Opening Prayer
Lord, increase our faith. Amen. (Luk 17:5)
Text: John 11:20-27
Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house. Then Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” Martha said to Him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?” She said to Him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.”
Devotion
These were difficult days in Martha’s house. The two women had to bury their brother and sit in sadness and loss. But worse were the thoughts of unbelief, the soul becoming like a billowing sea. “Why didn’t the Lord come? Is He faithless too? Could He also be one of those friends who abandoned them in their time of need? Impossible! But why did He stay away then? And these words of His: ‘This sickness is not unto death’? Now our brother is dead! So we can’t trust what Jesus says? Surely there can’t be deceit in His mouth! But Lazarus is dead!”
And the comfort of the Jews did not comfort them; the Lord Himself must come. Sometimes He appears in one of His servants, but He Himself must be present; for only He can loose the bonds of the soul, just as only He can free the body from death. He came to Bethany, and Martha’s words show us what thoughts she was struggling with in her mind. In them I find the thoughts of my own sick heart torn between humility before the Lord and complaining against Him, between faith and unbelief. But the Lord’s words make it clear; they humble, comfort, heal, and give life. He doesn’t just say: “Lazarus shall arise,” but He also says: “Whoever believes in Me shall live, even if he dies.” “Whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.” And now He also has given me faith. I am sure that Jesus is God’s Son, that He died for my sins and rose again for my justification, that He is Lord over death and life, that He has made me His member in Baptism and feeds me with His body and blood in the Supper. He Himself gives me the grace of the Spirit to believe and conquer in the fight against unbelief. So, fellow believers, we have eternal life in us. He who said: “Lazarus shall arise,” also said: “Whoever believes in Me shall never die.” If the first one is true, so is the second. Don’t you already know that your heart depends on Him, and His love holds on to you? Yet, we don’t base our life’s hope on feelings, but on His eternally true and unfailing promise. Though I die, my soul is with Him, and He shall also raise my body. In the same way, here or there, Christ is my life, and what He says remains true: “He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die.”
Closing Prayer
Praise to You, Lord Jesus! Give us grace to believe in You with all our heart. Amen.
Hymn
The serpent’s head is beaten down
By woman’s Seed most holy;
Grim death has lost its sting and frown,
Removed by Jesus only.
The pow’r of hell Is gone as well,
And I am freed forever
From Satan, death And hell’s fierce breath;
Now they can harm me never.
My soul, rise up, be strong and bold;
Rejoice in Christ, our Savior.
For death, to which you once were sold
God turns to gracious favor;
A curse before, But now a door
To enter heaven’s glory;
Now death for me Sweet sleep shall be,
And no more shall I worry.
Pedersen: Naar jeg betænker Tid og Stund: L 530:3-4 tr. DeGarmeaux;
tune: Mit Haab og Trøst (LHy 428); or Was mein Gott will (ELH 261); alternate hymn: Jesus Christ, my sure Defense ELH 532:6-7