Death, Resurrection and Life - it’s all personal

John 11

One of the good things that may come out of this pandemic for those of us who follow Christ is the freedom to drop our defensive masks of triumphalism and spiritual invincibility and to feel that we have not let God down, or denied our faith, by acknowledging our fears and anxieties. It’s amazing that it’s taken some of us so long when more than a third of the Psalms are laments and there is a whole book called Lamentations in the Bible.

To rejoice in our salvation, to experience peace in the midst of pain, to be in C.S.Lewis’s words ‘surprised by joy’ in the midst of difficult times - all these are part of being a disciple of Jesus - but so is grief and loss and fear and pain - and if I don’t acknowledge, embrace and live with that part of my own life, not only am I not following the real Christ, but what have I to share with anyone else except a dishonest, superficial faith?

Covid 19 has forced all of us to look our mortality full in the face. Daily government figures, personal stories, our own health challenges, and the dawning reality that we may have to live with the risk of contracting a deadly virus for the foreseeable future, all serve to remind us of a truth we in the industrialised world have done our best to deny; the 100% certainty of our own death and the deaths of those we love. We watch adverts that persuade us that when ‘the worst happens’ all will be well if our funeral costs or our pet charity are provided for; we employ euphemisms to hide the finality of death, and whether we profess a faith or not we cling to the idea of relatives looking down on us from ‘above’; we talk of cancer patients either beating their illness or losing the battle, when the reality is that death, by whatever means, is an enemy none of us can ultimately defeat.

The truth is that death is our ultimate enemy; and as an ultimate enemy it needs an ultimate power outside of ourselves to defeat it. In the story of Lazarus we find such a power - and it’s personal.

John describes in detail the personal details of this amazing story, starting with Lazarus’ two sisters Martha and Mary sending Jesus a message to say “Lord, the one you love is ill” - not “the one who has followed you so faithfully he deserves your help at this time, but “the one you love”. Everything about Jesus is predicated on love.

Strange then that he waited before going to Lazarus until after he had died. How often do I think God is taking way too much time answering my prayers, or perhaps not even listening to them - and yet maybe, just maybe, he has something far better in mind than my simple brain can comprehend?

Martha and Mary don’t do what I probably would have done.

They don’t scream at him when he finally arrives “You’re too late! How could you do this to me! How could you let me down when I needed you most?!” But they do give vent to their emotions, “Lord, if you’d been here this wouldn’t have happened”. Mary falls at Jesus’ feet and weeps, while sensible, practical Martha tries to take the religious approach when Jesus’ reassures her that her brother will rise again. On a theological level Martha understands that Jesus must be talking about the resurrection at the last day, but that doesn’t alleviate her present pain. Her brother is dead.

Jesus has in mind something much more personal, present and powerful than she can imagine.

“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die”

“Resurrection is not just a future event, it’s me!”

Only a deluded megalomaniac - or an all-loving, all-powerful God - can make such a statement. His resurrection will be the proof that he is God.

If I only have the crucified Christ, I only have death. Yes, he died in my place, but only if he has defeated death do I have life. He came for ME, he died for ME, he has been raised FOR ME - he is coming again for ME - He is MY resurrection - effective now.

“Don’t put your faith in theology Martha, trust in ME and live!

And just to show you what I mean, I’m going to raise your brother from the dead. This is to show you I am true to my word - I AM the resurrection and the life”.

Death and suffering were never part of God’s plan - John tells us that Jesus was deeply moved and troubled by Lazarus’ death - the Greek words he uses are much more powerful than English can express, they reveal the raw outrage Jesus felt at the presence of death and suffering in this world God loves - loves so much he sent his Son to defeat sin and death and to restore the relationship we were made to enjoy for all eternity.

“He who believes in me will live even though he dies” - this is personal - when I die trusting Jesus I will be instantly in the presence of God, and ultimately my soul will be united with a new, resurrection body. In the words of Job, “I know that my redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand on the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God”.

But the story starts now. Jesus also says “The one who lives by believing in me shall never die”.

My life is different here and now because I believe in Jesus. There is a resurrection life that started when I trusted Him for my salvation, and I can know that life now, even as I live in the shadow of a pandemic.

“Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me”.

Psalm 23:4