Sermon Text: John 11:17-27, 38-45
Date: March 22, 2026
Event: The Fifth Sunday in Lent, Year A
John 11:17-27, 38-45 (EHV)
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. 18Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away. 19Many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them concerning their brother.
20When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him, while Mary was sitting in the house.
21Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”
23Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
24Martha replied, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the Last Day.”
25Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even if he dies. 26And whoever lives and believes in me will never perish. Do you believe this?”
27“Yes, Lord,” she told him. “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.” …
38Jesus was deeply moved again as he came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 39“Take away the stone,” he said.
Martha, the dead man’s sister, told him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, because it has been four days.”
40Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” 41So they took away the stone.
Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you heard me. 42I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” 43After he said this, he shouted with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”
44The man who had died came out with his feet and his hands bound with strips of linen and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus told them, “Loose him and let him go.”
45Therefore many of the Jews who came to Mary and saw what Jesus did believed in him.
Focus on the Resurrection and the Life
“Let’s spend some time talking about death.” That sentence might rank at the top of a list of “most awkward conversation starters.” We know that death is a reality; we see it all the time in nature. Plants die, bugs die, and animals are hit by cars. We even see it in our families, as people receive dire and terminal diagnoses from their doctors, someone passes away suddenly or expectedly, or even as beloved pets come to the end of their lives. Death is reality, we know that, and yet we often try to pretend like it’s not there, like it’s not something that is around. It’s like that pile of laundry that needs to be folded or that home improvement project that has been on the to-do list for months or years. It’s something we know we will have to deal with, but we don’t really want to think about it.
If I may, let’s just pull that Band-Aid off right now. Let’s talk about death in whatever way comes to mind when you hear that. It might be your own mortality, it might be someone you care about who is sick or suffering, or perhaps your mind immediately jumps to someone dear to you who preceded you in death. It’s uncomfortable and perhaps unsettling, but it’s also important.
One of the things that we have to come to grips with is that death isn’t “simply a part of life.” Death is not how God designed the world when he originally created it. It was a possibility, but not a foregone conclusion. Back in the Garden of Eden, God had given Adam one command: “You may freely eat from every tree in the garden, but you shall not eat from the Tree of the Knowledge of Good and Evil, for on the day that you eat from it, you will certainly die” (Genesis 2:16-17). One command—don’t eat from this tree—and one result if that command was broken—certain death.
You know how that went; we heard it just a few weeks ago for our sermon focus on the First Sunday in Lent. Satan convinces Adam and Eve that obeying God is bad, so they take the fruit and eat. And what happens? Instant death. Not instant physical death that we are used to, but instant spiritual death, separation from God by unbelief. Instantly, Adam and Eve are scared of God rather than in harmony with him, hiding from him rather than rejoicing to be near him. Sin destroyed that relationship; the image of God that we were created with was lost.
In that moment, death and decay entered the world, and we’ve been dealing with it ever since. Why do plants, animals, and people die? While there are many varied and detailed answers to that question, it all boils down to one main answer: sin. Sin’s wages are death; sin is the reason for death.
In our Gospel this morning, we find Jesus directly coping and dealing with death. We meet him as he enters the town of Bethany, where a family, the adult siblings, Mary, Martha, and Lazarus, all lived. This family was dear to Jesus, and he to them. Lazarus had fallen ill, and Jesus made the confusing choice to wait several days to go to see him, so that by the time he arrived in Bethany, Lazarus was already dead.
I always appreciate this account, because Martha’s faith shines. She need not be known simply as the one who prioritized the kitchen over the Jesus’ teaching. This conversation between Martha and Jesus after Lazarus had died shows that Martha was a true believer and had clear confessions of faith that were on par with the best that ever came from the disciples’ mouths—very, very close to Peter’s confession upon which Jesus promised to build his church.
Martha comes with what might initially sound like a criticism, but she also showed tremendous trust in Jesus: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” She’s not so much blaming Jesus for Lazarus’ death, but confessing that she knew that no matter what was wrong with her brother, Jesus could have dealt with it. Her next statement drives that point home, “But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.”
Jesus gives her encouragement that her brother will live again. And Martha clearly doesn’t not understand Jesus to be promising to raise her brother from the dead in a few moments. Her focus is elsewhere, to the greater promises of God, “I know that he will rise in the resurrection on the Last Day.” Here Martha is taking solace and comfort in everything she knew and believed about Jesus: the one who believes in him as Savior will have eternal life. And Jesus says as much, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even if he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never perish.” “Will live even if he dies” is a promise that death in this life is not the end; “will never perish” is the promise of complete rescue from the eternal death of hell.
Jesus is focused on giving life, but not necessarily the life that we are familiar with or might choose in the heat of the moment. Jesus is focused on eternal life, not earthly life. That’s not to say that he doesn’t care about our earthly lives; he certainly does and promises to provide for us and protect us, working everything in this life out for our good. But the good that he is working towards is our eternal good. If a hardship here would lead us to lean on him more fully, then the hardship might stick around. If a lack of fulfillment, wealth, or health here leads us to long for the perfect life he provides after this life, then we just might find ourselves wanting in those areas of our lives. Not because Jesus doesn’t care about us, but because he does. He wants us focused on eternal life; he wants us focused on him—the Resurrection and the Life.
In the verses that we hopped over from John chapter 11, we hear the famous two-word verse, “Jesus wept.” And then in what we read for our gospel, we see a second wave of emotions wash over him: Jesus was deeply moved again as he came to the tomb. Jesus’ fragile-looking emotions point to his humanity; we see how he, as a human being, deals with death and loss. But I also believe this gives us a glimpse into his divine nature, revealing a bit of God’s heart. For Jesus, this is not “merely” losing a dear loved one to death. For Jesus, as the Creator of the universe, this is his beloved creation suffering exactly what he didn’t want for them, the direct opposite of how he designed them. He wanted them to live forever, in perfect harmony with him. In some ways, Jesus’ emotions show his determination to go to the cross.
Nothing could or would fix the death problem with God’s direct intervention. God, as a perfectly just being, couldn’t just pretend that sin didn’t matter, shove it under the rug, or ignore it. No, God’s justice demands that sin had to be dealt with properly, but his love meant that he wouldn’t make you and me deal with it ourselves.
Martha’s faith that Lazarus would rise again on the Last Day was centered in the truth that Jesus is our Savior. Death could never be undone unless sin was undone, and that could only happen in the body of the God-man taking the place of humanity under God’s just wrath.
We’re not so far away from seeing that happen. In less than two weeks, we will sit and hear his cries of physical pain at his crucifixion, but much more so his cries of spiritual torment, of being abandoned by his Father and suffering the punishment for sins he never committed, but that we did. He will suffer the wages of sin—hell itself—for us.
But the end of that story points to the end of our story as well. Jesus, as the firstfruits of all who die, showed what will happen to us on the Last Day, as Martha knew would happen for Lazarus. Jesus’ resurrection shows not only his victory over sin, death, and hell, but also shows us what is in store for us. Despite our sin, despite the death that we deserve, we will live. Not because of us, but because of Jesus. “Whoever believes in me will live, even if he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never perish.”
Could Jesus go to the tomb of our loved one, whether they’ve been there for four days or four decades, and raise them to life? Of course. Is he going to do that? That does not seem likely, not only because that’s not what he normally does, but also because it's not his main goal. Jesus is not ultimately interested in restoring people to life in this sinful, corrupted world. Even when Jesus raised Lazarus, it wasn’t to reunite him with his sisters and friends. No, why did Jesus do this? “Father, I thank you that you heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” Jesus’ goals go way, way beyond this cave near Bethany and go well beyond our loved ones’ graves or our own upcoming graves. Jesus’ goals and plans stretch into eternity, eternal safety from perishing in hell. The Father sent his Son on a mission of mercy, on a mission of grace, on a mission to save the fallen creation that he loves so dearly. As Jesus raises Lazarus to physical life, his message to us is clear: I will do this and so much more for you.
As you deal with death in the many horrid ways it makes itself known in your life, or even as you deal with the other, less dire effects of sin, keep your focus on the Resurrection and the Life. Jesus came that you may have life and have it abundantly (John 10:10), not here and now, but forever with him, away from any sin consequence of sin. There we will dwell with the one who is our Resurrection and our Life forever.
As Jesus said to Martha, so he says to us as well, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me will live, even if he dies. And whoever lives and believes in me will never perish. Do you believe this?” With the faith the Holy Spirit gives, we can confidently answer, “Yes, Lord! I believe that you are the Christ—the promised Savior—who has rescued me from all sins, death, and the power of the Devil, not with gold or silver but with your holy, precious blood and your innocent suffering and death, in order that I would be your own and live under you in your kingdom just as you have risen from death!”
Lord, keep us in that faith until life everlasting. Focus us on your resurrection and your life forever. Amen.
Soli Deo Gloria
Sermon prepared for Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (WELS), Belmont, CA (www.gdluth.org) by Pastor Timothy Shrimpton. All rights reserved. Contact pastor@gdluth.org for usage information.
