Talk
BRO. BENE SANCHEZ:
Good Morning!
May I tell you a secret? Actually, I really don’t like preaching. Because growing up, I was always compared with my Dad (Bro. Bo Sanchez). So, there’s this, I don’t know… I just don’t like doing it. So, here I am… I do like talking, though. So, be ready, I’m going to talk a lot.
Today, we’re going to be talking about Lazarus…*
Here, the person in the middle is Martha.
She’s preparing a feast for the Lord.
Then you have Mary who’s listening to Jesus (right side of Martha).>
Where’s Lazarus? We have no idea what he’s doing, leaving everything to Mary and Martha.
But today, we’re going to be talking about Lazarus.
*For those who have not followed our Feast Talk series, here’s a backgrounder:
Talk 7, The God Who Grieves, is part of our series, Come and See, about the Gospel of John, presenting the seven miracles, called signs, of our Lord Jesus. From Talk 1 to Talk 6, we already went through the six signs– which are all pointing to the seventh sign—the greatest miracle: The Resurrection of Jesus.
Talk 7 recounts the death of Lazarus, Jesus weeping over losing this friend, but at the same time comforting his sisters, Martha and Mary. — Editor
Let’s sing together the song that we always sing before we read the Word:
Thy Word is a Lamp unto my feet and a Light unto my path.
Let’s give God a big hand.
I think this is what my Dad says after the song.J So, we’re going to be reading from John 11:1:
This is one of the most heartfelt stories in the whole Gospel of John. I want to highlight that line: “The one you love.”
Maybe, for some people here, we can feel unloved. We can feel like we’re always wondering where God is: “My life right now is a mess. It’s dark.
It’s crazy.”
But what John reminds us is that Jesus’ kind of love was a personal kind of love. It was a kind of love that made Jesus weep over his friend’s illness.
The way that Jesus loved his friends was a personal, emotional, and a heartfelt kind of love.
The way that Lazarus was loved by Jesus is the same way that Jesus loves you and me. That’s a truth that we want to meditate on today. Pray with me:
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.
Jesus, we want to open ourselves to that love. Help us see that despite our situation and despite whatever we may be going through, Your love is the constant faithful assurance that we can lean on and hope on. Help us experience Your love today. In Jesus’ Name.
In the Name of the Father, and of the son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.
Symmetrical Story
Let’s give God a big hand because He deserves it. He’s good.
I don’t like preaching, but I really love the Gospel of John. I think it’s worth talking about. So, let’s do it.
I want to show you this chart:
The way that the Gospel of John organized this section of the story of Lazarus is in a beautiful symmetrical design.
I don’t know if you were here when we discussed the First Talk on the Gospel of John. We kind of talked about how John loves symmetry and how he loves putting items in order.
This story is ordered in a symmetrical way.
The first part of the story of Lazarus is about how Jesus received the news that His friend Lazarus was very sick– and he died. Jesus was going to go to Bethany, the village where Lazarus and his sisters lived.
The second part, in the middle of the story, is about when Martha, one of the two sisters, welcomed Jesus. We have Jesus talking with Martha about the Resurrection which is super cool.
Then, we have Mary coming out, asking Jesus a very painful question: “Where were You, Jesus?”
Is there anybody here who asked that question before?
“Where were you Jesus when I needed You? When I was going through this crisis? When I was praying and praying that you would do something, but I just didn’t feel you’re here?”
Mary and Martha asked the same question.
They told Jesus, “If only you were here earlier. If only you weren’t four days late…”
Symmetrical Parts
By the time that Jesus would make it to Bethany, Lazarus was already in the tomb for four days. So, Mary and Martha brought the same painful question to Jesus. But at the end of this whole story–spoiler alert–
Lazarus was going to be raised to life.
Do you see the symmetry the first part of this story?
First Part: It’s about Lazarus and his sickness and his death in focus and how it troubled and brought grief to Jesus.
Second Part: The second segment, the two B sections are about the two sisters bringing their painful and difficult question to Jesus: “Where were you?”
Middle Part: In the middle, we have Jesus talking about the Resurrection.
The First Part and the Last Part match: The First Part is about Lazarus’s illness and the Last Part is about Lazarus being resurrected.
The story of Lazarus is interesting because it’s right in the middle of the Gospel of John.
For the past couple of Sundays, we’ve been talking about all these different signs. Do you remember when Jesus turned the water into wine? Last Sunday, we talked about how Jesus made a blind man from birth see.
Lazarus is going to be the sixth sign. All these signs are pointing to the seventh sign: Jesus’ Cross and Resurrection.
This sixth sign is smack in the middle of the whole Gospel. It’s almost like a hinge of a door where the story is about to turn– from Jesus doing these signs to the second half of the Gospel of John where Jesus was going to fulfill His Passion and Resurrection. He was going to bring glory to the Father.
So, it’s very important to highlight this: that even in this terrible moment where Lazarus was sick, where Lazarus’s family was distraught and experiencing grief, they’re wondering where Jesus was.
Jesus already foresaw that through this darkness, God’s light is going to shine through. God’s glory is going to be fulfilled through this.
Hope Amid Grief
I find it so fascinating that the middle of the Gospel of John is a story about grief.
Grief is something that we all have probably experienced. Grief is how we process some of the most illogical and senseless experiences in our life– such as when we lose a loved one, when we lose our job, and when things spiral out of control. Grief helps us express our deepest longings, the ones that we don’t have words for.
What’s so interesting is that Jesus experienced this grief. He experienced the same pain that we experience.
Somehow, John is going to show how, despite all the trouble, darkness, and grief, Jesus’ hope of the Resurrection can be found in the middle.
Now, I know that you are thinking that it doesn’t really make sense, right?
If I heard that my friend was sick, I would drop everything right then and there to go and visit that friend. If I heard that my best friend was in the hospital, I would cancel all my plans and go there.
But for some reason, Jesus waited for two days to go to Lazarus. Why did He do that?
We do have to mention that there was one reason Jesus would not want to go to Bethany. Let’s read:
Bethany was a few kilometers away from Jerusalem– about a mile or 3 kilometers. Jesus wasn’t so hot with the religious leaders. Actually, at this point in the story, the religious leaders had tried to capture or kill Jesus 12 times. The last time that they were there, it was the most intense because they had already picked up stones and they were ready to stone Jesus.
But somehow, Jesus was able to escape.
Why Jesus Was ‘Late’
Despite the danger, Jesus, upon hearing that His friend was sick, planned to go back to Bethany.
This would have been a perfect opportunity for Jesus to do a remote healing.
I think this would have been the perfect situation for Mary and Martha to open the Zoom and let Jesus in from the waiting room.
Jesus can pray over Lazarus online and even send a healing emoji. He could have healed Lazarus like how He healed a centurion’s servant: Lord, I am not worthy to have you come under my roof, but only say the word, and my servant will be healed.” (Matthew 8:8)
But that’s not what Jesus did. Jesus went there in person– even if it would cost Him His life. That’s how much Jesus loved Lazarus. He had to visit
Lazarus’s family.
But when we get to this part, we find the bad news:
Was Jesus too late? Why didn’t He come earlier?
Here’s the thing: Even if He wanted to, it took about two days to travel from the region of Jordan, where He was staying, to Bethany. Lazarus was already dead and was in the tomb for four days.
By the time that the messenger walked from Bethany and reached Jordan where Jesus was staying, Lazarus possibly would have already died.
Though this still doesn’t answer the question why Jesus waited.
I don’t think we’ll ever know– but that’s just how it is. We don’t know why sometimes God is silent, why we experience suffering, why we experience setbacks, and why we face disappointments.
But God invites us to bring these disappointments to Him.
That’s why when Martha faced Jesus, she brought to Him her painful question.>
When Jesus would see Mary later, she would ask Him the same question.
Why didn’t Jesus go earlier? Couldn’t He have felt that Lazarus was getting sick, and couldn’t He found a way to change His itinerary to be in Bethany four days earlier? Or, couldn’t He have healed Lazarus from afar?
It can feel like that when our situation has gone too far– that it’s too late, that the train has gone so off the tracks, that there’s no going back.
But we’ll see God’s ability to move and work in our lives is bigger and larger than we can possibly imagine.
What Jesus Says
Martha was kind of saying,
“Jesus, I’m a Jew. You’re a Jew. We believe that at the end, God is going to come and He’s going to resurrect everyone. Why are you bringing this up in the middle of the funeral?”
What Martha didn’t realize was that she was speaking face-to-face with the Author of life.
This is what Jesus tells her:
Our view of God can be so limited. We already think He can’t do it.
Does anybody here pray safe prayers? When a storm comes, we don’t ask God to send the storm away. We pray for God to keep us safe because somehow, we’ve been conditioned to be disappointed when we come before God and bring our prayers. We don’t pray bold prayers and that’s just logical.
I think we can empathize with Martha. Nobody is expecting when somebody dies. Nobody expects him to be raised to life especially if the corpse has been rotting in the tomb for four days.
But what this story is trying to put in front of us is that maybe, just maybe, our view of what God can do is so small compared to who God actually is.
It’s not that we don’t think that He can do it. Maybe deep down, we feel like He doesn’t care– or that our concerns don’t matter as much to Him in the grand scheme of things.
But in this Gospel, Jesus was telling Martha: “I am willing and that I have the power to change the fabric of reality.”
We know that Jesus had come to confront death itself.
Where You Meet God
So, Martha says:
There’s a shift in Martha’s disposition.
That’s when she would call Mary who would come and tell Jesus the exact same thing. Except that Mary fell to her feet and she started weeping.
You can see the difference in personalities. Martha is the strong and stoic, and the avoidant. Martha is the more logical one and Mary is the more emotional one. But God meets them both.
The truth is God is never late in your life. He will show up at just the right time.
And it was in Mary and Martha’s deepest grief where Jesus met them and offered them a hope. A hope that is bigger than they can possibly imagine or understand. He just asked them to trust.
If there’s anything that I want you to remember in this talk, it is this: Your deepest grief becomes your meeting place with God.
After Jesus talked to Mary, she asked Him the painful question again.
Jesus asked her, “Where have you laid him?”
Mary said, “He’s in the tomb. It’s been four days and it kind of stinks already.”
They didn’t have all the advanced embalming technology that they have in the morgue now.
When Jesus saw the tomb, He wept.
This is the God of the universe. This is the God who breathed life into man and yet when He came face-to-face with the tomb of His dear friend, He wept.
I love how Jesus is portrayed both as the God of life and as a God who grieves over death. He’s weeping because when He sees Lazarus’ tomb, He knows that one day, He would be in a tomb just like this one. Even with the foreknowledge of Resurrection, it doesn’t make it any less bitter.
In the Middle of Our Grief…
Going to the place where Lazarus was buried– within the territory of His enemies — would probably be the reason Jesus would also end up in a tomb.
This wasn’t some private affair.
John notes multiple times that there was a crowd that came all over Jerusalem to visit Lazarus. Lazarus was an important guy. He had a lot of friends, and they all came to pay respects to Lazarus.
As I mentioned a while ago, Jesus was kind of a Public Enemy Number One in the eyes of the Pharisees. If Jesus was trying to keep a low profile, the last thing He would want to do was to go to a funeral full of people– and perform a resurrection.
I don’t know about you, but I think a resurrection would be really difficult
to hide. But even knowing that, Jesus came to save His friend, the one He loved.
Jesus is the God of life and He’s a God who grieves. He’s a God who understands our deepest sorrows. I don’t know what you came here in The Feast feeling or bringing with you, but I want you to know this:
The whole story, that this chart shows, is surrounded with grief.
When Jesus heard about Lazarus’ sickness, He was deeply troubled. When He listened to Martha and Mary’s grief, it made Him weep.
But in the middle of the story (part C in the chart),we find the promise of Resurrection.
In the middle of our grief Jesus promises you and me that He is the Author of Life, that He is the Resurrection, and that we can trust– even if it blows the laws of Physics into smithereens– that God is bigger and greater, and He can do more than we could possibly imagine.
With tears in His eyes but with full confidence, Jesus spoke to the corpse, the lifeless Lazarus.
He said, “Lazarus, come out!”
Join the Resurrection!
BRO. ALVIN BARCELONA:
Many ask: “Where is God during storms?”
Make no mistake about it. God is always in control. God is the god even of the storm, of the raging winds, of the flood. God is God even in the darkness. But wait… More than that, God is the God of light, of life, of new beginnings, of a new morning, of a new dawn.
God is the god of Resurrection.
Yet, God also grieves. That’s why in this Feast, we speak about the God who grieves. Because God respects the flow of nature. God acknowledges human experience and reality. He does not skip that.
Yesterday, I was watching the news. We need to thank the Lord that we are safe, but we also need to know the situation of those who were affected by the typhoon. It’s heartbreaking. There was one father in Talisay, Batangas. His house was at the foot of the mountains. Due to the landslide, he lost not only his home but his entire family. I can’t imagine how he feels.
Where is God in times like these? God is crying with you.
It continues to be a mystery. Human suffering continues to be a mystery.
We cannot fully explain and understand– yet we have clues of why it happens. Maybe, one of the reasons is in the midst of your safety, God is inviting you to empathize with those who suffer.
We are invited by God to join in the Resurrection. God will heal. God will restore — but God is also inviting you to be part of the process.
That’s why we in the Light of Jesus, in The Feast, promptly respond to the calls for help.
The Feast Provincial which takes care of Feasts outside Metro Manila, immediately gave assistance to places affected by the storm– like Bicol and Batangas.
We have ongoing fund drives and relief campaigns. If you want to help, we are flashing details onscreen. You can give directly to the account of Feast Provincial and we will easily and quickly share this to those urgently in need. You can also deposit your donation in the GCASH accounts of The Feast leaders and builders of South Luzon, Bicol, Batangas, or North Luzon.
Jesus’ Revelation
Once again, welcome to The Grand Feast.
If you were blessed by Bro. Bene Sanchez’s preaching, please give a big round of applause!
While Bene and I were preparing this talk, he thought that he would only do the intro.
I told him to be the one to preach the entire talk and I would just sing because people always ask me what I would sing. If I don’t, people would be disappointed.
But I want you to know that aside from Bro. Bo, Bene is one of those who create the talks that we give at The Feasts throughout the world every Sunday. Bene is one of the Bible Nerds. I told Bene that since he helps with creating the talks, he might as well start preaching. We were so blessed by Brother Bene. Thank you, Bene. We should hear more of you.
Bro. Bene masterfully showed us how genius John is in presenting the Gospel.
Nothing there is by accident or by chance. He really put everything in order.
And what did Bro. Bene say about what’s in the middle of the story of Lazarus?
This we read in John 11:23-27, about Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary. Here, Jesus is talking with Martha:
This is what’s in the middle– where Jesus reveals that He is the God of the Resurrection. The revelation is in the middle of the story about Death and Resurrection.
What is this showing? What did Bene say about why, in the Symmetrical Presentation, this revelation is in the middle?
This is what John says: Your deepest grief becomes your meeting place with Jesus.
Purpose… Not Punishment
In your most painful experience, when you’re in your deepest suffering, that’s where you will meet Jesus.
That’s why I always say, when you hit rock bottom, you meet the Rock: Jesus!
I’m sure most of us here have hit our rock bottom. I’ve reached my rock bottom with physical, financial, and family problems. I’m sure you’ve had your own share too. We’ve had problems with our parents, children, siblings, business, job… or you’ve been buried in debts… or a member of your family suffered serious illness… It’s hard to get sick– aside from being lonely you don’t have money. So painful.
But every time you go through those problems, that’s where you meet Jesus.
What did we learn in our past talks?
Last Sunday, we learned that most of the time, suffering is not about punishment.
It is about purpose.
So, what did Bene point out about what the Bible says– why these trials happen?
The signs, as John calls the miracles, point you to the Glory of God.
Why do these incomprehensible, senseless, illogical incidents happen?
Sooner or later, they will point you to God’s glory.
That’s why the title of the entire series is COME and SEE.
But this is interesting: Remember, earlier, Martha and Mary welcomed Jesus who arrived to save Lazarus whom He loved. And they said if Jesus was with them earlier, He would have saved Lazarus from death.
Jesus Weeps with You
In John 11:33-35, Jesus was talking with Martha.
Now, here, in John 11:23-27, Jesus was talking with Mary who was weeping:
The Jews said to Jesus, Sir, COME and SEE.
Jesus wants you to COME and See, the Glory of God. This man, whoever he is, tells Jesus, COME and SEE. And what did Jesus see?
Suffering. Grief. Loss. Pain.
When He saw these, Jesus wept.
The shortest verse in the Bible is found in John 11:35: Jesus wept. In Tagalog, si Hesus, nanangis. Jesus did not just cry. He sobbed. He cried because aside from loving Lazarus, He felt the suffering. So, Jesus is saying, COME and SEE my glory.
But we say, COME and SEE our suffering.
And Jesus wept.
Think about this. Jesus and Martha spoke with each other already. Jesus told Martha that He is the Resurrection. It only meant that He had plans of resurrecting Lazarus. But why did He still weep?
Even if Jesus knew that He would resurrect Lazarus, He does not skip that process of grieving.
It’s okay not to be okay. I know I will be okay but now that I am not yet okay, let me be. Let me just emoteJ No shortcut.
You know, when I was just new in the Charismatic Community, when someone died, we told the grieving family, “Don’t cry. He’s already with the Lord.
Let’s rejoice! Let’s sing, “Alive, alive!”
He’s already dead, and we still sang “Alive!” We took the shortcut to mourning.
Jesus did not take the shortcut. He allowed Himself to cry.
So He could show you: “Even as I would bring back the dead man to life, still, for now, I’ll grieve with you.”
That’s why Jesus is Messiah…It sounds like the Tagalog masaya– happy.
COME and SEE
If Jesus wept, it only means that it’s okay to be sad and to cry. But don’t stay there. Because after the grieving, comes the resurrection.
That’s why I say, go through problems– not skip through them. Because every problem is telling you something.
Jesus invites you to a process that He Himself went through so that you know that when you suffer, God weeps with you. Even if God will one day turn your sorrows into joy, your mourning will turn to dancing, your suffering still breaks His heart. When you die, God will grieve too. Yet, just like He did for Lazarus, know that Jesus will raise you on the last day.
Yet, He knows the process. God will weep with you. Why?
He meets you where you are. I love that thought.
I love that truth.
I have been a teacher for a long time. As a teacher, you bring your students to a place of added knowledge and wisdom. But as a teacher, you don’t expect them to progress quickly. We must go down to their level first.
Sometimes, I am being asked why I have a lot of drama like singing, storytelling, and acting when I preach.
But that is how Jesus is. He likes to tell stories:
Look at the birds in the sky… Look at the flowers in the field… The Kingdom of God is like a mustard seed…
Once there was a father who had two sons…”
Jesu is not in a hurry. He goes where you are.
Bene was right. Jesus could have just saved us through Zoom.
With Jesus just staying in Heaven, we’d already be okay. He invited us to COME and SEE God’s glory. But He also listened to our plea to COME and SEE our suffering.
So, from Heaven, He went down so He can see you… so He can know your dreams… so He can empathize with your failures…
If you have been betrayed, you know that Jesus will understand you because He experienced that. When you lost everything, Jesus will understand because He went through it. When you cry, He cries with you. He knows where you’re coming from.
Jesus Shows His Glory
We, as teachers, can’t just start and end with storytelling. After you got the students’ attention through your story, hold their hand and bring them to where they want to be.
That’s what Jesus did. He met you where you are. He came down. He listened to you. He entered your world.
He held your hand and said, “I understand you. We are going somewhere that’s more beautiful.”
Jesus fetched you so that when He weeps with you, He will wipe away your tears. He meets you where you are, but He will bring you to where you should be.
After Jesus wept, He goes to the tomb of Lazarus. Here, a cave, and a stone lay across it.
Mary and Martha greet Him, crying: “If only you came earlier, this wouldn’t have happened.”
But Jesus tells them again, “Believe.”
Jesus goes to Lazarus’ place and tell the people who are grieving as well,
“Take away the stone.”
There is a time for grieving.
There is a time for weeping but there is a time for Jesus to show you His glory.
When Jesus sees the stone is out, He cries out, “Lazarus come out!
Lazarus come forth!” Lazarus comes out alive!
Jesus tells the people, “Untie him. Let him go!”
Our Resurrection
Today, Jesus asks you to be part of healing and of restoration, of freedom from death.
Today, Jesus is calling you to meet Him, the One who loves you and calls you His beloved friend.
Meet the one who weeps when you weep. Meet the One who will one day raise you on the last day. He raised Lazarus to life. He Himself rose from the dead. Lazarus was raised from the dead. Jesus rose from the dead.
This was a preview to the greatest sign of all.
In Lazarus’s case, the stone had to be rolled out. But to Jesus, the stone had already been rolled away.
Somebody had to unwrap the burial clothes of Lazarus. But in Jesus’ case, the burial clothes had already been rolled up.
Lazarus was raised to life, but eventually, he died again. When Jesus rose from the grave, death had lost its sting. He is the Lord of Life.
Jesus is your Resurrection. He will wipe your tears. You won’t weep again.
I invite you to put your hands close to your hearts and let us thank the Lord for meeting us where we are. God understands our sorrow, our depression, our pains, and our hurts. He went through that. When you weep, He weeps with you. But again, we thank the Lord that He doesn’t let us stay there.
He respects the process. He grieves with us. But God is the God of hope. After we weep, there is hope in our broken relationships, in our sickness, in our debts, and in our brokenness. Even in death, there is a promise of Resurrection.
Thank You, dear Lord, that You are the God who grieves, and You are the God of new beginnings. You are our Resurrection.
BRO. RYAN CAPITULO:
JESUS, Light of the World, in our darkness, wrought by calamities, disasters, Shine Your Light that we may have hope to rebuild what was broken and regain what we lost.
Jesus, Light of the World, in our darkness wrought by sickness, Shine Your Light that gives us healing and restoration of our health.
Jesus, Light of the World, in our darkness, brought about by broken relationships,
Shine Your Light that gives us the grace that gives us the humility to reach out to others to mend our broken relationships with families and loved ones.
Jesus, Light of the World, in our darkness brought by uncertainties and challenges, Shine Your Light that makes everything clear.
Shine Your Light that illuminates our path toward our achieved dreams , toward our success, our prosperity, and service.
Jesus, Light of the World, Shine Your Light upon each and every one of us.
