In the Name of Jesus
John 11,1-3.17-27.41-45 (Luke 7,11-21)
16. Trinitatis 061Abraham, Patriarch; Dionysius the Areopagite, Martyr, Acts 17,34; Leif Eriksen, † 1020
9. October 2011
1. O Dear Lord, we are poor sinners who, like Lazarus, will one day sleep in our own grave. You have been gracious to us in Your Only Son Jesus Christ. He has purchased the forgiveness of our sin and has born the wrath and damnation we rightly deserve as rebellious human beings. Too many times we ignore death, downplay it or sugarcoat it because it is too grievous a thing for us to ponder and bear. With Lazarus, Jesus has shown us that we do not even need to fear death and the grave, for He is the lord of life and Jesus promises to give us this very life forever and ever. Strengthen our faith so that we do not doubt Christ and His words, but that we rely on His good promise to be our resurrection and our life. Amen.
2. Our sermon text for this morning, dear brothers and sisters, is from the Gospel according to John where the holy apostle and evangelist writes: Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3So the sisters sent to Him, saying: „Lord, he whom You love is ill.“ 17Now when Jesus arrived, He found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20So when Martha heard that Jesus was arriving, she went and met Him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21Martha said to Jesus: „Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that whatever You ask from God, God will give You.“ 23Jesus said to her: „Your brother will rise again.“ 24Martha said to Him: „I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.“ 25Jesus said to her, „I Am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet he will live, 26and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die. Do you believe this?“ 27She said to Him: „Yes, Lord; I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.“ 41So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said: „Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. 42I knew that You always hear Me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, so that they may believe that You sent Me.“ 43When He had said these things, He cried out with a loud voice: „Lazarus, come out.“ 44The 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.“ 45Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what He did, believed in Him. This is our text.
I.
3. Christianity is not the only religion or philosophy that believes in a resurrection of the body. Orthodox Judaism believes in a bodily resurrection. The ancient Egyptians believed in a bodily resurrection, so much so that they mummified the bodies of the deceased, the pharaohs built elaborate pyramids and filled them with food, servants and other items that the deceased would need once they arrived in the heavenly afterlife. Muslims also believe in the resurrection of the body. Even Buddhism has a type of bodily resurrection with their philosophy of reincarnation.
4. The doctrine of the bodily resurrection is constantly attacked. In Jesus’ day, the Sadducees, which included the temple priests, denied the validity of the bodily resurrection. The Pharisees, however, adamantly believed in the resurrection of the body. John 11 reveals that Jesus, Mary and Martha, and countless other first century Jews were comforted by the doctrine of the resurrection. Today, only the Orthodox Jews tenaciously cling to the bodily resurrection as a Jewish tenet of faith.
5. The Early Church taught and proclaimed the resurrection of the body to a world that was heavily influenced by the Greek philosophy of the mere immortality of the soul. The body was a prison, and the soul was set free at death. In the 17th century, the Church was countering the Enlightenment’s religion of Deism. Deism allowed for God as the first cause of creation, but Deists denied any significant personal or relational interaction with God and humanity. God was seen as a grand clock maker who created the universe, but after winding up nature with physical laws, such as gravity and thermodynamics, He merely sits back and lets creation run on its own. Deism, which was largely led by rationality and reason, allowed a belief in the immortality of the soul, but not necessarily in the resurrection of the dead. Deism has influenced American culture and religion since the 18th entury. Influenced by Deism, many churches have de-emphasized the bodily resurrection and instead emphasize the soul’s immortality. Therefore, it behooves the Church to consistently and patiently proclaim the Scriptural teaching of the bodily resurrection, for we are constantly bombarded by temptations to downplay or outright disbelieve the resurrection of all flesh.
II.
6. Dead is dead. You know that, and you have experienced this fact many times at funerals. Lazarus was dead. There was no doubt about that fact, for he had been buried in the tomb for four days. The popular Jewish piety of Jesus’ day believed that one’s soul hung around for three days after death hoping desperately to reunite with the dead body (Martens § 6). By the fourth day every Jew knew: this person is dead and gone and there was no way for him or her to be resuscitated back to life. Thus Jesus deliberately waited to arrive in Bethany so that everyone would see that He is the lord over death and the grave.
7. Jesus proves this by raising Lazarus from his tomb. Mary already confessed her proper Jewish belief that the body would be raised to new life on the last day. We also confess this, as we have done in the Apostles’ Creed: I believe … in the resurrection of the body, and the life X everlasting. Like Martha, we know and believe that on the last day Lazarus and all who have died will rise again. On that day in Bethany, 2000 years ago, the last day arrived early for Lazarus because Jesus entered his midst.
8. At Bethany, Jesus and Martha engaged in a discussion that is one of the most well-know, and most comforting, in all of Holy Scripture. Jesus’ words from John 11 are commonly heard, quite naturally, at Christian funerals and committals. Listen to His wonderful promise again: »I Am the Resurrection and the Life. Whoever believes in Me, though he die, yet he will live, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.« Even had Jesus not raised his dear friend Lazarus back to life that day, those words would still have comforted Martha because Jesus promised her that on the last day Lazarus would be bodily risen, and Jesus would be the one to do the raising on this last day.
9. At Lazarus’ tomb Jesus exercised His Divine power and authority over death, the grave and Abraham’s bosom. All people die; it is the curse imposed upon us for Adam’s rebellion in Eden. Every day you diligently work to keep death at bay. You exercise, watch what you, eat take vitamins to keep your body strong and healthy. You take medications to lower your blood pressure, control diabetes, Coumadin to prevent blood clots, and a host of other prescriptions for a myriad of diseases. My grandfather once told me a few years ago that all he seems to do now is go to this doctor and that doctor several days a week to manage his physical ailments. The price of reaching old age is a plethora of pills and ever increasing doctors appointments. None of this will stave off death forever, for eventually the body weakens and in exhaustion the heart stops pumping blood and the lungs stop drawing in oxygen. The world has been given a sober reminder of this a few days ago as the world mourns the loss of perhaps the most talented computer entrepreneur yet known: Steve Jobs. One day the grave will somberly welcome each one of us, and over the years maggots and bugs will aid the decay of our bodies until only the skeleton bones are left and centuries later only dust will be kept safely in our coffins.
10. Jesus arrived to change this horrible and depressing state of fallen men and women. Jesus promises to reverse death. Jesus promises to open every grave and call forth the bodies therein. From dust He will form a new body. He will clothe bones with muscle and flesh. Jesus will even open the gates of Abraham’s bosom where the faithful in Yahweh await with bliss and comfort the resurrection of the body. Thus Jesus raised Lazarus as a preview of what He will do on the last day.
11. „Jesus speaks to the dead and decaying Lazarus as a living person“ (Löhe § 7) by commanding him: „Lazarus, come out!“ Just as Jesus has the power and authority to call forth Lazarus from his grave, so Jesus also does the same in His own grave, for Jesus has the power to lay down His life and take it back again. In the Lord’s own death and grave we find that His words assure us that what at first worries us, namely that we will die and be buried, is now overcome in Jesus’ resurrection from the grave (Löhe § 7). Yes, Jesus gives everlasting life to both body and soul, and not merely life eternal but everlasting life in a resurrected and glorious body reunited with the soul all of which is free from sin, decay and infirmities.
III.
12. Many of the Jews who had seen what Christ had done for Lazarus believed in Jesus. The Lord promises everlasting life in a resurrected body. The Lord manifests this promise in the raising of Lazarus. The Lord seals this promise by raising His own body on the third day. The resurrection leads to faith in Jesus.
13. This faith is created in your Baptism where you have been united both to Christ Jesus’ death and resurrection. This faith is nurtured by the Word and the Sacraments. This faith clings only to the crucified and risen Christ. This faith receives the gospel with joy. The next time you sit at the bedside of a Christian friend who is dying, the gospel assures you that soon that dear friend will be in the presence of Jesus. As you mourn at the grave of a Christian relative, the gospel assures you that you will be bodily reunited with him or her in Paradise.
14. Faith clings to Jesus who is the Resurrection and the Life. Horror movies sensationalize the afterlife, but rest assured Jesus will not raise you up like a mummy, a zombie or a grotesque Frankenstein monster (eine groteske Frankenstein-Monster), rather Jesus will raise your body up on the last day and He will breathe new life into that body so that it will live forever in His glorious presence. This resurrection and life are not some far off, future event, but they are a present reality for you and me this very day because you are connected to Christ and He is in communion with you (Martens § 14). He is with you now when you are young and healthy; He is with you when the doctor gives you bad news; He is with you when you take your last earthly breath; He is with you when your eyes close in sleep and then open as you awake in the light of heaven. Believe this gospel for it is yours on account of Jesus Christ who is the lord over sin, death and the grave. Amen.
15. Let us pray. O Lord Jesus Christ, Your Name is Holy and Awesome, keep our faith always and only on You so that we cling to the redemption You give to Your people and look forward to the resurrection of our bodies and souls for You truly are the Resurrection and the Life. Amen.
One Message: Christ crucified and risen for you!
All Scriptural quotations are translations done by The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind using the Biblia Hebraica Stuttgartensia, 4th Edition © 1990 by the Deutsche Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, the Novum Testamentum Graece, Nestle-Aland 27th Edition © 1993 by Deutsch Bibelgesellschaft, Stuttgart, and the New Testament Greek Manuscripts, John © 1995 by Reuben Joseph Swanson.
Löhe, Wilhelm. Evangelien-Postille für die Sonn- und Festage des Kirchenjahres. Copyright © 1859 Samuel Gottlieb Liesching. A sermon preached on Luke 7,11-21 for The 16th Sunday after the Trinity. The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind, Tr. © 2011.
Martens, Gottfried. A sermon preached on 27. September 2009 (16. Trinitatis) in Berlin-Zehlendorf, Germany on John 11,1-3.17-27.41-45. Copyright © 2011 St. Mary Church in Berlin-Zehlendorf (SELK). All rights reserved. The Rev. Peter A. Bauernfeind, Tr. © 2011.
No comments:
Post a Comment