Sunday 31st March 2024
Jesus called in a loud voice,
‘Lazarus, come out!’
The dead man came out…
John 11:43-4 (NIV)
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Do you believe this?
Jesus’ friend Lazarus has died, and he goes to see the dead man’s sisters Martha and Mary. He then goes to the tomb where Lazarus is laid, which John tells us is “a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.” Surely he intends us to see the connection? It will not be long before Jesus himself is laid in a tomb with a stone laid across the entrance.
It is hard to know quite what Martha believes at this point. She seems to revert to being ‘practical Martha.’ All she can think of is the fact that “by this time there is a bad odour, for he has been there four days.” She has a point: it is a hot climate and there is no refrigeration. And aren’t we just like her? We too are a mixture of faith and doubt, of hope and fear, of paralysis and practicalities.
It is there that we hear the most stunning words of all, as Jesus calls out in a loud voice – not because Lazarus is deaf, but so everyone can hear – “Lazarus, come out!” Remember, Jesus is speaking to a dead man. That is not normal, and nor is what happens next. We read, ‘The dead man came out.’ This lifeless body hears the voice of the one who first gave him life. And now he is giving him life again. Here is the voice of the Creator, giving life to the dead. Just as God once said, “Let there be light,” and there was light, so Jesus now says, “Come out!”, and he came out.
It is a foretaste of Jesus’ own resurrection, which will be both like and unlike that of Lazarus. Like Lazarus, he will be dead, wrapped in strips of linen, laid in a tomb with a stone across the entrance. Unlike Lazarus, he will pass through those strips of linen, and leave them lying there. And unlike Lazarus, who is raised back to life in this world, sadly to die again one day, Jesus will be raised on to the life of the world to come, never to die again – as will all those who believe in him.
The resurrection of Lazarus is really only a resuscitation. It is a sign of the greater resurrection to come, the resurrection of Jesus, and the resurrection of all those who believe in him. On that day each of us will hear Jesus addressing us by name, and we will hear his voice calling, “Come out!” And we will come out to new life, with new bodies, in a new world, never to die again, and never to see death again.
Earlier Jesus has said to Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” The truth Jesus speaks is for us also, as is the question he asks: Do you believe this?
Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! In his great mercy he has has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead (1 Peter 1:3).
Yours warmly, in Christ,
Chris Hobbs (Senior Minister)