“Lord, If You Had Been Here…” John 11.20-46, Lent 5A, April ‘17

1.     Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Heavenly Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.  The message from God’s Word this 5^th Sunday in Lent is taken from John 11:20-46 and is entitled, “Lord, If You Had Been Here,” dear brothers and sisters in Christ.

2.     I can remember the first time I ever visited a funeral home when I was a boy. I can’t remember whose funeral it was, or where it was, or even who brought me. But I can remember how it felt—the mood in the room. I can remember it as if it were yesterday. There was something different about the way people talked to one another, something different about the way people acted—the timid tones, the hushed language. And then I realized it was because of death. Death was the cloud that hung over the whole room. Its power, its finality, its merciless advance into the life of some loved one touched every heart, leaving a trail of sorrow and grief in its wake.

3.     When Jesus approached the tomb of Lazarus, the Greek says that his body literally shook (Jn 11:33). Not only did Jesus cry. He sobbed. He trembled, wept and wailed, almost as if he was one with the whole weeping, wailing mass of humanity. And he is—he is one with us. Our God is a man. He sympathizes with us in our weakness. He shares our grief. He knows what it is to suffer as you are now suffering, because he’s been there before, at Lazarus’s tomb.

4.     John the Apostle tells us here in chapter 11 of his Gospel that Lazarus had died. 4 days had passed. We can well imagine that Mary and Martha must have said to themselves over and over again, “If only Jesus had been here, this thing would never have happened.” Small wonder that, when the Lord arrived and Martha ran out to meet Him, her first words were “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died”—and small wonder that, when Mary came running to Him several moments later, she greeted Him with the identical words: “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” That was all they had been thinking, so it was natural that it should be the first thing they said: “If You had been here!” But now their Lord was there. Was He too late?

5.     But, John tells us that Lazarus’s death is for the glory of God.  When Jesus hears the news about Lazarus’s illness, he stays put in Bethany for two days. There’s no mistaking—Lazarus is dead.  Jesus allows Lazarus to die that all might see the glory of God (v 4), that all might believe (v 15). 

6.     Lazarus’s death is an occasion to call Martha to faith.  Jesus gets to Bethany. Martha approaches. Where was Martha’s mind?  Martha was stuck in the trauma of the past: “If you had been here, my brother would not have died” (v 21).  Martha’s mind was on the hope of the future: “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day” (v 24).  Where was Martha? Anywhere but the present.  Jesus takes Martha out of the past, out of the future, to himself: “I am the resurrection and the life” (v 25).  To believe in him is to live forever and not die.  To believe in him is to have the resurrection as your own present possession.  To believe in him is, at the day of death, merely to fall asleep in the hope of waking up again.  Jesus asks Martha if she believes this, which elicits a wonderful confession of faith from her. She confesses him to be the Christ, the Son of God.  Lazarus’s death and rising point to Jesus’ own death and resurrection . . . and ours on the Last Day.

7.     Let us read the blessed record from John chapter 11… “So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met Him, but Mary remained seated in the house. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to Him. Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met Him. When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw Him, she fell at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in His spirit and greatly troubled. And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not He who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that You sent Me.” When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what He did, believed in Him, but some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.”

8.     Could there be anything more comforting to the heart of the Christian than the words we have just read? The glories of our Savior Jesus seem to crowd the verses as we read them. We see in Him, first of all, our compassionate Redeemer, and then the mighty and majestic God who is the resurrection and the life.

9.     Our compassionate Redeemer! See our Lord Jesus weeping as He walks along the road that leads from the village out to the place of burial. He who was “in the beginning” (John 1: 1), He by whom “all things were made” (1: 3), He who “upholds the universe by the word of His power” (Hebrews 1: 3)—He weeps tears of sorrow and compassion as He beholds the misery and anguish not only of Mary and of Martha but also of all of humanity. His heart beats fast, His spirit groans, His throat is choked, His eyes run over.

10.  What a blessed assurance to know that this sympathetic Savior is even now at the right hand of God, making intercession for us! “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin…. For because He Himself has suffered when tempted, He is able to help those who are being tempted” (Hebrews 4: 15; 2: 18). Christ has come down with us into the depths of human misery. He knows our sorrows and He has mingled His tears with ours to assure us of His tender and divine compassion.

11.  But our Savior has more than compassion—He has power! He has power over all our enemies, even our final enemy, death. In this chapter of John’s Gospel, He both claims and demonstrates that power. He claims it when He speaks those never-to-be-forgotten words to Martha: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me shall never die.” And He demonstrates His power over death when He speaks the life-giving words “Lazarus, come out,” and “the man who had died came out.”

12.  The 5^th Sunday in Lent is a sort of dress rehearsal for Holy Week, preparing us for the Passion, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.  Why did Jesus die? To take our sin upon himself, so that, by his death, “he might destroy the one who has the power of death” (Heb 2:14).  Now death has no more power over Jesus. He has the last word.  Eternal life is ours through faith in Christ and his work for us.  We share in the hope of the resurrection. Just as Jesus called Lazarus forth from the grave, we who sleep in the dust of death shall one day hear the Lord’s voice: “Come out.”

13.  To believe in Jesus is to have his resurrection and life right now. Our Lord let Lazarus die so he could teach this to the world. May the Holy Spirit, who comes through the Word preached and proclaimed, teach you this, that you, too, believe and have life eternal. Amen.