An icon depicting the raising of Lazarus.
This past Sunday we read a story that might be the most
significant story of our Christian faith outside of Jesus’ own death and
resurrection. It's the story of the raising of Lazarus, and our identity as followers of Jesus, as folks
who believe that this man is the living, breathing embodiment of God, is summed
up in this story of pain, disappointment, and resurrection. We find ourselves right there with the characters, relating to them, struggling with them, and looking for hope with them.
The family of Mary, Martha, and Lazarus are friends of
Jesus, folks who gave him lodging on his journeys. Our own Bishop Anne Hodges-Copple calls them
the Holy Family of Bethany. Martha opens
her home and offers the ministry of hospitality to Jesus and his disciples. Mary sits at Jesus’ feet and takes in every
word--in the next chapter of this Gospel she will anoint Jesus’ feet with
perfume as a preparation for his death and burial. While we don’t know much about Lazarus, who is only mentioned in the Fourth Gospel, he is described to Jesus
as “the one you love.” It’s clear that
this family is near and dear to Jesus.
An icon of Mary, Lazarus, and Martha, the Holy Family of Bethany
That’s why it’s all the more heartbreaking when Lazarus
gets sick and dies. For whatever reason
Jesus does not come immediately, and by the time he gets there it’s too
late. Lazarus has been dead for four
days, the whole community is gathered at the house as part of the seven-day Jewish mourning period, and the
sisters are devastated. First Martha
comes to Jesus and cries out, “Lord, f you had been here my brother would not have
died!” If you had been here. Such pain, such disappointment in Jesus. All she wants is her brother, and she knows
the only one who could’ve saved him is Jesus, and by-God, he wasn’t there when
she needed him! Mary has the same
reaction, word-for-word: "Lord, if you
had been here my brother would not have died!" We can feel their sadness, their pain.
How many of us have felt that in our own lives? I don't think it's a stretch to say that every single one of us has felt that kind of pain and disappointment. We’ve all grieved the loss of a loved one. We’ve all wished that Jesus were
physically here to make everything ok. We’ve all shaken our
fists at God the way Mary and Martha must have shaken theirs.
We can almost hear the sisters saying to Jesus: we took you in and fed you and your disciples,
and we followed you, and we believed in you, and you let THIS happen to
us?! Who could blame them for feeling
such anger and sadness in a sea of hopelessness?
Yet Jesus is the hope, and he stands there and offers Martha the comforting words, "Your brother will rise again."
Martha tries to find some solace in this promise, remarking that she knows Lazarus will
be raised on the Day of Resurrection, which most every Jew believed. Yet Jesus
one-ups her and tells her that he is the resurrection. In him, that pain, that loss, that tremendous
fear of death loses all power, and we see in Jesus the love of God made
manifest in a way that the world had never known before. We see it in John 11: 35, “Jesus began to weep” or
simply “Jesus wept," depending on your translation. The shortest, yet most profound verse in all
of Scripture! If Jesus is the divine
image of God, why would he weep? Why should God weep? God is unchanging, eternal, and far beyond the emotions of us pitiful mortals; in fact, nowhere in the Hebrew
Scriptures had God shown such emotion as to actually cry over human suffering, not even after the Great Flood. And yet here we see
it. We see the true breadth of the power
of God, made perfect in this incredibly vulnerable, seemingly hopeless moment. We tell people, “Don’t cry” or we equate
crying with some kind of weakness, but here we see Jesus the Christ shed
tears for this family that he loves so much. The glory and majesty of God brought down to our level and made perfect in human tears.
It’s with those tears in his eyes that Jesus prays and
Lazarus gets up. It is an amazing moment of
hope in the middle of all the hopelessness, yet even this hope is short-lived. The Jewish authorities will get word of this miracle, and it will fill them with fear and rage. They'll try to kill Lazarus, but they won't get to him. They will, however, get to Jesus, and a few days after this event they will hand him over to be killed. Then, as now, it will be the women—Mary, Martha,
and a few others—who will bear witness. They will recognize hope when all around them will see death. And because they have known the truth and power of the love of God made manifest in Jesus at the raising of their brother, they will be
able, when all hope is gone, to recognize Jesus himself when he is raised, and
they will go and spread the word that love has conquered death.
We are Mary and Martha. We've all lost, and we've all felt tremendous pain. Still, when all hope is gone, we are the ones who must recognize Jesus. We must find hope and light, even when we are surrounded by despair and darkness. For this story, the
raising of Lazarus, sums up the Christian truth that God is actually in
adversity, not the cause of it Contrary to what the world may tell us, our greatest disappointments are, in
actuality, where we meet God. Right there in the vulnerable moments of our
lives Jesus is weeping alongside us. And
when we are vulnerable enough, with ourselves and with each other, we, like
Mary and Martha, recognize Jesus. And
like Lazarus, we are raised.
Yes, it means that something has to die in order to be made new, and that is terrifying. Our fears must die. Our own desires and expectations must die. Even our bodies must die. But we can begin to appreciate death, or as one song lyric put it, "death is an enemy we can learn to love." That's because we know what is on the other side of our pain. It's hope, joy, and newness of life. Thanks to Jesus, God is not so far off. The gap between us and God has been closed because God has wept. God understands our pain, and through Jesus God can and will bring us hope when there seemingly is none.
Perhaps you have experienced that kind of loss or are feeling that kind of pain. Perhaps you are grieving for a loved one going through loss and pain. No matter where you are, I pray that you will hold on to this piece of Good News. Remember that God is in the adversity. Remember that Jesus is crying with you. Remember that because God has shed our tears and has felt our pain, the gap between us and the Divine is closed forever, and hope is born where there had been despair. As we start the long walk of Holy Week next Sunday, we are tempted to think that that road will end with despair. We know, however, that it really ends with hope. That is how all of our life's journeys will end. We need only eyes to see and recognize Jesus and the hope he brings when all hope is gone. For when we are able to recognize him, brothers and sisters, every single one of us will be raised!
Kristen Leigh preaches her Lazarus sermon through the words of her song When All Hope Is Gone (The Lazarus Song).
One of my greatest inspirations for this sermon/blog post is singer-songwriter Kristen Leigh. A graduate of Union Theological Seminary, she wrote the above song as part of a New Testament class on the Gospel of John. In it she speaks from Jesus' perspective, reminding Mary (and us) that we must recognize him in those moments of loss and pain. She would eventually title the song When All Hope Is Gone. I am thankful for her inspiration and immensely proud of the ways that she has preached the Gospel! Go check her out at: http://kristenleighmusic.com/
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