God Is...

3-26-23                       Sermon Notes            “God Is…”

When I was growing up, we used to have to memorize Bible verses for Vacation Bible School. The teacher would hand out little cards. One might get John 3:16, or Psalm 23:1… I always wanted to get a verse which comes from the gospel lesson for this Sunday. I wanted John 11: 35. Why? It was the shortest verse to memorize! “Jesus wept.” 

It was only later that I began to ask questions about the wonderful fact that Jesus wept. What was going on before Jesus wept? Well, his close friend (maybe best friend) Lazarus had died. He had been told few days earlier that Lazarus was sick, and he had waited a couple of days before heading that way. Why did Jesus wait? 

Lazarus’ sisters each came out to meet Jesus. Martha (the practical sister) wanted to fuss at Jesus a bit for arriving too late to save her brother. “If you had been here earlier, my brother wouldn’t have died!” she said. And Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” Well…Martha? Do you believe? Or I could say, “Sam. Do you believe?”

Then along comes Mary (the tender-hearted sister). She says the same thing. “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” But Mary needed to cry it out - not to have a theological discussion. So, in John 11: 35, we simply read, “Jesus wept.” Which leads us to more questions…

Why did Jesus weep? Did Jesus weep because Lazarus was dead? That seems unlikely, because Jesus was going to raise him from the dead. Some say his grief was over the sinful condition of humanity that results in death. Maybe. Some say his grief was because of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees who were gathered there - not to mourn, but to spy on Jesus. Maybe. As for me, I think Jesus wept because he sympathized with Mary and Martha. To sympathize means to “feel with.” I think Jesus was feeling Mary and Martha’s grief along with them.

So what? That’s always a good question. Jesus was the fullness of the Godhead in human form (Col. 2: 9), and so to know something about Jesus is to know something about God. God knows our hurt, our grief, and our pain. Jesus was sovereign in this setting, even over death. God is God (and we are not). Even though the sisters were angry with Jesus, Jesus was still trustworthy. That means God is good, and we can trust God…even when things look bleak. Jesus had the last word(s). “Lazarus, come forth!” This reminds us that in the end, God wins!

Turns out our gospel passage for Sunday (John 11: 1-45) is not primarily about Jesus’ friendship with Lazarus, Mary and Martha. Nor is it primarily about the fact that Jesus’ disciples are always missing the point - or any of the other interesting details we read. This is a story that tells us some things about Who God is…

See you Sunday,

Pastor Sam