The Gospel for Saturday, February 21, 2004
John 11:1-16
There was a man named Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister, Martha, and he was ill. It was the same Mary, the sister of the sick man Lazarus, who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair. The sisters sent this message to Jesus, ‘Lord, the man you love is ill.’ On receiving the message, Jesus said, ‘This sickness will not end in death, but it is for God’s glory so that through it the Son of God may be glorified.’ Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, yet when he heard that he was ill he stayed where he was for two more days before saying to the disciples, ‘Let us go back to Judaea.’ The disciples said, ‘Rabbi, it is not long since the Jews were trying to stone you; are you going back there again?’ Jesus replied: Are there not twelve hours in the day? No one who walks in the daytime stumbles, having the light of this world to see by; anyone who walks around at night stumbles, having no light as a guide. He said that and then added, ‘Our friend Lazarus is at rest; I am going to wake him.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he is at rest he will be saved.’ Jesus was speaking of the death of Lazarus, but they thought that by ‘rest’ he meant ‘sleep’; so Jesus put it plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead; and for your sake I am glad I was not there because now you will believe. But let us go to him.’ Then Thomas—known as the Twin—said to the other disciples, ‘Let us also go to die with him.’ -- The New Jerusalem Bible. 1995, c1985. Doubleday: Garden City, N.Y.
A Study
William Barclay's Daily Study Bible commentary on John's Gospel makes the excellent point that Jesus, on hearing that Lazarus was ill, took no action, though Lazarus was a dear friend. Moreover, Barclay points out, Mary and Martha didn't add "Please hurry and come now!" to their message; they knew that Jesus would take care of the situation.
Jesus' mother, when she told him the wine was all gone at Cana, had the same attitude. He "took care of things" but He did it His way. His mother must have known, from experience, that he was like that. Remember what she said to the servants? "Do what he tells you to do." Martha and Mary knew, too.
After spending another two days on the safe side of the river, Jesus decided that the time to act had come. By this time, he apparently (we must surmise) have known that Lazarus had to be well-dead, and that Lazarus' resurrection would be a distinctly important event -- to glorify the Father.
Thomas, who is recalled always as "Doubting Thomas," showed no lack of faith or conviction in this scene. He told his associates that they should all then accompany Jesus back into to Judea, and into great danger, "so that we may die with him."
A Reflection
It is at least a literary grace to be done with the corrupt temple elite for at least a brief time. The relentless pounding that John continues in drumming their iniquity and blindness into the reader bcomes numbing after a while. If this story were to be read aloud, as it was no doubt intended, the drama would be heightened; yet, a solitary reader, mining the verses for inspiration, is almost deafened.
John's literary device of Jesus' oblique statement -- followed by listener's clueless question -- followed by Jesus' patient attempt at explanation -- also begins to weary the student. But is it possible that we are as weary just from reading as Jesus is about to be in his walk to Gethsemane and on to Golgotha? Not likely.
So the obligatory oblique statment, "I must go and awaken him," prompted the disciples' quick (and naive, of course) response, "Oh, he's OK," followed by Jesus' very blunt "No, he's dead..... Let's go to him." At least, some comfort was provided to the disciples. Jesus was going only as far as Bethany, some two miles from Jerusalem. Perhpas there was safety there, after all.
When we consider that John was willing to let people take away the impression that God had caused the blind man to be blind all his life just so that Jesus could stop by and restore his sight, then John's letting Lazarus die and rot for a few days at least fits the pattern if still not something that fits our sensibilities. And apparently, though not contained in today's selection, not the sisters' either: "Lord if you had been here, he would not have died."
The lectionary breaks the story at this point in the telling of John's gospel, presumably to allow us to pray and think and reflect on what has just been read. Reflection is a difficult process when not even the complete set-up for the story has been revealed! The more I dive into the scriptures, though, the more I am convinced that there's never any wasted work of authorship in the New Testament.
A germ of a message, the kernel of thought, can be found in the light-vs-dark comparison [and there are likely more such kernels not revealed in my reading so far]. Those in the day do not stumble because they have the light ("I am the light of the world") to guide them; those who walk in the night ("like thieves and robbers who come in the night and must enter the sheepfold another way") will stumble and fall.
Jesus tells his disciples that he is preparing to increase their faith as he guides them into deeper belief. Yes, the thieves and robbers will be there, but His light will overcome them.
7:26:33 AM 
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