The First Sunday in Advent

John 11.38-54;12.9-11

Hymns: 1, 14, 356

There are a lot of remarkable stories written about Jesus in the New Testament that clearly identify him as an extraordinary, one-of-a-kind human being. Begin with the way he became a human being...born of a virgin woman. Humanly impossible! Did not happen before Jesus’ birth, has not happened since Jesus’ birth and will never happen again. If you are looking for a way to convince someone you know to look into the Christian religion, tell him/her about the virgin birth of Jesus.

Or tell that person the story of Jesus’ life, especially the part about his death on a cross and his coming back to life...his res-urrection from the dead. No one ever did that before Jesus and no one has repeated it. The Bible tells us that thousands of peo-ple knew Jesus and believed in his teachings before he was cru-cified and the Bible tells us that there were hundreds of people who saw and heardd Jesus after his resurrection from the dead. The Apostle Paul puts it this way (1 Cor 15.3-8).

You know about Chesley Sullenberger, the US Airways pilot who safely landed a plane in the Hudson River last January and saved the lives of more than 150 people...you know about the "Rock Star" treatment he received, the press coverage and media attention. Can you imagine what it would have been like for Jesus if CNN and Fox News and the global press corps had been around 2000 years ago when Jesus did all the things the Bible tells us about, including all of his miracles...turning water to wine, healing people who were blind and crippled, feeding thousands of people with a small about of food? Can you im-agine how many more people would have come to faith in him? A lot of people did back then.

If you are trying to reach out to someone who is not a Christian, someone who does not believe in Jesus, tell them the stories about Jesus and hat he did while he was here on earth. Help them get to know Jesus. This is A SERMON FOR PEOPLE WHO ADMIRE THE ACCOMPLISHMENTS OF OTH-ERS BUT ARE NOT PARTICULARLY IMPRESSED WITH JESUS.

The true story of Jesus restoring life to Lazarus was perhaps the capstone of his earthly ministry. Jesus had told his disciples that Lazarus, the brother of Mary and Martha, had died. They walk-ed from Jerusalem to Bethany, about two miles, and got there four days after Lazarus had been buried. When Jesus saw the friends and neighbors of Lazarus and how they were still over-come with grief four days after his death, Jesus himself was overcome with grief...and he cried. Jesus cried, not because of the death of Lazarus but because death brings such pain and sor-row to those who survive. Jesus cried because of the sadness that sin and death put us through when a loved one dies.

But there was something else on Jesus’ mind. He had told his disciples that he MUST go to Jerusalem because the time had come "for all things to be fulfilled." Everything was now ready and "in Jesus’ control." It was time for him to make his final trip to Jerusalem where he would finish his work of saving the human race from sin and eternal damnation.

Take a close look at this Jesus. He is the human Son of Mary who spent 30 years of his life with his boyhood friends and neighbors in Nazareth. He ate and slept, ran and played... he studied and learned and outgrew his sandals and needed a longer robe as he grew taller and taller each year and into adulthood.

And during all this time he knew he was not only the Son of Mary but also the Son of God. He knew that the time would come for him to do what no mortal human being could do but what he would have to do as a mortal human being: die on a cross in payment for the sins of all humankind. As Jesus saw the crowds of people crying in Bethany because of the death of Lazarus, was he also thinking of the tears he would see on the face of his mother, Mary, as she stood at the foot of his cross less than two weeks later? He knew that she would. He knows all things. He is not only human; he is God.

Take a close look at this Jesus. He is the divine Son of God who spent 30 years of his life blending in with society and no one knew, other than Mary and Joseph and a few others, that he was not only the human child of Mary but also the divine Son of God. For 3 years Jesus tried to convince the people of the Mid-dle East, modern day Jerusalem and surrounding areas, that he was the long-awaited Messiah who willingly would dedicate his human and divine life to saving the human race from death and hell by living a perfect life, paying the debt of sin with his own life and then rising again from the grave and showing himself alive to many witnesses so there would be no doubt to anyone that he finished what he came to do...remove the guilt of sin from our heads so that we can live with in heaven.

This is the Jesus who stood before the tomb of Lazarus on that day and called him out of his grave, called Lazarus back to life to show the people of Bethany, and everyone who would read this story including us today, that death is not the end of life on this earth...not for people who believe that Jesus is both the Son of Mary and the Son of God, the Savior from sin who will raise all people from the grave when he comes again and take to hea-ven all who are Christians, who believe in him.

Tell this story to your friends. The people of Bethany believed in Jesus after they saw what he did. The temple officials also believed what Jesus did but would not believe who he was. They were so blinded by their selfish ambition that they doubled their efforts both to kill Jesus and to send Lazarus back to his grave, to remove the evidence of Jesus’ power over death by killing Lazarus, too.

Your friend whom you want to reach with the gospel...I’ll just bet that he or she admires people who accomplish great things in life like walking in space, writing computer software, throw-ing a 55 yard touchdown pass, designing home interiors or making children’s clothes...or inventing the twist-off cap of a beer bottle! Are some of these same friends not the least bit impressed with Jesus, Son of Mary and Son of God?

Tell them the story about Jesus who raised Lazarus from the dead...and himself! He is the one who paid for their sins, who will raise all people from their grave and take to heaven all who believe in him. Let them be impressed with Jesus...and live.