Fifth Sunday of Lent, cycle A

JOHN 11:1-45
THREE MEN WERE DISCUSSING WHAT THEY WANTED TO BE REMEMBERED FOR. ONE SAID, “WHEN PEOPLE LOOK DOWN ON ME IN MY COFFIN, I WANT THEM TO SAY WHAT A SUCCESSFUL PERSON I WAS.” THE SECOND SAID, “WHEN THEY LOOK DOWN ON ME IN MY COFFIN, I WANT THEM TO SAY HOW KIND AND GENEROUS I WAS.” THE THIRD THOUGHT A MINUTE AND SAID, “WHEN THEY LOOK DOWN ON ME IN MY COFFIN, I WANT THEM TO SAY, HEY, ISN'T HIS LEG MOVING?” SO WHAT DO YOU WANT THEM TO SAY WHEN THEY LOOK DOWN INTO YOUR COFFIN?
TODAY WE HEARD THE STORY OF THE MOST SPECTACULAR MIRACLE JESUS WORKED. JOHN MAKES SURE HIS READERS KNOW HOW INCREDIBLE THIS WAS. JESUS DOES NOT ARRIVE UNTIL FOUR DAYS AFTER LAZARUS HAD DIED. IT WAS COMMONLY BELIEVED THAT THE SOUL STAYED IN THE AREA OF THE BODY FOR THREE DAYS, BUT AFTER THAT, WENT TO “SHEOL” WHERE, AT LEAST AMONG THE JEWS, IT WAS THOUGHT THAT THE SOUL AWAITED THE RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD. ONCE YOU WERE IN SHEOL, THERE WAS NO RETURN. THE SECOND POINT, IF WE DIDN'T GET THE FIRST, IS THAT MARTHA MAKES HER COMMENT, “LORD, IT HAS BEEN FOUR DAYS NOW, SURELY THERE WILL BE A STENCH!” OR, AS SHE SAYS IN THE OLD BIBLE I GREW UP WITH, “LORD, BY THIS TIME HE STINKETH,” RESURRECTING A DECAYING CORPSE WHEN THE SOUL IS IMPRISONED IN SHEOL IS BEYOND THE CAPACITY OF ANY GREAT MAGICIAN OR PROPHET OR HOLY MAN. NO ONE BUT GOD COULD DO WHAT WAS DONE THIS DAY.
BUT, SPECTACULAR AS THIS MIRACLE IS, WE ARE UNFORTUNATE IN THAT WE DON'T SEE THE LARGER PICTURE FROM HEARING JUST THIS SEGMENT OF THE GOSPEL. HERE ARE SOME THINGS TO CONSIDER.
FIRST, JESUS HAD BEEN LIVING AND TEACHING IN GALILEE. IT WAS ABOUT AS FAR FROM JERUSALEM AS WORCESTER IS FROM SPRINGFIELD. WHICH IS A SUBSTANTIAL DISTANCE IF YOU HAVE TO WALK. HE WAS RELATIVELY SAFE THERE; HE WAS BEYOND THE REACH OF THE PEOPLE IN JERUSALEM WHO HATED HIM. JESUS AND HIS APOSTLES ALL APPRECIATED HOW DANGEROUS IT WOULD BE TO GO DOWN TO JERUSALEM. THAT IS WHY WE HEAR THOMAS SAYING “LET US GO DOWN AND DIE WITH HIM.” THE LITTLE TOWN OF BETHANY WHERE THE MIRACLE TAKES PLACE WAS ONLY TWO MILES FROM THE CITY OF JERUSALEM. IN ORDER TO RAISE LAZARUS FROM THE DEAD, JESUS PUT HIS OWN LIFE IN DANGER; IN FACT, GIVEN THAT HE WAS GOD AS WELL AS MAN, HE KNEW WHAT WOULD HAPPEN IF HE TRAVELED TO JERUSALEM.
SECOND, IF WE WERE TO READ FURTHER, WE WOULD SEE THAT NOT ONLY DID JESUS PUT HIS OWN LIFE IN DANGER BY COMING SO CLOSE TO JERUSALEM, BUT BY RAISING LAZARUS IN THIS BIG PUBLIC EVENT, HE GREATLY ANGERED THE AUTHORITIES. IF THERE HAD BEEN ANY PHARISEES OR MEMBERS OF THE PRIESTLY CLASS WHO HAD BEEN SITTING ON THE FENCE, WHEN HE RAISED LAZARUS, AND MANY CAME TO BELIEVE IN HIM, THEY NO LONGER DID SO. THEY WERE ALL VERY CLEAR ON THE IDEA THAT JESUS HAD TO DIE, OR THEY MIGHT VERY WELL LOSE THEIR POWER OVER THE PEOPLE. OF COURSE THEY WERE CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT ROME MIGHT DO, AND TO BE FAIR, MANY THOUGHT THAT JESUS WAS LEADING THE PEOPLE INTO HERESY. TO BE ON THE SAFE SIDE, IN FACT, WE HEAR THAT THE ENEMIES OF JESUS PLOTTED TO KILL LAZARUS AS WELL, SINCE HE WAS LIVING PROOF OF JESUS' POWER.
AND THEN, AFTER THESE EVENTS, JESUS ENTERS THE CITY OF JERUSALEM IN STYLE, RIDING ON A DONKEY, BEING JOYOUSLY GREETED BY THE PEOPLE, AND THEN GOING ON TO STAND JUDGMENT, BE CRUCIFIED, AND DIE.
THE POINT, OF COURSE, IS NOT SO MUCH THAT JESUS PROVED THAT HE WAS GOD BY THE MIRACLE HE PERFORMED, BUT RATHER, THAT HE WAS WILLING TO GIVE UP HIS OWN LIFE SO THAT LAZARUS COULD LIVE. AND THE IMPLICATION IS THAT JESUS' LOVE IS SUCH THAT HE WILLINGLY TRADES HIS OWN LIFE FOR YOURS, FOR MINE, FOR ANY WHO ARE HIS FRIENDS, WHO STAND CONDEMNED TO DIE AS WE ALL DO.
LAZARUS WAS LIKE YOU AND I, HE WAS PROBABLY A GOOD, ORDINARY PERSON, TOOK CARE OF HIS SISTERS, PROBABLY WORKED WITH HIS HANDS AS MOST DID IN THOSE DAYS. BUT LIKE YOU AND I HE WAS NOT ALWAYS FAITHFUL, HE NEVER GOT THROUGH A DAY WITHOUT DOING SOMETHING OR FAILING TO DO SOMETHING WHICH IF HE THOUGHT ABOUT IT, HE WOULD REGRET. AS THE YEARS WENT BY HE CONTINUED TO FAIL IN LIVING A LIFE THAT WAS COMPLETELY PLEASING TO GOD. LITTLE THINGS, LITTLE SINS, BUT SINS AGAINST AN INFINITELY GOOD GOD. AND LAZARUS WAS LIKE YOU AND I, TRYING TO STAY OUT OF TROUBLE, GETTING UP EACH MORNING AND RESOLVING TO DO BETTER, AND GOING TO BED AT NIGHT HOPING FOR FORGIVENESS FOR HIS FAILURE TO DO SO. AND LAZARUS, LIKE YOU AND I, HAD NO CLAIM ON ETERNAL LIFE, OR EVEN TEMPORAL LIFE; NOTHING WE HAVE, NOTHING WE COULD HAVE, IS OUR OWN, IT IS ALL A GIFT THAT WE DON'T DESERVE.
AND JESUS TRADES HIS LIFE FOR LAZARUS; HE TRADES HIS LIFE FOR YOURS AND MINE.
WHEN PEOPLE SEE ME IN MY COFFIN, WHICH WILL BE SOMETIME BETWEEN NOW AND ABOUT 20 YEARS FROM NOW, I DON'T CARE IF THEY SAY THAT I WAS SUCCESSFUL, OR THAT I WAS KIND AND GENEROUS, OR AS MY WIFE WOULD PROBABLY SAY, THAT I WAS AN OLD GROUCH. I DO HOPE PEOPLE WILL SAY THAT I WAS A FRIEND OF JESUS. BECAUSE WHEN I AM HELPLESS, WHEN I HAVE LOST THE BREATH OF LIFE, WHEN I CAN NO LONGER MOVE OR SEE OR HEAR OR TOUCH, I PRAY THAT I WILL HEAR A VOICE SAYING, “DONALD, COME OUT OF THERE!” AND I WILL GET TO MY FEET AND GO TO MEET MY BEST FRIEND, WHO HAS ALREADY TRADED HIS LIFE FOR MINE.
AND PERHAPS THAT IS WHAT WE SHOULD THINK ABOUT THIS FIFTH WEEK IN LENT. IF WE ARE FRIENDS OF JESUS, THE GRAVE IS NOT A PROBLEM. IF WE ARE FRIENDS OF JESUS, WE CAN BE CONFIDENT THAT WE WILL HEAR HIS COMMAND TO “COME OUT OF THERE”. IN THE STORY OF THE RAISING OF LAZARUS, WE ARE ASSURED THAT JESUS KEEPS THE PROMISE THAT GOD MADE TO EZECHIEL SO LONG AGO: “I WILL PUT MY SPIRIT INTO YOU THAT YOU MAY LIVE...I HAVE PROMISED, AND I WILL DO IT”.