Jesus wept

 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

Yesterday, we read what happened after Jesus had been told that His friend Lazarus was ill.  When Jesus came to Bethany, 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 religious leadership 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 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."   Mary responds to Jesus' presence the same way her sister did, with the identical statement.  "The Jews" is the term used for those who are members of the parties of the religious establishment from Jerusalem.  We note they follow her out, and can infer they are witnesses to what is to come.

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?"  My study bible points out that John's Gospel emphasizes that Jesus wept and groaned in spirit.  It shows that He had fully taken on human nature and was subject to grief in the same way any human being would be.  Weeping, it says, is the natural response to the tragedy of death.  An Orthodox hymn sung at Compline of Lazarus Saturday, declares, "Shedding tears by Your own choice, You have given us proof of Your heartfelt love."

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 notes that although Martha's faith had increased, she still understood neither Christ's will nor His power.  It says that the spices and oils used to anoint a dead body would only hold the stench of decomposition at bay for a short time.  In Orthodox icons of the raising of Lazarus, many show bystanders covering their noses (see the men standing near the tomb in this icon, for example) -- it illustrated the reality of his decomposing flesh and also the fact that many did not believe this was possible for Christ.  Again, we see Martha's character in her concern for what would be proper, even for fastidious care.

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 tells us that Jesus prays aloud for the sake of the people, for two reasons:  first, He shows that His divine will is one with the Father's, and secondly that His human will was freely subject in every way to the Father's.  We should keep in mind that those near the tomb included not only His dear friends and disciples, but also those who've come from Jerusalem.

Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!"  Christ calls Lazarus forth, and He does so not in the name of the Father, but we note that this is clearly by His own authority.  It shows the people that while He comes from the Father, Christ fully possesses divine authority in Himself.  We note again the deliberately very public nature of this event. He has prayed aloud for the people to hear.  Here, He calls Lazarus forth by crying out in a loud voice. 

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."  A traditional interpretation of the fact that Lazarus comes out of the tomb bound in his graveclothes is that it's an indication he will need them again.  He's resurrected to a continuation of his earthly life, which will end in death.  Jesus' graveclothes, by contrast, will be left behind in the tomb (20:5-7).  Unlike Lazarus's, says my study bible, Christ's Resurrection transfigures human nature.  He will never die again.  This seventh sign of John's Gospel not only prepared the disciples to believe in Christ's Resurrection, but it also confirmed the universal resurrection, and proved that Christ has the power to fulfill the promise given to Ezekiel that one day all the dead will rise (Ezekiel 37:1-13).

This stupendous event is the capstone of all of the signs in John's Gospel.  As we've observed, it's the seventh and last sign of Christ's divinity that He will do.  It's very public, and Jesus has deliberately made it so, in order to demonstrate not only His relationship to the Father, but His own will and power as well.  There are members of the ruling class of the religious elite here from the temple in Jerusalem, who came to comfort Mary and Martha in their mourning period for Lazarus's death.  All have witnessed what has happened, and there can be absolutely no doubt about the resurrection of Lazarus.  According to tradition, Lazarus remained a "wanted" man  by the religious leadership after the death of Christ, and lived in exile in Cyprus.  He was there made a Bishop of the Church.  It's said that he never smiled or joked except on one occasion. One day, he saw someone stealing a clay pot and he smiled saying, "The clay steals the clay."  The image of Lazarus coming from the tomb, wrapped in his graveclothes, is one that forms a very potent symbol for us, and one that charges us with meaning.  The power of Resurrection is still something so mysterious and so full of promise that the image surfaces again and again, even in popular art and entertainment.  There's also something of mystery in the nature of the graveclothes, which resemble the swaddling clothes of infants, also a hint of rebirth, resurrection.   That tradition has recorded that Lazarus nearly never smiled or joked after his resuscitation is something we may wonder about; what was it he experienced that gave him this disposition?  Perhaps there's a hint in the one joke we know he made, that he viewed some of the living as dead, as well.  Lazarus is the great living symbol we have of Christ's power of life.  He was so beloved of Jesus that we're given the remarkable shortest verse in the bible because of him:  Jesus wept.  Lazarus' death and resurrection is not only the final culminating event of Jesus' ministry, and occasioned clearly for the glory of God, but it is also a time for revealing the complete humanity of Christ, His depth of compassion, and His love for His friends.  That's a gift that is incomparable to all of us.  It gives us Jesus Christ in His fullness and depth, and a Jesus who relates deeply to each of us.  Our Lord's visit to our world as Incarnate human being is complete in His total giving of Himself to this human life, and His human capacity for relationship to each of us, especially in our mourning for the sadness of loss and the effects of evil in our world.  This is the God we worship, who has emptied Himself so fully as one of us.    His almighty power is never without the experience of His human life.   It is this fullness of all of existence He encompasses that we call upon when we call Him "Lord."