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The Fifth Sunday In Lent
O Almighty God, who alone canst order the unruly wills and affections of sinful men: Grant unto thy people that they may love the thing which thou commandest, and desire that which thou dost promise; that so, among the sundry and manifold changes of the world, our hearts may surely there be fixed where true joys are to be found; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
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Scripture citation(s): Ezekiel 37:1-14; John 11:1-45; Romans 8:6-11
A Sermon by
The Rev. Canon Carl Turner
on
Ezekiel 37:1-14; John 11:1-45; Romans 8:6-11
✛
Christ loves and fills all things.
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The story of the raising of Lazarus comes at the very center of the fourth Gospel and is pivotal in our understanding of the Gospel. In the first half of the book Jesus performs a number of signs, which publically reveal the glory of God and allow him to enter deeply into the mystery of faith. The second half of the gospel, following the raising of Lazarus is of a different character and moves from his very public ministry to a more intimate and personal encounter of Jesus with his disciples and friends, centered on the prayer life of Jesus and his relationship to the Father. The evangelist shows us that Jesus himself will be the ultimate sign that reveals the glory of God in his death on the cross – which John describes as his glorification.
As with the other Gospel readings over the past few weeks, so with today’s: If we simply treat it as narrative, then we hear of an amazing miracle but we may miss the power of this sign of glory as intended by the author of the fourth Gospel. Filled with images, metaphors and hidden meaning, we glimpse the faithful worshipping life of the New Testament Church. Members of that church understood that their lives were changed – they had been born again by water and the Spirit, united with Jesus in his death on the cross and filled with his Spirit because of his Resurrection. Put simply, they were experiencing the streams of living water gushing up from the lives of believers; the fourth gospel was written in the light of the Acts of the Apostles – it reflects the power of new life in Christ in the early Church. As St Paul said in our epistle reading today, “You are in the Spirit, since the Spirit of God dwells in you.” (Romans 8:9b)
The sign of the raising of Lazarus points to the greatest sign of God’s glory – the death, resurrection, ascension of Jesus and the outpouring of the Holy Spirit on those united in him.
Even though Jesus was sent word that Lazarus was gravely ill, nevertheless he stayed away from Bethany for two whole days. As a teenager, I used to puzzle why the Lord seemed so indifferent to the plight of his friend until I began to understand that the story is not about being a first responder to a tragedy, but rather, is about the revelation of God’s glory: Jesus said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” (John 11:4)
So, significantly, on the third day Jesus went to the place where they had laid Lazarus. The one who was the Resurrection and the Life went to confront death as he would confront death himself in his own body.
The story is punctuated with powerful short phrases. “Jesus wept.” “Do you believe this?” “Take away the stone.” “Lazarus, come out.” “Unbind him,” or “Loose him.”
At the tomb, Jesus looked into the darkness and reversed the consequences of sin and death. The one who was the author of life – the creative Word of God – the ‘light that shineth in the darkness’ now shone in the darkness of the grave.
Just as Ezekiel had a vision of a valley of dry bones and the bones were reconstituted into human beings, so Jesus brings new life out of decay. The bones that Ezekiel saw were not alive until the breath of God had entered them. And remember that breath in the Old Testament is Spirit – God’s spirit that hovered over the water of creation; the breath of life that was breathed into Adam; the breath of life that will now come forth from Jesus. And all of this comes from a Jesus whom, we are told, was deeply disturbed in his spirit and, still disturbed, went to the tomb. He will be disturbed again, “Now my soul is troubled…Father, glorify thy name…now is judgment of the world…when I am lifted up from the earth I shall draw all people to myself.” (see John 12:27-36)
Lazarus was dead: “Unbind him” says Jesus. Binding and Loosing were powerful words in the Jewish Community – and, not for the first time in John’s Gospel, the author gives that authority directly to Jesus who was the fulfillment of the Law. “Unbind him,” (or “Loose him” as we heard in King James Version) said Jesus,notsimply because Lazarus was reprieved from death, but because he was freed from sin and would have a new relationship with God in Christ Jesus.
In Matthew’s Gospel, Jesus said to the disciples “Truly I tell you, whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.” (Matthew 18:18) And later, in John’s Gospel, the Resurrected Jesus would breath the Holy Spirit on his disciples and give them the power to forgive sin.
In the raising of Lazarus Jesus prefigured his own saving death and his resurrection on the third day, only, there is one big difference; Lazarus was resuscitated and would have to die again. So what mattered more was his relationship with God, for he was reconciled to him. ‘Unbind him – loose him from death to sin and fill him with the breath of God – the Spirit of life. ‘
Jesus offers you and me this same life. Paul says to the early Christians in Rome, “If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.” (Romans 8:11)
Can these dry bones live?” Ezekiel was asked? “Sir, give me this water always” said the woman at the well. “If you had been here my brother would not have died,” said Martha and Mary. The bones were put together again; The woman was given faith; Lazarus was unbound; and we are offered the forgiveness of our sins. My friends, we are about to enter into Holy Week and enter into the mystery of Christ’s death and resurrection; this is both a privilege and a joy for, as Michael Ramsey once said: ““In the nothingness of death and the tomb there is a love so mighty that Christ now loves and fills all things.” (‘The Gospel and the Catholic Church’)
And by filling all things, as St Paul reminds us today, he fills you and me.
