John 11 - Life from the Dead

Why Jesus waits
Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  (v. 21)

When Lazarus became dangerously ill, his sisters sent for Jesus.  It was at least five days, maybe a week or more, before Jesus arrived. (That all depends how far away he was the southern reaches of Galilee would be two days' journey). He doesn't start out for two days.  What's going on? Why does he wait?

Firstly, the delay is not a reflection of how Jesus feels about Mary, Martha and Lazarus.  He loves them dearly.   We often teach children that God's answer to our prayers can be a green light that says "Yes", a red light that says "No" or an amber light that says "Wait a while." But when God delays in answering our prayers, we often feel, that he has forgotten about us, or that somehow he is cross with us. He wasn't short of love.

Secondly, Jesus did not wait because he was afraid to go.  Sure, it would be dangerous. The Jewish authorities were out to get Jesus.  But why should Jesus be afraid of the situation in Judea? He is, after all, the Resurrection and the Life. When the time was right he came, even though Thomas, ever the cynic was saying, "Let's go with him - se we're ready to die with him!"   He wasn't short of courage.

Thirdly, Jesus didn't misunderstand the message.  In fact, he knew more than the messenger told him.  The Holy Spirit revealed to him when Lazarus died.  (v. 11-14) and he knew what he was going to do in the situation.  He wasn't short of knowledge. There's perfect timing at work here: four days in Jewish thinking is the "point of no return".  The first three days after a death were days of the most intense mourning.  The soul of the departed was thought to be nearby until the fourth day.  Jesus had waited until the right moment, when hope has been completely relinquished, then he is there, ready to intervene. Like in the story of the man born blind, Jesus wants to demonstrate something of the power and character of his Father, so the "Glory of God" might be seen (v. 40) and people might believe (v. 15)

When will we learn to accept the element of mystery in God's delays? He still loves us; he is doing what is best; not necessarily teaching us something; not necessarily withholding his gifts for ever... there may be purposes that we can only guess at.  We need to trust him, love him and live with the mystery.

Who Jesus is
Martha continues with a hint at faith: "even now I know God answers your prayers" (v 22) Maybe no more than "Jesus, your prayers can give us some peace right now."   Jesus goes on to talk about the resurrection. Martha can, in faith, look forward to the coming of Messiah, the end of time when the dead are raised.  Jesus comes out with another of those "I am" sayings. "I am the resurrection and the life." In other words

• I am... Whenever Jesus says "I am" in John's gospel, he is pointing us bakc to Exodus 3. 14, where God says "I am who I am".
•  I am messiah; these are the last days.  
• I am Creator, one with the father.  The life I give is the "very life of the deathless god himself" (to quote Bruce Milne.  I am the one who spoke life into creation.

Because Jesus is who he is, resurrection life starts now.  The Kingdom is present; it is here, now.  Resurrection is not something to be looked forward to in a future life: the future is now.  Those who believe in me, though they die physically will live.  Those who believe in me, will, spiritually, never die.  Martha, do you believe this?  "Well, I believe you're Messiah." It's a start! This is the point.  Jesus is the resurrection and the life.

How Jesus Feels
Martha runs off to fetch Mary - the younger, more intuitive and spiritually sensitive of the two sisters.  The three days of intense mourning may be over, but Mary's grief is still as intense.  She falls at Jesus feet in a flood of tears.  Jesus is in the midst of all this raw emotion.  What is going on inside him? How does Jesus feel?  Is he simply dealing in the hard facts of Scriptural truth?

Jesus is angry.  Verse 33 is translated something like "Jesus was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled."  English translators have let us down here. Troubled, groaning, deeply moved, sad, upset - all are inadequate translations.  Jesus was angry in spirit.  He was angry and what Calvin calls the "vicious tyranny" of death.  "What is this gatecrasher doing here in God's world?"

Tunnel on Hafod Estate,
Photo by G Lilly

Jesus is sad.  Verse 35 is the shortest verse in the Bible - and one of the biggest.  "Jesus wept."  Looking at the grave, all closed up, Jesus burst into tears.  What Mary is feeling, the sadness of loss, the broken state of God's world, just gets to Jesus and the tears flow.  There's an old hymn that says "when human hearts are breaking under sorrow's iron rod - all the sorrow, all the aching wrings with pain the heart of God."

What Jesus does 
Firstly, he tells them to move the stone. (v 39)    The stench if death and rotting flesh wafts out.  "Let's take the lid off this situation and face the full reality of it."  We need to take a look at our world: to take note of what's decaying and in need of kingdom healing and life; and to take note of what's good and in need of kingdom blessing. Remember the fields are white for harvest. (Jn 4.35 cf Le 10. 2) There is a harvest out there. Take the lid off and see it.

There and then, with the smell of death in his nostrils, he prays. Jesus' whole life is prayer - fellowship with his father. He doesn't need to say much in this prayer.  But he wants to show everyone that he is depending on his father so that those who watch and listen will believe.  Someone said, "Bold prayers honour God; God honours bold prayers"  Let's learn - for the sake of demonstrating the Kingdom - to pray bold prayers, prayers for life with the stench of death in our nostrils.

Secondly, he shouts to Lazarus: "Come out".  Lazarus is dead.  The smell of rotting flesh emanates from the tomb.  And Jesus orders him to come out.  He is the resurrection and the life.  He has the authority.  He speaks, and listening to his voice new life the dead receive.

When Jesus speaks ... 
Things happen!  Amazingly, Lazarus comes out of the tomb. When Jesus speaks this creative, powerful word, death itself lets go of Lazarus, and Lazarus emerges from the cave, warped in the grave cloths.  Jesus has authority.  The dead hear his voce. Death itself obeys his voice.  

The Raising of Lazarus
15th Century Russian Icon
in Public Domain

We respond. "Unwrap him and let him go!" says Jesus.  What are the bystanders going to do? Gawp at the miracle, or do what he says?   The onlookers are invited to get involved.  When Jesus speaks his creative word, we are not invited to listen. We are summoned to respond. We have to get involved in the things Jesus is doing.  For us today at Rosyth Baptist church, God is calling.  "I am speaking new life, speaking wholeness and freedom where there is the stench of decay.  Get involved; get your hands dirty!"

But there were some who in response to all this, were saying something different: "What can we do? As news of this travels, everyone will turn to him.  We need to stop this guy!"  When Jesus speaks, there will always be those who will want to silence Him.

When Jesus speaks, you can't hear his voice and carry on as normal.  You have to get involved.  Or not. But you can't ignore him. There will always be those who will speak against him....  When Jesus speaks, we respond.

Now is the day of salvation.  Now is a day when Jesus speaks, and acts to demonstrate the Father's love.  He calls us to engage with that.. How are we going to respond?

© Gilmour Lilly August 2012

The Father's Love: Luke 15. 11-32.

In this story of the "Prodigal Son", who did you identify with? For some of us, it's the father, dumped on, taken for granted, abandoned, grieving, shouted at.  For some of us, it's big brother, feeling ill done by, critical, envious.  "Why does God allow things to happen? Why do other people get all the breaks? Why should I bail out people who get themselves in a mess?"  For some of us, it's the younger brother.  Looking for a good time; getting in a mess, scared and daunted at the possibility of getting it all sorted out.

He wouldn't be the first, nor the last young person to decide he wanted to be free from the restrictions and narrowness and sheer boredom of life at home, joining the family business, working for a lifetime, then retiring and passing things over to the next generation.  There was a big world out there and this young man wanted to get out and enjoy it.  So he asked his Dad for his share in the inheritance.  By any standards, that is pretty crass. It's as good as saying to his father, "Dad, why don't you just drop dead in a corner somewhere!" Sure, it sounds pretty reasonable at one level: "it's mine anyway; you've got all this money and I have none, and there is a big world out there. Some of us just aren't wired for a stay-at-home, respectable life."  But it was an immense and hurtful insult to his Dad, to all the family had worked for over the years - and indeed to the driving force and spiritual heart of the nation in which he lived.  The land was a sacred trust; it historically had been allocated to the family and wasn't supposed to pass out of the family. In fact it really belonged to God.  It was wrong at almost every level. And what did Dad do?  Did he stop him? No. Did he lecture him? No. He gave him what he had asked for and let him go.

It didn't take long for all the money to be spent. A party lifestyle is an expensive business. As long as he had money, he had friends to help him spend it. As soon as the money was gone, so were the friends!  He hit rock bottom. You won't find a pork pie at a bar-mitzvah: pigs are unclean animals to Jews as to Muslims.  You couldn't get much lower than slopping stuff out for pigs.  So there he is, until, starving, humiliated, embarrassed and scared, he worked out a little plan. "I'll go home and ask dad for a job.  Just mucking out for the minimum wage, but Dad's always been a good employer; I'll get a piece at lunch time... but I better work out what I'm gong to say."

Meanwhile, Dad is grieving.  He knows how long the money is likely to last. He figures that the younger son must be having a hard time by now. How he wishes he could just see him, hug him, look after him... Dad takes to spending every spare minute at the farm gate, looking down towards the main road.  Praying, hoping, watching, until one day he sees a stooped, ragged, broken figure walking hesitantly up the lane.  Dad recognised his son. And Dad ran. Now, in the Middle East 2000 years ago, mature men didn't run.  They walked at a dignified pace.  Running was for the teenagers, or slaves. If you wanted something urgently, you sent one of your lads, or you sent a slave.  You didn't run.  But this Dad ran.  He welcomed his lost son home, not as a slave but as a son; he honoured him and celebrated with him

I want to tell you that God is like that.  Despite the insults, the squandering of resources, the self-indulgences, the embarrassment and shame, God still loves you. He's out. Looking for you.  The first sign you show of coming to him, he comes running to meet you, to welcome you.  You have a loving heavenly Father who grieves over your mistakes, who cares for you, who seeks you and saves you.

That's what Jesus is all about:  Jesus told this story, along with two other shorter ones, in response to people moaning about the company he was keeping: "he hangs out with all the wrong kind of people..." He came and the mingled among the outcasts and the broken, walked alongside them in his life and his death, so that the outcasts and the broken could walk alongside him as sons and daughters of a heavenly Father. Dealing  with another rogue, Jesus says he came to seek and to save the lost. (Lk 19.10)

The whole of the Christian faith is about this Father's love.  It's not about being respectable, well-dressed, well-spoken, well-educated, well-behaved.  It's about coming to your heavenly Father and saying "I've messed up; I'm ashamed and embarrassed by some of the stuff in my life; will you have me back?"  And God says, "Yes! Welcome home! You're my son, my daughter; you belong; you're forgiven; I want to take care of you; let's party!"

But the big brother missed the party - or nearly did.  Busy on the farm, he came home for his tea, to be greeted with the sound of a party; to ask one of the labourers what was going on, and to be told, "Your wee brother has come home." And he ended up in a sulk... All of those negative feelings, jealousy, resentment, criticism, lashed out not just at his brother but also at his father for throwing this party.  Big brother was lost too: alienated from his father. But Dad had slipped out of the party, and was walking towards him, welcoming him in, too.

Maybe some of us are there. We've lived a respectable life. We're hard working and responsible. We feel God kind of owes us. Maybe we look down on people who have problems in their lives; maybe we get resentful and jealous and angry when we have struggles in our lives.  You know what? Father is out looking for you too.

Whoever you identify with in this story, I want to tell you that you have a Heavenly Father who is just like the father in this story.  This is the character of God himself.  Nothing needs to separate you from his love.  Not rebellion, nor guilt or shame, nor resentment or jealousy.  There is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents, who comes back. Come home. Turn around. Come into the party. This is always your heavenly Father's heart for you. To look for you, to welcome you. To forgive you, to clean you up. To restore you. To nurture you. To make you like himself.  

Many years ago when my youngest son was about six, we were out for a walk, climbing our local hill.  Now this hill had a number of places where the path was very muddy and slippery. Peter fell in the mud. I suspect that - encouraged by his brothers - he rolled in it. He came back to us covered from head to foot, looking a bit ridiculous. But he put his middy wee paw in mine and walked with me down that hill, as though he was six feet tall. Did I mind? No. That's your heavenly Father's love. He wants you to take his hand and walk with him, whatever mess you're in.

© Gilmour Lilly August 2012

John 9: The "Sixth sign - sight to the blind"

INTRODUCTION: It's kind of tempting to home in on the story of how Jesus did the sign in vv. 6-7.  OK, these verses give us some pointers for how to engage in the healing ministry:-
(a) Jesus spat on the ground and made mud and put it on the man's eyes.  (Maybe that's why people are so reluctant to come forward for healing prayer!) But it shows us a point of contact.  Spit was associated with healing in the ancient world. And spit from the Soon of God has to be specially powerful.  And the soil is the stuff we are made of.  God understands our humanity and uses points of contact where his power and our human-ness come together.  Laying-on of hands, anointing with oil, a prayer, or a listening ear are all human actions that can be points of contact for the power of God.
(b) Jesus sent the man to wash in the Pool of Siloam.  He had to do something, an act of obedience and an act of faith. Sometimes - not always - there is something we have to do to receive God's touch.  Sometimes it is a matter of asking.  Sometimes it is about stepping into the healing: stretch out your hand, get up and walk. Go home, your servant will get better.
(c) Jesus did it! When the man did what Jesus told him to, he came back seeing!

But this isn't just a nice story like you could tell to the kids: "Once upon a time there was a blind man who came to Jesus and Jesus healed him. The End."  It takes the whole chapter to tell the story. The real message of this sign is in the 4 conversations that happened around it...

Conversation 1: Whose sin caused him to be born blind? (Verses 1-5)
The disciples believed - as most Jews did - that blessings, health and prosperity were rewards for being good; and that problems and tragedies were a punishment for being bad. Plain and simple.   They lived in a world of simple absolutes, rewards and consequences.  Because the Old Testament doesn't have a clear vision of heaven and hell, where rewards and punishments could be expected, they saw all the rewards and punishments in this life only. And as a result they were left with a rather ugly, harsh view of God.  So when they see this blind man, they ask Jesus "Who sinned to caused him to be born blind?"  But Jesus doesn't buy that idea.  His answer is "Neither - but the result of it will be that God's work is seen in him."

We need a right understanding of suffering.  If we decide that God sends all sorts of bad things in to our lives to teach us things, to punish us for past sins, it causes two problems.
(a) It messes up mission. We represent God as a very harsh and ugly being, rather than the loving heavenly father we find in the Bible.  People talk al lot about the question "does god exist?"  But there is another question. "Is God good?  Is God nice?"
(b) It messes up the healing ministry. If God sends all these things along, who are we to seek to be healed or set free?    But Jesus says "as long as it is day, we must do the works of the one who sent me."  (Note Jesus says "We."  It's Not just Jesus, it's Jesus and us!)  In the healing ministry we need to keep the space for mystery in how we understand suffering and in how we engage in healing: a crude world of rewards and consequences, of absolutes, where everything has an obvious explanation - whether sickness as Gods judgement, or lack of faith or whatever, messes up the healing ministry. We need the essential element of mystery.  "Father, how are you going to make your work seen in this station?  Through healing? Through triumphing over disability? Through someone dying well?"

Conversation 2: What happened Here? (Verses 8-12)
The whole neighbourhood realised quite quickly that something had happened. Some said, "This is the blind guy who was begging" and others said  "No, it's a look alike!"  Miracles are signs. They tell us something. They point in a particular direction.  But they can be disregarded or misinterpreted: there were in this story and there will always those who will explain miracles away.   Miracles point us in the direction of who Jesus is - the Light of the World; they point in the direction of a loving and powerful god. They start conversations; they make people ask "What happened here?" and give us the opportunity to say, as the formerly blind man did "The man called Jesus made me better."

Conversation 3: The Pharisees (Verses 13-34)
This'd is the biggest conversation and the toughest.  The man was dragged to the Pharisees for them to give an opinion about what had happened.  It's the high point of tension and conflict in the story and it shows us three types of people, three types of character and behaviour.
(a) The powerful, respectable establishment figures who see Jesus as a challenge and a threat.  Let's not be to quick to criticise them. They were the people who loved God's word; they were regular worshippers and sacrificial givers. They wanted to see everyone behaving right.  Buy they misinterpreted the Word they loved, so they made it a law apart from grace. They had narrowed their horizons.  As a result of their mistaken ideas they were using their power to keep the man in line; they tried to coerce him into speaking badly of Jesus.  They used every weapon in the book. First, a sneering intellectual superiority; and in the end, the simple power they had to chuck him out of the synagogue. How doe we use power?
(b) Fence sitters.  The beggar's parents are called before the Pharisees. They don't want to upset the powerful people, so they don't want to get involved in the conversation: "He is of age, ask him" is their answer.  They know the Pharisees had threatened to put followers of Jesus out of the synagogue. That would mean for 30 days one could have no dealings with other Israelites except one's immediate family.  That could make life difficult for; you could lose friends, who might avoid you after the ban for fear of coming under suspicion; and you couldn't carry on your business.  Are we going to keep silent and tolerate evil in our world, or are prepared to speak out even if it costs us?
(c) The powerless formerly blind beggar.  He has no official title, no formal education, and no respectable skills. He carries this stigma "born in sin".  But he was certainly a feisty and courageous guy who was prepared to stand up for what he believed, even in the face of bullying from the powerful.  And his faith is developing. He tells his story in a clear and challenging way - even daring to say "do you want to become his followers too?"  He shows us assertiveness; a strength of character that is further evidence of God's touch in his life.

This issue of character is important as we aim to be Learning to show the Father's Love".  How we handle disagreement and conflict is a test of character.  How we handle the power we have, and how we treat those less powerful than us, is a test of character.

Conversation 4: Do you believe? (Verses 35-41)
Jesus heard that the beggar had been thrown out and went and found him. He asked him "Do you believe in the Son of Man?"  This refers to Daniel 7.13, where Daniel saw "one like a son of man" presented before God the Father and given glory and a kingdom that shall never pass away."  That is Jesus.  The sign says that he is the light of the world (v.  5) and its only saviour.  The sign says that he comes to call people from darkness to light, to open the eyes of spiritually as well as physically blind people. That is what signs are for: they point to this amazing person called Jesus son of God, majestic Son of Man; light of the world!

And this Jesus finds us. It's not about us finding Jesus, it's about Jesus finding us. As William Temple says, "Our Fellowship with Him is rooted in his compassion". Jesus, he son of man, the Light of the world, finds us and wants to start a conversation with us. The last two conversations had been about Jesus.  This conversation is with Jesus.  It's vital that we move from conversations about Jesus to conversations with Jesus.  Signs that "Demonstrate the Father's love" are meant to bring people to have conversation with Jesus! Too much Church and Christian church activity is a conversation about Jesus: preaching, bible studies, and even business meetings, can easily just be conversations about Jesus! .

The beggar's faith had developed, from talking about "The man called Jesus" who healed him, to saying "He is a prophet" to answering "I believe"   Wherever you are on than faith journey, Jesus wants to have a conversation with you, to grow your faith and to reveal himself and his Father's love.  Signs are conversation starters. Let's have a conversation with Jesus.

© Gilmour Lilly August 2012