DATE: November 4, 2012 — All Saints Sunday
SCRIPTURE:
John 11:32-44
©Rev. Alison J. Buttrick Patton
Saugatuck Church front lawn
John 11:32-44 — THE MESSAGE version:
Mary came to where Jesus was waiting and fell at his feet, saying, “Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died. When Jesus saw her sobbing and the Jews with her sobbing, a deep anger welled up within him. He said, “Where did you put him?” Now Jesus wept. The Jews said, “Look how deeply he loved him.” Others among them said, “Well, if he loved him so much, why didn’t he do something to keep him from dying? After all, he opened the eyes of a blind man.” Then Jesus, the anger again welling up within him, arrived at the tomb. It was a simple cave in the hillside with a slab of stone laid against it. Jesus said, “Remove the stone.” The sister of the dead man, Martha, said, “Master, by this time there’s a stench. He’s been dead four days!” Jesus looked her in the eye. “Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” Then, to the others, “Go ahead, take away the stone.” So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I know you always do listen, but on account of this crowd standing here I’ve spoken so that they might believe that you sent me.” Then he shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” And the dead man came out, wrapped from head to toe, and with a kerchief over his face. Jesus told them, “Unwrap him and let him loose.”
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