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Sermon: The Fifth Sunday in Lent (A) - 10th April 2011
St Alban's Anglican Church Epping 7 & 8 am
Readings: Ezekiel 37:1-14; Psalm 130; Romans 8:6-11; John 11:1-45
One of my favourite pastimes is going to the movies, specially on my day off, I find it a great way to relax. But what amazes me is the number of films I see where afterwards I want to ask, “What was that all about?” “Why did they bother?” “ I can’t see the point.” But when we come to John’s gospel we don’t have that problem. All through the gospel John keeps telling us the point of the story – what it is all about. In chapter one we have the prologue and in 18 verses John tells us the thrust of the whole book. Or when we get to chapter 3 we have that famous verse 16 that tells us clearly that God loved the world so much he sent us his Son. And then being a gospel, we know that by the end we will be told of the death and resurrection of Jesus
But before we get there we have today’s reading of chapter 11 which tells us the story of Lazarus. And this story does several things for us. It is a summary chapter for the whole of the Gospel. Chapter 11 tells us in a brief form all that John has to tell us about Jesus But as well, it gives Jesus the opportunity to discuss the subject of resurrection with his followers. It is a clever literary device, because though Jesus is talking about Lazarus, he is also telling us about himself. As we go through the story of Lazarus Jesus is able to explain his understanding of the issue of resurrection.
And notice too how the story of Lazarus occurs at about the middle of this gospel. John does that on purpose because resurrection is central to the message of Jesus and central to our understanding of the Christian faith. Resurrection is the basis of our hope in Christ, resurrection is the basis for our hope in the future. Resurrection is the basis of our hope in this present life. It is the basis of our morality. Why do we care for one another? Why do we treat others as we would want to be treated ourselves? We do that because w believe that life is more than this life, we believe that there is life beyond this life. We have a duty to others, a duty to a community that does not fade away.
And central to this is our belief that resurrection impacts upon our understanding of who Jesus is. We don’t see Jesus an another Elijah or one of the prophets. We don’t see Jesus as just a wise man or a holy man. We understand him as the one who was raised from the dead, more than that, the one who defeated death. We understand Jesus as one who is a man yet more than a man, that he is the Son of God. Last century there were attempts to re-discover the original Jesus, the Jesus who is not distorted and perverted by myth and miracle. People wanted to get back to what really happened. But the project never quite worked because when you removed all of the miraculous you don’t have much of a story left – or a story that makes much sense.
Now we may not feel comfortable with miracle stories. We may be sceptical about the supernatural. It is hard to believe that the crippled man at the Sheep gate pool in chapter 5 could stand up and roll up his mat and walk home after being crippled for 38 years. I want to ask – where is the physiotherapist? Where are the months in rehab learning to walk again? But no, he picks up his mat and walks home healed. What about the man born blind in chapter 11? If he was born blind, no doubt he was born with some sort of birth defect which gave him no hope of sight. He may have been born without eyes at all. What sort of farcical ritual is it where Jesus spat on the ground and make some mud out of the dirt, wipes it on his eyes and tells him to wash it off in the pool of Siloam. The miraculous may make us feel uncomfortable. These stories may seem quite unbelievable. They can challenge our faith. We can be left wondering what is it we do believe?
And then we come to chapter 11 were we have this climactic miracle which leads us on to the miracle of all miracles, Jesus’ own death and resurrection. The first thing we need to remember about this Lazarus story is how public it was. There were people out to kill Jesus. He was being followed everywhere. When he eventually decided to go to Bethany it was Thomas who said, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Thomas was convinced conditions had so deteriorated that Jesus would not survive his trip to Bethany. So as Jesus goes, and as he arrives in Bethany, crowds have gathered around. Everything that happens is witnessed by at least hundreds. All these amazing events are attended by many eye witnesses.
It is also important to note that when Jesus arrived, Lazarus had been dead for some days. Martha tells us that he had been in his tomb for four days. The point is this is not a story about a resuscitation. Jesus hadn’t arrived at the point of death and some how revived Lazarus again. It is obvious to everyone that Lazarus was truly dead. But John has already forwarded us concerning what this story is about. Jesus had said to Martha “Your brother will rise again.” In other words, what is about to happen concerns resurrection. In Jesus’ day there was a general belief among Jews that they would be raised again at some time in the future, that death would not be permanent.
That was why, once a body had decayed, they would gather up the bones and have them stored permanently in a strong box. Tombs were used as temporary storage during the decaying phase until it was complete. That was why it was possible for the disciples to borrow a tomb for Jesus. Occupation of a tomb was not a permanent arrangement. But based on Ezekiel 37, with the story of the Valley of Dry bones, and the resurrection of Israel, the Jews believed it was important just to keep the bones in anticipation of the resurrection.
And Martha affirmed her belief in an end time resurrection. But Jesus was not prepared to leave the matter there. He makes that great statement that is repeated or should be repeated at every Anglican funeral, and this is the point of the whole chapter, He says “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” These are wonderful words. They are great words. This is what we want to believe. And yet they are so great, how can we believe them? It is such a great promise, but how can we be sure, how can we trust the message? This is why the rest of the chapter is so important. Remember that there is a crowd standing by. They are witnesses to what happens next. They see Jesus approach the tomb. They see Jesus weep with grief for Lazarus. They question Jesus, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” They protest when Jesus asks for the stone to be removed. And they listen as Jesus prays out loud. And they hear as Jesus shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And they saw as the dead man came out.
But if none of this ever happened who would have cared. If it never happened the plot to kill Jesus would have fallen apart. They would have lost interest in another failed leader. But because of what did happen on this day, there were two reactions. We are told some of the crowd were convinced, and put their trust in him. But as well, because of this miracle something else happened that we must notice. This miracle triggered a meeting of the Sanhedrin who came to the conclusion “If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” If the miracle had never happened, no one would have cared, and the Sanhedrin would never have met and Jesus would never have been crucified. Its ironic, that in response to resurrection, the Sanhedrin choose death. But everyone knew, after this day, Jesus had to die, because by now, most of Israel knew the truth, Jesus is the resurrection and the life. This miracle on this day is not about some theory of what might happened to us when we die. Rather, it is to underline the truth of the Easter Story, that with the coming of the Son of God into the world, the power of death has been broken, and we are given a new hope, a new life, a new vision of the future because it contains one simple truth – that those who believe in him will live.