Open the Word

• Martha and Mary, and the intimate dialogues that Jesus has with each of them, are central. The conversations are related but distinct. The sisters have gone through the difficult process of seeing their brother die. They have, as we might put it, gone through hell. With her enigmatic assertion that ‘God will give you whatever you ask of him’, Martha seems to think that Jesus can still resolve the situation, but does not know how. She believes that God can transform situations, but the notion of a stinking corpse coming back from the dead was beyond the wildest expectations of a pragmatic woman. Today’s psalm, ‘Out of the depths’, could be used to illustrate how she might have felt. What she learns is that God can transform a situation in more ways than she expected. This raising is, in some sense, a foretaste of resurrection for all, in which Martha firmly believes. It is also a foretaste of what is to come for Jesus himself, a point that is particularly relevant as we mark today the beginning of Passiontide, the most solemn fortnight in the Church’s calendar. The conversation with Mary is briefer but more emotional and less theological.

• It is no accident that the core saying, ‘I am the resurrection and the life’ comes at the heart of this passage. We hear those words most often as a public proclamation at funeral services. The story makes the point very clearly that Lazarus was not just dead but stinking (v. 39). This point is made another way in the South African version of the Mysteries (see Further resources) in which the Lazarus who rises is dressed as a spirit returning from another world.

• We need to be careful not to suggest that this story is normal. It was no more normal in the first century for stinking corpses to reappear from the grave (or for the dead bones described by Ezekiel to reassemble) than it is today. Equally death is surely not to be seen as entirely negative. Death and life are both integral to creation. Without death there would be no compost or renewal of fertility in the ground. The intimate integration of life and death, inextricably intermingled in the story of creation, is part of the background to today’s Gospel story. The raising of Lazarus is the last and most significant of the signs in John’s Gospel. Its very abnormality is the central feature of the story. Yet the reactions of the people are very similar to those we could imagine people having today, were such extraordinary events to occur. Above all in the unexpected there is a sign of God’s power.

Another angle

• Lazarus’ freedom is not something he can grasp alone. He needs to be helped towards freedom, to be unbound. How much are we bound by metaphorical grave clothes as we seek to live out a Christian life in the 21st century? Are we as free to believe as we think we are?

Living faith

• How do we, in this generation that sees very few ‘miracles’, react? Are we equally angry that God seems to have selected a few people in a particular time to benefit from such miracles?

• The Jewish people have experienced many such times, and the question has always been the same: how can the God who promises loving care and protection allow such things to happen to his people? Certainly for some Holocaust survivors, such as the writer Primo Levi, their experiences made faith in God an absurd impossibility; and who are we, in our relative comfort, to say that they were wrong? In biblical times, atheism in the modern sense was not a live option; but much of the Hebrew Bible might be described as a running argument with God (an over-simplification, but one that makes its point). Biblical faith, from Moses to Jesus, was never easy or cheap, neither was it a spiritual plaster or a holy duvet; rather it searches beneath the cosy music for something deeper and more hard won — a faith that can only come ex profundis.

• Christians may be reminded of the parable of the girls waiting for the bridegroom (Matthew 25.1-12). The nocturnal vigil is rewarded, but only for those who took the precaution of bringing sufficient oil for their lamps. The gospel-writer appends the stern warning: ‘Keep awake, therefore, for you know neither the day nor the hour’ (v. 13; cf. Psalm 95.11).

• Robert Alter suggests that ‘The force of the image is evident. The watchmen sitting through the last three watches of the night, peering into the darkness for the first sign of dawn, cannot equal [our] intense expectancy for God’s redeeming word to come to [us] in the dark night of the soul’ (p. 456).

• If the psalm ends on a note of hope, this is no conventional resolution. In Lent particularly, we are reminded that there can be no resurrection without death, no promise of redemption without the dark night of the soul.

I hear that the disciples still aren’t keen to come. It’s because of that nastiness last time they were in Judea. Some of our people wanted to stone Jesus. They don’t like the claims he makes for himself. I believe every word he says. At least, I think I do…but he said Lazarus wouldn’t die, and he has. Did he stay away because of the threat of stoning? Then why come back now, when there’s nothing he can do? The disciples are sure they’re all walking to their deaths. What am I supposed to think?

Leader What would you think? Discuss and share your ideas.

> ALLOW TIME FOR THIS.

Now we’ll go back to Martha to hear how the story unfolds.

Martha What a day! What a joyous, miraculous day! But where were we when I left off? Oh yes. Jesus was on his way, and I didn’t know what to think. Well, when I heard that he was on the outskirts of Bethany, I felt an upsurge of faith and hope deep inside. But it contradicted my common sense. I mean, Lazarus had been dead for four days. What was I expecting Jesus to do? And I was still angry with him: puzzled; hurt. I ran to meet him, with my emotions all over the place. In almost the same breath as I rebuked him for not coming to save Lazarus’ life, I said that even now I believed that God would give him anything he asked. I don’t know what I was getting at. My brother was dead — but you can never quite believe a loved one has gone, can you? He told me Lazarus would rise again. I said I knew he would — in the resurrection on the last day. But then he said the strangest thing. He said that he is the resurrection and the life, and that nobody who believes in him will ever die. At that moment, I realised that I didn’t doubt him. I believed. Absolutely.

I ran to fetch Mary, and the other mourners followed. Mary was in a worse state than I was, if that’s possible. And she said the same thing — that Lazarus wouldn’t have died if Jesus had come sooner. She was at his feet, sobbing, and everybody was crying. It really seemed to hit Jesus then. His friend had died, and we were in agonies of grief. I’ve never seen him so affected. And he wept, just like us. Jesus wept.

Leader Can you imagine the conflicting feelings present among the characters here? Discuss them together.

> ALLOW TIME FOR THIS.

Now, we’ll hear how matters reached a dramatic climax.

Martha We took Jesus to the tomb, and he told the men to roll the stone away. I was still all over the place. I’d heard what he said about Lazarus rising, and I believed him, but I’ve always been the practical type, so I pointed out that there would be a smell. But Jesus just reminded me to believe. He prayed. Then he told Lazarus to come out!

My brother appeared at the entrance to the tomb, still wrapped in his grave clothes. He was alive! He was well and truly alive! We removed the linen strips, and he was whole, alive and free from sickness and decay! Many other mourners put their faith in Jesus after that. And for me, down to earth Martha, it was as if I had been liberated, just like my brother stepping out of the tomb. I was free to believe. Anything is possible with God!

Leader Here we can see how Martha’s practical attitude was at odds with her faith. She was finally freed to see that faith can transcend the normal conditions of life, even death itself! Let’s discuss this aspect of conflict.

> ALLOW TIME FOR THIS.

Explore the Word

How an expected event might free someone to believe.

If it is appropriate, consider stories about near-death experiences, which often seem to involve a feeling of calm and peace and even a reluctance to be drawn back to life. How might such stories relate to the experience of Lazarus?

Consider unexpected things that may have happened to us or to other people. Sometimes the weather can change unexpectedly and trap people, as when fog comes down while people are hill walking or simply you go out on a lovely sunny day without a waterproof, but the weather changes and you have to walk home in a cold downpour. A more sinister example is when the tide comes up unexpectedly (because no one checked), trapping people on a island of sand. A more urban example might be the first time you experienced the hot damp towels offered in some Indian restaurants?

Consider the unexpected in films and books, such as the ending of The Lion, the Witch and Wardrobe. In traditional murder mysteries, readers are kept in suspense until the last minute when the murderer is revealed. Apparently most people who go to see the Twilight series of films already know the ending; does it matter if you know the ending before you see the film or read the book?

How does something unexpected help to reveal God to us? Could some of these feelings help us to understand how Martha and Mary might have felt?

The God we worship is so much more than we can imagine. God is not one who does what we want when we want it but rather one who loves and cares, giving us freedom; and this will involve the need to experience and observe pain and suffering. As we watch Jesus complete his journey to Jerusalem next Sunday and then follow him to the cross we will reflect on this. Sometimes we can’t put our feelings into words ourselves, and the people who do this for us are the poets. Think of Graham Kendrick’s words: ‘hands that flung stars into space to cruel nails surrendered’; or for a different flavour, Charles Wesley: ‘Our God contracted to a span, incomprehensibly made man.’ What are your favourite words from a Passiontide hymn or song?