Lazarus Raised

John 11:38-43

“ 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”45 Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him. 46 But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. 47 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the Sanhedrin.“What are we accomplishing?” they asked. “Here is this man performing many signs. 48 If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and then the Romans will come and take away both our temple and our nation.”49 Then one of them, named Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, spoke up, “You know nothing at all! 50 You do not realize that it is better for you that one man die for the people than that the whole nation perish.”51 He did not say this on his own, but as high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the Jewish nation, 52 and not only for that nation but also for the scattered children of God, to bring them together and make them one. 53 So from that day on they plotted to take his life.”

The religious elite were threatened by Jesus.  He was performing many miracles.  Crowds of people were following Him.  The raising of Lazarus was the last straw.  They knew that if they let Him continue unchecked that all of Israel would soon follow Him.  

The members of the Sanhedrin knew that Rome would not allow a popular leader to emerge.  Rome selected all kings and governors.  If Rome had to intervene, the role of the Sanhedrin might be diminished or eliminated.  

They told themselves that by killing Jesus, they were saving the nation.  They told themselves that they were patriots, preserving their nation.  They told themselves that their actions were justified, that they were doing something good.  But there was also a reason they wanted Jesus killed that they would not admit; they felt personally threatened by Jesus.  He was doing too many good things.

Lazarus had been in the tomb for three days.  Jesus called him from the tomb and raised him from the dead.  A wonderful, unheard of, never seen before, miraculous event.

And from that very day, they plotted to kill Jesus.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Jesus Wept

John 11: 32-34

“32 When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. 34 “Where have you laid him?” he asked.”Come and see, Lord,” they replied. 35 Jesus wept. 36 Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” 37 But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

As a youth in Sunday School, the teacher would periodically ask each of us to quote a bible verse by memory.  Everyone in the class wanted to be the first to be called upon so that we could quote John 11: 35, “Jesus wept.,” the shortest verse that we knew by memory.  

At the time, we did not stop to think what this meant; that the Son of God wept.  Even today, we read it and the words sort of roll over us.   But, think of it; the Son of God was so moved that he wept.

Jesus brought us the good news that God cares, and cares enough to send His son to earth to walk among us, to share our joys and our hardships, to weep with us in our sorrow, and then to die for us.

Mary fell at His feet and wept.  The people wept all around her.

And Jesus, the Son of the one true God, divine yet human, stood among them...

Weeping.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Resurrected Life

John 11: 21-27

“21 “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22 But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” 23 Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” 24 Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” 25 Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; 26 and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” 27 “Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”

Martha was a woman of action.  She was the woman who was in the kitchen complaining that Mary wasn’t helping her when Jesus visited their home earlier.  Now,  as soon as she hears that Jesus has arrived, she is out the door greeting Him, and Mary lingers behind.

Martha’s greeting was one of reproach and one of faith.  She believed that Jesus could have saved Lazarus but she also believed it was too late for anything to be done.  She believed in the resurrection, but a resurrection that would occur at the culmination of time.

Jesus told her that the resurrection she believed in was standing in front of her; that He was the resurrection.  Through Him people would have new life; through Him people would become new; through Him people would have eternal, everlasting life.

And Martha believed.  

Faith is the key to a resurrected life in Christ.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Abundant Life

John 11: 14-16 

14 So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, 15 and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” 16 Then Thomas  (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

In the story, “A Christmas Carol”, Charles Dickens writes, “There is no doubt that Marley was dead.  This must be distinctly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the story I am going to relate.”

In this scripture, Lazarus was dead.  For us to understand the rest of the story, we have to understand that Lazarus was dead.  Jesus first tried to explain Lazarus’ death to the Disciples in a soft way, saying “Lazarus is sleeping and I am going to awaken him.”  This confused the Disciples and they wondered why they were going back to Judea, where people had recently tried to stone Jesus, just to wake Lazarus up.

So, Jesus bluntly said, “Lazarus is dead”.  He then explained that this was a good thing because it would result in an event that strengthened and increased their faith.

The Disciples must understand that Lazarus is dead so that the wonderful fact of his resurrection can be understood.  And when they understood that, then they would understand who Jesus is.

However, Thomas, instead of focusing on Lazarus, focused on the possibility of the death of Christ and the Disciples.

As Christians, our focus is too often on the disaster and not the miracle; too often on death and not life.  But Jesus told us , “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come so that they [His sheep] may have life, and to have it in abundance.”  (John 10:10)

It is through His death and resurrection that we have abundant and eternal life.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

And Then There Was Light

John 9: 24-25

“24 A second time they summoned the man who had been blind. “Give glory to God by telling the truth,” they said. “We know this man is a sinner.” 25 He replied, “Whether he is a sinner or not, I don’t know. One thing I do know. I was blind but now I see!”

Jesus healed a blind man who had been blind since birth by spitting on the ground and putting mud on the man’s eyes.  In performing this miracle, Jesus chose to use the methods of healing that were common during this period of time. 

The Pharisees were not pleased that the healing had occurred on the Sabbath and they decided that Jesus was a sinner and was not from God. They summoned the healed man twice to testify before them.  

The first time they asked, “What is your opinion of him?”  He answered, “He is a prophet.”  The second time they were more direct.  They expressed their view that Jesus was a sinner.  The healed man was caught in a trap.  

He dared not contradict the learned and pious Pharisees with his opinion of Jesus.  So, he testified to what could not be questioned- the facts.  “Once I was blind and now I see.”

For all believers, everywhere, this sentence resonates with our hearts.  Once we were all in a state of blindness.  Once we all stared at the darkness. Once we were all without hope.  

And then there was Jesus.  

And then there was light.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

Learning to Pray

Luke 11:1

11 One day Jesus was praying in a certain place. When he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, just as John taught his disciples.”

Early in my life I remember being taught to pray the blessing before a meal.  My mother showed me how to put my hands together, then she told me what to say.  It was the “God is great, God is good, let us thank Him for our food.,” prayer that almost every child has said at one time or another.

At some point, when I was older, my mother stopped me from saying this familiar prayer, and said, “You are older now and you should say your own prayer.”  My younger siblings could continue praying the “God is great” prayer but I now needed to pray my own prayer; a prayer from my heart.  My mother had given me a model to follow and so I structured my own prayers around it.

Jesus gave His disciples a model to follow when they prayed.  We call it the Lord’s Prayer and we pray it together in church.  It unites us in prayer as Christians.  We normally repeat this prayer after the Pastoral Prayer as a way to close that prayer.

Prior to giving His disciples this example of prayer, Jesus warned them of rote, repetitive prayers that were meaningless (Matthew 6:7).  His intention was to give them this model of how to pray, but they were to use it to form their own, personal prayers that came from their hearts.

I am forever grateful to those who have taught me to pray.

“By His hands we all are fed, give us Lord our daily bread.”

Amen.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)

The Most Important Thing

 The Most Important Thing

Luke 10: 38-42

38 As Jesus and his disciples were on their way, he came to a village where a woman named Martha opened her home to him. 39 She had a sister called Mary, who sat at the Lord’s feet listening to what he said. 40 But Martha was distracted by all the preparations that had to be made. She came to him and asked, “Lord, don’t you care that my sister has left me to do the work by myself? Tell her to help me!”41 “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things, 42 but few things are needed—or indeed only one. Mary has chosen what is better, and it will not be taken away from her.”

It takes a lot of people, a lot of planning, and a lot of work of all sorts for a church to function effectively.  A lot of committees meet, a lot of emails are sent and a lot of phone calls are made. Zoom meetings are held and discussions are conducted.  Boards meet and votes and minutes are recorded.

Martha thought it was more important for Mary to be in the kitchen than sitting at the feet of Jesus.   But the one thing that absolutely had to be done that day was to listen to the words of Christ.

When we are doing the work of the church, let’s not forget that we are hosting Jesus.  While the committees, and planning and votes, etc., are important and involve many talented people, let’s not forget the most important thing: to sit at the feet of Jesus, listen to Him speak, and take His words into our hearts.

May the love of Christ be with you,

Rev. Eric Lanier (Retired)