Conclusion of Series – Christmas 2019

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“Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died.  But I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask.” Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again.”  Martha answered, “I know he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day.” Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. The one who believes in me will live, even though they die; and whoever lives by believing in me will never die. Do you believe this?” Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.” …  When Mary reached the place where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.  “Where have you laid him?” he asked.  “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept…Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “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.” Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”…When he had said this, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” 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.”  John 11:21-44

Martha had a blazing brand of faith that was totally unique to this healing account—on the one hand—that whatever Jesus asked of His Father would be granted.  I think that Martha absolutely believed that Jesus could heal her brother.  And yet, when Jesus said, “Your brother will rise again,” for some reason, she thought that Jesus was speaking in lofty, theological terms about something that would happen at an indeterminate time in the future.

I know he will rise again at the last day.  This gives us a glimpse into the Judaic belief system during Jesus’ earthwalk.  Excluding the Sadducaic influence/doctrinal beliefs, many Jewish people believed in a mass resurrection at the Last Day.  And somehow Martha could not grasp the fact that she was staring at the instrument of her brother’s restoration and healing.  She thought that Jesus was talking about His mission on earth—to become the instrument of eternal life for the world.

Was it a matter of semantics/the words that Jesus used? I am the resurrection and the life. The Aramaic for resurrection is nuwHama meaning to resuscitate, to be brought back to life, to live again; The transliterated Hebrew would have meant comfort, consolation. The Greek, on the other hand, has a subtle difference in meaning:  a standing up, a standing up again, a raising up, rising

In sum, Jesus said: “I am the One Who resuscitates (breathes life into) people who are dead.”  Martha heard:  “I am the One Who raises the people from death to life on the Last Day.”

Without becoming too gross—what decomposition was reversed when Jesus commanded Lazarus to come forth from the tomb?  An unpleasant web search revealed that within three days of death the internal organs have entirely decomposed, and within two days after that, all blood has vacated the body. The odor that Martha was expecting everyone to be assaulted with, when the stone was taken away, was from methane and hydrogen sulfide gas that is emitted during the decomposition process.

All Jesus had to do was speak three words, “Lazarus, come out!” and all that was re-constituted/reversed in seconds. How did He do it??  The life flooded back into Lazarus’ body, but many cells had died and decomposed—they weren’t cells anymore.  They had to be recreated in their original form—or Lazarus would not have been Lazarus.  And all the other dying cells had to be renewed.  Or—another scenario—Jesus recreated the entire earthen vessel from scratch before breathing life into Lazarus as his spirit returned.  Yet another scenario, perhaps He had held Lazarus’ body in stasis after his death. (Years ago I proposed in one of my studies that He did a highly localized time retrogression to the pre-illness point. 😊) However Jesus did it, we can’t even begin to comprehend His Absolute Greatness.

And an unpleasant web search can provide a glimpse of the utter disgustingness of the decomposition process.  There is nothing good about it—or the underlying cause of it.  Then the passion conceives, and becomes the parent of sin; and sin, when fully matured, gives birth to death…James 1:15  That very sin issue is what Jesus came to deal with—encapsulated in the form factor of a helpless little human baby—so that we would not be totally overwhelmed and incapacitated by that Greatness.  The evangelist’s metaphorical word picture, that I alluded to in the Nain Post, happened on that glorious night two millenia ago—life came to meet death—and life conquered death once and for all. 

Why did He care…and why on earth does He care today?

When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who had come along with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled.  “Where have you laid him?” he asked.  “Come and see, Lord,” they replied. Jesus wept…

He cares because that’s Who He is.

Jesus knew that the Lazarus story had a 100% happy ending, so why weep?  Complete empathy—wrapped in human flesh, He felt everything that the mourners felt—and He was unashamedly sorry for them.

And so it is today.  When we weep, He weeps.

This miracle was enough to trigger events that led directly to the cross with perfect timing accuracy.  No one who witnessed Lazarus emerge from the tomb that day could deny what Martha had said with incredible revelation:  Yes, Lord,” she replied, “I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, who is to come into the world.“

This year, as we celebrate the Messiah Who has come into the world, I pray that you will be overwhelmed by His Absolute Greatness—and overwhelmed by the Love that compelled Him and  propelled Him here so many years ago.

And as we close out this Series—what can we learn about the Triune God Whom we serve from this healing miracles:  There is nothing that He can’t do.  He cares because that’s Who He is.  And never forget:  when we weep, He weeps.

Note: Please go to Search Bar at the bottom of the page; or to “PRIOR POSTS” Selection on Menu Bar to see the other Posts in this Series. (“Uncategorized” link gets you vintage posts.) Once you’ve selected a post, if you scroll to the very bottom, you’ll find navigation links to help you easily traverse through the topic.