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Introduction: Belief |
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Do you
believe in Jesus? Do you BELIEVE in Jesus? Do you really
believe in Jesus? That I think is the compelling question
that we're faced with as we read this passage today. What
does it mean for you to believe in Jesus? As an abstract
question it's probably easy enough to answer. Yes I
believe in Jesus. I believe he's the Son of God. How else
could he have done those miracles? I believe he died and
rose again. (Sounds like the words of a song doesn't it?)
The evidence for the resurrection seems overwhelming. |
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The
Disciples' Belief |
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The
disciples believed in Jesus. Peter had spoken on behalf
of all of them when he confessed Jesus to be the Christ.
But how far did their belief in him go? Well, let's have
a look and see. |
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When
Jesus heard that Lazarus, his friend, was sick, he wasn't
worried. He knew what the outcome would be. So he waited
2 days before announcing to his disciples that they were
going back to Judea to check on Lazarus. And what was the
disciples response? "Hang on Jesus, it isn't very
safe there at the moment. It's not that long since the
last time we were there and the Jews tried to stone you.
Are you sure you know what you're doing?" How far
did their belief in him go? Far enough to trust him to
keep them safe? To even keep himself safe? It doesn't
sound like it does it? In fact when he tells them that
Lazarus has fallen asleep, they think of natural sleep
and think this gives them an out. If he's sleeping then
he'll recover, so there's no need to go back at all.
Phew! But in fact it isn't natural sleep that Jesus is
talking about, it's the sleep of death. So Jesus tells
them plainly. "Lazarus is dead." Then he says
what seems a strange thing. "And for your sake I'm
glad I was not there, so that you may believe." |
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How could
anyone be glad that a friend has died? What about the
pain that Mary and Martha are feeling at that moment?
Doesn't Jesus care about that? Or is it that all he cares
about is making his point with the disciples? Well it
becomes quite clear as the story progresses that he does
care. Twice we're told how he's moved with emotion, moved
to tears, as he sees the sadness of those who are there
to mourn Lazarus. But still, he knows that there's more
at issue here than their sadness and he knows what the
outcome will be. He's already said that this illness
won't lead to death. Rather it will have the twofold
result of God being glorified and the disciples and
Martha and Mary growing in faith, in their belief in
Jesus. And that's what makes him glad. |
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The
Need for Deeper Faith |
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You see
the disciples' belief in Jesus still needed to grow and
be strengthened. Even though they'd spent all this time
living with him, they still didn't really understand who
he was. And when it came to the crunch their faith still
wasn't enough to sustain them. I read an old Irish
proverb the other day. It said "Never doubt in the
darkness, what you believed in the light." There's
an echo of John's gospel there isn't there? Look at v9:
"Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who
walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the
light of this world. 10But those who walk at
night stumble, because the light is not in them."
Interestingly those words are almost identical to what
Jesus said at the start of ch9, when he was talking about
giving sight to the blind man. So John obviously intends
there to be a parallel here with that earlier miracle.
But here the idea has been developed further. Here the
implication is that while you walk under God's direction,
while you remain close to Jesus, the light of the world,
your path will be clear. Even when the darkness of
opposition is threatening, if you walk in the light
you'll be safe. But there was a danger that the disciples
would be so overwhelmed by the darkness that they would
forget what they had already learnt as they walked in
Jesus' light. Again, this is why they need to grow in
their faith in Jesus. |
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The
Purpose of the Delay |
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In fact
this is such an important thing that Jesus has delayed
his departure so that by the time they arrive Lazarus
will have been dead 4 days. That is, he'll be really
dead! |
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Now
imagine that you were Mary or Martha at that moment.
You've sent a message to Jesus to come urgently because
Lazarus is sick, and you wait and wait and nothing
happens! What would you be thinking? Would you be
wondering whether Jesus cared? Would you begin to doubt
whether maybe Jesus was delaying because this case was
too difficult? They could have been forgiven for thinking
like that couldn't they? |
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Have you
ever wondered why God takes so long to answer your
prayers? Perhaps there are things you've been praying
about for weeks and weeks, or months and months, or maybe
even years and years, and still God seems to be delayed
in answering. What does that do to your faith in him? Do
you start to doubt? Do you ask yourself whether this
prayer is maybe beyond him? Or whether your asking the
wrong thing? Or maybe you start to think that prayer is a
waste of time. That in the end it's just wishful
thinking. Well, it could be that you've been asking the
wrong thing or with the wrong motives. James has
something to say about that in James 4. |
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But it
might also be that God is waiting for something. Waiting
for the time to be right perhaps. Waiting for attitudes
to change. Waiting for an opportunity to act that will
further the gospel, that will bring the greatest glory to
God. You see God's delays aren't signs of failure. In
fact when you think about the story of the Bible, the
theme of God's plan being delayed runs right through it.
When you get home today open up Hebrews 11 and read
through that list of people of faith and you'll discover
that the common theme that runs through all of them is
that they were all waiting for God to fulfill his plan,
but that none of them saw it. And even now that we've
seen God's plan come to fruition through Jesus death and
resurrection, we find we're still waiting for God to
bring about the final redemption of the world. 2 Peter 3
talks about this: (2 Pet 3:8-10 NRSV) "But do not
ignore this one fact, beloved, that with the Lord one day
is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like
one day. 9The Lord is not slow about his
promise, as some think of slowness, but is patient with
you, not wanting any to perish, but all to come to
repentance. 10But the day of the Lord will
come like a thief, and then the heavens will pass away
with a loud noise, and the elements will be dissolved
with fire, and the earth and everything that is done on
it will be disclosed." |
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But it's
hard, isn't it. To wait for God to act when our world
seems to be disintegrating around us, when the things we
long for God to fix don't get fixed, when evil seems to
triumph. It's at those moment in our lives that we need
to have a long view. At those moments of darkness, we
need to think back to the moments of light when we could
see things clearly. We need to remember the promises of
God to be with us, even to the end of the world. We need
to look forward to the good things God has planned for us
in the future. And we need to continue to walk in God's
light, trusting him to keep our feet secure. |
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The
Path to Belief |
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As we
move on in the story to Bethany we discover a remarkable
level of belief on the part of Martha, yet even that
faith needs to be strengthened and applied to her current
situation in a new and radical way. Martha goes out to
meet Jesus and expresses her belief in his ability to
have healed Lazarus had he been there before he died. And
then she adds, almost despairingly, "But even now I
know that God will give you whatever you ask of
him." It's not clear what she's asking him to do
here, given the responses she makes in v24 and later in
v39 where she objects to the tomb being opened. Perhaps
she doesn't know what she's asking. Perhaps it's just the
plea of someone who's lost all other hope. |
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But all
hope is not lost. Jesus assures her that Lazarus will
rise again. Well, Martha understands about the
resurrection from the dead, but that doesn't ease her
current pain. So Jesus says it another way "I am the
resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even
though they die, will live, 26and everyone who
lives and believes in me will never die." Here is a
general statement that he's about to apply in the
specific. |
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Now this
is very important, not just for Martha and Mary and the
disciples, but for us as well. What Jesus is about to do
is meant to illustrate what he's just told Martha. Jesus
is the resurrection and the life. "Those who believe
in him, even though they die, will live, 26and
everyone who lives and believes in him will never
die." We can concentrate so much on the miracle
itself that we miss the full significance of it. The
raising of Lazarus is about learning to believe in Jesus
as the resurrection and the life. |
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Martha's
response, of course, is quite right: "Yes, Lord, I
believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one
coming into the world." What are we meant to
discover from this last sign in John's gospel? That Jesus
is the Messiah, the Christ, that he's the one who has
come into the world. But there's more to it than just
that. We're also meant to learn that the reason he's come
into the world is to bring the gift of resurrection and
eternal life. |
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Jesus
the Resurrection and the Life |
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And so we
come to the Tomb. Jesus orders the stone to be taken
away, much to the distress of Martha who can imagine the
smell that'll come out when the stone is removed. But
again, Jesus reminds them of the need to believe. Even
when they 'know' what will happen there's space for
belief in the greater reality of God's intervention in
the world. Jesus prays a prayer, for the benefit of his
hearers, so they'll believe that it's God who has sent
him; that it's God by whose power he's about to do this
incredible thing. Then it's done. Jesus calls, and
Lazarus comes forth, wrapped in the burial cloths but
alive and well. |
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And what
is the result? "Many of the Jews therefore, who had
come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in
him." How could you not? Here was a man who'd been
dead for four days. According to Jewish understanding,
after 3 days the spirit had left the body and the body
itself had begun to decompose. Yet here was Lazarus
standing before them whole and well again. Who but God
could do such a thing? Any doubts they may have had about
the things Jesus claimed for himself were suddenly blown
away. |
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And so as
we look back to the beginning of this account we discover
that the things Jesus said were true. Lazarus' sickness
didn't end in death, it resulted in God's glory; it ended
in God's Son being glorified through it. The result of
Lazarus dying while Jesus delayed was that the disciples,
along with Martha and Mary and their friends, came to
believe in Jesus, not just as a great teacher or a
miracle worker, not even as the promised Messiah even,
but as the Resurrection and the Life. |
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We too
can read this story and take away from it an assurance
that Jesus has the power to give us eternal life, to
raise us up at the last day. We can be reassured that
when God seems to be delayed in answering our prayers, it
isn't a sign of failure on his part, but it may be that
he has other ends in mind to those that we're focussing
on. But in the end, he is in control of all that happens
to us. And we can be encouraged to continue to walk in
the light, even when darkness seems to surround us, to
continue to believe, in those dark moments, what we knew
to be true when we were in the light. |
