Sermon for March 22, 2026

March 22, 2026

By Kristin Berkey-Abbott




John 11: 1-45





In the book of John, Jesus performs a series of signs and wonders, all of them miracles to show that he is the Messiah. He controlled the weather. He healed a blind man. He multiplied loaves and fishes to feed thousands. In today’s Gospel, we see the last miracle that Jesus performs before his journey to the cross and resurrection. In today’s Gospel, we see the many ways that humans respond to the real presence of God—and the ways that God responds to humans, particularly humans in distress.


The overwhelming way that humans respond to God in today’s Gospel, and throughout history too, is an attempt to control God and to force God to conform to the view of the world that humans have. All along the way, Jesus has reminded his followers, the way he reminded Nicodemus, that the movement of God is more like the wind than something that can be controlled by human forces.


Throughout today’s Gospel we see people interacting with Jesus that shows that they still don’t fully understand who he is: from suggesting that he change his travel plans early on to criticizing him for not arriving in time to trying to control the unprecedented miracle that is at hand, as we see Martha doing when she reminds Jesus that Lazarus’ body will have started to decay and stink.


Again and again, Jesus shows that he has his own timeline and his own agenda, his own world view and understanding of true power. Again and again, Jesus reminds everyone that humans might not be able to fully comprehend or understand God’s view. Again and again, he stresses that God will be glorified. But he also shows a Divine compassion. He shows that God is not immune to human grief.


Jesus also shows that God can handle our wide range of human emotions. Like the book of Psalms, we see Mary and Martha act in anger and sorrow. They believe in Jesus’ divinity, and they believe that if Jesus had come just a few days earlier, their brother wouldn’t have died. Jesus could have prevented his death, but no one can help them now. It’s good to have today’s Gospel to remind us that God can handle our anger and our grief. We can question and wish for different outcomes from God. Like Mary and Martha, we will not be punished for our doubt that God knows what is best and God is not restrained by our understanding of what is possible and how it must be achieved.


It’s easy to see today’s Gospel as telling us that Mary and Martha are vindicated for their faith, to say that because they declare Jesus to be the Messiah, that Jesus rewards them by returning their brother to them. That’s a misreading of the text that sets us up for a wobbly faith or a descent into self-loathing and believing that our faith is not strong enough when we don’t get the miracles we pray for.


We don’t have easy answers to the age old question of why God allows misfortune and sorrow. Maybe there’s a Divine plan that we’re not privy to. Maybe it’s the less comfortable part of the advantage of having free will. There’s a whole branch of theology called theodicy dedicated to exploring this problem of a loving God who does not stop pain and suffering, and there have been no end of attempts to explain. Most of these explanations leave us unsatisfied.


Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead, a miracle that can’t be explained any other way. Unlike the past miracles when Jesus raised people who had only been dead for a few hours, here he waits 4 days. There's no doubt about what he's done once he's raised Lazarus from the dead. We can't easily imagine that Lazarus has been faking his death for 4 days. Even if Lazarus wanted to help Jesus fake a miracle and put on a good show, it's hard to imagine that he'd willingly submit to being sealed in a tomb for 4 days.


This miracle sets off a chain of consequences. Mary and Martha have their brother returned to them, and this miracle leads many more to believe in Jesus. This miracle makes the religious leaders feel even more threatened, and in the next chapter of the Gospel of John, they’re not only plotting to kill Jesus, but also Lazarus. It’s a potent reminder of how powerful earthly forces almost always react when their authority is threatened. Earthly forces have a variety of ways to punish those who don’t behave the way that empires need people to conform to their vision.


Today’s Gospel has parallels to the resurrection story we’ll celebrate in two weeks. The liturgical calendar gives us this story of Lazarus to return us to one of the main themes of our religion--we believe in resurrection. If we go back to read the Gospel—any of the four Gospels—we see that Jesus has been calling us to resurrection long before he raises Lazarus or himself from the dead. We not only believe in resurrection, but we are called to practice it.


Jesus shows again and again that earthly empires don’t have our best interests at heart. Today’s Gospel tells us that communities of believers are imperfect, too, at wanting what is best for their individual members. Long before we’re in a literal tomb, earthly forces bind us in grave cloths that keep us from living lives that God intended. We warp ourselves into shapes that better fit the forces of our society, as we move through school and make decisions about what we want our lives to be. Every so often we hear the voice of the Savior who commands us to leave the graves constructed for us, but all the bindings of our culture can make it so very hard to respond.


Today’s Gospel shows us that having Jesus with us on our journey won’t save us from the grief that comes from living a human life. If we live long enough, we’ll lose a lot of what we have loved. But we won’t be alone in our grief. God weeps with us while bearing the weight of our disappointment, our grief, and our anger at the losses.


Again and again, Jesus shows us that we don’t have to accept a world that insists that we are doomed, that the situation has progressed so far that miracles are impossible. Jesus shows us that we don’t have to accept the views pressed on us by worldly leaders. Jesus also reminds us that we cannot control God, who has a timeline and an agenda and a say. Jesus tells us that the grief and grave clothes won’t have the final word. Jesus is there to command that we be unbound, free from all the forces of death that weigh us down. Jesus is there, waiting to liberate us from all the earthly graves that hold us prisoner. We might have doubts and confusions and concerns, and we might shed some tears along the way, but Jesus is there to promise, to encourage us, to unbind us from all the places and processes of death that want to hold us captive. Jesus is there, as he has always been, there to set us free.