Join us today as we celebrate Holy Communion for the fifth Sunday of Lent, 4/3/22. To follow along at home, click here and print the Holy Communion Program. Text of today’s homily below.
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Homily for the Fifth Sunday of Lent -- Sunday 4/3/22
Readings: Ez 37:12-14, Ps 130:1-2, 3-4, 5-6, 7-8, Rom 8:8-11, Jn 11:1-45
John 11: 1-45 American Standard Version
11 Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, of the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 And it was that Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick. 3 The sisters therefore sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. 4 But when Jesus heard it, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified thereby. 5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus. 6 When therefore he heard that he was sick, he abode at that time two days in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he saith to the disciples, Let us go into Judaea again. 8 The disciples say unto him, Rabbi, the Jews were but now seeking to stone thee; and goest thou thither again? 9 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? If a man walk in the day, he stumbleth not, because he seeth the light of this world. 10 But if a man walk in the night, he stumbleth, because the light is not in him. 11 These things spake he: and after this he saith unto them, Our friend Lazarus is fallen asleep; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep. 12 The disciples therefore said unto him, Lord, if he is fallen asleep, he will [a]recover. 13 Now Jesus had spoken of his death: but they thought that he spake of taking rest in sleep. 14 Then Jesus therefore said unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead. 15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him. 16 Thomas therefore, who is called [b]Didymus, said unto his fellow-disciples, Let us also go, that we may die with him.
17 So when Jesus came, he found that he had been in the tomb four days already. 18 Now Bethany was nigh unto Jerusalem, about fifteen furlongs off; 19 and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary, to console them concerning their brother. 20 Martha therefore, when she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary still sat in the house. 21 Martha therefore said unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 22 And even now I know that, whatsoever thou shalt ask of God, God will give thee. 23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again. 24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day. 25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth on me, though he die, yet shall he live; 26 and whosoever liveth and believeth on me shall never die. Believest thou this? 27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I have believed that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, even he that cometh into the world. 28 And when she had said this, she went away, and called Mary [c]her sister secretly, saying, The Teacher is here, and calleth thee. 29 And she, when she heard it, arose quickly, and went unto him. 30 (Now Jesus was not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha met him.) 31 The Jews then who were with her in the house, and were consoling her, when they saw Mary, that she rose up quickly and went out, followed her, supposing that she was going unto the tomb to [d]weep there. 32 Mary therefore, when she came where Jesus was, and saw him, fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died. 33 When Jesus therefore saw her [e]weeping, and the Jews also [f]weeping who came with her, he [g]groaned in the spirit, and [h]was troubled, 34 and said, Where have ye laid him? They say unto him, Lord, come and see. 35 Jesus wept. 36 The Jews therefore said, Behold how he loved him! 37 But some of them said, Could not this man, who opened the eyes of him that was blind, have caused that this man also should not die? 38 Jesus therefore again [i]groaning in himself cometh to the tomb. Now it was a cave, and a stone lay [j]against it. 39 Jesus saith, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time [k]the body decayeth; for he hath been dead four days. 40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou believedst, thou shouldest see the glory of God? 41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou heardest me. 42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the multitude that standeth around I said it, that they may believe that thou didst send me. 43 And when he had thus spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth. 44 He that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with [l]grave-clothes; and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
Brothers and sisters, we say we believe. We come to church, we say our prayers, we profess with our mouths and wear our crosses, and all of that – but do we really believe? And how do you think God reacts when our faith is weak? These are the questions embedded in the story of Jesus’ resurrection of Lazarus.
We read that as soon as Jesus found out that Lazarus was ill, he told his disciples that Lazarus’ illness was not going to end in death because he intended to raise him from the dead. He tells them he’s going to go back to Judea, but they warn him against it because on their most recent stay there, they were looking to stone him. Jesus tells them a parable about faith and reminds them that they have to go because Lazarus has fallen asleep and he intends to awaken him. They think Jesus is talking about literal sleep.
And when they arrive, Martha greets him and says, “if you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.” Jesus consoles her. He tells her Lazarus will rise again. But she’s as dense as the apostles. She thinks he’s talking about rising on the last day. Jesus has to repeat himself – again! Mary shows up and says the exact same thing Martha said. “If you had been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.” They just don’t get it. Nobody has any faith in him at all. The Greek word for how Jesus’ emotion is embrimaomai (em-BRIM-ah-OH-mahee) “to snort like an angry horse.” Make no mistake – the New Living Translation of the Bible reads, “a deep anger welled up within him.” He’s beside himself. He says simply, “Where have you laid him?”
And then, in one of the most poignant moments in the entire gospel, Jesus weeps.
Why does he weep? Because nobody believes. He’s standing right there with them. Are they singing hymns? No. Are they rejoicing because Jesus has arrived? No. Are they filled with anticipation to see the promised miracle? They know what’s going to do, don’t they? He’s been telling them, in no uncertain terms, for over four days! But no, no, no. Instead of being filled with faith, they’re milling around the tomb of Lazarus grumbling, saying, “He healed the man born blind, didn’t he? Well, why didn’t he prevent this man from dying?”
And at that, Jesus groans with anger again. The gospel uses the same Greek word. Maybe he goes, “Ugh” or “Aargh!” – we just don’t know. But at any rate, he’s had enough. He tells them to roll back the stone. Martha says, “Are you sure? It’s been four days, by now he’s starting to decay and stink.” Picture this now – he hasn’t gotten through to a single person. Jesus says, “Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?” Finally he calls out to Lazarus, who is resurrected and emerges from the tomb still wrapped in burial cloths.
And then the gospel says many believe, which implies that many others still do not. Brothers and sisters, Jesus wept because he loves us so much. He wept because it’s tragic how maddeningly dense human beings can be. And he’s still weeping. Because today, just as we did in at the tomb of Lazarus, people continue to struggle with the problem of evil. If God is good, why do bad things happen? Just like the people outside the tomb of Lazarus, we want God to prevent sickness and death. We are materialists. Like Martha, the stench of death is always in our nose. “If Jesus was real,” the atheists cry out, “why didn’t he just bring antibiotics? A modern first aid book have have done more good than a Bible.” I’ve actually heard that said.
And meanwhile, Jesus weeps. He weeps even now. Brothers and sisters, the Kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel.