Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead

Transcription

1 Jesus Raises Lazarus From the Dead Weekly Edition September 14, 2018 Gospel According to St. John Third Year 38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 Take away the stone, he said. But, Lord, said Martha, the sister of the dead man, by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days. 40 Then Jesus said, Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? 41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me. 43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, Lazarus, come out! 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, Take off the grave clothes and let him go. Part I The Gospel of St. John Prologue 1:1-14 First Year 1:15 2:22 Second Year 2:23 6:71 Third Year 7:1 12:50 Part II The Last Discourse 13:1 17:26 The Arrest and Trial 18:1 19:16 Death and Resurrection 19:16 (b) 21:25 Entering Into Scripture: A Meditation on Raising Lazarus to Life The sun is brilliant today. It does nothing to ease the mood as we make our way to the family burial cave where Lazarus has been laid. Earlier, when I saw Jesus weep, I was flooded with tears. Now I am only aware that I am squinting in the daytime brightness. The grave site is not far from town. It is situated on a narrow terrace that sweeps southeast toward the valley away from a band of low rock cliffs. The terrace is planted with a beautiful garden. Being the rainy winter season, the garden is in full bloom; the fragrance is soft and sweet. The air is still and warm, with just enough movement to stir the perfume. These cliffs are peppered with family burial caves. The rock here is ideal for this purpose. It is a particularly soft and light chalky limestone which is easily cut to make burial chambers, and there are many such caves here. The excess stone which has been removed has been carved into benches that are carefully arranged round the tombs where loved one s can keep mournful vigil over their dead. Or it is used to carve ossuaries. These are urns or small boxes into which the bones of the dead are placed. These are simple tombs, not the ornate and expensive carvings of the rich or powerful. The entrance is typically a short narrow opening, sealed with a square stone. Inside, the chamber is large enough to stand erect. The typical burial cave is carefully cut with three benches one to the back and one on each side. Above each bench is a series of niches which hold ossuaries. Initially, the body of the deceased is laid upon one of the benches. Here the corpse is lovingly 1

2 prepared with spices and strips of linen. It will remain here on the bench for a year, after which, in a private ceremony, family members gather up the bones of the deceased, placed them into an ossuary and set it into one of the niches which will be its final resting place. I am thinking about none of this as I make my way with the cortege. I am lost thinking about the oddly stark contrast between brilliant sunshine and sweet fragrance, on one hand, and the bitter pain of loss, on the other. It is not the first-time death has touched me, but it is the deepest loss I have experienced. Even the death of John, the Baptizer, didn t hit me so hard. Yes, I was one of his disciples, yet John was always somewhat aloof, different, focused. He was hard to get to know. But Lazarus, well, he was my friend. The semi-circle that forms ahead of us marks his burial site. Mourners fill in leaving an opening before the grave-stone. Mary is first to enter in, followed by Martha, a few relatives and then Jesus. I follow into the crowd, but don t move to the center with them. The crowd is still gathering around us when I hear Jesus say something utterly surprising: Take away the stone. The words rang out clear for all to hear, but I can t make sense of the request. Why? What s the point? But Martha cuts to the chase. But Lord, she stammers, by this time there will be a stench, for he has been in there four days. An unsettled hush falls over the growing crowd. Why bring down shame on the family and disrespect them by subjecting all who are gathered to the foul odor of decay? That s what goes through my mind as I step forward toward the stone. I don t really take time to think. Jesus has asked for the stone to be removed, and I just instinctively step forward to comply. Three others also step forward. I gird myself for the inevitable blast of foul air that will belch out when the stone is lifted. Jesus speaks to Martha. Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God? With my back now to them, I cannot see Martha s reaction to His words. I do not consider what He means, and instead think that Jesus simply wants to pay His respects to a close friend. Two men have taken position on the left side of the stone. Another and I go to the right side. In whispered tones we coordinate our movements. Ready Lift. As we lift I take a deep breath hoping to hold off the inevitable. The stone weighs a couple hundred pounds, but the four of us make light work of it. We pick it up and move it. As we do, those around us step back expecting the blast of repugnant odor. But there is, well, nothing! Strange, I think to myself. I turn and look at Jesus and then upon Martha and her sister. What is Jesus going to do now, I wonder? Silence is broken only by the soft cooing of a dove. I am expecting Jesus to go into the tomb. Instead, Jesus looks up, and in a clear loud voice begins to pray, saying Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. I knew that You always hear Me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that You sent Me. The crowd is completely still. Martha and Mary stand only a few feet away, looking upon Jesus face. Then He lowered His head, eyes fixed on the opening to the tomb. In a loud voice Jesus said, Lazarus, come out! Immediately I hear movement inside the cave. I look over my shoulder at Jesus, and my eyes scan the dumbfounded and bewildered faces of those standing nearby. Their expressions match my own feelings and I wonder if I look equally wideeyed and puzzled. Startled, I jump back when Lazarus crawls through the opening on all fours, groping to find his way out. His head is still covered in the linen shroud. His arms and hands are wrapped, as are both legs and his feet. I am filled with awe and terror. He moves just far enough to pause, before pressing up and standing erect. 2

3 We are all dumbstruck, and no one moves. No one speaks. Time stands still. Lazarus stands before us, still wrapped in his grave clothes. He is completely helpless, but also completely alive. Jesus, seeing that no one has a clue what to do, offers this instruction: Take off the grave clothes and let him go. Immediately Martha rushes toward her brother. Lazarus, she cries as she begins to pull at the linen strips securing his veil and uncovers his head. Mary moves next and begins to undo the strips on his right leg. Other women join in. The tears of joy were overwhelming. Lazarus, is cried out by one, then another. A chorus of voices follow, excited, surprised, overjoyed, bewildered. Martha removes the veil from his head. I look onto his face. I can t describe it. His skin is radiant. Yet, he appears completely bewildered, as if cast into some unexpected place and desperately trying to make sense of what he is experiencing. It is a look of confusion and unwelcomed surprise all bundled into one. Holding a deadpan expression, his eyes scan the throng as if making a mental note of every face. As the women continue to unwrap him, his eyes at last meet Jesus. Jesus smiles, and immediately Lazarus erupts in a big smile and I hear him let out a sigh. Is it a sigh of relief? I can t tell. It takes some time before he is sufficiently unwrapped, the task made more complicated by the hugs of the sisters now embracing their brother. As the women peel away the linen strips, I peel through my own layers of unbelief to grasp that this is not a dream Lazarus lives! My friend is alive. Everyone is awestruck. No one has ever heard of someone coming back from the dead after four days. Jesus approaches the now freed man. The two embrace. No words are exchanged. The crowd falls silent once again. Then Jesus turns and walks away. My shear joy at seeing Lazarus alive is shrouded by utter amazement at what has just occurred. I see it with my own eyes, yet it is hard for me to wrap my head around. I was there when Jesus turned water into wine three years ago. I was there when the royal official was sent away with the promise that his son would live. I was there when Jesus told the invalid to pick up his mat. I was there when Jesus fed 5,000 from two pickled herrings and a few pitiful loaves. I gathered up the leftovers with my own hands. I saw Him walk on the water that night toward the boat where we struggled against the wind and tide. I saw Him give sight to the man born blind. But this? Who gives life to the dead? This really is God s Son, I marvel silently. Why me? Why am I among His followers? Why does He call me His friend? So much swirls through my head as I gaze upon Lazarus, my friend. I am deeply grateful that my friend lives. I am deeply amused that no one knows what to do. Here we are gathered to mourn the dead man, but the man isn t dead. Now what? The silence yields to hushed voices, then louder as everyone begins to speak about what we have all witnessed. Some gather around Lazarus, other huddle away sharing their thoughts. After what seems like forever, the reunited family turns to head home. My companions and I go with them. As we make our way I look for Jesus. He is nowhere in sight. I am filled with elation and with disbelief. It feels like a dream. Too good to be true. Too marvelous to be real. Reflection 7: Lazarus, Come Out When You called for Lazarus saying Come out it was the dead man who came out. His face was stilled covered in burial linen, his hands and feet bound. Lazarus immediately received resurrection-life, but he was still bound in all the trappings of death that had previously sealed him in the grave. First You come to the tomb. Then You ask us to remove the stone. Then You call us to step out in resurrection life. Only then does the process of unwrapping the layers begin. 3

4 We each have strips of linen so to speak that seal us in sin s grave-clothes. We are given resurrection life while still in our sin-wrapped flesh. You do not unwrap me first, and then give me life. You give me life, and then begin the process of unwrapping all the things that hide and obscure Your resurrection-life in me. Lazarus could refuse You. He did not have to come out. He could have stayed in his tomb. He could have refused Your resurrection-life. Me too. We do not have to come out. We can prefer a familiar death to an unfamiliar life. The choice is ours. Your invitation stands: Come out. Application: When I have yielded to God s invitation to come out? Reflection 8: A Cloth Around His Face Lazarus beheld You face to face. He looked upon You and beheld Your glory. But before he could see You the stone had to be removed. Next the veil that was wrapped around his head had to be removed. You say elsewhere, Here I am! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in and eat with that person, and they with Me. I hold the stone in place, and it is not until I am willing to remove that stone that I open the door of my life to You, Lord Jesus. And it is only then, once I have opened that door, that the veil is removed from my head and I really begin to see with clear eyes and understand with un-fogged mind. It is then that we see the glory of God. It is then that You seize me in unconditional love and I know that all that is written about You is true, complete and trustworthy. Application: When did I come to know that Holy Scripture is completely trustworthy? Reflection 9: Let Him Go Those standing by when Lazarus came out were stunned. They hadn t a clue what to do next. They had never been in this situation before. So it was necessary that You tell them what to do next: take off the grave clothes and let him go. Some of us have grown so comfortable in our grave clothes that we don t want to have them removed. We have grown accustom to them. They are like a security-blanket to us. But You will have none of it. You tell us that we must be stripped of our grave clothes because, as long as they bind us we cannot be free. You give me resurrection life while still bound-up in my old grave clothes, but I do not come into the joy and freedom of new life in You until all those old familiar grave clothes are removed. This does not happen all at once but strip by strip until I am left standing naked before You, Lord Jesus. Everything that is not life and freedom is not of God. Only when those old bindings are removed am I truly let go. Application: Is there some security blanket in my life that is preventing me from more fully knowing the freedom of resurrection life in Jesus? 4

5 Reflection 10: Father, I Thank You Throughout Your life on earth, Your dominate focus was to do the will of Your Father who sent You. You said You came to do His will. Here, You thank Your Father in full assurance He always hears You. The Father always listens to You, Lord Jesus. And if Your resurrection life is formed in me, then the Father will always hear me too. The big obstacle to Your resurrection life being formed in me is my reluctance to embrace my cross. The Apostle Paul said, I have been crucified with Christ and I no longer live, but Christ lives in me. I cannot be born again into Your resurrection life unless I am willing to put my old life to death. That old life flatly rejects the humility, simplicity and neediness necessary to walk every waking moment with the willingness to do Your will. For many of us, our spiritual life is like a rechargeable battery we plug into You when we are low on juice, but with a fresh charge we are off and away again. As long as my walk with You is intermittent, I have not surrendered myself to You; Your resurrection life in me is stymied. Application: Does my life in Christ look more like a rechargeable battery or more like a solid connection to the Source? 5