Soon, many of you will be celebrating the birth of our Lord, the
Incarnation. I thought that it would be good to have a short series of
sermons on that to help you in your celebration of this paramount event in
God’s plan for our redemption. I realize that every day is a good day to
celebrate the Incarnation. And I also realize that Scripture doesn’t require
us to set aside one day each year to focus on this. And yet, it seems good
to take advantage of this cultural tradition. It seems good to set aside
some family time to celebrate the wonderful works of God. I’d like to help
you do that thoughtfully. And, maybe, in the process, we can redeem the
tradition. It seems to me that this is a day of celebration that is worth
redeeming.
In walking among us, Jesus accomplished two things. First, He was the
revelation of the Father’s heart. Seeing Jesus in action was the same as
seeing God in action. If anyone wants to know what God is like all he need
do is watch Jesus. Didn’t Jesus say, ‘Whoever has seen me has seen the
Father’? But at the same time, Jesus was the revelation of true humanity. He
is the example of what we are to be like as redeemed people. He is our model
to follow. This is why John writes, ‘Whoever says he abides in him ought to
walk in the same way in which he walked.’ We will see both of these things
more clearly as we examine some different events in Jesus’ life for the next
couple of weeks. Now, on to our text.
The first thing that I want you to notice from our text is that Jesus said
‘No’. The request for healing came to Him. ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’
But by His actions He said ‘No’. He let Lazarus die. This is amazing. But –
and you must see this – Jesus said ‘No’ in order to say ‘Yes’ to something
else, to something more important than healing Lazarus. He said ‘No’ because
His first priority was the glory of the Father. That’s why He said, ‘This
illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God…’ As Jesus
ministered from place to place the key question was always, ‘How do I bring
honor to the Father in this situation?’ That needs to be the key question
for you as well. This lies close to the heart of being truly human. But it
is not a question that is easy to answer. If you would answer it well there
are some things that you will need. You need to have insight into God and
His ways, a sense of what God is doing and how He functions. Jesus had such
insight. And so, His reaction to the news that Lazarus was sick was not to
quickly run to his side. God had used illness in the past without some quick
healing. Job is the best example of that. So, Jesus considered, ‘What is the
Father doing? How can I bring honor to Him in this situation?’
Seeing that is a beginning. But more is needed. Having seen what God had
done in the past, the next step is to understand what He is doing in the
present. To answer that question you need more than just a knowledge of the
Bible. You also need a sensitivity to the Spirit as He nudges you this way
and guides you that way. Luke tells us that Jesus was filled with the
Spirit, and we see the results in our text. You need to be filled with the
Spirit so that you can follow His lead. So, you work at knowing God. You
work at understanding how He has acted in the past. The Spirit will use that
understanding. Then, as you make your way through this life, you will find
yourself praying to the Spirit, ‘Okay, Lord. I see what’s going on. I see
the options open to me. Which one do I chose in this situation? Guide me, O
Thou great Jehovah.’ As you do this, He will lead you. He led Jesus, didn’t
He?
Understand, though, how difficult that must have been. Jesus said, ‘No, I’m
not going to rush off to heal Lazarus.’ Imagine what the Twelve were
thinking. ‘What are we doing just sitting here? Jesus, is this how you care
for your friends? What are you doing?’ But this is true humanity in the
midst of those who don’t understand. His priorities were right. He had
insight into God and His ways. He was led by the Spirit. He did what was
right even though no one else understood. This is your example to follow.
Next, I want to look at the most famous verse of this chapter. ‘Jesus wept’.
But it’s not enough to see this by itself. Our text also says, ‘When Jesus
saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was
deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled’, and ‘Then Jesus, deeply
moved again, came to the tomb.’ Something profound is happening here. Jesus’
is deeply distressed. Do you see what that means? It shows that He is
involved in the lives of His people. He is involved emotionally. He arrives
on the scene, and what does He find? A grieving family. Mary and Martha are
distraught; not just because of the death of their brother but also because
of what Jesus has done – or rather failed to do. ‘Lord, if you had been
here…’ Is there some confusion, or even accusation, included in that? In
this situation Jesus doesn’t maintain some other-worldly detachment. And
remember that He knows what’s going to happen. He knows that in a few
minutes Lazarus will be alive again. Still, His heart is so attached to the
lives of these people that He is deeply moved and greatly troubled. And He
doesn’t keep it in. He cries. This is a picture of true humanity.
Emotionally involved. Deeply moved. Weeping. Is it going too far to think
that even now, this same Jesus, at times, weeps for His people? But this is
not only a picture of true humanity. It is also a picture of true deity.
Jesus is revealing the Father’s heart. Our God is not emotionally detached.
He is a compassionate God whose heart is bound to the lives of His children.
There is great comfort in these things.
Someone may ask, ‘But wait! He knew that Lazarus would be raised. Why is He
distressed? Why the tears if He knew?’ And He did know. That’s important to
remember. A miracle was about to happen. As a result, more of the power of
the Gospel was revealed. The faith of the saints, Mary Martha and Twelve,
was strengthened and some even came to believe that Jesus was the Christ.
God was honored in all of this. There was tremendous good in the results,
and there was much to rejoice over. So, why the tears? The good that came
out of this did not remove the evil of the means. All of us here know the
end of the story, not just about Lazarus but the story of this world. We
know that God is using all the different events of history, both large and
small, and good and evil, to bring about a glorious world. And we will
rejoice when we get to that end. But we never minimize the evil that is and
will be a part of our journey there. Evil is evil and it hurts, even when it
is used for good. Jesus understood that. And so, He cried. So, we balance
two things. We rejoice that God is at work. History is moving to His goal,
and there is absolutely no way that He will fail to get it there. There is
always the note of joy and of optimism. And yet, at the same time, like
Jesus, we weep at evil and how it attacks and tries to destroy. We find
ourselves deeply moved in spirit and greatly troubled. We rejoice in hope
and yet never minimize the evil. That also is true humanity.
One last thought. Our text reminds us of what it means to be a disciple of
Christ. You’ll notice that Jesus never consulted with Lazarus and Mary and
Martha. You don’t find Him saying, ‘Look, I have some ideas about how to
advance the kingdom and bring honor to the Father. This will strengthen
faith and move us all closer to the goal. But it’s going to cost you a bit.
It’s going to hurt some. Is that okay with you?’ He didn’t do this. Rather,
He just proceeded with His plan, His friends remaining in the dark. Why? Is
it because He is calloused to His people? Are we just pawns for Him to use?
God forbid that anyone think such blasphemous things! Our Lord is nothing
like that. Rather, this is the nature of being a disciple of Jesus. Remember
how He told us, ‘If any man would come after me, let him deny himself, pick
up his cross and follow me.’ I would remind you once again of the glorious
example of Mary, Jesus’ mother. ‘Behold, the servant of the Lord. Be it done
to me according to your word.’ And so, we need to develop the attitude that
says, ‘Lord, my life is yours to use – any way you want.’ Or again to quote
a hymn, ‘Take my self and I will be, ever, only, all for Thee.’ But there is
more to this being a disciple. The results of Jesus’ plan were also good for
these suffering saints. Lazarus, Mary and Martha, the Twelve, others, were
changed people. Mary and Martha could see that Jesus was worthy of their
trust. The Twelve learned a lesson about priorities and being able to say,
‘No’ when the situation requires it. And they all saw the power of God first
hand and in a new way. Their faith was strengthened. And they saw the Savior
in a new light. Jesus brings His own into hard situations not only for the
good of the kingdom but also for the good of His people.
When you celebrate the Incarnation, remember to connect it with what we have
seen today. Jesus has come. Because of that we can see some things more
clearly. We can see what kind of God we worship. Jesus has revealed Him to
us. And we can see more clearly who we are and what kind of people we are to
be. Remember these things as you celebrate and all the time.
