Have you ever lost faith in something? Your car for instance. You have always been goofy enough to drive a ford and now every ford you buy is junk. (You should have listened to us Chevy people). Slowly you lose faith in that brand because it has consistently proven to be cheap and useless. This goes for many different products, fords just seem to be the ones I see on the side of the road the most. I think I’ve beat on the ford fans long enough. Continually believing in something that never meets or beats your expectations is foolish. Who wants to continually keep fixing their fords? (Okay maybe a little more). In the Bible we find a story that encounters this very question of continuing to believe even when it seems that the product has failed. Turn to John 11 and follow along in a story of heartbreak, discovery, and a very important question.
“A letter arrived in the hands of our leader, Jesus, which alerted Him to some unwanted news. Lazarus, who lived in Bethany, had become deathly ill. Mary and Martha were summoning Jesus to come and see their dearly beloved brother and more than likely to heal them. People asked for this all the time. I cannot blame them. Their earthly afflictions would torment anyone. One woman had internal bleeding problems. Another man had leprosy and then some were blind or could not walk. This was no surprise. After reading the letter, Jesus seemed quite calm for someone who had just heard about a friends impending death. Most people would have rushed to their friend’s side but Jesus said “This sickness is not to end in death, but for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified by it.” He had just received a letter that said the man was deathly ill and yet Jesus says that Lazarus will not die.
He really did love them just as dearly beloved family. Mary anointed Jesus’ feet with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair. She showed total devotion to him. Martha on the other hand worked hard at feeding Christ and the disciples as well. You would suspect someone who loved these people so much would be in a hurry to see them. Yet Jesus stayed in the same place for two more days. What could he possibly be thinking? His friend is dying and yet he stays two more days. He finally departs for Bethany only to be stopped by the disciples. Just a short while before, Jesus had been run out of that area by the Jews who believed He had blasphemed by calling Himself God. They would not listen to Jesus nor recognize that he performed miracle after miracle. He had shown them face to face who he was but they would not listen. They even tried to stone Him although they had no hard evidence that they were right and He was wrong. They could no more prove that Jesus was wrong than that a rock was a soft pillow.
Again Jesus gives a peculiar reply to the questions, “Are there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” I think I understand what he means. We all only have a limited amount of time and we must use it to its fullest. We must use the light we have to do our work and then rest in the dark. Jesus himself was called the light of the world. He also had his work that he must do. He was sent to light our paths and the paths of everyone in the world so that we would not stumble and fall.
The conversation continued with Jesus saying, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I go, so that I may awaken him out of sleep.” I watched the disciples and listened for their reply and what did I hear but a goofy answer. “Lord if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.” No wonder Jesus gets frustrated with those guys. Would Jesus really be concerned if Lazarus had just taken a nap? Jesus’ patience astounds me sometimes. He calmly and quietly explained “Lazarus is dead, and I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, so that you may believe; but let us go to him.” He didn’t get mad or upset. For that matter, how did he already know that Lazarus was dead? Did Jesus know that if he waited two days that Lazarus would die? He must have or he would not have waited. If he was there he would probably have healed Lazarus but what does he mean “so that you may believe…” Does he have something else up his sleeve? I guess we’ll have to follow and see.
Thomas, the doubter, encouraged us all to go and die because he was so pessimistic that he assumed the Jews would stone Jesus. We went regardless of his comment. Bethany arrived more quickly than we thought it would. Miles of walking definitely does even rank on a list of worst things to do its so bad. Bethany was only two miles from Jerusalem however. We were definitely in enemy territory so to speak with the Jewish leaders looming over the area. By the time we arrived it had been over a week since the letter had arrived. Four days had passed since Lazarus had been laid in the tomb. Many Jews had shown up but you could tell they that many were “paid mourners.” The high and mighty officials in the cities didn’t have time to mourn someone so dear to them and so they sent delegations of paid mourners to weep, wail, and moan. The “festivities” proved to be incredibly false. Very few mourners seemed to have any real remorse.
Word traveled quickly that Jesus was headed to Bethany. While we were still almost a mile away, Martha came running to speak with Him. The first words out of her mouth were “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. Even I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” STOP! Wait a minute! Martha seemed so devoted to Jesus and yet the first thing she does is question Him. Martha seems to have lost faith in the goodness and greatness of Jesus Christ. It no longer has become a matter of Jesus’ agenda and what he needs to accomplish. It has become about her needs and desires. “Jesus, why didn’t you save my brother? Why did he have to die? He was a good Jew. You could have saved Him.” She seems to have lost faith in Him, just like we can lose faith in someone or something such as a Ford. We can lose faith in what we believe and who we believe in. Ok let’s continue with the story.
Jesus replies to Mary by saying “Your brother will rise again.” Lazarus will what? Mary responds with the typical church answer. She had heard it from Jesus and maybe Lazarus himself. “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” She had heard it and heard it and she knew it by heart. She was just one step away from being where she needed to be. She knew that there would be a resurrection and that everyone who believed in Jesus and lived as he said would be raised to live for eternity. She knew it up here but something was missing. I say this because of Jesus’ reply. “I am the resurrection and the life; he who believes in Me will live even if he dies, and everyone who lives and believes in Me will never die.” She missed the truth about Jesus. I guess we all missed it. We put a lot of stock into what he said but never really understood what he meant. She knew but Jesus said to believe. “he who believes in me…” You can know something and never really act on it. However, if you truly believe something, even if it is the opposite of what you know, you will act on that belief. So Jesus asks the ultimate question. Do You Believe? Do you believe that I can give people life and raise them from the dead? Would you bet your own life on it? Do you have faith in me or have you lost faith because I didn’t do what you wanted me to?
The ultimate question has been asked. We ask many questions about the meaning of life and how we can handle different situations. We ask where God is when we struggle with life’s many complicated issues and yet we come on Sunday and profess that we “believe.” Even the demons believe and shudder. Mary and Martha had gone through a very devastating life event. They lost their dearly beloved brother and the one man who could have handled it didn’t come the way they had anticipated. Jesus didn’t play by their rules and he didn’t bow to their commands. He had his own mission, plan, and way of doing what he needed to do. The disciples tried to discourage him and keep him away from his duties. People clamored around Him and the Jews tried to kill Him more than once. Yet Jesus went anyway to fulfill His duty. He went so that the disciples and everyone there would believe in Him. Not only believe in him but live like it. Jesus wasn’t just asking “Do you believe this?” He was asking “Will you Live like you Believe?”
That’s the question I have for you today. Despite all that’s going on in your life, will you live like you believe? Don’t just say you believe and give some Sunday school answer like Martha first did. Live your life based on your belief that Jesus Christ will take you to heaven. He said “I am the resurrection and the life…” Living like you believe means receiving life itself. Your spiritual life cannot survive without the one who gives life. Jesus asks Martha this question because Martha wasn’t living like she believed. She said she believed but from her obvious amount of frustration with the way Jesus didn’t heal her brother proved that she didn’t really believe.
PLAY THE VIDEO!
Will you get in the wheel barrow? Will you live like you believe? Martha answered Jesus a second time. “Yes Lord; I have believed that you are the Christ, the Son of God, even He who comes into the world.” Say yes to Jesus. Make Him Lord of your life. Believe that he really will do what he said he will. Believe and Live like it. Tell other people about the one you believe in. Let them know the Jesus you have entrusted you life with. Get out of the crowd and get into the wheel barrow! Live like you believe! Jesus asked a very simple and yet ultimate question, “Do you believe?” If so, then live like it. If not, let me introduce to the miracle of the life that only Jesus can provide.
