Lazarus, come forth!

Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, "She is going to the tomb to weep there." Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!" And some of them said, "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?"

Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me." Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go."

- John 11:30-44

We continue today with the story of Lazarus. In the readings from yesterday and the day before, we have learned that Jesus has been called to the home of his friends in Bethany, Martha, Mary and Lazarus. The sisters sent for Him because His friend Lazarus was sick. But Jesus delayed the trip two days, for "the glory of God," that "the Son of God may be glorified through it." He has arrived in Bethany to the news that Lazarus has died. First He was met by Martha, while Mary was grieving inside the house. See Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick and I am the resurrection and the life.

Now Jesus had not yet come into the town, but was in the place where Martha met Him. Then the Jews who were with her in the house, and comforting her, when they saw that Mary rose up quickly and went out, followed her, saying, "She is going to the tomb to weep there." Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to Him, "Lord, come and see." Jesus wept. My study bible notes here: "As true man Jesus shows by example that weeping is the natural human response to death. As true God He shows compassion upon His creation when the soul is torn from the body." "Jesus wept" is the shortest sentence in the bible, but it tells us so powerfully much. Jesus experiences all the human pull of the emotional scene, and of the sadness of his friend and devoted disciple, Mary. I find this extremely touching, because we don't see so many really deeply personal scenes in the Gospels. This is the depth of His friendship and care. He knows what He will do, and yet He cries with her anguish and sadness.

I also believe it's important to note that when Jesus met Martha, in yesterday's reading, He told her, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die." And He asked her if she believed this. Mary, however, falls at His feet (as she will anoint His feet later in the Gospel for Jesus' own burial), and makes her confession of faith, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died." In His deep emotional connection with her and those others who mourn, He weeps.

Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!" And some of them said, "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?" The Evangelist teaches us about the disputes surrounding Jesus. There are so many questions here about His abilities, and concerning who He is. They are all watching and waiting. It is an entire scene composed of many witnesses, with multiple perspectives.

Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, "Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days." A note reads: "Jesus comes to the place of burial. A corpse that has by the fourth day begun to deteriorate is enough reason for Martha's warning. Embalming was prohibited in Judaism. The body was simply anointed with spices and other aromatic substances which would keep the stench of decomposition away for a time." It's important for the readers to understand the length of time Lazarus has been in his tomb. In yesterday's commentary, we learned that at the time, there was a rabbinic opinion that the soul lingered near the body for three days, but from the fourth day on there was no hope of revival. The smell Martha warns about is from the decomposition of the lifeless body.

Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" My study bible notes, "The Savior responds to Martha's cautionary note (v. 39) by reminding her of his earlier words (vv. 25, 26)." He challenges Martha by reminding her of his words - and He also reflects what He has told His disciples about the reasons for His delay of the trip to Bethany by two days. I think it's interesting that He challenges her: her doubts are expressed through her cautionary note. For Him, it is an opportunity to invigorate faith.

Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, "Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me." My study bible notes here: "Again we see the Evangelist's insistence on relating Jesus' dependence upon the Father for all His works. Jesus prays for the bystanders, that they may have the insight to see the glory of God in the miracle." As Redeemer, amidst the ills and ailments of the world - including death, another evil affliction in the understanding of the church - Jesus takes the opportunity for the manifestation of the glory of God, and the uplifting of faith for those who are witnesses. It is, in a sense, a validation or verification that God loves our world. The ways in which we suffer are not the wishes of God - neither the Father nor the Son who weeps in sympathy with those who mourn. We really can't have a more powerful witness to that fact than this story as told by the Evangelist.

Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!" My study bible says here, "Jesus' loud cry for all to hear is reminiscent of His earlier words, 'The hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth' (5:28-29)." It is a clear construction of the reality of His teaching to Martha: "I am the resurrection and the life."

And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Loose him, and let him go." My study bible notes: "That Lazarus came out bound in his linen graveclothes is interpreted by patristic writers as an indication he will need them once again: he will eventually die. The Savior's grave linens, by contrast, were left in the tomb. He will have no more use for them, for He will never die again." This "unleashing" of Lazarus from the grave also suggests to us that in these issues of death and resurrection, Jesus reveals life to us that takes us into a new freedom, and releases us from the bondage and hence blindness of death (even Lazarus' face was covered) - which is the symbolic sting of all evil in our world.

What does it mean for us to understand that Jesus is the "resurrection and the life?" Is it merely His power over life and death, as exemplified in this seventh sign or miracle in John's Gospel? I think it is far more than that. Death is the substance of all evil; evil is that which diminishes our lives in the world. Whatever kind of affliction we suffer, it is a kind of death, it is a shadow of death over our lives and what "could be." Jesus has also taught in recent readings, "I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly." He has told us that "I am the light of the world. He who follows Me shall not walk in darkness, but have the light of life." The life that He gives us is not only the eternal promise to His sheep, that He will keep them with Him, and not lose any of them, even unto an eternal life, but it is more than that. The life that Christ promises is right in the here and now, it is a life of freedom and truth, a life in which we are invited to be with Him as His disciples as we abide in His word, a life in which we are taught about the love of God and share in that love with Father, Son and Spirit. It is a life in which we are invited to be free of the bondage of sin. We are asked to make a choice, then, between death - as the overriding symbol of evil and its afflictions in all forms that diminish our lives - and life, in the Person of Christ and what He can bring to our lives, what He offers to us. This seventh miracle teaches us so much more than death and life in their literal forms. It teaches us also that God is with us, in all ways, in its shortest sentence: Jesus wept. He shares our suffering and afflictions, even while He understands that He is offering us a way to deal with them, a way to free us, and to add to our life abundantly. In an earlier commentary on these readings of Lazarus and this seventh sign, I made the observation that Jesus invites us to be co-redeemers with Him, and I believe this also to be true. His example and His works set up for us a timeless perspective on the evils of the world: that they can become opportunities for the glory of God when we act to help heal them - when we follow His word and choose opportunities (as did, for example, the Good Samaritan in the Gospel of Luke) to "abide in His word." When we pray for others, or pray for the healing of the world, we are seeking the same. Most especially, when we go through hardship and ask for guidance in prayer for how to do this, and rely on God's strength and wisdom, we are doing the same! Life in abundance, then, takes on tones that elevate all of us to something much more important than we who survive and struggle in this world. It elevates our importance, with Him, as His disciples in this mission of the One who brings us life, abundantly, and sets us free. He has the power of life and death, indeed - but that means so much more than we think it does, and it continues to give more to us, abundantly. This story also tells us something very powerful: it invites us to peer into that tomb, and to know that there is so much more to our lives that we do not understand.