God’s Time 

John 11: 1-45

Fifth Sunday in Lent

Grace, mercy and peace from God our Father and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ amen.  The sermon text for the fifth Sunday in Lent is the Gospel reading John 11.  Time is important to us.  We have clocks on the wall, watches on our wrists and cell phones in our pocket that help us keep the time.  We have calendars that lay out the days of the week.  Most of us have a schedule that we like to keep.  We live by our schedules.  For some life revolves around their work schedule.  For others their life is dictated by all the appointments that they have.  Still others run around all over the place trying to follow the school schedule and all the activities that come with it.  Some of us have a certain time when we like to go to bed at night and a certain time when we wake up in the morning.  Some people are more strict in keeping their schedule than others.  Some people are prompt and others late but all of us to a certain extent have to pay attention to time. 

Time is very important to us. Time is very important to God as well. But what you have probably noticed is that God’s timetable and schedule are very different than our own. We see this in our Gospel reading for today.  Jesus got word from Mary and Martha that their brother Lazarus was very ill. The two sisters wanted Jesus to come immediately to their house because they knew that the Lord could heal their brother.  Jesus knew that Lazarus was dying but He did not arrive right away.  When he did arrive Lazarus was already dead.  Martha went out to greet Jesus and said these words to Him.  “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died”.  Martha still believed in the Lord, her confession of faith is recorded in our text.  “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world”.  Martha still believed in the Lord but she did not fully understand why He was so late. Martha wanted Jesus to come right away but the Lord had something else in mind.  Jesus was not on the same schedule as the two sisters or anyone else for that matter. 

Jesus came when He did for good reasons.  First, Christ planned to show the glory of God by raising Lazarus from the dead. Jesus went to the tomb and told them to remove the stone.  Recall what Jesus said and did.  And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me.  I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.”  When He had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”  Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what He did believed in Him.

Jesus arrived when He did because He wanted to show the glory of God by raising Lazarus from the dead. Jesus showed the crowd of people that God is more powerful than death itself.  He demonstrated that He is the Son of God.  He brought many to faith.  John recorded what Jesus did at the tomb so that we too can be strengthened by the Lord.  Jesus arrived when He did for good reason.  First, Jesus’ miracle revealed the glory of God.  Second, our Lord’s miracle was also the sign that would lead to His crucifixion.    

Many came to faith in the Lord that day but some who were in the crowd went back to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done.  When the Pharisees and the chief priests gathered in their council, they were so afraid of Jesus that they started to plot against the Lord.  Listen to what Caiaphas said and did.  But one of them Caiaphas, who was the high priest that year, said to them, “You no nothing at all.  Nor do you understand that is better for you that one man should die for the people, not that the whole nation should perish.”  He did not say this on his own accord, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but also to gather into one the children of God who were scattered abroad.  So from that day on they made plans to put him to death.  (John 11: 49-53)  

These men came together and decided that Jesus needed to die.  Eventually they succeeded in their plan.  Jesus came into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and by Thursday evening these men had Jesus arrested.  By Friday morning they brought Him before Pilate.  Later that day Jesus was crucified.  The men who plotted against Jesus were wicked but in the end God’s set purpose to bring salvation to us all through the death and resurrection of His Son was carried out 

 When Mary and Martha called upon the Lord to come to their home to heal their brother, they wanted Jesus to come immediately.  But God’s time and God’s plan were different. Jesus arrived when He did so that He could raise Lazarus from the dead.  That miracle revealed the glory of the Lord and demonstrated that Jesus is indeed the Son of God.  That miracle was also the sign that convinced the Pharisees and the priests that Jesus had to die.  In God’s time and according to God’s plan and God’s set purpose, Jesus went to the cross to die in our place.  It is our Lord’s death and resurrection that brings us forgiveness, life and salvation. It is through Christ Jesus that we receive God’s grace.   

Paul said it this way in Galatians 4.  “But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth his son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.  And because you are sons, God has sent the Spirit of his Son into our hearts, crying Abba! Father!  So you are no longer a slave, but a son, and if a son, then an heir through God.” 

Time is very important to us. Time is also important to God. But you have probably noticed that God’s time can be very different than our own.  Like Mary and Martha, we often want God to answer our prayers right away. We often want God to answer our prayers according to what we want.  We want God to fit into our plan and into our schedule.  God will answer our prayers but it will be according to His time. God will listen to us but His answer will be according to His plan, His purpose and His will.  Let us be thankful for that because when we look at Jesus miracle of raising Lazarus from the dead and what that actually accomplished, we are reminded that God’s plan for us is always right. 

Think about it.  The Lord gave you your life at just the right time. When the time was right you were brought to the fount to be Baptized in the name of Christ.  It was at your baptism that your sins were washed away, and you were brought into the family of God.  It is the Lord who has placed you here at this place and at this time. You live trusting in the Lord knowing that He is guiding you and guarding you right now.  Again when the time is right the Lord Jesus will visibly return and you will rise to life at the final resurrection.   

When we look to Christ Jesus our Lord and see what He did for us on the cross we are given the assurance that God’s plan for our life is always good.  When we look to Christ Jesus and His resurrection, we see that God’s plan for our life, that is life everlasting, is truly wonderful. Remember what Jesus said.  “I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.  Do you believe this?”  And with Martha we do indeed believe and we confess the name of the Lord.  “Yes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.”    Amen.