FULLY HUMAN- FULLY GOD

  

FULLY HUMAN-FULLY GOD

As Jesus walked in the temple some Jews asked him, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” “I and the Father are one,” Jesus said it directly and the Jews picked up stones to stone him. Well, Jesus and his disciples left town and stayed away until he received word that his friend, Lazarus, had fallen ill. Jesus loved all three of them. He dined with them. Martha welcomed him and also served him as Mary listened to His teaching. He knew them personally and because He loved them, He stayed away for another two days. Then he told his disciples that Lazarus had died and they needed to go to back to Judea. It was a risky idea, but Thomas the Twin, spoke up: “Let us go and die with him.” Let us follow him wherever he leads us because our faith demands it.

So they returned to Bethany… and Martha met Jesus on the road. “If you had been here,” she said, “my brother would not have died.” I suspect many of us can relate to her in moments like this. If you had been with us, Lord, my brothers, Larry and Randy, would not have died. If you had been here my spouse would not have died, or my mother. My child would not have died if you had been here, Lord. I was praying and hoping for a miracle, but I can accept that your will… will be done! Back in our passage, we hear Jesus saying, your brother will rise again, and Martha answered, “I know that he will rise on the last day.” Someday, in some way, shape, or form, my brother, will rise again, but Jesus answered, “I am the resurrection and the life.” Everyone who lives and believes in me will never die- do you believe this… Martha? Everyone who lives in me will never die! Do you believe in this… Linda? Judy? Jack, Barbara, Ken? Do you believe that everyone who lives- black and white, Presbyterian and Pentecostal, rich and poor, loveable and not so loveable- will never die if they trust in Christ Jesus?

Then Mary encountered Jesus with tears in her eyes, and in a verse that tells me all that I need to know about Jesus being fully God and fully human, Jesus asked, “where have you laid him?”… and according to John, Jesus became greatly disturbed in Spirit and visibly moved. And he sobbed! He knew that he was about to raise Lazarus, but when he stood with Martha and Mary- and when he stands with us when we are empty, when we’re clinging to faith, when grief is all we know- he broke down himself. Out of compassion, love, and empathy, the Son of Man was deeply moved. Our Savior is with us in the darkest and deepest of valleys. He is with us when we can scarcely speak. He participates in our struggles because He is fully human and fully God. Amen!

He asked Mary to take him to Lazarus’ tomb, which was closed with a large stone (just as Jesus’ own tomb would be closed). Then he said a prayer and in a loud voice, he cried “LAZARUS. COME OUT!” and Lazarus came out from his grave. But he was alive, but his hands and feet were wrapped with strips of burial linen, and a burial cloth was around his face. And Jesus gave those who were gathered something to do. He said, “Unbind him… and let him go.” And so, we are told that we have a Savior who meets us in our grief, who joins us in our tears, who knows that saying goodbye breaks our hearts and tests our faith. We have a Savior who doesn’t write poems about being brave in the face of emptiness and loss, but confronts them face-to-face. It’s been 35 years and well more than a hundred funerals ago now, but I remember them all. I remember that last time my brother, Larry, and I listened to “Me and Bobby McGee” together when he was dying in Baylor Hospital. I remember sitting with Jeff and Kelly when they were facing death. Jeff was as gracious and gentle as any man could be and he loved His Lord, but on the night I am talking about, Jeff was looking for a sign from God. I remember Connie and the tears that mother Mary cried at her grave. She was strong, but when we all stood to leave, she sobbed and needed a helping hand. Oh, let’s praise God because our Savior is fully God- powerful enough to raise the dead and our Savior is fully human—tender enough to weep beside a grave.

Martha held grief and belief together and Jesus responded with one of the most powerful declarations in all of Scripture: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” Well, the raising of Lazarus was impressive and the word spread rapidly. People were excited about a man who could share their tears and also give them new life. Jesus was becoming more popular and the Pharisees were concerned. They didn’t know what to do… until the High Priest, Caiaphas, spoke up and said, “It is better that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.' In Caiaphas’s view, it was obvious and Jesus’ fate was sealed. Amen.