O3282020 – John 11. 1-45
This is about BELIEVING IN and TRUSTING.
The disciples DO NOT get it. They NEVER have. And yet, it is IMPERATIVE that THEY DO. For the record here, TIME IS running out!
What WILL it take?
Will it take someone RISING from the DEAD? Will THAT be ENOUGH? Or, will people just go on about THEIR OWN LIVES, as if, EVEN THAT did NOT matter.
WE can be something else, I tell you that!
I am using only John’s Gospel here as my REFERENCE point.
Remember the FIRST MIRACLE or the (FIRST SIGN?): WATER into WINE at the Wedding in Cana of Galilee. The disciples WERE present. They DID NOT get it. They DID NOT understand at all.
Next, Jesus will HEAL a NOBLE MAN’S son – and he DOES NOT have to be present – for the man’ son to be healed. The disciple’s witness ALL OF THIS and it phases NONE of them. It goes RIGHT OVER THEIR HEADS, individually and corporately!
JESUS is just something ELSE!
Just ANOTHER DAY in our hangin’ out with our buddy, Jesus.
To their benefit: It has ALWAYS been STATED that WE have the luxury and the PRIVILEGE of HEARING it, READING it, STUDYING and DISSECTING it over years and years and years.
THEY were with Jesus for but THREE SHORT years, they lived THROUGH IT and seemed pretty much UNTAINTED BY ANY of IT.
It was JUST what HE did!
That WAS Jesus.
IT WAS WHO HE WAS.
Miracle worker.
Healer.
Religious DUDE.
TEACHER.
AND FRIEND.
NEXT, they encountered a man who laid SICK at the pool of BETHESDA. Talk about sickness and disease…this was LONG TERM – CHRONIC disease. And Jesus healed HIM. JUST LIKE YTHAT!
All four Gospel WRITERS record the next event in differing orders – BUT – Jesus feeds MORE than 5,000 MEN plus women and children. It is MIRACULOUS event. It is PHENOMENAL. The disciples are all PRESENT. As a matter of fact, according to the account, THEY PICK UP all the leftover pieces so that nothing is wasted or lost. AND, they fail to understand what JUST has occurred.
This one will mystify even you.
According to John, Jesus NEXT- is to be found WALKING ON THE WATER and CALMING the SEA, again, another story repeated by all four evangelists.
NOT OUTRAGEOUS AT ALL, anyone can do it! Nothing newsworthy here, move along.
And then, just recently, there was the healing of the MAN BORN BLIND. Remember, the disciples wanted to know WHERE to place the BLAME on HIM or on his PARENTS…because SURELY someone MUST HAVE SINNED BIG TIME! They wanted to point fingers.
Nope, no understanding…at all.
ALL OF WHICH, leads us very nicely into TODAY’S text. The RAISING OF LAZARUS.
They had just come from JUDEA. IT was NOT a good experience. The “religious leaders” – the Jerusalem elite wanted to STONE JESUS to death, but he SIMPLY walked away. (A fact, the disciples forgot about!)
NOW, he wanted to return THERE because some friend of us, some guy named LAZARUS was sleeping or something.
It was bizarre, it was crazy, let HIM sleep! Maybe he needs his rest. That’s when Jesus “set them all straight” – and said, “Lazarus has died.” And we HAVE TO go there!
Risking, WHATEVER, this is IMPORTANT! So, off to JUDEA they go.
WHEN they arrive, they find out that Lazarus has been dead for FOUR DAYS. And STILL, Jesus says, ROLL AWAY THE STONE! And with fingers crossed he says, “LAZARUS COME OUT!”
And he did! Bound in burial clothes and all!
I tell you THIS Jesus is a real character YOU NEVER KNOW what he will do NEXT. The disciples FAILED to get it.
But you know WHO DID GET IT?
A strange Samaritan woman at a well. Two sister’s named Mary and Martha. A former dead guy, named Lazarus. The Pharisees, the scribes, the Chief Priest – they ALL GOT IT…
SOME saw Jesus as TROUBLE, nothing but TROUBLE. And others saw him as the SAVIOR of the world.
“I AM the RESURRECTION and the LIFE,” said Jesus. I AM. ME. Over here! Dudes look at me! Understand! Get it?
Just what is it going to take – with you guys? What do I have to do – to make you understand? The clock is ticking. Time is of the essence.
Jesus asks…JUST WHAT will it take for YOU to TRUST and BELIEVE in me?
AMEN.