John 11:1-45
1 Now a certain man was ill,
Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. 2 Mary was the
one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her
brother Lazarus was ill. 3 So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, "Lord,
he whom you love is ill." 4 But when Jesus heard it, he said, "This
illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God's glory, so that the Son
of God may be glorified through it." 5 Accordingly, though Jesus loved
Martha and her sister and Lazarus, 6 after having heard that Lazarus was ill,
he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. 7 Then after this he said
to the disciples, "Let us go to Judea again." 8 The disciples said to
him, "Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going
there again?" 9 Jesus answered, "Are there not twelve hours of
daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the
light of this world. 10 But those who walk at night stumble, because the light
is not in them." 11 After saying this, he told them, "Our friend
Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him." 12 The
disciples said to him, "Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all
right." 13 Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they
thought that he was referring merely to sleep. 14 Then Jesus told them plainly,
"Lazarus is dead. 15 For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you
may believe. But let us go to him." 16 Thomas, who was called the Twin,
said to his fellow disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with
him." 17 When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the
tomb four days. 18 Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, 19 and
many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their
brother. 20 When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him,
while Mary stayed at home. 21 Martha said to Jesus, "Lord, if you had been
here, my brother would not have died. 22 But even now I know that God will give
you whatever you ask of him." 23 Jesus said to her, "Your brother
will rise again." 24 Martha said to him, "I know that he will rise
again in the resurrection on the last day." 25 Jesus said to her, "I
am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they
die, will live, 26 and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do
you believe this?" 27 She said to him, "Yes, Lord, I believe that you
are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world." 28 When
she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her
privately, "The Teacher is here and is calling for you." 29 And when
she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. 30 Now Jesus had not yet come
to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. 31 The
Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and
go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb
to weep there. 32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his
feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not
have died." 33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her
also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. 34 He said,
"Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and
see." 35 Jesus began to weep. 36 So the Jews said, "See how he loved
him!" 37 But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of
the blind man have kept this man from dying?" 38 Then Jesus, again greatly
disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.
39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead
man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been
dead four days." 40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if
you believed, you would see the glory of God?" 41 So they took away the
stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, "Father, I thank you for having
heard me. 42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake
of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me." 43
When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come
out!" 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of
cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him,
and let him go." 45 Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and
had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.
Jesus began to weep. So the Jews
said, "See how he loved him!"
·
This passage from John’s Gospel is
note-worthy to many because it contains what might be the shortest verse in the
entire Christian Bible – Jesus began to weep. This
short verse was used in the old TV show, “The Waltons” in a Christmas episode
where each child would get a gift if they recited a Bible verse. Of course,
that incident used an older translation of the Gospel and the quote was “Jesus
wept.”
·
We may not find this quote to be
anything unusual. Having Jesus show emotion is not a surprise to us. In days
past however, such a show of raw emotion might shock people. The view then was
that although Jesus was fully human, he was unmoved by human things. All four
of the Gospels make special note of any expression of emotion, particularly
compassion and anger. The lack of emotional expression was a peculiar thing in
the ancient world. Statues and painting of great people depicted them with a
very neutral expression on their face. Over time, Christian art began to show
the same thing. The icons of the Eastern Churches show Jesus and the various
saints with a very neutral face. This is called apathea and it shows how those people depicted are above and
beyond the cares and concerns of this world.
·
With this in mind, it is interesting
to see John – whose Jesus behaves like a divine king and who goes to the cross
as if he were a royal processing to his throne – to see John having Jesus cry.
·
The evangelist John even goes far
beyond that. He writes: When Jesus saw her (Mary)
weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed
in spirit and deeply moved.
·
The word used in the original
language are quite descriptive and visceral. We see the head as the seat of
thought and the “heart” as the seat of emotion. To the people of John’s time,
emotion wasn’t in the heart; it was in the intestines, or as we might say, in
the “guts.” The word used actually refers to the bowels, but let’s stick with
“guts” here.
·
This still exists in our time, but it
sounds different. If we say something like “I had a gut feeling”, it carries a
different message to the hearer than something like “I had a thought.” The
message is often stronger and surely less cerebral. You can dismiss a thought,
but it’s tougher to lay aside or forget a gut feeling.
·
To say that Jesus was greatly
disturbed in spirit and deeply moved puts him in a very human
place. In Lazarus’ death, he has lost a friend and he feels what Lazarus’
sisters feel. This is obvious to those gathered there - So the Jews said, "See
how he loved him!" The tears might also flow from an
understanding that death is not the way things are supposed to be.
·
In the previous ‘signs’ we’ve heard
of in our Lenten readings, Jesus has spoken to the people about one thing while
they were talking about something else. Here Jesus, Martha, and Mary are all
talking about the same thing – the resurrection. Martha believes in the
resurrection of the dead and says that it will take place on the last day.
Jesus responds by saying I am the resurrection and the life.
·
Here is a radical idea. The
resurrection can be found in Jesus. Life can be found in Jesus. To encounter
him is to encounter both the resurrection we hope for and the life we desire.
And this is encountered now… not simply on the last day.
·
What is hoped for is found with Jesus
now. The Word - through whom all things were made – says that all things will
be restored in him… and we’ll start with Lazarus.
·
This does not make sense to many. I’m
not sure it makes sense to me, but my hope still resides in this. For many,
death is death and the dead are dead. For those who have faith, the promise is
made and although it awaits fulfillment, the promise is enough to sustain us to
that fulfillment.
·
All that has been created has been
created through the Word. The beginning of John’s Gospel tells us that. Now we
see that all God has planned is fulfilled in Jesus. All that the faithful of
Israel hoped for is fulfilled in Jesus. The opposition of his enemies will not
stop him, nor will physical death or disease. Even his own execution will not
be enough to derail the plan of God for the world. In fact, Jesus’ own death
will become part of God’s plan.
·
If we look for the Good News in the
readings from the Gospel each Sunday, it is possible to have something to hold
on to all week long. Today we hear Jesus say that the resurrection is found in
him. In the past few weeks, we’ve heard that in him is found the new wine, new
birth, living water, sight for the blind, and now life and resurrection.
·
One sign remains and in that sign –
the sign of the cross and the empty tomb - we’ll all know what Jesus is about
and who he is. We’ll come to know that in him is life, birth from above, and
resurrection.
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