Taken out of context, this reading could be misinterpreted as an apocalyptic vision of the resurrection on the last day, but if you read carefully, it is really referring to the feeling of hopelessness and helplessness felt by those who are in exile in Babylon. This chapter is meant to comfort the people of Israel, giving them hope of return to their promised land. There is, however, that element of promise that in the last day we will all be resurrected.

Paul's epistle exhorts the Roman Christians, to whom he writes, to be slaves not of sin, but of God. He acknowledges their natural limitations, but points out that through their struggles they will be sanctified. Their reward will be eternal life, a free gift of God, who is merciful and forgiving. This, too, is a form of resurrection. In dying to sin, we are reborn in Christ.

John's Gospel today is the story of Lazarus and his two sisters, Martha and Mary. Lazarus is sick, so the two sisters send a message to ask Jesus to come and heal him. Jesus waits for Lazarus to die, telling the apostles that he "sleeps," but the apostles, as usual, are confused by his explanation. They think Lazarus must be getting well. After all, if he is sleeping, then the fever must have broken and he must be on the way to recovery. It is only when they are clearly confused that Jesus tells them plainly that Lazarus is dead. Jesus has not lied about sleep. Looking at it from God's point of view, physical death would be only sleep. The spirit does not die. True death would be destruction of the soul itself.

Jesus returns to Bethany, a place where he was in danger of being stoned last time. Knowing that it is not yet time for his death, he is confident. Thomas is pretty sure they will all be killed. He is ready to die with him in a surprising act of courage.

After finding out that Jesus is coming, Martha, ever the doer, bustles over to talk to Him. There is just a hint of reproach, that Jesus hadn't come when asked, but waited a few days, until after it was too late to save Lazarus from death. Martha confesses a belief that there will be a resurrection on the last day, which was a common belief among most of most Jews of her day. There is one Jewish group who did not believe in the resurrection: The Saducees. As an old priest friend of mine pointed out long ago: They did not believe in resurrection, so they were sad, you see? Martha confesses her belief that Jesus is the Messiah, the anointed one, even after her brother has died. She believes that God will give him whatever he asks even now. What faith!

Jesus' answer, "I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live," is a paradox. The contradictions are thought provoking. As Jesus says in Mark 12:27, "God is God of the living, not the dead."

Martha sends for Mary, with the explanation that the "teacher", probably "Rabboni" in Aramaic--it would be "Rabbi" in Hebrew, was asking for her. When called, Mary leaves quickly to greet Jesus, but she is deep in grief. She is followed by a flock of mourners. We are not told whether or not they are professional mourners. In another account, that of the little girl in Matthew 9:23, professional mourners were hired. The ceremonies surrounding a death in Jesus' time among Jews were elaborate. They required at least ten people (read "men,") to conduct the funeral. Even today Conservative and Orthodox Jews require ten men, called a minyon, to "sit sheva," in which they hold a vigil in the deceased person's home for seven days. They also feed the family of the deceased for that amount of time. In Jesus' day, weeping and wailing lasted three days, lamentations lasted for the rest of the week, then general mourning lasted thirty days following death. During this time, mourners constantly came and went from the home of the deceased.

Mary arrives and kneels at Jesus' feet. Like Martha, there is a bit of reproach--"if only you had been here." Jesus is gentle with her, asking only where Lazarus had been laid. He weeps with compassion for the two sisters, a sign of his humanity.

Lazarus has been dead four days before Jesus arrives. The Jews of that time believed the soul remained with the body for three days, and then left when the body had decayed enough not to support life. Four days was too long. There was no embalming. Judaic law forbade it. The body was washed and anointed with spices and other aromatic substances to try to keep the odor down for as long as possible. Remember, this was in a warm climate!

Notice that Jesus prays to the Father before the miracle--aloud, so the others can hear him, possibly to keep people from thinking he was simply a magician. By praying to the Father aloud, Jesus limits any rumors that he is in league with the devil, or any god but the God of Israel.

Even after four days in the tomb--and the comment is made that the corpse stinks by now--Jesus calls Lazarus forth. There is a glimmering of a preview of Jesus' resurrection in this story. Lazarus is laid in a tomb, actually a cave in the hillside, with the stone rolled in front of the door, but this is a common practice in Israel, wherever there were caves. Lazarus emerges, with his head wrapped and bound hand and foot, probably to keep his body from moving too much when rigor mortis sets in.

This miracle will anger the Pharisees, who will begin to look for an opportunity to get rid of Jesus. There is no doubt, either, that Jesus knows exactly what he is doing. He knows this will bring about the circumstances that will end in his crucifixion, death, and resurrection. The Pharisees fear that the miracles will make people follow Jesus, and that will bring the Romans down to destroy them and their holy places. There were several false prophets during the Roman occupation of Israel, each of which caused terrible repercussions on the Jews. The Sanhedrin had some justification for their fear. A few lines after the account of this miracle, the high priest, Caiaphas, says that it is better for one man to die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed. Prophetic words, indeed, though he did not know it at the time. Soon after this, the next Passover, in fact, will be the Last Supper. Everything in these readings leads to Easter, and the resurrection. As Christians, the entire period of Lent is preparation for this celebration--and we have something wonderful to celebrate. Since our God is the God of the living, not the dead, we have the hope that we will be reunited with family and friends who may have died. We live in hope that, though their bodies have become dust, their spirits live on in Christ. We also have the hope that, once our time in this world is finished, we will also live in Christ.

Amen