Lazarus Raised from the Dead

The Raising of Lazarus

Friday after Exaudi

Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go” (John 11:38-44).

Jesus told Martha that He was the resurrection and the life; now, everyone gathered at Lazarus’ tomb can see the proof. Jesus, the Word made flesh, gives life through the word. His word does the things He says. When God says over the formless void of the earth, “Let there be light!” there is light.[1] When Jesus, through whom and for whom all things were created,[2] tells the dead Lazarus to come out of his grave, he comes out, and by absolutely no effort of his own. God’s Word does what it says. It is creative. It is successful in producing the desired result, that is, it is efficacious.

God’s Word is no less efficacious now. When God’s Word comes to us connected to water in Holy Baptism, promising to wash away our sins and to save us,[3] it does. When we confess our sins, God tells us that He, who is faithful and just, will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.[4] He does so, through the man called to preach and administer the sacraments, our faithful pastor, as well as informally through our brothers and sisters to whom we confess our sins.[5] When we hear the preaching of the Gospel, that while we were God’s enemies, Christ died for the ungodly as the Lamb of God, the ransom for the sins of the world, we know that it is efficacious;[6] it is the power of God to the salvation of all who believe, the means by which the Holy Spirit works faith in all men.[7] When we receive the very body and blood of the Word made flesh for the forgiveness of our sins, that is truly what He gives us - both His body and His blood to eat and to drink, and the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation He has won for us by His death and resurrection.[8]

Lazarus’ resurrection is a foreshadowing of our own resurrection. One day, Jesus will return and call us out of our graves:

For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.[9]

Because we have been baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, His death and resurrection belong to us.[10] In our baptism we have put on Christ. It is God’s guarantee that we will not all sleep, but we will all be raised and changed to have a glorious body, just as Christ does.

For since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His coming.[11]

We are made His through our baptism, being born again from above by the power of the Holy Spirit, through water and the Word.

Here, in this fallen world of sin and death, we must endure much that is difficult to bear. Take heart! Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures; He was buried, and He rose again the third day.[12] That means that all who belong to Him have the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation. So, even if those troubles we experience in the world lead to our physical death, which they all ultimately will if Jesus should delay His coming, we can be certain that God the Father has saved us by what Jesus Christ the Son has done for us on the cross. He who is faithful and true has promised us. So, in Christ, God has turned death from a curse into something that guarantees us life. That is not to say that death is our friend, or we should welcome it, or we should not mourn those who pass from this veil of tears before us. We should, however, recognize that when a Christian dies, he is brought safely to the Lord in heaven, where Satan no longer has access to him, to safely await the resurrection on the Last Day. God has worked all things, including death, for our good, according to His purpose.[13]

Behold, I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed - in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed.[14]

---

[1] Genesis 1:1-3

[2] John 1:3,10

[3] Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Peter 3:18-22

[4] 1 John 1:6-9

[5] James 5:16

[6] Romans 5:10; John 1:29; Mark 10:45

[7] Romans 1:16; 10:17

[8] Matthew 26:26-27; 1 Corinthians 11:23-30

[9] 1 Thessalonians 4:16

[10] Romans 6:3-5; Galatians 2:26-27

[11] 1 Corinthians 15:21-23

[12] 1 Corinthians 15:3-8

[13] Romans 8:28

[14] 1 Corinthians 15:51-52

The Shepherd Knows His Sheep

The Jews gathered around him, saying, “How long will you keep us in suspense? If you are the Christ, tell us plainly.” Jesus answered, “I did tell you, but you do not believe. The miracles I do in my Father’s name speak for me, but you do not believe because you are not my sheep. My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one can snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” Again the Jews picked up stones to stone him, but Jesus said to them, “I have shown you many great miracles from the Father. For which of these do you stone me?” “We are not stoning you for any of these,” replied the Jew, “but for blasphemy because you, a mere man, make yourself God” (John 10:24-33 NIV).

Tell us plainly! Are you the Christ? What has Jesus been doing up to this point? Precisely what the Pharisees demand. He has shown them many great miracles from the Father. He has healed many people. He has taught in the temple and the synagogues as one who has authority. He has declared that the scriptures were fulfilled in Him. He casts out demons who testify to who Jesus is. He has called the Pharisees lying children of the devil, and Himself the Son of God. He has called Himself I AM, applying YAHWEH’s divine name to Himself. He calls Himself the Good Shepherd, the one come to search out the lost and scattered sheep, and rescue them from all the places where they have been scattered.[1] In calling Himself the Good Shepherd, Jesus is calling Himself YAHWEH. The prophet Ezekiel wrote that, because those who were supposed to shepherd Israel would neglect the responsibility given to them, God Himself would come among His sheep and be their shepherd Himself.[2] Jesus announces to the Jews here in John 10 that the long wait for their shepherd is over. He has arrived.

The Jews still reject Him. They are not His sheep, and therefore, do not hear His voice. They are the false shepherds who eat the fat, clothe themselves with the wool, slaughter the fat ones, but do not feed the sheep. They rule the sheep with force and harshness.[3] They try to charge Jesus with breaking the Law when He heals on the Sabbath.[4] After hearing Jesus read the scriptures and teach, they try to throw Him off a cliff.[5] They ignore the casting out of demons, and the restoration of people possessed by them, and say He colludes with the devil to cast out devils.[6] They have eyes, but do not see. They have ears, but do not hear. They have hearts, but do not understand.[7] Here, as He did just a short time before, Jesus tells them exactly who He is. He is one with the Father. Not merely one in will and work, but one in being and essence.[8] Jesus is telling us that He and the Father are one in essence, or nature, but they are not identical persons. As the Scripture says, the Jews understood exactly what Jesus was saying. They took these words to be blasphemy and tried to impose the penalty for blasphemy prescribed in the law, though without due process.[9]

Jesus calls Himself the Good Shepherd and, in so doing, gives us an indication of the intimate relationship He has with His followers, and the love that moved Jesus to die for them all. Sheep who do not listen to the voice of the shepherd are bound to wander away from the safety of the flock and be devoured by wolves. Like the shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep, the God-man’s love for His own moved Him to endure the humiliating death on the cross to be the sacrifice for their sins.[10] Jesus’ declaration that He and the Father are one, and that no one can snatch His sheep from His hand should give all believers hope, no matter what they face. Believers can rest secure that they belong to Jesus Christ and will never perish; all of Jesus’ works affirm this truth.[11] Consequently, to reject Jesus as the Pharisees did, even in the face of the miracles Jesus did and the testimony of the Law and the Prophets, is to reject God Himself and His gift of forgiveness and everlasting life.

---

[1] Ezekiel 34:11-12

[2] Ezekiel 34:1-4; 11-12

[3] Lenski, R. C. (1942). The Interpretation of St. John's Gospel. Columbus: The Wartburg Press.

[4] Matthew 12:9-14

[5] Luke 4:16-30

[6] Matthew 12:22-30

[7] Matthew 13:10-17

[8] Engelbrecht, E. A. (2009). The Lutheran Study Bible, English Standard Version. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House. John 10:38

[9] Leviticus 24:16

[10] Engelbrecht, E. A. (2009). The Lutheran Study Bible, English Standard Version. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House. Philippians 2:8

[11] Engelbrecht, E. A. (2009). The Lutheran Study Bible, English Standard Version. Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House.