(A sermon for John 11:17-44 Presented at Christ Christ, Bordentown, NJ, March 21-22, 2026)

Last year _ I was fortunate to have someone save my life.

For those who are curious, you may be wondering and envisioning someone giving me CPR, or pulling me out of the way of a speeding car, or out of a burning building _ or some other disastrous event.

My life-saving, though, is more complicated than reducing it to a single event like these. But I’m no less grateful than I would be if it had been one of those things. And it’s also worth noting, ironically, that the person who saved me doesn’t even know they did.

So, let’s hold that thought for a minute. Because I want to focus on not only what you heard in today’s long Gospel story of chapter 11, verses 17 to 44, but what you didn’t hear in the preceding verses.

Before the Gospel you heard today, there is a tense dialogue between Jesus and his apostles about visiting Lazarus at the request of his sisters, Martha and Mary. Jesus mysteriously hints that he knows Lazarus is already dead and tells his apostles, “For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe”.

So they go to visit, and you heard today’s Gospel story that Jesus arrives four days after Lazarus has died, and Lazarus’s entombed corpse is starting to smell. And you heard Martha and Mary say to Jesus that if Jesus had been here, Lazarus would not have died. But Martha and Mary also acknowledge that Jesus will resurrect us all at some point. We also hear that _ Jesus wept _before raising his friend Lazarus from the dead.

So when you read this story, you may wonder, what does this mean?… ‘For your sake, I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe”?

Did Jesus knowingly let Lazarus die so he could show off and show he could raise the dead?  Or maybe Jesus was overly self-assured that Lazarus wasn’t going to die, maybe because Martha and Mary always complain about Lazarus’ health, … and this time Jesus was wrong … which is why he cried.

But no. We know Jesus is not a show-off nor complacent toward our cries. This story is a sign to us that we don’t have to wait for the end of times for our resurrection. That time is coming, but John’s Gospel as a whole also indicates that this notion of ‘eternal life’ is already happening now. Our lives are saved by our faith in God and the continuous sanctification of spiritual growth.

And as we grow, what Jesus wants us to do_ is believe. Believe in God. Believe in the power of God. Believe in God’s glory and mercy. Believe that God loves us. Believe that God hears our cries, and is helping us to live in this life and for the next. And to help us with this, he gave us two commandments: The first and great is, thou shalt love (the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul), and with all thy mind.  

And the second is like unto it: Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself. This means loving your neighbor is the same as loving God. To love God is to love his creation _ which includes _ all of us.

Now _ loving your neighbor is tricky. They…say and do things that are annoying _ that are incredulous _ that are aggressive. And to put it plainly, your neighbors can ruin your day.

But nowhere is Jesus ever quoted as saying, “I hate that person.” He never says, “I hate the apostles.” “I hate Thomas; he’s always doubting me.” “I hate Peter; he never listens.” “I hate Judas because I know he’s going to betray me.” And there is no beatitude that says, “Blessed are those who hate their neighbor.”

Instead, Jesus said, “Blessed are the merciful ___for they shall obtain mercy”. So just as your neighbor should show you mercy, so should you show your neighbor mercy.

Moreover, by bringing Lazarus back to life, Jesus demonstrates that saving a life is possible. For us, we cannot raise the dead. But we can help the living come back to life. We can help those around us, walk toward life because we know a life filled with hate is not a life of love. A life of hate_ is a life of death. And Jesus _ just like he did for Lazarus, opens our tomb, our life of death, and invites us to return to the living.

So, if you’re still wondering who saved my life, Jesus is a good answer. But it was someone on earth who, with an enormous amount of nonjudgmental patience, mercy, and goodness, showed me some of the blind spots that I had in my life where a little bit of hate resided. I’m not happy to admit that. But now that I’m aware, I feel much more alive.

And that’s how this goes: A little less hate equals a little more love; A little less death equals a little more life saved; and the little more life that you get can help you save a little more life in someone else. 

If you believe this, this is how, as Jesus says, you will “see the glory of God.”  

Amen.

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and now for a song that inspired this sermon …