Martha was cleaning the kitchen when her brother came in looking puny and said, I don’t feel good. Oh, Laz, you are such a hypochondriac, its probably just your sinuses. Ever since you turned 40 you have done nothing but complain. I don’t know sis, I really don’t feel good at all. Mary came up and felt his head. Wow, you are hot with fever Lazarus, why don’t you go lay down. Martha, fix him some of your chicken soup. The Master is scheduled to be here soon, He will take care of everything when He arrives. I will send word for Him to hurry.
Across the Jordan, in the wilderness, a man came up in a hurry to speak with Jesus. After he left, Jesus told the disciples, our old friend Lazarus is very sick. They knew how much He loved Lazarus and the sisters but they had come to the wilderness to escape the hit men of the Jewish leaders. It did not make sense to go back to Judea, even for Lazarus. Jesus reassured them and said, its ok, Lazarus will be alright, this sickness will not end in death and will bring glory to God and to me. The disciples just looked at each other and shrugged wondering how Laz’s illness would glorify the Master. It was this event and others of a similar nature that later caused them to understand how much the Master would ask of them in order to glorify Him. When He seemed in no hurry to go to Lazarus they were relived that he had decided not to go. They were surprised two days later when He said, we go! We are going to Judea. Wait Master, the Jewish leaders will try to kill you and us. Jesus smiled and answered, I walk in the light so I will not stumble, and it is not my time to die yet.
As they were walking, Jesus turned to them and announced, Lazarus has fallen asleep but I am going to wake him up. If he is sleeping won’t he get better Lord? (They were a little slow). Lazarus is dead guys, Jesus said and I am glad I was not there so that you may believe when you see what is going to happen. I don’t understand Lord, Thomas said, if he is already dead, why are we going? Jesus, like a patient parent didn’t answer but kept walking. Oh, well Thomas said, I guess we will all go die with him at the hands of the Jewish leaders. (you gotta love Thomas)
When they arrived in Bethany (2 miles from Jerusalem), they found a large crowd of Jews from Jerusalem that had come to comfort Martha and Mary, the sisters of Lazarus. Lazarus had been buried and had laid in the tomb for four days. When Martha heard that Jesus was there, she hurried out to greet Him but her sister Mary stayed, sitting dejectedly. Jesus could see in Martha’s face the sadness that marks those who have lost a close loved one. With quiet grief in her voice, Martha said to Jesus, if you had been here, I know you could have healed him and he wouldn’t have died. Then with faint hopefulness she said, even now I know that your Father will give you what you ask. Oh, how pleased He was to hear her faith and He encouraged her to believe in Him. Martha He said, Lazarus will rise again. I remember you teaching us that Master, she said, He will rise like we all will in the resurrection at the last day. Jesus, deciding to push her to the next level of understanding said, I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live even if he dies and whoever lives and believes will never die. Martha, do you believe this? Martha, who had been given some bad press for the pot banging incident did not hesitate. I do believe that Lord. You are the Christ, the Son of God who has come into the world. Jesus was pleased with her growth and her faith under the pressure of grief. Jesus told her, Go get Mary and tell her to come to me privately. When Martha quietly told Mary that the Teacher was asking for her, she got up with haste and went to find Him. Mary’s quick movement aroused the Jewish mourners who had been waiting with her in the house. Thinking she was going to the grave to mourn, they followed thinking to comfort her.
After Martha had left, Jesus watched the Jews who had come to mourn with the family. The custom of simulated mourning had always been an annoyance to Him. He detested anything that wasn’t genuine, especially the hypocrisy of man.
Then He saw Mary approaching and his heart hurt at the grief on her face. She was very special to Him, especially after she had publicly anointed Him with perfume and washed His feet with her tears and hair. She had always hung on His every word and He loved her sweet soul. When she got to Him, she collapsed at His feet weeping uncontrollably. She echoed her sister’s words, Lord if you had been here my brother wouldn’t have died. Jesus knew they had been waiting and hoping He would arrive until the moment Lazarus had died. After He died, He knew they had wanted to blame Him for not coming in time. As Jesus looked down at Mary in her grief, the mourners began to wail loudly with their loud, pseudo mourning.
It was at this moment that Jesus showed us His humanity because he became very frustrated and agitated within Himself. In that moment He felt overwhelmed by the grief of His friends, by His Godly hatred of death and the pain it was causing and on top of that, He had to listen to the hypocritical wailing of these pseudo spiritual Jews. His love for Mary and His frustration with His unbelieving countrymen welled up in Him and He burst into tears. Those who were watching this drama were moved, thinking He was weeping for the loss of Lazarus. Others, looking to criticize someone, anyone, said, Isn’t He the miracle man? Couldn’t He have kept him from dying? Jesus had heard enough! He said, where have you laid him? Moving toward the tomb, He heard the sniping of the crowd and once again He felt the frustration rising up in His spirit. Reaching the tomb, which was a cave with a stone across the entrance He commanded, move the stone! Martha, standing by Him went to stop Him. Lord, it has been four days and his body will have a terrible odor (Martha, always thinking about cleaning). Jesus turned to Martha and said, Didn’t I tell you that if you would believe, that you would see the glory of God?
Martha, Mary and the crowds were overwhelmed at what was happening. In spite of their doubts some of the men stepped forward and moved the stone away from the cave. Jesus, making sure that all of them knew that His Father was hearing His prayer, said out loud, Father, I thank you that you have heard my prayer. I know completely that you hear everything I ask but I want these here to know you hear me so they can believe that you sent me. Having said this, He paused for a moment and shouted, Lazarus, come out!
John does not tell us about the immediate reactions of the sisters, the disciples or the crowds to Jesus’ command to a dead man. There must have been a hush in the crowd where a leaf dropping could be heard. We can only imagine their incredulous looks with their mouths hanging open and their eyes bulging out of their heads. Could Jesus really command the dead to come back to life? After four days with flesh rotting off the bones, could Jesus restore Lazarus to life? There had to have been some strange, unintelligible sounds emitted by human souls as the barriers of impossibility were shattered before their very eyes. What a sight it must have been as the sisters and disciples involuntarily began jumping up and down, rejoicing and praising as the dead man walked out of the tomb, alive again. Dead for four days, Lazarus had no choice but to obey the voice of He who had spoken the universe into existence and had breathed life into the first man and now demonstrated that He had command of even death itself. His soul and spirit rejoined his body and he rose from his repose and walked again as a living, breathing brother and friend. When Lazarus stumbled out of the cave, bewildered and confused, perhaps even disappointed at being called back from paradise, Jesus commanded them to remove his burial clothing and let him go home. What a homecoming they must have had that day. Can you imagine Martha going through the kitchen fixing, baking and cleaning everything that didn’t move. I believe Mary just sat silently next to him, arm linked through his, never taking her eyes off him except to look at Jesus. The disciples may have finally been quieted after all that they had seen. What Jesus had been saying for days was finally making sense as they realized that all of this had been planned. In this event they were being given a glimpse of all they would suffer so that God could be glorified in their own lives.
What John does tell us is what was the most important impact on those who witnessed this great miracle. Many of the Jews who had come to help the family put their faith in Him. God had allowed His servant Lazarus, beloved of Jesus, to suffer through sickness and even death so that Jesus could raise him and bring glory to the Father and the Son. His sickness had been foreknown, allowed and then used by God to demonstrate His power and His grace so that those who were willing could believe and be saved.
Are you willing to embrace your adversities knowing that God has allowed them for His own glory and to bring someone to saving faith? Be assured that as you grieve for your loved ones or they over you, that your Lord and Savior grieves along with all of His beloved. We are not alone and we never will be.
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