SERMON: I AM THE RESURRECTION AND THE LIFE

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Preached by Gregory W. Lee

9 September 2007

I. Introduction
-- turn in Bibles to John 11:25
25. Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;
26. and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"

-- in May of 1940, the people of Britain were facing their darkest hour -- their former prime minister, Neville Chamberlain, had sought to appease Hitler and the German army by offering them the right to attack a province of Czechoslovakia, thinking that would be the end of Germany's advance
-- but, Hitler continued to march through Europe, taking over all of Czechoslovakia and then sending his army to Poland -- because of this, the British declared war on Germany and promptly voted Chamberlain out of office
-- he was replaced by Winston Churchill, but it seemed to be too little, too late, to stop the advance of Hitler in Europe
-- on May 26, 1940, less than one month after Churchill took office, the British army suffered an astounding defeat -- British troops in Dunkirk on the Belgian coast were forced to retreat and flee Europe in the face of a large-scale German offensive
-- by this time, Hitler had taken over all of mainland Europe -- including Belgium and France -- and now he was turning the full force and fury of the German military against England itself
-- the people huddled in their homes, shuddering at the thought of the Germans coming against their home land -- their army stood in defeat, massing on the shores of Britain in a last-ditch effort to stop Hitler's approach
-- but in the midst of the approaching darkness -- in the moment hope had been abandoned and it looked like all was lost -- just when the people needed a savior to promise hope and life and a future, Winston Churchill stood up in the House of Commons and delivered a message to the people of England
-- he said, "What General Weygand called the Battle of France is over -- I expect that the Battle of Britain is about to begin -- Upon this battle depends the survival of Christian civilization -- Upon it depends our own British life, and the long continuity of our institutions and our Empire
-- the whole fury and might of the enemy must very soon be turned on us -- Hitler knows that he will have to break us in this Island or lose the war -- if we can stand up to him, all Europe may be free and the life of the world may move forward into broad, sunlit uplands
-- but, if we fail, then the whole world, including the United States, including all that we have known and cared for, will sink into the abyss of a new Dark Age made more sinister, and perhaps more protracted, by the lights of perverted science
-- let us therefore brace ourselves to our duties -- and so bear ourselves that, if the British Empire and its Commonwealth last for a thousand years, men will still say, "This was their finest hour.""
-- with that speech, Churchill spoke light into the gathering darkness -- with that speech, he resurrected hope and the will of the British people to stand against the evil of Hitler and the German military -- and with that speech, he turned the war around and brough forth the determination and the courage that was needed to defeat Germany and her allies

-- in life, we face many different types of battles -- usually, we are not facing battles against military foes like the British were facing in 1940 -- our battles are the trials and storms of life -- sickness and death -- financial problems -- relationship problems -- temptations and sin coming our way -- just the everyday stuff of life
-- some of the battles we face are minor -- just bumps in the road of life that don't cause any real heartache or concern
-- but other battles are more difficult -- lingering sicknesses -- wayward children -- unfaithful spouses -- the death of a loved one -- battles with sin and temptation that we seem powerless to defeat
-- it is in these battles of life that we find our backs up against the wall -- fighting against something that we really can't understand -- and finding ourselves living from day to day without any hope of victory -- some days it seems like the darkness is just going to overcome us and consume us
-- but, as the old adage says, it is always darkest before the dawn -- and just when it seems that life can't get any darker -- just when it seems that the battle can't get any worse -- just when it seems that we are facing sure and certain defeat at the hand of our enemy -- God shows up
-- the Bible has been called a love letter from God -- but it is more than that -- it is a manual of war -- in its pages, it tells of battles fought and battles won -- it tells of valiant heroes who stood against a tide of rising darkness -- but it also tells the story of those who fell in the midst of the struggle
-- however, throughout scripture, one theme remains constant -- a Savior is coming -- one who will take the battle to the very gates of hell and who will stand victorious at the last day

II. Scripture Lesson
-- if you would, look with me now at John 11, and let's read about one of these battles
1. Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha.
2. This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.
3. So the sisters sent word to Jesus, "Lord, the one you love is sick."
4. When he heard this, Jesus said, "This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God's glory so that God's Son may be glorified through it."
5. Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.
6. Yet when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.
-- for Mary and Martha -- the two sisters from Bethany -- no day had ever seemed darker than the one they now faced -- no battle had ever seemed so great -- no enemy so overwhelming
-- their beloved brother, Lazarus -- their provider and benefactor and the head of their household -- was sick and nigh unto death -- what would happen if Lazarus was to die? -- how would they live? -- where would they get food? -- who would protect them and watch over them?
-- Palestine in the first century was not an easy place to live -- especially if you were Jewish and living in an occupied land -- and especially if you were unmarried women
-- their battle loomed large -- their future looked dark -- and so they turned to the one person they knew who could come to their aid
-- at this time, Jesus was in the midst of His ministry -- He had been going throughout Israel -- preaching and teaching and healing -- He had fed the five thousand with just five loaves and two fish -- He had walked on water across the Sea of Galillee -- and He had healed the blind, the lame, and the crippled
-- now, I want you to understand what was going on -- this was a time of darkness on earth -- ever since Adam and Eve fell in the Garden of Eden -- ever since they gave into temptation and disobeyed God -- Satan and the powers of darkness had controlled the earth -- Satan held in his hand the power of sin and death -- and all mankind was under his control and his authority
-- but now Jesus has come -- proclaiming that He was the Messiah -- proclaiming that He was the light of the world -- the gate through which men and women might come to heaven -- the bread of life that brought healing and restoration -- the Good Shepherd who would lead His flock to fields of safety
-- everything that Jesus said -- everything that Jesus did -- was a blow against satan -- it was a strike against the darkness -- it was a military advance in the battle for the souls of humans -- bringing light and hope and courage to fallen men
-- and so satan struck back by attacking Lazarus, someone that Jesus loved and cared about deeply -- this was not a battle to see if Jesus could heal -- He had already proven that -- this was a battle of life and death

-- skip down to verse 11
11. After he had said this, he went on to tell them, "Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up."
12. His disciples replied, "Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better."
13. Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
14. So then he told them plainly, "Lazarus is dead,
15. and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him."
-- by tempting Adam and Eve to sin, satan had brought death into the world -- and now he has caused Lazarus to die -- not simply to just prove that he could do it -- but to issue a direct challenge to Jesus -- "you claim to be the Son of God -- you claim to be the Messiah -- now what are you going to do about Lazarus"

-- verse 20
20. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
21. "Lord," Martha said to Jesus, "if you had been here, my brother would not have died.
22. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask."
23. Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."
24. Martha answered, "I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
-- Martha -- the sister that we like to use as an example because she chose being busy in service to the Lord instead of choosing to sit at Jesus' feet like her sister Mary -- Martha shows a depth of faith in her response to the coming of Jesus
-- she knew that Jesus could have healed Lazarus if He had come in time -- but even now she trusted that in the end -- when Jesus established His kingdom and when the resurrection of the dead occurred -- that Jesus would raise her brother from the dead and she would see him again
-- in answer to her faith, Jesus responded with His most powerful "I Am" statement -- verse 25
25. Jesus said to her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies;
26. and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?"
-- in this statement, Jesus does several things -- first, He points out that the resurrection is not just something that happens at the last day -- it is something that He is bringing about Himself -- Jesus is the resurrection -- He is the gate to eternal life -- it is only through Him that the resurrection occurs
-- secondly, Jesus points out that the battle has shifted -- no longer does satan control the power of death on earth -- no longer does satan have the power to take lives forever -- Jesus is life -- and not only does He have the power to bring life through His preaching and teaching and healing -- but He has the power to raise the dead to life now -- at this very moment -- and not just on the last day
-- when satan killed Lazarus, he was daring Jesus to do something -- and Jesus was pronouncing that He was about to do just that -- He was going to demonstrate His power and His authority over all life -- even life beyond the grave

-- verse 28
28. And after she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. "The Teacher is here," she said, "and is asking for you."
29. When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him.
30. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him.
31. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
32. When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
33. When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.
-- verse 33 is interesting -- the NIV tells us that when Jesus saw Mary and the other Jews weeping with grief at the death of Lazarus that He was deeply moved in His spirit and troubled -- other translations say that the sight of Mary and the Jews weeping stirred Jesus to anger
-- what caused such extreme emotions in Jesus? -- was it just the loss of a friend -- of someone He loved? -- no, I don't think so -- I think it was related to the whole battle that had been going on since the fall of Adam and Eve
-- Jesus was moved in His spirit -- He became troubled and angry -- not just at the loss of His friend Lazarus -- but at the power of death itself
-- it was not God's original intent for death and sin to stalk mankind -- it was not God's original intent for us to live in fear of death -- this was brought about by an attack from the enemy, and it made Jesus angry

-- so Jesus asked to be taken to the place where Lazarus lay -- verse 34
34. "Where have you laid him?" he asked. "Come and see, Lord," they replied.
35. Jesus wept.
36. Then the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"
37. But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"
38. Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance.
-- once again, the Bible tells us that Jesus was deeply moved -- He became visibly emotional and angry when He stood before the tomb of Lazarus and was face to face with the sign of the enemy in the life of someone He loved

-- verse 39
39. "Take away the stone," he said. "But, Lord," said Martha, the sister of the dead man, "by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days."
40. Then Jesus said, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"
41. So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me.
42. 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."
43. When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"
44. The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, "Take off the grave clothes and let him go."
--how amazing would it have been to hear Jesus cry out, "Lazarus, come forth" -- think about it -- the same voice that spoke life into being at the start of time now spoke life into the dead
-- "take off the grave clothes," Jesus said, "and let Lazarus go" -- with these words, Jesus proclaimed Himself as the Resurrection and the Life -- freeing Lazarus, not only from the cold grip of death in the tomb -- but from the power of Satan that had held this world in bondage for thousands of years

III. Closing
-- so what does this story of Lazarus mean to us? -- I think C.S. Lewis captured the importance of this event in his story, "The Lion, The Witch, and the Wardrobe" -- if you remember this story, the world of Narnia has been held under the cruel grip of the white witch for thousands of years -- darkness and cold had gripped the land -- and it was always winter -- never spring
-- the inhabitants of Narnia had begun to lose hope that anything could be done -- that Narnia could be freed from the white witch
-- but then whispers of a savior began to be heard in the land -- Aslan -- the lion king -- the savior of Narnia -- is on the move -- bringing with him hope and encouragement
-- and when he comes, he will take the battle straight to the evil queen -- and will shatter her power over Narnia -- restoring the land to goodness and ushering in a time of peace and righteousness
-- in the midst of the battles in our lives -- when it seems that the darkness is closing in on us -- when it seems as if all hope is lost -- a whisper can still be heard -- the voice of Jesus crying out, "I am the Resurrection and the Life"
-- in the midst of the battle, it might seem like the darkness is winning -- it might seem like our very life is in the balance -- but Jesus says otherwise -- His words bring hope and encouragement and tell us that He is on the move -- the battle has already been won -- and He has released us from our grave clothes and from the power of Satan and death and sin
-- no longer do we need to live in fear of death or the things of this world -- Jesus has overcome the world -- and we have overcome through Him
-- if you have received Jesus as your Lord and Savior -- if you have asked Him to come into your life and to forgive you of your sins -- then He has shattered the chains of satan and given you the power to stand against the storms of life
-- as Christians, we know that the struggles of life are not the end of the story -- as Christians we know that death is not the final answer -- as Christians, we put our hope in the One who tells us, "I am the Resurrection -- I am 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 have that faith today? -- can you trust in those words today? -- if not, then I invite you to receive Jesus and the power of Resurrection and Life by asking Him to forgive you of your sins and to be your Lord and Savior today
-- let us pray