The Spiritual Strength of Love

John 11: 1-45

Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill. So the sisters sent word to him, saying, “Master, the one you love is ill.” When Jesus heard this he said, “This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was. Then after this he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.” The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?” Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.” He said this, and then told them, “Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.” So the disciples said to him, “Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.” But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. So then Jesus said to them clearly, “Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him.” So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go to die with him.”

When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. [But] even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise.” Martha said to him, “I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.” Jesus told her, “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” She said to him, “Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.”

When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, “The teacher is here and is asking for you.” As soon as she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him. For Jesus had not yet come into the village but was still where Martha had met him. So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Sir, come and see.” And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him.” But some of them said, “Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?”

So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, “Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.” And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, “Untie him and let him go.”

Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him.

Discussion Questions:

1. What does Jesus’ reaction and response to the death of Lazarus help you to realize?
2. Have you ever walked with someone to his or her death? How did you experience Christ’s presence at this time?
3. How would you describe different moments of resurrection in your life?
4. Describe a situation where you’ve experienced Jesus the Christ, as one who is still “coming into the world”?
5. How would you contrast your idea of an abundant life, with the abundant life Jesus intends for us ?

Biblical Context

John 11: 1-45
Sr. Mary M. McGlone CSJ

The raising of Lazarus is the last of Jesus’ signs in John’s Gospel and the last of the signs we will contemplate during Lent. Surprisingly, the actual miracle of raising the dead man takes up only seven of the 45 verses of this passage. Instead of spotlighting Jesus as the miracle worker, John invites us to situate ourselves with the disciples as they grapple with Jesus’ self-revelation in word and deed. We can both learn from and be comforted by their feeble understanding and growing commitment to Jesus.

We begin with the disciples who have escaped Jerusalem with Jesus because his enemies were ready to stone him. A few days after hearing of Lazarus’ illness, Jesus decided to go to Bethany, just when everyone assumed it was too late to do more than mourn. Evaluating the circumstances, Thomas speaks out as the master of practicality: “You want to go to Judea? Back there? Now? Do you recall your last visit?” Of course Jesus’ response took the question to an entirely different level of meaning.

First of all, indicating that his own time was limited, he explained to the disciples that they had to work while it was still possible. His “day” had 12 “hours” and they were not all used up. As far as the disciples were concerned, Jesus wanted them to understand that they could walk in his light and not fall apart. In fact, walking in his light meant that his light would be in them, independent of the rising and setting of the sun or even his physical presence. Then reprising a theme he had used in regard to the man born blind (John 9), Jesus reminded them that Lazarus’ death, something they perceived as the result of sin or an irreversible tragedy, was actually the setting for a revelation of God’s glory. He even said it was good that he hadn’t been there because they needed to understand that his work had to do with transforming the human condition, not simply curing disease. This served as a gentle introduction to help them understand his passion as glory.

Thomas replied by calling the disciples to what was probably the best they could offer at the moment: “Let us also go to die with him.” In this, Thomas, called Didymus, was acting as the identical twin to all who are called to grow in faith; he demonstrated that his loyalty went far beyond his comprehension. He didn’t understand that Jesus’ “hour” would bring glory or that Lazarus’ death would bring a deeper revelation of who Jesus was, but Thomas had enough love to be willing to stand with Jesus in spite of obvious danger. That was an expression of faith, not in a theological or even intellectual sense, but in a much more concrete way, saying in effect, “I have no idea where it is leading, but I trust you more than anyone or anything else, so I will remain with you.” This is a parallel to Peter’s proclamation: “Master, to whom shall we go? You alone have the words of eternal life” (John 6:68). So with fearful faith, they accompany Jesus to Bethany.

Martha’s conversation with Jesus takes the exploration of faith a few steps farther. First she recognizes him as a healer — although she reminds him that in that capacity he arrived too late to do much good. She follows her complaint with the ambiguous statement: “Whatever you ask of God, God will give you.” When Jesus replies “Your brother will rise again,” Martha hears the sort of cliché frequently offered to people who are grieving; it’s effectively a call to ignore real anguish and take a “spiritual view” that discounts the hole in the heart of the bereaved. But that’s hardly the intent of Jesus for whom this moment was so perturbing and troubling that he wept openly.

Far from being a platitude, Jesus’ assurance that Lazarus would rise was the prelude to an “I am” statement: Jesus’ declaration that he is the resurrection and the life. As with all of those statements, Jesus reveals who he is in order to explain what that means for others. He offers Martha a paradoxical proverb contrasting the ordinary and deep meanings of life and death. In the first half Jesus says that belief in him vitiates ordinary death and gives real life. In the second he adds that belief in him transforms ordinary life such that it is no longer subject to mortal limitation.

Jesus asks if Martha believes, and she responds that she believes he is the Christ. She doesn’t say she understands it, just that she believes. So, Jesus takes her one step farther, he takes her to face the grave. Raising Lazarus becomes the sign that in him, death has no power. Believing in Jesus, walking with him with more trust than understanding, is the journey of discipleship, the route of living in the light of Christ, the resurrection and the life.

Jesus Wept

Spiritual Reflection
Br. James Koester SSJE

I’m not sure how old I was. I might have been around 13 or so. One Sunday, our Rector, Mr. Pasterfield, challenged us in his sermon to find the shortest verse in the Bible. The one clue he gave us, was that this verse could be found in the Gospels. The rest was up to us. As the Brothers here in the community will tell you, I am often up for a challenge, and this one tweaked my budding inner theologian, so home I went, to see what I could find.

If I remember correctly, it took most of Sunday afternoon for me to find it, and I didn’t have any help from my parents. (In fact, I am not convinced that they knew either what the shortest verse was, or where to find it.) I started by skimming the chapters, and if I thought I had found it, I would count words, and then letters. Slowly I narrowed down the possibilities. At some point in the afternoon, much to my delight, I found it, right there on the thin onion skin pages of the King James Version of the Bible that sat on our bookshelves. It was just two words and only nine letters long: Jesus wept.

Looking back on that afternoon, that occasion may have been my first real introduction to the story of Lazarus. And like any good story it has stuck with me. It’s not so much that I keep going back to the text, as the text keeps coming back to me.

I remember too, a solitary walk I took from St. George’s College in Jerusalem, over the Mount of Olives, up the steep road on one side of the Mount and down an ancient path, perhaps once used by Jesus and the disciples, on the other, to the village of Bethany. There I saw for myself the tomb where tradition tells us that Jesus found the body of his friend, commanded that stone be rolled away, and that the very dead body come out! and for his friends to unbind him, and let him go. Today that walk is now impossible as the Israeli security wall runs along the back side of the Mount of Olives separating modern day Bethany from Jerusalem. Today, even though it is a walk of just a few miles, you can’t get there from here.

But where you can go, if not to Bethany, is into the dream of God. That dream which God has for each one of us, indeed the dream that God has for all creation, is life, not death. That dream is for all of us, not just Lazarus. The dream of God is for all of us. Lazarus discovered this. Jesus knew this. Paul was changed by this. Ezekiel saw this.

Prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord. Thus, says the Lord God to these bones: I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live…. I prophesied as he commanded me, and the breath came into them, and they lived….

If the Spirit of him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, he who raised Christ from the dead will give life to your mortal bodies also through his Spirit that dwells in you.

Lazarus, come out! Unbind him, and let him go.

We live in a death-denying culture that tells us death is not real. But the reality is otherwise. Death surrounds us. Many live half-dead, puny lives, and because of that, Jesus weeps. Many wish they were dead, and because of that, Jesus weeps. Many are simply waiting to die, and because of that, Jesus weeps.

Jesus wept because his friend Lazarus was dead. Jesus weeps today, because many of his friends live entombed by loneliness, doubt, fear, sadness, or depression. What tomb are you living in today? Jesus wept. Jesus weeps today, because many of his friends live entombed by prejudice, poverty, disease, and violence. What tomb are you living in today? Jesus wept. Jesus weeps today, because many of his friends live entombed by grief, despair, hopelessness, and disappointment. What tomb are you living in today?

The dream of God and the promise of Jesus is not death, but life. The dream of God and the promise of Jesus is not death, but life in all its fullness. The dream of God and the promise of Jesus is not death, but life in all its abundance, for Jesus came that [we] may have life, and have it abundantly. That is the dream of God, and it is for you. It is for us. It is for the world. That is the promise of Jesus, and it is for you. It is for us. It is for the world.

The story of Lazarus is significant, not because it is Lazarus’ story, but because it is ours. We are Lazarus. The story of Paul is significant, not because it is Paul’s story, but because it is ours. We are Paul. The story of Ezekiel is significant, not because it is Ezekiel’s story, but because it is ours. We are those dry bones come to life. The story of Jesus is significant, not because it is Jesus’ story, but because it is ours. We are Christ’s body risen from the dead.

Jesus weeps at everything which entombs us, just as he wept at the tomb of his friend Lazarus. And like Lazarus he calls us to come out and demands that we too be unbound and set free.

On Ash Wednesday we were invited to a season of self-examination and repentance so that we might be reminded of Christ’s message of pardon and absolution as set forth in the Gospel of Jesus. On that occasion we repented of all the ways in which the culture of death is at work in us and all the places where we have entombed ourselves: our unfaithfulness, pride, hypocrisy, impatience, self-indulgence, exploitation, anger, envy, intemperance, dishonesty, negligence, blindness, indifference, prejudice, contempt, waste and lack of concern. And through his tears, Jesus calls us out of our tombs and demands that we be unbound.

You may not be able to walk from Jerusalem to Bethany anymore, but you don’t need to. Bethany is here and you are Lazarus and Jesus is weeping over all the ways in which you live a half-dead and puny life. That is not God’s dream for you. That is not Jesus’ promise for you. God’s dream for you and all creation is life. Jesus’ promise for you and all creation is abundant life.

As you stretch out your hands today to receive the Bread of Life, hear the words of Jesus spoken once again, but this time to you: Come out! And feel all those bands of death fall away as you are unbound and set free. Stretch out your hands and reach for that abundant life Christ promises, and claim it for yourself. Claim it for someone you love, whose life is wrapped in death. Claim it for our world, which is in such need. Claim it for this nation.

You are Lazarus. They are Lazarus. We are Lazarus. And the dream of God and the promise of Jesus for you, is life in all its abundance. And the dream of God and the promise of Jesus for them, is life in all its abundance. And the dream of God and the promise of Jesus for us, is life in all its abundance.

I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly.

That dream of God, that promise of Jesus isn’t for another time or another place. It is a promise for now. It is a promise for you. It is a promise for us. It is a promise for all those whom you love.

So, listen again to the words of the Gospel:

Then Jesus … came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. 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 for four days.’… So, they took away the stone [and] he cried with a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ 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.’

Lord, unbind us all, and give to us the abundant life you have promised us in your Son, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

Br. James Koester, SSJE was born in Regina, Saskatchewan, Canada. He studied History and English Literature at Trent University (Peterborough, ON) and received a Master’s of Divinity from Trinity College (Toronto, ON). Before arriving at SSJE, he served as a parish priest in the Diocese of British Columbia.