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Do you have any “drop by” friends? People on whom you can just drop by without notice? Do you have people who drop by your home just to “be” for a while? No strings attached; no agenda; no questions asked. In John’s account, he characterizes Mary, Martha and Lazarus as “drop by” friends for Jesus. They were not disciples in the truest sense of that word. They were not followers of Jesus in the usual sense. They did not go with Jesus on his travels. They did know that Jesus was someone special. They knew about his miracles. And they enjoyed his company in their home in Bethany. In his book about Jesus, Walter Wangerin imagines that Mary, Martha and Lazarus were three unmarried siblings living together. Mary and Martha were older; Lazarus was the younger brother. Their parents had died, so Mary and Martha raised Lazarus. They saw his gifts and his enormous potential. They were very proud of their younger brother. They nurtured and loved him into adulthood. They shared that pride and love with Jesus many times when Jesus dropped by. As the story goes, one day Lazarus got very sick. Mary and Martha sent for Jesus, but before Jesus could come, Lazarus died. By the time Jesus arrived at their home, Lazarus had been dead for four days.
That little detail is important because in Jewish tradition, unlike Islamic tradition, it holds that the spirit of a person who died stayed around for about three days. On the fourth day the spirit was gone. The message in that detail is this: Lazarus was really dead! Remember that this is not a resurrection—that comes later. Rather this is a resuscitation. This is a return to life on earth. This is about a new lease on life. Lazarus comes back to resume his earthly life.
So what do you think Lazarus thought about as he walked back into life? Was Lazarus surprised? Or was he confused? That possibility is suggested by Frederick Buechner in one of his books.[i] We learn that when we die we go to be with God in some fashion. Lazarus, on the other hand, walked out and saw Jesus standing there. Was he confused? On which side of the grave was he now standing, he might have asked himself. Or was he angry? No one should have to go through dying twice. Did he laugh? Did he see the whole situation as humorous? Eugene O’Neill wrote a play many years ago with the title, “Lazarus Laughed.”
What must have been Lazarus’ impression of just what had happened to him? I think he thought to himself, “I need not fear death any more.” In one sense Lazarus could say, “Been there, done that.” John Killinger tells a story about being told in a brief phone call from his surgeon that he had a mole which was malignant melanoma, that he would need more surgery and then hung up. After some thought, Killinger wrote these words:
“There was only one answer to my situation. God. Whatever happened, whether I lived or died, it was God that mattered. I would die one day anyway. It really didn’t matter whether it was now or fifty years from now. What did matter was God”.[ii]
This experience told Lazarus—and also tells us—that there is no need to fear death.
Of course, people have lived and died since Lazarus. What this story tells us is that Jesus allows us to view death differently… without fear. The Apostle Paul echoes this in his letter to the Corinthians: “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?”
As Christians, we now share the power of the resurrection life. Power that can support us through failures, firings, divorces, illnesses, and even death. The story of Jesus shows us that there is always new life beyond the pain of loss, disappointment and death.
There’s one more small piece in this story, one detail. It concerns the very last words in the story. Jesus says to the disciples, “Unbind him and let him go.” In other words, “Help him rediscover his life. Set him free to grow.”
There’s a story from San Francisco in December of 2005. A humpback whale became entangled in a web of crab traps and lines. Yards of line rope wrapped around her body, tail and torso. One line was tugging at her mouth. She was so weighted down; she had to struggle to stay afloat. A fisherman spotted her and radioed an environmental group for help. Within a few hours they determined the only way was to work with her underwater. That was a very dangerous thing to do. One slap from her tail could kill a would-be rescuer. They worked many hours with special knives. Eventually they set her free.
They reported that once free, she swam in joyous circles. She came back to each diver—one at a time—and nudged them to “thank” them. Someone said it was the most incredibly beautiful experience of their lives. One man who cut the mouth rope said, “Her eye followed me the whole time. I will never be the same.”[iii]
Consider this last detail of our Lazarus story. Who has set you free? Who can you set free? Who can you help unbind so they can go back into life with new courage?
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[i] As suggested by Buechner in his book Peculiar Treasures, p. 90
[ii] From a sermon entitled “The Overflowing Cup” in Pulpit Digest, March/April 1992, p. 16
[iii] From the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday, Dec. 14, 2005
Dr. Gary W. Bowser
Senior Minister
First Baptist Church of Denver
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