The Fifth Sunday of Lent -- April 10, 2011
John 11:1 – 45
Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”
Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when people walk at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”
After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”
After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
Jesus wept.
Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.
This is the Fifth Sunday of Lent, the final Sunday before Palm Sunday. On Palm Sunday we remember Jesus entering Jerusalem the last week of his life as he moves step by step toward arrest, trial, crucifixion, and then resurrection. So we are headed toward the end of Jesus’ earthly life.
The reading today is preparing us for Jesus’ movement toward Jerusalem and the cross. We are given a foretaste of death and resurrection as Jesus’ friend Lazarus died. Jesus took his death as an opportunity to speak to the human fear of death. He did not merely prepare his followers for his own death; rather, he dealt with death in a way that cast it into the light.
Stones rolled away. Tombs opened. Darkness was brought into light. Those bound were set free.
There are several directions that would be appropriate for exploration today. In fact, you might want to read the entire text and mine some of the riches found in it.
I want to call your attention to this narrative as a spiritual story in which Jesus acted at a far deeper level than the other characters in the story.
First, the passage is a “sickness story” (vv. 3, 4) and sickness stories in the Gospels frequently led to some kind of healing or wholeness.
Then Jesus made it a “sleep story.” Everybody in the story seemed to think this was a “death story” . . . everyone except Jesus (vv. 11 – 16). With one brief exception, Jesus refused to talk about Lazarus’ death, not because he was in denial over the situation of his beloved friend, but because “sleep” is a word that carries a distinct spiritual connotation.
“Sleep” is contrasted with “wakefulness,” and “sleep” is a common metaphor for spiritual stupor. To wake up, on the other hand – notice the idea of “awakening” which has significant meaning within religious language – suggests a movement out of stupor and toward life.
When a person is sick they need health and wholeness.
When a person is asleep, they need to wake up and shake their stupor.
In symbolic language, Jesus addressed not just the situation of Lazarus, but the predicament each of us finds ourselves in. We are spiritually sick, lacking spiritual health. And we are spiritually asleep, needing to wake up. These are common Gospel themes, made more explicit in this account.
If you read this text slowly and with a listening heart, you’ll hear God-invitations scattered throughout it; that is, at any number of points in the reading, God may be speaking your name and issuing to you some invitation toward wholeness, wakefulness or risen life.
I’m praying that you hear the God-invitation and step into it as best you can.
Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. (This Mary, whose brother Lazarus now lay sick, was the same one who poured perfume on the Lord and wiped his feet with her hair.) So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick.”
When he heard this, Jesus said, “This sickness will not end in death. No, it is for God’s glory so that God’s Son may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days, and then he said to his disciples, “Let us go back to Judea.”
“But Rabbi,” they said, “a short while ago the Jews there tried to stone you, and yet you are going back?”
Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk in the daytime will not stumble, for they see by this world’s light. It is when people walk at night that they stumble, for they have no light.”
After he had said this, he went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up.”
His disciples replied, “Lord, if he sleeps, he will get better.” Jesus had been speaking of his death, but his disciples thought he meant natural sleep.
So then he told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead, and for your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.”
Then Thomas (also known as Didymus) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”
On his arrival, Jesus found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was less than two miles from Jerusalem, and many Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them in the loss of their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went out to meet him, but Mary stayed at home.
“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.”
Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”
Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.”
Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Anyone who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?”
“Yes, Lord,” she told him, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who was to come into the world.”
After she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary aside. “The Teacher is here,” she said, “and is asking for you.” When Mary heard this, she got up quickly and went to him. Now Jesus had not yet entered the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who had been with Mary in the house, comforting her, noticed how quickly she got up and went out, they followed her, supposing she was going to the tomb to mourn there.
When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”
When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled. “Where have you laid him?” he asked.
“Come and see, Lord,” they replied.
Jesus wept.
Then the Jews said, “See how he loved him!”
But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”
Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”
So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me.”
When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”
Therefore many of the Jews who had come to visit Mary, and had seen what Jesus did, put their faith in him.
This is the Fifth Sunday of Lent, the final Sunday before Palm Sunday. On Palm Sunday we remember Jesus entering Jerusalem the last week of his life as he moves step by step toward arrest, trial, crucifixion, and then resurrection. So we are headed toward the end of Jesus’ earthly life.
The reading today is preparing us for Jesus’ movement toward Jerusalem and the cross. We are given a foretaste of death and resurrection as Jesus’ friend Lazarus died. Jesus took his death as an opportunity to speak to the human fear of death. He did not merely prepare his followers for his own death; rather, he dealt with death in a way that cast it into the light.
Stones rolled away. Tombs opened. Darkness was brought into light. Those bound were set free.
There are several directions that would be appropriate for exploration today. In fact, you might want to read the entire text and mine some of the riches found in it.
I want to call your attention to this narrative as a spiritual story in which Jesus acted at a far deeper level than the other characters in the story.
First, the passage is a “sickness story” (vv. 3, 4) and sickness stories in the Gospels frequently led to some kind of healing or wholeness.
Then Jesus made it a “sleep story.” Everybody in the story seemed to think this was a “death story” . . . everyone except Jesus (vv. 11 – 16). With one brief exception, Jesus refused to talk about Lazarus’ death, not because he was in denial over the situation of his beloved friend, but because “sleep” is a word that carries a distinct spiritual connotation.
“Sleep” is contrasted with “wakefulness,” and “sleep” is a common metaphor for spiritual stupor. To wake up, on the other hand – notice the idea of “awakening” which has significant meaning within religious language – suggests a movement out of stupor and toward life.
When a person is sick they need health and wholeness.
When a person is asleep, they need to wake up and shake their stupor.
In symbolic language, Jesus addressed not just the situation of Lazarus, but the predicament each of us finds ourselves in. We are spiritually sick, lacking spiritual health. And we are spiritually asleep, needing to wake up. These are common Gospel themes, made more explicit in this account.
If you read this text slowly and with a listening heart, you’ll hear God-invitations scattered throughout it; that is, at any number of points in the reading, God may be speaking your name and issuing to you some invitation toward wholeness, wakefulness or risen life.
I’m praying that you hear the God-invitation and step into it as best you can.
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