"Back to Life"

Pastor Laura Guy

March 29, 2009

Here's an instant replay of what happened in worship:

Pastor Laura asked the kids in the room if they knew the shortest verse in the Bible? She got the answer she was looking for - "Jesus wept", John 11:35. Then she asked if anyone knew what Jesus was weeping about. Some might answer, "Lazarus' death," but there could be another reason.
We read John 11:1-44. The section after this story says that many people came to believe in Jesus because of this sign, and the religious leaders determined to get rid of him because of this sign. It was the beginning of the end for Jesus.
We thought about how Martha came out to see Jesus first. She expressed belief in his ability to heal, and in the final resurrection, but Jesus tells her, "I am the resurrection and the life." Martha then goes to get her sister Mary. When Mary sees Jesus, she falls at his feet, wailing and sobbing, telling Jesus that if he had been there, her brother would not have died. When Jesus sees all the mourners standing around, intruding on Mary's sorrow and watching to see what he will do, the NIV Bible says he was "deeply moved in spirit and troubled." The Greek word used there actually means anger. Jesus was angry, perhaps at all these people gawking, waiting to see what he would do, not understanding what he was facing.
We saw that it was as Jesus faced Lazarus' tomb that he wept. These were not the same tears as Mary wept, sobs of mourning and grief, these are silent tears. Jesus weeps because he knows that his body will soon be in a tomb of his own. He will give his life for these people who do not understand who he is.
We wondered who we would be in the story: Martha, the one who says the right words, but as Jesus prepares to do wondrous things is more concerned about the smell of death; Mary, the one who pours out her hurt and anger to Jesus, but also pours out her love as she pours out the perfume on his feet; the onlookers, those who are not sure what they think of the carpenter/Rabbi but are waiting to see him do something spectacular before they decide; or Lazarus, one who has something dead inside of him, thinking it has been dead too long to be raised to life again.
We imagined ourselves in the story, witnesses to Jesus' power over death, then we spoke to him in moments of silent prayer.
We celebrated communion, God's extravagant gift of love.