| March 25, 2007
You are welcome to reflect on this message 
John 11:35 is an Easter-story in Lent, that focuses on tears. Shortest verse in the Bible. Sword Driller’s favorite. Brief, profound, mobile. A proverb that can be moved from context-then to circumstance-now, without any loss of opprobrium. Its heart continues to beat with every tear that falls from our eyes. It’s as good a commentary as you can find about why “the Word became flesh.” I can’t think of anyplace it doesn’t fit. Nail it to the posts along the refugee roads over in Iraq. Flash it in blinking neons where addicts drape the gutters. Sky-write it over every greed-raped landscape: “Jesus wept.” From the White House to our house ... there’s no place in the world this text doesn’t fit. Except one ...
Where it is found. In the 11th chapter of the Gospel of John. Right in the middle of John’s story of the raising of Lazarus, these 2 words show up with such poignancy that we haven’t caught up with them yet. A casual summary would just say “Jesus wept” over the death of a friend; got there late, and made everybody mad. But he recovered by raising the dead. Everybody’s comforted, then goes home. Ah! But with John, there’s more than meets the eye. Most of our-day-to-day living involves “working on mysteries without any clues.” John has more mystery than clues; which makes Jesus’ weeping seem out of place. Upon hearing of Lazarus’ illness, Jesus said it happened, to bring “glory to God.” We know this is a code-word for crucifixion. But they didn’t. And I doubt that Lazarus appreciated being used as Jesus’ next sermon illustration. But John gives us a clue. If Jesus doesn’t leave Lazarus dead, he’s gonna pay for it. And so he did. This resuscitation created an uproar with the religious hit squad, who couldn’t tell a good thing from a bad one. “From that day on they planned to put him to death.” Although it’s not clear to me why someone should die for giving life. But you know religious people! It’s a bad habit we have.
Clue #2: Jesus didn’t just weep. He stalled! He rebelled rather than comply with the sisters’ expectations. He didn’t drop everything and rush over to Bethany like any other minister-worth-his-salt would. He milked it all he could and “lingered longer for 2 days.” John goes out of his way to show Jesus wouldn’t go out of his. Much more is afoot here than being late for a funeral, shedding a few tears, and raising the dead. Stuff like that. This story is a sign; pointing beyond itself to a greater truth -- a favorite writing-tool of John’s. But when Jesus finally arrived in Bethany and encountered the disgruntled gals, they’re maddern’ wet hens at his philosophizing. And he’s sad at their guilt tripping. “Lord if you’d been here, my brother wouldn’t have died.” Such love in that greeting. And such blame! Nothing’s harder than waiting on God to show up, when he’s a no-show.
So Jesus is misbehaving; taking his sweet time; non-chalant as a friend dies. Martha believed he could’ve saved her brother. But Jesus would rather raise him! Because when we’re suffering we want somebody to suffer with us not lecture us! So she could care less if “Jesus wept.” In her mind, Jesus failed! Where’s God when you need him? When death comes knocking, the resurrection comes up. As they discuss the afterlife, Martha talks about it in the future, “...at the last day.” Jesus thinks it’s for now, “I am the resurrection...” In his presence, new life is present. To bring about creation, all he needed was nothing. And all God needs for resurrection is for somebody to die. And there’s plenty of that! So Lazarus died and “Jesus wept.” In Bethany is John’s passion. What made him weep? How does somebody dying bring glory to God? Was it the unbelief of the mourners? They already said their goodbyes. And they think Jesus has come to say goodbye too. It never occurred to them that he came to say hello! Or to show them how God is most alive when life is most deadly. Glory to God!
Maybe “Jesus wept” because his friends misunderstood that God’s more interested in eternal life for all of us, than an empty grave for one of us. Everybody in the story is focused on preventing death. Only Jesus is intent on outliving it. Maybe he wept like we do when we lose someone we love. Death is the great leveler of human experience. As diverse and polarized as we are, we’re all alike when it comes to death. The only question is: who’s gonna be next?
So Lazarus’ in the ossuary, taped up, wrapped up, locked away, put down, with no exit. Then they lay this on him: “Lord, if you’d only been here ...” But you were late. And didn’t even send any flowers! John wants us to see that with Jesus, it’s never too late for one who never runs out of life! John wants us to see Jesus raising Lazarus because he has that kind of effect on the dead! When Jesus gets to a cemetery the dead rise! Even before Easter. But not being able to get through to people was then, and continues to be -- his greatest obstacle.
Jesus gets to the point: “Where have you laid him?” The sisters responded: “Come and see.” We’re in John now, with his two level theology. The Fourth Gospel has the phrase “Come and see” several times. And it’s always a call to discipleship, an invitation to faith. Early on the disciples wanted to know where he lived. “Come and see.” When Nathaniel, “a man without guile” but full of prejudice, wondered, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” Philip said, “Come and see.” The Samaritan woman encountered Jesus at the well, inviting the people of Sychar to, “Come and see -- if this is not the Christ?” And at Bethany the call to trust is extended to Jesus by Mary:“Come and see.” And Jesus came and saw and wept. Being God’s Son didn’t shield him from disappointment of God’s other sons. Or shame from those above him, betrayal of those closest to him and misunderstanding from all of them. Here we go again: “They know not what they do.”
The church is in the season of Lent, and it’s Minimum protection. Maximum support. That’s what Jesus got and how can we expect any more? Anything redemptive done at Bethany would be so provocative somebody’s gonna die! Because the world is still like that ... maybe that’s why he wept. In this story Jesus knows everything before it happens. John’s Jesus is Super-man. All-knowing. Victorious. Nobody “takes his life.” He lays it down on his own. Jesus stalls, and weeps. And he also knows! He knew when he 1st received word that his buddy was sick. He knew he’d catch it from the ladies for being tardy. He knew “this sickness is not about death.” But he knew it would lead to his death. From the cross he declared, “They know not ...” But Jesus knows! Yet he weeps. Can you catch the whiff of humanness in it? Maybe he hesitated at the tomb because it reminded him that he’s about to enter one himself. This is the agony! John’s Gethsemane.
Only John has the story of Lazarus. The other gospels tell about Gethsemane. But John has no Gethsemane, no screaming from the cross. John’s Jesus “sheds tears.” But Luke’s Jesus “sweats blood.” In the place of Gethsemane, John puts Bethany, where Jesus is in anguish, not in a garden but at a tomb. Do you see where he’s going with this? The path that came into focus at the transfiguration is now clear. The rule of nature demands the death of a seed in order to have physical life. The rule of discipleship demands the giving of life; the living of life, in order to have eternal life. It’s Lent. Minimum protection. Maximum support. “Where have you laid him?” is not a request for directions to the graveyard. And “Come and see” is not the offer of a map. The sisters think that’s what it is. But they’re like the bystanders in the Fourth Gospel they just don’t get it. Yet John has them saying far more than they realize, so we’ll get it. Because the entire drama of redemption lies in that brief exchange. It touches one of the thorniest human problems: living between life’s urgency and the resolution of our emergencies.
Like the sisters, our impulse is for Jesus to show up on time, make Lazarus well and console us. When it comes to death, we want maximum protection, not support! Have you ever heard anybody pray to God for “support?” We want protection! But this story is not just about Lazarus. Because Lazarus died twice. Jesus died once for all, and a far greater blessing -- touching not just one family in the tiny village of Bethany, but the whole human family -- stretching all the way to downtown Providence.
As a story about Lazarus, then it’s just a simple death following a sad illness, overcome by a miraculous raising. But John says the resuscitation was done on Lazarus but for God’s glory! It’s a dress rehearsal folks. Death is powerful. It traps us all in a dark, cold tomb. That’s Lazarus’ perspective. But death to God is little more than an excuse for Jesus to shine his glory on a triumphal resurrection for all who believe. But the gospel according to Jesus’ enemies is true. When Caiaphas hears about what happened in Bethany he observed, “It is better for one man to die than to have the whole nation destroyed.” “If we let him go on like this, the whole world will believe in him.” And they’re right. Jesus could be crucified but he couldn’t be stopped. “Even the gates of hell itself cannot prevail!”
Taken at the literal level, the death of Lazarus was sad because Jesus was absent. But at a deeper level, the death of Christ was an extraordinary gift, because God was present. John is inviting our entrance not only into his death and life, but ours too. So Jesus wept. And he also screamed! Because when the tears dried, he handed his own life over to God in absolute trust -- and shouted into the darkness of the tomb where Lazarus had been “stinking for four days.” “Lazarus, get out of there!” God’s wake-up call. It was a scream, loud enough … to wake up the dead! So all that’s left is ... “unbind him and set him free!”
Prayer /3/25/07 Living Lord, your time is the only time that matters. In this time of worship, we humbly and thankfully bow before Thee, who alone has power over life & death. Humbly, because of the mystery of life. Thankfully, because Jesus gives us what we need when we need it. We praise him who is our resurrection hope of eternal life before and beyond death; the Jesus who weeps and has nobody to wipe his tears away; the Jesus who feels our pain and lets us come to terms with it.
As a bunch of Baptists, we think of ourselves as resurrection people, but we seem to revel more in division, winning, things that lead to loss of life. Our faith teaches us you will act on our behalf. We just don’t know how or when. We like to think with Martha and Mary, that you can "give to us whatever we want." But we have to keep removing the graveclothes that blind us because we cant tell the difference between what we want and what we need. Resurrect us from the tombs of the fear of difference and newness and absence. Restore the joy in our hearts and the hope in whatever days you see fit for us to have.
Wipe away our tears so we can be a part of this church’s healing mission in a world where tears are too plentiful. Grant us patience to see that sometimes it’s better to wait and see how you prefer to work through pain and our human weaknesses in your own time; rather than remove them. Draw near to the despondent, refresh the dispirited, restore the downhearted, heal the sick. And may we as a congregation share in helping to fulfill these prayers. Encourage those waiting to die and those dreading having to continue to exist, well beyond the body’s ability to function. We will rejoice in the God who someday makes all things new ... because you are our one best hope in life, in death, in life beyond death... Amen. |
