I Am the Resurrection

Let’s open our bibles together to John chapter 11. We’re five weeks into our series called, I am. And our aim is to look at the 7 I am statements that Jesus had said, through the book of John. Through these I am statements, we coupled them with opposite feelings and emotions that we deal with as human beings. Over the past four week we looked at, desires in our life, There are so many things in this world that competes with our desires, but Jesus wants to be our only and greatest desire.

Our discovery in week two was that there is no darkness that we can witness in this world that the love of Jesus cannot penetrate. We moved into week three and talked about shame. Shame wants to shackle us. And if left untreated, Buried shame grows roots in us until we don’t recognize ourselves anymore. But Jesus says, I am the gate. I believe our greatest realization thou Jesus as the door, or Jesus as the gate, is the fact that he calls for us to knock, and the door will be open for you.

Seek and you will find. Often, we knock but shame tends to make us believe that were unworthy, so we run from Jesus.. And that leads us into week four, last week we read Jesus say, I am the good Shepherd. We made a huge emphasis on what? What did we say together? We affirmed that, God is a restorer. The good shepherd, goes after the sheep. The good shepherd loves and protects the sheep.

David writes in Psalm 23, the good shepherd “restores my soul.” There is never a moment in our life that Jesus isn’t running after us. And we concluded that, Knowing, recognizing and walking in God’s presence by faith, is our greatest victory in this life. My goal as your pastor, is to help you grow in Christ. But you as God’s sheep need to be willing to grow. Today, I want to look at John chapter 11.

And Let me just warn you. Studying for this sermon got really deep for me, and it might be hard for us as a chruch. It’s been hard to pray and study all week long because we just witnessed another funeral this week for a dear teacher of our community. And of course, we’ve lost a real dear friend just a few weeks ago… So, if you dont mind.. before I read our Scripture, can we just bow our heads and prepare our hearts this morning?

Can we do that? And then, I’ll pray and we can begin. Heavenly Father, Our hearts are heavy this morning. Because for many of us, we’re still mourning the loss of those we love and those we miss. I want to pray, Father, lead our hearts this morning to find in Jesus… rest. Guide us, as a church to grieve, but to grieve trusting you. In the name of Jesus I pray…

amen Let’s read together, John chapter 11, and find with me verse 17. 17 On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18 Now Bethany was less than two miles[a] from Jerusalem, 19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die.

Do you believe this?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” Now, find with me verse 32… A little context.. Jesus has just met Martha, and now Mary comes with the crowd following her. She is going to where Jesus is. Here is the conversation that Mary has with Jesus. 32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.

34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked. “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then 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 have kept this man from dying?” I want to begin this morning, not with a statement like last week where we affirmed together, that God is a restorer, but today, I want to ask a question..

Are you trusting Jesus Christ as your life? The story of Martha, Mary and Lazarus is a fascinating one. I want skip Martha’s interaction with Jesus for jsut right nwo… and lets take a moment to look at Mary and Jesus. Mary comes running up to Jesus and she’s weeping. Listen to Mary’s words, in John 11:32: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” And what’s fascinating is this…

do you notice how Jesus dealt with her in her grief? Like we know what happens.. and if you dont know the story, spoiler alert, Jesus in a few verses ahead will eventually go to the tomb of Lazarus and he would call out his name, and Lazarus would come alive again and walk out of the tomb. Jesus literally brings him back to life. But here in this moment, we find something fascinating in Jesus’s interaction with Mary…

although Jesus knows what he’s about to do… it never gets in the way of being present with people. If we look in Verse 33 says, “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.” Then, our Bible tells us… Jesus wept. And Im fascinated by it because here’s the question I’m wanting to ask..

Why does Jesus weep when He knows He’s about to remove the whole reason for weeping? He knows. If you ever wanted to see what perfected love looks like…. This is it. This Christmas, and every Christmas we get to celebrate the fact that Christ came to earth. And while he was here, on earth, Emmanuel, was love embodied in flesh. When we think of love, Christmas is a reminder that love came down.

Love could be touched, Love could be felt and hugged, and held. And in this moment, in Marys grief, we read that Love wept. Because Love was present. Grief is a really interesting emotion. I’ve learned this week that each persons grief is as unique as thier fingerprint. And I’ve witnessed as a pastor, that people grieve differently. Some weep loudly, and some grieve silently. I’ll never forget the cries of my mother the night my step father passed away just a few short years ago.

They were tears and groans of deep anguish as she mourned in her bedroom. And when you study grief, there’s two things you’ll learn that are common in anyone that grieves. First, no matter how anyone would grieve, they share a need for their grief to be witnessed. And second, we all grieve because love was evident and love was real in their life. You can not have grief without love.

They are intertwined together. And if your plan is to go through life avoiding grief, you can most certainly do so, but the cost to a Grief-less life is to run from love. I don’t know about you, but a life without love is like a river without water. There is not one person, that I know of in this world, that doesn’t want to love and also feel loved by others.

The issue is… for most of us when we experience rejection in our life we become afraid to love and to let others love us. But look to where Mary and Martha runs… they run to Jesus and Jesus does what… he weeps with them. They Run to Jesus. How often in this world, when we go through hard times we run to eventing else to find peace. We run to alcohol just to have it numb the pain, but then it comes back.

We seek out drugs, we look at unhealthy intimacy to subside the pain we have in our hearts. Think of how amazing it is, that in this verse we find Jesus, who is God in the flesh, Who knows everything is about to change for them, but still he takes the time to weep with them. Did you notice what Mary and Martha did? They shared their need to grieve and for it to be witnessed, and if their grieve is but an echo of a love now gone, they go to the source of love.

Jesus has the Power to Take Our Tears Away. We know this.. we have hope of this from the resurrection to come. John would write that in the book of revelation.. think about what he writes, He (Speaking of Jesus) will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” What we see in this moment is that God makes it crystal clear to us, that when we weep, he undeniably weeps with us.

When we hurt, he hurts with us. And he will one day wipe the tears form our eyes… but to do so… we must first run to him in our grief. And so, this morning, I dont know the depth of your grief, or the hurt you’ve ezplreinced. Whether it be the loss of a loved one, or maybe you felt alone and abandoned, betrayed and discouraged. With whatever it is you’re dealing with, Jesus is witnessing your pain, and he loves you perfectly where you are, and he weeps with you.

Jesus weeps, but then he brings truth. You see, it’s not just being there witnessing our pain, but it’s also bringing truth in our pain. It’s Inviting God Into Our Pain and hearing what he says about our pain.. That’s always the first step to healing. And when I say heal, I am not saying we forget our grief, or we forget those we have once loved, what I am saying is this…

Healing can never begin unless were real and honest about why we grieve. One of the resources and books I’ve been looking into has been David Kessler’s book called, “Finding Meaning: The Sixth Stage of Grief.” And in this book, Kessler writes, “Healing doesn’t mean the loss didn’t happen. It means that it no longer controls us.” When we grieve, we need truth. Martha comes up to Jesus and says “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” If Jesus would have been there…

this story would have been different, but not, Lazarus has died. But yet, in this moment, hear the truth that Jesus says to her… “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?” Do you realize what Jesus just said? Jesus just said He has the power to make it all untrue.

He has the power to turn all of it around. Now, I thought about this truth this week and the only way I can explain it is like this.. You know that feeling when you’re asleep and you have a nightmare? You have a whole bunch of feelings and emotions that race through your mind and body. I remember one as a kid where wolves were chasing me. I can to this day recall how scared I was.

I remember the sounds, and my fears, and I vividly remember how I felt. But then, I also know how I felt when I woke up. How safe I felt once my mind realized that it was all a dream. I remember feeling different once truth was realized. Now, what about those moments where you weren’t asleep. Those moments where something really bad did happen to you. It’s not a dream and you just sit there in your grief, and you pinch yourself to make sure you’re not sleeping.

How many times in our grief and we just say things like, I wish this was a dream. This, can’t be true, and you just wish what had happened would be undone. This is the truth of what Jesus is saying to Martha. He goes, I have the power to undo what grieves you. I have the power to undo it all… where it would be just like waking from a dream.

And listen Church, if that is true…. If Jesus has the power to undo what has been broken. then that means death is not the end of the story—and that changes everything. Jesus was sharing truth into their conversation… and then… listen to that Jesus says next… Do you believe this? Martha responds, “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God.” Her word for Christ here is actually her saying, I believe you are the Messiah.

You are the promised one. The one we’ve been waiting for… the one we celebrate today, in this season of advent. You’re our long awaited Hope! Why? Why do we need hope? Why is Jesus our hope? DO you understand the implications of what it means that the long awaited Messiah has come? Man and woman were made by God, but they sinned against Him. They did what all of us have done—they turned from God and His ways to ourselves and our own ways.

As a result of sin, they were separated from God. The penalty for sin is death, both physical death in this world and everlasting judgment in eternity beyond this world. But we call the Bible and the gospel good news because death doesn’t have the last word, when we turn to Jesus Christ. The Bible is that God loves us and has not left us alone in a world of sin, separation, suffering and death.

God promised to send His Son, Jesus, to do what none of us could ever do. This is what Martha is saying when she says, You are the Christ.. you are the messiah… Jesus lived the life we have not and could not live, a life of no sin. Then He died the death we deserved to die. We deserve our death. Jesus died on the cross to pay the price for the sins of anyone who puts their trust in Him.

Then, three days later Jesus did what no one else has ever done or could ever do. He conquered death itself, the enemy we cannot conquer. Jesus rose from the grave. He is the resurrection and the life. And he looks to Martha and says to her…I am the resurrection and the life… Do you believe it? The greatest invitation we could ever receive is the invitation to enteral life in Jesus and he simply hands it to you in words of love and says, do you believe it?

Martha, says yes, but she doesn’t understand. Just like so many people who hear this gospel today and refuse it because they don’t understand. So many times our truth prevents us from hearing His truth. Our minds are limited.. they are.. the smartest person in this world can’t run and hide from death, but they can run into death and find life in Jesus. They Can.. and you can too… but you’ve got to hear the invitation this morning..

do you believe this. Are you trusting Jesus with your life? I know grief is hard.. I know life is hard. I now grief is hard because Jesus wept. I believe he wept over Mary and Martha’s pain, but I also beleive he wept because he truly loved Lazarus. He loved his dipcplsiples who would one day, in the Holy Spirit take this message of resurrection and life to the ends of the earth.

I believed he loved the crowd that was here watching. And I believe he loves you.. right now. And he stand at the door of your heart asking you.. do you believe in this truth…. But how do we deal with the pain right now? I’ve thought long and hard on how I would end our service today, because I know this topic hits home for all of us. But, for those of you who are in Christ…

Can I give you some encouragement for our ending? I feel like I should encourage you before we end. Can I do that? I want to share with you what I’ve learned about grief in light of the gospel of Jesus. First, Don’t add to your burden by thinking grief is foreign to the heart of God’s children. It’s not foreign. Listen, suffering proves that we are real. Suffering proves we are alive and breathing.

Suffering is promised in the Bible. I Thessalonians in the Bible says, “We do not want you to be uninformed, brothers, about those who are asleep” — He’s speaking on death — “that you may not grieve as others do who have no hope.” The Bible doesn’t teach us that we will never taste death, but it does tell us that we would grieve differently than those who have no hope.

It’s being alive when we grieve. So what do we do when suffering comes? Well, secondly, learn to eat fruit of sorrow even if it’s bitter. I know this sounds hard. It’s like watching abby swallow night quill before bed. But as her parents we know it’s going to help her cough, and help her sleep at night. It’s sort of the same with affliction. Think of when David says, “Before I was afflicted I went astray, but now I keep your word,” And when he says, “It is good for me that I was afflicted, that I might learn your statutes.” In seasons of affliction there are nutrients we draw from that strengthen our hope.

When I look back into seasons of my life, and I see all the moments where I cried out to God in my affliction. Moments where I wept sitting at my bedside asking GOd, why, moments where I’ve been deeply hurt by others, or situations. Those moments drew me closer to Him. They strengthened my soul and hardened the bones of my faith. And so, I say this with love… eat it.

Eat your suffering. Eat it for as long as God keeps you in that season, and don’t waste it by wishing. Eat it, and grow your faith in Christ. Begin to see suffering not as a burden but as a path that leads you ever so deeply to Jesus. Thirdly, Understand that God is always near the broken hearted. There’s a promise most of us have heard from David… He writes, “The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit.” I dunno about you, but every time I read something in the Bible that says, Cast your anxieties on Him, because he cares, and the Lord is near those who are brokenhearted.

There’s a special promised nearness we experience. I’ve come to yearn for it and sadly, often it comes in affliction and suffering. What if your suffering could mean you’ll witness God’s presence even greater than ever? I think of Mary and Martha running to Jesus in thier grief. I’ve learned this week that grief comes when our love for another is broken. It’s why I’ve shed many tears over people that have left my life.

Whether it be by death or by choice. But Jesus never says, I will leave you when you cry… he says, I am nearer to you. When you love Jesus, and I mean really love him… his nearness means everything to you. Often times, our suffering does lead us to Christ. Fourthly, our nearness brings us into this reality, God heals all wounds. Hear that agina… God Heals all wounds. Every one of them…

there is no wound that un unhealable in Christ. There is no sickness that is terminal… when we are in Christ we are promised life. You’ve heard, by his stripes we are healed. What I love about this truth is this… it may not happen quick, but healing does happen in God’s timing. IN our gospels, Jesus had healed a lot of people when he was here on earth, but some of them didn’t get instant healing.

The blind man two chapters before John 11 was only healed when he obeyed, and washed his face. Perhaps the Lord is waiting for you to come and trust in him, because its by faith you are healed. And speaking of God’s timing… this is the fifth and final truth. Wait………. Wait for God. Wait for his timing and restoration. David writes something very interesting about waiting in our affliction, in our grief, and depression.

Do you know this verse, “His anger is but for a moment, and his favor is for a lifetime. Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning.” Do you know what it means that joy will come in the morning? How many times have you gone to bed in your grief, and woke up the next morning and it was still there. Where’s the joy you promised, Lord…

where’s the joy that’s supposed to come in the morning? Joy will come in the morning, doesn’t mean morning, like in our 24 hour day, but yet, God does not leave his children indefinitely in the depths of sorrow. What it means is that Joy comes when dawn comes, and it comes in God’s timing. God will lift you in His timing. But that doesn’t mean God doesn’t hear your cries for help.

There’s another Psalm, Psalm 40 that’s been very close to my heart during my seasons of affliction. And I wait. David writes in Psalm 40, I waited patiently for the Lord, he turned to me and heard my cry. He lifted me out of the slimy pit, out of the mud and mire; he set my feet on a rock and gave me a firm place to stand. He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God.

Many will see and fear the Lord and put their trust in him. Here’s a question I have for you. How long did David wait in the pit? It doesn’t say. But what I do know, is that he waited. Church.. What are you waiting for? Here the invitation… do you believe in this? Don’t grief along, Be like Mary and Martha this morning… and run to love himself. Trust in Him, Trust in Jesus…

and celebrate communion today knowing you have a living hope. *