Sermon Tone Analysis

Theme: Moving beyond self

Let us pray.

Most holy, Lord God, today we recall Jesus’ dramatic demonstration that death is not final; we thank you for the Christian hope given to us by your son and may we always be alive in Christ in what we do for others, through him who broke the bonds of death, Jesus Christ, our Lord.

Amen.

Today is the last of the ancient baptism teaching texts from John’s Gospel.

For John, this is the precipitating event that leads to Jesus’ arrest.

Jesus is in the area of the Jordan where John the Baptist once was.

He went there to escape being stoned to death by the religious authorities.

It is here that Jesus receives a message from close friends of his, Mary and Martha of Bethany.

Their brother Lazarus is ill.

Jesus is very close to Lazarus.

Jesus loves this family of siblings.

There must have been something in the note that indicated Lazarus was not only ill, he was very ill.

The sister’s request for Jesus to come is urgent.

Jesus says Lazarus’ illness is not fatal.

Instead, it will be a way to glorify God and the Son of God.

Remember that Jesus gave the same reason for the lack of sight in the man born blind that we heard last week.

In spite of Jesus’ love for the siblings of Bethany, Jesus dawdles for two more days.

Jesus has a price on his head.

The people that want him dead are in Judea.

Bethany and Jerusalem are in Judea.

When the disciples object to Jesus’ intention to return to Judea, Jesus responds with more light and darkness metaphors.

The disciples may have asked themselves, “What does any of that have to do with going to Judea?”

In the agrarian society of the time, people worked when it was light and then they quit for the day.

To walk with Jesus, the Light of the World, means to walk on a lighted straight path where one cannot stumble.

Jesus says that Lazarus is sleeping, a euphemism that is lost on the disciples.

Jesus then speaks plainly, “Lazarus is dead.”

People in this country don’t like to say someone is dead.

Instead, euphemisms are used.

The person passed (as if they were driving in a hurry).

The person was lost (as if they wandered off somewhere).

Jesus came that we need not fear death.

Death is the gateway to eternal life.

Death may be hard on us, the living.

But death is good news for those who have died.

Jesus still doubts that the disciples have the necessary faith to carry on his work.

Jesus won’t be with them much longer.

They and we will need to continue Jesus’ ministry.

So raising Lazarus might turn the tide in their lack of faith.

Thomas volunteers the group to go with Jesus so they can all die together – a suicide mission.

By the time they reached Bethany, Lazarus had been dead for four days.

Some rabbis said that the soul hovers near the dead body for three days.

So John wants us to know that Lazarus is really dead.

Bethany is about two miles from Jerusalem.

The two towns are separated by the Mount of Olives.

Jesus’ arrival will get back to the Jerusalem authorities.

There were already many people from Jerusalem tending to Mary and Martha in their grief.

When Martha heard that Jesus was approaching, she left the house to meet him.

Jesus’ arrival is already working through the grapevine.

Here John seems to reverse Luke: Martha is the disciple, while Mary is distracted by many things.

When Martha meets Jesus, she expresses deep faith – the kind of faith that Jesus wished his entourage had.

If Jesus had gotten there sooner, her brother would not have died and her brother will rise again at the resurrection on the last day.

Any Pharisee would have taught this about the resurrection.

Jesus goes beyond the standard teaching of the Pharisees on the resurrection.

Martha, Lazarus, or anyone else do not have to wait for the last day.

Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

Jesus is the one who raises people from death.

Anyone who has faith in Jesus will live after they die.

When asked if she believes Jesus, Martha gives a great statement of faith, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ (the Messiah), the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

Note that Martha doesn’t say that Jesus is in the world – Jesus is coming into the world.

We may ponder what Martha means here.

Jesus doesn’t correct her.

This may mean that Jesus doesn’t come into the world until he is raised.

It could also refer to Jesus’ second coming.

I suppose it could also refer to Jesus’ entry into Jerusalem that we will recreate next Sunday.

Mary seems to be unaware that Jesus had arrived, because when Martha tells her that he is there she gets up and hurries to Jesus.

Not only does Jesus love these siblings, but they love Jesus.

When Mary leaves the house, the mourners follow her.

If Jesus’ arrival was supposed to be a secret, it isn’t any longer.

Mary repeats the statement of faith that Martha previously said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

(CEV)

At a funeral or similar occasion, when we see someone cry it affects us deeply.

Jesus is affected the same way.

After Jesus asks where Lazarus’ body is, Jesus weeps, too.

The crowd notes what John has already told us about Jesus’ love for Lazarus.

But others were critical saying that Jesus gave sight to a man born blind, so why couldn’t he heal Lazarus?

The Greek word for love used here is not agapè, but it is philia, brotherly love, affection, or deep feeling.

Jesus was still very upset when he approached the tomb, which was a cave with a stone rolled over the entrance.

This sounds like another tomb that we will hear about next week and the week after.

This was a common way to bury people in first century Palestine.

Jesus orders the stone to be rolled back.

In spite of Martha’s great statements of faith earlier, she objects to the removal of the stone.

She believes in physical laws.

Her brother’s body is decaying.

Jesus answers her by saying that through faith she will see the glory of God.

Jesus prays for God’s intervention to nullify physical laws.

The reason for this nullification is to show to everyone there, disciples and non-disciples alike, that Jesus was sent by God and has God’s ear.

Jesus then commanded Lazarus to come out.

The shepherd has called the sheep by name.

Lazarus walked out with the burial bands around his body and the burial cloth over his face.

Jesus ordered the crowd to unbind him and let him go.

Death no longer has dominion over him.

Lazarus is free.

Many of the people who witnessed this came to believe in Jesus.

Unfortunately, a lot of people are like mummies, all wrapped up in themselves.

And they don't want to become unwrapped.

All they do is come unwound at the thought of coming out of their safe tomb or stepping out in faith.

But Jesus calls us out of the tomb, sets us free and calls us to move beyond ourselves into a life of faith, commitment, obedience and service.

“On the old Merv Griffin Show.

There was a time when he was interviewing some body builders.