Journey to Bethany

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’ But when Jesus heard it, he said, ‘This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’ Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

Then after this he said to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judea again.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.’ After saying this, he told them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.’ Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’ Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow-disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise again.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus said to her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.’

- John 11:1-27

In this text we have the beginning of the story of Lazarus. Jesus is told that his friend is sick. He does not hurry to Lazarus, but instead delays for two days. We are told that Jesus knows that Lazarus is dying, and so Jesus deliberately waits until after Lazarus has passed to journey to his friends' home.

Once again, Jesus tells us that this illness and subsequent death is for the glory of God, so that the works of God may be shown through it. This is but one similarity to the story of the blind man (blind from birth) whose sight was restored. Both of these healings are in the realm of the fundamentally impossible - something only possible through the power of God. This would be an absolute understanding in Judea; these types of healings - even through faith and prayer - are unheard of. They are in a realm of spiritual impossibility except through the work of God.

And another similarity with the story of the man blind from birth restored to sight: Jesus says, Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them. This once again is a story of illumination. Jesus goes back to Judea where he is already being hunted for the healing of the blind man. He knows his "impossible" healings are the greatest provocation to those who wish to disclaim his words and teachings. And yet he journeys back to Bethany for Lazarus and the work Jesus is to do there. We must connect this text once again with the notion of illumination, of birth into a different reality of faith, and what that means to the Christian notion of spirituality.

As we await Easter, this text asks us to ask questions: What does it mean for me to be illuminated? What is it to have my eyes opened to my assumptions of impossibility? What is faith and where does mine come from?