The Master’s Love / Based on
John 11:1-45 / undelivered due to COVID-19 March 29, 2020
Hymns: Make Me a Servant,
‘Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus, What Wondrous Love Is This
John 11:1-45
11:1 Now a certain man was
ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
11:2 Mary was the one who
anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother
Lazarus was ill.
11:3 So the sisters sent a
message to Jesus, "Lord, he whom you love is ill."
11:4 But when Jesus heard it,
he said, "This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's
glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."
11:5 Accordingly, though
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus,
11:6 after having heard that
Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
11:7 Then after this he said
to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again."
11:8 The disciples said to
him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going
there again?"
11:9 Jesus answered,
"Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do
not stumble, because they see the light of this world.
11:10 But those who walk at
night stumble, because the light is not in them."
11:11 After saying this, he
told them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to
awaken him."
11:12 The disciples said to
him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right."
11:13 Jesus, however, had
been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to
sleep.
11:14 Then Jesus told them
plainly, "Lazarus is dead.
11:15 For your sake I am glad
I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."
11:16 Thomas, who was called
the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die
with him."
11:17 When Jesus arrived, he
found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days.
11:18 Now Bethany was near
Jerusalem, some two miles away,
11:19 and many of the Jews
had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother.
11:20 When Martha heard that
Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home.
11:21 Martha said to Jesus,
"Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
11:22 But even now I know
that God will give you whatever you ask of him."
11:23 Jesus said to her,
"Your brother will rise again."
11:24 Martha said to him,
"I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."
11:25 Jesus said to her,
"I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though
they die, will live,
11:26 and everyone who lives
and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
11:27 She said to him,
"Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one
coming into the world."
11:28 When she had said this,
she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, "The
Teacher is here and is calling for you."
11:29 And when she heard it,
she got up quickly and went to him.
11:30 Now Jesus had not yet
come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.
11:31 The Jews who were with
her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They
followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there.
11:32 When Mary came where
Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if
you had been here, my brother would not have died."
11:33 When Jesus saw her
weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed
in spirit and deeply moved.
11:34 He said, "Where
have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see."
11:35 Jesus began to weep.
11:36 So the Jews said,
"See how he loved him!"
11:37 But some of them said,
"Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from
dying?"
11:38 Then Jesus, again
greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying
against it.
11:39 Jesus said, "Take
away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him,
"Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days."
11:40 Jesus said to her,
"Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of
God?"
11:41 So they took away the
stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having
heard me.
11:42 I knew that you always
hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that
they may believe that you sent me."
11:43 When he had said this,
he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"
11:44 The dead man came out,
his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth.
Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
11:45 Many of the Jews therefore,
who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
We are living in stressful
times. Christian Community Home is in
lockdown, as are all senior living locations, because of the risk of COVID-19
infection. I decided to meditate on the
scripture anyway and a message began forming.
Maybe at some future point I’ll share it, but for now it will be a blog
post.
The scripture assigned for
today is longer than normal, but worth the read. The topics I’m pulling out of this reading
are:
To be used or to be a servant
Trusting in Jesus
Experiencing Love
To be used or to be a servant
11:4 But when Jesus heard it,
he said, "This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's
glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it."
11:5 Accordingly, though
Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus,
11:6 after having heard that
Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.
11:14 Then Jesus told them
plainly, "Lazarus is dead.
11:15 For your sake I am glad
I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."
When I first thought about this
part of the scripture, I felt a little angry.
It felt like Jesus is using a man’s illness and death for his own
purposes. He could have saved him from
his illness but instead Jesus hung around until he knew Lazarus had died. It doesn’t sound loving or fair at all. They were friends! How could he use him in that way?
Then the Wesley Covenant
Prayer came to mind.
I am no longer my own, but
yours.
Put me to what you will, rank
me with whom you will;
put me to doing, put me to
suffering;
let me be employed for you,
or laid aside for you,
exalted for you, or brought
low for you;
let me be full,
let me be empty,
let me have all things,
let me have nothing:
I freely and wholeheartedly
yield all things
to your pleasure and
disposal.
And now, glorious and blessed
God,
Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
you are mine and I am yours.
So be it.
And the covenant now made on
earth, let it be ratified in heaven.
Amen.
(Contemporary version from
Methodist.org.UK)
That is our call as we honor
our relationship to God. We are called
to be servants. That is a different
condition than being “used”. Lazarus,
Mary, and Martha were close friends and followers of Jesus. No doubt they had entered a similar covenant
relationship. Lazarus was not being
“used”. Lazarus was being a servant.
Trusting in Jesus
11:21 Martha said to Jesus,
"Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
11:22 But even now I know
that God will give you whatever you ask of him."
11:23 Jesus said to her,
"Your brother will rise again."
11:24 Martha said to him,
"I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day."
11:25 Jesus said to her,
"I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though
they die, will live,
11:26 and everyone who lives
and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
11:27 She said to him,
"Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one
coming into the world."
After my meditation on the
first topic I no longer see verse 21 as complaining. She wasn’t saying, “Why did it take you so
long!” She was stating her belief. She also trusted in Jesus ability to still
act.
Jesus gives us another
beautiful “I Am” statement. It’s not
just that there will be a resurrection.
Jesus IS the resurrection and the life for those who believe.
11:39 Jesus said, "Take
away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him,
"Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days."
11:40 Jesus said to her,
"Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of
God?"
11:41 So they took away the
stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having
heard me.
11:42 I knew that you always
hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that
they may believe that you sent me."
11:43 When he had said this,
he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"
11:44 The dead man came out,
his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth.
Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."
They trusted in Jesus and
result was Lazarus was blessed to be a blessing.
11:45 Many of the Jews
therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
Experiencing Love
As I think of the difference between
feeling used by someone and choosing to serve someone, one difference that
comes to mind is feeling loved.
11:33 When Jesus saw her
weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed
in spirit and deeply moved.
11:34 He said, "Where
have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see."
11:35 Jesus began to weep.
11:36 So the Jews said,
"See how he loved him!"
Jesus cared. This wasn’t a man he was using to further his
own aims without thought to the man or his family. Jesus was moved by their sorrow. He shared their sorrow. He loved them.
Jesus was pursuing a
different result. His actions caused
more to believe that he was sent from God.
This meant more could be saved. Without
knowing it, Lazarus had become an evangelist and brought many to follow Jesus. In death and in life he served Christ.
Jesus had a dual role. He was a loving leader to those who followed
him, and he was also a loving follower of God’s direction. He was both a master and a servant.
This scripture points towards
Jesus upcoming death. He was not “used”
by God as he ended his earthly ministry on a cross. He gave his life obediently in service to
God. That act of service brings life and
hope to all of us.
John 3:16 For God so loved
the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall
not perish but have eternal life.
To pray the Covenant Prayer I
spoke of toward the beginning, we must trust that we are devoting ourselves to
a being that is acting out of love. Love
so wondrous that we are willing to give our lives in service.
When Jesus asks, "I am
the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die,
will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you
believe this?" I pray our answer
can be a solid, “Yes I believe!”
We are seven days away from
holy week. We cannot gather physically
in worship, but I pray you can find online resources to mark these special
days. We need to remember them. They remind us that we serve a master that
loves us without bounds. I pray we
remain faithful in our service as we trust in that love.
Amen
