From John 11 (NIV) 21"Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask." 25Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; 26and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?" 27a "Yes, Lord..." 34"Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied. 35Jesus wept. 38Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39"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." 40Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" 41So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42I 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." 43When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" 44The 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 grave clothes and let him go."
The problem with life is that it can so easily be lost to death, to dying, or in the struggle to live. And, there are those among us who miss living in the grim determination to be responsible, living a life where there is little time for living in the pressure of meeting life’s demands and running the risk of suddenly realizing that the only years we are ever going to have been wasted.
“I am the resurrection and the life.” Jesus’ raising of Lazarus is a sign that says life is found in Jesus. Resurrection and life go together. What we believe about death and what we experience in life are part of one picture. In the foreground is our experience of life, and that is where most of us are focused. But in the background is the reality of death, and what we believe about that reality. Sometimes we successfully push the reality of death out of our minds. Sometimes the full truth hits us. When faced with the reality of dying our whole perspective changes. It changes the way we experience life.
Raising Lazarus from the dead is a sign saying that life is found in Jesus, abundant life and eternal life. It is all one package and it is found in Jesus. Do we believe that life is found in Jesus or do we believe life is found somewhere else? How do we describe this life? It is a life of a personal relationship to God, of trust and faith. It is a life of acceptance and following and allowing God.
And there is a waking up to God’s involvement with our life and of His will being worked out for our life. Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!" The wake up call from Jesus comes to us no matter how dead we might be. No matter how dull and asleep we might be the voice continues to come to us and to call to us. Come out and live.
From a sermon preached by Henry Dobbs Pope March 21, 1999
© Rhonda Hinkle Mitchell Broyles
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