Daily Dose of the Word of God - John 11: 25-26

Erin Pacheco, Director of Worship

Transcript

Erin Pacheco  0:07  

Welcome to Elmhurst CRC’s Daily Dose of the Word of God.  It’s the season of Advent, as we see how all of scripture points to Jesus. Today is Friday, December 5, and Sunday is coming. I’m Erin Pacheco.  Today’s reading is from John 11:25-26. These are Jesus’ words to his friend Martha after the death of Lazarus, her brother and Jesus’ dear friend.

Erin Pacheco   0:36  

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

Erin Pacheco  0:54

 
To me, this feels like an Easter word. The promise of resurrection and eternal life, from the one who weeps outside the tomb of his friend. The one who then calls out to Lazarus in the grave: “Come out!” And the one who goes on to himself face death on the cross and conquer it on Easter morning. “I am the resurrection and the life,” he says.   Maybe it’s just me, but these words hit different in Advent. This season of darkness and short days. Of candles and cold and snow.  This time of waiting, with longing and expectation, for God to show up and make all things new.  But isn’t that what Martha was longing for, when she met Jesus on the road? Her face tear-stained from loss, her voice tired from weeping. Wasn’t she yearning for him to make it all better? Isn’t that why she says, “Rabbi, Teacher, if you were only here, my brother would not have died.”   Jesus, we know you can fix it. Why are you taking so long?   And, without explaining his timeline, or why he seems so slow, Jesus simply says to her — and to us — “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever trusts in me, even if they die, will live.”  And then he asks, in the midst of the waiting and the pain: “Do you believe this?”  In other words, “Do you trust me?”   In the longest night. In the worst moments of loss. In the pain of betrayal. In the loneliness and worry. Do you trust me?   And then he comes with us, to the grave with us, weeps with us, this God with us, Emmanuel. Dies with us and for us. And saves us, once and for all, from the worst of ourselves and the worst of our world.   So this Sunday, we will light candles for hope and for peace. For the bold declaration that the light shines in the darkness, and no matter how long the night, Jesus is indeed coming to make all things new.   

Erin Pacheco   3:27  

Let’s pray. Come, Lord Jesus. Come into all that is dead in me and breathe your breath of life. Come and give me hope as we wait for the dawn of the beautiful day you will bring. Amen.