Lazarus, Come Forth

We now come to the third of the three great Lenten gospels of John, the story of the raising of Lazarus. It is one of the great stories of John’s gospel and it is unique to him. The other gospels do recount stories of Jesus restoring people to life – Luke has the widow of Nain’s son while Matthew and Mark have the raising of Jairus’ daughter, but they have none of the sheer drama and powerful impact of the raising of Lazarus. John has used the story to offer a deep challenge to our faith.

Lazarus is dead, of that there is no doubt. He has been in the grave for four days
and a heavy stone has been placed across the opening to the grave. He is gone and there can no longer be any access to him. But for Jesus the stone is not a barrier, it is merely and obstacle. It can be overcome and moved if only we have faith. In the stories of the woman at the well and of the man born blind, we have heard and observed Jesus brining two people to faith. We have seen how through his signs and deeds he elicits from them a profession of faith drawn from within them. Even though in their lives they both seemed unlikely figures from which faith would be born, Jesus allows them to understand that through their encounter with him, his love and his mercy can be revealed within them and be the life source which brings them to their knowledge of God as a living presence for them. But now in the story of Lazarus, what we have placed before us is the great challenge of death, and the question for us becomes one which asks: can our faith deal with death and its aftermath?

Death is the ultimate obstacle to our faith. It is the great stone which stands thwarting our desire to commit. It is the great mystery which for many is the reason to abandon faith since death is the end of life, beyond which there is nothing. Remember man that you are dust and unto dust you shall return was what we were told on Ash Wednesday, and the graveside is the stark reminder of that. But here is Jesus standing at the graveside of the one he loved, and for whom he wept. The one who brought living water and the light of faith stands on the threshold of death at every graveside and asks us for faith just as he asked Mary and Martha. Jesus will be tested too, and he will overcome, and roll away the stone. “Lazarus come forth!” is the affirmation of faith as it resounds in our ears. As we move towards Holy Week and live out again the passion, death, and resurrection of Jesus, let those words resonate once more and bring us forward in faith, to the glory of Easter.