Lent
April 1, 2017
Scripture Reading: John 11:1-45
Then after this he said to the disciples, ‘Let us go to Judea again.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Rabbi, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them.’ After saying this, he told them, ‘Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but I am going there to awaken him.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.’ Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Then Jesus told them plainly, ‘Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.’ Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow-disciples, ‘Let us also go, that we may die with him.’ –John 11:7-16
The point of no return is a reality in all lives. We routinely experience such events of lesser magnitude but none as final as death itself. The soldier who throws his body on a live grenade to save his buddies faces the point of no return with a split-second decision. The family holding the do-not-resuscitate form in their hands nods in agreement as the hospital staff pull the plug. Knowing all along this was their loved ones wishes, does not make it any easier. While some identify the transfiguration as Jesus’ point of no return, I tend to see the story of Lazarus being the time when Jesus’ march to the cross began.
Jesus life was in danger and it was his choice to carry out his mission or not. He demonstrates his ultimate teaching that loving God and loving our neighbor, friend also in this case, is more important than life itself. While Lazarus was apparently a good man, was saving his life worth the loss of one like Jesus? Jesus clearly saw that it was.
Of course, that was not the end of the story. God conquers death for Lazarus setting the stage for death being conquered for all. Paul stated it this way, 1 Corinthians 15:55 ‘Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting? John Donne put it like this:
Death, be not proud, though some have called thee
Mighty and dreadful, for thou art not so;
For those whom thou think’st thou dost overthrow
Die not, poor Death, nor yet canst thou kill me.
From rest and sleep, which but thy pictures be,
Much pleasure; then from thee much more must flow,
And soonest our best men with thee do go,
Rest of their bones, and soul’s delivery.
Thou art slave to fate, chance, kings, and desperate men,
And dost with poison, war, and sickness dwell,
And poppy or charms can make us sleep as well
And better than thy stroke; why swell’st thou then?
One short sleep past, we wake eternally
And death shall be no more; Death, thou shalt die.*
Prayer: Lord help us live your mission in the sure and certain blessings of your abiding presence each day and in eternity. Amen.
*See at https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems-and-poets/poems/detail/44107
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