John 11:1-45
The other day I ran across some hot
pepper jelly at the Big Y, and it triggered a few memories. Many
years ago in Buffalo Joan and I knew a lady who was about our age.
She was the mother of eight children and an active member of St. Rose
of Lima Church. We met her and her husband when we were both members
of the PTA. She was very well educated; she had gotten, if I
remember, a master's degree, and married her husband, a physician,
and spent her life raising and caring for her family. And she was
serene. Nothing seemed to bother her. One day she had a little
get-together for the members of the PTA and served a block of cream
cheese covered with a hot pepper jelly of her own making. It was
really good with crackers. Anyway, as we were talking about things,
she let us know that she had no fear of death. Apparently during one
of her pregancies, she had had a near death experience, and found
herself in the presence of indescribable love and light. And she
didn't want to wake up, she was totally happy. But she did recover.
And in a sense her life was completely changed – she was a new
person. She passed away a few years ago, this time to remain in the
presence of indescribable love and light forever.
The story of the raising of Lazarus
got me thinking. Lazarus had been dead for four days. If there is
life after death, if there is a great light and a loving presence,
Lazarus was there. Surely Lazarus was a good man – he probably
took care of his sisters, and of couse he was a close friend of
Jesus. Jesus loved sinners, but I doubt that Lazarus was a sinner.
Lazarus was someone Jesus could relax with; his home was Jesus' home
away from home. So I wonder what went on in Lazarus' mind when he
heard the voice of Jesus calling him to come out of the grave. I
wonder if her resented the distubance in his perfect happiness. And
I wonder if he also was changed – knowing what was on the other
side of death. I wonder if her came back serene and posessed of an
inner peace he did not have before.
I think Jesus really did raise his
friend from the dead. He'd done it before. But I wonder if John put
a few little touches on the story. The first is that Jesus waited
two days before heading down to Bethany. And of course we discover
that Lazarus has been dead for four days – and everybody knew the
sould hung around the body for three days. So Lazarus' sould was not
near the body. Lazarus was as dead as you can be. The second thing
is the name itself. Lazarus means “God helps”. Maybe John gave
him that name for obvious reasons, just like Luke named the poor man
Lazarus in his story. Because when you are as dead as Lazrus was,
only God can help.
Martha says “If only you had been
here...” and she and Jesus have a discussion about theology. Are
you and I like Martha? We believe in the Resurrection of the dead,
but so what? It's a long time off, right? At the end of time.
Jesus meets Mary and she says, “If only you had been here ...”
but Mary isn't interested in theology. She is weeping her heart out.
And it says that Jesus became perturbed – or a better translation
would be “angry”. Is he angry at the lack of faith? Is he angry
at the gawking crowds? I think he is angry because He hates death
and death has claimed a friend very close to him.
And then Jesus weeps along with Mary.
If he knows he is going to raise Lazarus, why weep?
Sometimes we tell people who have lost
a loved one that the loved one is in heaven, or they aren't suffering
any more, or something to that effect. But what they really need is
for someone to weep with them. Losing a loved one is a profoundly
lonely experience, and it's a time when words are never enough, and
when shared sorrow is the only thing that can ease the pain,. Mary
needs this and Jesus provides it.
(Now one thing I didn't read)(One
thing about this gospel passage is the long discussion between Jesus
and his apostles before they set out for Bethany.) Jesus tells his
disciples that he is going down to Jerusalem to be glorifed, and they
remember that the last time he was there, he nearly got stoned to
death. And Thomas, who will live forever as “doubting Thomas”
actually says to the others, “Let us go down with Him and die with
Him!” Thomas and the others are pretty sure that going so close to
Jerusalem is a really bad idea; and we learn that it is, because when
the enemies of Jesus see that he has raised a dead man to life, they
resolve to put him to death. This miracle of life-giving is the last
straw, and sets off the whole Passion in John's gospel.
So I think John is using this event
and telling the story to make a few theological points. One is that
Resurrection is not far off in the future, where it can't bother us
one way or another; it is right here, right here where Jesus is with
us. “I am the Resurrection and the Life,” he tells us. Another
is that Jesus is the one who can help when no one else can; he is the
one who can call someone dead back to life. He is the one whom, if
you are His friend, he will not let you stay dead. As Paul tells us,
“If the Spirit of the one who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in
you, the One who raised Crhist from the dead will givel ife to your
mortal bodies also...”
But Resurrection comes at a cost, and
the cost is Jesus' own life. Because in raising Lazarus from the
dead, Jesus accepted his own death. Had he not come down to Bethany
to raise his friend, he would have escaped his Passion. His death,
in some mysterious way, is the reason we who have been baptized into
him have immortal life, have resurrection.
Now there is one more little thing in
this story I should point out. When Lazarus comes forth, he is bound
hand and foot. And as Martha has pointed out, he probably smells
funny. Who knows what is beneath those bandages – if you've
watched a Zombie movie or an episode of the Walking Dead, you may
think you know. But notice that Jesus tells the bystanders to unbind
him and let him go. Jesus can raise us from the dead; he can give us
eternal life through baptism and the Eucharist; but those of us who
have eternal life have to help unbind the ones who are new to eternal
life. We have to act in the place of Jesus to make sure that new
life is not wasted, that the one who was dead is quickly brought into
the company of the living, through love, through example, through
welcoming. Jesus trusts you and I to make sure that the new life he
has given is not wasted.
