Sermon
for Ash Wednesday, February 22, 2023
His
final steps led to a tomb.
Dear travelers on a
sorrowful road,
Many years ago, a pastor friend of mine preached a series
of three sermons using the themes: “If I die,” “When I die,” and “I am
dying.” The point was to show our need
for a Savior through the each of those stages in our lives. When a person is young, especially young men,
we kind of think ourselves ten feet tall and bulletin proof. We scarcely give any thought to the
possibility of dying. As we move into
middle age and have to deal with deaths of parents and even friends, we begin
to consider that we too will some day die.
Finally, if we should contract some terminal illness or reach more
advanced age, it becomes impossible to escape the reality that death grows ever
closer.
All that
being said, how might a person react if he knew exactly when his death would
come? Would we be even more careless as teenagers
if we were certain we would live for decades yet? Would we find it easier to put off attending
church, getting to know God and His Word, or even living a God-fearing life, if
we knew we had years to repent before dying?
Would we plan more carefully, or treasure our days more fully if we
could count down the exact time to our demise?
Or, might we be tempted to indulge our carnal nature even more with the
expectation that we still had time to repent?
If you knew every moment of your life how and when you would die, how
much pain you would endure on the way, or what friends and loved ones you would
watch die before you, would that change how you live?
More
likely, most people don’t even want to consider their death. We see evidence of that in the growing number
of people who kill themselves rather than face a painful death, or an extended
period of difficulty before death. On
the other hand, we spend billions of dollars each year in our country trying to
forestall the cold grip of death. But,
what really is the sin here? The sin
comes when we forget that “whether we live or die, we belong to the Lord.”
(Romans 14:8) Who says, “I know the
plans I have for you,…plans to give you peace, not disaster, plans to give you
hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)
On Ash
Wednesday, we begin a walk with Jesus that led to His death. Contrary to us, though, Jesus knew exactly
when He would die, how He would die, and why He would die in the way He
did. He knew far in advance every
tortured moment He would have to endure and the extreme suffering and pain that
lay ahead of Him as He went about His Father’s business. Still, Jesus walked His road to a tomb
without fear or trepidation.
Furthermore, out of love for us, He lived His life on earth exactly as
needed so that His dying would benefit us all.
Tonight, we consider that His final steps led
to a tomb.
The text
for this sermon is John chapter 11. The
bulk of that chapter tells the well-known story of Lazarus, Jesus’ friend, who
died and yet was raised to live again.
Perhaps you have struggled in the past to understand how Jesus reacted
to the news that His friend was sick.
John reports,
Now a certain man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and
her sister Martha. This Mary, whose
brother Lazarus was sick, was the same Mary who anointed the Lord with perfume
and wiped his feet with her hair. So the
sisters sent a message to Jesus, saying, “Lord, the one you love is sick!” When Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness
is not going to result in death, but it is for the glory of God, so that the
Son of God may be glorified through it.”
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he
stayed in the place where he was two more days.” (John 11:1-6)
Consider
how callous that makes Jesus look. The
greatest miracle worker of all time knew His friend was sick but instead of
going to heal the man, Jesus stayed away until He knew Lazarus was dead. Certainly, Mary and Martha, the dead man’s
sisters, wondered why Jesus had stayed away so long. Their friends, too, likely whispered doubts
as they wailed in mourning. Likewise,
how many of us haven’t wailed and wondered why our Savior didn’t save someone’s
life when we prayed for healing? Martha’s
accusation when Jesus returned to Bethany might just as well have come out of
our mouths when we are grieving the loss of a loved one: “Lord, if you had been
here, my brother would not have died.” (John 11:21)
As is
usually the case, Jesus gives us the answer.
When He decided it was time to return to Bethany where Mary and Martha
lived, His disciples tried to convince Jesus to stay away because they feared
the authorities who wanted to kill Jesus.
In reply, Jesus told them,
“Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am
going there to wake him up.” Then the
disciples said, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will get well.” Jesus had been speaking about his death, but
they thought he was merely talking about ordinary sleep. So Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is
dead. And I am glad for your sake that I
was not there, so that you may believe.
But let us go to him.” Then
Thomas (called the Twin) said to his fellow disciples, “Let’s go too, so that
we may die with him.”
(John 11:11-16)
Why did
Jesus delay? Because just like us, His disciples,
as well as Mary and Martha, needed to see that Jesus has power over death. The disciples were afraid that Jesus’ enemies
in Jerusalem would kill Him, and them too, if He returned to that city. Mary and Martha thought they had lost their
brother forever. You and I, even though
we know better, might tremble as we look into the jaws of death. Therefore, without hesitation, Jesus’ final
steps led to a tomb.
Martha
needed to hear Jesus say, “Your brother will rise again.” (John 11:23) And firmly trusting in the God of her fathers,
Martha believed. She said, “I know
that he will rise in the resurrection on the Last Day.” (John 11:24) It is at that moment that Martha, the
disciples, and all of us needed to hear and see the power and authority that
God has placed in Jesus. All authority
in heaven and earth belongs to Jesus, (Mathew 28:18) but our weak and trembling
faith needed to see what that means.
Jesus told Martha, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even if he
dies. And whoever lives and believes in
me will never perish.” (John 11:25-26)
Again, Martha believed Jesus is the promised Savior. At the same time, her flesh remained weak.
Martha
then went to get Mary still grieving at the home they shared, and wouldn’t you
know, Mary reacted the same way Martha had.
At the same time, we see Jesus’ compassion for those who follow
Him.
When Mary came to 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.”
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the
Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and troubled. He asked, “Where have you laid him?” They told him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. (John 11:32-35)
Jesus
came to the tomb that day because He cares about all those who trust in Him. He cares about us when we grieve, when we
lose someone we love, when we are hurting, and even when we falsely accuse Him
of not being with us in our time of need.
Jesus’ love for sinners led to a tomb.
The faith
of those gathered before Lazarus’s tomb was evident yet still very frail, just
as ours so often is. While the gathered
crowd complained, “‘Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have
kept this man from dying?’ Jesus was
deeply moved again as he came to the tomb.
It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. ‘Take away the stone,’
he said.” (John 11:37-39)
Even
Martha, still not yet fully understanding, said, “Lord, by this time there
will be an odor, because it has been four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that
if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone. (John 11:39-41)
Who among
us would react differently in that situation?
The Jews didn’t embalm the dead.
There was no refrigeration to slow the decay of the dead body. This was not the dead of winter either. Why would anyone want to open such a
grave? Yet, aren’t those doubts just a
lack of faith in Jesus?
Sometimes,
Christians are accused of having a faith without proof, but here we have all
the proof anyone should need that Jesus can do as He said. In front of a massive crowd of skeptical
mourners, including several who had made it their mission to discredit and
destroy Jesus, Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you heard
me. I knew that you always hear me, but
I said this for the benefit of the crowd standing here, so that they may
believe that you sent me.” After he said
this, he shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:41-43)
Imagine
the reaction of those in the crowd.
Stunned silence? Mocking
laughter? Skeptical fear that another
miracle might actually occur? A hopeful
glance between two sisters? Whatever the
people thought, The man who had died came out with his feet and his hands
bound with strips of linen and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus told them, “Loose him and let him go.”
(John 11:44)
Jesus
stepped up to that tomb to restore joy to His faithful followers. Jesus came to that tomb so the His disciples’
faith would be strengthened. Jesus stood
at that opened tomb so that we have sure confidence in St. Paul’s Spirit
inspired victory shout, “Death is swallowed up in victory. Death, where is your sting? Grave, where is your victory? The sting of death is sin, and the power of
sin is the law. But thanks be to God,
who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” (1 Corinthians
15:54-57)
There is another
reason Jesus’ final steps led to this tomb. The crowd that day included enemies who
wanted nothing more than to see Jesus fail.
They wanted to catch Him in some sin or fault that they could use
against Him, yet they found nothing wrong in this perfect Man. Thus, as Jesus performed the greatest miracle
any of them had ever seen, their hearts grew harder in unbelief and fear, so as
the news of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead spread far and wide like a
wildfire, the leaders of the Jews became even more resolved to find a way to
kill Jesus.
“Many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what
Jesus did believed in him. But some of
them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees called
a meeting of the Sanhedrin. They asked,
‘What are we going to do, because this man is doing many miraculous signs? If we let him go on like this, everyone will
believe in him. Then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our
nation.’ But one of them, Caiaphas, who
was high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing at all. You do not even consider that it is better
for us that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.’ He did not say this on his own, but, as high
priest that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and
not only for that nation, but also in order to gather into one the scattered
children of God. So from that day on
they plotted to kill him.” (John 11:45-53)
His
final steps led to a tomb. First, they led to
the tomb where Lazarus was laid, so that you and I and all of Jesus’ followers
could see His power over death. For the
whole world to see and be without excuse, Jesus raised Lazarus from the
dead. Ultimately, though, this was also
God’s plan to move those who didn’t believe in Jesus to carry out their
hateful, wicked plot to get Jesus nailed to a cross and buried in another tomb,
in the foolish wish to separate themselves from the One Man God sent to save
all. Yet, it was all part of God’s plan
to have Jesus die for your sins and mine at the exact time and place He had
planned and prophesied, so that we could be made right with God, so that we
could have sure evidence that God’s Word is true, and so that we could be
welcome in God’s presence on the last day when He will surely raise all people
from the dead and take those who believe in Him to live with Him forever in
heaven.
Now, I
don’t know how long God will allow me to live in this world. I really don’t want to know; it would be too
much for me to handle one way or another.
But I give thanks to God that I know this—that Jesus died for my sins, that
in His sacrifice as the Lamb of God, Jesus paid for all my guilt, and that He
offers us His true, holy, flesh and blood for us to eat and drink to share in
the reconciliation with God that Jesus has won, and that by raising Lazarus
from the dead, and even more by rising Himself from the grave, Jesus has given us
living proof that He will also raise you and me for life everlasting.
Dear
friends, Jesus lived, died, and rose again so that the words He spoke at the
beginning of His ministry will be forever true:
“Amen, Amen, I tell you: Anyone who hears my
word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He is not going to come into judgment but has
crossed over from death to life. Amen,
Amen, I tell you: A time is coming and is here now when the dead will hear the
voice of the Son of God, and those who listen will live.” (John 5:24-25)
You who believe in Jesus will be raised from your tomb to
live forever with Him in heaven. Amen.
The Lord
of peace himself give you peace at all times and in every way. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with
you all. Amen.
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