{"id":26080,"date":"2026-03-17T14:57:09","date_gmt":"2026-03-17T13:57:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/?p=26080"},"modified":"2026-03-17T14:57:09","modified_gmt":"2026-03-17T13:57:09","slug":"john-111-45-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/john-111-45-2\/","title":{"rendered":"John 11:1-45"},"content":{"rendered":"

The 5th<\/sup> Sunday in Lent | 22 March 2026 | John 11:1-45 | Beth A. Schlegel |<\/h3>\n

Text English Standard Version <\/strong>Copyright \u00a9 2001 by Crossway Bibles<\/a> (or other version)<\/p>\n

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2\u00a0It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. 3\u00a0So the sisters sent to him, saying, \u201cLord, he whom you love is ill.\u201d 4\u00a0But when Jesus heard it he said, \u201cThis illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.\u201d<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

5\u00a0Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. 6\u00a0So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7\u00a0Then after this he said to the disciples, \u201cLet us go to Judea again.\u201d 8\u00a0The disciples said to him, \u201cRabbi, the Jews were just now seeking to stone you, and are you going there again?\u201d 9\u00a0Jesus answered, \u201cAre there not twelve hours in the day? If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. 10\u00a0But if anyone walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.\u201d 11\u00a0After saying these things, he said to them, \u201cOur friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I go to awaken him.\u201d 12\u00a0The disciples said to him, \u201cLord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover.\u201d 13\u00a0Now Jesus had spoken of his death, but they thought that he meant taking rest in sleep. 14\u00a0Then Jesus told them plainly, \u201cLazarus has died, 15\u00a0and for your sake I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.\u201d 16\u00a0So Thomas, called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, \u201cLet us also go, that we may die with him.\u201d<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

17\u00a0Now when Jesus came, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. 18\u00a0Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles off, 19\u00a0and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them concerning their brother. 20\u00a0So when Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, but Mary remained seated in the house. 21\u00a0Martha said to Jesus, \u201cLord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. 22\u00a0But even now I know that whatever you ask from God, God will give you.\u201d 23\u00a0Jesus said to her, \u201cYour brother will rise again.\u201d 24\u00a0Martha said to him, \u201cI know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.\u201d 25\u00a0Jesus said to her, \u201cI am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, 26\u00a0and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?\u201d 27\u00a0She said to him, \u201cYes, Lord; I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who is coming into the world.\u201d<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

28\u00a0When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in private, \u201cThe Teacher is here and is calling for you.\u201d 29\u00a0And when she heard it, she rose quickly and went to him. 30\u00a0Now Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still in the place where Martha had met him. 31\u00a0When the Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary rise quickly and go out, they followed her, supposing that she was going to the tomb to weep there. 32\u00a0Now when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet, saying to him, \u201cLord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.\u201d 33\u00a0When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. 34\u00a0And he said, \u201cWhere have you laid him?\u201d They said to him, \u201cLord, come and see.\u201d 35\u00a0Jesus wept. 36\u00a0So the Jews said, \u201cSee how he loved him!\u201d 37\u00a0But some of them said, \u201cCould not he who opened the eyes of the blind man also have kept this man from dying?\u201d<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

38\u00a0Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. 39\u00a0Jesus said, \u201cTake away the stone.\u201d Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, \u201cLord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.\u201d 40\u00a0Jesus said to her, \u201cDid I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?\u201d 41\u00a0So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, \u201cFather, I thank you that you have heard me. 42\u00a0I 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.\u201d 43\u00a0When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, \u201cLazarus, come out.\u201d 44\u00a0The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, \u201cUnbind him, and let him go.\u201d<\/sup><\/strong><\/p>\n

God Speaks and the Dead Hear and Obey<\/strong><\/p>\n

Grace, mercy, and peace to you from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. Amen.<\/p>\n

Do you remember being a teenager?<\/p>\n

My memory is often selective, but I do remember the headaches I gave my mother when I was engrossed in a book or in a TV show and she tried to get my attention.<\/p>\n

Beth, it\u2019s dinnertime \u2013 come set the table.<\/p>\n

Beth, do you hear me? Turn off the TV and come set the table!<\/p>\n

Beth! Put that book down and come here!<\/p>\n

For her, it was like talking to a dead person.<\/p>\n

Fortunately for us \u2013 and for Mary and Martha and Lazarus \u2013 Jesus did not have the same problem.<\/p>\n

God speaks to the dead and they hear and obey.<\/strong><\/p>\n

It has been so since the beginning of creation when God\u2019s Spirit hovered over the chaos and God spoke to the deathly darkness and said \u201cLet there be Light\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sending the Spirit with the Word, our creator God brought all things into being, from nothing to something, from death to life.<\/p>\n

In the prophet Ezekiel\u2019s valley of dry bones, God spoke and with the Spirit brought the bones to life.<\/p>\n

At the tomb of Lazarus, where 4 days meant dead was dead and a body would stink with putrefaction, Jesus \u2013 God\u2019s living Word embodying God\u2019s life-giving Spirit \u2013 spoke to dead Lazarus in his tomb: Lazarus, come out!<\/p>\n

And the dead man heard and obeyed. He came out, still wrapped in graveclothes.<\/p>\n

Then the living also heard God\u2019s Word with the Spirit: Unbind him, and let him go.<\/p>\n

Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead in the presence of the living as a demonstration of his power to give life to those who believe in him.<\/p>\n

Lazarus is the demonstration model of Jesus fulfilling God\u2019s promise made through the prophet Ezekiel:<\/p>\n

\u2026you shall know that I am the Lord when I open your graves and bring you up from your graves, O my people. 14<\/sup>\u2006I will put my spirit within you, and you shall live<\/em>\u2026<\/p>\n

On that day at Lazarus\u2019 tomb, Jesus demonstrated the truth of his identity: I AM the resurrection and the life. I AM the Lord who opens graves and puts the Holy Spirit of God in the dead to make them alive. <\/em><\/p>\n

Those who believe in me \u2013 even though they die \u2013 will live. And those who live and believe in me will never die.<\/em><\/p>\n

When we hear the account of Jesus\u2019 suffering and death from Matthew\u2019s Gospel, we hear of this amazing response to Jesus\u2019 dying on the cross and rising from the dead:<\/p>\n

And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split. 52\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>The tombs also were opened. And many bodies of the saints who had fallen asleep were raised, 53\u00a0<\/sup><\/strong>and coming out of the tombs after his resurrection they went into the holy city and appeared to many. Matthew 27:51-53<\/em><\/p>\n

Wow! God speaks and the dead hear and obey!<\/p>\n

Like Ezekiel\u2019s bones, when God\u2019s Spirit was restored to Jesus in his resurrection, those saints also received new life.<\/p>\n

They shared with Jesus in the baptism of death and the new birth in resurrection.<\/p>\n

They were the first that Jesus brought through death as a gateway to eternal life.<\/p>\n

And from that time onward, baptism by water and the Holy Spirit in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit is how Jesus calls people out of their graves.<\/p>\n

As our Lutheran Large Catechism reminds us:<\/p>\n

Christ has commanded: The one who believes and is baptized shall be saved. Therefore, we state it most simply thus, that the power, work, profit, fruit, and end of Baptism is this, namely, to save. For no one is baptized to become a prince, but, as the words declare, to be saved. But to be saved, we know, is nothing else than to be delivered from sin, death, and the devil, and to enter into the kingdom of Christ, and to live with Him forever. (Source: https:\/\/bookofconcord.org\/large-catechism\/holy-baptism\/#lc-iv-0023 )<\/p>\n

It is in Holy Baptism that we are drowned and so share in Jesus\u2019 death, and we are raised up from the waters to share in Jesus\u2019 resurrection. By the word of God with the laying on of hands and anointing, we receive the Holy Spirit and are reborn children of God and inheritors of eternal life.<\/p>\n

So, we who have been baptized receive the promise, as St. Paul says in Romans 8:<\/p>\n

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.<\/em><\/p>\n

You see what a precious thing it is to be baptized \u2013 that we live Christ\u2019s life now and pass with him through the gateway of death to eternal life.<\/p>\n

By God\u2019s Word and Spirit, we have purpose for our life here and now, and hope for our eternal future.<\/p>\n

We have reason to embrace the challenges of this life and the suffering of death because we know that Jesus has already called us out of death to life.<\/p>\n

One of the most powerful hymns in our Lutheran tradition is \u201cJesus Christ, my Sure Defense\u201d (Jesu Meine Zuversicht).<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Jesus Christ, my sure defense
    \nAnd my Savior, now is living!
    \nKnowing this, my confidence
    \nRests upon the hope he’s giving,
    \nThough the night of death be fraught
    \nStill with many an anxious thought.<\/li>\n
  2. Jesus, my Redeemer lives;
    \nLikewise I to life shall waken.
    \nHe will bring me where he is;
    \nShall my courage then be shaken?
    \nShall I fear, or could the Head
    \nRise and leave his members dead?<\/li>\n
  3. No, too closely I am bound
    \nBy my hope to Christ forever;
    \nFaith’s strong hand the Rock has found,
    \nGrasped it, and will leave it never;
    \nEven death now cannot part
    \nFrom its Lord the trusting heart.<\/li>\n
  4. I am flesh and must return
    \nTo the dust, whence I am taken;
    \nBut by faith I now discern
    \nHow from death I shall awaken
    \nWith my Savior to abide
    \nIn his glory, at his side.<\/li>\n
  5. Glorified, I shall anew
    \nWith this flesh then be enshrouded;
    \nIn this body I shall view
    \nGod, my Lord, with eyes unclouded;
    \nIn this flesh I then shall see
    \nJesus Christ eternally.<\/li>\n
  6. Then take comfort and rejoice,
    \nFor his members Christ shall cherish.
    \nFear not, they will hear his voice;
    \nDying, they will never perish;
    \nFor the very grave is stirred
    \nWhen the trumpet’s blast is heard.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    How do you suppose Lazarus\u2019 life changed after that day when Jesus called him out of his tomb?<\/p>\n

    How will our life change as today, Jesus calls you \u2013and me \u2013 again from our tombs, and by his word of forgiveness, unbinds us and sets us free?<\/p>\n

    In the name of the Father, and of the +Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.<\/p>\n

    \n

    \u00a9Beth A. Schlegel<\/p>\n

    pastorschlegel@live.com<\/p>\n

    St. Peter\u2019s Lutheran Church, York, PA, USA<\/p>\n

    Christ Lutheran Church, Manchester, PA, USA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    The 5th Sunday in Lent | 22 March 2026 | John 11:1-45 | Beth A. Schlegel | Text English Standard Version Copyright \u00a9 2001 by Crossway Bibles (or other version) Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2\u00a0It was Mary who anointed the Lord with […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":17915,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39,727,157,334,853,108,110,695,265,349,3,109],"tags":[],"beitragende":[],"predigtform":[],"predigtreihe":[],"bibelstelle":[],"class_list":["post-26080","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-johannes","category-archiv","category-beitragende","category-beth-a-schlegel","category-bibel","category-current","category-engl","category-judika","category-kapitel-11-chapter-11","category-kasus","category-nt","category-predigten"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26080","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26080"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26080\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26081,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26080\/revisions\/26081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/17915"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26080"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26080"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26080"},{"taxonomy":"beitragende","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/beitragende?post=26080"},{"taxonomy":"predigtform","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtform?post=26080"},{"taxonomy":"predigtreihe","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/predigtreihe?post=26080"},{"taxonomy":"bibelstelle","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.theologie.uzh.ch\/apps\/gpi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/bibelstelle?post=26080"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}