“Jesus Wept” (John 11:1-45)

John 11:1-45

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Jesus Wept by James Tissot (1886)

Pastor Tom Johnson, March 26, 2023

Easter is only two weeks away! It’s too soon to celebrate. Jesus does not brush aside the tears and sorrows of Mary, Martha, and the other mourners. On the contrary, Jesus takes on our tears and sorrows. The story about Lazarus is an invitation for us to enter into loss and grief—not alone but with Jesus. Mary and Martha send Jesus news that their brother Lazarus is sick. Jesus already knows. He also knows that the illness will not lead to permanent death but only to temporary death. Jesus has no urgency. Jesus says that Lazarus has fallen asleep. He uses sleep to show that death is only temporary. Just we lay ourselves down to sleep in the sure and certain hope of the rise of a new day, so we close our eyes to this life only to open our eyes and awaken to eternal life.

Mary and Martha both say Jesus could have prevented Lazarus’ death. They both say Lazarus would not have died. Jesus says he is glad that he was not there so that he could give them and everyone a greater gift—something to carry them through all their losses. Jesus gives Mary and Martha, the disciples, and everyone else mourning their loss time and space—time and space to cultivate hope. He teaches us how to go through this valley of the shadow of death with hope. The height of this truth is at the depth of our despair.

Lazarus is dead. When Jesus arrives, it has already been four days. As the Old King James translation said, Lazarus’ decomposing body stinketh. Jesus’ hopeful outlook says that Lazarus is sleeping. Jesus says he allowed Lazarus to die so that he would have an opportunity to strengthen the disciples’ faith—and to strengthen our faith. But it is not just that Jesus will show his power to raise the dead. He will show his power to carry us through our losses and grief. 

When Jesus saw Mary—when he saw Martha and the rest of the family and friends weeping—when he saw their bloodshot eyes—when he saw their tears roll down their cheeks—when he heard their gasps for air—when he heard their cries and groans too deep for words…he was “greatly disturbed and deeply moved.” Scripture says, “For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses” (Hebrews 4:15). Thanks be to God that he sent his son into our flesh and humanity not to just be aware of our pain but to feel it in his body—to  empathize with the sting of death even though he ultimately has victory over death.

Jesus wept. Jesus sheds tears with us. Jesus sheds tears for us. The day is coming when he will shed his blood with us and for us. But not this day. This day he will have a taste of our salty tears before he gives us a taste of the resurrection. Jesus shows up. He shows up in our deep sadness. He is with us in our losses. He mixes his tears with our tears. Scripture says “It is better to go to the house of mourning than to go to the house of feasting. The heart of the wise is in the house of mourning, but the heart of fools is in the house of mirth” (Ecclesiastes 7:1-4). There is more wisdom to be found at funerals than parties.

We believe in the resurrection of the dead. We believe Jesus will raise the dead. He says, “I am the resurrection and the life.” That is our hope. Jesus is our hope. Jesus could have prevented Lazarus’ death. He could have raised him from thousands of miles away. But he doesn’t. Jesus takes us to Lazarus’ funeral to be with Mary, Martha, and all who mourn. He allows Lazarus’ death to teach us about grief, death, and his power. He teaches us by his example that it is okay to be greatly disturbed, deeply moved, and to weep.

Jesus weeps. He grieves even though he knows that he will reverse death and raise the dead. Jesus’ sadness is a hopeful sadness. It is a sorrow that knows that the power of resurrection is not far off. Resurrection is here. Resurrection is now. Jesus is the resurrection and the life. When those at Lazarus’ tomb saw how Jesus’ wept, they got the message his tears were sending. They said, “See how he loved him!” Jesus loves the one who died. Jesus loves those who die. His love carries them through life and through death. Jesus loves those who mourn. His love carries them through their grief and their loss. See how Jesus loves Lazarus through death to life. See how Jesus loves Mary and Martha through their sorrow and emotional suffering. See how Jesus loves all of us. See how his love will carry us all through life and death. See how he shows up in our deepest sadness. See how he shows up to bring hope, healing, and life. He may not come when we want him to. But he is always on time. He is there to bring hope. It is a hope that will not disappoint us. Our Scripture assures us how much he loves those who die. Our Scripture assures us how much he loves the living who must still deal with death. 

Today Jesus sheds his tears with us. But mixed into those tears of sorrow are tears of hope that he triumphs over death. Soon Jesus will shed his blood for us. Mixed into the blood of death is the blood of life, forgiveness, and the death of death. Soon Jesus “will wipe every tear from our eyes. Death will be no more; mourning and crying and pain will be no more” (Revelation 21:4). But in the meantime, Jesus is with us. He loves us through the valley of the shadow of death. His rod and staff, they comfort us. Surely goodness and mercy will pursue us all the days of our lives. And we will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

“Living Water” (John 4:5-42)

John 4:5-42

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Christ and the Samaritan Woman at the Well by Angelica Kauffmann (1796)

Pastor Tom Johnson, March 12, 2023

Everyone loves a love story. We want to know how happy couples first met. There is suspense in the story even though we know it ends in a happy relationship. One of the most infamous love stories in the Bible is about Jacob. Jacob runs away for his life because of his betrayal of his brother. He eventually comes to a large well and meets a beautiful shepherdess named Rachel. Rachel  brought her sheep to be watered there. Jacob rolls the large stone away to give Rachel and her flock water to drink. That’s how they met. And fell in love. Jacob’s father Isaac has a very similar love story. Isaac’s family sends a servant to extended family to find a suitable wife for Isaac. The Holy Spirit leads him to a spring of living water. He meets a kind and beautiful young woman named Rebekah. She offers to bring water for him and his camels. Both matches were made around a water well. 

It is not unusual today for couples to meet each other over a drink—even over a cup of hot herbal tea at Starbucks. If you have met your true love, think about how you met that special person. Was it love at first sight? Did you feel the well of love and passion springing up within you for this person you just met? Or was it more gradual—love that was consistent, pure as spring water flowing between the two of you?

And so Jesus meets a woman for a drink in today’s Scritpure. Would it surprise you to know that what Jesus does is scandalous in his day…as scandalous as if he went to a singles bar today and used a few prophetic pick-up lines on a woman? The Samaritan woman herself even asks why Jesus is speaking to her. They had multiple reasons for not speaking, not being near each other, and certainly not drinking out of the same well. Jesus is a Jew; the woman a Samaritan. Jesus is a unmarried; she is likely widowed or divorced multiple times and currently in an adulterous relationship. Jesus is ritually clean; the woman is unclean by Jewish law just for being Samaritan. Even the disciples are scandalized that Jesus is talking to a woman. 

“Give me to drink.” This is invitation toward intimacy—sharing the same vessel, of conversation, and of serving one another. Remember, this is how Jesus’ great-grandparents met. Jesus already intimately knows her. She does not know him yet. He tells her everything she has done. He knows her love stories. All six of them. Jesus knows the stories of loss and betrayal. He knows how burned she is by love or how badly she burned others—looking for love in all the wrong places. But Jesus does not point out her troubled past to bring shame and guilt. Instead he offers her a spring of Living Water—water that will never dry up like her past loves—Living Water that will gush out of her own heart that will last—not just until death do them part—but to all eternity.

Jesus promises to awaken love in us—like Jacob who dug for water and finds it deep within the heart of the earth—so he awakens Christ the Living Water in us. The water from Jacob’s well made their camp habitable. The water gave life to Jacob, his family, and his flocks. It had been giving water for generations. More than 70 feet deep within the earth, there is now a Greek Orthodox Church built on the site of the well. It is still a source of cold, refreshing water today. You are encouraged to take some with you when you visit.

There has to be deep heartache buried deep within the heart of this Samaritan woman. Jesus is able to see into the eyes of her soul. He speaks to her pain and her yearning for a source of water and love that would never let her down. Jesus reads her like a book. He knows her since before she was born. That is her story and the story she tells. Certainly her hometown knows about all the men in her life—all six of them. Sadly, she may have been shunned or marginalized. She says, “Come and see a man who told me everything I have ever done!” This is now the seventh—five husbands, one lover, and now, her first True Love. Seventh is the day God rested from creation—this true Messiah, beautifully Human, and a perfect Husband—not only to her but to all God’s people, the Bride of Christ.

She can finally rest with this Man’s love. She keeps telling everyone, “He told me everything I have ever done!” Jesus knew her history, her pain, her sin, her demons, the skeletons in her closet—and he still talked to her—he still asked her for a drink—he still offered her himself as Living Water. The Samaritan woman invites her whole town to meet her, and their, Perfect Match—come and see a man—this Jesus from Nazareth, this divine Knower of our souls. When have you sat down to have a drink with Jesus? 

He asks us to share a drink of cool water. He knows our history, our pain, our losses, the betrayals we have suffered, the heartache we have caused, our demons, and the skeletons hiding in our closets deep within our hearts. But he also knows how to awaken the spring and river of Living Water that gushes out forgiveness, life, and joy. As we dig deep within the archives of our souls, we find our One and only Love—our True Love, Jesus Christ. “As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God.” Jesus will never betray us or abandon us. He takes us in for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, to love and to cherish, til death and through death—will never part. Everyone loves a love story. This one is about us.

I heard the voice of Jesus say, “Behold, I freely give
the living water, thirsty one; stoop down and drink and live.”
I came to Jesus, and I drank of that life-giving stream;
my thirst was quenched, my soul revived, and now I live in him.
                               (“I heard the Voice of Jesus Say”)

“Not to condemn” (John 3:1-17)

John 3:1-17

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Pastor Tom Johnson, March 5, 2023

“For God so loved the world that he gave his only Son, so that everyone who believes in him may not perish but may have eternal life.” You will see John 3:16 on billboards and held up by fans at football games and marathon races. As much as I love this Scripture. I love the next verse, John 3:17, even more: “Indeed, God did not send the Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.” 

Remember who Jesus is talking to: Nicodemus. Nicodemus is a Pharisee. The Pharisees acted as religious police officers—Mosaic law enforcement. If they heard someone was breaking the law—the 10 commandments or any religious tradition—they would investigate and condemn that person for their actions. They believed God’s purpose for their lives was to find fault, condemn, and judge others. They became so fixated on finding the negative in others that they accused Jesus of being a sinner, a law-breaker, and even demon-possessed. It is no surprise then that Nicodemus, great Pharisee and teacher of the Law, had a hard time understanding Jesus—especially the good news he preached. Being a Pharisee, he was up to his eyeballs in negativity, judgment, and condemnation. 

Neuroscientist Rick Hanson says the human brain has a natural negativity bias. We  internalize negative experiences more deeply than positive ones. Hanson says the brain is like Velcro with negativity. It only takes one one negative thought—one negative word—one negative image to stick to our brains like Velcro. Hanson says the brain is like Teflon with positive experiences. As soon as we experience a positive thought—a positive word—or a positive image—it passes through and slips off our brains like Teflon—like water beading up and rolling off the back of a duck. It’s why we can receive 50 positive emails but it is the one negative one that we can’t stop thinking about and keeps us up at night. Hanson says we must savor a positive experience for at least 30 seconds to make a lasting impact on our brains. 

Jesus did not come into the world to condemn the world. He comes because he loves the world. He comes to save the world. He comes to embrace us with his love and the deliver us from evil. So why is it that so much of the world thinks that Jesus is against them? Dare I say because of us, the church? Because we judge others. Because we see the culture around us as the enemy. Jesus tells us, “Judge not lest you be judged. Judge not.” People in Jesus’ day did not need a Pharisee to tell them they were sinners. That’s Satan’s job. The name Satan means “accuser.” Our own conscience and the devil condemn us enough. The devil wants all of us to wallow in our shame and guilt. Jesus did not come to condemn us. He came to save us. Jesus comes to deliver us from self-loathing, to save us from despair, to deliver us from hopelessness, to save us from evil, to deliver us from sin, and save us from death. It is 100% good news.

Jesus reminds Nicodemus of the story of Moses and the bronze serpent. The people of God had sinned so egregiously that fiery serpents broke out in the camp. Their venomous bites were fatal. God told Moses to make a bronze serpent, put it on a pole, and lift it up in the camp for all to see. All you had to do is take your eyes off the serpents and fix your eyes on God’s promise of healing. All you had to do is take their focus off the noise and negativity—the pain, poison, guilt, and shame—and focus on God’s sign of forgiveness, life, and salvation. Those who trusted God, gazed on what Moses lifted up, and were healed. God did not send Moses with the bronze serpent to condemn. God sent Moses and the bronze serpent to heal, forgive, and preserve life. This was God’s medicine. This was God’s antidote to the poison. You will still see medical professionals use the image of the serpent on the pole. I just saw it yesterday on an ambulance.

So, Jesus says, God will lift him up just as Moses lifted up the bronze serpent —not just for one camp to see—but for the whole world to see. He will be lifted up on the pole of the Cross of Calvary. Jesus heals, forgives, triumphs over death, and promises eternal life while he is lifted up high on that Cross. He is God’s healing balm for the nations. Christ is the antidote for the toxic sin, evil, and death we see around us. All we need to do is take our focus off the noise and negativity—the hurt, the toxicity, the guilt, and the shame—and focus on Christ’s love placarded on the Cross. We look to Jesus and his Word of salvation. We savor the love of Christ lifted up for the whole world to see and be healed.

“For God loved the world in this way: he sent his only Son, that whoever trusts in him should not perish but have eternal life. God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.”

That is our message. That is the good news: God’s love for us through Jesus Christ.

May thy rich grace impart
Strength to my fainting heart,
My zeal inspire;
As thou hast died for me,
Oh, may my love to thee
Pure, warm, and changeless be,
A living fire!
                    (“My Faith Looks up to Thee” LBW 479 v. 2)