Do You Believe This?

In my lifetime I have been faced with death many times. 

I vividly remember when I was ten years old when my grandfather was diagnosed with a terminal case of skin cancer.  I remember his funeral and having to say goodbye to someone I loved dearly. 

Even more vividly, I remember when I was sixteen years old, hearing the news that my closest cousin, Eric, was murdered in front of my grandmother on her doorstep.  I remember seeing him, impossibly young in his casket, half expecting that at any moment he would awake.  And yet, the next day, we buried him.  He was fifteen years old. 

I remember deploying to Iraq.  I remember during the initial invasion sitting in the back of a C-17 transport which was juking and descending steeply toward our landing zone in Northern Iraq in order to avoid being targeted by enemy air defense weapons.  I sat there praying in the darkened cargo area of the transport, devoid of any real ability to protect myself.  As light infantry we didn’t even have parachutes from which we might escape if high speed lead began crashing through the thin aluminum skin of the aircraft. 

I remember hearing small arms fire ping near me occasionally as I accompanied our patrols in Baghdad.  I remember hearing and feeling the impact of rockets hitting our base camp close enough to almost rock the trailer I was in off its uprights.

I remember when I was Rear Detachment Commander, selected by my Battalion Commander to care for the families of our deployed Soldiers.  It was my job to knock on the doors of unsuspecting spouses to deliver to them the life shattering news that the husband, father, or son they cherished was either severely wounded or had died in combat.  These were men I loved and admired. 

I remember the long drives from Phoenix to Austin to be with my mother as she buried both her parents about four months apart from one another.  Wonderful, faithful people whom I loved and missed with all my heart. 

And now, here we are in the middle of a world-wide pandemic which threatens to take the lives of our loved ones.  We recognize death as something foreign and unnatural, and completely out of our control. 

We are reminded of something that maybe we had forgotten.  That we are in the power of something more powerful than we.  Naturally we are fearful of this unexpected reminder that we are not in control of things.  We know for certain that we are enslaved to death. 

It is in this environment that I turned my attention to this week’s lectionary, the story of the death and resurrection of Lazarus, taken from the Gospel of John, Chapter 11, verses 1 through 45. 

Jesus had recently gone to Jerusalem for the Feast of Dedication, where he healed a man born blind on the Sabbath and asserted his own deity to the chief priests and teachers of the law.  The result is that he was nearly stoned for his efforts.  After this incident Jesus left Judea where the Jewish leaders ruled.  He returned to Perea where John the Baptist once ministered, and where the Jewish leaders had no authority. 

It is at this time when Lazarus, a close friend of Jesus, who lived in Bethany of Judea with his sisters, Martha and Mary, fell severely ill.  Martha and Mary sent word to Jesus, pleading for him to return to them so that He might heal Lazarus. 

Jesus told his disciples that this sickness will not result in death, but in the glorification of the Son of God.  And after lingering some time, he turned around and left the relative safety of Perea.  Jesus went to confront death, both the threat of death from the Jewish leaders and the death that came to Lazarus as a result of his illness.  His disciples were so unnerved by this prospect that Thomas declared, “Let us also go, so that we may die with Him.” 

By the time Jesus arrived in Bethany he found that Lazarus had already been dead and entombed for four days.  When Martha heard that Jesus had arrived, she rushed out to greet him.  “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  Even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.”   

Jesus responded to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 

Martha, missing the explicit promise in Jesus statement answered him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” 

Though Martha was right, Jesus stopped and turned her attention from her grief to the source of hope.  “I AM the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.  Do you believe this?” 

Martha dared to respond in faith, “Yes Lord; I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.” 

At this point, Mary, the sister of Martha, received word that Jesus had arrived, and she quickly went out to meet him.  Overcome by grief, she too questioned Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 

Jesus, overcome by emotion directed them to lead him to the tomb.  When he arrived, he had them remove the tombstone to the small sepulcher.  And again, he was met with doubt.  “Lord, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been dead four days.” 

Jesus answered again, “Did I not say to you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 

After renewing their faith, they removed the stone.  Jesus prayed that those who saw what he was about to do would be strengthened in their faith, then cried out in a loud voice:  “LAZARUS, COME FORTH!”

At this point, the unthinkable happened.  The dead man awoke and came forth in his burial clothes.  The ironclad grip of death had been broken at the command of Christ.  This occurred that we might have assurance of what is to come for us. 

The Bible tells us that death entered the world through sin.  In his epistle to the Romans, Paul states that “through one man, sin entered into the world, and death through sin, and so death spread to all men.” 

I know with one hundred percent certainty that because of the power of sin, I will die.  On my own, I am death’s prisoner, enslaved by my sin, helpless. 

And yet, Jesus tells us, “I AM the resurrection and the life, he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.”    Lazarus demonstrated to us that this is one hundred percent certain. 

The question is this:  “Do YOU believe this?” 

We know that God sent his Son, who became flesh, for our sakes.  He lived among us, experienced our hurts, and yet did so without sin.  And when the time came, Jesus willingly went to the cross and made atonement for our sin, the righteous for the unrighteous.  And to demonstrate his victory over the power of the devil and of the sin which brought death into the world, he Himself arose from the dead. 

When we celebrate Easter, we celebrate Christ as Victor over the power of sin, and over the power of death that came with it.  And we look forward to the day when Jesus will cry out with a loud voice calling our names to be freed from the grave. 

To the Christian, death is not the worst thing that can happen.  Death is not something to be feared.  Death’s hold over us is no longer certain.  It is broken. 

To us the death is not the worst thing that can happen.  To us, the worst thing imaginable is to be separated from Christ, the Resurrection and the Life.  It is faithlessness that we fear. 

And yet, Christ has provided the answer for this too. 

In this gospel account we find Jesus repeatedly strengthening the faith of Mary and Martha through his Word, through the gentle reminder that He is the Resurrection and the Life.  Jesus has ministered to us in like manner. 

On Pentecost, Christ poured out his Holy Spirit upon the Church.  In Baptism we are called into the community of the Church, and we are given this same Holy Spirit who creates faith within us.  We are built into the body of Christ for the mutual edification of one another.  We are gifted with pastors and teachers, mothers and fathers, friends, and fellow Christians who nurture this faith by speaking God’s word to one another, reminding us of the promise of salvation that we have on account of Jesus Christ. 

In the Lord’s Supper we receive the true Body and Blood of Christ, giving us a tangible proof that Christ died for our sins and that we are the beneficiaries of his promises.  This meal is no less certain proof that Christ has defeated sin and death, than Lazarus emerging from the tomb was for Martha and Mary.

We dare not forget this. 

In this time of uncertainty and doubt, we have to ask ourselves the same question that Christ posed to Martha:  “Do You Believe?” 

Let us rest assured that Christ is the Resurrection and the Life.  That Christ died for sin, and defeated the power of sin, death, and the devil.  Let us continue to be nurtured by the gifts that he has given us secure in the certain hope that we have that Christ is the Victor, death has lost, and that through Him we will live.  Amen.