JOHN 11:38-44 THE WORD OF LIFE

38 Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. 39 “Take away the stone,” he said.
“But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.”
40 Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?”
41 So they took away the stone. Then Jesus looked up and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 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.”
43 When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face.
Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.”

As the author of creation and life itself, Jesus did not give life to a decaying corpse but gave new life to the dead Lazarus with a restored body. Martha’s fear was not the fear of faithlessness. She was not afraid that Jesus could not do what he had promised, she just did not fully comprehend (and how could she?) what exactly he had promised. Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. In the absence of mortuary science they knew better than we do what that meant. Her fear was not that she would not receive her brother back, it was what she would receive as her brother. Our term for such an entity is zombie. However, when Jesus called Lazarus back to life, the once dead man emerged from the tomb, not with a corrupted body, but with a restored physical body.

This is the last and greatest sign of Jesus recorded by St. John. But it is just that, a sign. Lazarus is raised from the dead with a restored body, but not an eternal resurrection body. He will once again have to die and await the final resurrection. But this story is not about Lazarus or his sisters it is about God, who is more powerful than death acting in this world of suffering and death. For instance, Martha’s faith does not cause the raising of Lazarus, but rather her faith allows her to see God’s glory (v. 40). The message for us is that through faith we can know the God of all creation who is sovereign over the most certain power on earth, death. God is life, and life is more powerful than death. While death is part of creation, life is the Creator.

In the beginning God spoke the Word and creation came into being. At the appointed time, the Word became flesh and offered eternal life to mortal man. God’s Word is “live!”

Father, may I live to know you and know you so that I might live. Amen.