John 11 - Part 3

Read John 11

Jesus arrived at the tomb with friends and family and a crowd of onlookers.  What a bonus.  Many came to comfort Mary and Martha and then Jesus arrived.  Something always happened when Jesus was around.

The tomb was a cave with a stone in front of it.  Jesus directed that the stone be moved away.

Martha, the sister who earlier professed that Jesus was the Messiah said, “But Lord.”

But…

What a powerful word.  I believe, but…

I believe in God the Father Almighty,

Maker of heaven and earth.

I believe in Jesus Christ, his only Son, our Lord,

who was conceived by the Holy Spirit,

and born of the virgin Mary.

Have you gotten this far without a but what about?

He suffered under Pontius Pilate,

was crucified, died and was buried;

he descended into hell.

The third day he rose again from the dead.

He ascended into heaven

and is seated at the right hand of God the Father Almighty.

From there he will come to judge the living and the dead.

But…

It’s hard to profess a belief without a but thrown in somewhere.    As a child, I loved to watch the Chicago Cubs.  Ron Santo, Fergeson Jenkins, Ernie Banks  and Billy Williams topped the list.  There’s three Hall of Famers in that bunch.  Over the years, I watched the Cubs less but always caught their banners at the beginning of the season.  Huge banners that stretched across multiple seats read:  We Believe.  They were usually back in storage by June, but you have to love the sentiment.

Four years ago, the Cubs won the Series after more than a hundred years of coming up short.  This year they haven’t lost a game and it’s mid-June.  You just have to love those banners:  We Believe.

Martha, only minutes earlier had told Jesus:  I believe.

 You can’t blame Martha for balking here.  She knew what she knew and what she knew was that her brother was stinking something awful.  He had been in there for four days.  The spices used to anoint the body are not much more than 24-hour deodorant. 

Lord, do you really want to open that tomb?  I might pass out from the smell.

How did Jesus respond?

Didn’t we just have this conversation?  I told you that if you believed you would see the glory of God. Think back to the start of this chapter.  Jesus told his disciples that what was going to happen—why they waited and why they left when they did—would be to the glory of God.

So, the stone was  taken away.  We don’t get an account of the open tomb smell.  We do get Jesus offering a simple but public prayer to his Father.  Father, I know that you always hear me, but what I am about to do is so that those gathered here may see your glory and believe that you sent me.

So, Jesus called out, Lazarus.  We are told it was a loud voice.  I want you to think on something that often goes overlooked.  Why did Jesus have to call Lazarus by name?   Who else would he be talking to?

Think back to chapter 5 and what Jesus told those who were listening before so many departed.

All who are in their graves will come out at the command of his voice.

So, when Jesus said Lazarus, it effectively, Lazarus and only Lazarus, come out.  This isn’t hard theology but something to chew on, especially if you are one of those people who profess, I believe.

Had Jesus been less specific, there might have been a really big resurrection at that moment.

It could have been that Jesus was just being formal or using the name of the dead man caused more to pay attention, or it could have been that the time for the resurrection had not yet come.

Lazarus obeyed.  Had he known he was going to be resurrected, he might have put on some better burial clothes.  As it was he had something of the mummy look going for him.

So, Jesus told his sisters to get him cleaned up and put some new clothes on him.  Surely Martha had been correct, he was stinking to high heaven, or at least enough to warrant a new set of clothes.

Jesus had waited until Lazarus was dead—good and dead—so that there would be no mistake that the power of God was at work through Jesus whom God had sent.

How do you do more than giving a man who was born blind his sight?  You raise a man from the dead.  You deliberately wait until there can be no doubt that this man was dead and then you put the glory of God on display to the gathered crowd.

As you finish the chapter, you see that many came to believe in Jesus.

Cool story.  Fantastic miracle. It's an interesting piece of scripture to chew on, especially that part about calling Lazarus by name, but is there anything for us.

Here is my challenge.  Do your best not to use I believe and but in the same sentence.

I believe, but…

We are so skeptical by our human nature.  Let’s take on more of God’s nature and when we speak of him with the words I believe, let’s not qualify them with any more verbiage.

I believe!

Amen!