Mary came out to be with Martha and Jesus. She was weeping. “When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. ‘Where have you put him?’ he asked them. They told him, ‘Lord, come and see.’ Then Jesus wept. The people who were standing nearby said, ‘See how much he loved him!’ But some said, ‘This man healed a blind man. Couldn’t he have kept Lazarus from dying?’”
Not just grief, but anger; deep anger coming from his very core. Jesus; God in flesh, creator of all there is, Lord of life, path to heaven…regarding the unnatural death of his friend. Unnatural because death is an aberration of the original order, a creation of sin and brokenness, a violation of the creation that came from the power and creativity of the mind of the creator. Jesus, here surrounded by the culture of death, with weeping relatives, wailing neighbors, a tomb, and questions on the why of it all.
“Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb, a cave with a stone rolled across its entrance. ‘Roll the stone aside,’ Jesus told them. (The crowd that followed them to the tomb drew back at this, a breach of acceptable behavior.) But Martha, the dead man’s sister, protested, ‘Lord, he has been dead for four days. The smell will be terrible.’” Why did he wait until Lazarus had been dead for four days? Because devout Jews believed that the soul remained close to its dead body for three days, and only then departed. Jesus is still making clear his lesson. He is the resurrection. To the Jews Lazarus was not just mostly dead…he was completely dead. There could be no mistaking the power and miracle of what was to come next.
“Jesus responded, ‘Didn’t I tell you that you would see God’s glory if you believe?’ So they rolled the stone aside. Then Jesus looked up to heaven and said, ‘Father, thank you for hearing me. You always hear me, but I said it out loud for the sake of all these people standing here, so that they will believe you sent me.’ Then Jesus shouted, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ And the dead man came out, his hands and feet bound in grave clothes, his face wrapped in a head cloth. Jesus told them, ‘Unwrap him and let him go.’”
These observations: First, this was not resuscitation; putrefaction had already set in. This was a resurrection. It was not a revival of life, but a breakout of new life. Lazarus had been DEAD. I’ve always wondered if Lazarus acted differently with this new life in him.
Another wonder: Was Lazarus glad to be back? I’ve talked with people who have died and been resuscitated. Having had a ‘near death experience,’ many of them would have preferred to remain dead. Lazarus was farther away from life. What did he see? How did he feel to find himself again in a mortal body? All questions we cannot answer until we are in eternity ourselves.
Second: I am surprised at the degree of control that Jesus exercised in this situation. Once Martha had voiced her objection, Jesus simply stood there and issued an order and the stone was rolled away by others, then called Lazarus from the grave, then told them all to unwrap him and let him go. It reminds me that his persona was one of enormous authority and power.
Message delivered. There is no one who was there who went away unchanged. And Bethany was only two miles east of Jerusalem. The news about Lazarus spread like wild-fire. Message delivered.
Prayer: “Powerful Father, you are good, but you are not tame. You control every process of matter and energy and life. In Jesus, you are the life-giver and the earth has trembled before your power. Whole nations and cultures and peoples have found life by your name. We still walk an earth invaded by death. Preserve our souls by your power and love so that we might live with you forever. In Jesus’ name, amen.”