"Daring to Defy Death"

John 11 March 13/05

Daring to Die - for a Purpose

The meaning or value of a life depends greatly on its purpose, its focus. In some cases, the ending of a life contributes considerably to its value: in the case of an honourable death, sacrificed for the benefit and protection of others, our esteem of that life is heightened. Other deaths are not so honourable, and instead bring shame. The death of Lazarus and, later, of Jesus, belong to the first category: God's purpose and glory became obvious, and call us in turn to entrust our lives into His care, even when the purpose of our hardships is difficult to discern.

      Two tragedies in the news this past week illustrate deaths that are both honourable and shameful. On Thursday, thousands of police officers and other dignitaries attended the memorial service for 4 young Mounties who were gunned down in a raid on a marijuana 'grow op' in Alberta. These deaths were a terrible loss, worst for the RCMP since the 1885 Northwest Rebellion. Yet they were "good deaths" in the sense that the Mounties concerned were serving in the line of duty to put a stop to what is becoming recognized as a plague on Canadian society - the proliferation of the marijuana industry, associated with high-tech booby traps, great monetary profits, and high-powered weapons such as an automatic assault rifle in this case. It's a scary prospect of a new drug-lord-based gangster dynamic in society if our police did not lay their lives on the line like the 4 officers, and instead allowed the industry to grow unopposed. The peace and good government we Canadians cherish would be eroded by a new type of Rebellion.

      On the other hand, an example of a shameful death is that of the Toronto man who jumped from an overpass over the 401, taking with him his five-year-old daughter as an act of revenge against his wife. In what authorities describe as a "miracle", the girl survived; 15 metres is a long way to fall - I remember what it's like at the top of a 45' silo! The callous act of the man brought disrepute on him, hurt on his loved ones, and trauma to the police officers and others who witnessed the incident. The purpose of this death was not noble. Yet even in this case, God's mercy has found opportunity to be seen, in that hopefully the girl will continue to recover.

      Life is not easy. Some days, when times are tough, it seems like a death-defying act just to keep going. But we can learn to trust God to take our setbacks and bring glory for Himself, and meaningful and eternal life for us, out of our circumstances - when we commit ourselves to His Son Jesus. He saves us from shameful self-destruction, and gives us a noble purpose that carries on to eternity. George Mueller, the great who ran orphanages on faith said, "God delights to increase the faith of His children. We ought, instead of wanting no trials before victory, no exercise for patience, to be willing to take them from God's hand as a means. I say - and say it deliberately - trials, obstacles, difficulties, and sometimes defeats, are the very food of faith." Today as we look at John 11 we see how Lazarus' death provides Jesus an opportunity to demonstrate the goodness of God's purpose, and the benefit of trusting Him, even when things seem to have backfired, or we ourselves are threatened.

God's Wise Purpose Redeems Our Peril

As Jesus entered the last weeks and days of His earthly life, His confidence in the sovereign wisdom of the Heavenly Father seemed only to grow, despite the opposition He increasingly encountered. Jesus trusted that God had a purpose for what was happening. In John 11, the Lord has just been informed that a dear friend, Lazarus of Bethany (just a couple of miles from Jerusalem), is seriously sick. But He doesn't suddenly become frantic as if God were no longer in control. In vv9f He comments, "Are there not twelve hours of daylight? A man who walks by day will not stumble, for he sees by this world’s light.It is when he walks by night that he stumbles, for he has no light." Jesus is constantly listening to His Father, watching His timing, not rushing ahead or lagging behind - merely keeping in step as the light illumines the path. God's in control and knows what He's doing; everything will be OK if we keep in stride with Him. Go's timing is perfect. Jesus didn't abruptly stop what He was doing east of the Jordan, but stayed on there 2 days; as it turned out, He wouldn't have made it back before Lazarus died anyway, but arrived as if He'd "just missed it". His delay made it certain in the Jewish opinion of the day that Lazarus was truly dead (it was commonly supposed that a person's spirit somehow hovered around in the vicinity for 3 days, then gave up and left after that). Jesus was focussed on accomplishing God's purpose in the Father's timing.

      And just what WAS the Father's purpose? First, God's purpose revolves around His glory - just as the meaning or value of our life is wrapped up in its honour. Jesus said in v4, “This sickness will not end in death.No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” And He reminds Martha in v40, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" Perhaps this suddenly made her realize that Jesus wasn't just asking for the stone to be rolled away so He could pay His last respects and view the body, but that something BIG was afoot. Something that would glorify God and extol God's reputation, such as bringing someone back to life. Then, before He continues, Jesus pauses to publicly point to God the Father as chiefly responsible by lifting His eyes heavenward and saying, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here..." Just as we honour God by such a simple thing as pausing to give thanks for our food in a restaurant before we eat, Jesus took every opportunity to glorify God - to remind people how good and loving and awesome our Heavenly Father really is.

      Besides God's glory, another aspect of His over-arching purpose is that we learn to trust Him, through believing in Jesus Christ. The theme of John's Gospel is that the Father sent the Son to earth in order that we might believe in Him and come to enjoy everlasting life, rather than perish (Jn 3:16; 1:12; 20:31). God's very keen that we learn to trust Him. We see this in the conclusion of v 42: "I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” Jesus brings this issue sharply into view in His dialogue with Martha, Lazarus' sister, when He first arrives. Initially Martha merely affirms that she believes Lazarus will be resurrected at the last day. Jesus dramatically shifts the focus from the future to the present; the power to live again is found in the person standing right in front of Martha. In vv25f He asserts pointedly, “I am the resurrection and the life.He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die [ie, not die forever]. Do you believe this?"” He puts her on the spot, insisting on a direct answer, because this is the point of the whole exercise - spawning people's trust in God. That's the purpose of the object lesson. He reminds her again in v40 when Martha balks at removing the stone on account of the stench: "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" Faith is key. Trusting whether God can do what He promises is the heart of the issue. His purpose is to engender faith -- helping us learn to trust Him in everything.

      Faith is, among other things, "being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see." (Heb 11:1) Trusting God implies that we have confidence in Him, even when we don't yet see the results. So, [what's commonly called] "unanswered prayer" DOESN'T mean God doesn't love us. He's just giving us some training ground to grow our faith, trusting Him to look after in His wisdom what we don't yet see. This story is a good example of God not immediately giving some people whom He loved dearly what they requested. V3, the sisters sent word to Jesus that "the one You love [phileo] is sick. V5 notes, "Jesus loved [agape] Martha and her sister and Lazarus." Again, v37, the crowd noticed how Jesus wept and commented, "See how He loved him [phileo]!" There's no question that the Lord loved this trio of friends very dearly. But for a while the answer to their request was, "No," or at least, "Not yet." He had something better in store, something more amazing and wonderful than a straightforward healing. Don't misinterpret seemingly unanswered prayer as a sign God doesn't love you. He does.

      Nor is God distant from our aching and suffering and yearning. The Christian God is not the "unmoved Mover" of the philosophical Greeks, or an indifferent clock-winder of the Rationalist Deists. God hurts with us, He enters into our pain and relates emotionally. Even though Jesus is on the verge of a great miracle, His great compassion and caring humanity shine through in His sympathy towards the grieving sisters and other mourners. V33, "When Jesus saw [Mary] weeping...He was deeply moved in spirit and troubled." V35, shortest verse in the Bible (in English anyway; 1Thess 5:16 - Rejoice always - is shorter in the Greek): this speaks volumes about the kind of God we serve: "Jesus wept." And v38, once more Jesus is "deeply moved", groaning in Himself. He could have remained aloof and indifferent, knowing all the time as He did what was going to happen. But this suggests God groans along with us as we suffer and yearn for redemption along with nature itself in this fallen order of creation (Rom 8:22f).

      Unanswered prayer doesn't mean God doesn't love us; Jesus may instead be weeping right along with us. Near the end of World War II, Allied troops were often searching farms and houses for snipers. They came across one abandoned house which had been reduced to rubble. Searchers found their way into the basement. There, on a crumbling wall, a victim of the Holocaust had scratched a Star of David. Beneath it was written the words, "I believe in the sun, even when it does not shine. I believe in love, even when it is not shown. I believe in God, even when He does not speak."

Jesus' Commitment to Us Elicits Our Trust in Him

The raising of Lazarus occupies a pivotal point in John's gospel, leading directly into the story of the Passion, the sequence of events and conflict culminating in Jesus' crucifixion. Jesus raised people from the dead on other occasions - a widow's son, Jairus' daughter (Lk 7:11-15; 8:40-56); what's different here? In those cases, the miracle did not impact Jesus' own security. But consider the His status, compared with Lazarus', at the beginning and end of the chapter. At the start, Jesus is well, Lazarus is sick, then dies; at the end, Lazarus is well, but Jesus is condemned to death, plotted against, and almost "as good as dead". It's an exchange, they swap places. What if Jesus had declined to raise Lazarus? What if He'd even just cured Him from a distance when the news first reached Him? Not such a major miracle, but also it wouldn't result in such a threat to Jesus. Do you see His dilemma? If Christ decides to raise Lazarus, it triggers the whole sequence leading up to His own painful death.

      The stakes involved are not lost on the disciples. V8, when Jesus announces they're returning to Judea, they reply, "But Rabbi, a short while ago the Jews tried to stone you, and yet you are going back there?" In v16 Thomas gloomily concludes, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him." They're well aware what threat there is. Perhaps like those officers approaching that fateful marijuana operation. Robinson comments, "It seemed like suicidal madness to go back now." High Priest Caiaphas instigates Jesus' doom by giving his opinion, "It is better for you that one man DIE for the people..." (v50) V53 notes, "So from that day on they plotted to take His life." The last verse of the chapter states the official orders were out that Jesus should be reported so He could be arrested. The "Wanted" posters were up, the word was out: Jesus was a marked man, with a bounty on His head. Yet Christ could so easily have avoided all that by handling the matter differently, taking the easy way out. Again, Robinson comments, "The death of Lazarus brings Jesus face to face with His own death."

      Jesus loved Lazarus - so He chose to raise Him back to life. Jesus loved the Father - so He agreed to not do the miracle prematurely, in a less glorifying way. Jesus loves you and me - so He chose to become a hunted man, to die on the cross for our sins. It was a deliberate choice, Jesus dared to die FOR the people rather than let us perish - to use Caiaphas' prophetic language. For or 'in behalf of' or 'instead of' - He died in our place, exchanged our deadness [in sin] and punishment for His righteousness and eternal life. Those brave RCMP officers took the bullet as our proxies, standing between society and the lawless evil of organized crime such as the grow-op. Jesus opted to take the bullet, not only for Lazarus, but for all of us, all "the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one." (v52)

      We are Lazarus - dying in sin, corrupted in our cave. We are "the one [Jesus] loves" and will lay His life on the line for. By the power of the cross and His perfect atonement, Jesus' loud voice calls us forth and looses us from all that was binding us - so we can experience new freedom and life in the Spirit. "Take off the grave clothes and let Him go." (v44) Bonds of bitterness; shackles of generational sin; fetters of failure, or past abuse; the clanking chains of temporal values.

      His commitment to us elicits (or draws forth) our trust in Him - for eternity. Thomas urged the rest of the Twelve to accompany the Master to Judea, even if it would mean death. That's loyalty, commitment, obedient discipleship. Martha responded to Jesus' question with a faith that rivals Peter's better-known confession (Mt 16:16): v27, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” Must have been music to Jesus' ears. Don't forget, this is BEFORE He raises her brother! That trust, that sheer commitment, is what He's looking for in each of our hearts.

Champion Leaves Troubles in God's Hands

Jose Antonio Rivera is 31, husband of Daisy and has an 11-year-old son. He grew up in Philadelphia where he watched boxing with his cousins and uncles and dreamed of winning a championship himself. But tragedy put an end to his dreams. He recalls, "I grew up without a dad, and when my mom passed away when I was 10, that crushed me. I gave up on life. I hated the world - and I let people know it." Rivera slipped out of school and into the world of drugs and alcohol. He'd learned of Jesus in church, but says, "I thought [God] was responsible for all the bad things that happened in my life." At 14 Jose hit rock-bottom, dropped to his knees and cried out to Jesus. An aunt took him in and helped him get back on his feet. He realized his lifestyle of drugs and alcohol was a "dead-end", leading to nowhere. He recalls, "After I finally started thinking about God and praying and having a relationship with God...I started realizing how all the time He's been there, watching and helping me, even when I hadn't asked Him to help me. It's totally a father-son relationship."

      Jose returned to school in Massachusetts, and trained in pursuit of his professional boxing dreams. In 1992 he won the North American Boxing Association Welterweight championship. But that's not the most important thing. He says, "Winning the World is a self-satisfaction for me - a goal, an accomplishment; the [title], cars, money - those are material things. Having a relationship with God is much more satisfactory because that is real; having a relationship with God is as real as it gets."

      His faith shines in his devotion to family and to his community. He's received an award for his youth leadership in Worcester MA.

      It hasn't been easy. A hand injury resulted in a period of inactivity during 2003. But here Jose's trust shows through in how he deals with these troubles. He says, "There's been a combination of finding someone to fight and injuries that have kept me from fighting...those things happen, I can't control them. I leave them in God's hands and He'll take care of everything for me. I don't know what God's reason was for allowing this year of bad things to happen, but I sure know that when I find out, it's going to be a beautiful thing."

      Rivera has chosen to turn to God in hardships; he adds, "that's when you have to trust God even more because that's when He's able to bless you more. Those are the things that people don't see."

      God's thoughts are higher than our thoughts; His purpose is arranging events to glorify Jesus and develop our capacity to trust Him, as Thomas and Martha and Lazarus learned to do. Believing in Him releases within us His power, beauty, and eternal life. "Do you believe this?" ...Let's pray.