WEBVTT 00:00:01.040 --> 00:00:03.759 Today's the fifth Sunday in Advent. 00:00:04.480 --> 00:00:11.119 Only one more Sunday, Passion Sunday next week before Easter Sunday in two weeks. 00:00:11.279 --> 00:00:20.000 And Lent, as we've said throughout the season, it's a 40-day season, not counting Sundays, that leads from Ash Wednesday to Easter. 00:00:20.079 --> 00:00:26.239 And the whole point of Lent is for the church to reflect on this one question. 00:00:26.480 --> 00:00:35.679 Why did the Son of God have to become man, live among us, die on a cross, and rise on the third day? 00:00:35.920 --> 00:00:38.159 And so Lent is a season of reflection. 00:00:38.240 --> 00:00:39.200 It's a time of prayer. 00:00:39.280 --> 00:00:47.200 It's a time of fasting from food or other potential things that draw our heart away from the Lord. 00:00:47.600 --> 00:00:55.200 It's a time when we reflect on our sin, our lack, our need, the brokenness that's in us and around us, the brokenness of the world around us. 00:00:55.439 --> 00:01:01.600 And it's not hard when you look around the world to see brokenness, right? 00:01:02.399 --> 00:01:09.680 Whether it's in the news or on social media or just social media itself shows the brokenness of the world. 00:01:10.640 --> 00:01:12.159 Now that may sound morbid. 00:01:12.319 --> 00:01:12.560 Why? 00:01:12.719 --> 00:01:18.959 Why would any rational person want to take time to think on such morbid things? 00:01:19.120 --> 00:01:20.319 But here's the truth. 00:01:20.480 --> 00:01:32.560 For those who have actually gone through true suffering, the distractions, the things in this world that distract us from the real pain and suffering in our lives just won't do any more. 00:01:33.519 --> 00:01:44.480 We need to go to the only source, the only one who can nourish and sustain our souls in this fallen world. 00:01:45.359 --> 00:01:58.159 Now the truth is that the Christian life is a life of joy and gratitude, but the shape of the Christian life is the shape of Jesus' life, which included his death and his resurrection. 00:01:58.239 --> 00:02:01.760 And that's what our scripture passages about this morning. 00:02:01.840 --> 00:02:04.400 So let's jump back in at the beginning. 00:02:04.640 --> 00:02:12.400 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and his sister Martha. 00:02:12.639 --> 00:02:18.960 It was Mary who anointed the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 00:02:19.120 --> 00:02:23.840 So the sisters sent to him, saying, Lord, he whom you love is ill. 00:02:24.240 --> 00:02:28.560 But when Jesus heard it, he said, This illness does not lead to death. 00:02:28.800 --> 00:02:33.919 It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it. 00:02:34.159 --> 00:02:38.719 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 00:02:38.879 --> 00:02:40.240 Now, this is a long passage. 00:02:40.319 --> 00:02:45.199 It's 45 verses long, so we're going to do some summarizing as we walk through it this morning. 00:02:45.360 --> 00:02:47.680 In these few verses, we learn a lot. 00:02:47.840 --> 00:02:49.520 Here's just a few things. 00:02:49.759 --> 00:02:52.639 There's a man named Lazarus, and he's sick. 00:02:52.879 --> 00:02:55.520 Lazarus has two sisters, Martha and Mary. 00:02:55.599 --> 00:03:08.240 These are the famous Mary and Martha that we know from Luke's gospel, that when Jesus came to their house, Martha was busy serving while Mary sat at his feet, and Martha complained, and you know where that story went. 00:03:08.560 --> 00:03:12.240 Lazarus is a dear friend of Jesus, as were his sisters. 00:03:12.400 --> 00:03:16.879 Twice in these five verses we're told that Jesus loved them. 00:03:17.520 --> 00:03:21.439 This illness must have been severe because they sent word to Jesus. 00:03:21.599 --> 00:03:26.240 They know of his healing powers and they are worried for his life. 00:03:26.800 --> 00:03:31.120 Also, note that they don't make any specific request of Jesus. 00:03:31.280 --> 00:03:34.000 They trust him to know what to do. 00:03:34.719 --> 00:03:39.840 Finally, Jesus tells us that this illness, Lazarus' suffering, will not end in death. 00:03:40.000 --> 00:03:45.520 Rather, it has another purpose, and that is to bring glory to both the Father and the Son. 00:03:45.680 --> 00:03:48.159 And so that brings us to our first point. 00:03:48.879 --> 00:03:54.560 That Jesus' death and resurrection redefines our experience of suffering. 00:03:54.879 --> 00:04:06.719 One of the things I love about this passage, and I did a little looking in my sermon archives, this is the fifth time I've preached this sermon in about 20 years of preaching. 00:04:06.800 --> 00:04:08.000 And that's a lot, right? 00:04:08.080 --> 00:04:11.439 There's a lot of passages in scripture, and I was sort of surprised. 00:04:11.520 --> 00:04:20.800 And I think the reason is because I am myself drawn to this passage because how because of how starkly it presents to us a paradox. 00:04:21.360 --> 00:04:27.360 Within just a few verses, we're told that Jesus loves these three siblings. 00:04:27.519 --> 00:04:32.240 And yet, spoiler alert, Lazarus is going to die. 00:04:32.959 --> 00:04:43.279 Martha and Mary will go through the anguish of losing their brother and seeing him die, all while knowing that their friend Jesus could have healed him. 00:04:44.720 --> 00:04:50.240 How do we hold these two realities together in our own lives? 00:04:50.800 --> 00:05:00.079 God's love for us and God's allowance of suffering in us and in those we love. 00:05:00.800 --> 00:05:05.920 You see, my assumption is that if God loves me, I will not suffer, right? 00:05:07.199 --> 00:05:10.959 God's favor means that I will experience good things. 00:05:11.199 --> 00:05:14.959 And if I am suffering, it means that God is mad at me. 00:05:15.839 --> 00:05:22.160 But this whole passage speaks against that way of thinking. 00:05:22.480 --> 00:05:27.120 I love the way Henry Nowen kind of captures what we see in this passage. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:33.920 He says, we are often tempted to explain the suffering in terms of the will of God. 00:05:34.160 --> 00:05:39.040 Not only can this evoke anger and frustration, but it is also false. 00:05:40.079 --> 00:05:44.560 God's will is not a label that we can put on unhappy situations. 00:05:45.279 --> 00:05:52.160 He wants to bring joy, not pain, peace, not war, healing, not suffering. 00:05:52.720 --> 00:06:07.199 Therefore, instead of declaring anything and everything to be the will of God, we must be willing to ask ourselves where in the midst of our pains and suffering we can discern the loving presence of God. 00:06:08.399 --> 00:06:13.120 I think this is a that's a quote that I can meditate on for quite a while. 00:06:13.360 --> 00:06:21.040 But what I love about it is where he puts his finger right here, that God's will, now I'm I'm a Calvinist. 00:06:21.199 --> 00:06:27.040 I'm a card-carrying Calvinist, I'm reformed, Presbyterian, and I am I'm not ashamed. 00:06:28.720 --> 00:06:35.759 And we can be accused at times of doing this, of saying, well, you know, God is sovereign over all things. 00:06:35.839 --> 00:06:41.519 There's nothing that happens outside of his sovereign will, so your suffering is God's will. 00:06:41.839 --> 00:06:46.319 And there's there is truth in that those statements. 00:06:47.120 --> 00:06:56.879 And yet what John is telling us in this passage, and what now is putting his finger on, is this that God's will is never our suffering. 00:06:57.600 --> 00:07:06.399 Rather, God's will is to bring his glory and joy into our lives, but it is often through our suffering. 00:07:06.639 --> 00:07:17.920 Again, because our life, as disciples of Christ, who we were told to take up our cross and to follow him, our lives will often imitate Jesus' life. 00:07:18.879 --> 00:07:21.439 Let's look at the next section of our passage. 00:07:22.240 --> 00:07:33.439 Now Jesus loved Mary and Martha, Martha and her sister and Lazarus, so when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 00:07:33.680 --> 00:07:37.680 Then after this he said to his disciples, Let us go to Judea again. 00:07:37.920 --> 00:07:43.360 The disciples said to him, Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you. 00:07:43.600 --> 00:07:45.519 Are you going there again? 00:07:45.839 --> 00:07:49.199 Jesus answered, Are there not twelve hours in the day? 00:07:49.439 --> 00:07:54.560 If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 00:07:54.800 --> 00:08:00.480 But if any one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him. 00:08:00.800 --> 00:08:07.600 After saying these things, he said to them, Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him. 00:08:07.839 --> 00:08:12.160 The disciples said, Well, Lord, if he's fallen asleep, he will recover. 00:08:12.720 --> 00:08:19.199 Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest and sleep. 00:08:19.439 --> 00:08:23.600 Then Jesus told them plainly, Lazarus has died. 00:08:23.839 --> 00:08:28.399 And for your sake I'm glad I wasn't there, so that you may believe. 00:08:28.720 --> 00:08:30.240 But let us go to him. 00:08:30.800 --> 00:08:37.759 So Thomas, called the twin, said to his fellow disciples, Let us also go that we may die with him. 00:08:38.320 --> 00:08:43.759 Point two, to follow Jesus is to follow him into hard places. 00:08:44.879 --> 00:08:54.960 The disciples know that to go south, to go towards Jerusalem, where Bethany was, was to put their lives and Jesus' life in danger. 00:08:55.120 --> 00:09:04.960 Because of Jesus' teaching and his miracles, the Pharisees and the religious leaders had decided that it was best that Jesus be taken out of the picture. 00:09:05.360 --> 00:09:12.639 And John wants us to know that there will be times when Jesus too leads us into hard places. 00:09:13.600 --> 00:09:21.840 And when that happens, like Peter, we are to ask ourselves this question: where else will we go? 00:09:22.240 --> 00:09:26.159 He also, he alone has the words of eternal life. 00:09:26.320 --> 00:09:34.799 And like Thomas, we need to say to one another, let us go with him into this hard place, that we may die with him. 00:09:35.840 --> 00:09:40.720 Notice too that Jesus says this initially off-putting comment to his disciples. 00:09:40.879 --> 00:09:49.279 He says, Lazarus has died, and for your sake I'm glad that I wasn't there, so that you may believe. 00:09:49.600 --> 00:10:05.120 Now, as we'll see, Jesus is not glad that Lazarus has died, quite the opposite, but he wants his disciples to learn that nothing can happen to Jesus, and therefore nothing can happen to them outside the will of their father. 00:10:05.279 --> 00:10:11.039 That's the whole point of that walking in the light little parable that he shares with them. 00:10:12.399 --> 00:10:14.000 The passage continues. 00:10:14.399 --> 00:10:20.399 Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 00:10:20.639 --> 00:10:29.759 Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 00:10:30.080 --> 00:10:34.000 So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him. 00:10:34.159 --> 00:10:37.440 But Mary remained seated in the house. 00:10:37.759 --> 00:10:46.000 Martha said to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 00:10:46.799 --> 00:10:48.000 Point three. 00:10:48.639 --> 00:10:50.799 God will disappoint you. 00:10:51.519 --> 00:10:55.840 I think this is a vital point for us to talk about. 00:10:56.080 --> 00:11:05.919 Now, we as a church, we sing a song and its chorus says, He's never gonna let, he's never gonna let, he's never gonna let me down. 00:11:07.200 --> 00:11:08.799 And that's a great song. 00:11:09.200 --> 00:11:10.720 We should sing that song. 00:11:11.120 --> 00:11:16.639 Our soul needs to be reminded that ultimately God will not let us down. 00:11:16.879 --> 00:11:19.279 He will provide for all of our needs. 00:11:19.440 --> 00:11:20.879 He is faithful and true. 00:11:21.039 --> 00:11:25.600 He is a covenant-making and covenant-keeping God. 00:11:27.200 --> 00:11:33.759 And yet, in reality, God lets us down all the time. 00:11:34.960 --> 00:11:36.320 We pray for things. 00:11:36.480 --> 00:11:37.679 We pray for good things. 00:11:37.840 --> 00:11:39.759 We pray for healing for loved ones. 00:11:39.919 --> 00:11:42.399 We pray for jobs for people out of work. 00:11:42.559 --> 00:11:45.919 We pray for reconciliation and broken relationships. 00:11:46.320 --> 00:11:48.399 We pray to be freed from sin. 00:11:49.360 --> 00:11:51.519 And sometimes God says yes. 00:11:52.240 --> 00:11:54.159 And sometimes God says no. 00:11:54.559 --> 00:11:58.799 And sometimes God says, not yet. 00:12:00.720 --> 00:12:05.840 And we experience disappointment in those moments. 00:12:06.000 --> 00:12:10.879 For Mary and Martha, this was a time of great disappointment. 00:12:11.200 --> 00:12:14.639 And it's as if knowing Jesus made it worse. 00:12:15.840 --> 00:12:27.759 Because as they watched their brother succumb to the enemy of death, they knew that if Jesus would just arrive, it could all be made well. 00:12:28.000 --> 00:12:32.879 And in fact, maybe they even knew of his other miracles that he could heal from a distance. 00:12:33.679 --> 00:12:37.600 He didn't need to even be there. 00:12:38.399 --> 00:12:40.000 But he didn't. 00:12:40.320 --> 00:12:42.000 He disappointed them. 00:12:42.799 --> 00:12:48.480 And in fact, John tells us that this was intentional on Jesus' part. 00:12:48.639 --> 00:12:50.639 Listen to verses 5 and 6 again. 00:12:50.799 --> 00:12:54.639 Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 00:12:54.879 --> 00:13:01.840 So when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 00:13:02.480 --> 00:13:10.399 I find a great tension between two words in these verses: the word love and the word so. 00:13:10.559 --> 00:13:12.720 Can we put the verse back up there? 00:13:14.879 --> 00:13:18.320 The Lord loved these three siblings. 00:13:18.559 --> 00:13:20.080 John inserts that. 00:13:22.080 --> 00:13:25.200 So he delayed. 00:13:31.120 --> 00:13:43.200 I can't help but feel my gut twist as I think about both of these sisters saying to Jesus, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 00:13:45.120 --> 00:13:55.039 How many of us have prayed this prayer in our own words, in our own circumstances at various times in our lives? 00:13:55.840 --> 00:13:58.720 Why has this happened, Lord? 00:13:59.120 --> 00:14:01.120 Why did you allow this to happen? 00:14:01.279 --> 00:14:02.320 How is this good? 00:14:02.480 --> 00:14:03.919 How does this bring you glory? 00:14:04.159 --> 00:14:06.720 I don't understand. 00:14:08.960 --> 00:14:10.720 I've prayed those prayers. 00:14:11.120 --> 00:14:15.360 I venture to guess that you have prayed those prayers. 00:14:16.320 --> 00:14:21.679 Our next two points begin to point us to some answers to these questions. 00:14:22.000 --> 00:14:27.840 Point four Jesus reveals himself to us in our sufferings. 00:14:29.039 --> 00:14:31.039 Now, I've been to a lot of funerals. 00:14:31.120 --> 00:14:40.960 I've performed funerals and I've attended funerals, and one of the most often quoted verses of Scripture at a funeral comes from our passage. 00:14:42.799 --> 00:14:49.360 Now, funerals are some of the most tender and difficult and painful experiences of our lives. 00:14:49.600 --> 00:14:53.759 In fact, most of us today simply try to avoid them. 00:14:55.759 --> 00:15:08.799 And yet, what Jesus reveals to Martha, when she runs out to meet him and confronts him right to his face, Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 00:15:08.960 --> 00:15:14.639 He said these words to her I am the resurrection and the life. 00:15:15.120 --> 00:15:19.279 Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live. 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:23.759 And everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. 00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:31.600 You see, this interaction never would have happened apart from Lazarus' death. 00:15:33.360 --> 00:15:36.080 What does Jesus say to her in her moment of grief? 00:15:36.240 --> 00:15:42.159 He tells her, not, hey, we're all looking forward to the resurrection one day. 00:15:42.320 --> 00:15:44.159 We're all looking forward to new life one day. 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:44.480 No. 00:15:44.720 --> 00:15:50.159 He reveals to her, I am the resurrection and the life. 00:15:50.320 --> 00:15:53.039 We don't put our faith in those future events. 00:15:53.120 --> 00:16:04.879 We put our life, our faith in a person that Jesus Himself is our resurrection, just as he went to the cross and died in our place and rose in defeat of death. 00:16:04.960 --> 00:16:08.159 And through faith, God has placed us in Christ. 00:16:09.759 --> 00:16:17.360 So that his resurrection is our future resurrection and his eternal life will be ours. 00:16:18.720 --> 00:16:22.240 What would our Christian faith be without this revelation? 00:16:23.039 --> 00:16:30.080 It took the church years and decades to fully understand Jesus' ministry. 00:16:30.720 --> 00:16:37.919 What he was doing through his living ministry, through his death, and through his resurrection. 00:16:39.759 --> 00:16:44.799 And through this, Jesus tells us that death is not the end. 00:16:45.279 --> 00:16:50.720 That great enemy that has afflicted humanity since the very beginning. 00:16:51.039 --> 00:16:54.799 Death is no longer something for us to fear. 00:16:55.200 --> 00:16:57.759 For our Lord has conquered death. 00:16:58.639 --> 00:17:02.639 Next, we get to see Jesus interact with Mary very differently. 00:17:02.799 --> 00:17:05.200 Now, you know this, siblings can be very different. 00:17:05.359 --> 00:17:11.680 We have, you know, two girls and a boy, and our two girls very close together, just polar opposite personalities. 00:17:11.759 --> 00:17:13.759 And so it was with Mary and Martha. 00:17:13.920 --> 00:17:19.759 True to form, Martha, when she hears that Jesus is coming, she springs to action and she runs to Jesus. 00:17:19.839 --> 00:17:24.559 She actually gets to him before he reaches the village, and she just like in his face. 00:17:25.839 --> 00:17:30.319 Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 00:17:30.400 --> 00:17:36.799 But Mary, also true to form, she's so overcome with grief, she remains seated in the house. 00:17:37.680 --> 00:17:45.599 And it's not until Jesus bids her come that she gets up and goes to him. 00:17:46.559 --> 00:17:51.519 And yet still she is overcome with grief, and she simply falls at his feet. 00:17:52.000 --> 00:17:59.680 And all she can muster is to express the same sentiments of her sister Martha. 00:18:01.119 --> 00:18:07.680 Lord, if if you had only been here, my brother would not have died. 00:18:11.359 --> 00:18:14.240 And Jesus says, Nothing. 00:18:16.880 --> 00:18:20.640 He stands with her and he simply receives her tears. 00:18:22.160 --> 00:18:24.079 And he takes her grief. 00:18:24.880 --> 00:18:27.039 And he does something amazing. 00:18:28.079 --> 00:18:30.640 He enters into that grief with her. 00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:38.160 John writes that Jesus was greatly moved in his spirit. 00:18:43.039 --> 00:18:46.480 And he asks to be taken to the tomb. 00:18:47.519 --> 00:18:53.440 And they lead him there, and that's where we get this famous verse, the shortest verse in all of scripture. 00:18:53.759 --> 00:18:55.119 Jesus wept. 00:18:56.480 --> 00:19:01.039 One commentator translates this verse, Jesus balled. 00:19:03.039 --> 00:19:22.400 Because of the language that's hard to convey that Jesus was so grieved and so moved in his spirit that his weeping was so full that the people who were there, those mourners from Jerusalem, they looked on him and they just said, look how much he loved him. 00:19:31.759 --> 00:19:39.839 Just all the all the players kind of esteemed him, and we found out that his dad had died. 00:19:40.240 --> 00:19:44.160 And because he was our coach and we loved him, we went to the funeral. 00:19:44.319 --> 00:19:48.559 And this, you know, I was what, I don't know, 16, 17 years old. 00:19:48.720 --> 00:19:57.920 This like probably this old man in his 40s, um, who was like big and gruff and hairy and like big beard. 00:19:59.200 --> 00:20:04.799 He like walked in, you know, probably with his family late and he was just sobbing. 00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:14.400 I will never forget that moment because this this guy who would like yell and scream and cuss at us on the football field was just reduced. 00:20:14.880 --> 00:20:17.839 He was a child who had lost his daddy. 00:20:19.039 --> 00:20:22.480 I just thought, look how much he loves him. 00:20:25.599 --> 00:20:28.000 That's what these people saw in Jesus. 00:20:30.960 --> 00:20:35.759 Beloved, when we look at Jesus, we see the heart of the Father. 00:20:37.440 --> 00:20:40.640 What would our Christian faith be without this moment? 00:20:41.519 --> 00:20:44.240 Without this passage, without Mary. 00:20:45.599 --> 00:20:53.839 With Mary and Martha in the midst of this suffering, incredible divine revelation has been given to us as a gift. 00:20:55.759 --> 00:21:00.160 To the one he answers with incredible life-altering revelation. 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:02.000 I am the resurrection and the life. 00:21:02.160 --> 00:21:06.240 Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet will he live. 00:21:06.480 --> 00:21:22.559 To Mary, he reveals that the God who created all things and he knows the end from the beginning, yet when we are suffering and when we are mourning, he does not stand far off and kind of pity us, saying, Oh, they're there. 00:21:22.960 --> 00:21:24.079 It's all gonna be okay. 00:21:24.240 --> 00:21:28.640 No, he enters in and he mourns with us. 00:21:29.440 --> 00:21:32.240 And he weeps with us. 00:21:33.359 --> 00:21:40.319 Beloved, when we follow Jesus into suffering, we come to know him in ways that we would never know him otherwise. 00:21:40.480 --> 00:21:46.480 And this is the mystery of what Paul calls entering into a fellowship of Christ's own sufferings. 00:21:49.119 --> 00:21:56.960 When we suffer and when we let Jesus come to us, we know him in a mysterious, even deeper way. 00:21:57.440 --> 00:21:59.279 That leads us to our fifth and final point. 00:22:00.160 --> 00:22:01.599 Look for resurrection. 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:14.400 Now, of course, this is the final thing that Mary and Martha would never have experienced, and we would not have experienced apart from allowing Lazarus' death, and that is Lazarus' resurrection. 00:22:14.720 --> 00:22:27.200 Jesus tells the workers to take the stone covering the mouth of the tomb, and Mary objects, of course, being the practical one, but Jesus reminds her of what he has already said about the resurrection. 00:22:27.920 --> 00:22:39.039 Once the stone is removed, Jesus speaks in the simplest and yet loud and authoritative command. 00:22:39.440 --> 00:22:41.119 Lazarus, come out. 00:22:44.400 --> 00:22:52.319 As the rightful king of the universe, Jesus speaks an authoritative command, and death itself cannot defy him. 00:22:54.319 --> 00:23:00.559 His incredible power on display, and even Lazarus cannot disobey. 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:11.599 Life is restored to this dead body, and he gets up and he's you know, he's wrapped in these linen garments, his head and his he needs help. 00:23:11.680 --> 00:23:16.079 He's kind of probably like hopping, you know, probably looked very funny. 00:23:18.240 --> 00:23:22.559 And the passage closes with these words that bear multiple meanings. 00:23:23.200 --> 00:23:26.880 Jesus commanded, unbind him and let him go. 00:23:28.799 --> 00:23:32.559 Beloved, this is what Jesus brings to all who put faith in him. 00:23:32.799 --> 00:23:34.240 He brings freedom. 00:23:35.839 --> 00:23:38.960 Freedom from the fear of death. 00:23:40.880 --> 00:23:53.680 Freedom from the need to save ourselves, to have all the answers, to be in control, control of our own lives, control of the world around us, freedom from the fear of ever being alone. 00:23:55.200 --> 00:24:03.519 Paul Miller says that when we become Jesus' disciples, our lives begin to follow the pattern of his life. 00:24:04.400 --> 00:24:07.920 And conveniently, it is the shape of the letter J. 00:24:09.279 --> 00:24:10.480 J for Jesus. 00:24:10.640 --> 00:24:14.559 When we follow Jesus, we follow him down into death. 00:24:15.680 --> 00:24:20.880 And there in death we await the Father's resurrection. 00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:28.000 And just as surely as Jesus Himself was resurrected from the dead, so we are resurrected. 00:24:29.359 --> 00:24:35.279 Yes, ultimately, in the last day, we we all look forward to the resurrection. 00:24:35.440 --> 00:24:43.599 And yet, day to day, season to season in our lives, Jesus leads us into many deaths, small deaths. 00:24:46.079 --> 00:24:50.880 We follow him there, we follow him into the hard places because that's where he is leading us. 00:24:51.839 --> 00:24:59.839 But we're told with the eyes of faith, because of what we know about Jesus, when he leads us into a death, we are looking for resurrection. 00:25:00.640 --> 00:25:06.880 Because though the sufferings in our lives and in the lives of the people around us, they don't always make sense. 00:25:08.799 --> 00:25:13.200 It's often fruitless to try to figure out what is God doing or why did he allow this. 00:25:13.359 --> 00:25:14.079 That's not the point. 00:25:14.160 --> 00:25:26.000 The point is that we worship a God who is able to bring life out of death, beauty from ashes, justice out of injustice. 00:25:28.240 --> 00:25:30.079 Do you believe this? 00:25:31.759 --> 00:25:34.160 That's what Jesus asked, Martha. 00:25:34.799 --> 00:25:42.799 What Jesus wants desperately throughout the Gospel of John, but it comes up in this passage many times, he wants us to believe him. 00:25:44.640 --> 00:25:51.519 He wants us to hear his promises, see what he has done, and believe him. 00:25:52.960 --> 00:26:03.839 Beloved, when we see Jesus, when we hear him, and when we follow him, we will meet him in ways we never dreamed. 00:26:04.720 --> 00:26:10.000 And we know that when this story ends, it will be a happy ending. 00:26:10.960 --> 00:26:14.240 We need to take these words of Mary and Martha seriously. 00:26:14.400 --> 00:26:20.640 It's easy for us who know the story and know how it's gonna end to be like, well, you know, it's all gonna work out. 00:26:21.599 --> 00:26:24.000 Do you know that's true for you too? 00:26:26.079 --> 00:26:28.400 Your story has a happy ending. 00:26:28.880 --> 00:26:34.559 And yet, like Mary and Martha, day to day we cry out, Lord, why? 00:26:34.720 --> 00:26:36.240 Lord, if you had been here. 00:26:37.119 --> 00:26:44.480 But Jesus wants us to trust, he wants us to believe, and he wants us to walk by faith because Easter is coming. 00:26:45.200 --> 00:26:49.119 So let's not distract ourselves from the pain and suffering in our lives. 00:26:49.279 --> 00:26:59.519 Let's not distract ourselves from the pain and suffering happening in this world, but let us walk with Jesus into those painful places and see the resurrection life He brings. 00:26:59.759 --> 00:27:05.279 If you have any questions about the sermon or if you have prayer requests, I'll be down front afterward. 00:27:05.440 --> 00:27:06.240 Please come see me. 00:27:06.319 --> 00:27:07.440 Let's pray. 00:27:07.759 --> 00:27:16.960 Our Father and our God, what a profound message of good news you have given us in the gospel. 00:27:18.400 --> 00:27:23.119 Lord, often our cry is, Lord, we believe, help our unbelief. 00:27:24.160 --> 00:27:34.480 As this Lenten season comes to a close, Lord, we pray that we would see Jesus and that we would celebrate Easter as we have not celebrated it before. 00:27:34.720 --> 00:27:36.319 We ask this in Jesus' name. 00:27:36.559 --> 00:27:37.200 Amen.