The Fifth Sunday of Lent
April 6, 2014- Pastor Adam Moline
Ezekiel
37:1-14 Romans 8:1-11 John 11:1-53
Hymns - LSB 420:1-3, 430, 420:4-7 Communion – LSB 724, 725, 421, 428
Grace, mercy and
peace to you from God our Father through our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Our text today is from the Gospel lesson just read, Thus far our text.
Dear friends, in a few weeks, we
will gather together and meditate on the death and torture that our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ will suffer on Good Friday. He will be beaten, spit on,
mocked tortured and crucified. He will
cry out, “It is finished, Tetelestai,” and have earned us salvation and
life. we know with certainty Christ has
suffered in our place, and that in that, we now have life eternal. We have certainty of life.
But do we truly have certainty? Do
we really believe that Christ was raised from the dead? I have never seen
anyone rise from the dead. I have never seen someone whose heart has ceased
beating for more than a few minutes, who has come back to life. It doesn’t make
sense. How can it really be true that
someone could rise from the dead?
That is exactly what happens in
our text today. If we look at the story
of Lazarus, we see it is quite the interesting story. It takes place about a
week before Good Friday. We see a friend of Jesus is sick, and dies. They bury
him in a tomb, and by the time Jesus arrives, he has been laying there for four
days. He isn’t just sitting in the tomb, there is no doubt at this point that
Lazarus is dead. He has passed into eternal rest, and nothing can bring him
back.
The family, certain of this has
begun to mourn and wail. All of Lazarus’s friends come and weep for the loss of
their friend Lazarus. But he is gone, nothing can bring him back. Even Jesus
mourns at the loss of Lazarus. He mourns that because of sin, mankind must die.
He mourns that in our sin we must deal with death. Lazarus too was a sinner,
and in that sin, he has now died. The loss associated with death overcomes all
those around. Death hurts.
But Jesus tells that mourning
family, “I am the resurrection and the life.” And here he proves it. Jesus has
the tomb opened, and standing outside calls forth Lazarus alive. The one who is
dead returns to life. The one who was dead is returned to his family. The
mourning of loss turns into joyful shouts, and celebration. By the mere
speaking of His words, Jesus brings one of his believers back to life. By His
word, Christ can make death run backwards.
It’s a miracle! It really happened! Today, you can go and see this, Lazarus’s
first tomb. There are even members here
who have been there. You can walk down inside of it, and see where Jesus called
Lazarus forth from death. You can walk the same steps Lazarus walked out of the
tomb. It is a miracle that God used to show that Jesus is the Resurrection and
the Life (John 10) That He is the Lord of life.
This miracle happened, because
Christ is true God. Jesus could raise Lazarus because he was headed to his own
suffering and death. But unlike Lazarus, Jesus would not die for his own sin,
but for your sin. Jesus would suffer and die, and be laid in a tomb, just like
Lazarus.
But Christ has power over death
and life. Even as Jesus is killed, the grave cannot hold him in. Even though He
is executed, His life cannot be permanently ended by human means. Instead,
Christ is the Resurrection and the Life. He is Lord over life and death.
And He has earned that right. He
earned it by obeying God’s law completely and totally. He earned it by
passively submitting to the will of the Father and drinking the cup of wrath
prepared for sinners. Christ took our place and He suffered for us. And when
our salvation was assured to us by the spilling of his holy precious blood, He
announced to the world that sin and Satan were defeated by His rising again on
the third day from the tomb.
Friends, almost 2000 years ago,
the tomb of Jesus was found empty, just like the tomb of Lazarus was found
empty. Just as Jesus called Lazarus back into life, God the Father raised Jesus
back to life through His glory and power.
But Jesus’ resurrection was even
more wonderful than Lazarus’. Lazarus would die again. Lazarus had two tombs,
one in Bethany and one that church tradition holds was in the city of Larnaca
on the island of Cyprus. Lazarus served as a pastor there until again he died
and was reburied.
But Jesus will not die again. As
the prophet Isaiah says, “He has swallowed up death forever.” (Isaiah 25:8)
Where O death is thy victory, Where O death is they sting? (1 Corinthians.
15:55, Hosea 13:14) It is gone forever. Death cannot defeat Jesus Christ,
because by his own death, he defeated death. When the tomb was found empty,
that message has resounded throughout all the world. “Through Christ, death is
defeated. Through Christ you have life.”
This is the message of the church.
This message is important to the whole world, especially to you and me. God’s
word tell us we are in the same boat. We hear that we have not kept God’s law.
Scripture even says that “If we say we are without sin we deceive ourselves and
the truth is not in us.” We are poor miserable sinners, and as sinners we too must
die. Just as Lazarus died from his illness of sin, we too will die unless we
live to see that last day. Just as Jesus laid in a tomb, we too will lay in a
grave of some kind. It is the price that
we must pay for our sin. It is the consequence of our disobedience to our
heavenly Father.
And we see that in our daily
lives. Even when we try to obey God, we fail. And in our failure we are
trapped. We are uncertain which way we should turn. We are uncertain if there
is a way out at all! All we can do is flounder around in our sin.
Being trapped in our sin is very
much like being trapped in a grave. In our sin we are dead. In our sin we
cannot climb or dig our way out. There is nothing that we can do. We are stuck,
permanently. Just as a dead Lazarus could not remove himself from his own tomb,
neither can we rescue ourselves. We are lost in our sin. We are dead in sin.
But Christ is risen. His tomb has
been opened and the message of His victory has been spread over the entire
Earth. It has come to our ears as we hear that beautiful message both in song
and word. Even as this Lenten season we look forward to the death of Christ, we
know that is not the end. The tomb will
be opened with angel proclaiming the victory of the Lamb.
Because Christ is risen, so too
are you risen. We have the promise of eternal life. In Christ, you have life.
In Christ you no longer need fear death or the power or the power of the devil.
You are set free, to live and reign with hi for all eternity. In Christ’s life,
you too receive life, life to the full.
Death has no power over you. Even
if you shall die, yet shall you live. In Christ there is victory. In Christ you
triumph, the enemy is destroyed. Today, you have eternal life. You are risen
with Christ.
