Through the Eyes of Lazarus - Sermon for Palmarum, A+D 2022

Palmarum:  Palm and Passion Sunday
Our Redeemer and Our Savior’s Lutheran Churches
Custer and Hill City, South Dakota
Through the Eyes of Lazarus

    Lazarus was there.  Lazarus of Bethany, the brother of Mary and Martha, and disciple of Jesus, was alive and present for the events of that first Holy Week, which we commemorate today. 

    St. Matthew, from whom we just heard the Passion of Christ, never mentions Lazarus anywhere in his Gospel account.  St. John tells us a lot about Lazarus, including a brief reference in our Palm Sunday Processional Gospel reading.  Lazarus was there.  Even more, in the three verses just before our Processional Gospel, John wrote this: “When the large crowd of the Jews learned that Jesus was there, (that is, in Bethany, a village just outside Jerusalem), they came, not only on account of him but also to see Lazarus, whom [Jesus] had raised from the dead. ¹⁰ So the chief priests made plans to put Lazarus to death as well, ¹¹because on account of him many of the Jews were going away and believing in Jesus. (John 12:9-11)

    So Lazarus was there, raised from the dead, and hanging out with Jesus.  We can’t say with absolute certainty what all Lazarus saw that week, but it is hard to imagine that he didn’t stay pretty close to his friend, Jesus.  Not after what he had gone through with the Nazarene.  Lazarus was there.  And he was under the same threat as Jesus.  Lazarus was involved. 

    As we have been doing throughout Lent with various characters from John’s Gospel, this morning we will consider the Christ through the eyes of Lazarus, which with the help of the Holy Spirit will be valuable for us. 

    Through no fault of his own, Lazarus was facing the same murderous wrath of the Jewish leaders as our Lord.  Not the same intensity, but as they tried to take care of the big problem that was Jesus, Lazarus was a loose end that would need attention.  And Lazarus faced the murderous intent of the Jews without many of Jesus’ advantages.  Lazarus was not all powerful, not a miracle worker.  Jesus was.  Lazarus was not stronger than death.  Nor was he sinless.  But Jesus was both. 

    So how might Lazarus have seen Jesus that first Holy Week?  Even just in relation to being raised from the dead, we have questions.  Was Lazarus filled with gratitude toward the Lord, for being brought back from the dead?  Or did he regret returning to life in this sinful world?  As the Jews plotted his second physical death, and as we consider the promises of eternal peace that God makes to all those who die in the faith, it’s not hard to imagine Lazarus wasn’t entirely thrilled to be back, afer spending 4 days in the next life. 

    But no matter, Lazarus is alive, and he is near Jesus as the most important week in history kicks off.  Working from the assumption that Lazarus stayed pretty close to Jesus, how did our Lord’s strange behavior impact him?  Lazarus knew, very personally, the amazing power Jesus possessed.  So how did he react when Jesus started antagonizing the Jewish leaders, seemingly seeking the fulfillment of their evil plans?  Teaching openly in the Temple, directly confronting the scribes, Pharisees and priests.  Was Lazarus excited, eager to see the coming battle with the Jewish leaders, and maybe even with the Romans?  Was Lazarus hoping to see the reestablishment of the earthly kingdom of Israel?  Or did Lazarus watch Jesus with fear, fear for his Friend and for himself?

    And then, as Friday morning dawned and the sham trial and the torture and the execution of Jesus proceeded, did Lazarus view Jesus with despair?  Did he ask himself: “Why doesn’t He defend Himself, use His power?”  The way of Jesus turned out to be the way of submission to evil, of not fighting back.  His Kingdom is not of this world.  How did Lazarus process this? 

    For Lazarus, as for all the followers of Jesus, the events of Good Friday seemed terrible, horrible, and unnecessary.  There goes our great hope.  The one we believed was the Savior sent from God is dying on a Roman cross.  What a waste.  Why?  Why, Jesus?  

    Jesus choosing the Cross is a stumbling block for many, still today.  Many are repulsed by the idea that Christ gave in to evil and allowed Himself to be crucified.  For many people, interested in finding God, the proclamation that the God of Christianity chose the way of weakness is simply not acceptable.  Even more struggle with the truth that God the Father chose this plan for His Son.  No one likes confronting the reality that we are such wretched sinners, this was the only Way by which God could save us. 

    Many reject Jesus’ Way of the Cross.  Which is tragically sad.  Because, as Lazarus would find out, the despair of the Cross only lasts for a short while. 

    Whatever thoughts and emotions Lazarus may have experienced that first Good Friday, in the end, Lazarus saw Jesus with unspeakable joy.  For all of the faithful disciples whom the Holy Spirit preserved through those three darkest days, after the Resurrection, their sorrowful mourning was turned into dancing, their tears of grief transformed to tears of revelry and joy.  The suffering of Jesus suddenly made sense, in the light of the Resurrection:  It was for me. Jesus did all this for me, in my place, so that I could be forgiven and set free. 

    We have quite a bit in common with Lazarus.  Lazarus was baptized, perhaps by John the Baptist, or perhaps by the one of the 12 Disciples of Jesus.  Lazarus died, and was raised again by Jesus, to live the life of a disciple, trusting in Christ’s great work and looking forward to eternal joy.  We modern recipients of Holy Baptism have also died, and been raised from the dead, for a life of discipleship, through the washing of water and the Word.  Now, Lazarus’s death and resurrection were both physical and spiritual.  Ours, so far, has been only spiritual, a Spirit worked miracle that is promised and delivered in Holy Baptism. 

    Or do you not know that all who have been baptized into Christ Jesus have thereby been buried and raised with Him?  We have died and risen spiritually, like Lazarus.  And, unless Jesus returns first, we will die physically, our hearts will stop beating some day.  As Lazarus experienced two times, we also will face physical death.  And then one day we, with all the faithful, will be raised from the dead, on that Great Day, when Christ returns to gather His own into glory.  Just like Lazarus, only better.  For in that Day, with Lazarus, and all who trust in Jesus for forgiveness, we will be taken up, to live in God’s gracious and awesome presence, face to face with our Savior, forever.   

    So, like Lazarus, let us see Jesus and say: I’m free!  I’m free from guilt, it’s all washed away in Jesus’ blood.  Free from fear, for what can man do to me, now that I am joined to the Resurrected Christ?  Free to rejoice, for death has been defeated, and eternal life in God’s glory is my future.  Free to love my neighbor, and to tell the reason for the hope that I have.  Free to tell what Lazarus saw, what Jesus did, for me, and for all people,

 in the Name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen.