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We pastors have this little book called the Pastoral Care Companion. It’s a book of scripture passages and prayers for all the different situations we might encounter. There’s a section in this book called, “With the family at the viewing of a body.” The passages and prayers in this section are for the time when someone has died and the family is viewing the body for the first time. The Pastoral Care Companion suggests a small rite—a small service to be performed. The service has only two parts: a passage of scripture and a prayer. And the scripture passage is from our gospel reading this morning. It is John 11:25–26. Jesus says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” 

 Now, in a book, this might sound like the right and appropriate thing to do. When you think about this situation in the abstract, when you list the situation, “with the family at the viewing of a body,” this sounds correct, like the right answer to the circumstances at hand. Read this verse and pray this prayer. But the real situation is nothing like the book. I mean, just imagine it for a moment—maybe you’ve been in a situation like this yourself. The body of this person they loved, the body of this person who was just hours ago breathing, speaking to them, touching them maybe, interacting with them—the body of this person they loved is lying in front of the family, without life, motionless, never again to breathe or to speak or to touch.  

In a book, reading this verse seems exactly the right thing to do. But in this real situation, the verse can seem so weak and inadequate—so inadequate to the task of dealing with the dead body of the one we love. If anything is adequate to the situation, it is the promises of medicine and technology. What could we have done to have prevented this from happening?! A healthier life-style maybe, more acute hospital care, better physicians? If anything, those seem to be the thoughts adequate to dealing with the situation. Or maybe even the funeral planning. Who do we need to call? What arrangements do we need to make? Those seem like the appropriate thoughts in a time like this. But for the pastor to read this verse, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die,” that can so easily fly right by. Just words…and what can words do in a situation like this?  

Face to face with death, with the reality of the dead, these words can seem so weak and inadequate. They seem inadequate until, until you recognize the speaker of these words. They seem inadequate until you recognize exactly who it is that is speaking these words. 

 That’s the whole point of this episode about the raising of Lazarus. While many people believed that Jesus was the Christ, the Son of God, that belief only went so far. When that belief came face to face with death, face to face with the dead, it didn’t do much work. Jesus’ disciples, Martha and Mary all believed that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God who came from God to give life to the world. But when faced with the death of Lazarus, few of them believed that Jesus could do anything about it. 

 Take Jesus’ disciples, for instance. When Jesus said that he was going to Judea to visit Lazarus, they barely believed that Jesus could sustain his own life. “Rabbi,” they said, “the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” As if to say, “Don’t you understand how this world works? These people are trying to kill you and you’re going to go right back to them? You should be afraid for your life!” Jesus responded in semi-code language that he is the life of the world and so he isn’t afraid of what they can or can’t do to him. But the disciples just couldn’t square Jesus’ identity as the Son of God with the real world of violence and death. When Jesus simply declares that he’s going no matter what they think, Thomas throws in the towel. “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Well, if he wants to go there and die, we might as well die with him. Jesus’ own disciples believed that he was the Son of God. But what did that belief mean to them when they were face to face with the reality of death? Not much, apparently. Well, if he wants to die there, we might as well go and die with him. 

 But Jesus’ disciples aren’t the only ones. Martha too believed that Jesus was the Son of God. But when faced with death, that belief only went so far. When Jesus arrived in Bethany, Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Martha came out to see Jesus. And at first, it seemed that she believed that Jesus could do something about her brother Lazarus even now that he was dead. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give to you.” Martha believes that Jesus is the Son of God. Even now I know that if you ask God to raise him from the dead, God will listen to you. But when Jesus tells her, “Your brother will rise again,” Martha takes Jesus’ words as some sort of consolation prize. Gee, thanks Jesus. I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day. I guess I’ll wait till then. 

 Jesus immediately corrects her. “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” In other words, the resurrection isn’t this far off event that’s going to happen some day in the future. The resurrection isn’t just this idea. “I,” Jesus says, “I am the resurrection. On the last day when the dead rise from their tombs, I’ll be the one making it happen. The dead will hear the command of my voice and come to life. I am the resurrection and the life! God has life in himself and he has given me that life to give to whomever I want. I am the resurrection and the life. The one standing before you now!” 

 Martha seemed to get it. Jesus asked her, “Do you believe this?” And she said, “Yes Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” But when Jesus went to the tomb, he asked them to take the stone away. And Martha protested. “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” She knew that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world. But face to face with death, face to face with the dead, that belief only went so far; it only did so much work. Sure, Martha believed that Jesus is the Son of God, but she believed even more in the so-called real world. She believed even more in the power and reality of death. “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus replied, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” 

 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I say this on account of the people standing around, that they might believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet still bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus then said, “Unbind him and let him go.”  

If you were in the crowd that day and you saw Jesus call loudly into the cave for Lazarus, the man who had died—the man who was not only breathless, motionless and speechless, but who had also been wrapped and buried—and Lazarus suddenly came out still wrapped in the burial linens, having the condition of death immediately and suddenly reversed by Jesus’ voice, what would you think of this man Jesus? Death obeys him! The dead listen to his voice. As doubting Thomas says when the crucified Jesus appears before him, “My Lord and my God!” 

 When we realize that the one who says, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die,” is Jesus, what words could be more appropriate when we’re face to face with death? When we’re confronted by the reality of death, what words are more appropriate then the words and promise of Jesus? Death seems like an immovable object—a reality that can’t be budged. But Jesus’ words crack that reality open; his words fracture its base, and undermine the reality of its power. The one who speaks those words of promise is the Lord, our God and Lord—the man Jesus Christ. 

 “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.” This is Jesus’ word for you. Cling to that promise. Jesus gives it for you—for you to listen to, to holdfast to, and to cherish, so that you may have life even in the midst of a world of death. 

 In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, Amen. 

 
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Today’s Reading…

John 11.1-44

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ² It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. ³ So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” ⁴ But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.”

⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. ⁷ Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸ The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” ⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰ But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” ¹¹ After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” ¹² The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” ¹³ Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. ¹⁴ Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, ¹⁵ and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ¹⁶ So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

¹⁷ Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, ¹⁹ and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. ²⁰ So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴ Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”

²⁸ When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹ And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. ³⁴ And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus wept. ³⁶ So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?”

³⁸ Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³ When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” ⁴⁴ The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”