The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odour, for he has been there four days.” Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It wasn’t long before he verified his claim to be “the resurrection and the life” by raising Lazarus from the dead. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.” What an astounding statement for a man, the son of a Galilean carpenter, to make! He was either a liar, a lunatic, or who he claimed to be-the Son of God, God in the flesh. He said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Jesus responded to Martha’s statement with truth. And in our grief we need his tears to give us comfort. In our grief we need his truth to give us hope. These responses by the Son of God highlight the two things we need and the two things he offers us in our time of grief. And two responses by Jesus: truth and tears. Two identical statements by two heart-broken sisters– “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (v32). Then comes the amazing statement by the apostle, the shortest verse in the Bible: “Jesus wept” (v35). ‘Come and see, Lord,’ they replied” (vv33-35). “When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
Jesus responded to her sad statement with tears. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies and whoever lives and believes in me will never die.”Ī little later, when Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said exactly what Martha had said earlier– “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (v32). Jesus responded to her sad statement with truth.
On reaching him, she breathlessly blurted out, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (v21). When word reached the sisters that Jesus was nearing Bethany, Martha dropped everything and ran. Lazarus’ body had lain in a dark, cold tomb for four days. By the time he reached the outskirts of Bethany Lazarus had already been dead for four days. He received the message, but he stayed where he was for two more days before heading for Bethany. When Lazarus became ill the first thing these believing sisters did was send for Jesus. There his body had been strengthened by the hearty meals of Martha and his spirit refreshed by the spiritual hunger of Mary. Their home had been an oasis for Jesus, a place to lay his head, an escape from the stress of ministry and the relentless hounding of the religious leaders.
Their hearts were broken, their future bleak. Their family had been robbed by the monster death. Lazarus was dead, and the dark cloud of grief had descended upon his sisters, Martha and Mary. This is a sermon preached at Gray’s funeral by his brother Leigh Robinson, who is the senior pastor of Rosebank Union Church in Johannesburg, South Africa.ĭeath had visited the little home in Bethany two miles from Jerusalem.
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