A little nibble of the Revised Common Lectionary
Sunday’s readings are Psalm 130, Romans 8:9-11, John 11:1-45
The story of the raising of Lazarus is a favorite, especially Jesus’ beloved quote that we often hear at Christian funeral services: “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die.”
In the Gospel of John, Jesus uses the statement “I am” seven times. “I am the bread of life.” “I am the good shepherd.” I’ll let you look the others up, but “I am the resurrection and the life” is one of the most thrilling of these “I am” statements. What makes these statements so meaningful is not just the good news of the similes Jesus uses, but the verb, “I am.” When we read these “I am” statements in John, we read them recalling God’s Holy Name, “I AM THAT I AM,” as revealed to Moses. So Jesus is not only giving information about the type of person he is, or his role, but that he is our very God himself. In addition, because God’s name is an action word, the simile he uses is also an action word, something that happens through Jesus’ spoken word. After all, John begins his gospel with, “In the beginning was the word, and the word was with God and the word was God.” In saying “I am the resurrection,” Jesus is stating his identity and he is making the resurrection a reality.
When he hears that his close friend Lazarus is deathly ill, Jesus rushes to the town of Bethany, where he also finds Lazarus’ sisters, Martha and Mary. When he arrives, he finds his beloved Lazarus already dead, and Mary chastises him. “If you had been here, my brother would not have died,” she says. She has faith that Jesus is a miracle worker and could have healed his disease. She also has faith in the resurrection, and that now that Lazarus is dead, she is assured that he will again rise on the last day. She is trusting in the resurrection on the last day because Lazarus is too far gone for a miracle by the time Jesus arrives. In fact, she tells Jesus that it’s been four days already and so he smells of decay. (The King James version says, “he stinketh!”).
But what Mary does not understand yet, is that Jesus IS the resurrection and the life. “I AM the resurrection and the life!” So when he calls out to Lazarus to come out of his burial cave, of course he does just that. Jesus is the creative Word, so “come out” isn’t just a command to Lazarus, it’s the resurrecting word. Jesus makes the dead alive because that is who he is, he is the resurrector. He is the enlivener. He is the creative word of God. Amen!
One other thing I love in this story is how deep Jesus’ emotion is. He is moved by his friend’s death and by the sisters’ grief. He loves these people and he weeps over them. At first I was thinking that it’s Jesus’ humanity that gives him these deep feelings, but there are plenty of stories in the Hebrew Scriptures that show us that his creation moves God. He grieves over his people, and is moved by their suffering. His face shines on those he finds favor in. I have come to think that the depth of Jesus’ feeling over Lazarus comes from both his deity and his humanity, so it is a depth of feeling mere mortals cannot comprehend. The only thing I think may come anywhere close may be the feeling a pastor gets when he or she baptizes a baby or proclaims, “I am the resurrection and the life” at a funeral. God’s active word in them moves them and their humanity moves them in these moments. I don’t know for sure, but maybe it’s a dimly lit glimpse. Thanks be to God!
Silverdale Lutheran 