Goodbye Friend - Hello Hope

   

  A friend of mine died recently.  I have known him for years and I am close to the family.  It was sad to see him go.  He will be missed.  I had the privilege to officiate the funeral this past weekend and one passage that I didn't include in the service but was a passage rattling around in my mind comes from John chapter 11.  In this chapter a friend of Jesus name Lazarus gets sick and dies.  Let's take a look at this passage of scripture and see if we can find some encouragement, even in the face of death.

John 11:1-44

 Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ² It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. ³ So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” ⁴ But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” 

⁵ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. ⁶ So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. ⁷ Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.” ⁸ The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?” ⁹ Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. ¹⁰ But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” ¹¹ After saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.” ¹² The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” ¹³ Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. ¹⁴ Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died, ¹⁵ and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ¹⁶ So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” 

¹⁷ Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸ Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, ¹⁹ and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. ²⁰ So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. ²¹ Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²² But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.” ²³ Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴ Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵ Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, ²⁶ and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” ²⁷ She said to him, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.” 

²⁸ When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹ And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. ³⁰ Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. ³¹ When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. ³² Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” ³³ When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. ³⁴ And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵ Jesus wept. ³⁶ So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷ But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?” 

³⁸ Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. ³⁹ Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰ Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹ So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. ⁴² I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³ When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” ⁴⁴ The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” 

Things to think about:

• Notice how Lazarus is described to Jesus in verse 3, "Lord, he whom you love is ill." Do you think someone would describe you that way to the Lord. "Look, Lord, the one whom you love is having a hard day...Lord the one whom you love just got fired...Lord the one whom you love is crying out to you again. I think this is how Jesus sees you today, the one whom he loves.
• Jesus could have made it back in time to heal Lazarus, but he chose to stay away. He allowed him to die in order to perform the greater miracle and teach the greater lesson of bringing him back from the dead. I wonder how often the Lord delays answering our prayers or chooses not to act in order to perform the greater miracle we aren't even asking for?
• Martha had faith in the Lord, but could not see how that faith worked itself out in her situation. I have faith like Martha sometimes too. I believe God is good, I believe he can perform miracles, I believe he is at work...I just don't see how it will work out this time. May we all be in awe of Jesus who knows what he is doing and who truly is the resurrection and the life.
• The shortest verse in all the Bible is here in this passage when he sees the pain, hears the cries, and feels the hurt of loss. Two little words - "Jesus wept." When we are in our troubles and pain, when we have to say goodbye to those we love. When we are surrounded by others in grief, it is okay to weep. It is okay to cry and to be sad over the pain of death. Jesus wept and he still weeps with us in our pain.
• From two simple words of Jesus' pain to three incredible words of his authority. Verse 43, "...Lazarus, come out!" Now, we can have hope. Jesus is able to cut through the pain and provide life to the dead, hope to the hurting, joy to the depressed. He brings hope in a new life in him when we stand by the grave of a friend. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. May we turn to him today and trust in his authority to look into our grave and say, "Come out!" Oh, what a day that will be!