There is something really final about a burial. I have been at a few gravesides during my time as a pastor, and these are precious events. It is a great honour to be there, often with just the close family, as they say their final goodbye to their loved one. But there is something strange that happens at every graveside. You get to the graveside, the hole has been dug and the grave is ready for the casket. When the casket is lowered into the grave everyone stands around it quietly and respectfully and then after some minutes, the first person turns and walks away. Then pretty quickly after that the rest follow, often leaving just the spouse at the grave. Then even the spouse turns and walks away. It is only at that moment that the finality of death seems to be real. Until that moment there is still an earthly connection to the body of the person, but now they have truly and finally been farewelled. There is a definite before and after. Where we meet Jesus today is in the “after” period. Let’s have a look.
Scripture: John 11:38-44 (ESV)
Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed you would see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I said this on account of the people standing around, that they may believe that you sent me.” When he had said these things, he cried out with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out.” The man who had died came out, his hands and feet bound with linen strips, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”
We pick up Lazarus’s story again. Jesus arrives four days after Lazarus’s death. Four days is long enough to prove the reality of Lazarus’s death. It is long enough for decay to set in. Martha, Lazarus’s sister, gently reminds Jesus of this reality: She tells him “there will be an odour”. In her mind she is recognising the finality of death, Lazarus has been dead for four days. There is nothing more to be done for him.
Except of course that we are dealing with Jesus here. In the previous passage Jesus has just claimed that he is the “Resurrection and the Life”. Easy thing to say, hard thing to prove. But remember, this part of John’s gospel is all about giving us proof of Jesus’ divinity. He is showing us Jesus’s miraculous power. He has shown us that Jesus could heal a man blind from birth, but what about someone who has already died and has been decomposing for 4 days? That seems impossible, but Jesus is the resurrection and the life. Jesus reminds Martha that if she believes, she will see the glory of God. Does she believe that God can change even this? Does she trust Jesus with the impossible?
Jesus prays, and then in a loud voice, he calls, “Lazarus, come out!” And Lazarus, still wrapped in burial cloths, comes out alive and well!
This miracle shows us that Jesus has power over life and death. He is showing Martha, the crowd, and everyone reading John’s gospel, that he doesn’t just say he is the resurrection and the life… He actually IS the resurrection and the life.
Of course this miracle foreshadows Jesus’s own death and resurrection. He will soon face his own death on the cross, but he will be raised back to life as proof that our sins are forgiven. All that is required for us to share in that new resurrection life is faith that Jesus is the resurrection and the life.
So do you believe that Jesus will raise you, even from death?
Prayer:
Lord Jesus, thank you for reminding us that you are the resurrection and the life. Please help deepen our trust in you every day and help us to look forward to seeing you again in the new life to come. Amen.
Spiritual Challenge:
Today, consider what seems impossible in your life. Bring this impossible thing to Jesus in prayer. Then wait and see what he will do.