By Larry Shurilla
(Sung with Exuberance!)
“When First the glorious light of truth
Burst forth in this last age,
How few there were enrolled their names
Upon its sacred page!
Yet of those few how many
Have passed from earth away,
And in their graves are sleeping
Till the Resurrection Day!
Till the Resurrection Day!
And in their graves are sleepin’
Till the Resurrection Day!”
Brothers and Sisters, Happy Easter! I am so happy today! Forgive my break in protocol, as missionaries in Japan we used to sing that song, “When First the Glorious Light of Truth,” with the utmost zeal at our missionary meetings and today I feel a bit like Alma, and pine that I were an angel and could speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth! Would that I could stand on the housetops and proclaim: Shed no more tears! Prepare no more funerals! Death has lost! Life has won! Hope is eternally victorious! HE IS RISEN!
As we celebrate and contemplate the glory of our Lord’s Resurrection, please walk with me and the Savior through John, Chapter 11 and notice the true play on faith being acted out before our eyes. As you listen to the story of Lazarus, in what role do your see yourself today? Where does the Lord speak directly to us? Where is our faith?
1 Now a certain man was sick, named Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.
3 Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick.
The sisters of Lazarus were full of faith! Mary had anointed Jesus with ointment, had wiped his feet with her hair. Mary did this in the house of a leper. The apostles thought she was wasting this precious ointment on the living, but Jesus said she was anointing him for his burial. He also said, “Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached in the whole world, there shall also this, that this woman hath done, be told for a memorial of her.” (Matthew 26) These sisters believed the Lord could heal their brother. They sent for him in that hope, but Jesus, because of their faith had a greater miracle in mind. It was time for their faith to be tested, stretched, and fulfilled.
4 When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby.
5 Now Jesus loved Martha, and her sister, and Lazarus.
6 When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two days still in the same place where he was.
7 Then after that saith he to his disciples, Let us go into Judæa again….
Our friend Lazarus sleepeth; but I go, that I may awake him out of sleep.
12 Then said his disciples, Lord, if he sleep, he shall do well.
13 Howbeit Jesus spake of his death: but they thought that he had spoken of taking of rest in sleep.
14 Then said Jesus unto them plainly, Lazarus is dead.
15 And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, to the intent ye may believe; nevertheless let us go unto him…
Lazarus needed to die in order for the Lord to increase their faith. Surely once a person is dead, that is the end. Then we must let them go. Forever. Not so Martha. Not so Mary. Not so disciples. Oh, and not so US! Prepare yourselves for a leap in faith.
17 Then when Jesus came, he found that he had lain in the grave four days already.
20 Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met him: but Mary sat still in the house.
21 Then said Martha unto Jesus, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
22 But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it thee.
Martha still had a speck of hope! She has faith that the Lord could still do something, even though Lazarus had been dead four days.
23 Jesus saith unto her, Thy brother shall rise again.
24 Martha saith unto him, I know that he shall rise again in the resurrection at the last day.
25 Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live:
26 And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die. Believest thou this?
27 She saith unto him, Yea, Lord: I believe that thou art the Christ, the Son of God, which should come into the world.
28 And when she had so said, she went her way, and called Mary her sister secretly, saying, The Master is come, and calleth for thee.
29 As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly, and came unto him.
32 Then when Mary was come where Jesus was, and saw him, she fell down at his feet, saying unto him, Lord, if thou hadst been here, my brother had not died.
Mary had faith in the healing powers of Jesus. If only he had come earlier, but now?….
33 When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews also weeping which came with her, he groaned in the spirit, and was troubled,
The only thing that usually troubled Jesus was the lack of faith he saw so abundantly all around him, but Martha believed Jesus to be the Christ. She still had hope He could perform a miracle.
34 And Jesus said, Where have ye laid him? They said unto him, Lord, come and see.
35 Jesus wept.
Why did He weep? He knew what was about to happen! The greatest miracle ever performed on earth! Perhaps he wept knowing that even though one rose from the dead, the faithless would still not believe and thus reject the eternal life He was offering them.
36 Then said the Jews, Behold how he loved him!
37 And some of them said, Could not this man, which opened the eyes of the blind, have caused that even this man should not have died?
Sarcasm-an enemy to faith. An attitude of skepticism. Negativity. How will these people ever believe?
38 Jesus therefore again groaning in himself cometh to the grave. It was a cave, and a stone lay upon it.
39 Jesus said, Take ye away the stone. Martha, the sister of him that was dead, saith unto him, Lord, by this time he stinketh: for he hath been dead four days.
40 Jesus saith unto her, Said I not unto thee, that, if thou wouldest believe, thou shouldest see the glory of God?
41 Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead was laid. And Jesus lifted up his eyes, and said, Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me.
42 And I knew that thou hearest me always: but because of the people which stand by I said it, that they may believe that thou hast sent me.
Jesus prayed aloud that there could be no mistaking the bond between the Father and the Son. Jesus came to do the will of the Father and to do the works of the Father. He truly was, the Son of God.
43 And when he thus had spoken, he cried with a loud voice, Lazarus, come forth.
44 And he that was dead came forth, bound hand and foot with graveclothes: and his face was bound about with a napkin. Jesus saith unto them, Loose him, and let him go.
45 Then many of the Jews which came to Mary, and had seen the things which Jesus did, believed on him.
46 But some of them went their ways to the Pharisees, and told them what things Jesus had done…
Having eyewitnessed this greatest of miracles, some believed and some wanted to narc on Jesus to the Pharisees.
Just a simple stroll through a few events in the life of our Lord and yet, how many acts of faith and lack of faith were presented! Where did we see ourselves? In Martha, Mary, the disciples, the skeptics, the mourning Jews? The Lord wants our faith! He wants us to believe! He wants to bless us, to open the windows of heaven and shower down blessings upon us, but we must act, we must ask, we must believe, we must trust, we must take the hand that is stretched out still, and behold the wonders reserved for the faithful!
(Alma 11:42-44)
Some believe the resurrection of Christ was for Him alone. Latter-Day scripture clarifies this misunderstanding.
The Prophet Alma taught:
42 Now, there is a death which is called a temporal death; and the death of Christ shall loose the bands of this temporal death, that all shall be raised from this temporal death.
43 The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame…
44 Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous; and even there shall not so much as a hair of their heads be lost; but every thing shall be restored to its perfect frame…”
Ernesto Story
A week ago, Saturday, I attended the funeral service of Brother Ernesto Aguilar, a longtime member of the Milwaukee stake and a brother I was home teaching companions with, some 40 years ago. I can still remember him telling me this gem of truth:
“Little kids, little problems. Big kids, big problems.”
Brother Aguilar was a stalwart member of the church. An immigrant from El Salvador and Mexico, Br. Aguilar dedicated his life to Christ and raising a family in America. The Perez family shared the restored gospel of Jesus Christ with Brother Aguilar and opened the door to a flood of Gospel revelation to which Br. Aguilar stayed true to his death.
As I looked upon Brother Aguilar, dressed in his white and green temple clothing and paid my respects, the white reminded me of the atonement and how the Lord’s blood purifies our souls and the green made me think of new life and eternal growth. How appropriate that an Easter Lily has a pure white flower and rich green leaves. I felt peace and happiness for Ernesto and his family, for this was a righteous man who finished his earthly mission, who took care of the important things in life and has led his family into the blessings of eternity and exaltation.
Brothers and Sisters, Happy Easter! On this glorious Sabbath wherein we remember the resurrection of our Savior and extinguish forever the sting of death with the hopes of eternal glory,
Let us remember…
There were no orders that could stay Him.
There was no stone heavy enough to hold Him.
There was no legion of soldiers mighty enough to stop Him.
On the morning of the third day, as the suns’ dawning rays burst over the horizon, the stone was rolled away and the Great Jehovah fulfilled this final prophecy of His earthly mission and dug His heel into death’s depressive head forever and walked upon the earth once more-a resurrected being!
Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.”
And why did He do it? Why suffer so for our sins? Why deal with the vipers and the faithless? Why hang on that barbaric cross? It was not just to do His Father’s will. Like with Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, He did it all, because He loves us.
(Sung softly)
“Why should we mourn because we leave
These scenes of toil and pain?
O happy change! The faithful go
Celestial joys to gain;
And soon we all shall follow
To realms of endless day,
And taste the joyous glories
Of a Resurrection day.”
-in the name of our risen Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen.