Wyndham Hobsons Bay Lutheran Church Service 22/3/2026

Devotional

Day 1: Trusting God's timing when He seems to delay.

We often cry out to God in our distress, hoping for immediate intervention. When He does not answer in the way or the time we expect, it can lead to confusion and disappointment. Yet, God's ways are higher than our ways, and His timing is perfect, even when it is mysterious to us. He is always working for His glory and for the strengthening of our faith, even in the silence. [25:29]

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. (John 11:1-6 ESV)

Reflection: Recall a time when you prayed for a specific outcome that did not happen. How did that experience challenge your understanding of God's timing and His care for you?

Day 2: Grieving with hope, even in profound loss.

The pain of loss is real and deeply felt, a natural part of our human experience. In the midst of grief, we can be honest with God about our hurt and our questions. We are not alone in our sorrow, for Jesus Himself weeps with us. Our hope is not that we avoid grief, but that we grieve as those who have a sure and certain hope in the resurrection. [33:13]

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled. And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” (John 11:33-36 ESV)

Reflection: When you consider your own experiences of grief or the grief of someone close to you, how does the truth that Jesus weeps with us offer a unique form of comfort?

Day 3: Believing in Jesus as the resurrection and the life.

Faith is more than intellectual agreement with a set of doctrines; it is a personal trust that stakes everything on the person and promises of Jesus. He does not merely promise a future resurrection; He Himself is the resurrection and the life. This means that eternal life is found in a present, ongoing relationship with Him, a life that death cannot ultimately overcome. [31:05]

Jesus said to her, “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?” (John 11:25-26 ESV)

Reflection: What is the difference between believing facts about Jesus and placing your active, daily trust in Him as the source of your life?

Day 4: Answering Christ's call to come out of death's grip.

The same voice that called Lazarus out of the tomb calls to us today. He calls us out of the dark places of sin, despair, and hopelessness into His glorious light. This is a call to leave behind what is dead and to embrace the new life of the Spirit that He offers. It is an invitation to be unbound and set free to live fully in His love. [36:44]

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 a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.” (John 11:43-44 ESV)

Reflection: What area of your life feels most like a tomb from which Jesus is calling you to "come out" and experience His new life?

Day 5: Living as Easter people in a world of death.

Because we trust in the resurrection, we are called to live differently now. Our lives are to be marked by the love, forgiveness, and compassion of Christ. We are empowered to love others sacrificially, to forgive those who wound us, and to enter into the suffering of those around us. This is the practical outworking of a living faith that has been raised with Christ. [37:15]

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through his Spirit who dwells in you. (Romans 8:11 ESV)

Reflection: How can you practically demonstrate the love and life of Christ to someone in your life this week, especially in a situation that feels challenging or costly?

Sermon Summary

The Gospel of John recounts the illness, death, and raising of Lazarus in Bethany to reveal the nature of faith, the identity of Christ, and the promise of life beyond death. The narrative begins with a deliberate delay after the sisters send word of Lazarus’s sickness; that delay frames Jesus’ words that the illness will serve God’s glory and prepares the scene for a decisive, public display of divine power. Martha responds with both catechetical certainty and aching disappointment, confessing belief in resurrection while pleading that Jesus’s presence would have spared her brother. Jesus sharpens the hope into a present reality by declaring, “I am the resurrection and the life,” promising that belief in him secures life that outlasts physical death.

The story emphasizes Jesus’ full participation in human sorrow. When Mary weeps and others mourn, Jesus becomes “greatly disturbed” and weeps himself, showing sorrow without triumphalism. He commands the stone rolled away despite objections about the stench of decay, and then prays aloud—partly to confirm the Father’s sending—and calls Lazarus forth. The raised man emerges still bound, and Jesus orders the living to unbind him and let him go, symbolizing release from death’s bonds and the communal work of restoration.

The account reads as both historical action and ongoing invitation. The stench of the tomb becomes a metaphor for the rot of sin that lingers in lives and communities, prompting a call to honest self-examination during Lent. The resurrection of Lazarus functions as a foretaste of the final victory over death, assuring that mortal bodies will receive life by the Spirit. The Gospel urges living faith that moves beyond intellectual assent to a rooted trust in Jesus amid suffering, loss, and mystery.

Practical application moves from consolation to commissioning: those who receive life must love sacrificially, forgive, and be present to others’ pain. The passage closes by summoning the living to come forth from their tombs—spiritual and literal—into a daily practice of resurrection life empowered by the Spirit. That summons carries both comfort for mourners and a sober summons to repentance, renewal, and active discipleship.

Key Takeaways

1. God's timing allows faith to grow Belief sometimes forms in the space of unanswered prayer. The delay before intervention functions not as absence but as soil where discipleship deepens, forcing reliance on God’s revealed purpose rather than immediate consolation. Faith that endures suffering trusts God’s will even when outcomes frustrate expectation. [25:29]
2. Christ is the resurrection and life The title identifies personal union with eternal life, not merely a doctrine about future events. Trusting Christ means entrusting present pain and future destiny to a Lord who conquers death’s finality. This shifts hope from delayed consolation to a present, living reality that transforms how mourning and expectation coexist. [30:18]
3. God weeps with human grief Jesus’ tears model divine solidarity with sorrow without diminishing ultimate victory. Compassion validates suffering and resists any tidy spiritualizing that blames grief or loss on weak faith. Grief becomes a sacred space where God’s caring presence meets human brokenness. [33:40]
4. Called out from tombs of sin The stench of decay exposes the moral and spiritual corruption that needs reckoning. The summons to “come forth” invites honest self-examination, confession, and unbinding by community so new life can begin. Resurrection requires both divine power and human cooperation in repentance and love. [36:44]

Youtube Chapters

[00:00] - Welcome
[00:55] - Greeting and Opening
[01:50] - Call to Worship and Absolution
[06:34] - Psalm 130: Out of the Depths
[12:36] - Gospel Reading: John 11
[24:57] - Context: John in Lent
[25:29] - Jesus’ Delay and Purpose
[27:39] - Significance of Four Days
[30:18] - "I Am": Resurrection and Life
[33:40] - Compassion: Jesus Weeps
[34:31] - Stench of Death as Sin
[36:44] - Call to Come Forth and New Life
[52:44] - Communion Invitation
[67:21] - Blessing and Sending

Bible Study Guide

Bible reading: John 11:1-44 (ESV)

Observation questions

What was Jesus's initial response to the news that Lazarus was ill, and what reason did He give for this response? (John 11:4, 6)
What identical statement did both Martha and Mary make to Jesus when they first saw Him, and what does this reveal about their expectations? (John 11:21, 32)
How did Jesus describe Himself to Martha, and what specific promise did He attach to that description? (John 11:25-26)
What was Martha's practical concern when Jesus commanded that the stone be rolled away from the tomb? (John 11:39)

Interpretation questions

Jesus stated that He was glad He was not present during Lazarus's illness "so that you may believe" [27:17]. What kind of belief was this event meant to produce that was different from what the disciples or sisters already had?
Martha confesses a correct doctrinal belief in a future resurrection [30:30], yet she is still filled with grief. What is the difference between intellectual assent to a theological truth and a faith that provides comfort and hope in the midst of sorrow?
Jesus was "greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved" and then wept [33:13] even though He knew He was about to raise Lazarus. What does this profound emotional response reveal about God's relationship to human suffering and grief?
The act of unbinding Lazarus and letting him go was a command given to the community. What might the "strips of cloth" (John 11:44) represent in a spiritual sense, and what role does the community play in the ongoing work of resurrection life?

Application questions

The space between an urgent prayer and God's answer can feel like a deliberate delay [25:29]. Describe a time when you prayed fervently for something and God's timing did not match your own. How did that experience challenge or ultimately shape your faith?
Jesus identifies not as a *giver* of resurrection but as the resurrection and the life itself [30:18]. How does trusting in a person, rather than just a future event, change how you face your own mortality or the death of a loved one?
God's compassion is shown through Jesus weeping with those who weep [33:40]. How can we follow this example and better "weep with those who weep" instead of offering quick fixes or theological explanations to someone who is grieving?
The season of Lent invites a "searching spiritual inventory" to ask, "where do I still smell?" [35:03] What is one area of your life—a habit, a thought pattern, a broken relationship—that carries the "stench" of sin and needs the fresh air of God's forgiveness and grace?
Jesus calls each of us by name to "come forth" from our tombs [36:44]. What does the tomb of fear, shame, or sin look like in your life right now, and what would it mean to take one step out into the light of His love today?
New life in Christ involves a commissioning to "love the people who frustrate us, to forgive those who wound us" [37:15]. Who is one person God is placing on your heart to love or forgive this week as a practical outworking of your resurrection life?

Sermon Clips

Do we trust Jesus as the resurrection and the life in the light of the deaths of our loved ones? Do we trust Jesus with our own impending death whenever that may be? Do we believe that though we die, we will not die forever? Do we believe what Saint Paul said in our second reading for today? If the spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he will give life to your mortal bodies through his spirit that dwells in you. [00:32:22] (40 seconds) #SpiritGivesLife

We know that he could have healed Lazarus at a distance. He'd done that before. If he wanted to, he could have, but instead, he lets him die. Why? Well, we're not really told, at least not directly. And I think this is a profound mystery for us, something to take deep into our hearts. For all of us, I think, have experienced this, praying for someone who's sick, hoping against hope for some miracle that doesn't come. [00:25:44] (37 seconds) #WhenMiraclesDontCome

Ask a question about this sermon

Chatbot

Why did Jesus delay coming to help Lazarus?

What does I am the resurrection mean?

How does the stench of death symbolize sin?

Wyndham Hobsons Bay Lutheran Church Service 22/3/2026 - 5th Sunday in Lent