Bible Passage: John 11: 17-27, 38-45
Pastor: Joel Jenswold
Sermon Date: March 22, 2026

Bulletin – March 22, 2026

In the name of, and to the eternal glory of, Jesus,

As we meet Mary and Martha in our text today, they are people living in “the land of in-between.”  What do we mean by that?  They are living after the death of a loved one.  The wound is nervy and raw.  As the story begins, the resurrection has not taken place yet.  They are living in the middle, between death and resurrection.

This “land in-between” is not always so fun.  This “land in-between” is a place of funerals and picking out caskets and clothes to bury people in.  It is a land where sometimes we are comforters to others in their time of loss, and sometimes we are the comforted.  It is a land of cemeteries and visits to cemeteries.  It is a land where death surrounds us.

This “land of in-between” is above all a place of FAITH.  The longer we live here and see death here, the more we come to appreciate Jesus’ dialogue with Martha about faith, resurrection, and life.  Because when we are confronted with death and must live in this “in-between” land, we must live by the words of our creed:  I Believe in the RESURRECTION of the Dead, and the LIFE Everlasting!  And we have that faith, that hope, because of Jesus, who is the Resurrection and the Life.  Today, in our text, Jesus proves it, too!

The first part of this story will rip your heart out.  Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, is sick.  And it is bad.  The sisters sent word to Jesus, Lord, the one you love is sick. (John 11:3)  Isn’t that a wonderful way to “pray” for someone?  By appealing to the love of Jesus!  Yet, when Jesus gets their message, he remains where he was two more days.  During this time, Lazarus dies.  And as was the custom at that time, they prepared his body for burial.  They would have washed his body.  They wrapped it up tight with strips of linen, perhaps wrapping in some spices and perfumes.  By sunset of the day he died, he would have been in his tomb.  It is only after the death and burial of his friend that Jesus says to his disciples, Let’s go. (11:7)

Our text begins when Jesus arrives in Bethany.  Martha hears the report that Jesus is coming.  She goes out to meet him.  She is living in the land of in-between.  Her heart has been broken.  She speaks as one living in the land of in-between.  Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. (v. 21)  Those living in the land of in-between cannot help but think about the “ifs.”  “If we had tried another medicine…If we had done another round of chemo…”  Martha knows Jesus could have healed him!  He did it to thousands of people!  But here is the thing. Jesus didn’t want to come to heal Lazarus; he wanted to come and raise him!

Jesus says to her, Your brother will rise again. (v. 23)  Martha knows this!  Martha confesses her “creed!”  I know that he will rise again on the Last Day. (v. 24)  My goodness!  It is as if Martha was standing here with us confessing the Apostles’ Creed:  “I believe in the resurrection of the body and life everlasting.”  Martha believed in resurrection and life-after-death!

Now Jesus will tell us why such a hope can exist.  I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me will live, even if he dies. (v. 25)  In death, the soul of the believer exits the body.  We then take the body and bury it, or burn it.  But on the Last Day, Jesus will reunite the soul and body again.  This is the resurrection of the dead!  Jesus also said, Whoever lives and believes in me will never perish. (v. 25)  The believer in Jesus never really “dies.”  In that moment we call “death,” when the soul exits the body, that soul enters into the presence of Jesus in heaven!  Remember what Jesus said to the thief next to him?  Today you will be with me in paradise.  That man wasn’t really going to die!  He was going to pass from life to Life!

But notice what Jesus says next.  Do you believe this? (v. 26)  There is THE question for every single person who lives in the “land of in-between.”  For every person who knows someone who has died, and for every person who will die.  (That’s everyone!) Do you believe that Jesus is the resurrection and the life?  Do you believe that Jesus Christ, by his death on the cross and his own resurrection from the dead, has become the resurrection and the life for all who trust in him?  Do you believe the words you say when you confess, “I believe in the resurrection of the dead, and the life everlasting”?  Do you mumble them?  Or do you mean them?

For any who aren’t sure that Jesus is the resurrection and the life, what happens next should remove all doubt.  Jesus asks to go out to the graveyard.  By now, sister Mary has joined them, and also a large crowd.  At the tomb, Jesus tells them to roll the stone away.  Martha suggests this might be a bad idea.  She knows that the “land of in-between” is the land of decomposition.  Jesus reminds her, Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? (v. 40)  “Martha… ‘I believe in the resurrection of the dead’…remember?” And the world would see a little preview, a little “trailer,” of what the Last Day will be like.  Lazarus, come out!  The man who had died came out with his feet and hands bound with strips of linen and his face wrapped with a cloth.  Jesus told them, “Loose him and let him go.” (v. 43-44)  The crowd saw what happens when the One who is the Resurrection and the Life goes to a graveyard!

One week ago Saturday, I read the words of this text at the bedside of one of our members who is soon going home to heaven.  Soon, she will be home with the Lord.  And a family will once again dwell in the “land in-between” death and the resurrection.  But they, we, will dwell here with a creed in our hearts and on our lips:  “I believe in the resurrection of the dead and the life everlasting.”  We confess that hope because of Jesus’ resurrection and life!  We live by that hope because Jesus has become for us the Resurrection and the Life!

Amen.