“The power of old-time religion”
John 11:17-44, STBC–18/2/2018
The enduring power of ‘old time religion’ comes from the idea that everything we see, everything we touch, everything we feel, even everything we know, is not all there is. It comes from the feeling that is found deep within us, that beyond this very necessary and real-life lies something more, an eternal presence. The enduring power of ‘old-time religion’ comes from trusting that this eternal presence is someone who is within all things and above all things; someone in whom we live and move, and have our being; someone who sustains all things with His word of power. Someone in whom our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. The power of ‘old-time religion’ is trusting that neither death, nor life, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers political, financial or spiritual, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.
This ‘old-time religion’ may be out of fashion in modern Britain but people can’t change who they are. We worry about the same things, life and death, the meaning and purpose of life, and so on. We can’t change how we are made. This country has a long and rich history of untold generations and countless lives dedicated to this one goal. Seeking first the ways of God and knowing the inner presence of God. The answers to all of life’s questions are still found here.
Our text for today is from John’s Gospel and it contains a beautiful, intimate picture of the power and character of God. If we read and meditate on this text, if we let the Holy Spirit kindle a fire inside us, He will reveal the character and nature of the Lord Jesus. In this Gospel account, we have an intimate and tragic story of two women and their dead brother. This should immediately tell us something about the nature of God. For our God is not unsympathetic and indifferent. Our God is not one who is only concerned with things beyond our understanding and comprehension, like sustaining the whole universe! No, unlike some people’s view of God, our God is one who personally comes a calling when we are struggling and suffering in this life.
17On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem,19 and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother.
We read of Mary and Martha, earlier on in Luke 10:38-42. We notice that the sisters Mary and Martha were quite different in their understanding of Jesus. Even though Martha was a kind and good person, one who was clearly devoted to Jesus, it appears that Mary had a more profound love for Jesus. Later in John’s Gospel 12, Mary anoints the feet of Jesus with expensive perfume and wipes his feet with her hair. It is possible that this is a parallel account of the one in Luke 7:36-50 when an unnamed sinful woman anointed the feet of Jesus with perfume and kisses. Traditionally, in the western church, this unnamed woman was considered to be Mary Magdalene, the Mary from whom seven demons were driven out, the Mary who was at the Cross of Jesus when all other disciples (save John) had abandoned Jesus, the Mary who was the first to see the risen Christ. This Mary Magdalene was, in all probability, Mary of Bethany, the sister of Lazarus and Martha. Even though they were sisters, Mary and Martha had very different life journeys.
20When 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.
Martha does many things well; in fact, it appears to me that to be like her is no bad thing. She goes straight to Jesus and with a declaration of great faith. Martha truly believed that Jesus was able to perform miraculous healings. “If you had been here, my brother would not have died”. But that “If ...”, that introduction of a conditional clause, that “If you had been here ...” says a lot about the limits of her understanding and faith. Why had Jesus come too late? She then says to Jesus a remarkable thing,
22But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”.
No truer words were ever spoken in the Gospel. However, true words and deep understanding of these words do not always go together. This is the problem of the Church today, we know how to say true words but too often we are satisfied with a superficial experience of these words. So Jesus enters into a theological dialogue with Martha to reveal to her and us the limited extent of our understanding.
23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again”. 24Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Jesus, tells Martha that Lazarus will rise from the dead. Perhaps she is remembering some of the teachings of Jesus, like that found in John 14. Jesus says,
1“Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in me. 2My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you?3And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am.
Jesus had told them of that future resurrection at the last day, of that heavenly father’s house where corruption and death are no more, where suffering and pain are no more, that home of perfect peace and love, where we shall live with our Lord Jesus.
Yes, our Christian faith is one that trusts in the future resurrection from the dead. Martha believed in this future resurrection, but in the here and now, Martha was grieving for her lost Brother. The comfort of the future resurrection does not always mitigate the pain of current loss. But
25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life”
In John’s Gospel, we have the seven great “I am” passages that echo the old testament name of God in Exodus “I am whom I am”. This is one of the sevenfold New Testament names of God “I am the bread of life”, “I am the light of the world”, “I am the door”, “I am the Good Shepherd”, “I am the resurrection and the life”, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life”, and “I am the true vine”. Jesus was telling Martha that He is not like one of the old prophets, but that He has the power over life and death; for He is God. Jesus tells Martha that there is a future resurrection at the last day and there is also a here and now resurrection and new life. He will prove it. That the future resurrection and the here and now resurrection flow from the same source, Jesus. The new life, that born-again life, Jesus begins in us is the true life that carries on to eternal life with God. Jesus tells Martha that all life and death is His to command; so she should believe and trust,
“I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26and 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.”
Martha’s declaration is powerful and sound. At another time, in another place, we would say that this testimony was just what Jesus wants. And yet, here, we are left with the impression that she was missing something important. Martha goes back to her house to tell Mary that Jesus was here.
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.” 33When 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. 35Jesus wept.
Mary’s initial words to Jesus are the same as Martha’s words. But Mary’s first fell at Jesus’ feet. Mary does not struggle with theological and existential questions. She comes to Jesus in humble devotion. She doesn’t find solace in intellectual understanding. For she had been truly broken by past life experiences and had known the deep healing love of God. For her sins, which were many, were forgiven, so she loved much. And so, Mary comes to Jesus with tears.
Now, oh, look at the power of our tears on the almighty God. Our tears move God to tears! “Jesus wept.” Here we see the unfathomable depth of God’s love for us. Our Lord Jesus is not one who is unable to sympathise with our griefs. He has borne all our griefs and sufferings on the Cross. For this is who God is. He is a God who understands and shares our sorrows and griefs. “Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our troubles,”
Later on,
38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39“Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
Ever practical, Martha’s common sense guides her understanding of God. With her natural thinking, she placed limits of what God would and could do. Who of us would, in a similar situation, run to believe that Jesus would raise Lazarus from the dead right in front of us? If I had to place myself in this passage as a Mary or a Martha, at my best I would only be a Martha. However, we should all aspire to be more like Mary.
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
Jesus is saying to us, “if you have a faith that trusts me, you will see the glory of God”. There are countless sermons in this text alone.
43 ... Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
With only three words of command, Jesus brings forth life out of death.
…
Epilogue
Let us think about what we have heard today, Our Lord Jesus, comes a calling in the most difficult times of our lives. He, who is the God of all comfort, is one who completely sympathizes with us. So let us come back to that “old-time religion”. He calls us to come home to enjoy life in all its fullness. For He is the way, the truth and the life. If we have a faith that trusts Jesus, we will see the glory of God. For God is able to do far more than we can ever dare to ask or imagine. So let us, like Mary, be firmly rooted in love. Let us grasp how wide and deep and long and high is the love of Christ and let us know for ourselves that love so far beyond our comprehension. May we be filled through all our being with God himself!
Prayer.
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