Lazarus by Father Al Jenkins
John 11

In our Gospel story, Lazarus, the brother of Jesus’ close friends Martha and Mary, is ill.

Martha and Mary have heard that Jesus can heal people. If they can get Jesus to visit Lazarus, then perhaps the illness will be averted. So, they sent Jesus a message to come quickly!

A strange thing happened. Instead of going immediately, Jesus decides not to go for a period of two days. When Jesus does decide to go, he says something equally strange. He said, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him."

Jesus went to the tomb, where Lazarus had been for four days. But before he raised Lazarus from the dead, he did two things. One, he said something he had repeatedly taught. He said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would ‘see’ the glory of God?" Two, he prayed and thanked God that he had been given the opportunity to heal Lazarus.

Jesus then told them to remove the stone from the tomb. When they did, He said, "Lazarus, come out!" Lazarus, who had died four days earlier, came out, still dressed in burial clothes. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." Of course, I’ve always wondered why the writers of the Gospels never included the reaction of Lazarus and his conversation with Jesus!

This story is important for Palm Sunday. Those that didn’t like Jesus, the Pharisees, who watched Lazarus being raised from the dead, went back and reported it to Caiaphas, the high priest - who would engineer the arrest of Jesus.

Jesus, clever to the plot, left Bethany for Ephraim northeast of Jerusalem to be with his disciples, but they would return in six days for the Passover in Jerusalem. That would be the time that we celebrate on Palm Sunday as his triumphant entry into Jerusalem – knowing the authorities were looking for him and Lazarus.

There are two teaching points I want to make for those in our healing ministry:

1.       One, miracles are for those who believe Jesus is who he claimed to be.

2.       Two, prayers of thanksgiving go before healing.

Did you know that ‘this’ life is not all there is.

In the New Testament there is the Trilogy of Hope.

Jesus in John 11 raised Lazarus.

Jesus in Mark 5, raised the 12 year old daughter of Jarius.
Jesus in Luke 7, stopped a funeral procession and raised a widow’s son.

In all three instances, Jesus said what we call death, he calls sleep. That is HOPE in capital letters.

William Shakespeare said in The Tempest, “We are such stuff/As dreams are made on, and our little life/Is rounded with a sleep.”

Hope is desire accompanied by expectation. We desire life and we expect it from Jesus.

Romans 5:3 – “We glory in tribulations, knowing that tribulations bring patience, patience brings experience, and experience brings hope.”

From Paul’s 1^st letter to Corinth we have these words of hope – “But as it is written, Eye hath not seen, nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man, the things which God hath prepared for them that love him.”

700 years before Jesus was born, God was giving HOPE through his prophet, when Isaiah on behalf of God said, "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by your name; you are mine. When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overflow you. When you walk through the fire, you shall not be burned, nor shall the flame scorch you. For I am the Lord your God, your Savior . . .”

So, today’s message of hope from God is this:

Live without being anxious about death. It is only a sleep.

Live for a change in life, not an end to life.

Live knowing you will be awakened by the voice of Christ.

Live knowing you have more friends there than here.

Live knowing God has a place and plan for you and those you love in heaven.

Live knowing that you are a child of God and that your future is safe and secure.

Let us pray:

Lord Jesus, make us faithful followers of the Spirit of your resurrection. Grant that we may be inwardly renewed, dying to ourselves in order that you may live in us. May our lives serve as signs of the transforming power of your love and then use us as your instruments for the renewal of others. Bring your life, love and hope to all.

Amen!

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