Jesus had been trying to tell us this was
going to happen. Over and over again he tried to teach us about his destiny and
our own. For some reason we just never understood.
Last week his warning was clear in Lazarus’
story. Jesus loved Lazarus. His sisters were worried about how sick Lazarus
was, so sick he might die. Jesus knew Lazarus must in order for him to go to his
tomb and say “take away the stone”, then “Lazarus come out!” He knew Lazarus would
then come out alive. Alive, so all there would know the Glory of God and the
life to which a believer is called.
Lazarus was not the first to live and
die, then live again. He would not be the last. There was a young man named
Eutychus. He had gone to church and the preacher went on a bit too long preaching
and Eutychus, who was sitting in a window, fell asleep and tumbled to the
ground three floors below and was picked up dead.
Paul went down to Eutychus and took him in his
arms and said, “Do not be alarmed, for his life is in him.” And the boy came
out alive. Again, another lesson about the Glory of God and the life to which a
believer is called.
These three, Lazarus, Eutychus, and now Jesus,
have been called by God to die, so that when God calls them to life again, God
will be glorified.
But we continue to not understand. Why live, suffer then die? Is there not
another way? Lazarus, Eutychus, and even Jesus asked the same question. How does life, suffering, and death glorify God?
Jesus has been crucified. How cruel a fate! How
can Jesus’ death glorify anyone? He is to be the Messiah; he is the Son of God
after all. There is no reason for this.
Shamefully, we still do not understand Jesus’
full teaching and especially this morning we find our emotion ground to an
abrupt halt. We find the promise Jesus made of resurrection in three days
impossible.
Our
emotions have been ground to this halt before. Right here, in the life of our church family we
have known life, suffering, and death.
“While they were eating, Jesus took a loaf of bread, and after blessing
it he broke it, gave it to the disciples, and said, “Take, eat; this is my
body.”
That fateful night Jesus became the substance
we need, he brought to us the nutritional embodiment we need. This is the glory
of God that Jesus freely offers to us. But first, he must die.
His life is the offering that will save us.
His life is the offering that will call us out of our tomb. His will then take
us into his arms, calling us from our cross to follow him. It is his body and
blood, his death, this shared fate that
relieves us from the one hunger that
only he can relieve us from, the hunger for eternal salvation. The hunger for
forgiveness and everlasting love that only our Messiah, our Savior, Our Lord,
Jesus Christ brings.
Often we are confused about our hunger pains.
True enough we hunger for food, but we also hunger for love and joy and peace
of mind. Then we trick ourselves with worldly passions and do things that mask
how malnourished we really are.
We feel like nothing we do is right, that we
are broken and not worth fixing, our self worth sinks below even a worthiness
of desperation. But we are not crazy, we are not weak, we are not useless. We
are simply hungry. And there is nothing left for us to do but stop and eat. We
break the bread, and remember Jesus’ promise, “This is my body broken for you.”
When we feel our life light flickering, we must keep coming to his table.
We must keep passing his cup. Jesus prays we understand he will never again
drink from his cup until that day when he drinks it new with us in his Father’s
kingdom. Such sweet hope!
But today,
with many who loved him, we sit opposite the tomb for we must wait. We must wait, for Jesus’ tomb lies secured
and we have three days to prepare for his promise.
In the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen 041314.gpc
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