Part 1: "Jesus began to weep."

Introduction

I've been thinking a lot recently about mourning, loss, depression and faith.  As I have watched people I care about struggling with losses of all types, and as I have experienced losses of my own, I have found myself looking again and again to the Bible for hope.  Like many other people, I've repeatedly turned to the account of Jesus' raising of his friend Lazarus from the dead.  This online study will look at that account from several different perspectives, in the context of mourning, loss and depression.  I hope you will experiment with the various elements of each Part and let me know what you find useful, interesting.  I hope you will also let me know what you find uninteresting, boring or useless.  That will help me improve future studies.

Prayer

I think it's a helpful practice to begin and conclude any examination of the Bible with a short prayer.  A good short prayer puts a reader in a right frame of mind to gain some insight from God.  A long prayer can be distracting or boring.  You may have your own preferred prayer for beginning a study; if so, offer that prayer now.  If not, try this prayer:

Lord, open my eyes.  Open my mind.  Open my heart.  Help me be to be relaxed, alert, and welcoming to whatever you want me to learn or know today.  Amen.

Scripture

The account of the raising of Lazarus appears only in the Gospel According to John, Chapter 11, verses 1-44.  Here is the passage, as translated in the New Revised Standard Version:

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. ²Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. ³So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.”

⁴But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This illness does not lead to death; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” ⁵Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, ⁶after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. ⁷Then after this he said to the disciples, “Let us go to Judea again.”

⁸The disciples said to him, “Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” ⁹Jesus answered, “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. ¹⁰But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.” ¹¹After saying this, he told them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.” ¹²The disciples said to him, “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” ¹³Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. ¹⁴Then Jesus told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead. ¹⁵For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” ¹⁶Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.”

¹⁷When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. ¹⁸Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, some two miles away, ¹⁹and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. ²⁰When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. ²¹Martha said to Jesus, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. ²²But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.”

²³Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.” ²⁴Martha said to him, “I know that he will rise again in the resurrection on the last day.” ²⁵Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, ²⁶and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?”

²⁷She said to him, “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.”

²⁸When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” ²⁹And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. ³⁰Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. ³¹The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there.

³²When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”

³³When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. ³⁴He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to him, “Lord, come and see.” ³⁵Jesus began to weep. ³⁶So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” ³⁷But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”

³⁸Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. ³⁹Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” ⁴⁰Jesus said to her, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” ⁴¹So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you for having heard me. ⁴²I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” ⁴³When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” ⁴⁴The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Unbind him, and let him go.”

Discussion:   "Lord, if you had been here..."

While the story may be very familiar, the text retains its dramatic effect even after many readings.  The tension builds and builds, until the exciting moment of Jesus' loud cry, "Lazarus, come out!" and Lazarus' startling appearance outside the tomb. No wonder that this episode features prominently in practically every movie and mini-series about the life of Jesus. 

Still, each reading seems to raise new questions and reveal surprising details.   For example, why did Jesus not hurry to Lazarus' bedside when he received the message about Lazarus' illness?  Each of the sisters of Lazarus separately greeted Jesus with the same statement:  "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."  The text does not indicate tone of voice, but it would have been understandable for the sisters to be upset, if they had known of Jesus' seemingly intentional delay in arriving.

Mary and Martha did not lack faith in Jesus' power or love.  Their initial message to Jesus mentioned Jesus' love for Lazarus, and the statement, "Lord, if you had been here, our brother would not have died" implies a belief in Jesus' power to heal.  The statement, though, also served as something of a rebuke, as if to demand an explanation of why he hadn't been there when he was needed.

In modern life, lots of people feel frustrated and even abandoned by God, when fervent prayers for the healing of loved ones do not appear to have any effect.  If we believe in God's existence, God's love and God's power, we struggle to understand God's failure to intervene to prevent the death of a loved one.  Even if we can accept the inevitability of death, we struggle to accept the extended suffering of people who are close to us.  God can seem very far away.  "Lord, if you had been here...."  

But Jesus had another agenda with Lazarus than showing his power to heal.  Jesus had already repeatedly demonstrated his power over illness and over disability.  Even as he healed particular individuals, though, Christ had not removed illness or disability from the world, even for his most faithful followers.  Everyone would have to suffer those things, even the most fervent believers.  So maybe the point of those healings was not just to remove suffering, but rather to show his lordship over all of the struggles of life. 

Jesus had showed a startling lack of worry about Lazarus' illness.  He even said he was glad to know that Lazarus was dead, because that meant he could demonstrate the glory of God, so that others might believe in God’s power and love.  Evidently, death was not the worst thing that could happen to Lazarus. 

In fact, when you think about it, Lazarus might not even have been too happy to be called back from the tomb.  After all, Lazarus would have known that he’d only have to suffer and die again later; and he also would have known what he was leaving behind.  But the raising of Lazarus wasn’t about Lazarus’ happiness.  It was a glimpse of the power of God in conquering death.  So that others might believe in that power, and get a glimpse of how it would feel.  Jesus called to Lazarus, not with congratulations, but with a command to come forth out of death, and a command that he be unbound and set free.

Reflection

Have you known another person whose long-held faith has been challenged by tragic events in life?  What became of that person?

Think of a time when you have mourned.  Perhaps you have mourned for the death of a loved pet or a dear relative.  Perhaps you have mourned the loss of a cherished career or a close relationship.  How did that affect your feelings about other things, or your feelings about God? 

Has your confidence in God's love or power or presence ever been shaken by events in your life?  Did God seem unconcerned?  Did you feel that your commitment to God had simply been a foolish waste of time?

Think about the account of the raising of Lazarus again, in connection with such times.  Does the account seem reassuring?  Or do you react more like those in the crowd-- “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?”  

What do you imagine Lazarus thinking, as he emerged from the tomb?

What practices, phrases, songs or Bible passages comfort you in times of mourning?  Do you find funeral rituals helpful and comforting, or painful and unnecessary?

Prayer

Lord, be with us in all mourning and loss.  Remind us that you are Lord of all life, and Lord over death itself.  In the midst of all the crises and sorrows of our lives, remind us that your love never fails.  In the name of Jesus, who raised Lazarus and who promises life to all of us, Amen.