John 11:17-27
April 9, 2025
“If only.” It is the cry of all of us in many different ways. So often when something doesn’t work out we find ourselves looking back, wondering what could have been. If only I had gone to college. If only I had slowed down. If only I had spoken up. But God does not have any of those “if only” moments. He knows what’s going to happen and when it’s going to happen. So we pray to God and trust Him to work things out, but many times we don’t understand His ways.
We see this in our Gospel reading for tonight. Jesus is at the funeral of his good friend, Lazarus, who had been sick and had recently died. I would guess that it was not uncommon for people to get sick and die at a relatively young age in those days. So it was certainly understandable that Lazarus’ sisters, Martha and Mary, were filled with grief over their brother’s death. Nevertheless, the words, “if only” are raised to Jesus at two separate times by each sister. They both said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” That statement was certainly true. Jesus had healed plenty of sick people in the past. Martha and Mary trusted Jesus, they believed in Jesus. They were certain that if Jesus had been there before Lazarus died, then He could have done something to save him. As a result, many people were asking each other at the funeral, when they saw Jesus, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
Jesus does not address what He could have done in our text with Martha. Instead, He immediately seeks to bring comfort to Martha by telling her, “Your brother will rise again.” And Martha replied, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” Martha knew her friend, Jesus, but she was not fully aware of what Jesus was capable of doing. Martha had determined what was possible and what was impossible, what Jesus could and could not do. So when Martha said, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day,” what she
was really saying was, “Jesus, Lazarus has been dead now for 4 days. If you had been here before he died, then maybe you could have done something, but not now. Now it is impossible. He will be raised to new life someday, but not today.” After 4 days in the tomb, she had given up on the possibility that through Jesus life could overpower the sorrow of death. She had decided that Jesus was not capable of calling Lazarus out of the tomb, fully alive again.
What about you? What have you determined is impossible for Jesus? Is there a sin or a regret that you have decided is too big for Jesus to overcome? Is there some sort of brokenness in your life that you have decided is too profound for Jesus to bring comfort? Is there a relationship that you think is too dead for Jesus to resurrect? Is there a pain, a burden, or a fear that you no longer bring to God in prayer, because you think there is no possibility for comfort and consoling? Is there a loved one too far gone that you have decided he or she will never experience a relationship with Jesus? Are there things that we won’t even look at or discuss anymore, because we have already determined that they are beyond any comfort or hope?
We have all come to Jesus at one time or another with a preconceived notion of what is possible and impossible for Him to do. We are all like Martha in some way: “If you had only been here, Jesus, then you could have done something.” “If you had only done this or that, Jesus, then things might be different.” “Maybe someday, Jesus, things will change, but certainly not today, not a chance.”
But Jesus takes our shrunken, constricted, and pessimistic views of Him and blows them out of the water. Jesus takes what we think is impossible and shows that it is entirely possible for Him. Jesus takes what we think is inconceivable and turns it into reality.
“Do you believe?” Jesus asked Martha. It can be hard sometimes to believe, such as when we are experiencing grief like Martha and Mary when a loved one suddenly dies, or when a successful career suddenly ends, or when health is replaced by illness, or when love is replaced
by loneliness, or when good days are replaced by bad days. Jesus sought to bring comfort to His friends later in this chapter when He told Martha to move the stone away from Lazarus’ tomb. But she hesitated, being more concerned about the possibility that there might be an odor coming from the tomb. It’s interesting how Martha came to Jesus hinting at a miracle, but as soon as Jesus prepares to do a miracle in bringing Lazarus back to life, Martha isn’t so sure. In other words, it appears that Martha prayed for something she didn’t really think was going to happen. Her prayer was more like a long shot, against all odds, but she prayed anyway and had the stone moved away. Jesus then said, “Lazarus, come out,” and the dead man came walking out of his tomb. Martha saw Jesus raise her brother from the dead and give him life, and she believed.
Jesus did the impossible. He did the unthinkable. He did the inconceivable. Jesus called Lazarus out of the tomb and gave him life 4 days after death, but this is who Jesus is and what He is capable of doing. Jesus makes the impossible possible. He makes the unthinkable thinkable. He brings comfort when it seems like there could not possibly be any comfort.
What have you decided is impossible or unthinkable for Jesus? What sort of hurt or loss do you think is beyond the comfort of Jesus? What have you decided is too far gone, too broken, or too hopeless for Jesus? Where do you think Jesus cannot and will not work in your life or in this world? Nothing is impossible for Jesus. No sin is too great for His mercy. No relationship is too broken for Him to fix. No burden is too heavy for Jesus to carry. In this world we will still have those difficult days like Martha and Mary had, but knowing that Jesus will one day call out our names and we will come out of our graves, just like Lazarus, physically alive again, but healthier and happier than ever, fills me with great comfort and hope. May God grant to all of us the faith that looks to Jesus every day for strength, comfort, and life, and believes in His promises that eternal life is ours.
