Theme: Jesus and the
raising of Lazarus
Text: “I am the Resurrection and the Life.” John 11.25 (NIV)
An icon, as you may
know,, is a picture painted in a special way,
a picture of Jesus Christ, or an event in the
gospels, a picture used to decorate Russian or Greek Orthodox churches.
One famous icon is
by Andrei Rublev, one of the great painters in the orthodox
Church. It is called Christ in Majesty, and was painted between 1410 and 1415.
Surrounded by
flowing colours, deep reds, and dark greens, Andrei Rublev
has depicted Jesus Christ in shimmering gold………
when the orthodox worshippers of old went into the
great cathedral of the annunciation in
there they would see, the glory of Christ,
Here in the gospel
of John, however,
we have the glory of Jesus Christ set before us, not
in painting,
but in word. And how rich are these verses in John 11 ! far beyond any icon.
these verses overflow with the great themes of John’s
gospel
Light, darkness, death, life, sight and blindness.
all of these come together to make the fabric of the
word as we
hear it in John 11
The glory of the Son
Martha and Mary have sent a message to the Lord
to come quickly,
as Lazarus, their brother is ill…………….
And Jesus and the disciples have come.
but by the time they arrive, in the busy little
While the villagers get on with their daily
tasks
in the morning sunshine for the two sisters,
Martha and Mary
the light of the sun is dimmed, the laughter of
the children out in the street, echoes from far away…… their lives are
overcast, in loss, in sorrow, touched by darkness, for their brother Lazarus
has died...............
Martha and Mary are face to face with an
experience all of us know, grief, sorrow and loss. Now, the gospel records the conversation
between Jesus and the two sisters, as they speak of their loss,
and grief to Him, who is so ready to listen…….
But then the gospel shows us Jesus at the
tomb…………..
with a crowd watching…………. as Jesus had already declared, days before, we read it in verse 4 This sickness will not end in death, for it
is for God’s glory, so that God’s Son may be glorified through it….
and we now see what that means.
The Lord asks those
nearby to roll the stone away from Lazarus' tomb,
and Jesus looked up and
said, "Father,
I thank you that you have heard me. I 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."
As we look upon
Jesus here in the gospel, we see Him in perfect harmony with
His Father in
heaven, and profound love for Mary and Martha and Lazarus…..
In Him, a love that
unites heaven and earth in one…………..
and in that love He calls Lazarus……….
Lazarus, come out !
Lazarus, comes out, and steps forward into life,
Lazarus, called into life by the power of Jesus
Christ,
Christ calls his name,
and that call pierces the silence of the
tomb.......
crosses the frontiers of death itself
and Lazarus, alive, steps into the light, the
morning light, of Jesus Christ who is life.........
This is, as verse 4
of chapter 11 has already told us:
The glory of the Son of God………
What we see here,
is the glory of Jesus Christ.
He who reflects the brightness of God’s glory,
Heb. 1.3,
This is Jesus, the Word who has become a human
being, the Son of God who has power over over life and death.
So what we have here in John’s gospel is not a
picture, or a symbol of the triumph of life over death, but a revelation of who Jesus is – the Eternal Son who has become a human
being……
Lazarus
come out ! the Lord says:
Lazarus, comes out from the tomb, and steps
forward into life,
Lazarus, called into life by Jesus Christ,
and so, that morning, in ways we cannot begin to
grasp............
the lives of those two sisters and their brother
were changed,
on a morning they remembered to the very end of
their lives.
Their lives. What about ours
? What about our lives.
Is there something
for us here ? Yes, of course there is.
We read what Jesus
declares in
v26, the
one who believes in me yet dies will live.
And we see what
that means…….. though Lazarus has died,
the relationship with Jesus still holds, the love of
Jesus for Lazarus is unbroken,
and it is in, it is out, of that love of Jesus, that
Lazarus is restored to life……
while Lazarus’ hold on life has slipped and gone,
Jesus’ hold on
Lazarus is unfailing……… and Lazarus is restored to life…….
What this means the
New Testament declares to us:
that though we die, the relationship with Jesus still
holds, the love of Jesus for us is unbroken. And it is in, it is out, of that
love of Jesus, that we are restored to life…… while our hold on life has
slipped and gone.
Jesus’ hold on us
is unfailing……… and we will be restored to life…….
And because of that
everything is redefined in Jesus……
The glory of Jesus,
His life giving power, as we see it in John 11,
the stupendous, world
shattering gift of life.
in which a man, dead, is
called out of a tomb, alive, through Jesus Christ,
really does shape the Church’s outlook on life……
really does shape our outlook on life……
But, as we said earlier on………….
one of the striking
things about John 11, is that confronting the light, and the life, and the
glory we see in Jesus, is darkness….
The darkness of the
human heart runs through this chapter
Not all who we read
of believe: verse 13
tells us that the disciples did not understand what Jesus said of
the reality of Lazarus’ death and his coming resurrection tolife, they thought
Jesus meant Lazarus was simply asleep.
Mary and Martha, seem
unable to understand, unable to grasp what Jesus offers. And some said.............."Could not Jesus have kept this man
Lazarus from dying?" there are signs of twilight and darkness all around,
misunderstanding, blindness in the face of glory……
But, most significantly, here it is in John 11,
that the shadow of the cross begins to loom……….
For we see the
hostility, the hatred, of the authorities for Jesus Christ,
those who cannot see the light of the gospel,
those who see nothing of the glory of Christ.
Here, in John 11,
we see the glory of the Son,
we see the life He gives, gives to Lazarus,
and now, from this point in the gospel onwards, ever
more clearly,
the death that lies before Him……….
And as we shall
find in John’s gospel,
at the cross we see both darkness and glory at once...........
we see darkness, the darkness of the human heart.
At the cross, we
see the hostility and emnity of human beings towards the living God and His
Son, Jesus........
O yes, we see what
the human heart is like in absolute clarity at the cross,
where human beings reject the living God.
But when we look
upon the cross,
the New Testament declares to us:
That despite the
cross, God’s relationship with us still holds,
Christ’s hold on us
is unfailing,
at the Cross, Jesus Christ has overcome
the sinful hatred and hostility of the world,
at the Cross, Jesus Christ has overcome
the power of death, in everlasting life.
At the Cross, His
love for us remains unbroken.
This is the glory
of Jesus Christ,
the glory of His life giving power,
and His everlasting love………..
the glory of Who He is.
AMEN.