This is the Last Sunday of Lent before Palm Sunday. These past weeks we’ve had some really neat stories about Jesus, and how he revealed himself, first to the Devil and then to his followers and his critics alike as the Messiah, the one to save us from ourselves, from our sin. I think it’s worth a recap, to revisit the highlights of the stories, it will help us to see Jesus more clearly, maybe even bring us closer to Jesus, as we embark on the final leg of our Lenten Journey, The Sunday of the Palms and the Passion next week, and then on to Holy Week. The First Sunday of Lent we read the story of Jesus’ testing during his “wilderness desert retreat”. In a weakened condition, after a long period of fasting, the devil tests Jesus strength and moral fibre with really tempting and exciting -- could we call them “opportunities”; like turning stones to bread. Imagine how people you could feed if you could do that? And if Jesus chose , he could prove that God would save him if he jumped off a building--who wouldn’t want to prove the power of God? And the pièce-de-resistance, Jesus could rule Satan’s kingdom if he’d just worship Satan. Ah, to be the boss of the underworld, that’s a lot of power. As Jesus was tested by temptations to use his gifts wrongly, we too will be tested, we are but human! Where we are seemingly the strongest, we have the potential to be the weakest. But Jesus used the power of God to resist rather than give into the devil’s temptations. When we go to Jesus for strength in our times of weakness, we know that Jesus will be there for us, strong in the knowledge that Jesus understands our needs, our weaknesses, because he’s been there and done that! The next three weeks we had incredibly descriptive and deep stories from John’s gospel of light and darkness, of awareness and close mindedness. First we heard the story of the Pharisee Nicodemus. He came to Jesus hidden by the dark of night. It seems Nicodemus believed Jesus had come from God, for the things Jesus had done were miracles that only a person from God could do, yet still Nicodemus was troubled. Jesus challenged Nicodemus to some out of the box thinking, challenging the interpretations of his years of learning and living as a Teacher of the Jewish Law. He told Nicodemus that he needed to be born “from above”; in other words an awareness of the truth of who Christ is, and how that impact’s one’s life. True faith does not come from following the rules, from just acting the right way, but faith comes to us from within us, and is born of the Spirit. And so our actions, our behaviours then are guided by our faith in Jesus, the Christ, and his ways. John uses this story to tell his readers that Jesus is “the Son of Man, (who) will be lifted up (so) that those who believe in him may have eternal life. (3.14-15) The following week we read the thought provoking story of Jesus deliberately going to Samaria and his meeting with the woman at the well, and all the implications of that meeting. Jesus promises her water that will quench her thirst once and for all, living water Jesus called it. He reveals that he knows of her difficult personal life, and she recognizes Jesus as a prophet. They discuss some of the differences in worship between Samaritans and Jews. Jesus leads her further and deeper in understanding, and amazingly reveals himself to her as the Messiah for whose coming both the Jews and Samaritans were awaiting. She is the first person to whom he reveals this information, according to John’s gospel. Jesus’ disciples are astounded that he is even in conversation with a Samaritan woman, a total break of proper behavior for a Jewish man. Who she was didn’t matter to Jesus; Jesus comes to all who are seeking the living water of faith. And we recognized, as the Samaritan woman came to realize, that within all of us is a deep thirst for faith, for a deep experiential relationship with God in Christ, and this thirst will only be really slaked in this relationship, and that is eternal life. Last week we heard the incredible miracle of a man born blind receiving his sight. That had never happened before, and was a very telling sign – only a man of God could give sight to one born blind, even the Pharisees who controlled the interpretation of Jewish religious laws had to agree to that. But the Pharisees couldn’t believe Jesus had done it, because the man was healed on the Sabbath, clearly forbidden by their laws, and according to their traditions, only God could heal on a Sabbath. They turned a blind eye, they refused to see Jesus for who he is. They called the once blind man back 3 times, questioned his parents, questioned the crowd who witnessed it and still they wouldn’t --or couldn’t believe. The newly sighted man, very bravely, stands his ground, challenging the tribunal to open their own eyes and see what has happened. And the religious officials kick the formerly blind man out of the synagogue-– as effective as excommunication. This man has received his sight, but has lost his community, his family. Jesus hears about it and seeks the once blind man out. Finding him, he reveals who he is, and the once blind man sees Jesus now with spiritual eyes! Jesus understood the implications of the newly sighted man’s standing his ground against the authorities. This part of the story for me is so absolutely wonderful and reassuring. When we move on our faith, make difficult decisions because of our Christian principles and beliefs, when we come out of our comfort zones, and even challenge our own long held assumptions for new revelations of Christ in our lives, that’s when Jesus seeks us out, comes to us, wants to be there for us, to support us, and he reveals himself to us. And today’s story is the biggest miracle ever, another indicator of who Jesus truly was. According to the prophets Isaiah and Malachi, when the Messiah came, lepers would be cleansed, the lame walk, the deaf hear, the blind see, and the dead would be raised. This story is literally central to John’s theology of Jesus—it’s actually smack dab in the centre of his gospel, there are 10 chapters before, and 10 chapters after it![1] Lazarus, entombed for four days is raised to life again. Jesus, in another town, receives a message from his dear friends Martha and Mary that their brother, whom Jesus also loves, is deathly ill. But surprisingly, Jesus doesn’t leave for Bethany immediately. He tells his disciples that this illness ‘will not be the death of Lazarus; (but) this has happened in order to bring glory to God, and it will be the means by which the Son of God will receive Glory” (11: 4-5 GNT) So Jesus and the disciples stayed where they were for another two days. He deliberately waited. There is no mention of the disciples even questioning Jesus’ decision not to go to Bethany, even though Mary, Martha and Lazarus are Jesus’ really good friends. Maybe it was because the last time he was in Bethany, the people tried to stone him, so to go back would be to risk his own life. But two days later, when Jesus says: “Men, I’m off to Bethany because Lazarus has died.” the disciples don’t question his decision to go, but they do remind him of the danger. They are both worried and scared for him, because Thomas the twin, later to become known as “Doubting Thomas” says to his fellow disciples, “Ok guys, we’d better go too, so that we may die with him.” At this point Thomas may doubt the wisdom of Jesus’ going to Bethany, but he doesn’t doubt his love or dedication to Jesus, he is ready to die with him if necessary and encourages his fellow disciples to join him. I do like Thomas, not afraid to give voice to concerns others wouldn’t, and willing to put his own faith to the test! Now, why would Jesus have tarried until Lazarus was dead for 4 days? The common belief of the time was that the spirit of one deceased hung around the body until three days after death and then departed. By waiting until the fourth day, there would be no question that what Jesus was about to do would be something that only God could do. Jesus is met by Martha, who says ‘My brother wouldn’t have died if you’d been here, but God will give you what you ask of him’. Even in her grief, Martha has faith in Jesus as Son of God, the Messiah. Mary, the more emotionally demonstrative sister, falls at Jesus feet, weeping and also says, had you been here, Jesus, Lazarus would not have died. Martha and Mary both understand who Jesus is. An interesting aside to make here as well, I read that “… women make more and better theological statements in the Gospel of John than their male counterparts.”[2] And how does Jesus respond to the grief that is around him? He is deeply moved, ‘greatly disturbed in spirit’ -- John tells us that, not once but twice. And Jesus too cries. And his grief tells us so much about Jesus. Even though Jesus knew he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead and that there would be great rejoicing over that, he felt the pain and anguish of the people who were grieving. Jesus felt their pain, it touched him. He shared that pain and cried with them. We must remember that for the first century Greek audience for whom John is writing his gospel, the concept of a God that had feelings or showed emotion would have been a staggering concept! Greek Gods were stoic, indifferent to emotion. Our Jesus is a God of compassion and caring, a God who is affected by and connects at an emotional level with his sisters and brothers in their pain, sorrow and anguish, who loves, cares and understands our feelings, our emotions and joins in to those feelings with us. Jesus orders the stone to be rolled away from the tomb, and prays aloud so the crowd will believe that he had been sent by God, and the power for this miracle has came from God. Jesus orders Lazarus to come out! And Lazarus walked out of the tomb, still bound in his burial linens. Truly a well and dead man, come back to life, and who else but God can raise the truly dead! Our Lenten journey through the scriptures thus far has given us an amazing picture of Jesus. Jesus is the one who understands what it is to be tested and tempted, understands our struggles to stay on the right path; Jesus is the one who seeks us out, who can slake our thirst for a living experience of a full and deep relationship with our God; Jesus is the one who challenges us to see the hand of God in our lives in different ways, and then comes to us when we’re learning to adjust and live our lives according to The Way, the ways of Jesus, Jesus is the one who understands hurt and sorrow, grief and anguish, and is with us during those times, sharing them with us, and then is able to bring healing to us through the pain. This is the Son of God, the light of the world, who wants nothing more than for us to be in relationship with him. And this is what gives us eternal life, a life with Christ and in Christ, living in the ways and teachings of Christ. This is Jesus, the Christ who gave his life for us, and calls us to come to him, so that we may live in him and he in us. Thanks be to God for the gift of Jesus. Amen.
[1] Osvaldo Vena, commentary on John 11. 1-45 from www.workingpreacher.org/preaching.aspx?commentary_id=3192 accessed March 29.17 [2] ibid