Introduction: ‘Turn off the sun. Drain out the sea. Let the moon fall from the sky, because our wife, mother, sister, grandmother and friend is gone.’

That’s how an obituary began in the Star Phoenix newspaper.
•    It’s the cry of a family devastated by the loss of a loved one.
•    It’s the cry of Martha and Mary broken at the loss of their dearly loved brother, Lazarus.
•    It’s the cry of Jesus  saddened when he approaches the tomb of his good friend Lazarus.  (Rev. Roger Haugen)

Anyone who has lost a loved one knows what it’s like to experience pain, the kind of pain that reaches up from the grave and tries to suffocate you.

How do you deal with the reality of death? For each one of us here this morning, with the tick tock, tick tock, of the clock we are getting one second, one minute, one hour, one day closer to death. What hope do we have?

Well, our hope is not as some would say that we die with dignity, that we die with grace. Our hope is the mortal putting on immortality and dying IN grace…God’s grace.

Transition: Turn in your Bibles to John 11:17 (pg. 820 in the Bibles under the chairs in front of you). It’s here that we’ll find that death… is not the end. There’s hope in the promise of Jesus Christ.

John 11:17-27       With Jesus there is hope and life
Read: John 11:17

Lets stop here for a moment and do some math.

•    The messengers Martha and Mary sent took one day to get from Bethany to where Jesus was staying.
•    Jesus waited two days before he went to Bethany.
•    Travel time for Jesus to get to Bethany was one day. (4 days)
•    Because of the high temps in the region and because decomposition sets in quickly, people were usually buried the same day they died.
•    Lazarus was dead and in the grave for 4 days.

Follow me on this. That means Lazarus died just after Martha and Mary sent the messenger to tell Jesus he was sick. Hold on to that.

Read: John 11:18-19
It seems Lazarus was well known and well liked in and around Jerusalem as he had many mourners who came to support his family when he died.

Read: John 11:20-22

Martha recognizes Jesus could have healed Lazarus had he been there. But remember the math, she knew there was no way Jesus could have healed Lazarus because after she sent the messengers, Lazarus died. Even if Jesus came right away Lazarus still would have been dead 2 days.

So why does she say ‘Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died’? When there was no way Jesus could have been there in time.

•    Because she was grieving. She wasn’t thinking logically, but wishfully. Her statement to Jesus wasn’t one of rebuke for not being there, but of regret…an ‘if only’.
    She thought had Jesus been in town when Lazarus got sick, he could have healed her brother and he would not have died.

Does that make sense? Because what she says next doesn’t. Grief makes us say things that don’t always make sense. So, what did Martha mean when she told Jesus ‘But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.’?

Did she believe Jesus could raise the dead? From what we read later it doesn’t seem so. Then what did she mean? We aren’t told. But I think we can piece something together by what we know of Martha and Jesus.

•    Perhaps she is just letting Jesus know she still believes in him. Even though Jesus was not there to heal her brother,    
        -she still believed he had a special relationship with the Father,
        -she still believed he was the Messiah.

Her disappointment with the situation didn’t hinder or make her question her faith. And her faith is what Jesus wanted to address.

Read: John 11:23-27

While Martha believed Jesus was the Messiah, and saw him do miraculous things, she didn’t recognize  that the one who created all things was standing right in front of her.
•    She believed, but her faith needed a boost.
•    She believed, but she needed hope.

Then Jesus told Martha that Lazarus will rise again. She thought Jesus was talking about the teaching that on the last day, all who have faith in God will be resurrected to eternal life.

Martha was looking forward to a process. Jesus was telling her that God is present with her now and that he is not a process, not a religion, not a teaching, but a person.

•    Oh, if only the people around us cold see that going to heaven is not a process of doing this or not doing that. If only they could see going to heaven is just simply
     placing their hope for heaven in the person, Jesus Christ.

Jesus told her…‘I am the resurrection and the life’.  What he was saying was I have the power to give life...even after death. And he asked if she believed in him. Jesus was saying that the future place of our eternal existence will depend upon our faith in him. Listen…

•    ‘He who believes in me will live, even though he dies’. This means that our loved ones who died, if they placed their faith in Jesus Christ as their Savior, will live
      forever in heaven.
•    ‘And whoever lives and believes in me will never die’ This means that those who are now alive and believe in Jesus when they do die physically, will live forever
       in heaven.

All this means… death is not the end, there’s hope in the promise of Jesus that he is the resurrection and the life to those who place their faith in him.

At this point in her life, Martha had faith but it was still young faith and couldn’t fully grasp what Jesus was saying.

•    Martha was looking to the future because that’s when God was supposed to work.
•    She believed in God’s power and promises but she believed that they were future, not present.
•    That means she doubted God’s power to keep his promises…now, in the present, in her particular situation.

Sound familiar? People, even many Christians believe God is powerful, but that he will take care of things ‘in the end’ so they just have to deal withy stuff now…but that thinking is not true. God is present right now, Jesus has the power to hold all things together in the universe, right now…he can meet your need, this very moment…Do you believe in him?

That’s what it all comes down to. Jesus challenges Martha
•    not to debate
•    or intellectual assent of a doctrine
•    but to belief in a person, Jesus Christ.

And he does the same today. Do you believe Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the Living God?

Transition: Jesus gives Martha the hope of promise, he’s now going to give his heart of compassion.

John 11:28-37    With Jesus there is compassion and love
Read: John 11:28-32

You can’t help but see the grief in this family. Martha and Mary say the same thing to Jesus. It’s as if they were constantly running it over and over again in their minds for the 4 days until Jesus showed up.  Grief can do that…keep things running over and over in our minds. If only I had done this, if only…But the ‘if onlys’ will only bring more sadness and grief.

Read: John 11:33-37

The text says that when Jesus saw the sadness, the weeping for Lazarus, he was ‘deeply moved in his spirit and troubled.’. Deeply moved is more literally translated angered. Why was Jesus angry?
•    We are not told directly. But we know that Jesus died on the cross to defeat death once for all, so that even though we will die physically, we will live forever in
      his presence when we place our faith in him.
•    Many scholars believe that Jesus was angry at the grief, pain and suffering sin brings, when it’s tool is death.

Whatever the reason, Jesus’ heart was broken and his tears flow like a river at the death of his friend Lazarus and the sadness and grief of his friends Mary and Martha.

Look, it’s OK to grieve, to cry, to feel sad when a loved on dies. Jesus did. But Scripture tells us that we don’t grieve as the world who have no hope.
•    Jesus grieved, knowing knew he was going to raise Lazarus from the dead.
•    We too can grieve when our loved ones who paced their faith in Jesus for salvation die, because like Lazarus, they too will be raised from the dead and we will
     see them again in heaven for all eternity.

That hope of Jesus’ promise is not supposed to remove the grief, but comfort you though it.

And we so want to be comforted by God when we are in despair. Jesus wept is one of the greatest texts showing his compassion and love for his friends. We need to read that Jesus cried for Lazarus, Mary and Martha. Because by doing so we have the hope that he weeps with us when we feel despair, grief, hurt, or loneliness.

His compassion, his tears for Lazarus compelled the people watching to remark that Jesus must have really loved Lazarus. Love for one another, compassion for others, makes an impression on the people around us. It did then and it still does now.

Later Jesus will say  ‘By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another.’ Jn 13:35
Displaying love and compassion for one another here and outside the church walls, is a sign to the world that we are disciples of Jesus Christ, that we belong to him and that he has made a life-changing difference in our lives.

Conclusion

Listen to one final story, about how the love of Jesus can make a life changing difference in a persons life.

Tomorrow morning," the surgeon began, "I’ll open up your heart..." "You’ll find Jesus there," the boy interrupted. The surgeon looked up, annoyed. "I’ll cut your heart open," he continued, "to see how much damage has been done..." "But when you open up my heart, you’ll find Jesus in there."

The surgeon looked to the parents, who sat quietly. "When I see how much damage has been done, I’ll sew your heart and chest back up and I’ll plan what to do next." "But you’ll find Jesus in my heart. The Bible says He lives there. The hymns all say He lives there. You’ll find Him in my heart."

The surgeon had had enough. "I’ll tell you what I’ll find in your heart. I’ll find damaged muscle, low blood supply, and weakened vessels. "You’ll find Jesus there too. He lives there." The surgeon left.

The next day surgeon sat in his office, recording his notes from the surgery,"...damaged aorta, damaged pulmonary vein, and widespread muscle degeneration. No hopes for transplant, no hope for cure. Prognosis:, " here he paused, "death within one year." He stopped the recorder, but there was more to be said.

"Why?" he asked aloud. "Why did You do this? You’ve put him here; You’ve put him in this pain; and You’ve cursed him to an early death. Why?" The surgeon’s tears were hot, but his anger was hotter. "You created that boy, and You created that heart. He’ll be dead in months. Why?"

And in the midst of his anger and tears the great counselor, the one who cares for the broken hearted came. And the surgeon wept. (PAUSE) The surgeon sat beside the boy’s bed; the boy’s parents sat across from him. As the boy awoke and whispered, "Did you cut open my heart?" "Yes," said the surgeon. "What did you find?" asked the boy. "I found Jesus," said the surgeon. (Bob Reish)

In the times of your grief, sadness and loneliness, if you look and believe, you will find Jesus there right beside you.