When Jesus Seems Late

Well, hey everybody, it is great to see you, whether you're here in the room or joining us online.

I'm honored to have you along for the ride.

Today, we're actually wrapping up a series called That You May Believe, in which, as many of you know, we've been exploring the account of the life of Jesus found in the New Testament, known as the Gospel of John.

And as we said throughout this series, John organizes half of his gospel around a carefully selected series of miracles that he calls signs.

Because he wants his readers to know that these aren't just random displays of power.

They're intended to reveal who Jesus really is, like his identity.

And if you're wondering, like how in the world do we know that, John actually tells us near the end of his gospel, here's how he says it he says that Jesus performed many other signs in the presence of his disciples, which are not recorded in this book.

And I mentioned this, but I would love to know what those are, wouldn't you?

Right?

Yeah.

He says, but these are written that you may believe.

You're like, wait, what believe what?

That Jesus is the Messiah, the Son of God, and that by believing you may have life in his name.

In other words, John says he selected the signs he did because he wanted his readers to come to believe what he had come to believe.

That Jesus really was the Messiah, the Christ, the Son of God, that by believing that they might have life in his name.

And so over the past several weeks, we've watched Jesus do some pretty incredible things.

He turned water into wine, he healed an official's son, he fed thousands with a boy's lunch, he walked on water, and he opened the eyes of a man born blind.

But today we get to explore what I believe to be the greatest sign in John's gospel.

And here's why I say that.

And as you'll soon come to see, John's final sign, this greatest sign, is set against the backdrop of what I think is one of life's most challenging questions.

And it's challenging for people of faith.

The question goes like this What do you do when it feels like Jesus showed up too late?

My guess is this is a question that all of us have asked at one time or another.

I mean, maybe for you, you prayed for healing and it never came.

Maybe you prayed for a marriage or a child or a job or for someone you love and it really seemed like heaven wasn't paying attention.

Like if you've ever found yourself wondering, like, Jesus, where were you when I needed you?

Then, well, you're gonna find yourself somewhere in the narrative we get to explore today, because that's exactly where two sisters named Mary and Martha found themselves.

I mean, they knew that Jesus had the power to heal.

They'd seen it, they'd heard about it, they were convinced of it, and they knew that Jesus loved them.

But when their moment of crisis came, when life fell apart, Jesus didn't show up.

At least not in the way that they expected him to.

And I think that's where John wants to challenge, like all of us who read his account, because this really isn't simply a story about pain.

It's about whether we'll continue to trust Jesus when his timing doesn't meet our expectations.

So, as the story begins, John tells us that Jesus is about a day's walk from a village called Bethany, which is a few miles from Jerusalem.

And Jesus is there when he learns that one of his closest friends has grown desperately ill.

So John describes it this way: He writes, Now, a man named Lazarus was sick.

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

So the sisters sent word to Jesus, Lord, the one you love is sick.

So John wants his readers to understand that Lazarus was a part of a family that Jesus cared for deeply.

In some of the other gospels, we learn that Jesus actually stayed with this family when he was visiting Jerusalem.

So they were his friends.

And so when Lazarus becomes really sick, the sisters did exactly what you or I would have done if we'd been in their shoes.

They sent word to Jesus.

And they sent word to Jesus without a long explanation and without an elaborate request.

Their assumption was if Jesus knows, he'll come because he loves Lazarus.

And if you think about it, I mean, Jesus has crossed the Sea of Galilee for strangers and he's healed people he'd never met.

I mean, if anyone could expect Jesus to come, it was this family.

And that's what makes the next few verses so surprising.

John writes, when he heard this, Jesus said, This sickness will not end in death.

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

He says, now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, so when he heard that Jesus, or that Lazarus was sick, look at this.

He stayed where he was for two more days.

And like, don't read past these words quickly.

I mean, I think they revealed one of the greatest tensions you find in the New Testament.

John tells us that Jesus loved Mary and Martha, and then in the very next sentence that he stayed where he was for two more days when he found out they needed his help.

Does anyone else think that's a little strange?

I mean, if John had written Jesus loved them, and so of course he left immediately to help his friends, that would feel right.

But John says, no, Jesus loved them, so he stayed.

Most of us would naturally assume that if Jesus loves us, he'll move towards our pain as quickly as possible.

We like unconsciously carry a theology that says, you know, if Jesus loves me, life should get easier.

And if I'm serious about following him, this shouldn't be happening to me.

But see, this is what's so brilliant.

John forces us to hold these two truths together.

Jesus loved them deeply, and yet he's still delayed.

Apparently, it's a mistake to equate God's silence with his absence.

John says, they are not the same thing.

Now, if you think about it, um, with this story, John is actually inviting us once again to consider something we've encountered repeatedly as we've explored John's signs, namely that Jesus doesn't always do what people expect him to do.

You probably noticed this too, right?

I mean, at the um wedding at Cana, when he turned water into wine, Jesus' timing surprised everyone.

And when he healed the official son, he didn't have to be physically present to do it.

I mean, that was shocking.

And then when he fed the 5,000 with the boys' lunch, he refused to become the king that the crowd wanted him to be.

And when he healed the man born blind, he challenged everything people thought they knew about suffering and why it happened.

And now his love is about to be expressed in a way that no one saw coming.

As it turns out, Jesus' delay was not evidence that he didn't care.

It was actually setting the stage for his greatest sign yet.

But of course, um, Mary and Martha did not know that.

Like from their perspective, Jesus was late.

Painfully late.

And so after two long days, Jesus looks at his disciples and he tells them it's time to return to Bethany and the region around Jerusalem.

And they immediately object, and I love this.

They say, Um, but Rabbi, hey boss, uh, don't mean to be stating the short while ago, the Jews there tried to stone you.

Remember that?

It wasn't great.

Yeah, and and yet you're going back?

I mean, their concern is fair.

Jesus, the last time Jesus was in Jerusalem, the religious leaders did try to stone him, and they knew that Jesus could heal like Bluetooth.

He didn't have to go.

So he's like, let's do that again.

Why would we go back?

This is a bad plan.

And so they thought, you know, we just again heal from a distance.

They were confused, and rightly so.

And then Jesus tells them something that gets even more confusing.

He says, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to wake him up.

And they're like, He's doing that thing again when he says we have no idea what he's doing.

Okay, they replied, Lord, if he sleeps, he'll get better.

We don't have to go.

Problem solved.

Jesus, we learned, had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.

So then, after putting his head to his forehead, hand to his forehead, he said, then he told them plainly, Lazarus is dead.

And you guys are terrible at nuanced things of language.

Lazarus is dead, and look at this, and for your sake, I was glad I was not there, so that you may believe.

But let's go to him.

In other words, like if you're a disciple sitting there, you're like, wait, Jesus already knew, knows Lazarus has died, and he knows what was happening inside of his friends Mary and Martha while they waited and prayed and watched their brother take his final breath.

And then Jesus says, And it's for your sake.

I'm glad I wasn't there.

So that you may believe.

And that almost sounds insensitive until you remember that every sign in John's gospel has been leading his readers towards belief.

So that's it, if you think about it, Jesus isn't being indifferent to the pain of his friends.

He's preparing his disciples and really everyone who will read his gospel to witness something so powerful, so profound, that it can serve as an anchor to their faith.

But see, the disciples still don't understand, and I just love this.

Eventually, a guy named Thomas looks at the rest of the disciples, and this is so good.

He goes, Let us also go that we may die with him.

Isn't that awesome?

Okay, so there's different personality types.

You guys are aware of this, right?

And Thomas is what I like to call an Eeyore.

Are you familiar with Eeyore?

From Winnie the Pooh?

Yeah, there's Tiggers and there's Eeyores, right?

Yeah, but Eeyore, you know Eeyore.

Um, some of you married an Eeyore and didn't know it.

Turns out you did, right?

Some of you work for an Eeyore.

It's like everything is bad all the time.

They're always pessimistic.

So Thomas, the resident Eeyore, basically is like, Lazarus is dead.

The Jews are gonna stone Jesus and us might as well get it over with, right?

Yeah, and then his tail fell off.

I don't know.

It's just awesome.

Anyway, so when Jesus finally arrives at Bethany with his disciples, John tells us something super important.

He writes this on his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days.

In other words, there was no question about what had happened.

No one was hoping for a recovery, no one was expecting a miracle.

As far as everyone was concerned, Lazarus' life was over.

And Mary and Martha were devastated.

So Mary or Martha hears that Jesus has arrived on the scene.

She immediately goes out to confront him.

And you're like, what about Mary?

Uh Mary doesn't.

And John doesn't tell us why.

Maybe she was overwhelmed with grief, maybe she had no words, maybe she was so angry she couldn't bring herself to face Jesus.

But whatever Mary's reason for staying back, Martha goes and says something really interesting.

She says, Lord, if you'd been here, my brother would not have died.

If you had shown up on time, we wouldn't be facing this tragedy.

Have you ever said anything like that to God?

Something like, God, I know you could have.

I just don't understand why you didn't.

I I I know I know that all things are possible with you.

I just can't imagine why in this situation you didn't intervene.

I think that's why this story resonates so deeply with us, so deeply with followers of Jesus for 2,000 years.

Sooner or later, like every one of us finds ourselves asking some version of Martha's question.

What do you do when Jesus seems late?

What do you do when Jesus fails to meet your expectations?

And so, in a way, we're all standing there with Martha.

And this is what's so amazing.

It's right there in the middle of that grief that Jesus looks at this rightly confused, heartbroken woman and says to her, Your brother will rise again.

And this does not help Martha.

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

And then 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.

And then look at this.

Do you believe this?

It's interesting that Jesus doesn't ask, Do you understand this?

Like, does your mind resonate with this idea?

He says, Do you believe this?

And that this is very, this is exactly what John has been trying to do throughout his gospel.

Like, think about what we what we've watched happen again and again.

The disciples believed.

The officials believed.

The man born blind believed, and now standing in the middle of unimaginable grief.

Martha is asked, Martha, will you believe?

And notice Martha's response, right?

And she says, I know my brother will rise again in the resurrection on the last days.

I know the theology.

I know God will make everything right someday, but this is not someday.

This is now, Jesus, and I need some explanation now.

I need some hope in the middle of my pain now.

And so what Jesus does, and this is so brilliant, he shifts her attention.

He doesn't point her to a future event, he points her to himself.

He says, I am the resurrection and the life.

This is one of the most astonishing things Jesus ever said about himself.

He doesn't say, I can perform resurrections, although he can.

He doesn't say, I know a guy who can conquer death, but he does.

He says, I am the resurrection and the life.

In other words, resurrection isn't just something Jesus does, it's who he is.

It's not just a gift he gives, it's found in him.

He's the source.

And so you put yourself in Martha's shoes, and it's like everything she's hoped for, everything ancient Israel has longed for, everything every grieving heart desperately wants is standing right in front of her.

And Jesus asked Martha the question every reader must eventually answer.

It's almost like before Jesus changes Martha's circumstances, he challenges her faith.

And in response, Martha gives one of the greatest confessions in the New Testament.

She says, Do you believe this?

She says, Yes.

Yes, Lord.

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

I believe you're the Christ.

I believe you're the long-promised one.

I believe you're the one that Israel has been longing for for generations.

But notice something.

Mary, Martha doesn't pretend to understand everything.

Like she still has a lot of questions.

Jesus was still late.

She still has tears in her eyes.

She still doesn't, and she still doesn't know what Jesus is about to do.

We know, but she doesn't know.

But she does know is that she trusts the one who's standing in front of her.

And that's often what faith looks like, especially when life falls apart.

It's like it's not that we have every answer to our questions, but that we just trust Jesus before we can see how the story ends or the chapter of our lives that's so challenging ends.

And I don't like that.

If I'm honest, um, I want God to hand me a floodlight to see what's really going on, right?

I want to see next month, I want to see next year, I want to see the reason for every delay.

I'm okay with the delay as long as he tells me why.

I want the answer to every question, and I want to know how every painful chapter in my life is gonna end.

That's what I want.

A floodlight.

But instead, God just gives us enough light for the next step.

At least that's how it seems to happen.

And that's all Martha has.

She doesn't have explanations, but she has Jesus.

And according to John, that's enough to keep her believing.

It also is enough that Martha returns to the house and tells Mary that Jesus is asking for her and that she needs to talk to Jesus.

And so Mary goes out, and when she arrives, she falls at his feet and says the exact same thing her sister said.

She says, Lord, if you'd been here, my brother would not have died.

And it's like it's just a parallel.

This heartbroken woman asks, Jesus, where were you?

Why were you late?

We needed you and you didn't come through.

And John tells us that Mary and the mourners surrounding her are weeping.

And it's so interesting.

Jesus ignores her questions because he's got something else in mind.

And he asks, Where have you laid him?

Where's Lazarus?

Where's the body?

Come and see, Lord, they replied.

And then look at this.

Jesus wept.

And that's that's really interesting.

Jesus knows what he's about to do.

He knows that in just a minute Lazarus is going to walk out of the tomb, and yet Jesus still weeps.

Why?

I think it's because he didn't just come to be the antidote for sin, to give his life, to shed his blood on the cross so that everyone could be invited into a restored relationship with their Heavenly Father.

That is one of the primary reasons he came.

But he also came to enter the human experience, to suffer and to grieve, to share our sorrows, and to carry our heartbreak.

And I'm actually, I'm really thankful John includes this detail because it reminds us that God's presence isn't just measured by what he does in our lives.

Sometimes it's experience in the fact that he is with us even as we walk through the proverbial valley of the shadow of death.

Jesus doesn't stand at a distance explaining suffering, broken world sin.

He stands beside grieving people and cries with them.

And maybe that's something you need to hear today.

I mean, you may you may be in a season where you don't understand why God allowed whatever it is that you're walking through.

And Mary and Martha certainly didn't understand.

But I think this story reminds us that when our hearts break, the heart of God breaks too.

Like sometimes Jesus enters our sorrow before he changes our circumstances.

Again, that was the experience of Mary and Martha.

But anyway, as the account continues, Jesus walks to the entrance of Lazarus' tomb and he gives an unexpected command.

And just imagine it with me, you got the sisters, the mourners, everybody's crying.

Jesus says, Take away the stone.

And I'm telling you, in an instant, everybody stop crying.

Because when Jesus says something like this, all of a sudden he has everyone's attention, and they all turned and looked towards the tomb, and no one knows what Jesus is about to do, and no one knows what to say, except then Martha says something.

She says, But Lord, by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.

If you grew up with the King James, you may remember.

It says, He stinketh.

That is way, I don't know what the NIV is doing.

That's a way better.

Yeah.

But like this, it's like Jesus, I mean, I hate to keep coming back to this, but you're late.

Like you're here, resurrect, great, I believe, but we got a practical problem here.

Uh, yeah.

You're too late, but that's the point.

As long as people thought Lazarus might recover, someone could explain away the miracle.

And John wants us to know there is no other explanation for this miracle.

Lazarus is dead, completely, irrefutably, clinically dead.

And then Jesus looks towards heaven and he prays.

He says, Father, I thank you that you've heard me.

I know 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.

And it's so interesting that Jesus prays out loud.

And it's interesting because it's not like God needs information or because Jesus needs reassurance.

They kind of have an instinct.

Sink thing going on, right?

He says, I'm praying out loud that they may believe that you sent me.

And again, here's John's purpose.

Every sign is leading to this moment.

Jesus isn't simply about to raise a dead man.

He's revealing his identity.

He is the Son of God.

He's the Christ.

He's the Messiah.

He's the resurrection and the light.

And then everyone goes silent.

And every eye is fixed on the tomb.

And Jesus simply says, Lazarus.

Jesus doesn't ask permission.

He doesn't struggle.

He commands because death is not his equal.

Death is his subject.

He is the resurrection and the life.

And in that moment, John has told us everything we need to know.

This was never simply about Lazarus.

This was always about Jesus.

That's why the miracle itself occupies only a handful of verses.

Like the sign isn't the destination.

It's pointing to Jesus.

And this is the thing over and over again.

Water becomes wine, bread is multiplied, blind eyes are open, and now a dead man walks out of a tomb.

And every sign has been answering the same question.

Who is Jesus?

And that's why John immediately tells us what happens next.

Like Lazarus comes out of the tomb, and John says, Therefore, this is not going to surprise you, many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary and had seen what Jesus did believed in him.

I would have too, right?

Like this is exactly what John hoped every one of his readers would experience.

Like the fact that Jesus is the resurrection and the life, and then he proves it in flesh and blood.

It's like, what other choice do you have but to believe?

But it's so interesting because John isn't quite finished with this account because, as it turns out, not everybody who saw this believed.

Some saw the miracle and embraced Jesus as their Lord, but others see the very same evidence and decide that Jesus must be stopped.

John tells us from that today on that the Pharisees plotted to take his life.

Isn't that interesting?

Even the raising of the dead doesn't convince everyone.

And that's what truth often does.

Like no one believes neutral.

Every one of Jesus' signs demands a response.

The same sign that leads many people to believe hardens the hearts of others.

You say, well, how did they miss that?

I would argue it's because the evidence was never the problem.

The willingness to follow the evidence wherever it led was the problem.

And I think John leaves us with that same question today.

I think he would say to all of us if he was here, what will you do with Jesus?

Will you allow him to reshape what you believe?

Or will you reshape him to fit what you've already decided?

Will you let him disrupt what you've always believed?

Because that's ultimately the difference between belief and unbelief.

And I just want to briefly um come back to where we began today with that question lurking behind this narrative, because um I suspect that some of you brought something in with you today that just feels hopeless.

Maybe it's a diagnosis, maybe it's a broken relationship, maybe for you it's a prayer that just seems to have gone unanswered, or it's a grief that just refuses to let go.

And if that's you, I want you to know that Jesus never promises to do what we want when we want.

He never promises to do what we want when we want, but he does invite us to trust in him.

The one who stood outside the tomb and declared, I am the resurrection and the life.

The Christian hope has never been that Jesus will spare us from every sorrow.

That's not how it's ever worked.

The hope is that our sorrow doesn't get the final word.

And our hope as Christians has never been that death will never touch us.

It's that death itself has been defeated.

And so what do you do when Jesus seems late?

I think John would answer that you remember who he is.

Because if Jesus really is who John says he is, then the worst thing that can happen to us in this life is never the last thing that happens to us in his life because we know the resurrection and the life.

One of the things um I've come to appreciate about John's gospel, and I spent a lot of time with it throughout the series, is that John never asks us to believe blindly.

He doesn't tell his readers, hey, just take a leap of faith.

Instead, he says, just look at Jesus, watch him.

Listen to him.

Consider the evidence.

And then decide what you're going to do with him.

And after examining Jesus' signs, John leaves every one of his readers, every one of us, with the very same question Jesus asked Martha.

Do you?

Believe this.

Not do you understand everything or have had all your questions answered, simply do you believe this is the question that hangs as the first half of John's gospel faith.

And I think that's the most important question.

Which brings us to the end of this series.

And we wanted to end in kind of a special way.

In just a moment, we're gonna stand together and sing.

And the song was chosen uh very purposefully.

If you ever think, boy, the song really fits the sermon.

We do that on purpose, that's not accidental, right?

Paul just walks up and goes, All right, hymn number 47, go.

No, we don't do that, right?

Um, but what I want to do is I want you to think of this um not simply as a song to close a series, but maybe a personal response to Jesus' question.

So if today you can honestly say, Jesus, I believe you are who John says you are, and there's a whole bunch of us in this room who feel that way already, and I'm choosing to trust you even when I don't understand your timing.

If that's where you're at, then man, we'll we'll all stand, but for you, put these words on your lips.

Let's raise our voices together and proclaim that we believe.

And then after the song, I'll return and I'll close our time in prayer.

But for now, why don't you stand?

And the band is gonna take us to somewhere really cool.

I believe there's one salvation, one door way that leads to the life, one redemption, one confession.

I believe in the name of I believe in the crucifixion, by his blood I have been set free.

I believe in the resurrection, hallelujah, it's life, it's death, offering to God, all free to Christ, all friends to the Holy Spirit, our God, please, are we all here the bird for us?

Man, um, if you'd like to talk with someone before you head out, maybe you've never accepted Jesus before and you're like, wow, I don't know what to do.

Uh we'd love to talk to you under the screen to the left, answer any questions you have.

Or if you came in carrying a burden and you want a prayer before you head out, uh please join us.

We'd be honored for the rest of us.

Let's close our time.

Heavenly Father, today um we just once again thank you for the incredible gift of your son.

The hope he offers us in the midst of this life and the hope he offers us after this life.

I pray that we would be a people who carry that hope and that love with us in every interaction.

May your light shine through us so that others may come to know you and find life in your name.

But for today, we bless you, we praise you, we honor you, we thank you.

In the matchless name of your Son, our Savior, Lord, and King Jesus Christ, we pray.

And everyone said Amen.

Great to see you, friends.

We'll see you next week.