John 11:1-45 (Raising of Lazarus)
I hate to call Jesus a liar, but....
When Jesus heard that Lazarus was ill, he said, “This illness does not lead up to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” And then just to prove his point he stays where he is two more days before hiking down the road to Lazarus’ stinky sealed tomb.
If four days dead doesn’t convince you that dead is dead, I don’t know what does. So here comes Jesus, right into the stench of decomposing flesh, and even though back in the town where he was he put it lightly that Lazarus had ‘fallen asleep,’ he can’t say the guy’s just pulling a fast one on the neighbors for the sake of a sign. Jesus knows death, he smells it, he feels it, he weeps in response to it. So why did he say Lazarus’ illness wasn’t gonna end there? It’s like those commercials that claim a product will reduce the risk of death by 20% or something ridiculous. Nope, sorry, the risk of death for everybody, across the board, with or without medication and healthy life choices, is still gonna be 100%. It’s part and parcel of living that we’re all gonna die. And we’re gonna talk about that quite a bit over the next two weeks especially.
But Jesus saying this to his disciples, “This illness does not lead to death...” Makes me wonder if Jesus doesn’t somehow know a thing or two more about death, more about life, than we do. We don’t like it, that’s for sure. We do everything we can to hide the fact that we’re gonna die some day. From the latest diet plan, to attempts at resurrecting the past, to just plain not talking about it unless we absolutely have to, we could maybe learn a thing or two from those high schoolers dressed all in black, who wear skull rings and obsess over graveyards. Death is more inevitable than taxes, just as sure as sunrise.
So why doesn’t Jesus acknowledge that death is where we’re headed? It’s where he is headed, after all, and he’s pretty open about that. In fact, the raising of Lazarus is sort of the proverbial last nail in the coffin, the straw to break the camel’s back, the final impetus that gets the leaders their final push to seriously go about getting him crucified.
And when it comes to the death of Jesus, John’s gospel calls it his hour, his time, his glory. It will certainly be a triumph when his last word on the cross is a declaration: “It is accomplished!”
For now, though, Lazarus, the one Jesus loves, is ill, and Jesus just lets him die. Mary and Martha each approach Jesus to remind him “If you had been here, my brother would not have died.” We don’t know if they say that sentence with anger or sadness or confusion or what, but it seems like an open and shut case, doesn’t it? Jesus could have prevented this, he loved Lazarus, after all, it says so right there in the story, but now it’s all over. Lazarus has been dead so long there is no possible way he could live again.
Like the whole people of Israel in the vision of the prophet Ezekiel. So far gone all that is left of them is bones. Dry bones scattered across a desert. Can these bones mean anything other than the end? Can this destruction be anything but the final word?
Can these bones live? God asks the mortal prophet. Ezekiel answers “O Lord God, you know.” Because God is more eternal than death, and God’s love is more powerful than our powers of destruction, God puts words of resurrection into the mouth of another man who will also one day die. Prophesy, mortal! Prophesy to the bones, prophesy to the breath, prophesy and watch how God brings bone to its bone, puts sinew and flesh back on the body, and breathes new life into these mortal bodies. Watch how God can bring life in places of despair, wonder at God’s Spirit moving where for so many long years nothing has moved, witness the Spirit come in from the four winds to breathe new life into every hidden crevice dried out and done for and see this new thing God brings forth, right in the middle of parches places. This is not just a resurrection reserved for our physical death, but new breath for every place of anxiety in our lives.
There are so many deaths we die. Every time there is change, there is death. Every time we choose between two options, there is death of one possible reality over another. Every time our expectations are not met, or our plans don’t work out, every time we are hurt or lost, death is present. Every time we go back on a promise or cheat despite the values we profess, every hypocrisy and failing is a death of sorts. And death is powerful. Death is a great motivator. Death haunts us and threatens us and we run and hide behind all sorts of things so that even in our living we are dying because we are so afraid of mortality. We fill our lives with distractions so we will not drown in pain when the pain comes, but Jesus joins us in the pain, he grieves with Mary and Martha, and we get through it together, us and Jesus.
When Jesus tells his disciples that Lazarus’ illness does not lead to death, he is not, in fact, lying. Illness does not ultimately lead to death, does not end in death, because death is the great liar. Death pretends it is the last word, the final event, the end of everything.
No, friends in Christ, Jesus is not lying. Death is lying. Death claims to be all powerful, and oh so often we believe this lie that we hardly ever really live in the face of it.
Jesus knows that for Lazarus, this illness will not end in death, because death is not in fact the end. Not for Lazarus, and not for you. When Jesus performs this miracle, the leaders decide they need to end his ministry by putting him to death, as though God would somehow stay dead. But God in Jesus lets us kill him, knowing that death is not the end for him, and because of his passing through our death and on into resurrection, death is not the end for us, either.
God has poured out the Spirit of life into us, over us, all around us, in baptism. The Spirit of Christ lives in you, and it is by that Spirit that we live, by that Spirit that we will continue to live even after we die, by that Spirit that we may freely live while we live, unafraid of death. This resurrection is just as real as the death which made Lazarus stink to high heaven after four days in the tomb - this resurrection is in fact even more real than that. More real, more true, more eternal.
I don't know what tomb you find yourself in these days. But I know that Jesus is in that tomb with you, and will walk out of that tomb with you, however long it takes. Four days or forty days, death is not the end. Death is not the end. Jesus unsealed that tomb from the inside on Easter Sunday and it will not hold us any more because it could not hold him. Thanks be to God.
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