By Dr. Ray Pritchard

"When he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days."
- John 11:6

Why did he wait two more days?
Why not come now, right now, while Lazarus is alive?
If he really loved Lazarus, why delay at all?

It's easy to understand the disciples' confusion.

"Lord, this man is your friend.
We've seen you heal people you didn't even know.
Lazarus loves you, and you love him.
Why are you waiting?"

When at last Jesus arrives in Bethany, Lazarus has already died.
He is met by Martha, sister of Lazarus, who speaks her mind to the Son of God:

"Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died"
- John 11:21.

Martha is partly right.
Jesus could have healed Lazarus, but she was wrong on one point.
Jesus could have healed him from the other side of the Jordan River.
He's the Son of God.
He didn't have to personally come to Bethany to work a great miracle.

But that's precisely what he does.

Strange as it may sound, Jesus stayed away from Bethany so that after Lazarus died, he could raise him from the dead, bringing great glory to God, and confirming his own words when he said,

"I am the Resurrection and the Life" - John 11:25.

The Bible explicitly says that Jesus loved Lazarus, yet he let him die.
He delayed returning so that Lazarus would die.
That too was an act of love.

We will never understand this unless we see that Jesus always intended to raise Lazarus from the dead.

The disciples didn't see that, the sisters didn't see that, but Jesus had it in mind from the beginning.

This teaches us something about the "delays" of life. Although God may seem slow to us, he is never "slow," but he does move according to his own purposes. We will rarely understand in advance why things happen the way they do. As we will see tomorrow, there is more to this story. For the moment, let's remember God's love comes in many varieties, and he loves us even when nothing he does makes sense to us.

by Dr. Scott Hahn

Gospel: John 11:1-45

As we draw near to the end of Lent, today's Gospel clearly has Jesus' passion and death in view.

That's why John gives us the detail about Lazarus' sister, Mary - that she is the one who anointed the Lord for burial (see John 12:3,7). His disciples warn against returning to Judea; Thomas even predicts they will "die with Him" if they go back.

When Lazarus is raised, John notices the tombstone being taken away, as well as Lazarus' burial cloths and head covering - all details he later notices with Jesus' empty tomb (see John 20:1,6,7).

Like the blind man in last week's readings, Lazarus represents all humanity. He stands for "dead man" - for all those Jesus loves and wants to liberate from the bands of sin and death.

John even recalls the blind man in his account today (see John 11:37). Like the man's birth in blindness, Lazarus' death is used by Jesus to reveal "the glory of God" (see John 9:3). And again like last week, Jesus' words and deeds give sight to those who believe (see John 11:40).

If we believe, we will see - that Jesus loves each of us as He loved Lazarus, that He calls us out of death and into new life.

By His Resurrection Jesus has fulfilled Ezekiel's promise (Ezekiel 37:12-14). He has opened the graves that we may rise, put His Spirit in us that we may live. This is the Spirit that Paul writes of in Romans 8:8-11. The same Spirit that raised Jesus from the dead will give life to we who were once dead in sin.

Faith is the key. If we believe as Martha does in today's Gospel - that Jesus is the resurrection and the life - even if we die, we will live.

by Ralph Bouma

"But I know, that even now, whatsoever thou wilt ask of God, God will give it
thee." JOH 11:22.

First, the Lord's ways are of human impossibility. The Lord brings us in the
ways of human impossibility. In MAT 15:22-24 it says, "And, behold, a woman of
Canaan came out of the same coasts, and cried unto him, saying, Have mercy on
me, O Lord, thou son of David; my daughter is grievously vexed with a devil.
But he answered her not a word. And his disciples came and besought him, saying,
Send her away; for she crieth after us. But he answered and said, I am not sent
but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel." She was crying after Him and
the Lord Jesus answered her, but what was His answer? He said He was not sent
unto her but "unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel."

Yet "even now," even with such a reproof from the Lord, she did not give up!
Verses 25-26 tell us, "Then came she and worshipped him, saying, Lord, help me.
But he answered and said, It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to
cast it to dogs." Now all human possibility had been erased. She is looked at
as a dog. She is a Samaritan. She is not of the lost sheep of the house of
Israel. She is not one for whom He was sent. That is a tremendous reproof. He
said, "It is not meet to take the children's bread, and to cast it to dogs."

"Even now," even in such a situation, in such a place of total human
impossibility, did she lose faith? No, because faith was there, not human
reasoning. This was God-given faith - the faith that cannot be quenched. It
was the faith that is given by the Lord Jesus Christ. That faith prevailed. In
Verses 27-28 we read, " And she said, Truth, Lord: yet the dogs eat of the
crumbs which fall from their masters' table. Then Jesus answered and said unto
her, O woman, great is thy faith: be it unto thee even as thou wilt. And her
daughter was made whole from that very hour." This was not a faith of human
reasoning nor a human faith, but it was that God-given faith that was planted in
her soul.

Martha and Mary had sought early for the Lord Jesus to come. They had sought
Him before Lazarus died. JOH 11:1-3 says, "Now a certain man was sick, named
Lazarus, of Bethany, the town of Mary and her sister Martha. (It was that Mary
which anointed the Lord with ointment, and wiped his feet with her hair, whose
brother Lazarus was sick.) Therefore his sisters sent unto him, saying, Lord,
behold, he whom thou lovest is sick."

The Lord's ways of human impossibility are essential for a person to understand
who is walking in the way of the cross. The Lord crucifies the flesh and all
human reasoning until there is only one thing that prevails, and that is the
faith that He gives. This is the faith that the Lord is exercising here.

JOH 11:4 says, "When Jesus heard that, he said, This sickness is not unto death,
but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might be glorified thereby." God
wanted to glorify the Son of God, who is the way of life, the resurrection and
the life, even resurrection from the dead. If we have true, God-given faith, we
have faith to believe that we can have a resurrection from the dead because out
of death and out of the spiritual deadness of our hearts is brought forth life
– spiritual life.

JOH 11:6-7 tells us, "When he had heard therefore that he was sick, he abode two
days still in the same place where he was. Then after that saith he to his
disciples, Let us go into Judaea again."

The Lord will accomplish His purpose in our trials. He will accomplish His
purpose for His own glory. JOH 11:4 says, "When Jesus heard that, he said, This
sickness is not unto death, but for the glory of God, that the Son of God might
be glorified thereby."

Now what must His disciples say? He has told His disciples that the sickness is
not unto death, but in Verse 14 we see, "Then said Jesus unto them plainly,
Lazarus is dead." Does that mean that there was contradiction in the Lord? No,
but human reasoning was brought to a halt. Why? The Lord Jesus said, "This
sickness is not unto death," yet in Verse 14, "Then said Jesus unto them
plainly, Lazarus is dead." Verse 17 says, "Then when Jesus came, he found that
he had lain in the grave four days already." He had already begun to
deteriorate; he was stinking already, yet Jesus had said this sickness was "not
unto death." Do you see the trial of faith that brings all human reasoning to
an end? Amen.

It doesn't just cut off the story before it gets interesting, it cuts off the story before the most important part is revealed. The raising of Lazarus, as it is found in the lectionary, is about the power of Jesus. The story, in typical John fashion, has Jesus almost floating around in his divine cloud, then raising his dead friend with only words. The one glimpse of Jesus' humanity is revealed in words of the story, "Jesus wept."

To me though, the story of Lazarus is not so much about the power of Jesus. The story of Lazarus is about how people react to this miracle. The lectionary selection ends with, "Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him" (John 11:45, NRSV).

It sounds like a happy ending. Jesus raises his friend. Everyone rejoices. Many people believe in him - "Woo Hoo!" Here's the problem: that's only part of the reaction. Ending the story here is irresponsible, and I think is symptomatic of a much greater problem we have in the church (and our culture) today.

Everyone likes the happy ending. I can understand that, but focusing on the happy ending without also seeing the dangerous ramifications of what Jesus accomplished simply capitulates to a christianish way of knowing Jesus.

Read more of the story - the part that the lectionary cuts out:

But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what he had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees called a meeting of the council, and said, "What are we to do? This man is performing many signs. If we let him go on like this, everyone will believe in him, and the Romans will come and destroy both our holy place and our nation." But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, "You know nothing at all! You do not understand that it is better for you to have one man die for the people than to have the whole nation destroyed." He did not say this on his own, but being high priest that year he prophesied that Jesus was about to die for the nation, and not for the nation only, but to gather into one the dispersed children of God. So from that day on they planned to put him to death.
(John 11:46-53, NRSV)

Here we see the other reaction to Jesus. In Lazarus, we see Jesus' greatest earthly demonstration of his power. We see Martha recognize Jesus as the "Messiah." We see many come to believe in Jesus. We see Jesus offer life, and ultimately, we see those in power respond with death.

It can be difficult to understand their motive. Why would they want Jesus dead? He offers life. Why would they respond with death? It is hard to understand. Didn't they understand what they were doing? Why would they respond with death? Didn't they understand that Jesus offered life? Didn't they know his power?

The answer is: Yes. They understood, and that is why they were scared. Their response was motivated primarily by fear. They feared Jesus because his was a power they could not abide. They feared Jesus because he was threatening their way of life. He was threatening their comfort, their position, and ultimately their power. The Chief Priests were in power because they had capitulated to the greatest power that the world had ever known - the Roman empire.

They killed Jesus because he offered life, and they knew that the only thing that Rome had to offer was death. They killed him because he offered life. They killed him because they understood what his message was, and now they realized that he had real power behind him as well. Until Lazarus, he was just another reformer. He was just a vagabond with some followers stirring up trouble here and there. After Lazarus they knew his power. They knew they were in trouble.

It is unfortunate that in most churches on Sunday, no one will hear this part of the story, because hearing this part of the story makes us answer the question: What is our response to Jesus? Who are we going to be like, Martha - calling Jesus the Mesiah, or the Chief Priests - fearing what Jesus might do if he were allowed to live.

Before you jump to an answer, let me offer this: If you don't have a little bit of fear, then I think you might be christian-ish, or as Kendra Creasy Dean would put it, you might be Almost Christian. I say this because I think the Chief Priests had it more right than most people give them credit for. Jesus is dangerous.

Jesus has the power to turn your life upside down. Jesus offers life, but he also offers a cross. He offers life, but only to those that would turn their life away. He offers comfort, but only to those that mourn. Jesus came to afflict the comfortable. He came to turn sons against fathers and daughters against mothers.

If we don't have at least a little bit of fear about what discipleship really means, than I'm not sure we really get it. Following Jesus can lead people into dark places - uncomfortable, dirty, smelly places. It can lead us into danger, and bring us into contact with dangerous people. Following Jesus calls us to our pews and our hymns and our rituals, but it also demands that we go out into the world. Jesus calls us to love. And love can be difficult sometimes.

Following Jesus means that we have to love, and its okay if that scares you a little. It should. It means that you're paying attention. It means that you have your eyes wide open to the cost of discipleship. It means that you didn't stop reading the story of Lazarus with the "Woo Hoo!" moment.

The Church, by and large, on Sunday will end the story of Lazarus with a happy ending, but they will forget to see the danger of what Jesus did. Jesus revealed that his power was of God, and those that held onto Earthly power reacted in the only way they knew how. But here's the part the chief priests didn't understand: they thought the death they gave him would be the end of him.

They thought the cross they hung him from would break him. They thought the tomb they sealed him in would keep him.

How wrong they were. And how wrong we are if we think that the power of Jesus is something that shouldn't be feared. I hope that when the Church hears Jesus cry, "Lazarus, come out!" all the people heed his words.

Church, Come out! Come out of your comfort zone. Come out of your fortress. Come out of your "good old days." Come out of your sin. Come out of the lies that tell us how to succeed, consume, spend, buy, then donate and be happy. Come out of your slumber, and go into the Kingdom. Come out of your slumber, and go into your mission. Come out of your slumber, and go and make disciples of Jesus Christ for the transformation of the world.

Go knowing that it can be dangerous. Go knowing that Christ is with you. Go knowing that the Holy Spirit will sustain you. Go knowing that love is the only power that lasts.