Rising from the Dead
How come we never hear from Lazarus?
Oh, we hear plenty about him--brother of Mary and Martha, the one that Jesus loved, etc.--but we never hear from him. In fact, John 11:44 leaves him still wrapped in grave linens like a mummy. Jesus says, "'Take off the grave linenes and let him go,'" and that's the end of it. We do not see Jesus's reaction to Lazarus's rising. We see his reaction to Lazarus's death in that he wept (John 11:35), which people often find to be a great comfort. But on the affairs after his rising, the Bible is very quiet. It moves on to follow Jesus, and they are not mentioned together again that I have seen (correct me if I'm wrong, please... I'm just a lay person), which may not be so strange because they really aren't mentioned together much previous to this, either, though it says that they were pretty much like brothers.
This whole chapter has always confused me. The more I read it, the more confused I become. It also has in it what I like to call one of the footnotes of the Bible, which is that it has a verse that reads like someone inserted it as a footnote after the fact. This always irritates me. The verse is 11:42. Verse 11:41 reads, "So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. " Then verse 42 goes on, "I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me." This reads very much like a scribe was trying to justify Jesus thanking God that he had heard him when they are supposed to be one and the same. Because clearly Jesus is way too cool to give God thanks for answering him like the rest of us. In my mind, it makes the verse even stranger. If Jesus knew that God would hear him, then why did he weep? If Jesus didn't know, then what a risk, but also, what does that say about God?
And the main question, in my mind, is what about Lazarus? I find myself wondering if he was angry. I find myself wondering if he was changed. Was he glad for a second chance or screwed up from being locked in a tomb for four days? Was he alive that whole time? And if not, was he angry at being brought back?
I feel like if I knew more about Lazarus, I would know more about how to handle being "born again." We Christians pay a lot of lip service to this phrase, but we so rarely talk about what it means. To be born again means we come back from the dead. We are given a new life, but to get a new life, you must die to the old one.
I have a terrible time with this. I like my life. I like my sins. Sometimes, they're the only things that seem real. Excuse me for saying, but sometimes some guy in a bathrobe with lights behind his head and a lack of physical body in a grave as his only proof for existence just isn't enough. Sometimes I want someone who I can see. Sometimes I want someone who can hug me. Sometimes I want less God and more man.
"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'" John 11:25-26. And Martha, who had previously been scolded for her concern over the wrong things while Mary poured perfume on Jesus's feet, says, "Yes, Lord."
Maybe Jesus weeps because he realizes what a hard thing this is that he has had to do for the kingdom. Maybe he is not weeping for his dead friend but for his live friends who have suffered for four days not knowing that God would intervene. I do not know. Maybe he is weeping for what Lazarus will come back to. Maybe he is weeping for his dead friend who will live again and have to wrestle with what it means to live after death and die again a second time. There is no way to know this.
The tears of God are a troubling thing because what exactly can one do with them? They are probably so complex that no one can ever understand them, and yet, I wonder about them.
And I can't help but wonder about Lazarus and what he went on to do, too. I can't help but wonder what being brought back to life is supposed to feel like... cause I'm pretty sure I'm doing it all wrong.
Oh, we hear plenty about him--brother of Mary and Martha, the one that Jesus loved, etc.--but we never hear from him. In fact, John 11:44 leaves him still wrapped in grave linens like a mummy. Jesus says, "'Take off the grave linenes and let him go,'" and that's the end of it. We do not see Jesus's reaction to Lazarus's rising. We see his reaction to Lazarus's death in that he wept (John 11:35), which people often find to be a great comfort. But on the affairs after his rising, the Bible is very quiet. It moves on to follow Jesus, and they are not mentioned together again that I have seen (correct me if I'm wrong, please... I'm just a lay person), which may not be so strange because they really aren't mentioned together much previous to this, either, though it says that they were pretty much like brothers.
This whole chapter has always confused me. The more I read it, the more confused I become. It also has in it what I like to call one of the footnotes of the Bible, which is that it has a verse that reads like someone inserted it as a footnote after the fact. This always irritates me. The verse is 11:42. Verse 11:41 reads, "So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, "Father, I thank you that you have heard me. " Then verse 42 goes on, "I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me." This reads very much like a scribe was trying to justify Jesus thanking God that he had heard him when they are supposed to be one and the same. Because clearly Jesus is way too cool to give God thanks for answering him like the rest of us. In my mind, it makes the verse even stranger. If Jesus knew that God would hear him, then why did he weep? If Jesus didn't know, then what a risk, but also, what does that say about God?
And the main question, in my mind, is what about Lazarus? I find myself wondering if he was angry. I find myself wondering if he was changed. Was he glad for a second chance or screwed up from being locked in a tomb for four days? Was he alive that whole time? And if not, was he angry at being brought back?
I feel like if I knew more about Lazarus, I would know more about how to handle being "born again." We Christians pay a lot of lip service to this phrase, but we so rarely talk about what it means. To be born again means we come back from the dead. We are given a new life, but to get a new life, you must die to the old one.
I have a terrible time with this. I like my life. I like my sins. Sometimes, they're the only things that seem real. Excuse me for saying, but sometimes some guy in a bathrobe with lights behind his head and a lack of physical body in a grave as his only proof for existence just isn't enough. Sometimes I want someone who I can see. Sometimes I want someone who can hug me. Sometimes I want less God and more man.
"Jesus said to her, 'I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?'" John 11:25-26. And Martha, who had previously been scolded for her concern over the wrong things while Mary poured perfume on Jesus's feet, says, "Yes, Lord."
Maybe Jesus weeps because he realizes what a hard thing this is that he has had to do for the kingdom. Maybe he is not weeping for his dead friend but for his live friends who have suffered for four days not knowing that God would intervene. I do not know. Maybe he is weeping for what Lazarus will come back to. Maybe he is weeping for his dead friend who will live again and have to wrestle with what it means to live after death and die again a second time. There is no way to know this.
The tears of God are a troubling thing because what exactly can one do with them? They are probably so complex that no one can ever understand them, and yet, I wonder about them.
And I can't help but wonder about Lazarus and what he went on to do, too. I can't help but wonder what being brought back to life is supposed to feel like... cause I'm pretty sure I'm doing it all wrong.
posted by GetMeThrough at
1:01 PM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home