John 11
5th Sunday in Lent
29 March 2020
Belle Vue Baptist
Our mortality has been brought home to us. Our fragility is right before us. Our helplessness is all around us. This has always been true, but the veil that covered our eyes has been lifted in these last weeks, and now we know. Some of us have always known, some of us have lived with the reality of mortality, fragility, helplessness on a daily basis and now the rest of us are sharing in your sense of what is to live with the possibility of death lingering at the door. We are all living on the edge, and we want to be back in the safety of the centre, but there is no way back at the moment, everything is on hold, everything is in flux, everything and everyone is at risk. The Psalmist says ‘out of the depths I cry to you’ (Ps 130.1). We are in the depths. Like Mary and Martha, we are in the depths, knowing our morality, recognising our fragility, feeling our helplessness.
And it is here that Jesus comes. ‘Jesus said that if I’m lost, he will come to me.’ And the invitation of the gospel is to know Jesus is in the depths with us. He crosses into Judea, enters into Bethany, and arrives at the tomb of Lazarus. Jesus comes. Jesus comes to Mary and Martha, he comes to them in the depths, he weeps with them, (v.35) he listens to them. God in Jesus comes close to us, to the heart of our vulnerability, right to the place of our hurts and fears, he feels them, embraces them, shares them. This is the gospel: God does not avoid us, ignore us, pass us by, but enters into our humanity, crosses into our lives and shares in the joy of the wedding feast (John 2.1-11) and the sorrow of the graveside (v.33). Out of the depths we cry to the Lord and we discover that the Lord is in the depths with us.
But the gospel is more than this. The gospel is Jesus coming to Mary and to Martha, and saying ‘Take away the stone.’ (v.39) For Martha this is too much, too much death, too much hurt. This goes beyond her limit, beyond what is acceptable. The stone is the symbol that Lazarus is dead, the stone protects her from the smell, the overwhelming reality of all she is carrying, all that she has lost, all that is broken. Jesus won’t you leave it alone. I wonder what lies behind our stone? I wonder what is too much for us? I wonder what we are protecting ourselves from? I wonder what we want to leave alone?
‘Take away the stone’ says Jesus.
Jesus comes to us not just in solidarity, but with power to transform, to heal, to reverse, renew, revive, resurrect. And we are not sure if we want it, we are not sure if we’re ready for it, we are not sure if is even possible. Jesus comes not just to be with us in the depths, but to show us the way out. He comes to show us glory. Jesus has come to Bethany, but this is not his final destination. He will go on — go on to Jerusalem, go on to Gethsemane, go on to Gologatha, go on to the cross and then he will be laid in his tomb. Jesus comes down into the depths with us, in order to bring us out, to lift us up.
Jesus says: ‘Take away the stone.’
He will show the way through Lazarus, he will prepare the ground by calling Lazarus out of death. Jesus doesn’t come just to comfort us in the face of death, he comes to stare Death down, to tell Death No, to call ‘Lazarus, come out.’ (v.43) Jesus comes in order that we might have life.
‘Take away the stone’ says Jesus.
We are overwhelmed with the reality of our mortality, of our fragility, of our helplessness, and the invitation of the gospel, the word of Jesus, is that he has come to overwhelm us with Grace, Life, Truth, Love, Hope and Glory. There is something stronger than Death in the world: and it is the Life that Jesus brings. There is something stronger than Fear in the world: and it is the Hope that Jesus brings. There is something stronger than Trump in the world: and it's the Truth that Jesus brings. There is something stronger than Suffering in the world and it is the Glory that Jesus brings. ‘Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see glory of God?’ (v.40)
‘Take away the stone’ says Jesus.
If we read John’s gospel from the beginning, this story of Jesus and Mary, Martha and Lazarus, comes half–way through. It is the culmination of Jesus’s signs. I am the Bread of Life, whoever comes to me will never go hungry. I am the Light of the World, whoever follows me will never walk in darkness. I am the Gate, whoever enters through me will be saved. I am the Good Shepherd who lays down his life for the sheep. I am the Resurrection and the Life, whoever believes in me will live, even though they die. We are drawn into the mystery of Jesus, we are caught by this Jesus who announces that he is Promise and Presence; who declares that he is Power and Passion. Jesus comes to us and calls us to believe, to believe that He is here and that means comfort and hope, it means joy and surprise.
Yes we are mortal. Yes we are fragile. Yes we are helpless, but we believe in one who is Resurrection and Life, this is the gospel, the good news, the truth we live by.
‘Take away the stone’ says Jesus.
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