03/22/2026

There are a few things we struggle more in this life than death.

But that's what makes the death of Lazarus such a moving story.

It has sleeping and awakening.

It has death and resurrection.

It has sorrow, but joy.

Jesus weeps.

Our Lord has feelings.

He cares that Lazarus dies.

But he says and he does things that those around him cannot understand.

They must be given the eyes of faith to see and the ears of faith to hear.

We have Saint Thomas, a beloved apostle who desires certainty.

He's present in this story too.

We like to refer to him as doubting Thomas.

His witness of Lazarus' death and resurrection is proof that the eyes and ears of faith don't come through human reason, but as a gift of God.

Even after witnessing Lazarus' death and resurrection, it doesn't amend his need to later touch the hands and sides of Jesus after his death and resurrection.

The Lord must give him the eyes of faith to believe as well.

Then we have Mary and Martha, two lovely sisters.

They both love their Lord immensely.

It was Mary who had anointed her Lord's feet with lovely perfume, despite being chided by Judas for it.

Jesus tries to explain to the disciples that what she has done was to prepare him for his death and burial.

But the disciples couldn't comprehend it.

They didn't have the eyes of faith to see it, nor the ears of faith to hear what Jesus was saying to them.

If we know where else to go in Scripture, we would also find the two sisters, Martha and Mary, at their home with Jesus.

A place where Martha chooses to love her Lord by serving him, but it's Mary who loves her Lord by sitting at his feet and being served by him.

Jesus points out that to Martha, that it was Mary who had chosen the better portion here.

She knew that the best place to be is on the receiving end of what Jesus is giving out.

But our concern today, well, in today's gospel, isn't really about what they are doing, but about what our Lord is doing, what he's saying to them and to us.

The disciples need to receive what Jesus is giving out.

Everything that his word says is exactly as our Lord promises.

The sisters had sent word to the Lord that their brother was sick.

They obviously knew what Jesus could do: give sight to the blind, make the deaf hear, the mute to speak, cast out demons with a word.

And that's what they're hoping for: healing.

Because Lazarus is pretty tragically ill.

But when Jesus hears of Lazarus being sick, he doesn't get up and go to him.

No, he stays two extra days and then tells his disciples, let's go to Judea again.

Human reason cannot comprehend our Lord's ways.

Why would Jesus wait two extra days?

Jesus explains, our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I must go to awaken him.

Of course, the disciples don't understand.

And quite frankly, maybe we wouldn't, I either, if we were there.

Will we not say the same thing?

Lord, if he's fallen asleep, he will recover.

Many of us make similar statements out of human reason today, except it sounds a lot more like, oh, don't worry, pastor, there's no need to add me or my family to the prayers of the church.

We're only sick.

No doubt, no one's on their deathbed right now, though they will recover.

Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus has died.

And for your sake I am glad that I was not there so that you may believe.

Now we all know the end of the story.

Jesus resurrects Lazarus, but are we paying attention to what Jesus is doing?

Are we hearing what Jesus is saying?

Lazarus is dead, and our Lord is glad.

But not out of spite or animosity.

He's glad so that the disciples may believe.

Quite frankly, our Lord is glad so that you may believe as well.

But it's St.

Thomas who makes the most profound confession of faith.

Let us also go that we may die with him.

His statement confesses more than he realizes, maybe more than we realize as well.

So Jesus arrives with his disciples.

He's about two miles off.

Martha goes to Jesus, but Mary hangs back.

Martha says, Lord, if you had been there, my brother would not have died.

We all know what it's like to have a loved one pass away, don't we?

And if we were in our Lord's presence, chances are we'd feel the same way she does.

Lord, if you had been there, my brother or sister or mother or father or husband or son would not have died.

Jesus tells her plainly, your brother will rise again.

But it's clear in her response, she doesn't understand what our Lord is saying.

Her ears of faith must be opened.

I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.

But Jesus must speak faith into her heart, and she must receive it.

So he tells 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.

Do you believe this?

Our Lord has opened her ears of faith to receive what he's giving out.

Who he is and what he came for.

It is as he said it.

No one can claim to be the resurrection, nor the life, except Jesus, who is the Christ.

So she responds faithfully, not seeing with her own eyes, but her eyes of faith.

Yes, Lord, I believe you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.

Her confession of faith is firmly grounded on what Jesus says, not on her human reason or what is going on around her.

Then Martha tells Mary that Jesus is calling her.

So Mary comes with a group of Jews in tow who are busy consoling the sisters about their brother's death.

And when Mary comes to Jesus, she falls at his feet and says, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

Her teary eyes of faith must also be opened to see what our Lord is doing.

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.

And he said, Where have you laid him?

They said to him, Lord, come and see.

Jesus wept.

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 also kept this man from dying?

It seems they all must be given the eyes of faith to understand what our Lord is doing.

If he'd not only come sooner and not waited two extra days, it would have all worked out the way they had hoped.

But that's not how God is working in their lives.

Nor is it how he works in ours either.

But maybe the most puzzling thing for our human ears to hear is that Jesus is deeply moved.

Maybe we can't comprehend why the Lord of life would be so moved over death.

He is the resurrection and the life, after all, but his heart is moved because he knows the wages of sin is death.

Yet he is God become flesh to buy back that which is lost and put sin to death forever.

That's what he came for.

That's why he came for us, after all, to buy us back from sin and death with his very own body.

To put Lazarus' sin and death away.

To put away your sin and death too.

Let's not be surprised.

If you have been united to your Lord, then do not think that all your deaths are precious to him as well.

For precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.

He is deeply moved at the death of your body and soul as well.

Poor Martha.

Poor Martha.

Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb.

It was a cave and a stone lay against it.

And Jesus said, Take away the stone.

And then Martha, the practical one, says, Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.

But Jesus said to her, Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?

Jesus must remind her what he's there for.

Death and resurrection.

Lazarus' death and resurrection means his death and resurrection.

Her eyes of faith must be open so that her human reason doesn't get in the way.

It's no different than with us.

Lazarus' death and resurrection is a foreshadowing of Christ's death and resurrection.

His death and resurrection means our death and resurrection.

So they took away the stone.

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 said, on the account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.

Yes, it is for both them and for us, that we may believe.

And when he said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, Lazarus, come out.

The man who died came out.

His hands and his feet bound with linen strips and his face wrapped with a linen cloth.

And Jesus said to them, Unbind them, unbind him and let them go.

Jesus speaks the word of God, and the dead come to life.

He commands the wrappings of death to unbind, and they must obey the creator of the universe.

And in this moment, many of those who are there believed.

And this is what it means for us here today.

Who can know the mind of God?

We don't always understand how our Lord works or what he's doing.

But we do know that he works all things together for the good of those who love him and are called according to his purpose.

We too must be given the eyes of faith to see what our Lord is doing, and the ears of faith to hear our Lord's word as well.

Natural man cannot understand the things of God.

But even as believers, we too must be given the eyes of faith as well to see what our human reason can't.

We believe, but the Lord must help our unbelief.

Our Lord cares.

He gives his life for our life.

His death and resurrection means your death and resurrection.

So we join in with Saint Thomas and say, Let us also go that we may die with him.

For it is just as Saint Paul says, if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

And there is no other place that you are more united to your Jesus than in your baptism.

St.

Paul tells us again, we are buried, therefore, with him in baptism, by baptism into death.

Let us die with Christ, so that we may be resurrected with him forever.

We must be given the eyes of faith to see this very miracle in our own lives.

Just like we must be given the eyes of faith to see that plain water with God's word performs the most amazing of miracles.

Rescuing us from sin and death and devil, granting the forgiveness of all our sins, delivering God's Holy Spirit.

Baptism is just as Jesus has spoken it to you.

It will deliver what has been written.

For when you receive his words, well, then you'll desire what he's giving out.

If you receive what our Lord tells you, then you will desire the life he gives through the means through which he gives it.

So let's sit at the feet of Jesus, like Mary, and receive what he has for you.

For he alone is the resurrection and the life.

There's no better place than to be where Jesus is giving himself to us in water and word and body and blood, the whole Jesus for you.

For the forgiveness of all your sins.

Amen.

Now the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, keep your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Amen.