Lazarus, come forth!

 Icon painting, Miracle of Lazarus being raised from the dead, St. Katherine's Monastery, Sinai, 12th Century

 Now Jesus had not yet come into he 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 the 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

In Wednesday's reading, we first heard about the illness of Lazarus, and Jesus' delay in going to the home of Lazarus and his sisters Mary and Martha.   Yesterday, we read about Jesus arrival in Bethany, as He approached their home:  So when Jesus came, He found that Lazarus 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.  Now 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."  And when she had said these things, she went her way and secretly called Mary her sister, saying, "The Teacher has come and is calling for you."  As soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.

 Now Jesus had not yet come into he 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."   As everyone in this story is a Jew, we understand John's reference to "the Jews" who were with Mary in the house as being those who have come from Jerusalem to mourn with Martha and Mary for their brother Lazarus, particularly those who are of the ruling parties in the temple, the religious leadership.   This is not a meeting for Mary alone with Jesus.  My study bible suggests we note here that Mary approaches Christ with the identical words Martha used (see yesterday's reading).  It says, "While Jesus engaged Martha with words, here He engages Mary with deeds -- the raising of her brother from the dead."

 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 says that "John emphasizes that Jesus wept and groaned in spirit [verse 38, later in the reading] to show He had fully taken on human nature and was subject to grief as any man would be.  Weeping is the natural response to the tragedy of death."  At Compline of what is called Lazarus Saturday in the Orthodox Church (the Saturday before Palm Sunday), a hymn is sung:  "Shedding tears by Your own choice, You have given us proof of Your heartfelt love."

Then the Jews said, "See how He loved him!"  And some of the said, "Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?"  Even among the leadership from the temple, the same feeling is reflected here:  Couldn't Jesus have saved Lazarus if He'd been present?  What is palpable is Jesus' great love for Lazarus.  His sympathy for the mourning of these sisters is clear in what is the shortest sentence of the Bible:  Jesus wept.  It seems to me an indication of the great empathic heart of Christ, as this happens in seeing all these with Mary in mourning.  He is truly Emmanuel, "with us."

 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."  My study bible tells us:  "Though Martha's faith had increased [see yesterday's reading], she still understood neither Christ's will nor His power.  The spices and oils used to anoint a dead body would only hold the stench of decomposition at bay for a short time.  Many icons of the raising of Lazarus show bystanders covering their noses, illustrating both the reality of his corrupted flesh and the fact that many did not believe Christ could raise the dead."  (See the mourners in red, with sleeves raised to their faces, in the icon above.)

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."  My study bible notes, "To show His divine will was one with the Father's, and that His human will was freely subject in every way to the Father's, Christ prays aloud for the sake of the people."  This is the seventh and final sign in John's Gospel; Jesus makes certain every step of the way that the sign is clear:  Lazarus' indisputable death, even to bodily corruption, the mourning, and all these witnesses, both friends and potential enemies among the leadership -- all are elements present here to everyone.

Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!"  A note says, "Christ calls Lazarus forth, not in the name of the Father, but by His own authority.  This shows the people that while Christ came from the Father, He fully possesses divine authority in Himself."  His loud shout is unmistakably not just for Lazarus, but for all witnesses to hear what is happening.

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 tells us:  "That Lazarus came out bound in his graveclothes is seen by many Fathers as an indication that he will need them again -- that his resurrection continues an earthly life which will again end in death.  The Savior's graveclothes, by contrast, would be left in the tomb (John 20:5-7).  Unlike Lazarus's, Christ's Resurrection transfigures human nature;  He will never die again.  This sign not only prepared the disciples to believe in Christ's Resurrection, but in the words of the hymn for the day [referred to in the earlier note above], it also 'confirmed the universal resurrection,' proving Christ has the power to fulfill the promise given to Ezekiel that all the dead will one day rise (Ezekiel 37:1-13)."

In today's reading, we have exposed all the fears about death, the great taboo subject, a mystery about which we "know" virtually nothing -- in which all the historical fears of mankind are invested.  In the image of Lazarus coming forth from the tomb (a kind of cave hewn of rock), we modern film-viewers can see images repeated from the early horror films of the 1930s and '40s, even to today:  fantasies about "the mummy" -- an image wrapped in the kind of graveclothes Lazarus wears here in the icons given us throughout the centuries since.  Frankenstein was first a novel and later a film about taking human parts from graveyards, and constructing a man made from "the dead," but without the guiding hand of God to help us to truly understand Resurrection, and true life as well.  All our images, both ancient and modern, come to us in this image of Lazarus coming forth from the tomb, wrapped in the graveclothes.  Christ orders that He should be "loosed, and let go" from the graveclothes, a true image of freedom from the bondage of death, taking away the fear of death from us all.  Christ here answers so much of mankind's questions and fears about death, and the pain and suffering and loss that go with it.  If we think about it, the time of Jesus is the period at the end of the rule of the royalty of Egypt, a succession of generations of a great civilization who hoped for resurrection via the arts of preservation of the dead, buried with their possessions for the afterlife.  Even in the most ancient primitive burial sites in the world that have been explored by archaeologists, we find the symbol of the hope of resurrection buried with the dead:  flowers.  Christ is the answer to these hopes of mankind, the arts developed in hope of the afterlife.  He is the resurrection and the life.  Each detail in this Gospel reading throughout chapter 11 of John gives us the details we know about death, especially our mourning, the palpable sadness of this family, so beloved by Christ that He weeps Himself.  It's visibly the story about death as a great and terrible loss.  But the sign itself tells us something revolutionary and different, an act that defies any power of death (or our fears about it), and that stands as a kind of stop-piece in the middle of history to say that, really, we are not capable of beating death on our own, but with God's help, with Christ present and therefore the Trinity, all things are possible.  Christ here opens our eyes and expands our understanding of just what it means that with God, all things are possible!  The complete defiance of death will come at His own Resurrection, but we already have His promise, made several times in John's Gospel, that with Him we have eternal life and we are not bound by death.  This extends to all in the graves at His time, and all to come.  Death, the ultimate fear, becomes nothing before Him.  Can our own fears remain combatted by His life?  Human beings have not changed, even as today we have the kinds of technology that make death possible in greater and greater numbers.  The horror films and books mentioned above still contain a message about the destructive power of this world, even when we think we might be working for the good -- but without God's blessing, without His words, without prayer and the work of the Spirit.  In Him is the life and the Resurrection; He is the way, the truth and the life.  Can our faith save us from our fears -- and just where those fears lead us?  In Him, we have life, together with all those who have passed before us.  But, when He returns, will He find faith on the earth?