Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.  It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.  Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."  When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.  Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go into Judea again."  The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"  Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."  These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."  Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well."  However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.  Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.  And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.  Nevertheless let us go to him."  Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."

So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.  Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away.  And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.  Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.  Now Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.  But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."  Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."  Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."  Jesus said to 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.  Do you believe this?"  She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world."

- John 11:1-27

~~~

Then, six days before the Passover, Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was who had been dead, whom He had raised from the dead.  There they made Him a supper; and Martha served, but Lazarus was one of those who sat at the table with Him.  Then Mary took a pound of very costly oil of spikenard, anointed the feet of Jesus, and wiped His feet with her hair.  And the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil.  But one of His disciples, Judas Iscariot, Simon's son, who would betray Him, said, "Why was this fragrant oil not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?"  This he said, not that he cared for the poor, but because he was a thief, and had the money box; and he used to take what was put in it.  But Jesus said, "Let her alone; she has kept this for the day of My burial.  for the poor you have with you always, but Me you do not have always."

Now a great many of the Jews knew that He was there; and they came, not for Jesus' sake only, but that they might also see Lazarus, whom He had raised from the dead.  But the chief priests plotted to put Lazarus to death also, because on account of him many of the Jews went away and believed in Jesus.

- John 12:1-10

In yesterday's reading, we read about events that occurred at the Feast of Dedication, or Hanukkah.  At the previous festival (the Feast of Tabernacles) Jesus had healed a man blind from birth.   Afterward Jesus taught that He is the good shepherd, who would lay His life down for the sheep.  He taught, "Therefore My Father loves Me, because I lay down My life that I may take it again.  No one takes it from Me, but I lay it down of Myself.  I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again.  This command I have received from My Father."  Therefore there was a division again among the leadership because of these sayings.  And many of them said, "He has a demon and is mad.  Why do you listen to Him?"  Others said, "These are not the words of one who has a demon.  Can a demon open the eyes of the blind?"  Now it was the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter.  And Jesus walked in the temple, in Solomon's porch.  Then the Jews surrounded Him and said to Him, "How long do You keep us in doubt?  If you are the Christ, tell us plainly."  Jesus answered them, "I told you, and you do not believe.  The works that I do in My Father's name, they bear witness of Me.  But you do not believe, because you are not of My sheep, as I said to you.  My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.  And I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; neither shall anyone snatch them out of My hand.  My Father, who has given them to Me, is greater than all; and no one is able to snatch them out of My Father's hand.  I and My Father are one."  Then the Jews took up stones again to stone Him.  Jesus answered them, "Many good works I have shown you from My Father.  For which of those works do you stone Me?"  The Jews answered Him, saying, "For a good work we do not stone You, but for blasphemy, and because You, being a Man, make Yourself God."  Jesus answered them, "Is it not written in your law, 'I said, "You are gods"?'  If He called them gods, to whom the word of God came (and the Scripture cannot be broken), do you say of Him whom the Father sanctified and sent into the world, 'You are blaspheming,' because I said, 'I am the Son of God'?  If I do not do the works of My Father, do not believe Me; but if I do, though you do not believe Me, believe the works, that you may know and believe that the Father is in Me, and I in Him."  Therefore they sought again to seize Him, but He escaped out of their hand.  And He went away again beyond the Jordan to the place where John was baptizing at first, and there He stayed.  Then many came to Him and said, "John performed no sign, but all the things that John spoke about this Man were true."  And many believed in Him there. 

Now a certain man was sick, Lazarus of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha.  It was that Mary who anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was sick.  Therefore the sisters sent to Him, saying, "Lord, behold, he whom You love is sick."  When Jesus heard that, He said, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."   The Evangelist here assumes that his readers know about Mary, the sister of Lazarus, who anointed  the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair.   The account of this event is later in the Gospel, in the beginning of chapter 12, which is an alternate reading in today's lectionary  (see above).  My study bible notes:  "Lazarus' sickness would not result in permanent death because he would be brought back to life by Christ, an act which would bring glory to the Father and the Son."  We remember that Jesus also said of the man blind since birth that his affliction was so that the glory of God may be revealed through it.

Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus.  So, when He heard that he was sick, He stayed two more days in the place where He was.  Then after this He said to the disciples, "Let us go into Judea again."  The disciples said to Him, "Rabbi, lately the Jews sought to stone You, and are You going there again?"   Jesus stayed two more days in order to underscore  the magnitude of this miracle that is to occur.  To go to Judea incurs great risk, because at the Feast of Dedication the temple leadership sought to stone Jesus to death for blasphemy.

Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours in the day?  If anyone walks in the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world.  But if one walks in the night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him."   These words are again a kind of echo of something Jesus said at the time of the previous sign in John's Gospel, the healing of the man blind from birth.  Just before healing the man, Jesus said then, "I must work the works of Him who sent Me while it is day; the night is coming when no one can work.  As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  Here, the night seems to imply the darkness of a life without the light of God, which is in Christ, who is the light of the world.  He is, as John's Gospel has also taught, the light that shines in the darkness.

These things He said, and after that He said to them, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps, but I go that I may wake him up."  Then His disciples said, "Lord, if he sleeps he will get well."  However, Jesus spoke of his death, but they thought that He was speaking about taking rest in sleep.  Then Jesus said to them plainly, "Lazarus is dead.  And I am glad for your sakes that I was not there, that you may believe.  Nevertheless let us go to him."  Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him."  My study bible points out that sleep is often used to signify death.  It also notes here,  "Thomas, if not with full understanding, speaks the truth:  dying with Christ, to baptism and sometimes in martyrdom, will become the seal of Christian discipleship."

So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.  Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, about two miles away.  And many of the Jews had joined the women around Martha and Mary, to comfort them concerning their brother.  My study bible says that "there was a rabbinic opinion that the soul lingered about the body for three days, but from the fourth day on there was no hope of resuscitation."  It also tells us that official mourning began on the same day as death and burial (immediate burial was necessary in warm climates).  Weeping and wailing lasted three days; lamentation lasted the rest of the week; general mourning lasted 30 days following death.  During this time mourners constantly came and went from the home of the deceased."

Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.   My study bible points out that the characteristic contrasting qualities of these two women are portrayed consistently in the Gospels.  Here, the two sisters react as one would expect from the account of them in Luke, when Martha was serving and Mary was listening to Jesus teach.  In today's reading, Martha goes out to greet Jesus as hospitality would ask, while Mary sits in mourning in the home as is proper to the occasion.  My study bible notes:  "Sitting is the correct posture when mourning and greeting mourners."

Now Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.  But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."  Jesus said to her, "Your brother will rise again."  Martha said to Him, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day."  Jesus said to 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.  Do you believe this?"  She said to Him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world."   A note here reads:  "Your brother will rise again is misunderstood by Martha as indicating the final resurrection.  Thus Jesus declares, I am the resurrection and the life.  Whoever believes in Christ already has eternal life and therefore shall never die spiritually."  We note that Jesus asks Martha about her faith in Him, and her answer is a powerful "Yes, Lord."

If there is one thing that is consistent in and remarkable in the stories of Jesus and the family of Martha, Mary and Lazarus, it is the love between these people who are dear friends.  Jesus isn't only Lord, although Martha does address Him as Lord, and most profoundly so when she confesses her faith that He is indeed the Christ, the Son of God who is to come into the world.   St. Augustine comments on the love between these people.  Martha and Mary send to Jesus with simply the news:  "Lord, the one whom you love is ill."  They don't ask Him to come; they simply tell Him what has happened.  Augustine wrote that this was "as if to say: 'It is enough that you know. For you are not one that loves and then abandons ' "  (Tractates on the Gospel of John 49.5).    Cyril of Alexandria has written, "The Evangelist has a purpose in mentioning the names of the women, showing that they were distinguished for their piety, which is why the Lord loved them. And of the many things that probably had been done for the Lord by Mary, he mentions the ointment, not in a haphazard way but in order to show that Mary had such a thirst for Christ that she wiped his feet with her own hair, seeking to fasten to herself in a more real way the spiritual blessing that comes from his holy flesh. Indeed, she often appears with much warmth of attachment, sitting close to Christ without being distracted by any interruption and to have been drawn into a close relationship of friendship with him"  (Commentary on the Gospel of John 7).  In these commentaries, and in today's reading (also noting the passage above from Chapter 12, in which Mary anoints Christ's feet), we get a splendid and truly extraordinary sense of Christ, who is the God-man.  That is, we see His Lordship, His Light and Life at work, and at the same time the great love which permeates His human relationships with these people who are not only worshipers but close friends.  It is so remarkable to ponder this love.  In Christ, we have the most amazing picture of the Lord of the Universe, with the power of life itself, who is also a loving human being, with a tenderness of affection for these people who are His friends, and perhaps most poignantly in the figure of Mary.  St. Cyril's words about her closeness and warmth to Him tell us a great deal that in today's world we may not understand as well as would have been when Emperors ruled the world.  In His majesty, it is inestimable what grandeur would have been contained in Christ.  The idea that the King of kings and Lord of lords could also be drawn into a close and warm relationship with this woman is unthinkable to someone schooled in the protocols of hierarchy.  But the love of Christ permeates all things, both His majesty and His human personality.  This is what truly makes Him beyond conception, in some sense -- beyond our expectations and understanding.  It is also what commands our love.  Let us remember Christ put no barriers between Himself and even "the least of these" whom He loved.  Can we imagine a leader like Him today?   He remains the unsurpassed model for the world, for any authority, for all of us with faith.  His is the love that does not abandon, and that lends itself to closeness and warmth.  May we all aspire to be like Him.