Sermon - Jeff Raines - The Resurrection and the Life [John 11:21-27]

First Baptist Shreveport

Crisis moments are never convenient. In John 11, Mary and Martha sent word to Jesus about their brother Lazarus- “Lord, he who you love is sick.”
Jesus loves Lazarus and his sisters and Lazarus is very sick, but Jesus waited two more days before he went back. This doesn’t always add up for us. When we are in crisis, it is so hard to wait.
Martha says to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask. “
So many of us have had an “if you had been here” moment.
When Jesus went back, Jesus was deeply moved- even angry. Jesus wept. But Jesus said he is the resurrection and the life. He has the power to turn the worst in life to bring something good - even something that would bring glory to God.
Can all of our pain and suffering fit into this idea? Sometimes it’s hard to see in our pain and in our grief.
“…Heaven, once attained, will work backwards and turn even that agony into a glory.” CS Lewis
The Lord turned the cross into a victory. Jesus has the power to redeem the worst that we experience.
The future is here, now. He is the resurrection and the life not only in the age to come, but now.
Jesus is the turning point of history. As CS Lewis has pointed out, Jesus, by making these claims, is either Lord, lunatic, or liar. Jesus is the center of our hope. In Jesus we find life and we find resurrection.
Do you believe this? His is still the voice that calls sleeping hearts awake. He’s calling us to practice resurrection in life and to live as people already raised.