I am the resurrection and the life

 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 to 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.  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." 

- John 11:1-27

Yesterday we read that there was a division again among the religious leadership because of these Jesus' responses to them at the Feast of Tabernacles (see Wednesday's reading).  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?"   Then the Gospel turned to the time of the Feast of Dedication in Jerusalem, and it was winter (about three months later).  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."   My study bible says that this message about Lazarus' illness is sent back to Mary and Martha to strengthen them, so that when Lazarus dies, they may take confidence in His words.  The Son of God being glorified mustn't be understood to be the cause of Lazarus' dying.  Rather the indication is that Christ will be glorified as a result of his death (occurring from a natural illness) and his being raised from the dead.  We note that Jesus gave a similar teaching about the blindness since birth of the man He healed at the Feast of Tabernacles (see John 9:1-5).   That was the sixth sign in the Gospel.  The raising of Lazarus is the seventh.

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 to 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."  Jesus delays His trip to Bethany (in Judea) so that Lazarus is dead long enough for the corruption of his body to set in.  This would mean that there would be no doubt about the miracle, and the might of the Lord would be clearly seen by all.  The apostles remind Him that the leadership has tried to stone Him (10:29-39), so it is clear that Jesus' choice to return to Judea is deliberate and made with full knowledge of the circumstances into which He walks in order to raise Lazarus before the coming Passover festival.  His words remind us again of events at the previous miracle of healing the man blind from birth, when He said, "As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world."  My study bible adds that Thomas's statement is an unwitting prophecy of his own martyr's death.  It also says that it illustrates the path that all believers must take -- that we die daily to the world for the sake of following Christ (Luke 9:23-24). 

So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.   There was a contemporary rabbinical opinion that the soul lingered about the body for three days.   But after four days, resuscitation would be impossible.

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.  Mourning would begin on the day of a person's death.  Weeping and wailing lasted three days, according to my study bible.  Lamentation lasted one week, and general mourning lasted 30 days.  What we seem to be told here is an indication that this is a prominent family; those who come from Jerusalem are among the families of the men who belong to parties in the Council.

Now Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.  As in the story in Luke 10:38-42, the two sisters respond differently to Christ's arrival.  Martha, the one inclined to active service, rushes out to meet Jesus.  She is concerned with matters of hospitality.  Mary remains in mourning until she is called by Christ (later in the story).  Sitting was the traditional posture in mourning and in receiving other mourners (Job 2:8, 13; Ezekiel 8:14). 

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."   My study bible comments that while Martha possesses great faith, her statements indicate a lack of understanding about Christ.  When she says, "if You had been here, my brother would not have died," she reveals that she doesn't fully see that Christ is God, as there is an assumption that He would need to be present to effect healings (contrast 5:46-54).  In saying, "whatever you ask of God, God will give You," she shows her lack of understanding that Christ possesses full divine authority to act as He wills.

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."  In order to correct Martha's misunderstanding (that He must be present to effect healings), Christ declares His divine authority to raise the dead at the last day (to use Martha's words), as well as here in this world.  The power of Jesus' words is so great that Martha is immediately led to her confession of faith, which is explicit and similar to the one Peter made on behalf of the Twelve earlier in the Gospel (John 66-69).  My study bible says that do you believe this? is a question directed not only to Martha, but to all of us.

It's quite remarkable that John gives us this story of Martha, and we get a picture of a woman making a similar confession to Peter.  In this, we are blessed that John's Gospel fills us with so many good things.  It tells us about the future of this Church to come, and that these women are precious to the ones for whom this Gospel was written even at the time of John, as they are indeed to us.  Another aspect of today's reading is the understanding that Jesus knows very well what He is walking into.  He's not only come to Judea (where, as Thomas reminds Him, it was only recently that the religious leaders wanted to stone Him), but He has come to the home of this prominent family, where there are many who mourn who have come from Jerusalem and are thereby connected to the leadership in the temple.  In addition to that, what He plans to do here is the astounding and unheard-of seventh sign of this Gospel, in which Lazarus is raised.  It is this act, made before witnesses who've come from Jerusalem, that will really tie His future to the Cross.  It is of such extraordinary magnitude that it won't be denied, and its power and impact will be such that the leadership who already has tried to stop Him will be determined to take Him to His death.  Jesus deliberately comes here, outside of Jerusalem, in this season between Hanukkah and  Passover, in order to do what He must do.  As the text tells us, this is the opportunity for the glory of God -- and in Jesus' words and teachings, the ultimate glory for Him will be the Crucifixion.  How can we understand this?  We live in a time when convenience, ease, and simplicity seem to combine as goals with affluence and technological power.  Commonly we are taught to seek that which gives us an easier and more beautiful or "perfect" life through what we can afford to purchase.  But "perfection" takes on a completely different character in Jesus' teaching than a simple life free from difficulties and complexities.  The way the Gospel seems to tell it, we will always have tribulations -- and that is particularly true if we are followers of Christ.  In John's 16th chapter, at the Last Supper, just prior to His Passion, Jesus will tell His disciples, "These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace.  In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world" (16:33).  Our goal, then, for His peace, for our simplicity and for overcoming, even for joy, is to be there with Him.  We are there with Him as His followers, with crosses of our own, in the midst of a world that isn't perfect but rather afflicted with the one who would tear down His work and our harmony.  But it is the Cross that saves.  It is there that we know overcoming, and the power of His victory.  It's in that place where we accept the reality of the world, that we understand perfection is really in how we endeavor to handle what comes to us, in just the endurance that says I will struggle for my faith, with Him.  Our goal is just to abide in Him, as He has taught.  Our goal can't be a problem-free life, because that's not truly reasonable.  It is rather to remember the one thing most needed, to endure, to learn from Him, and to overcome in that place.  This is the win, the victory.  Therein is our joy, our peace, our simple perfection.  His resurrection is not only for the next life, but is right here and now with us through all things.