You see that you are accomplishing nothing. Look, the world has gone after Him!

 

 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.  

 

The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out!

"Hosanna!

'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'

The King of Israel!"

 Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:

"Fear not, daughter of Zion;

Behold, your King is coming,

Sitting on a donkey's colt."

His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him.  Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.  For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.  The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!"

 

- John 12:9–19 

 

Yesterday we read that the Passover of the Jews was near, and many went from the country up to Jerusalem before the Passover, to purify themselves.  Then they sought Jesus, and spoke among themselves as they stood in the temple, "What do you think -- that He will not come to the feast?"  Now both the chief priests and the Pharisees had given a command, that if anyone knew where He was, he should  report it, that they might seize Him.  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.  Again, we must explain that most often the term the Jews, as used in St. John's Gospel, denotes those of the religious leadership in Jerusalem and others close to them.  (Literally translated, it is read as "Judeans" by some.)  It's important to remember that Jesus, His disciples, and those who believe in Him (including the one who gave his name to this Gospel) are Jews.  So here in this particular instance St. John is using the term to refer to people from Jerusalem who had come to mourn with Martha and Mary when their brother Lazarus died.  Thus, they became witnesses to Jesus' seventh of seven signs in this Gospel, the raising of Lazarus (as explained in this reading).  It's notable here that the chief priests now plot not only how to put Jesus to death, but also Lazarus, because so many among their prominent community in Jerusalem now believe in Jesus. 

 

The next day a great multitude that had come to the feast, when they heard that Jesus was coming to Jerusalem, took branches of palm trees and went out to meet Him, and cried out!  "Hosanna! 'Blessed is He who comes in the name of the LORD!'  The King of Israel!"  The cry of the great multitude, welcoming Jesus into Jerusalem (in what is called the Triumphal Entry) is from Psalm 118:25-26.  It is associated with messianic expectation, for it was recited daily for six days at the Feast of Tabernacles, and seven times on the seventh day as branches were waved. We remember the Feast of Tabernacles (Sukkot in Hebrew) commemorates the time Israel followed Moses through the wilderness toward the Promised Land.  It is also known as the Feast of the Coming Kingdom.  Hosanna means, "Save, we pray!"  So it is appropriately addressed to the Lord, Savior and Deliverer.

 

 Then Jesus, when He had found a young donkey, sat on it; as it is written:  "Fear not, daughter of Zion; behold, your King is coming, sitting on a donkey's colt."  This quotation is from the prophecy of Zechariah (Zechariah 9:9).  This event, in which Jesus openly enters the Holy City welcomed by a great multitude of followers, is known as the Triumphal Entry.  In other words, He openly comes in the manner of a king.  Except Jesus is not a conqueror nor king in the traditional sense (John 18:36).  A conquering king or general would display material power, riding with horses, cavalry, weapons.  But Jesus rides on a young donkey, which is a sign of humility and peace.  My study Bible comments that this entrance into Jerusalem declares the establishment of the Kingdom of God.  It is moreover a promise of Christ's final entrance into the heavenly Jerusalem with all believers and of His accepting the New Jerusalem as His pure Bride (Revelation 21:2).  

 

 His disciples did not understand these things at first; but when Jesus was glorified, then they remembered that these things were written about Him and that they had done these things to Him. A sign of the working of the Holy Spirit, illuminating the disciples as to the fulfillment of Scripture.  

 

 Therefore the people, who were with Him when He called Lazarus out of his tomb and raised him from the dead, bore witness.  For this reason the people also met Him, because they heard that He had done this sign.  The Pharisees therefore said among themselves, "You see that you are accomplishing nothing.  Look, the world has gone after Him!"  Again, the Gospel reiterates the witnesses from Jerusalem to the raising of Lazarus, and their impact on the community surrounding the temple, the center of Jewish life.  And at the same time, we see the growing resistance, resentment, and fear of Jesus from the Pharisees, a powerful group among the leadership in the temple.  Whatever they see is deepening their determination to put Him to death.  

 

The last few verses in today's reading give us a picture of the multiple paths of spiritual movement that are at work among this community into which Jesus now enters, welcomed by a "great multitude" as Messiah.  The Messiah represented hope for many things:  the people look for a deliverer from subjection to other ruling powers like the Romans (and they have been a colony of other big powers as well).   Many carried expectations that the Messiah would be a Deliverer in the traditional sense of one who came to right wrongs, to create justice in human terms, to conquer all foreign and hostile powers, to make Israel a land of plenty forever.  (See chapter 6, in which after Jesus fed a multitude in the wilderness, they sought to make Him king by force; specifically John 6:15.)  At the same time, we see multiple trajectories given here regarding the state of faith of different groups of people.  Christ's disciples will grow into greater understanding after Christ's Resurrection and the coming of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost.  For now, events are understandably overwhelming, and even among themselves they no doubt cherish hopes that are widespread among the people regarding what Christ's kingdom would look like.  So, the Gospel teaches us what path they are on, in the light of what is coming, the understanding that would produce this Gospel and the others.  Secondly we're given the joyous welcome in the eyes of those witnesses from Jerusalem and the others in the community who have heard the story of the raising of Lazarus.  They welcome Him as Messiah.  But this event -- the Triumphal Entry -- is what we know as Palm Sunday.  It is the beginning of the events we commemorate as Holy Week, and in a few days perhaps many of them will be among the crowds, stirred up by the chief priests and shouting for His Crucifixion (Mark 15:11-15).  In St. John's Gospel, the crowd is presented as fickle.  My study Bible uses the expression, "the crowd follows the crowd."  Finally there are the Pharisees, who sense their authority and influence is threatened, and grow exasperated and desperate, for their efforts fail in their own eyes when they see the people welcoming Jesus.  They grow even more determined that the solution is to put Him to death as a criminal, for their own accusations of blasphemy or other criticisms will now fall on deaf ears among the people.  They will be unable to do this on their own, as they are ruled by Rome, which alone had the authority to punish a capital crime.  They will have to find another way.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish

 

 Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him.  But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did.  Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, "What shall we do?  For this Man works many signs.  If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation."  And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish."  Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.  Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death.  Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.

 

- John 11:45–54 

 

We have just read the story of the seventh and final sign in the Gospel of St. John, the raising of Lazarus.  See Part 1 and Part 2 of this chapter.  Yesterday we read that 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."

 

  Then many of the Jews who had come to Mary, and had seen the things Jesus did, believed in Him.  But some of them went away to the Pharisees and told them the things Jesus did.  We should remember that the term the Jews in St. John's Gospel most often indicates the religious leaders, and not the people.  This word can also be translated as "Judeans" and so emphasizes the power held in the center of the temple in Jerusalem and the ruling Council.  Christ and His disciples are mostly from Galilee, a difference remarked upon by the Pharisees (see, for example, John 7:47-52).  Here the text reminds us that many had come from Jerusalem, being nearby to Bethany, to mourn with the sisters Martha and Mary when their brother Lazarus died.  They thus became witnesses to Christ's final miracle of His ministry, the resurrection of Lazarus.  It is these to whom the text refers.  Jesus, His disciples, and St. John whose name is on this Gospel were all Jews.

 

 Then the chief priests and the Pharisees gathered a council and said, "What shall we do?  For this Man works many signs.  If we let Him alone like this, everyone will believe in Him, and the Romans will come and take away both our place and nation."  And one of them, Caiaphas, being high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish."  Now this he did not say on his own authority; but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus would die for the nation, and not for that nation only, but also that He would gather together in one the children of God who were scattered abroad.  Then, from that day on, they plotted to put Him to death.  Therefore Jesus no longer walked openly among the Jews, but went from there into the country near the wilderness, to a city called Ephraim, and there remained with His disciples.  My study Bible comments that Caiaphas, being high priest, is given the authority to speak prophetically.  It notes that the failings and even wickedness of the officeholder do not diminish the grace of the office itself.  Caiaphas is of course referring only to Christ's death as a means of sparing all the people from Roman intervention.  But God's meaning is something understood differently.  This prophetic statement is understood as unwitting declaration that all people will be saved through the death of the Son.  

 

Caiaphas says to the chief priests and Pharisees, "You know nothing at all, nor do you consider that it is expedient for us that one man should die for the people, and not that the whole nation should perish."  He means for Jesus to die so that the Romans do not intervene, as any disruption of the people was likely to trigger such action to keep the peace.  But we know his motivations and those of these men of the ruling Council.  They object to Jesus because it has now gone beyond a doubt that there is substance to His ministry.  The power of life and death belongs to God -- and Jesus has just performed the most astonishing miracle of all, raising a man from death who had already been four days in the grave.  More than that, witnesses from their own community were there, and were converted to belief because of what they saw.  So Jesus has now become a threat they can no longer ignore.  If people believe He is the Messiah, all will follow Him.  Clearly Caiaphas' statement is meant to persuade the rest of the Council they must find a way to put Jesus to death, but in their hypocrisy their real concern is for their places.  At least, this is the story the Gospel tells us.  We can read Jesus' long list of accusations over their hypocrisy in Matthew 23.  But let us turn to Jesus, who has spectacularly revealed the presence of God among the people in His final, seventh sign of raising Lazarus from the dead.  Can we imagine what it would be like to have lived in that time and place?  Every story possible seems to have been told about Him, from the deliberately fabricated lies in order to condemn Him, to the stories and testimonies of those who come to belief, and doubtlessly many other perspectives in between.  This is the opening setting for our next chapter, and the story of Christ's final journey to Jerusalem at the next Passover.  Messianic expectation, fears and plotting among the leadership, the presence of God in Christ and the power of life and death, the people's terror of both the Romans and the powerful Council, militant revolution among the Jews, Jesus' ministry and growing discipleship:  all of these things are at play complete with every rumor the people can hear.  Where would we be among these crowds?  What would we believe?  Although he is personally corrupt, God speaks through Caiaphas as high priest, with the true story of Christ that we know all these years later.  And God is still working through all things, let us not forget in our own lives as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Lazarus, come forth!

 

The Resurrection of Lazarus, 12th century; St. Katherine's Monastery, Sinai

 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 the continuation of the story of the raising of Lazarus (for the first part, see Wednesday's reading). So when Jesus came to the town of Martha, Mary, and Lazarus, 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.  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."  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."  The first thing to notice here is that Mary now approaches Christ with precisely the same words that Martha did:  "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."  My study Bible comments that while Jesus engaged Martha with words, here He will engage Mary with deeds -- the raising of her brother Lazarus from the dead which follows.

 

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?"  Here St. John emphasizes in his Gospel that Jesus wept, and groaned in spirit (verses 33, 38), in order to show that Christ had fully taken on human nature.  He was thus as subject to grief as any man would be.  My study Bible comments that weeping is the natural response to the tragedy of death.  It's also true that these sisters, their brother, and Jesus share a special bond of friendship, and so He responds to the suffering of these whom He loves as well.  There is a Compline hymn from Lazarus Saturday, in which it is sung, "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."  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 that, although Martha's faith had increased (see yesterday's reading, above), she still did not understand Christ's will nor His power.  The spices and oil which were used to anoint a dead body would only hold the stench of decomposition at bay for a short time, and Lazarus has now been dead for four days.  Many icons of the raising of Lazarus show bystanders covering their noses (as we can see in the icon reproduced above), which illustrates the reality of Lazarus' corrupted flesh, and also that many did not believe Christ could raise the dead. 

 

 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."  To show that Christ's divine will was one with the Father's, and also that His human will was freely subject to the Father's in every way, Jesus prays aloud for the sake of the people. 

 

 Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!"  Christ calls Lazarus forth, not in the name of the Father, but by His own authority.  According to my study Bible, this shows the people that while Christ came from the Father, He fully possesses divine authority in Himself.  See also John 5:28-29.  

 

 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 cites patristic commentary in which it is widely seen that Lazarus coming out bound in his gravelothes is an indication that he will need them again; his resurrection continues an earthly life, which will again end in death.  By contrast, Christ's own graveclothes will be left in the tomb (John 20:5-7).  Unlike this resurrection of Lazarus, Jesus' Resurrection transfigures human nature:  He will never die again.  Furthermore, my study Bible affirms that this sign not only prepared the disciples to believe in Christ's Resurrection, but as the words of the Orthodox hymn for the day say, it also "confirmed the universal resurrection," and proves that it is Christ who has the power to fulfill the promise given to Ezekiel that the dead will one day rise (Ezekiel 37:1-13).  

 

Life and death; the beginning and the end.  It is interesting how the events of Christ's ministry unfold to span the widest possible territory, and challenge the way of the world on the deepest levels.  In this seventh and final sign in St. John's Gospel, we're given this absolute of power:  the power of life over death, affirming that He is the One who is "the resurrection and the life."   These words of Christ (from yesterday's reading, above) will take on even greater dimension and power in His Resurrection following His Crucifixion.  But for now, this event of raising Lazarus from the dead will have its phenomenal impact.  Just as Christ's trajectory in His ministry expands from the earliest times of His preaching to this act of pure power, the power of resurrection, so the religious authorities will continue to be headed in the opposite direction.  It is this raising of Lazarus from the dead that will certify for the religious leaders that they must be rid of Him, for He is a threat to their own authority.  As Jesus expands the expression of His authority, so they expand also their opposition to Him.  Now there are witnesses present from Jerusalem who had gone to Bethany to join the sisters in mourning, and the Council will be unable to ignore that and the news of this event as it spreads through the community.  In the Gospel and in subsequent Church history, it is recorded that Lazarus had threats upon his own life because of the impact of his resurrection (see John 12:10-11).  In the Eastern Orthodox tradition, Lazarus eventually became a bishop of the Church in Cyprus, appointed by the Apostles Paul and Barnabas.  It is said that in the thirty years he lived after his resurrection, he never smiled but once, for he had seen unredeemed souls in Hades.  The one occasion was when he saw someone stealing a pot, and remarked "the clay steals the clay."  The story of Lazarus' subsequent life is a sobering one, telling us of the great seriousness of what has happened, and that issues of life and death must not be trivialized nor reduced to fantasy.  Let us rejoin with Christ His ministry as our readings in the Gospel continue.  

 

 

I am the resurrection and the life

 

 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."

 

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.  

 

- John 11:17–29 

 

Yesterday we read that 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 go also, that we may die with Him." 

 

  So when Jesus came, He found that he had already been in the tomb four days.  According to my study Bible, there was a rabbinical opinion that the soul lingered near 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.  Then Martha, as soon as she heard that Jesus was coming, went and met Him, but Mary was sitting in the house.  In Jewish tradition, mourning began on the day of a person's death.  My study Bible explains that weeping and wailing lasted three days; lamentation lasted one week; and general mourning lasted thirty days.  As we observe also in the story found in Luke 10:38-42, these two sisters respond differently and characteristically to Christ's arrival.  Martha is the one concerned with hospitality and active service.  She went out to meet Jesus, as hospitality and friendship would ask.  Mary, however, remains sitting in the proper posture for mourning.  Sitting is the traditionally appropriate posture when mourning and 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."  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 about herself that she doesn't fully see that Christ is God, in that she thinks He needed to be present to effect healings (contrast John 4:46-54).  In saying, "whatever You ask of God, God will give You," she shows that she fails to understand as yet that Christ possesses full divine authority to act as He wills.  

 

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."   In order to correct Martha's misunderstanding, Jesus declares His divine authority to raise the dead at the last day as well as here in this world.  As in other cases we've observed in St. John's Gospel (such as the temple officers who failed to arrest Jesus because of the power of His speech), Martha is immediately led to her confession of faith, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world."  My study Bible says that Jesus' question, "Do you believe this?" is one directed not simply to Martha, but to all of us.

 

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.  We note again that Mary has been sitting in the home, in the customary tradition for mourning and receiving other mourners.  But once she hears a command from Christ relayed to her through her sister, as soon as she heard that, she arose quickly and came to Him.

 

 There is a small, intimate drama of faith played out in our reading for today.  Only, it's not so small in its effect, for today, 2,000 years later, we are still feeling that effect.  But, in the story, there is a sister mourning her dead brother.  Given the love of these three people, the small family of Lazarus, we can imagine her heartbreak.  So much so, that Christ's own feelings for these people will also overcome Him, for we will be told -- in the smallest verse in all the Gospels -- that Jesus wept with the sisters (John 11:35, coming up in tomorrow's reading).  In keeping with the surprising 'smallness' and intimacy of the circumstances of this event just prior to its occurrence, Jesus and Martha are alone on a road or path leading to Martha's home.   In what we might imagine is a reproachful (or at least regretful) tone, Martha says to Jesus, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died."  But then, she asks for a prayer, although it's been four days since his death:  "But even now I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You."  At this, Jesus has His opening.  "Your brother will rise again," He tells her.  As is so often the case in St. John's Gospel, Martha doesn't fully understand what He's getting at, and thinks He's speaking of "the resurrection at the last day."  And then Jesus has the occasion to fully reveal Himself to Martha, alone with her in the road:  "I am the resurrection and the life."  This is another "I AM" statement (of several found in St. John's Gospel); it contains the name of God given to Moses at the Burning Bush. But He adds more, about faith and its power:  "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?"   Martha, who is already His friend, and among the disciples in terms of closeness to Him, replies with full confession of faith, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Christ, the Son of God, who is to come into the world."  There are other confessions like this in the Gospels.  Perhaps most notably in this Gospel is the Samaritan woman to whom Jesus speaks at Jacob's Well (John 4:1-42).  To the eyes of even the disciples, His willingness to engage a woman alone was shocking, and yet He revealed Himself as Messiah to her.  So it is with Martha in this possibly lonely and isolated place, where she comes with her sadness and mourning to meet Him.  It is remarkable to consider how the greatest and most spectacular of events can begin in private, quiet moments, even through circumstances of evil or of difficulty.  But so it is with the Samaritan woman, and with Martha.  Jesus loves this family, but the extraordinary seventh sign of seven in the Gospel will seal His death sentence from the religious authorities.  For people from Jerusalem have also come to mourn with the sisters, and they are inside the house with Mary even as Martha and Jesus speak. Let us pay careful attention to what unfolds in our following reading.  But consider the power of one single short prayer in a desperate time, for the Gospels speak of it as a seed that explodes with power in the work the Lord will do, at the proper time.

 

 

 

This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it

 

 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 go also, that we may die with Him." 

 

- John 11:1–16 

 

Yesterday we read that, after Jesus had declared to them, "I and the Father are One," the religious leaders 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."  Today's passage begins the story of the seventh and final sign given in St. John's Gospel.  This chapter tells of the event which sealed the Jewish authorities' decision to put Jesus to death.  Bethany is on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, on the eastern approach to Jerusalem, about two miles miles away.  My study Bible tells us that Lazarus is the same name as "Eleazar," which literally means "God helps."  The event alluded to here (that Mary anointed the Lord with fragrant oil and wiped His feet with her hair) is something reported in the following chapter, and was clearly known to the hearers of the Gospel. 

 

 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.  Jesus sends this message back to Martha and Mary in order to strengthen them so that when Lazarus dies, they may take confidence in Christ's words.  My study Bible explains that the Son of God being glorified should not be understood as the cause of Lazarus dying.  This indicates, rather, that Christ will be glorified as a result of his death (which occurred from a natural illness) and Lazarus being raised from the dead.  Here Christ delays in order for Lazarus to be dead long enough so that the corruption of his body could set in.  In this way there would be no doubt about the miracle (the seventh sign in the Gospel) and the might of the Lord would be clearly seen by all.  

 

 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."  Jesus and the disciples have returned to their "home" territory, in Galilee.  But Bethany is in Judea, ruled more closely by the religious leaders in the temple at Jerusalem, and the families associated with the Council, and so Jesus faces risk in going there.  The religious leaders are most frequently referred to in this Gospel as the Jews; it is pointed out in some commentaries that this term could also be translated as "the Judeans."

 

 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."  In the New Testament, death is frequently compared to sleep.  See Acts 7:60; 1 Corinthians 11:30; 15:6.

 

 Then Thomas, who is called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, "Let us go also, that we may die with Him."  My study Bible comments that Thomas' statement is an unwitting prophesy of his own future martyrdom.  It also 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).  

 

In the Letters of St. Paul we find an interesting expression.  He writes to his flock instructing them to "redeem the time" (see Ephesians 5:8-17; Colossians 4:5-6).   In the Letter to the Ephesians, St. Paul uses this instruction to redeem the time (verse 16) in the context of the limited time we have in this world, reminding them that they formerly were darkness, but now are light in the Lord.  He quotes:  "Awake, you who sleep, arise from the dead, and Christ will give you light" (verse 14).  We don't know the source of the quotation; many scholars, both ancient and modern, consider it to be from a hymn.  But in this context, sleep and death -- both spiritual and physical -- are linked.  More importantly, St. Paul speaks of redeeming the time.  Just so, in today's reading, we find this great example of Christ's seventh and final miracle performed during His ministry as an astonishing redemption of the time.  In the midst of persecution and looming threats of death in Judea, Jesus will travel to Bethany.  We note how deliberately He sets up the event, and so redeems the time.  When He receives the news that Lazarus is sick, and that the sisters (his friends whom He loves) have sent for Him, He says, "This sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it."   This is similar to His approach to the tragedy of the man blind from birth, whose blindness, Jesus taught the disciples, was not due to sin, "but that the works of God should be revealed in him. 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" (John 9:3-5).  This is a redemption of the time, even midst the evil of affliction in the world.  So Jesus, when He's warned by the disciples of the powerful men who sought to put Him to death, tells them in today's reading, "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."  St. Paul's words to his flock reflect Jesus' teachings about darkness and light, and what kind of works we do to reflect the light, redeeming the time.  Seizing the time for God's purposes, Jesus delays two extra days before setting off for Bethany, making certain that Lazarus' body will already begin deteriorating after death, so there will be no doubt whatsoever about what will take place.  Jesus' example is grand and spectacular, befitting the time as the Cross draws near.  For this will be the seventh and final sign, the most astonishing of all, which will truly set in motion the plotting for His death in Jerusalem.  This time there will be no doubt what has transpired, for there will be witnesses from among the families and community of the religious leadership.  In the Prologue to St. John's Gospel, we are told, "And the light shines in the darkness, and the darkness did not comprehend it" (John 1:5).  This final sign will be a spectacular light that is unmistakable.  But like everything Jesus does, its effects will be such that "those who do not see may see," while "those who see may be made blind" (John 9:39).  In the letter to the Thessalonians, St. Paul uses a very short phrase which has been an inspiration to the history of practicing in the Church, and is also linked to our redeeming of time.  He advises, "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, in everything give thanks; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you" (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18).  Note how these are things which are meant to be constant with us: always, without ceasing, in everything.  We may always rejoice, and give thanks.  To pray without ceasing has inspired practices such as the Jesus Prayer, or other short "arrow" prayers which might be prayed any time, both in the midst of whatever else we are doing, or as a committed period of private prayer.  In such practices, we also may redeem the time, even every moment, in the ways that we can, asking our Lord to be with us and light the way.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her

 

 Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.  And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word.  But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?  Therefore tell her to help me."   And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.  But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."

 

- Luke 10:38–42 

 

Yesterday we read that a certain lawyer stood up and tested Jesus, saying, "Teacher, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?"  He said to him, "What is written in the law?  What is your reading of it?"  So he answered and said, "'You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind,' and 'your neighbor as yourself.'"  And He said to him, "You have answered rightly; do this and you will live."  But he, wanting to justify himself, said to Jesus, "And who is my neighbor?"  Then Jesus answered and said:  "A certain man went down from Jerusalem to Jericho, and fell among thieves, who stripped him of his clothing, wounded him, and departed, leaving him half dead.  Now by chance a certain priest came down that road.  And when he saw him, he passed by on the other side.  Likewise a Levite, when he arrived at the place, came and looked, and passed by on the other side.  But a certain Samaritan, as he journeyed, came where he was.  And when he saw him, he had compassion.  So he went to him and bandaged his wounds, pouring on oil and wine; and he set him on his own animal, brought him to an inn, and took care of him.  On the next day, when he departed, he took out two denarii, gave them to the innkeeper, and said to him, 'Take care of him; and whatever more you spend, when I come again, I will repay you.'   So which of these three do you think was neighbor to him who fell among the thieves?"  And he said, "He who showed mercy on him."  Then Jesus said to him, "Go and do likewise."  

 

  Now it happened as they went that He entered a certain village; and a certain woman named Martha welcomed Him into her house.  And she had a sister called Mary, who also sat at Jesus' feet and heard His word.  But Martha was distracted with much serving, and she approached Him and said, "Lord, do You not care that my sister has left me to serve alone?  Therefore tell her to help me."   And Jesus answered and said to her, "Martha, Martha, you are worried and troubled about many things.  But one thing is needed, and Mary has chosen that good part, which will not be taken away from her."   Mary and Martha are the sisters of Lazarus, the one whom Jesus raised from the dead (see John 11:1-44).  My study Bible comments here that Martha is not rebuked for serving, but for complaining and for being distracted, worried, and troubled.  In following Christ, it says, we serve in order to facilitate the spread of the gospel (see Acts 6:1-4).  

 

Martha and Mary have much to offer us in their story.  First of all, there is the commentary of my study Bible, that the object of service is Christ and the spread of His gospel in following His command.  But no character study would be remiss for looking at these two sisters, and their different personas and the ways in which they address the world.  Consistent throughout the Gospels (especially within the story of the raising of Lazarus in John 11), Mary is the one inclined to more contemplative behavior, while Martha is a model of hospitality.  Although here Jesus tells Martha that Mary has chosen that good part,  we should not be dismissive of Martha's hospitality.  In the story of Lazarus and Christ's seventh and final sign in John's Gospel, the raising of Lazarus from the dead, the same character traits are on display in Martha and Mary.  When Jesus comes to Bethany, their hometown, Martha goes out to meet Him on the road to their house, true to her character of hospitality, while Mary remains seated in the home with others who mourn, the proper attitude of mourning in her time and place.  Martha is the more outgoing, while Mary is the one who is observant, we could say.  Hospitality, in Christian tradition, is one of the most important virtues of what it means to practice our faith, for hospitality is one form of active love.  Of course, as my study Bible comments, this is done not to be ostentatious, to impress, or simply to follow custom; but ultimately we seek to serve Christ in all that we do.  Here, according to that commentary in my study Bible, Mary has chosen the better part because she sits at the feet of Christ, listening to His word, while Martha is worried and troubled about many things.  The passage in St. John's Gospel that tells us of the raising of Lazarus also teaches us how much Jesus loved both of these sisters and their brother (John 11:5).  In some sense, we could also look at Martha as the one fulfilling her social role, and doing what is expected of her, while Mary sits at Christ's feet -- perhaps with the other, male disciples.  But again, as our Lord indicates most clearly, it is she who has chosen that good part, and even those who choose "outside the box" in following Christ are the ones He praises in this context.  Perhaps one of the most important things we can take from this understanding of these two quite different sisters is the compatible and complementary way that these women fit into Christ's supporters, and those who surround Him in His ministry.  It tells us that there is room for all to fulfill their places as followers of Christ, for to serve Him and to serve the spread of His gospel does not require that we each all be "the same," for there is no such thing as a cookie-cutter saint, so to speak.  That is, saints are called to serve each in their own way, just as we each have our own unique cross to bear in terms of how we serve and the ways in which our lives are transfigured by faith in Christ.  Mary has chosen that good part, setting us an example, but Martha also serves, and supports, and is loved by Christ.  Today, let us note that it is her distracted, worried, and troubled countenance that Christ takes an issue with, but Mary has chosen to hear His word.  Let us follow what this teaches us, and choose to put the good part first in whatever we do.  

 

 

 

 

 

Loose him, and let him go

The Raising of Lazarus.  12th century, St. Katherine's Monastery, Mt. Sinai

 

 And when she had said these things, se 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."  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 11:28-44 

 

Yesterday we read that 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.  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."

 

  And when she had said these things, se 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."   Once again, we observe here the difference between these two sisters.  In yesterday's reading (above) we observed Martha, one more inclined to active service, and her efforts at hospitality (similarly to the story found at Luke 10:38-42), as she greeted Jesus while He was still on the road approaching their home, while Mary remained in mourning, in the traditional posture inside the home.  Now that Mary is called by the Teacher, Jesus, she arose quickly and came to Him.  The Jews who were with her in the house are those who have come from Jerusalem and have some connection with the ruling classes of the temple.  They likely reflect that Martha, Mary, and Lazarus are from a prominent family.  

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?"  Here Mary approaches Christ with the identical words used by her sister Martha (see yesterday's reading, above).  While Jesus engaged Martha with words, my study Bible notes, here in today's reading He engages Mary with deeds -- the raising of her brother from the dead.  John emphasizes that Jesus wept and groaned in the spirit.  These show that Christ had fully taken on human nature, and that He was subject to grief as any human being would be.  Weeping, my study Bible says, is the natural human response to the tragedy of death.  Today is Lazarus Saturday, and in the Compline service in the Orthodox Church, it is sung, "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."  Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?"  Although Martha's faith had increased, she still understood neither Christ's will nor His power, my study Bible comments.  The spices and oils used to anoint a dead body would only hold the stench of decomposition at bay for a short time.  In many icons of the raising of Lazarus one can observe bystanders depicted covering their noses, which illustrates both the reality of Lazarus' corrupted flesh and the fact that many did not believe that Christ could raise the dead.

 

 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."  To show that His divine will is one with the Father's, my study Bible says, and that His human will was freely subject in every way to the Father's, Christ prays aloud for the sake of the people.  

Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come forth!"   My study Bible notes that Christ calls Lazarus forth, not in the name of God the Father, but by His own authority.  What it shows to the people is that while Christ came from the Father, He fully possesses divine authority in Himself.   This event is a fulfillment of Christ's words from chapter 5, spoken to the religious authorities who questioned Him, "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation" (John 5:28-29). 

 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 comments that the detail that Lazarus was wrapped in his graveclothes is seen as significant in patristic literature.  Many Church Fathers view this as an indication that Lazarus will need them again, that his resurrection continues an earthly life which will once again end in death.  By contrast, it notes, the Savior's graveclothes would be left in the tomb (John 20:5-7).  Unlike the resurrection of Lazarus, Christ's Resurrection transfigures human nature.  Jesus will never die again.  My study Bible further comments that this sign not only prepared the disciples to believe in Christ's Resurrection, but in the words of the hymn for the day, 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 again (Ezekiel 37:1-13). 

 

 It seems that we don't get a proper sense of the significance of Christ's power without the awe that would accompany this scene, of Lazarus walking out of the tomb in his graveclothes, four days dead, and even smelling of death as well.  Awe may combine vast respect, admiration, fear, wonder, and even terror, and it seems that this event would combine all of those things for the people who witnessed it.  Awe is a product of exposure to something incomprehensible, outside of our realm of experience, unexpected, and belonging to something much greater than ourselves and our lives.  When Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life" in yesterday's reading (above), it is easy to take His words, as they have become familiar to us, as statements declaring an identity for Christ in an intellectually descriptive way.  But in this scene of the raising of Lazarus from the dead, we find the discernible elements of just how astounding -- and perhaps terrifying -- those words really are.  For they imply a kind of power that none of us can imagine nor encompass, but are clearly signs of the miraculous and the presence of God -- something much greater than we are or our experience can hold.  We don't have this power, much as we would like to believe that perhaps medical science can provide it to us.  For the people who are mourning with Martha and Mary, one can only imagine the impact of this experience as witnesses, and what a story they have to tell in Jerusalem.  Such is the visceral power of this scene that we have seen it used by others in novels and movies of the horror genre over and over again.  The story of Frankenstein draws on similar motifs of the dead walking again, bodies coming out of the grave and given life.  Inspired by archaeological interest in Egyptian tombs of the past century, films have given us stories of Egyptian mummies walking out of their tombs still wrapped in the bandages of graveclothes -- thus drawing upon this timeless text in John's Gospel, which does not fail to hit its mark and make its impact.  As my study Bible points out, Jesus responds to His friend Mary with action, a demonstration of the power of His identity as the resurrection and the life, as He told Martha in yesterday's reading, above.  Perhaps especially for those of us who have lost loved ones, this story touches upon the terrible mystery of death.  It should open up for us the importance of prayer for those who have passed as we consider that it is only our prayers which can reach into that mystery.  For it is Christ alone who has this power, who will release the captives of death and set the prisoners free; only Christ who has this power of life and death and judgment and resurrection.  When Jesus says about Lazarus, "Loose him, and let him go," we can also hear these words as the ones He will say in the realm of the dead, and for all the dead.  For, as we know, judgment is also about the power of resurrection, which we may note as we revisit His words from chapter 5:  "Do not marvel at this; for the hour is coming in which all who are in the graves will hear His voice and come forth—those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of condemnation" (John 5:28-29).  To Christ who has solely been entrusted with this power, we may pray for our loved ones and all who have passed, with a reverence that is appropriate to this image of resurrection in today's reading.  For, as He hears the pleas of Martha and Mary, and experiences so deeply their love and their loss, so He is the one who can also hear ours.

 

 

 

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.  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 

 

In the first few verses of yesterday's reading, Jesus was still in a dialogue with the religious leaders in Jerusalem at the Feast of Tabernacles.  These verses follow the sixth sign of seven given in John's Gospel, the gift of sight to a man who was blind from birth.   Yesterday we read that therefore there was a division again among the religious leaders because of Christ's 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 who 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 comments that this message is sent back to Mary and Martha to strengthen them so that when Lazarus dies, they may take confidence in Christ's words.  The Son of God being glorified must not be understood to be the cause of Lazarus dying.  What this indicates is rather that Christ will be glorified as a result of his death (which occurred from a natural illness) and his being raised from the dead.  Bethany is on the eastern slope of the Mount of Olives, about two miles from Jerusalem.  My study Bible explains also that Lazarus is the same name as "Eleazar" which literally means "God helps."  Note also that there is a reference here to Mary that notes an event not recorded in the Gospel until the following chapter (John 12:3).  

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."   Christ delays in order for Lazarus to be dead long enough that the corruption of his body could set in.  In this way, no one could doubt the miracle, and the might of the Lord, my study Bible says, would be clearly seen by all.  The disciples reference an attempt to stone Jesus which occurred at the Feast of Dedication, reported in yesterday's reading (see above).  Jesus says, "Our friend Lazarus sleeps" -- compare to Acts 7:60; 1 Corinthians 11:30, 15:6.

 

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 says that Thomas' statement here is an unwitting prophecy of his own future martyrdom.  It is also an illustation of the path that all believers need to 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.  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.   My study Bible indicates that mourning began on the day of a person's death.  Weeping and wailing lasted three days, it says; lamentation lasted one week; and general mourning lasted thirty days.  Here we see that, similar to the story recorded at Luke 10:38-42, these two sisters respond differently to Christ's arrival.  Martha is inclined to active service, and she rushes out to meet Jesus.  Mary, by contrast, remains in mourning until she is called by Jesus (John 11:28-29).  Sitting was the traditional posture when mourning and 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."  While Martha possesses great faith, my study Bible comments, her statements indicate a lack of understanding about Jesus.  She says, "Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died," revealing that she doesn't fully understand that Christ is God, as she thinks He needed to be present to effect healings.  (Contrast this with John 4:46-54.)  When she says, "I know that whatever You ask of God, God will give You" it shows that she lacks understanding that Christ possesses full divine authority to act as He wills.  

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."  Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life."  In order to correct Martha's misunderstanding, Christ declares His divine authority to raise the dead at the last day, as well as here in this world.  My study Bible notes that such is the power of these words that Martha is immediately led to her great confession of faith.  "Do you believe this?" is not a question directly only to Martha, it says, but to all of us.  

 

Christ has the power of life and death.  Even before Holy Week, which we will celebrate next week, before His Crucifixion, death, and Resurrection, here in what is about to happen with Jesus' friends Lazarus and his sisters Martha and Mary, we will witness this power of life and death.  He tells us (and Martha) plainly, "I am the resurrection and the life."  Note how already, prior to the events that are about to take place, Jesus' emphasis is on belief, on faith.  He says, "He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live.  And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die."  Faith, then, allows us to participate in His life.  That is, in His life, death, and Resurrection.  But this is His power to share, to convey, to bestow.  And this is what will be on display in the seventh and final sign in John's Gospel, the raising of Lazarus.  In this story, we will see several things on display about Jesus.  Of course, we hear this monumental, staggering news:  that the One who is the resurrection and the life is present to us as one of us in this world.  But at the same time, what is on display in this story is also fully human.  He is the special friend to this family, to Martha, Mary, and Lazarus -- and we will see that much further along in tomorrow's reading in Christ's fully compassionate response to their sorrow.  In a certain way, the seventh and final sign in John's Gospel, the raising of Lazarus, will give us the fullness of the Incarnate Christ.  He will manifest the profound sympathetic depths of His humanity and the transcendent ineffable power of His divinity.  The seventh and final sign in John's Gospel will also be the one that decides the religious leaders once and for all that they must rid themselves of Jesus, and it will lead to His death on the Cross.  The fullness of His life as Jesus the Incarnate Christ will lead to what He will call His hour of glory (John 12:23).  Let us, through our faith, abide in Him, and He in us, as the resurrection and the life.