Responses to a Resurrection

Sermon preached by Pastor C. John Steer

Autumn Ridge Church, Rochester, MN

May 31 and June 1, 2008

 

 

Scripture:       John 11:45-12:19

No. 16:                   John’s Gospel

 

 

The resurrection lies at the heart of Christianity.

Without the resurrection Jesus is just a misguided man who may deserve our sympathy.

With the resurrection Jesus is the Messiah of God before whom we bow in reverence and awe. 

 

Recently I had a conversation with a fellow who was struggling with the Christian faith. He had questions about creation, the reliability of scripture and the subject of freewill. 

I suggested we began our discussion by considering the resurrection. 

 

I asked him if he could believe that Jesus Christ rose from the dead.  He said he could. I replied that a God who can raise the dead is more than capable of creating the world, preserving the accuracy of his word and holding in tension the twin truths of God’s sovereignty and human responsibility.

 

Paul recognized the central importance of the resurrection when he wrote, “If Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith.” (1 Corinthians 15:14)

Therefore our understanding of the resurrection is all important.  So please turn to John chapter 11 in your Bible and the message outline.

 

Last week we heard Jesus make the amazing claim, “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.” (John 11:25 & 26)

 

That statement was followed by Jesus’ greatest miracle which was the raising of Lazarus from the dead.

This sign pointed to Jesus’ own resurrection.

Some people weaken the meaning of resurrection.

They say that Jesus rose in a spiritual sense or he lived on in the memory of his disciples.

 

But Lazarus shows us what resurrection is really like.

Lazarus didn’t rise spiritually but bodily.

He came out of the tomb with the result that the tomb was empty. There was no dead corpse in the grave because Lazarus’ body was walking around in the Judean sunshine.

 

That is the Christian hope. 

We will not be disembodied spirits after death.

We will have perfect physical bodies able to eat, walk, touch and live in a physical world.

 

Scripture clearly teaches that the moment we die our soul goes to be with Christ which is far better. 

Our body may be laid in a grave, but that is just a temporary resting place.

When Jesus Christ returns again to this earth Paul tells us that “The dead in Christ will rise first.” (1 Thessalonians 4:16) 

 

That means that those in the grave will rise with perfect resurrection bodies. “After that, says Paul, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air.”  (1 Thessalonians 4:17)

 

We will then enjoy unending life in the new heaven and new earth which has been redeemed by the cross and guaranteed by the resurrection.

 

Those statements I have just made about resurrection are revolutionary.

They have got people thrown into prison and even killed, because not everyone agrees with them.

In John chapter 11 and 12 we read of four different responses to the resurrection. Most of us here today fit one of them.

As we go through them ask yourself which applies to you.

 

RESPONSE NUMBER ONE IS FEAR.

This is the official view – the government view. 

Those in power cannot allow for resurrection.

It undermines their authority because a God who can raise the dead demands that you take him seriously.  

Lazarus’ very existence is a threat to people like this.

“So the chief priest made plans to kill Lazarus.” (12:10)

 

This closing section of John chapter 11 reeks of fear.

The religious leaders quickly call a meeting of the Sanhedrin.

The Sanhedrin was the central court of the Jewish people.

It was concerned with the political and religious life of Israel.
It had absolute authority within the limits permitted by Rome.

There were about 70 members.

 

Most of them were Sadducees who did not believe in the doctrine of resurrection at all.

Jesus’ action in raising Lazarus is an offense to their belief system.  To accept Lazarus’ resurrection means they will have to abandon their world view.

 

You can hear the fear in their voices when they say, “If we let Jesus go on like this, everyone will believe in him and then the Romans will come and take away both our place and our nation.” (11:48) 

They knew that Rome would leave them alone if they practiced a harmless, innocuous faith. 

But if dead people were coming back to life, that was a different matter. The Roman authorities could stop them from using their precious temple.

 

Caiaphas, the high priest, points out a way to keep the peace when he says, “It is better . . . that one man die for the people than the whole nation perish.” (11:50)

Caiaphas is an unwitting prophet as well as a priest for here he proclaims the substitutionary death of Jesus who will go to the cross to save, not only the nation of Israel, but the nations of the world.

 

 

Is it fear that keeps you from following Christ?

If you accept the resurrection it will change the way you live and cause all sorts of problems.  It is best to set a guard over the tomb and make sure that dead men tell no tales.

 

THE SECOND RESPONSE TO THE RESURRECTION IS TEARS.

Jesus is now back in Bethany where there is a dinner given in his honor. Two of the gospels tell us it was held in the home of Simon the leper.

One of the other guests is getting all the attention. 

He is Lazarus.

Everybody is trying not to stare at him but failing dismally. 

 

Lazarus had two sisters Mary and Martha.

They were both single and quite different in their personalities.

Martha is busy serving. That’s her passion.

She sees a need and jumps in to fill it.

 

Mary is about to perform an act that is going to be remembered forever. “Mary took a pint of pure nard, an expensive perfume; she poured it on Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair.” (12:3)

 

Unlike the religious authorities Mary doesn’t care what anybody thinks. In those days it was a disgrace for a woman to let her hair down in public.

 

N.T. Wright asks us to think about an elegant formal dinner in our own day where a woman lifts up her long skirt to her thighs.

That gives us some idea of the shock and embarrassment this action of Mary’s would cause. 

It was the job of the lowest servant or slave to wash the feet but Mary gladly takes that role as she wipes Jesus’ feet with her long flowing hair.

 

Not only did Mary not care what others thought she didn’t care about the cost. This perfume came from India.

It was immensely expensive, costing a whole year’s wages. 

Think what you earned last year and imagine giving that all to God in one extravagant offering.

 

Luke tells us that Mary was crying. He may have been describing another incident but I don’t think it is hard to imagine Mary weeping here in this emotionally charged moment.

Jesus had given her, her brother back.

These are tears of thanksgiving and joy.

 

John tells us, “The house was filled with the fragrance of the perfume.” (12:3) The church fathers applied that verse to the church which for 2000 years has been filled with the aroma of Mary’s sacrificial act of anointing.

 

Does the resurrection of Jesus cause that sort of response in us?  I think it has.

Your response to the It’s Time Campaign has been extraordinary.

For many it involved reckless sacrifice.

 

You have poured your rare perfume over the feet of Jesus.

This church campus exists for his glory, to proclaim his greatness and to offer his salvation to the world. I believe Jesus is pleased.

 

THE THIRD RESPONSE IS JEERS

There is at least one person who is not remotely impressed with Mary’s action. His name is Judas Iscariot.

He is one of Jesus’ own disciples but he is still critical of Mary.

He pooh-poohs the whole thing but covers his sneers with a spiritual veneer asking “Why wasn’t this perfume sold and the money given to the poor?” (John 12:5)

 

Let’s take that question at face value. 

Is it right for Christians to give money to God when there are so many needy people in the world?

I was asked that question about this sanctuary. 

 

One young man suggested that instead of building this new campus we should have given the money to the poor.

I told him I didn’t think this was a matter of one or the other but of both.

 

It is appropriate that God’s people should have a beautiful place in order to worship him.  But I expressed my hope that because this church exists the poor will be helped far more during the life of this building than a one time gift could ever have achieved.

 

I am so grateful that in the past year you have given so generously to support the poor in Sudan and in Guinea with the Compassion Evangelical Hospital.

 

However, John tells us that Judas was not being honest adding, “Judas did not say this because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief; as keeper of the money bag, he used to help himself to what was put into it.” (12:6)

 

There was a self-serving dimension of Judas’ objection.

If the perfume had been sold and the money entrusted to him he could have made generous contributions to the Judas Iscariot Trust Fund. Judas is a man who knows the price of everything and the value of nothing. I’ve noticed that the people who criticize giving to Jesus don’t give much to the poor either. And those who do give to him are also generous in their giving to the poor.

Jesus sides with Mary rather than Judas when he commands,

“Leave her alone.  It was intended, that she should save this perfume for the day of my burial.” (12:7) 

 

“It was intended.” There was a divine purpose in Mary’s deed which was the preparation of Jesus’ body for the day of his death.

Exactly a week later Jesus’ body would be lying in the tomb.

Jesus approves Mary’s extravagance because of the heart of love behind it.

 

He adds, “You will always have the poor among you, but you will not always have me.” (12:8)

Now Jesus is not dismissing the concerns of the poor. Elsewhere he teaches how helping the poor is a central part of the gospel.

Rather Jesus is reminding us that in our concern for the poor we must not neglect the proclamation of his sacrifice for us.

The cross must control every aspect of our life including our giving to the poor. Our motivation for giving is gratitude for what Jesus has done for us.

 

Mary represented this balance well. 

The name Bethany means, “the house of the poor.” 

It is quite possible that Bethany was a hospice where the poor and needy were assisted.

Mary gladly did that day by day but here she has this unique opportunity to show her love for Jesus.

 

She could have kept this perfume for another day but then the moment would have passed.

So let us seize every chance we have for doing good.

 

Thomas Carlyle was a brilliant historian but a rotten husband. After his wife died he was filled with remorse for failing to appreciate her while she was alive. 

He said, “If only I could see her but once more, were it but for five minutes, to let her know that I always loved her. She never did know, never.”

Now is the time to serve Jesus, who said of Mary, “She has done a beautiful thing to me.” (Matthew 26:10)

 

THE FOURTH RESPONSE IS CHEERS

We now come to the events of Palm Sunday.

It is interesting how John puts the entire Palm Sunday episode in the context of the raising of Lazarus.

 

He tells us, “Now the crowd that was with Jesus when he called Lazarus from the tomb and raised him from the dead continued to spread the word. Many people, because they had heard that he had given this miraculous sign, went out to meet him.” (12:17-18)

 

I confess to you this is the first time I have really seen the connection between the raising of Lazarus and the events of Palm Sunday.

 This is the value of reading the whole gospel instead of just taking one episode out of context.

 

Look how the pilgrims greet Jesus.

 

“They took palm branches and went out to meet him, shouting, ‘Hosanna!’ Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord! Blessed is the King of Israel.” (12:13)

Only the Messiah could raise the dead and so they give Jesus this messianic title of King of Israel.

 

To affirm their understanding of his identity Jesus found a young donkey and sat upon it in order to fulfill the prophecy of Zachariah, “Do not be afraid, O Daughter of Zion; see, your king is coming, seated on a donkey’s colt.” (12:15)

 

Jesus announces his kingship but he is King like no other.

He does not come on a war horse but gentle and riding on a donkey. His will be a reign of peace and universal justice.

 

The Pharisees realized their plans to sideline Jesus have not worked and in exasperation they say, “Look how the whole world has gone after him!” (12:19)

 

They are certainly using hyperbole but there is truth in their statement because the peoples of the world do go after the one who is the resurrection and the life.

 

And so we see in this passage how Jesus uses the resurrection to draw a line in the sand.
We either reject it or receive it.

We try to kill the one who is the resurrection and the life or we accept his free gift of eternal life.

 

Both responses are found in this passage.

But there will always be those who choose life over death.

We read, “Many of the Jews were going over to Jesus and putting their faith in him.” (12:11)

How about you?  What is your response to the resurrection?

Is it fears, tears, jeers or cheers?