What is the shortest sentence in the Bible? “Jesus wept.” In what book of the Bible do we find that sentence? The Gospel according to John. Where in John does it occur? In the story about the raising of Lazarus from the dead. Why does Jesus weep?
The answer to that question is not so easily answered. The obvious answer, of course, is that Jesus is mourning the death of his close friend, Lazarus. He and his disciples had arrived at Bethany four days after Lazarus had died. The mourning for Lazarus was still going on.
To understand the context of this story of the death of Lazarus we need to know a little bit about how death was treated in that day. It was much different in that day than it is in ours. Today, in our society, the death of a loved one is often seen as an inconvenient interruption in our busy lives. A funeral can sometimes be put off for weeks after the person’s death until everyone in the family can make time for it. When the time is chosen, and it arrives, the funeral is attended by family and friends, a reception is held, and then everyone rushes off “to get on with their lives.” It isn’t uncommon for some folks who ought to be present, not to be, because one of the kids had an important soccer game he couldn’t miss, or an exam she couldn’t miss, or some other similar excuse.
One person has observed that not infrequently during the funeral family members shield their iphones with their bulletins while they were texting during the service. They couldn’t even be present fully for 45 minutes while prayers were being said for the departed. People in our society don’t like to be reminded of the reality of death, and death therefore is too often treated as an inconvenient interruption in our busy schedules.
Contrast that with how death was treated in first century Palestine. Everything for a family stopped when a loved one died. Full attention was paid to the treatment of the body, the prayers, and the family. According to the commentary Synthesis, there was no embalming. The body was wrapped tightly with linen clothing and put in the burial vault. There was intense mourning for seven days, followed by less intense mourning for another 23 days. Thus, when Jesus and his disciples arrived on the scene, the intense mourning period was still going on. That’s why so many people were still present on the scene.
Lazarus’s sisters, Mary and Martha, both confront their friend with an implied criticism: “Lord, if you had been here my brother would not have died.” What they didn’t say, but implied, was “Why weren’t you here? What could have been more important than your good friend’s and our beloved brother’s illness?” The question must have stung, even though Jesus knew that the Father would raise Lazarus.
The grieving was intense, and Jesus was the epitome of empathy. Perhaps he wept because he felt the deep pain of Mary and Martha, and he internalized that pain so fully that it caused him to weep.
This miracle occurred toward the end of Jesus’ earthly ministry. It was the last of his miracles. He had changed water into wine, fed the 5000, cleansed lepers, healed people of various diseases, and had even raised the dead. They should have known by this time what he was about. Perhaps he wept because they still didn’t “get it.” Lane Denson III has written, “It seems important to me to remember that when Jesus weeps on this occasion, it may not be so much out of love for Lazarus, as the Jews presume, but out of his possible sorrow for their indifference to the life that is present in their midst. His life. Himself.
“’I am the resurrection and the life,’ he says. So it is with life, the life that is Jesus, the life that Jesus is. This life, as John Evangelist understands it, is eternal life.” Perhaps he wept because they still were missing the life that only he could give them.
Jesus prays to the Father, not asking him to raise Lazarus. He trusts fully that that will happen. Instead, he gives thanks to the Father that he has heard his prayer, and then he commands Lazarus to come forth from the tomb. Lazarus, still bound with the linen cloths, comes forth. Jesus tells those gathered to unbind him and let him go.
As we look toward our celebration of the Paschal Triduum, the Great Three Days, in which we celebrate the mystery of our redemption, we are given this story of the raising of Lazarus not just as a remembrance of yet another great miracle—in fact, the greatest of Jesus’ miracles; but because it becomes a metaphor for our life in Christ. Through our baptism we have been raised from our death in sin to new life in Christ. When we will celebrate the Paschal Triduum, we will be celebrating our story at the same time that we recall our Lord’s passion, death, and resurrection. Lazarus becomes symbolic of all of us in the Church.
As I reflect on this reality, I am led to give thanks for this portion of the Body of Christ which we call the Church of the Redeemer. Do you know what you have in this parish? Do you know what a gift of life God is giving us through our common life in Christ? Think of the hundreds of people who devote themselves to various aspects of our worship: the choir, ushers, RAMBOs, acolytes, Altar Guild, Lay Readers, Lay Eucharistic Ministers, and clergy, and the joyful way that our people participate. Think about our tremendous children’s and youth ministries, our adult Christian Education classes, and our ministry to the sick and shut-in. think about our women’s and men’s ministries, our evangelism efforts, and our many forms of mission and outreach.
As I say this, I think this could just be so much activity, but it is so much more than that. It is the Spirit of the living Christ among us. If St. Paul had been writing to us, I believe he would have said much the same thing as he said to the Romans: “But you are not in the flesh, you are in the Spirit…If Christ is in you, although your bodies are dead because of sin, your spirits are alive because of righteousness.” If you have eyes to see, you must see the Spirit active and alive in this parish. I give thanks for that reality on a daily basis.
And yet, at the same time that the Spirit is present and active, there are aspects of our lives that still bind us, just as Lazarus was bound up after his resurrection: personal problems that seem insurmountable, addictions that are difficult to conquer, relationships that are broken. Sometimes we are tempted to isolate ourselves in the face of such difficulties, but that is the worst thing we can do. The Church is intended to be a place where miracles still happen, and where those things that bind us can be dealt with. Jesus certainly had the power to command Lazarus to come forth unbound, but instead he called on the community to assist. Likewise, he calls the members of his Body to assist with the difficulties that each of us bears.
Give thanks to God the father for raising us from death, and pray that whatever binds us still, will be loosed through the power of Christ and the ministrations of His Church.
Sermon preached by The Rev. Fredrick A. Robinson
Church of the Redeemer
Sarasota, Florida
The Fifth Sunday of Lent
10 April 2011