Wednesday, November 4 –
It is
mid-week and we continue our reading through the New Testament in a year. Today our reading is in John 11:1 – 44. It is another familiar passage, but take your
time, make some notes and come back after you’ve read it that we can walk
through it together.
The story of the death of Lazarus has a strange beginning, a teaching middle,
and a miraculous ending. Still, death is
not a friend, and it happens to every human being – even us who are living at
present. We all have lost loved ones and
have had to endure the grief that accompanies the loss. While death is a harsh reality, this passage
of Scripture reminds us that it is not the end.
John
tells us “a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and
her sister Martha” (11:1). After
Jesus’ last encounters in Jerusalem with the Temple officials, he had retreated
to the other side of the mountains to the Jordan river. Bethany was a small town just on the other
side of the Mount of Olives, a couple of miles from Jerusalem. We know from the opening that Jesus is close
to a full day walk to the east when he receives word that Lazarus, his friend,
was sick. Mary and Martha had sent him
word, and it is their mutual affection that surrounds the words they wrote – “…the
sisters sent to him, saying, ‘Lord, he whom you love is ill.’” (11:3). Jesus had been in their household often, and
it was Mary who had previously anointed Jesus’ feet with her hair (11:2). Thus, John says, “…Jesus loved Martha and
her sister and Lazarus” (11:5).
The
narrative is interesting because of both Jesus’ words and his actions alongside people’s words and their actions. The
first of these occurs with the disciples before they go back to Bethany (11:7 –
16). When Jesus gets the word concerning
Lazarus, he delays his departure. This
confuses the disciples because they know how close Jesus was to that family;
but they understand it as his reluctance to go back to the Jerusalem area,
knowing that the Temple leaders wanted him arrested (11:6, 8). If we’re honest it confuses us also. Why did Jesus delay going back? He gives an answer that is similar to the one
he gave the disciples in the healing of the blind man in chapter 9 – “This
illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of
God may be glorified through it.” (11:4).
It’s normal that we would want God to come immediately, yet he often
doesn’t. Delays…they happen to all of
us. We believe God cares, and that God
is sovereign in both knowing what is happening, and what his will is that he
wants to be done. Still, delays, lack of
healing, even death are hard to deal with.
Bruce Milne in his commentary says it beautifully: “Our imperfect
desires make us want immediate answers, and render us unprepared for the
patient ripening of God’s plans. His delays, however, do not contradict his
love (11:5). He loves us as fully and as truly when he remains in Jordan
ministering to others’ needs, as when he journeys to Bethany to minister to
ours. The (thing) about God’s delays is that they are not final. He will come,
in his own time and way. No doubt that will frequently be later than we would
have chosen. From his divine perspective, however, it will be the right time.
God is the best of time-keepers. He created time; he is never late for his
appointments”[1]. When the time is right, Jesus tells his
disciples we’re going back to Judea (11:7), and they respond with concern for
his safety, knowing the Jews wanted to arrest and stone him. Jesus responds to them with words that have
to do with “daylight” and “darkness” (11:9-10).
Having just heard Jesus tell the Jerusalem crowd and officials, “I am
the light of the world”, they probably still don’t understand how that relates
to Lazarus. Jesus says it clearly, “After
saying these things, he said to them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep,
but I go to awaken him.” (11:11).
Again, the disciples are confused – “The disciples said to him,
“Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will recover” (11:12). Jesus’ response
makes it all now clear: “Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus has died,
and for your sake, I am glad that I was not there, so that you may believe. But
let us go to him” (11:14-15).
Still,
they don’t understand and it is Thomas who speaks up and says, “well if he’s
going to die, let’s go with him that we might also die!” (11:16). I don’t know if Thomas was merely exasperated
with Jesus’ decision, or if he really thought that going back to Bethany meant
Jesus’ own certain death. Yet, the fact
is that Jesus had many times told them that to follow him meant “you must
take up your cross and follow me” (Mark 8:34). In the 1930s, Dietrich Bonhoeffer took a
stand against the Nazi machinery even though he was living in Germany. This would eventually lead to his arrest,
imprisonment, and eventual death by execution.
In the 30’s he wrote his most famous book, “The Cost of
Discipleship”. I remember the first
time I read it and knowing the outcome of his decisions made all that he said
more sober. His most famous saying was
inscribed on those pages: “When Jesus calls a man to follow him, he bids him
come and die.” [2]
The cost of following Jesus is seldom considered as we think about being His
disciple.
The
second part of this story begins at 11:17 and goes through 11:37. The dialog is not dissimilar from the
disciples, but now it is with Martha and Mary.
The words and actions are worth thinking about. As Jesus arrives in Bethany, he finds out
that Lazarus had died and been put in a tomb four days previously. The time frame is important. There had been some teachings from Rabbis
that the soul of a person hovered over the body, seeking to go back in, for
three days, but on the fourth, they were separated and decomposition had begun. Jewish mourning was concentrated on
the first three days, and after that, most mourners left or at least did not
participate in grieving as they had done before. Martha hears that Jesus has
come, and she goes out to meet him (11:20), while Mary stayed behind. One wonders about the details John
records. Why did Mary stay behind? Four days have passed, and nothing can be
done. That is why Martha’s words are
past tense: “Martha said to Jesus, “Lord if you had been here, my brother
would not have died” (11:21). I’ve
heard the words in similar ways often, “why did the Lord let _______ die?”
Jesus’
response to Martha’s words is to remind her that Lazarus will rise from the
dead one day, and Martha’s response is that she knows and believes that there
will be a resurrection on the last day (11:23-24). Martha is not accusing, but regrets that
Jesus could not have returned when he could have healed Lazarus. Despite the disappointment, she clings to her
faith that Jesus cares. Now Jesus utters
the words I have spoken at gravesides and funeral services many more times than
I can remember.
“Jesus
said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me,
though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me
shall never die. Do you believe this?” (11:25-26).
This
is the next of the “I AM” statements of Jesus.
Jesus is “the resurrection and the life”, because He is the Son
of God, and has power and authority over death and life. This is the Christian our hope, this great
promise, and this assurance. “Do you
believe this?” is a question that each of us must answer on our own. Martha says, “Yes, Lord” (11:27), a
response of both submission and surrender.
Now it
is Mary’s turn. Martha returns to tell
Mary that Jesus wants to see her. Why
did she not go to begin with? We don’t
know, but when Mary gets up to leave, she does not go alone – an entourage of
mourners follows along with her and all of it moves Jesus deeply (28 –
31). Mary’s plea is similar to her
sisters – “…when Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his
feet, saying to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have
died’” (11:32). Jesus does not
respond to her but sees her in her grief, and those with her, and John writes,
“he was deeply moved in his spirit and greatly troubled”. We have to
ask, and wonder, what was going on in Jesus’ mind. The two words of deeply moved, troubled, are
words that imply “stirred up, agitated, even angry”. It was not at Mary or the mourners, but
something else – perhaps seeing what Sin has done to His creation, and that one
day he will destroy this enemy called death.
Jesus
now speaks up – “And he said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him,
“Lord, come and see” (11:34). John
must have been struck by it all as he writes the shortest verse in Scripture, “Jesus
wept” (11:35). I for one am glad he
did. Tears flow in grief because of
love, yes, Jesus loved Lazarus, Mary, Martha.
Yet tears should flow because they remind us of what Sin has done – it
leads to death. We weep in our grief,
and God weeps with us. Not everyone
understood it (11:37) – saying what many say, “why didn’t you God?”
Jesus
arrived at Lazarus’ tomb – a hole in a rock layer, hewn out to allow the body
to decompose over a year’s time when all that is left to collect is the bones
(11:38). I find myself emotionally moved
when I consider what happens next. Jesus
must have shocked them all with his command – “Jesus said, “Take away the
stone” (11:39a). Martha protests and says what they all were thinking –
“Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days” (11:39b). Jesus’ reply is to remind her, and all who
were there – “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the
glory of God?” (11:40).
Then
it happened. A prayer directed to the
Father, but vocal so all could hear “Father you’re here, and you hear…I want
them to know that” (11:41-42). Then
he said it with the cry of a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” (11:43). He spoke and even death knew his voice
and name.
I
remember the old southern preacher say it: “He said Lazarus because if he
hadn’t said that name, all of the graves would have emptied”. Lazarus came out, still bound in his burial
linen. Jesus tells them to take off
those grave clothes (11:44). It’s a
great ending to a great miracle. Here’s
the thing – we get to experience one day ourselves! Death is never the end, it’s not even the
beginning of the end. For a Christian,
death always leads us back home – to Christ, our Savior, and Lord – the one who
is the resurrection and the life!
Hallelujah! I pray you know Him
as your Savior and Lord.
Peace
Comments
Sushilkumar Desai (India)
pastorsushil@yahoo.com
Phone: +91-704 104 3333.