst of death, courage in the face of grief and loss, and life and light in
the midst of the deepest darkness. Not to believe leaves us hopeless, afraid,
and overcome with darkness. To believe, is to be open to Jesus, who is the
resurrection and the life. Which is why Jesus, himself, asks, “Do you believe
this?”
Narrator And Martha said to Jesus,
Reader 1 Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God the one who is
coming into the world.
Narrator When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her
privately,
Reader 1 The Teacher is here and is calling for you.
Narrator And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had
not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met
him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get
up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was
going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw
him, she knelt at his feet and said to him,
Reader 2 Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
Narrator 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,
Jesus Where have you laid him?
Narrator They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus began to weep. So the Jews
said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who
opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” Then
Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a
stone was lying against it. Jesus said,
Jesus Take away the stone.
Narrator Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him,
Reader 1 Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.
Narrator Jesus said to her,
Jesus “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
Narrator So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said,
Jesus “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I
have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe
that you sent me.”
Narrator When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice,
Jesus “Lazarus, come out!”
Narrator 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,
Jesus “Unbind him, and let him go.”
Narrator Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and has seen what
Jesus did, believed in him.
Pastor Well, no need to shout, STOP, at this point. This account makes us all stop, and
ponder what has happened here, and consider who this Jesus is, who heals the
blind and raises the dead. And that’s exactly what St. John wants us to do, at
this point in his gospel. If we didn’t hesitate when Jesus told the woman He is
the living water; if we weren’t given pause by Jesus, healing the man born
blind, then maybe, just maybe we’ll be stopped in our tracks, by Jesus raising
Lazarus from the dead! We should be stopped in our tracks, by this
account…if we will consider what has just happened! A man died, and after
four days—four days, mind you—Jesus restored life to this man! It’s Easter
Sunday, in the middle of Lent! And maybe that’s why the Church has always
read this passage, in the middle of Lent—to prepare us for Easter. To cause
us to STOP, and think about whether we believe, that Jesus, is the resurrection
and the life. To cause us to STOP, and consider whether we truly believe, that
Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, who has power over death, and life!
We’re now more than halfway on our journey to Holy Week and Easter. And
if we haven’t given it much thought yet, the raising of Lazarus smacks us right
in the face with it—do we believe that Jesus can raise the dead? Do we
believe that Jesus raised Lazarus? Do we believe, that Jesus can raise you,
and me, now, from the darkness and despair that is so much a part of this life?
Do we believe, that Jesus will raise us, on the last day, at the last trumpet
sound? St. Johns tells us, plainly, that many of the Jews who had come with
Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in Him. And St. John’s implied,
but unspoken question is, “Do you?” Do you, believe this?