Well, thanks, Kate and David, and to Graham and Diego and all the guys who helped move the baptism tank.
! It is a lot trickier than it looks. Believe me, I've done this for enough years.
Folks, what a special passage we have. You need to get the Word of God, that passage open in front of you in John chapter 11.
Whoever you are here this morning, whatever you think about the God of the Bible, come and meet Jesus.
So John chapter 11 on your phone, you can grab one of the Q Bibles round about you.
So here is something to chew on this morning.
See, to get us going, let me tell you about an observation that my friend once made about how we live our lives as human beings.
Try this one on for size, see if you agree.
They said, isn't it funny how people in our world spend their youth trying to get riches?
And when they're older, they spend those riches trying to get youth.
Not looking at anyone in particular. I wonder what you make of that saying.
The fact that £2.8 billion were spent on anti-aging products in the UK in 2024.
A figure expected to rise to over £5.5 billion by the year 2033 would suggest that there's something in it.
If you're looking for an investment this morning, Clarence.
Here's another observation for you, one of my own.
This thing is always interesting.
Isn't it funny how just a few generations ago, before our current one,
a generation who were emerging from war,
who had a sobering appreciation of the fragility and the uncertainty of life,
death was a topic that people were up for talking about,
and yet sex was the great taboo.
Isn't it interesting, just a few generations later,
how that has totally flipped?
How everyone wants to talk about sex,
you cannot escape it in our highly sexualised culture,
and yet no one wants to talk about death.
Again, what do you make of that?
Our world offers us little by way of a grid through which to make sense of death.
For example, here's John Harris writing in The Guardian a few years ago.
During the COVID pandemic, himself, a self-confessed atheist
who ticks that no religion box in the recent census,
he said this during COVID.
He said, like millions of other faithless people,
I have not even the flimsiest of narratives to project onto what has happened,
nor any real vocabulary with which to talk about the profundities of life and death.
Again, what do you make of what he's saying?
The fact that our lives, they have an expiry date,
is the elephant in the room.
And as someone pointed out to me recently,
how do you avoid an elephant in the room?
You cover it in 10,000 post-it notes.
Yeah, what is a post-it note?
Something I need to do.
Right?
How do we avoid thinking about this stuff?
We get busy in our lives.
Isn't that amazing?
I find it incredible how you could watch yesterday,
and I did watch a little bit of it,
the analysis of that Scotland game yesterday.
And we're talking about it for hours and hours and hours,
and statistics and variables and selections.
A podcast for hours and hours and hours.
Analysis coming out your ears.
And yet isn't it interesting that people in our world today
could not give you three sentences on what life is all about?
Really interesting time in which we live.
Well, into our coffin-shaped conundrum
steps Jesus in this passage.
And at a funeral of all places,
Jesus flips the entire way of life as we know it.
He flips it on its head.
Spoiler alert,
a man comes back from the dead.
Which means, C.S. Lewis was right,
that Christianity, if false, is of no importance.
And if true, it's of infinite importance.
The only thing that it cannot be
is moderately important.
So if you've got the text there in front of you,
come and learn, whoever you are here today,
come and learn three things about Jesus in this passage.
Here's the first one.
It's that we can trust fully in his perfect timing.
Now, this is a thrilling bit of narrative,
so come with me and see it.
We pick it up at verse one.
We're going to go quickly here.
Do you see how we learn that one of Jesus' friends,
a man called Lazarus,
is sick?
Love that Jesus had friends.
Here's one of them sick.
Lazarus lives in a town called Bethany.
Lazarus has two sisters.
Their names are Mary and Martha.
Again, all these details show the validity
of this episode, right?
Verse five, John wants us to know that Jesus,
what, how did he feel towards them?
He loved them.
You see that?
And by giving us that little detail right up top,
John is telling us that everything
that's about to unfold here
flows from Jesus' deep love for these three.
Lazarus is sick.
Prognosis, critical.
Do you see it?
And in desperation,
the sisters send word to Jesus.
Do you see that verse three?
Come.
We need you.
You've got to get here.
Now question,
how would you respond to something like that?
Remember when my uncle,
he died a few Christmas times ago,
Christmas time 2023.
He died on the,
he had a heart attack on the 22nd of December,
never came around.
Died on the 23rd.
We were,
yeah,
we were opening presents from him on Christmas day.
Really weird.
Thing is,
as soon as I heard that we weren't talking days,
we were talking hours and we were talking,
not hours,
we were talking minutes.
I got in the car here and I went.
It's what we do,
isn't it?
When you hear something like that,
you drop everything and you go.
Jesus hears that news,
verse six,
that someone that he loves is dying.
And get your head around the fact that he says,
I'm staying here two more days.
And his reason,
verse four,
doesn't leave them in the dark.
His reason,
verse four,
is that so his glory would be displayed.
So that the disciples in this moment would learn something about him.
That they would learn no other way.
So this God,
this is how he works.
This is Isaiah 55.
If you know the Bible story,
this God,
his ways are so much higher than our ways.
His thoughts,
his intentions are so much greater than our thoughts and intentions.
And when things don't make sense to us,
we can fall back on his steadfast and wonderfully good love towards us.
Because Jesus loves us,
just like he loves Lazarus,
Mary and Martha,
he will use the darkest moment in their lives
to teach them some of the deepest truths about him.
And from this,
it gets me every time I read this.
Because I underestimate just how committed Jesus is to me.
And to you.
And when it doesn't make sense to us,
we can trust that he loves us.
Some of you will have grown up.
You remember that hymn writer,
William Cowper?
He had that wonderful chorus.
Judge not the Lord by feeble sense,
but trust him for his grace.
Behind a frowning providence,
he hides a smiling face.
This Jesus,
we can trust fully in his perfect timing.
And then secondly,
this Jesus,
we can lean fully into his gentle heart.
So do you see how back in the story here,
another 48 hours pass.
Which means by the time Jesus and his disciples,
they get to Bethany.
Lazarus has been in this condition.
Four days.
Now if you've been in one of these moments,
you will know how slowly time goes.
Four days.
And when Jesus and his disciples get there,
do you see how they encounter just the scene of deep grief?
People are here weeping.
People are mourning.
People are pouring out their souls.
People are consoling each other.
And slap bang in the middle of the scene are Mary and Martha.
Do you see?
Who are utterly shell shocked.
What has just happened.
The painful reality that's just played out in front of them.
And when they eventually see Jesus,
and you need to see this,
isn't it interesting that they both make
exactly the same point to Jesus?
It's not a point that's meant to invite deep discussion.
It's a point that's meant to convey deep pain.
Do you see Martha makes it at verse 21,
and then Mary makes it at verse 32.
Just maybe put your finger on both of those ones.
21 verse 21 and verse 32.
Do you hear it in their voices?
The emotion, the pain, the questions.
Where were you, Jesus?
In our darkest moment, you were a no-show.
I thought that you loved us.
Maybe you were just making the whole thing up.
Where were you if you had been here?
You ever been there?
If you had been here.
Well, isn't it intriguing that Jesus responds
to their exact same question
in profoundly different ways?
Have you ever noticed this before?
No.
Same question.
Jesus doesn't do a cut, copy-cut, paste response.
Could it be that Jesus perceives
that Martha's biggest need in this moment
is to know that he's in control?
Whereas Jesus perceives that Mary's biggest need
in this moment is to know that he cares.
I wonder which one are you this morning?
Martha, who has some understanding, verse 24,
of a resurrection that's going to happen
in the last day.
So she's got some concept of that.
She'll have got that, I imagine,
from the book of Job,
which you'll find in the Old Testament,
a book all about suffering.
What does Job cling to?
He clings to the fact that my Redeemer lives.
So Job is clinging to some idea
of a resurrection life after this life
in the end.
So Martha's probably picked up
on the thread of that,
and she says that.
She says,
I know he will rise again on the last day.
Do you see it?
Jesus says to her, though,
I am,
and we don't have time to do this today,
but he's using the divine title of God
for himself.
Put that in your back pocket if you want it.
I am the resurrection and the life.
So he takes the knowledge that she has
about an event that's going to happen
at the end,
and if you like,
just imagine taking a plug out the socket.
He just takes it out of that,
and he plugs it into him.
All the aspirations,
all the hopes,
all the longings about God
one day coming to make all things new,
he takes it and he plugs it into him.
Martha,
I've got him.
That's what he's saying.
I've got him.
But do you see,
verse 20,
Mary,
here's where we get Mary,
and here's what I find fascinating about Mary,
how when Martha hears that Jesus is near,
she runs to him.
Do you see it?
She runs to him.
Jesus in the vicinity,
going.
Mary,
on the other hand,
she stays at home.
Isn't that intriguing?
Can I read between the lines a little bit?
That could it be that Mary is so disillusioned with Jesus,
that she cannot bring herself to go to him?
Verse 28,
Martha returns,
and she says to Mary,
the teacher,
again,
it just tells you how highly they regard to Jesus.
The teacher is here.
He's calling for you.
Jesus knows.
Do you see in this moment?
He knows exactly what's going on in Mary's heart,
and he's calling her to come to him.
Isn't that a wonderful thing?
Jesus calls us to come to him with our pain,
and our questions,
and our prayers.
He's big enough to take it.
He knows what's going on in Mary's heart.
Mary,
come.
And in a flash,
she's up and she's running.
Do you notice how other people notice it?
See how quickly she got up and ran?
And she falls at the feet of Jesus,
and the floodgates open,
and it all comes bursting out of her.
And for the eggheads out there,
what follows is the shortest verse in the Bible.
Slip that in your back pocket for next time you're at a pub quiz, okay?
Shortest verse in the Bible,
but make no mistake,
it's one of the most profound.
Do you see those two words?
Jesus wept.
Now, is that not incredible?
To Mary, he didn't say,
come on, I've just told Martha that I'm the resurrection and life.
Come on.
Jesus wept.
It doesn't say anything.
Jesus wept.
So as Jesus sees this scene,
as he sees death yield its teeth,
the death that's in our world,
according to the Bible story,
because of our sin,
our rebellion against our creator,
and the fracturing of that.
Death is in our world
because of our rebellion against our creator.
Jesus sees this, though,
and he is incensed.
So his tears here are not crocodile tears.
His tears here are a love of,
are a mixture of love,
determination,
and outrage.
Jesus wept.
You're not so grateful for a Jesus like that.
I mean, can you imagine if he was stone cold at this point?
Like some kind of James Bond from above,
sent on a mission with instructions from M,
not to get too emotionally involved,
attached to people,
keep your distance.
Because if your heart goes out to somebody,
it might hinder your ability to make decisions and calls.
Are you not so glad that Jesus is not like that?
We do not have an arm's length, Jesus.
His tears are proof of the truth
that this is not the way it was supposed to be.
And I wonder whether our problem as human beings
is that we've got so good at pretending that it is.
And personally, I blame Elton John.
I blame that song,
The Circle of Life That Moves Us All,
because the thing is,
I tell you what,
see, when I was here at my uncle's bedside,
the song,
The Circle of Life That Moves Us All,
that was no comfort for me whatsoever.
We kind of make our peace with this idea of death
is just this natural thing that happens.
And the Bible would say,
not at all.
Jesus gives us permission here to know what we instinctively know to be true
deep down at every funeral we attend,
as we watch every friend who's going through horrendous suffering,
as we've tried to process every tragedy that we ourselves has lived through,
that this isn't right.
And we need to allow,
often,
the Bible's language to wash off on us.
Death, according to the Bible,
is an unwelcome intruder in God's good creation.
Paul would call it the last enemy.
Do you see,
our world doesn't know how to properly mourn.
And yet here is Jesus giving us a model
of how to process our grief.
He gives us permission to join him in his tears
and know that this is not right.
We can, can't we?
We can so often just skip over that mourning process
that happens when something like this goes on in our lives.
And Jesus here invites us to stop
and enter the depths of grief.
Join him in his tears
and know that this is not the way
that it was supposed to be.
And then here's the third thing
about Jesus.
We can rely fully on his powerful words.
So you've got to see this.
Verse 43.
Jesus, in the spirit of defiance,
he calls for the stone in front of Lazarus' tomb
to be rolled away.
Have you got a KJV Bible there?
I love how the Old English puts this.
She says,
Lord, by this time surely he stinketh.
It's great, isn't it?
But get your head around
what's going on in this moment.
Verse 43.
Do you see it?
Jesus speaks into a tomb.
He says,
Lazarus, come out,
which is,
has to be
the strangest thing ever
to have witnessed that.
Here's that scene in Frozen.
Is it Frozen 1?
where Christoph introduces Anna
to his troll friends
who in that moment
are just little stones
and you get,
is it Olaf says,
he's crazy.
That's this moment,
isn't it?
It's utterly bizarre
that Jesus would speak
into a tomb.
But I tell you what,
it's more than bizarre.
It is potentially
hugely insensitive.
Talk about things
that you don't say
at a funeral.
And yet Jesus
seems to be
deadly serious.
Can I suggest
none of us
would want a God
who didn't care?
Can I equally suggest
that none of us
would want a God
who couldn't do
anything about it?
And here's what we need
to understand
what's going on
in the bigger Bible story,
very much in keeping
with how it started
at the beginning.
With God
breathing life
into Adam.
And Adam
becomes
a living being.
Jesus speaks.
Where does he speak?
Into the darkness.
Into the chaos.
Into the black pit
of despair.
He speaks
and he breathes
life into Lazarus.
Do you see it?
And the man
who was verifiably
dead,
which is presumably
why Jesus
waited four days,
in case you're
wondering that,
to help everyone
in this moment
see that Lazarus
didn't need
resuscitation.
Lazarus
needed resurrection.
Lazarus
in this moment,
his hands and feet
still bound
with cloths.
And I love John
kind of just
throwing adjectives
at this one
to help us understand
what's going on
in this moment
because it's bizarre.
Lazarus
hobbles
out.
You see it?
Lazarus
hobbles
out.
There's your
adjective.
That's the verb,
isn't it?
Hobbles.
And Jesus
says,
unbind him
and let him
go.
And so here's
your top story
on the Bethany
News at 6.
Lazarus
lives.
Lazarus
lives.
See,
as wonderful
as this
moment is
though,
Lazarus
one day
will die
again.
It's not
like he
obtains
immortality
at this
point,
from this
point on.
But boy,
would life
have been
different
after this.
Yeah?
For Lazarus,
for Mary,
for Martha,
for those
onlookers,
boy,
would life
have been
different.
You know,
people,
I've had
people ask
me,
and I'll
put it
to you,
if there
was one
world event
that you
would have
loved to
have been
at in
your
lifetime,
what would
it have
been?
It's a
great question,
isn't it?
Collapse of
the Berlin Wall,
would love to
have been at
that one.
Signing of
the Declaration
of Independence,
would love to
have been at
that one.
Airdrie winning
the Scottish
Cup in
1924,
you're all
thinking it,
we'll say
it.
But here's
mine,
Lazarus'
second
funeral.
Lazarus'
second
funeral,
because I
don't imagine
the sense
of grief
felt by
all those
who would
have
attended
would be
any
less.
but boy,
I imagine
the atmosphere
of hope
would have
been fever
pitch.
And here's
why we
can have
so much
more confidence
even than
that.
That level
of confidence
can be ours
today.
Because what
was wonderfully
foreshadowed here
with Lazarus
was a day
that was coming
not so long
after this
one.
When another
stone would
be rolled
away from
another tomb
and another
man who
was verifiably
dead would
walk out.
As Jesus
leaves that
tomb having
verifiably
been dead,
dead on
the cross,
dying there
for the sins
of all those
who would
trust in
him.
Jesus
dies.
On the
third day
Jesus
rises.
But unlike
Lazarus,
Jesus rises
and he's
now ascended
to the right
hand of God
the Father.
Unlike
Lazarus,
Jesus will
never die
again.
And do you
know what
that means?
That means
if your hope
is in him
today,
that your
life,
and this
is what
we've
witnessed
today is
Tamsin's
life as
she's gone
down and
as she's
risen.
The old
her has
gone,
the new
her has
come.
What is
it about
the new
her?
The new
her is
totally
united to
Jesus.
Totally
united to
Jesus in
his death
and in
his
resurrection.
The only
way that
Tamsin
can die
again as
it were
spiritually
is if
Jesus dies
again.
And that's
not going
to happen.
Jesus
holds
her,
Jesus
holds
us,
and he
calls us
to live
in the
confidence
of his
resurrection
victory.
And so
the same
question that
Jesus asked
Martha right
there is
the one
that he
asks us
today.
Do you
believe?
You know,
just as we
close, we
started with an
observation about
life.
Can I make
one more?
And I'll
leave you with
this thought as
we leave this
passage.
it's about
people in our
world right
now, stuff
that's been
playing out
this week.
And it
got me
thinking.
You know
our world
is full of
right now.
It's full of
people with
lots of
power.
And no
love for
people.
Because you've
got lots of
power and no
love for
people, what
are you
tempted to
do with
that power?
Not to
serve
others, but
to serve
yourself.
people in
our world
just now
with all
sorts of
power.
I mean,
that's what
is right at
the heart of
the Epstein
files.
People with
all sorts of
power, but
abusing that
power, not
to love
people, but
to serve
themselves.
Our world
is full of
people like
that.
But the
flip side is
also true.
You've got
people in
our world
now with
all sorts of
love for
people, great
intentions, but
they've got no
power to do
anything about
those great
intentions and
love for
people.
Do you
know what
the wonderful
thing about
John 11 is,
is it shows
us here.
When it
comes to
perfect power
and perfect
love,
Jesus is
both.
And he
invites us to
know today that
if our faith is
in him,
see in our
weakest moments,
when we're
facing death
right squarely
looking at it
in the face,
we can know
with confidence
that we're
held by the
strongest and
most loving of
saviors.
You know,
so grateful for
Jesus.
He is the
resurrection and
the life.
Let me pray.
Oh,
our Father,
thank you so
much for your
word.
God,
and I pray
that you
would fill
our hearts
with that
sense of
awe
as we
take in
Jesus.
Father,
help rid
us of the
self-confidence
that so
naturally comes
to us
and fill
us with a
renewed love
for and
confidence in
Jesus.
Father,
I pray that
whatever is
going on in
our lives
today,
that by your
spirit you
would remind
those of us
who are
struggling perhaps
to know that
the Lord Jesus
is in control.
Fill us with
that sense,
that knowledge
that he is.
And perhaps
others of us
struggling with
the thought
that he cares.
Again,
would you be
bringing that
perfect knowledge
of his perfect
love and
commitment to
us?
So,
Father,
we thank you
for this
morning.
We thank you
for Tamsin.
Thank you
for hearing
her story
about how
she has
come to
know Jesus
for herself,
to find her
all in all
in him.
And Lord,
I pray that
this would
have been
such an
encouragement,
not just
for her,
and her
family and
her friends,
but for us
as a church
family.
Would you
renew in
us that
utter
confidence
that there's
none like
him?
And we pray
these things
in his
perfect and
in his
strong name.
Amen.