When Jesus is late!

Lazarus is dead !

Divine love is not always hurried love !

Sometimes Jesus delays not because He does not care — but because He intends something far greater.

Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:25

Welcome, sisters and brothers, and peace be with you. The words on my lips and the meditations in our hearts be acceptable in your sight, O Lord, our strength and our redeemer. Amen. A few years ago a family sat in a hospital waiting room, praying desperately for a miracle. They had asked everyone to pray. They had called me, they had anointed with oil. They believed. But the doctor eventually came out and said the words that no one wants to hear. We did everything we could. Later one of them said through tears We prayed. We trusted. Where was God? Have you ever felt like that? You prayed and nothing changed. You believed and things got worse. You asked Jesus to come and he seemed late. That is exactly where we meet Martha and Mary in John chapter eleven verses one to forty five. And this teaches us five precious lessons. Precious lesson number one The love that delays Lazarus is sick. The sisters send word to Jesus Lord, the one you love is sick. But notice what they don't say They don't demand they don't give lengthy explanations. They simply trust that love will move him. And John tells us something astonishing. Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days. He loved them. So he stayed where he was That makes no sense to us at all. Love moves quickly. Love rushes, love fixes things. But divine love is not always hurried love. Sometimes Jesus delays not because he does not care, but because he intends something far greater. By the time Jesus arrives in Bethany, Lazarus has been in the tomb four days four days. That meant all hope was gone. This was not a coma, not a mistake, not reversible. Dead. Martha meets Jesus with words that many of us would have whispered Lord if you had been here, my brother would not have died. Translation Jesus, you could have stopped this Maybe you've prayed that prayer. Lord if you had been here if you had intervened if you had healed if you had prevented And here is the comfort Jesus does not rebuke her. Precious lesson number two From belief in doctrine to trust in a person. Jesus tells Martha Your brother will rise again. Martha responds with solid theology. I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day. She believes in a future event, but Jesus gently shifts her focus. I am the resurrection and the life. Jesus does not say I give resurrection. Jesus does not say I will cause resurrection. He says I am. We have it revealed to us that resurrection is not just a doctrine. It is a person. It is the person standing in front of Martha. It is Jesus Christ. Christian faith is not merely believing that something will happen someday. It is trusting someone today and always. It is at this point that then Jesus asks the most searching of questions Do you believe this? Not do you understand this? Not can you explain this? But do you trust me? That question comes to us when the bad diagnosis stands When the grave is sealed, when all hope seems buried. Do we believe that Jesus is still resurrection and life? Precious lesson number three The Tears of God Then comes the shortest verse in the Bible Jesus wept. The one who knows he is about to raise Lazarus still weeps. Why? He weeps at the devastation of death. He weeps at the sorrow of his friends. He weeps at the brokenness of the world. This tells us something deeply profound. Our loving God is not emotionally distant from our pain. When you stand at a grave, Jesus weeps. When you receive crushing news, Jesus weeps. When you feel abandoned, Jesus is not indifferent. Christian hope is not some cold optimism, it is hope wrapped in tears. We do not worship a deity who stays far, far away. We worship a Savior who stands with us and cries. Precious lesson number four. Lazarus come out. Then Jesus prays, not because he needs power, but so they will believe. And then he shouts Lazarus, come out. And out comes Lazarus, still wrapped in those grave clothes, alive, but bound. And Jesus gives another command take off the grave clothes and let him go. I think of this as resurrection is immediate, but freedom is sometimes gradual. Some of us have been given new life in Christ, but we still wear grave clothes. Old habits, old fears, old shame, old labels. Jesus brings life, but a community of the faithful helps unwrap. This is why your faith community matters. We help one another remove what no longer belongs to the living. Precious lesson number five. This miracle points us to what is to come, to where our Lenten journey is leading. In just a short time Jesus Himself will enter a tomb. This time there will be no one to roll the stone for him, no one to call him out, and yet on the third day he will rise in glory, showing us that Jesus conquered death forever. To give Lazarus life, to give us life, this would cost Jesus his own life. This is the measure of the love that God has for each and every one of us. Irunga Itenga Oteatuate Matua Te Tama Metewaruatapu Amine.