John 11:33-44

And we're looking at the question which is printed on your sheets which were on your chairs at the top there.

! What kind of God gives people hope in the face of death?

That's what we're going to be thinking about over the next few minutes.

It is a really good question, isn't it?

It's maybe a slightly deep and heavy question.

And as we think about the issue of death, I'm aware as well that it's a sensitive subject.

And for many of you, I know that it's been a real struggle, that issue.

But if you'll allow me, I want to make this personal to you today for the next few minutes.

I want to invite you to think about your own death.

What sort of God do you need to give you real hope?

What sort of God reveals himself to us in the Bible?

And can he give us hope as we think about death?

I don't know how you think about your own death, if you think about it at all.

Maybe you're more of an optimist.

Maybe you'd say something like, well, death is just a doorway into another existence.

So it's neither good nor bad.

You just sort of reincarnate into something else or somebody else.

Or maybe you think about death as being just a bit of a non-event, really,

in that we don't have a soul that lives on.

And everything about you, your physical body, your personality, everything that makes you you,

just decomposes into a bunch of molecules.

So death really isn't anything to worry about.

We live and then we die.

That's it.

The novelist Peter Schaeffer wrote more soberingly about his own death.

He said this,

I'm going to die,

and the thought of that dark has for years rotted everything for me.

Maybe Schaeffer's a bit more of a pessimist, isn't he?

But maybe that's more like you.

You're really worried about death, about that issue.

You're really worried about your own death, like Schaeffer.

But the Bible speaks about death like a shadow.

It calls it the shadow of death.

So think of the shadow on the centre court at Wimbledon, if you watch tennis.

Imagine the final at Wimbledon.

And sometimes if the sun is shining, you see a little shadow, don't you, on the court.

It starts off as a little crack of darkness.

And it begins to move over the court.

No one really notices that happening, do they?

But eventually, by the end of the match, both players and the whole of that green grass at centre court is covered under that shadow.

And Schaeffer admits, as he talks about death, that death, just like that shadow, is inevitable.

But it's also horrific.

It's a darkness, he said, that rots his life.

Now, he may be a pessimist, but he admits, doesn't he, that there are actually very few places where we can find real comfort in the thought of death.

Schaeffer didn't have much hope in that quote, did he?

And in reality, I think most people, deep down, agree with him, rather than the we live and die and nothing happens opinion.

Just think of all the effort that goes into avoiding death for as long as physically possible.

We want to distance ourselves from death, don't we?

Because we know instinctively that it's wrong, it's horrific.

So we want to be young, don't we?

Because youth buys us time.

We want to be healthy, because good health buys us time.

We want good lifestyles, because we're told good lifestyles buy us time, don't we?

But eventually, death is like that shadow and it comes upon every one of us.

So the question we've got to ask ourselves, is the question that we're asking today,

who can we turn to, to get us through it?

Who can we trust with our own deaths?

Where can we find real hope?

Now it turns out that Jesus Christ has got a lot to say on the subject of death.

Jesus comes to us in the Bible and he says to you and me, you can trust me with your death.

In fact, he goes on to say, you must trust me.

There is nobody else to trust with your death.

So, if you'd like to take hold of the sheets that are on your seats there,

you've got a section there from John's Gospel.

It's a book that we looked at last week, here on Tuesday.

It's written by one of Jesus' closest followers and friends.

And it's in the New Testament, John's Gospel.

And you've got there a section printed from John chapter 11.

John 11 · chapter mention

John is an eyewitness to the life and the death and the resurrection of Jesus.

And this is about halfway through his book.

And as we look here, I want us to see three things as to why God,

Jesus shows us a God that we can have hope in, in the face of death.

Firstly, Jesus shows us the kind of God who is indignant towards death.

He's indignant towards death.

He's furious about death.

Now, in this part of John's book, we see that Jesus arrives in the town of two friends.

They're called Mary and Martha.

And it's the funeral of their brother.

The sisters of the dead man, Lazarus, are there with the community.

They're all there.

Emotions are high.

Jesus approaches the corpse.

He approaches the graveside of his friend Lazarus.

Have a look at number 35 there.

Halfway down the page.

We're told that as Jesus comes to the tomb,

Jesus wept.

Jesus wept.

Now, that's the shortest verse in the whole of the Bible.

It's only two words.

Jesus wept.

Jesus wept.

And it tells us, doesn't it, that with death, God is reduced to tears.

He feels the pain of death.

He weeps about death.

He feels the fear that we have of it as well.

But you know, his reaction is stronger than just tears, isn't it?

Look a couple of sentences before that to 33.

Just look there.

When Jesus saw her weeping.

And the Jews who'd come with her also weeping.

He was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled.

He was deeply moved in his spirit.

He was greatly troubled.

Now, that is not a kind of sentimental response that Jesus has.

Actually, the words that John uses in the Greek language that he wrote his book in,

mean more like that Jesus snorts with the fury of a war horse.

There.

So, whilst he weeps with grief, as we do, he's absolutely furious with the situation.

Jesus is outraged at death.

He sees the effects that death has in the world.

The effects it has on families.

He sees the weeping there.

And he is indignant.

He's furious about death.

Now, just think about how different Jesus' reaction is to the atheist reaction about death.

One famous atheist said,

In a universe of electrons and selfish genes, blind physical forces and genetic replication,

some people are going to get hurt, other people are going to get lucky,

and you won't find any rhyme or reason in it, nor any justice.

The universe that we observe has precisely the properties we should expect

if there is at bottom no design, no purpose, no evil, no good,

nothing but pitiless indifference.

But Jesus sees death.

And he's furious.

He's indignant with it.

As God becomes a man, he's outraged at this intruder.

Death is not just being unlucky.

It is wrong.

He's indignant with it.

You know, if you're at home,

and you have the dreadful experience of having somebody break in through the kitchen window,

it's not going to give you much hope, is it?

If the person that you live with is someone who politely, politely just lets them ravage through all your things,

smashing stuff up in the kitchen,

there is no hope, is there, in somebody who just says, well, these things happen,

and just shrugs their shoulders and goes back to sleep.

No, I want to live with somebody who gets angry,

who gets up,

gets hold of the baseball bat and turfs them out.

And so Jesus shows us a God who gives us hope because he's indignant towards death.

He doesn't just shrug his shoulders.

Well, we all go there in the end, don't we?

Death is a natural part of life.

Some people get unlucky.

No!

How dare you, he says.

Deeply moved and greatly troubled.

He snorts like a furious horse.

He's indignant towards death.

And that's the sort of person we need, isn't it, with us,

as we face death, isn't it?

Someone who sees death for what it is,

and gives it the reaction it should get.

He's the kind of God who's indignant towards death.

So he says, you can trust me with your death.

So he's indignant towards death.

But the second thing,

Jesus shows us the kind of God

who is defiant towards death.

He's the kind of God who's defiant towards death.

You know, we can be angry at death, can't we?

And we are.

We can be angry at death, we can be furious,

just like Jesus, but it doesn't change anything.

But Jesus, whilst he is angry,

he can go much, much further than that.

So he prays a prayer at the graveside at this funeral.

Just imagine the scene.

Zoom in at number 43, will you?

And when he prayed this prayer,

when he said these things,

he cried out with a loud voice,

Lazarus, come out!

Now I don't know if you've ever been at a funeral

where the name of the deceased person

has been called out during the ceremony.

It's an awkward moment.

It does happen.

People get emotional, don't they, at funerals.

They shout out all sorts of things.

Funerals tend to be places where

inhibitions get lost.

People call out

the name of the dead person.

They're so angry and distressed

by death.

So is Jesus just reacting like that?

Is it just a reaction of distress?

Well, we get to one of the most shocking verses

in the Bible, don't we?

Number 44.

The man who had died

came out.

The man who died came out.

John is claiming here

that as Jesus shouts out,

Lazarus, come out,

it is not a hopeless cry.

It is not just a hopeless call.

It is a powerful command.

It's a powerful command.

I'm not saying it's easy to believe.

It's not easy to believe, is it?

Dead men don't just get up and walk

if you talk to them.

You cannot speak to a corpse

and expect a response.

But when Jesus shouts,

it's not a hopeless cry.

It's a powerful command.

You know, the New Testament,

it speaks about Christians

who have died.

And it uses a strange phrase.

It calls them

those who have fallen asleep.

It's lovely.

Some of them die, though,

in terrible circumstances,

under immense persecution.

So why does it call them

people who've fallen asleep?

Well, it does that

because Jesus' voice

is so powerful with death

that as he calls his people

from death,

it's as if he's calling them

from a snoot,

from a sleep.

It's a powerful command.

Come out, Lazarus.

Come out, Chris.

Come out, Ralph.

Morning.

And if that is true,

this man Jesus

shows us a God

who you can trust

with your death.

His words cross over

that barrier

between life and death,

between the living

and the death.

He's indignant towards death.

He's furious about it,

but he's got the power

to do something.

He says,

you can trust me

with your death.

It's not a hopeless cry.

It's a powerful command.

You want to trust somebody,

don't you?

But can we trust in somebody

who just cries about death,

although that is comforting?

We can trust somebody

who commands death, though.

Who says,

wake up.

He commands death.

He's indignant.

He's defiant.

But then thirdly,

in the last scene,

Jesus shows us

the kind of God

who is dominant

over death.

He's dominant

over death.

Now,

has Mary just witnessed

that sort of trick?

Is it a kind of

David Blaine

style illusion

with some mirrors

and smoke?

Well,

actually,

we read about Mary

being at another

graveside

in the book of John.

Later in chapter 20,

it's printed there

at the bottom

of those sheets.

It's the grave

of Jesus.

Three days

after he's been

publicly executed.

And it's a very

similar scene

in many ways.

So look at verse 11.

Mary is weeping

outside the tomb.

Some folk just get

all the bad news,

don't they?

Here is another one

she loves,

taken by death.

She turns around

to see a man

she doesn't recognise

and with one word

she sees who it is.

It's Jesus.

Look at number 16.

One word

Jesus said to her,

Mary.

And Jesus'

defiance towards death

is seen

most wonderfully

as he himself

goes to physical death

on the cross.

He rots in a tomb

for three days

and he rises again.

He himself

dominates

over death.

Jesus shows us

the kind of God

who actually

experiences the very

thing that we're

most afraid of

and he wins.

Now if you can

stretch your minds

for a moment,

just imagine

in a bizarre

chain of events

that we had to

stop this talk

for a moment,

we had to

pause this lunchtime

because a wolf

somehow had got loose

in the town hall.

Imagine it.

So we've got to

lock the doors,

we've got to

stay in here

and wait for a rescue.

But in a display

of bravery,

Paul says,

no,

I'm not waiting

here any longer,

I need my lunch,

I'm going outside

and I'm going to

get rid of the wolf.

I'm going to

kill the wolf.

So it's Paul

versus the wolf.

Now the only way

that we can know

who has won

is if we see

either of them

again,

isn't it?

And we know

that Paul has won

when he comes back

and he knocks back

on that door there

on the other side

of the window.

We can now know

that we can trust

Paul to kill the wolf.

It's a silly story

but I think you get

the point.

That's the wonder

of Easter though,

isn't it?

As someone once said,

it isn't that

Jesus is alive

but that Jesus

has risen.

He's back.

He's back

from the dead.

He's killed

the wolf.

As John Stott

said,

we live

and then we die

but Jesus Christ

died

and then he lived.

He's back.

His resurrection

says,

you can trust me

with your death.

In the 1970s,

dozens of

high-ranking officials

from the Nixon

administration

were shamed

by what's now

known as

the Watergate scandal

if you know about that.

It's come to symbolise

that investigation

that took place

where allegations

were made

towards the government

of the time

of phone hacking

and all sorts

of government

cover-ups

and it led

to Nixon's

eventual resignation

in 1974.

Charles Colson

had the job

of being

his special

counsel

for public

liaison.

He was there

throughout the whole

thing

and he was a

Christian

and he said

this,

I know the

resurrection

is a fact

and Watergate

proved it to me.

How?

Because 12 men

testified

they had seen

Jesus raised

from the dead,

the apostles.

then they

proclaimed

that truth

for 40 years

never once

denying it.

Everyone

was beaten,

tortured,

stoned

and put

in prison.

They would

not have

endured that

if it

weren't true.

Watergate

embroiled

12 of the

most powerful

men in the

world

and they

couldn't keep

alive for

three weeks.

You're telling

me 12

apostles

could keep

alive for

40 years?

Absolutely

impossible,

Charles Carlson.

The resurrection

of Jesus

is an unusual

thing,

isn't it?

As we come

up to Easter

and we think

about it,

putting it

mildly,

it's unprecedented.

And men

will often

die for

things that

they believe

in,

won't they?

There's nothing

unusual about

that.

But to

knowingly die

for something

they knew

to be a

lie is

much more

unusual,

isn't it?

So how

do you

respond to

the Easter

message this

Easter?

How do you

respond?

As one person

put it,

if Jesus

rose from

the dead,

then you

have to

accept all

that he

said.

If he

didn't rise

from the

dead,

then why

worry about

any of

what he

said?

The issue

on which

everything

hangs is

not whether

or not you

like his

teaching,

but whether

or not he

rose from

the dead.

So who

can you

trust with

your death?

Christopher

Hitchens,

the famous

atheist,

said,

I don't

trust false

consolations of

religion,

I trust in

medical science

and the

support of

friends and

family.

That's who

he trusted

with his

death.

Now those

things are

really good

things,

aren't they?

But you

know, I'm

not convinced

that they

are enough.

When we

face our

own death,

there is only

so far

that those

good things

of medical

science,

friends and

family can

help us.

There will

be a

moment where

what they

do for

us just

isn't

enough.

But Jesus

shows us

a God

who's

indignant

towards

death.

He's

furious

about

death.

His

reaction

is right

and proper

and he's

defiant

against it.

He gives

not a

hopeless

cry but

a powerful

command.

And he's

dominant

over death.

He's

killed the

wolf.

He says

to you

and me,

you can

trust me

with your

death.

We live

and then

die.

Jesus

Christ

died

and then

lived.

Let's

pray.

Let's