John 11:17-27
Resurrection Power Here and Now

On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.

"Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."

Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."

Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."

Jesus said to her, "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. Do you believe this?"

"Yes, Lord," she told him, "I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world."

New International Version

This passage comes from one of the most dramatic stories in the Gospel accounts. Lazarus, a close friend and devoted follower of Jesus, had been dead for several days. His family and friends wondered why the Master did not come and heal him while Lazarus was sick, and we can feel the confusion, despair, and sorrow in Mary and Martha when Jesus finally arrived. At the same time, Jesus' disciples were fearful that Jesus would dare to visit Bethany, so close to Jerusalem where Jesus' enemies were plotting his destruction.

At this point in the story, we as readers are confronted with a bewildered and grieving sister. She was eager to see Jesus, but at the same time, I think she felt that she had run out of hope. I get that sense from her remark that appears to chastise Jesus for not coming sooner, and from her subsequent vague statement that, somehow, God would honor Jesus' requests. My perception is that Martha no longer knew what to ask for--every option she had to save Lazarus was gone, and she was left with no logical alternative but to give up.

To Martha, it must have seemed Jesus picked a poor time to discuss theology. Yes, she said, Lazarus would rise "at the last day", and Martha was too polite to add "but I hurt now!"

I have listened to a cascade of hurt from friends this week: aching and confused parents, sick babies, people with medical conditions that confound doctors, people waiting as medical treatments are delayed yet again, people seeking elusive resolutions for career and relationship quandaries. We each know people all around us who harbor desperate questions for which there seem to be no answers, and we have all pondered those oppressive questions at some time in our lives.

To these friends, what we have to offer is Christ, "the resurrection and the life". We do not offer merely a miracle that occurred 2000 years ago outside of Jerusalem, and we dare not offer merely a promise of what will occur "at the last day." Jesus did not die to establish a historical milestone or to provide future blessings "in the sweet by and by".

When all our hope is gone except our faith in Christ, we find we have more than everything we need. The Resurrection is a past event, a future promise, and a present reality. I think Martha understood this truth by the end of this dialog with Jesus. I believe that when she went to tell her sister Mary that Jesus had arrived, she knew that whatever had happened and whatever would happen was safely in God's hands. Jesus, to demonstrate the power of the present reality of the resurrection, called Lazarus out of the tomb and reversed the irrevocable reality of death. Not only did Jesus raise Lazarus, and a widow's son and a priest's daughter in other passages, but Jesus himself conquered death after his execution.

As Jesus did so often, he confounded the expectations of those around him in this story. Resurrection power still works that way today, defying our attempts to control and shape it to our will, so that we are drawn deeper into God's Will. Resurrection power nurtures faith. Resurrection power heals souls and bodies. Resurrection power brings peace to troubled hearts. Resurrection power brings inconceivable joy in difficult situations. Resurrection power brings abundant life, here and now, and eternal life when this life is over.