Valley View Chapel March 31, 2013 Jesus Is. Part 7 The Resurrection and the Life John 11: Introduction

Transcription

1 1 Valley View Chapel March 31, 2013 Jesus Is. Part 7 The Resurrection and the Life John 11:25-26 Introduction William Saroyan was a well-known twentieth-century American novelist and playwright. Shortly before his death from cancer, he said: Everybody has got to die. But I have always believed that an exception would be made in my case. Unfortunately for him, an exception wasn t made, for he died on May 8, An exception wasn t even made for Louisiana Hines of Detroit, MI. Mrs. Hines passed away on February 1 st of this year at the age of 114! Had she lived to April 13 she would have been 115 years old! She lived far longer than most of us but she still died. The cynical playwright George Bernard Shaw was right when he cited humanity s grimmest statistic: One out of one die. But not everyone fears death. For some people death is life s greatest adventure. In his book The Good Life Peter Gomes, the late pastor of The Memorial Church at Harvard University, told of the time when Billy Graham preached at Memorial Church. Gomes described the experience: He looked tired. His body did not seem entirely under his control, the lion s mane of golden hair was now white, and he showed the scars and wounds of fifty years on the front lines for Christ. When he began to speak, however, the years seemed to roll away, that liquid magic in his voice began to flow, and his eyes sparkled as of old. His opening words were, I know I am going to die soon, but that doesn t scare me. Does it scare you? Dr. Graham s probing question reminded me of Joe s memorable lines in the musical Showboat: I get weary and sick of trying, I m tired of living and scared of dying. Woody Allen is scared of dyin. He unashamedly documented his fear of when he called death stupefying in its terror. Almost 2,000 years ago Jesus was well aware that Woody Allen and a lot of other people would be scared of dying. That s why he addressed the subject head-on in John 11:25-26, I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. (NLT) Let me give that remarkable claim a little historical context. Jesus and the death of Lazarus Jesus good friend Lazarus had died 4 days earlier and Jesus arrived too late for the funeral. As he approached the family home, he was met by Martha, Lazarus sister. Martha was understandably grief-stricken because she had a typical Old Testament idea of death and the afterlife.

2 2 There were two schools of thought among the Jewish people of the first-century concerning what happened after death. The Sadducees, who were the leading theologians of the day, did not believe in the bodily resurrection of the dead. Like the Greek philosophers of the period, they believed that the spirit left the body at death and never inhabited a body again. The Pharisees, the chief theological rivals of the Sadducees, believed that there would be a resurrection of the body at the end of time. They had no answer for what happened to a person between death and the resurrection. It was the unanswered question. But it was a question for which people cried out for an answer. There are some questions that don t need an answer right away. Or ever for that matter. There are other questions that need an answer so desperately that they keep us awake at night. In 1940 the American composer Charles Ives wrote a brief 7-minute work for strings, trumpet, and winds called The Unanswered Question. It s a fascinating piece of music. The strings begin by playing a theme that lasts throughout the entire composition. It represents the question that never changes. A trumpet then enters, offering an answer to the question. Then winds interrupt the trumpet with their version of the answer. The instruments become more agitated with one another as they fight to be heard. Finally, the trumpet and the winds fade away while strings play out the musical theme of the unanswered question as the piece drifts into silence. The composer s clear message is that there is no answer to the question. Though Ives never revealed what the unanswered question was, I know what it wasn t: Should I buy a new car or a pre-owned car? Should I get a Droid or an iphone? How can I maximize my investments so I can have a comfortable retirement? The questions that seem so important to so many people are not life s important questions. Perhaps the unanswered question Ives had in mind was Where did we come from? Or What are we here for? When I listen to the piece, the unanswered question is: What happens when we die? Is death the end of everything? Or is it the beginning of nothing? Whatever the question, Ives had no answer. Yet it s the one question for which we must have a coherent, reasonable answer. The longing of the human heart The Bible declares that God has planted eternity in the human heart. And the Bible s observation has been confirmed by modern research. A Gallup poll revealed that 90% of Americans believe in life after death. I wasn t too surprised by that. What did surprise me was the revelation that 84% of people who never go to church believe that Jesus rose from the dead. So 90% of Americans believe in life after death. And 84% of those who don t go to church believe that Jesus rose from the dead. What they don t seem to know (apparently) is the connection between Jesus resurrection from the dead and their own personal longing for life

3 3 after death. Jesus words to Martha connects the dots - I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Anyone Jesus said: Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. The word anyone is all-inclusive. Everlasting life isn t a private club reserved for a select few. There are no pre-requisites; class distinctions; no race requirements; no educational attainments. There aren t even any religious conditions. The Apostle Paul agreed with Jesus. He told the Romans: Anyone who calls on the Lord will be saved." Romans 10:13 (NCV) The Apostle Peter said the same thing: The Lord is not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance. 2 Peter 3:9 (TNIV) Believes in me While Jesus said that anyone is eligible for heaven, there is a condition: Anyone who believes in me will live, even after dying. Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Heaven is conditional on who we believe in! Jesus was pretty specific: Anyone who believes in me will live and Everyone who believes in me will never ever die. The condition is belief in Jesus Christ. He didn t say: Anyone who believes will live and never die. Why is Jesus alone worthy of belief? Because of the reason why we re in church this morning and not at Starbucks reading The New York Times. Jesus died, went to the grave, came back, and never died again! What exactly are we supposed to believe about Jesus? The Apostle Paul answered that question when he wrote down the first Christian creed. A creed is simply a statement of faith, the essence of what we believe. Here s what Paul said are the basics, all we need to know to live forever: For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. 1 Corinthians 15:3-4 (NIV) Jesus Christ died because we re not good enough to pay for our own sins. He took our place on the cross. Then he was buried. That s an important fact because it means he really died. And to prove that God accepted his sacrifice for our sins, Christ rose from the dead on the first Easter.

4 4 The 19 th -century evangelist D.L. Moody said: The resurrection is the keystone of the arch on which our faith is supported. If Christ has not risen, we must impeach all those witnesses for lying. If Christ has not risen, we have no proof that the crucifixion of Jesus differed from that of the two thieves who suffered with him. If Christ has not risen, it is impossible to believe his atoning death was accepted. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures he was buried he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures. Do you believe that? If you do, then you believe in Jesus. When we say to someone: I believe in you we re really saying: I believe that you will do what you said you would do. I believe you are worthy of the trust I have placed in you. When you say I believe in Jesus and mean it that way, then Jesus says that you will live never really die. You ll live forever. Will never die I chose to quote from The New Living Translation of John 11:25-26 because of the way it translates the 26 th verse: Everyone who lives in me and believes in me will never ever die. Never ever die. Jesus is as emphatic as he can be on the subject. But we need to explore Jesus meaning at an even deeper level. Here s the literal rendering of John 11:26, Everyone who lives in me and believes in[to] me will never ever die. There s a world of difference between believing in and believing into. To believe in is to accept mentally that something is true. But intellectual assent alone is powerless to change our attitude or our lives. But when we believe into Christ, we become relationally, organically united to him. In other words, he comes to live inside of us. And once inside, he promised never to leave us. Jesus took death s best shot when he died on the cross. Easter is a celebration of the fact that he defeated death when he emerged alive and triumphant from the grave. That s the life that lives inside of us because we have believed into Christ. Conclusion So what is it like when a Christian dies? Catherine Marshall, in one of her short stories, described what she thought it s like for a Christ-follower to die. A 12-year-old boy named Kenneth was suffering from an incurable illness. As he grew weaker and weaker, he began to worry about what death will be like. At one point in the story, he turned to his mother and asked, "Mom, what is it like to die? Does it hurt?" His mother thought for a moment and then replied: "Kenneth, do you remember when you were younger when you used to play so hard, you would be too tired to undress yourself, but just fell asleep in my bed? [In] the morning you woke up and found yourself in your

5 5 own bed in your own room. Your father had come with his strong arms and carried you there. Death is like that. You will go to sleep and wake up to find yourself in your own room in heaven because Jesus carried you there with his strong arms." So death doesn t have to be stupefying in its terror. Because Jesus is alive, anyone who believes in[to] him will live in a better world than they ever dreamed of.