The Grieving Sisters

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Good morning. I am Maddie Duhon and I'm part of Women Reading Women.

Today's scripture reading is from the Gospel of John, chapter 11, verses 1-6 and 17-46 as printed in your liturgy.

John 11:1–6

A reading from the Gospel according to John.

Now a man named Lazarus was sick.

He was from Bethany, the village of Mary, and her sister Martha.

This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.

So the sisters sent word to Jesus,

Lord, the one you love is sick.

When he heard this, Jesus said,

This sickness will not end in death.

No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.

Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem,

and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.

When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

Lord, Martha said to Jesus,

If you had been here, my brother would not have died.

But I know that even now, God will give you whatever you ask.

Jesus said to her,

Your brother will rise again.

Martha answered,

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

Jesus said to her,

I am the resurrection and the life.

The one who believes in me will live, even though they die.

And whoever lives by believing in me will never die.

Do you believe this?

Yes, Lord, she replied.

I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.

After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside.

The teacher is here, she said, and is asking for you.

When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.

Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.

When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house comforting her noticed how quickly she got up and went out,

they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.

When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said,

Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping,

he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.

Where have you laid him?

He asked.

Come and see, Lord, they replied.

Jesus wept.

Then the Jews said, see how he loved him.

But some of them said, could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?

Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb.

It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.

Take away the stone, he said.

But Lord, said Martha, the sister of the dead man, by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.

Then Jesus said, did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?

So they took away the stone.

Then Jesus looked up and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me.

I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.

When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out.

The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen and a cloth around his face.

Jesus said to them, take off the grayed clothes and let him go.

Therefore, many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.

This is the gospel of the Lord.

Praise to you, Lord Christ.

Thanks, Maddie.

Let's pray.

We pray that your spirit would fall upon us and go forth in the preaching of your word to both confront us and to also comfort us.

We thank you that's what your word does.

We thank you that's what your son does.

And we want to encounter him this morning in the preaching of your word.

So be with us, oh God.

In Jesus' name.

Amen.

Amen.

Amen.

All right.

So I can't believe it's already mid-February.

But in case any of you were wondering, one of my focuses in this new year has been on the concept of time.

I've shared that with some of you, but for the rest of you, that's what I've been trying to work on, my understanding of time personally, theologically.

But more importantly, I'm trying to work out my relationship to time.

You know, living in the bustle of the Bay Area, trying to keep up, you know, trying to grow, trying to hit my KPIs.

And now in the age of AI, where I can get even more done and even less time, I'm thinking about time all the time.

I feel its pressure throughout each day, the weight of my responsibility to manage and steward it well.

And candidly, this shows up in my relationships as well.

Chelsea would tell you her most common criticism of me, and there are many, but her most common criticism of me is how stingy I am with my time and how I like, in her opinion, I pompously act like my time is more valuable than anyone else's.

And then as a dad, too, I'm constantly conflicted about how much time to give to my girls, and especially, you know, in busy seasons, which is pretty much like every season, there are few things that trigger me more than when I feel like my time is being wasted.

So all this is to say that time has been a huge theme for me this year.

I just finished this older book by this theologian, Kosuke Koyama, called The Three Mile-An-Hour God.

I'm also going through this book right now by Oliver Berkman.

It's Wrecking Me.

It's called 4,000 Weeks.

Highly recommend it.

But basically, starting from January 1, I've really been trying to submit my sense of time to the Lord, to embrace my limits, to ask God what it means to be human, what it means to be me.

And to seek the Holy Spirit's guidance on how to use my time, not just for the kingdom of God, but how to inhabit time as a beloved child of God in unhurried communion with my Father in heaven.

And I share all of this, not to get overly autobiographical, but because when I came to John 11, I couldn't help but read it through the lens of time.

Look at our passage.

Jesus gets an urgent message in verse 3.

Lord, the one you love is sick.

But then John tells us something shocking in verse 6.

So, or in the Greek, therefore, when he heard Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.

Like, because he loved them, he delayed.

Then verse 17, when Jesus arrives, Lazarus has already been dead in the tomb four days.

And so the first words out of Martha and Mary's mouths in verses 21 and 32 are,

Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

It's almost like they're saying, Lord, if you had been on time.

And the community shares the sentiment in verse 37.

Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?

It's like there was faith in Jesus as a healer so long as he arrived on time.

But now, it's too late.

Don't take away that stone, Lord, Martha says.

It stinketh, right?

It's been too long.

All that's left is the stench of death.

It's too late.

Does that sentiment feel familiar to you?

That feeling that it's just too late, too late for the best case scenario, too late for a happy ending?

Do you carry regret or maybe even resentment over missed chances, opportunities lost, doors that feel permanently closed?

Do you carry grief in your mind, your heart, even your body, grief over something precious that is gone and that cannot be brought back?

Maybe you feel this financially.

You feel behind, unsure how you're going to recover.

Maybe you feel like you chose the wrong career path, the wrong major, the wrong spouse, even.

Maybe you feel like you've damaged a friendship, your marriage, some other relationship in your family.

Maybe you were, you screwed up your kids forever.

Or maybe you feel like you've been deprived of the resources and the love and the support and the opportunities.

You feel you needed to get standing on your own two feet, but now it's too late to go back.

And you resent that you cannot turn back the clock.

In one way or another, I think many of us live with this quiet narrative, it's just too late.

And this shapes how we live more than we realize.

Like we stop expecting to thrive.

We lower our hopes for joy and beauty and glory.

We settle.

We self-protect.

We manage our expectations along with our resentments.

And we medicate and therapize our guilt and regrets.

But what if there's a different way to live?

A way free from the bondage of guilt, regret, and despair over time that has run out?

Well, God's word from John 11 this morning invites us to consider this.

What if?

What if Jesus is Lord even when time runs out?

What if Jesus is Lord even when time seems to have run out?

And more specifically, what if Jesus' delay is not at odds with His love, but actually a surprising, powerful expression of His love?

Because that's another theme in this passage, not just time, but love.

Verse 3, Lord, the one you love is sick.

Verse 5, now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.

Verses 35 to 36, Jesus wept and they said, see how He loved Him.

John is underlining Jesus' love.

And yet we are hit by this confusing turn between verse 5 and verse 6.

Jesus loved them, so therefore He stayed.

That therefore should bother us.

It certainly bothered Martha and Mary.

It probably bothered the mourners because John is intentionally presenting Jesus as the one who loved them and therefore delayed.

But how are we supposed to make sense of that?

How can both be true?

That Jesus loved them and therefore delayed.

Isn't love quick to respond?

Wouldn't love mean relief, rescue, immediate intervention?

Isn't that how most of us intuitively envision love?

If you love me and you can fix it, fix it now.

If you care, show up ASAP.

And you can sense that expectation in Martha, Mary, and the others here.

Lord, the one you love is sick.

Lord, if you had been here, you could even call this a kind of faith.

They believed Jesus loved them.

They believed He could heal.

But they also believed that His love and His healing should fit in their own preferred timelines.

They assumed that His love would look like urgency.

But see, it's one thing to believe someone is powerful, even all powerful.

And yet it's another thing to trust that person, to use that power wisely and lovingly and at just the right time.

Any parent knows this tension, right?

There are moments when rushing in to fix everything actually keeps a child from seeing something bigger.

Love is not always the fastest, most immediate response.

Sometimes love requires the wiser, slower, more big picture response, right?

And what John begins to show us here is that Jesus is not only the Lord of love, not only the Lord of healing,

but He's also the Lord of time.

And the clue to all of this is something He says here in verse 4.

Look at what He says when He heard the news of Lazarus' sickness.

He says,

This sickness will not end in death, no.

It is for God's glory, so that God's Son may be glorified through it.

Also in verse 15, which it hasn't been printed, He says to His disciples,

For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe.

And this is so key.

Because see, what this means is that Jesus' primary purpose is not preventing pain,

but revealing the glory of God.

The whole point of God coming in the flesh is not to comfort us with,

Your wish is my command, but to convince us that my glory is for your good.

And this stretches us because many of us quietly believe, right?

If Jesus loved me, this or that would be fixed now.

If Jesus cared, I wouldn't still be waiting.

If Jesus were good, this wouldn't take so long.

Maybe you're here this morning and this is precisely why you don't believe in God.

Because you feel like the good story that you would have written for your life

or for the history of the world is so different

than the story that you see being written out around you.

And surely if there was a God, He would have written the story of your life

and of the world the way you would have written it.

But John 11 invites us to consider,

what if Jesus is doing something bigger than immediate relief?

What if His love is aiming not just at comfort, but at glory

and a deeper faith and at showing us who He really is?

And this is exactly what He does next, right?

When Jesus finally arrives in verse 17.

And it's been four days since Lazarus was buried.

And when Martha comes out to meet Jesus and says to Him in verse 21,

Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died,

but I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.

You can hear both the faith and the frustration in her greeting.

Faith that if Jesus was here earlier, Lazarus wouldn't have died.

And then in verse 22, scholars debate whether she was expecting

that Jesus might raise Lazarus again.

Surely she had faith, just like every other Orthodox Jewish person,

that at the last day, faithful Lazarus would be raised again.

And you can sense a little bit of curiosity,

a little bit of relief about what Jesus might do here in verse 22.

But you also hear her say later, that it's basically too late.

Don't remove the stone.

We cannot escape the stench of death.

So there's some kind of faith here, but it's a frustrated and a conflicted one.

Like, I still trust you, Lord, but I don't get what you're doing.

Maybe also, I don't understand why you didn't ask God to heal Lazarus from afar.

You've done that before.

And our Father, He gives you whatever you ask.

You can tell that Martha is trying her best

to make sense of all the truths that she believes.

Yes, Jesus loves me.

Yes, Jesus loves Lazarus.

Yes, Jesus is able to heal.

Yes, He is here now, and that's good.

And this is the one whose prayers God always answers.

And yes, I believe that my brother will be raised on the last day.

She's trying to figure out how to hold all these doctrines

in this moment of grief and sorrow.

And so Jesus helps her out,

but not by rationally explaining why He didn't come earlier,

nor by making an excuse like,

hey, look, He's been in the tomb four days now,

and I only lingered for two days,

which means that even if I left right away,

I would have made it on time.

Nor does Jesus feel the need to explain

why He didn't just heal Lazarus from afar

like we've seen Him do in other Gospels.

No, He doesn't explain Himself

so much as He reveals Himself.

Look at what He says.

Now notice what Jesus didn't say.

He didn't say, I can give resurrection.

He says, I am the resurrection.

He doesn't say, I can provide life.

He says, I am the life.

See, Martha was looking for a solution,

but Jesus offers Himself.

She was hoping for a future event,

but Jesus points to a present person.

And while she believed in resurrection someday,

eternal life later,

Jesus says, resurrection is standing right in front of you.

I am the resurrection and the life.

And by the way, these are two related yet distinct things.

Resurrection speaks to the future.

Victory over death at the last day,

and Martha already believed this,

but life, life speaks to a present,

forever and ongoing communion with the living God.

Life now and always with God.

Life that begins from the moment you know Him,

and life that cannot be taken away from you.

I love how this 19th century theologian put it.

He wrote,

See, Jesus isn't comforting her with later life,

someday life.

He's comforting her with abundant life,

today and every day,

not just bios life,

zoe life.

Because see, eternal life is not so much about the quantity,

but it's about quality.

It's less about length of time,

more about relationship,

knowing God.

This is what Jesus says to Mary.

He's revealing Himself to her.

I am the resurrection and the life.

By saying this,

He's reframing so much of how Martha

and so much of how most of us think about time

and the fullness of life.

See, Martha and Mary and everyone else assumed

what Lazarus needed was more time, right?

More time for Jesus to arrive,

more time for healing.

And if we're honest,

we often think the same.

We often think that our biggest problem

is not enough time.

We just need more time to fix things,

more time to get our lives together.

But if we're really honest,

that assumption itself is a kind of privilege.

It assumes time can save us.

But think about how arrogant

and how naive we've become

to get to this point in history

as comfortable, productive,

high-achieving,

technologically advanced,

modern Westerners

for whom time is really

our only limiting factor, right?

Just give AI enough time.

It's going to solve

all of our biotech issues and problems,

cure cancer, right?

Just Brian Johnson,

he's going to figure out

how to live forever.

Just follow his routine, right?

Elon's going to get us, right,

to become an interplanetary species.

So we can consume more

even outside of planet Earth.

But Jesus is saying here,

time is not your Savior.

I am.

Because resurrection is not about

having more time.

Resurrection is about having Jesus.

Eternal life isn't about

stretching your timeline.

Eternal and abundant life

is about knowing God.

So Jesus says,

John 17, 3,

eternal life is knowing

the life-giving God.

So what Jesus does next

is he asks Martha,

do you believe this?

Verse 25,

I am the resurrection

and the life.

The one who believes in me

will live even though they die.

And whoever lives by believing in me

will never die.

Do you believe this?

Not do you understand this?

Not can you explain this?

But do you trust me?

That I am who I am,

the resurrection and the life.

And this question,

do you trust me,

is not just for Martha,

it's for all of us.

Remember earlier,

we saw that it's one thing

to believe in Jesus' power,

but another to trust

his timing.

Well, now Jesus brings it

even closer.

Like, it's one thing

to believe he can do things

for you,

but it's another thing

to entrust yourself

to him.

Martha believed

the right doctrine,

but now Jesus is drawing

something deeper

out of her.

Do you trust me

when you don't understand me?

When my timing

confuses you?

When it feels too late

for a happy ending?

And I want you to notice

Martha's answer here.

It's not,

yes, I believe,

because I get it now.

Thanks for explaining it

to me, Lord.

No, it's verse 27.

Yes, Lord,

I believe you are

the Messiah,

the Son of God

who has come

into the world.

She's not saying,

I believe you'll fix this,

but simply,

I believe in you.

I trust in you.

And that's real faith

right there.

So much more

than right doctrine,

it's right dependence.

See, faith isn't having

every answer,

it's trusting a person.

And if you're here

this morning

exploring Christianity,

honestly seeking,

hear this,

Jesus is not asking you

to turn your brain off.

No, bring your questions,

bring your doubts,

bring your objections,

bring them to Alpha,

Thursday night,

6.30, free dinner,

fun discussion, all right?

But please,

if you really want

to explore Christianity,

if you really want

to engage with Jesus

on His terms

and not simply

on your own,

as if He really

might be the Lord,

don't relate to Jesus

only as an idea

to critique.

Relate to Him

as a person

to encounter

and embrace.

And if not

for any other reason,

then to whom else

will you go?

What else

or who else

would claim to be

the resurrection

and the life?

And who else

has done that

and also changed

the world

with the story

of Him raising Lazarus

and with the story

of Him

and His own empty tomb?

This is the truth

He calls us

to trust.

But get this,

He isn't just

coming toward us

with truth

as He did

with Martha.

This isn't a God

who just commands us

to trust Him

and His power.

No, He is at the same time

a God who comes toward us

with tears

and tenderness.

After Martha

and Jesus' exchange,

she goes,

she gets her sister Mary,

the teacher is here,

He is asking for you,

and whereas Martha

went out to Jesus,

Jesus asks for Mary,

He invites her to Himself.

And then when she comes to Him,

she says the exact same words

as her sister,

Lord, if you had been here,

my brother would not have died.

But whereas Martha said this

trying to piece various truths

together in her head,

Mary says this,

not so much with truths

on her mind,

but with tears

in her eyes.

And verse 32 says

that when she saw Him,

she fell at His feet

and wept,

these same feet

that she will later anoint

with the pure nard

of her dowry.

She covers these feet

first in tears.

But now notice

how Jesus responds.

To Martha,

He dispensed teaching

and truth,

but for Mary,

it's tenderness and tears.

Verse 33,

when Jesus saw her weeping

and the Jews

who had come along

with her also weeping,

He was deeply moved

in spirit and troubled.

The word here

for deeply moved

has a sense of outrage

and indignation,

anger at the curse of death

and all the pain

it inflicts upon

the creation of God,

this creation that God loves.

It's this image

of a snorting stallion

flaring its nostrils

in fury.

It's probably what God felt

in the Garden of Eden.

When after Adam and Eve

first succumbed to temptation

and plunged the human race

into sin and death,

God was furious,

but not first and foremost

at them.

No, He cursed the serpent

first,

with the very first,

with the greatest,

with the most irreversible,

unredeemable curse.

Because our God

hates that which harms

the ones He loves.

This is what Jesus feels

about death.

He hates it

with deep emotion.

And He has come

to make war

against death.

But not only does He come

with indignation

and fury at death,

but also with empathy

and grief.

Verse 34,

where have you laid Him?

His first words to Mary

and the mourners.

In the Greek,

it's only three words.

Like,

only three words He could utter.

Where lay Him?

So they say,

come and see, Lord.

Come and see.

Whereas Jesus' come and see

is always an invitation

to come and see abundant life.

Theirs is an invitation

to come and see death.

Come and see the end.

Come and see what can't be fixed.

Come and see what's too late.

And as Jesus takes up

this invitation to come

and see death and despair,

He not only snorts

at their great and powerful enemy,

but He enters their grief.

This is the shortest

and possibly the most poignant verse

in all of the Scriptures.

Verse 35,

Jesus wept.

And this is not just crying,

not just sobbing.

In the Greek,

the emphasis is on His tears.

So even while knowing

what He was about to do,

even while having all the power

in His pinky finger

to change all these

miserable circumstances,

He doesn't strut in here

like a gangster

with swagger,

with a smirk on His face.

Like, relax guys,

I got this.

It's all good.

No, the one who said,

I am the resurrection

and the life

is also the one who wept.

Truth for Martha,

tears for Mary.

And do you realize

what this means?

Well, first of all,

it means that Jesus truly

is the wonderful counselor,

the Spirit-led counselor

who knows exactly

what we need

and when we need it

and who meets us

where we are

in all the diversity

of our circumstances

and our personalities

and our needs.

But secondly,

and more importantly,

right here,

when it tells us

that the Son of God,

even knowing what He

was about to do,

He still,

with Mary and the others,

wept like real,

non-performative tears.

This means that God

is not indifferent

to our grief.

And man,

this should blow our minds

that the immovable,

unchangeable,

invulnerable God

in Christ

became vulnerable

and even shed tears.

Reflect on that

for a second,

that God Himself

shed tears

and not just over

His own wounds

and pains

but over others.

Think about that

for a second.

God,

like imagine

if you were God,

if you were the Almighty,

if you could choose

never to cry

or grieve

or experience pain

or suffering

ever

in the whole history

of your existence,

wouldn't you?

And yet here in Christ,

when the Bible

says that Jesus wept,

what this is saying

is that while God

did have that choice

for Himself,

the choice to never cry,

to never hurt,

to never shed a tear,

He did not take that choice

for Himself.

He came to be God

with us

in every way,

including with us

in our sorrows.

This isn't some far-off,

detached deity.

He is the God-man,

Jesus,

who wept

with us

and for us.

And this tells us

something we dare not miss,

that even if we don't have

answers for all the pain

and suffering

in this world,

the answer cannot be

that He is far away

and out of touch.

The answer cannot be

that He is not with us

and for us.

The answer cannot be

that He does not love us.

No.

Jesus wept.

truth for Martha,

tears for Mary.

But here's the thing.

If all Jesus brought

were teachings

about some supposedly

future resurrection

and life,

and or if all Jesus came with

were tears

for our pain

and love in His heart,

what real comfort

and hope

would that actually bring?

See,

we don't just need

a God who teaches us

about some future

or merely spiritual hope,

and we don't just need

a God who empathizes

with us in tears.

No,

we need a God

who is strong enough

to save us

now and forever

and who can defeat

our great enemy,

the final boss,

death.

And this is where

things begin to turn

because see,

Jesus didn't come

all this way

just to talk about

resurrection

and cry about death.

No,

He came to confront death

as the resurrection

and the life.

Whereas most of us

try not to think

about death,

right?

And rather successfully,

thanks to all of our

distractions,

all of our technology,

all of our preoccupations,

we distract ourselves,

we stay busy,

we optimize our time,

we build careers

and portfolios

and bucket lists.

As Ernest Becker wrote

and argued in his 1973

Pulitzer Prize winner,

The Denial of Death,

we,

you know,

privileged,

modern,

Bay Area folks like us

have really become

masters

at distracting

ourselves from death.

But underneath it all,

we all know

what's there,

the quiet fear

that time

is running out.

But whereas most of us

prefer to avoid death,

Jesus here,

He walks straight toward

the one thing

we spend most of our lives

trying to avoid.

He walks toward that tomb.

And verse 38 says,

Jesus once more

deeply moved,

He came to the tomb,

He doesn't avoid it,

He doesn't soften it,

He doesn't spiritualize it,

He stands in front

of death itself.

And then,

He says something shocking,

take away that stone.

And Martha protests,

Lord,

by this time

there is a bad odor.

Translation,

this is too far gone,

this is irreversible,

this is beyond fixing.

Again,

it's too late.

What does Jesus say

in verse 40?

Did I not tell you

that if you believe,

you will see

the glory of God?

Like Martha,

this was never about you,

or Mary,

or even Lazarus.

And there was never

a second in which

I,

even with my tears,

was not in control

of the situation.

It's always ever been

about the glory of God.

And now,

let me show you.

Verse 41 says,

that just like He did

at the feeding of the 5,000,

He looked up.

He gave thanks.

Father,

I thank You

that You have heard me.

Apparently,

He'd been talking

to His Father

about this already

the whole time.

I knew You always hear me,

but I said this

for the benefit

of the people standing here

that they may believe

that You sent me.

This is the whole purpose.

Again,

to reveal who He is

and who sent Him.

See,

He's the main event.

And it's all about His glory.

And so,

what He's about to do,

this is just a sign.

And so,

with a loud voice,

He cries out,

Lazarus,

come out!

And He did,

by the word of His power

and in collaboration

with His Father in heaven.

And thus,

the story has gone

from truth for Martha

to tears for Mary

to now triumph

for Lazarus.

And not just for Lazarus,

but for everyone

who is in Christ.

Because see,

when Jesus says,

I am the resurrection

and the life,

and then raises Lazarus here,

He's not giving

just a spiritual metaphor,

He's issuing a preview.

A preview of what happens

when resurrection Himself

comes face to face

with death.

Jesus is saying,

death does not get

the final word.

The tomb does not get

the final word.

Time does not get

the final word.

I do.

I am the Lord.

Because see,

if Jesus is the resurrection

and the life,

then there is no such thing

as too late for Him.

It's like when Gandalf

says to Frodo

that a wizard

is never late

nor early,

but always arrives

precisely when he means to.

Because Jesus

is the resurrection

and the life,

it's never too late

for Him

to be the Lord

of our dreams.

Lazarus was four days dead,

buried,

mourned,

stinking,

and yet Jesus still says

to him,

come out.

And His invitation

is to all of us

to remove the stone,

to open ourselves up

to the possibility,

the reality

of real resurrection power

in our lives now

over all the things

we feel are too late

to fix.

Do you hear God's word

to you this morning

that it is not too late

for your story,

it is not too late

for your soul,

it is not too late

for your family,

it is not too late

for God to work

in your life?

No, resurrection

means God does

some of His best work

when we think

our story is over.

But do you believe this?

Will you trust Him

as your resurrection,

as your eternal

and abundant life?

It's yours

if you will have it.

He's yours

if you will have Him.

And it's completely free.

It's completely free.

Well, at least free

for you and for me,

not for Him.

Let me close

with one last reason

why you can trust

and why you should trust

Jesus as your resurrection

and as your life,

and it's this.

What does resurrection

presuppose?

Death.

Not just Lazarus.

Because John wants you

to see something

sobering here,

the moment Lazarus

comes out of the tomb,

Jesus starts marching

toward His own.

Look at verse 45.

Therefore,

many of the Jews

who had come to visit Mary

and had seen what Jesus did

believed in Him.

And wouldn't it be awesome

if the story just ended there?

But it doesn't.

Verse 46 says,

But some of them

went to the Pharisees

and told them

what Jesus had done.

Then verse 53,

which is not printed for you,

John says it plainly,

So from that day on,

they plotted to take

His life.

Do you realize

what this means?

The price of Lazarus'

resurrection

was the cost

of Jesus' death.

This sign

doesn't just create faith,

it also creates fury.

It forces a decision.

Because once you see

a man walk out of a tomb

at the command of Jesus,

you can't keep Jesus

as just a nice teacher.

You either fall down

and worship Him

or you try to get rid of Him.

And Jesus knows it.

He knows exactly

what He's doing here.

He knows that calling Lazarus out

is like signing

His own death warrant.

He knows

He's only two miles

from Jerusalem, right?

Two miles closer

to the cross.

That's what it says here.

And still He says,

Take away the stone.

Still He says,

Lazarus, come out.

Which means

the tenderness of Jesus

is not sentimental,

it's costly.

His tears are not the tears

of someone who means well

but can't help.

His tears are the tears

of a Savior

who is about to step

into the line of fire.

Because here's the deeper

pattern of the gospel.

Lazarus gets to come out

because Jesus is willing

to go in.

Lazarus is unbound

because Jesus will be bound.

Lazarus gets his life back

because Jesus will lay

his life down.

And on the cross,

Jesus doesn't merely

sympathize with our grief.

He enters the very thing

that causes it.

Sin, curse, death.

The wages of sin is death

and Jesus pays those wages

for us with His blood.

He doesn't just stand

outside the tomb

and shout resurrection.

He goes through death itself

so that resurrection

can become ours.

So that He can truly say,

I am the resurrection

and the life.

He doesn't just claim it

with His lips.

He proves it with His blood.

He seals it with His empty tomb.

So will we trust Him?

Will you trust Him?

Will you take away that stone?

Open yourself up to Him?

Because the one who weeps

with you is the one

who walked into death

for you

and who walked out again

with all who will hope in Him.

And that means

it is never too late

for Jesus to be Lord.

And in particular,

the Lord of your story,

which He promises

will end

in His glory

and our good

if we will trust Him.

Let's pray.

Lord, we thank You.

There is no other God like You.

There is no God like our God.

There is no rock like our rock.

There is no Savior

like our Lord and Savior

who is the resurrection

and the life.

And who is the resurrection

and the life

because He went to death

on a cross for us.

God, if we do not already trust Him,

would You fill us

with that kind of faith?

Help us to make that comparison.

What could be better?

Who could be better?

What other Savior

is there out there?

What other life

is out there on offer

that is better than the life

that He offers us?

Lord, turn our eyes to Him.

Turn our hearts toward Him.