Jesus contends with the bully named Death.

 The story of Lazarus…his death, and his resurrection…

            The story of Lazarus is intended to prepare the way…

                                                                        Set the table….

                                    To get the disciples, and Martha and Mary and all the others...

                                                And—you and me too

                                                            To get us ready to anticipate what will happen with Jesus.

We’re getting closer, right?  Less than two weeks till Good Friday…and the cross…

                                                Two weeks from today—Easter Sunday!!

      So John gives us this window through which to begin anticipating…get us on our tiptoes!

It’s the story of Lazarus, supposedly…

            I say supposedly, because in the story, Lazarus actually never shows his face…and never speaks a single word—at least not the way John tells it!!

By the time Jesus gets to Lazarus…the funeral is over!

Lazarus is wrapped up in his graveclothes, and inside a tomb with a stone rolled in front of it…

            (which sounds a lot like what happens with Jesus, doesn’t it?)

And we see with our mind’s eye—in our imagination, we see Lazarus emerging from the tomb—but still, all wrapped up!   And not once do we hear him say anything.

So yes, it’s a story involving Lazarus, but really---it’s a story about Jesus.  And Jesus interactions with his disciples, and with Martha and Mary and with the people who   were there…

There are some odd things about it, for sure…

When Jesus gets word that Lazarus was sick…

            You might expect Jesus to show a little shock, or empathy….some concern!!!   Lazarus was a friend.  A good friend.  Lazarus whom you love….

            And getting word from someone…in this case, from the sisters…

                        Getting word was a big deal.  Long before telephones or email or anything like that…a major thing to get word….(it involved actual travel!!)

                        You would know, that unspoken is the understood reality: it’s serious.

                                    Lazarus—whom you love--is deathly ill.

But Jesus downplays it. This sickness will not end in death…It’s actually going to be an opportunity for God’s glory to be revealed…in God’s Son…

What?   Jesus, Mr. Compassion—this is how you respond???

The other thing that was unspoken, but understood---is that when that message gets sent, it’s the sisters saying—Jesus...please come and help.

                                                Jesus make him well.  

And again, the response of Jesus seems odd…

            Did he drop what he was doing, book the redeye…turn on the sirens…

                        Say to his disciples—Come on fellows—there’s an emergency!

            That’s what we might do.  Try to get there yesterday.

                        It’s what you do when its someone you love, isn’t it??

And yet Jesus, Jesus stayed right where he way for two more days and apparently did not let his disciples in on just how sick Lazarus really was…

                        Jesus, Mr. Compassion, what gives?

                                    ---don’t you care about Lazarus?  And Martha, and Mary…Jesus, come on!

And then after waiting two days—then suddenly it’s time to get there…to Judea

            --even though, as the disciples point out…it’s not necessarily safe for Jesus…

                                    Last time in that area—they tried to stone him.

            And the disciples are concerned. Afraid.

But Jesus? Jesus seems untouched by fear, or by sentiment.

                        He says, almost as if he is annoyed… he says—Lazarus has fallen asleep and I am going over there to wake him up.

Really. We are risking going to Judea so that you wake somebody up??  If he’s asleep, he’s wake up.

`      But, Jesus clarifies…actually, it’s not a simple sleep…he’s dead.   

                        And in a certain way, that’s all fine—because of how all of this will unfold.

Not hard to imagine the disciples shaking their heads. 

            Thomas saying what all of them were thinking.  OK—off to Judea.

                                    Lazarus is dead.

                                       Jesus might be next…and probably all of us too

They get to Bethany.  Four days late.  

Jesus, says one sister: if you had been here, my brother would not have died.

            And then the other sister…Jesus-if you had been here, my brother would still be here too

You’re late, Jesus.   Late.  Too late.

Once death strikes, it’s done. Game over.

Nothing can be changed anymore.

            --there’s that big round stone we rolled in front of the grave like a giant punctuation mark.   The end. Period.

Does Jesus offer condolences?

Apologize for coming late?

No.  In fact what he says can sound rather cold and uncaring…

            Your brother will rise again…

            And there’s some back and forth….The sisters thinking about resurrection in the future…someday…in the great beyond…eternity….then.

But Jesus wants to infuse the present, the here, the now…

                        With some of that resurrection light that most often gets tucked away into our someday slot…Eventually….then…

Jesus wants some of that future comfort to find its way into the present---he wants it to colour our world already now…

            So, he declares: I am the Resurrection and the Life…whoever believes in me…will never die…even if, when he, she dies, yet---will live!

First it was those disciples…afraid of death…

                                                Convinced of death’s dominance

                                                   And then the sisters, and all those others there…

            They know how this all works.

                        What you see is what you get.  They are there to acknowledge death. To mourn…to deal with death as the efficient bully it is.

But two things happen.  Jesus wept. 

                                                And Jesus orchestrated, implemented—a resurrection.

First the crying.  Why does Jesus cry?

     He hasn’t seemed caring, responsive—at all. He could have, might have—healed, saved, fixed.    But didn’t.

            And now he cries?

John describes it like this: when Jesus saw Mary weeping, and all the Jews weeping with her, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.

            Deeply moved in spirit…Jesus weeps with these people. Look at what death does.

Yes. Deeply moved in spirit…and troubled.

Troubled. That’s the word which describes what happens to water when the wind blows. Water becomes choppy. Turbulent.  It churns.  

                                                ….it has an angriness to it.

Both of these things are going. Blend heartfelt compassion with a spoonful of anger, and you’ll know why Jesus wept.

            He wept because he hates what death does to people.

            He hates the way death sets people running. Jerks us around.

Is someone sick? Drop everything.

Is death imminent? Think about flying.

Has death struck? You can’t argue with death. So final.

Jesus goes out of his way to react absolutely opposite of every human instinct.

He does not rush.

He does not give in to fear.

He does not apologize for coming late.

But he intentionally arrives when he does—when darkness seems to have taken over

                                                                        --when death seems to have had the last word

                                                                                    --can these bones live???

Lazarus is now the late Lazarus…

            Well---meet the intentionally late Jesus.

Into this darkness comes a revelation: a flash of light from beyond the grave.

            Jesus declares: I am the Resurrection and the Life….

And Jesus asks---where have you laid him?   A question we will hear again on Easter morning!!

And Jesus commands---Take away the stone…

                        No---comes the cry---it’s been four days… The smell will be awful!!!

            And then Jesus again says those odd words about the glory of God…

                        And the stone is rolled away…

And Jesus in a voice loud enough to wake the dead…said “Lazarus, come out”

            And there came Lazarus…his hands and feet wrapped up in linens, and a cloth over his face…

            A dead man, walking.

Take off his clothes and let him go.

Surrounded by evidence of death;s power

            Death’s power to control our lives, \             

                                                To awaken fear

                                                   To make us tremble

                                                            To cut us deeply

            To make us bend our knees and acknowledge its unyielding power, its inevitability

                        A Pharaoh-like tyrant.

Jesus, Mr. Resurrection ---Jesus hates it.

Let my people go.

Let Lazarus go.

Lazarus died and then was raised up…to ready us for what Jesus himself would need to endure.  If death is to be conquered…

                If new life is to be breathed into this creation and into all of us dying ones…big picture

            Jesus will have to enter a grave as well…stay tuned, says John…

Well…what do we do with this story?

            For one?  We have been dealing with a late Jesus for two thousand years.

                                    You’re late…way late…if you would just get over here…step on it…

                                                You could have prevented so much…

Understand Jesus timing?

Make that all seem sweet and smooth?   I don’t think so.  Beyond our grasp.

But then something else—what will happen…this revelation of Jesus for death and beyond…

            It’s also intended to infuse our now… our today—with a new, hopeful, faith-filled manner

            As Paul describes it—a Spirit of life…a Spirit which honors the good news and the core values of Jesus…the victory of life and goodness and hospitableness over all that is disappointing, disillusioning, disheartening, discouraging…

            ---all that has us bending a knee to darkness…be it thru fear, or through violence.

                        --what can you do??  Corruption, violence, death dealing domination…

                                                Can these bones live???

 Blend a cup of compassion for the hurting, and a dash of anger against what causes hurting---now throw in a jolt of resurrection: BAM!

            --and allow this declaration of Jesus to infuse—to breathe into your grief, pain, powerlessness—enough hope, comfort, resilience—to be a ray of light in this world already now.  Without Jesus…it’s a cemetery out there.

            But with Jesus…the Resurrection and life…we need to trust this enough, to let Jesus colour your world….right now. Right here.