Reflection on John 11:1-45

 

John 11:1-45 (NRSVue)

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.

Reflection

If you have ever wanted to have a glimpse of what the resurrected life might look like, if you have ever wanted to see what eternal life and peace could be, then we need look no further than the story of Lazarus.  The story of Lazarus gives us a glimpse of what eternal life is all about, just as it gave Lazarus a glimpse of that life with Jesus.

But, to show you that life, I want to start by looking at the scenes immediately following the raising of Lazarus.  We see scenes that show Lazarus and Jesus sitting at the table together.  But, the image of tables and chairs created in our modern heads is not quite the image for which the writer of John was going.  The Bible says that “Lazarus was one of those reclining with [Jesus]” (John 12:2).  You see, in the ancient world they did not use tables and chairs as we do today.  Rather, people ate at low tables or on large, fancy rugs, and they lay at these low tables filled with food, reclining next to one another, with their heads facing the middle, facing the food.  So, Lazarus is lying close to Jesus at the table.  In fact, during one of these meals, the disciple that Jesus loved (a follower of Jesus who I am convinced is Lazarus) that beloved one is lying with his head against Jesus.  So, the image that I want you to have in your head is one where Lazarus is leaning against Jesus; lying as close to Jesus’ heart as one can get. 

It is an ancient image of close friendship.  It is an image of compete trust.  It is an image of being as close to a person as you can possibly get.  It is an image of what the resurrected life is all about: being close to Jesus’ heart.

I like that image.  I need that image.  It is an image of trust, and rest, and hope in the middle of a dark and threatening world.  Lazarus is reclining at peace near Jesus, even though religious leaders are plotting to take this newly raised man’s life.  Jesus is holding onto Lazarus, unwilling to depart from him, even though the cross looms in the near future.  Like a flower that clings to its lily pad even in the roughest of seas, Lazarus clings to his savior as the waters rage and roar around.  And, as he does so, he is at peace.  He is at peace as he reclines at the table, close to his savior.

I just happen to know that the waters of many of your lives have definitely raged and roared recently, if not raging and roaring right now.  For some of you, illness is creating a wave of uncertainty and fear.  Death also knocks on the door of some of your lives, creating a wave of uncertainty and fear.  Some of you have seen long time relationships fail in mere moments, threatening to drown you with sorrow.  It all makes me think of a man that I worked with who used to say, “If there was nothing to worry about, I would worry about that.”  I suppose he has a point, you never know when the next wave is going to crash.  The dark waters are always there, threatening to drown us. 

Yet, Lazarus is a peace, resting near his Lord.  How?  How can he be so at peace?  Maybe, it is because he has been raised from the dead.

Apparently, knowing that Jesus will raise you from the dead changes things. 

Remember, at the beginning of the story, Lazarus was sick and his sisters, Mary and Martha, sent a message to Jesus, telling him that he needed to come quickly.  However, Jesus did not come quickly.  The Bible says that even “though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus…[Jesus] stayed two days longer in the place where he was” (John 11:5-6). 

That means that Lazarus was not healed.  Lazarus died.  When Jesus did not come to heal his friend Lazarus, you would think that Lazarus and his family would fear that the Lord does not care and cannot be trusted.  How could they have known that God had better things in mind that they could not possibly know about at the time?

Eventually, Jesus does come.  Do not forget that this is a dangerous choice for both he and his disciples.  The authorities are already onto Jesus, and they are waiting for a chance to capture him.  Jesus’ decision to come and do signs in Bethany, a region that is dangerous to him, will eventually bring about tragic and amazing cross related consequences, but not yet.

First, Jesus meets up with his good friends, Mary and Martha.  The anxiety and sadness of the days explode onto Jesus as they both accuse him: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died!” (John 11:21 and 11:32). 

How could he have neglected Lazarus.  They know Jesus has healed a dying boy, healed a paralytic, healed a blind man, changed water into wine, and has even walked on water without drowning.  He and the Father are one.  God the Father will do whatever Jesus asks.  So, why was he not there?  Why was he not present when he was needed?  Why did Jesus not stop the tide from raging in and drowning them all? 

A drowning rush of anger and grief crashes out from the sister’s lips.  Someone nearby joins in: “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” (John 11:37).

And, I want to stop right there for a moment and just allow that anger to exist.  Because it is real.  Sometimes grief crushes us and we do not understand why it happened.  Why were you not there Jesus?  Why did you not stop a terrible thing from happening?  I do not have answers for you, but I just want to point out that the Bible shows us that it is OK to be angry and it is OK to ask those questions.

To Mary and Martha’s anger, Jesus answers their accusations, not with anger of his own, not with words of rebuke, not with words of defense concerning what he is up to; rather he answers with a promise, “I am the resurrection and the life” (John 11:25).  And then, “Jesus began to weep” (John 11:35).

Jesus is not unaware of their pain.  He feels it too.  Jesus is not unmoved by their loss.  He grieves his friend too.  Jesus is not distant from them.  He is right there, sharing their pain.  And, Jesus will soon join the rest of the world’s pain on the cross, but not yet.  First, he will give life, and give it abundantly.

Coming up to the tomb, Jesus calls out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” (John 11:43).  And Lazarus comes out!  Lazarus is given new life!  And, as the scraps of burial cloth that reek of death are unwrapped from his eyes, Lazarus finally gets to see Jesus, his savior once again.  Lazarus sees the one who can overcome pain and death.  Those first glimpses of the one who restored his life provide the most important gift any of us can possibly get: the gift of a deep, deep trust. 

From this time forward, whenever the destructive waters of life rage, Lazarus can trust that Jesus will bring him through.  He trusts that he will once again see the Lord. 

This is called this faith.  But, it is not the sort of faith that believes in a set of dusty doctrines or musty smelling beliefs.  Rather, it is faith that trusts a person.  It is the sort of faith that trusts in the one who brings resurrection and life.  It is the sort of faith that trusts in the one who accomplishes the right thing at the right time, especially when the waters rage and roar. 

Why is Lazarus so peaceful in a time where his very life is threatened?  Jesus.  He trusts Jesus.  He trusts the one who came and raised him from the dead.  After-all, if the Lord cares enough to raise you from the dead, then what else is there to fear?  What amount of drowning water could cause you concern?  As the Apostle Paul puts it in Romans, “Who will separate us from the love of Christ?  Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?” (NRSV, Romans 8: 35).  Jesus is the resurrection and the life.  Life is found in him.

So, as the chaos of the world threatens and crashes and rages, I will take a moment to picture that flower clinging to its lily pad in the raging waters.  I will take a moment to think of the peace on Lazarus’ face as he rests his head against the Lord while at a table filled with good things.  I will ask Jesus to hold me close.  And, when I do, Jesus will remind me, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?" (John 11:40).