Psalm 130
This psalm begins in 'the depths' and echoes the grieving of Mary and Martha in John's story. Used as a penitential psalm in the early church, often used now in funeral services, it points to God's deliverance, in trust that it will come with the certainty of morning. It is a psalm that offers a way of living for those in the depths - hoping, waiting, but also crying out. It is adaptable today to the cries of many living in 'the depths', both personally and socially.
Romans 8.6-11
This reading helps us to see how broad the notion of 'life' is. In Romans 8, Paul concludes his careful explanation about what is wrong with human existence and how God deals with it. In previous chapters the key terms have been 'sin', 'death' and 'law'; here the key terms are 'flesh' and 'spirit'. 'Flesh' in this context does not simply mean 'physicality' or 'the body' but a mind-set and lifestyle that refuse to acknowledge dependence on God and do not look beyond self-satisfaction. In contrast, the Roman Christians are called to recognise that, though they live in the body, the life of the Spirit has begun in them. Life, then, is far more than material existence, but lived through the body. A close connection is drawn between the raising of Jesus and the raising of Christians.
John 11.1-45
John 11 is another of John's carefully plotted stories. Many debates about interpreting John's Gospel are focused in this passage: how John's Gospel relates to history, John's picture of Jesus, what he says about 'the Jews' and the roles of women in biblical texts. Questions about historical realism which have often been fought over in Western scholarship are not the key to this story. The narrative, like the rest of John's Gospel, points away from solely material considerations, so also, therefore, away from the question 'did it happen precisely like this?' From the beginning of the story, attention is drawn to layers of meaning through the disciples' misunderstanding about illness and sleep and the metaphors of light and dark and day and night used to explain Jesus' task. Yet there is also a clear level of realism and physicality in the story. We are in the fully human realm of relationships, deep commitments, grief and trouble. Attention is drawn to what happens to a body in a warm climate. It is in the midst of real human calamity that God's power in Christ brings life.
The raising of Lazarus is the final and greatest 'sign' in John's Gospel. It ends one section of the Gospel, looks towards the passion and resurrection narratives, and takes the place of the cleansing of the Temple in the synoptic Gospels. It may have links to stories in the synoptics of Jesus raising people from the dead, or to Luke's parable of the rich man and Lazarus which refers to the possibility of someone returning from the dead. But it is also different in tone from those stories. Details of the tomb and the grave clothes point to the resurrection of Jesus. However, the raising of Lazarus is a story of resuscitation very different from Jesus' resurrection. The echoes show that this story is to be read 'from the end', in the light of the resurrection of Jesus, as is the whole of John's Gospel.
Women are the central characters in this story. Interpretations of the characters can, though, be very varied. Mary is either 'passive and emotional', or she waits faithfully for Jesus' call and moves him deeply. Martha either makes an inadequate confession (for some commentators) or one that is hugely significant for this point in the Gospel, naming Jesus as the Messiah, the Son of God. The story also shows that John's portrait of 'the Jews', often so problematic, can have varying meanings which the narrator does not bother carefully to separate. Deeply layered, the story also has a simple message: that Jesus has God's authority and gives life.