April 14, 2011

  • Unit: Negotiating the Maze of Grief
    Lesson: Balance Grief with Hope
    Read: John 11:20-27, 32-36, 43-44

    In previous readings of this account I’ve wondered if Mary’s and Martha’s personalities revealed in Luke 10 might have played into how they responded to Jesus regarding their brother. Martha, the sister who worked hard while Mary sat at Jesus’ feet, was the first to meet Jesus. Mary, meanwhile, remained seated at home – precisely where we find her in the previous chapter. Martha’s intellectual approach mirrors her calculation of the arrangement when she passively scolded her sister for not helping her. This is speculation, of course. We aren’t told the sisters’ exact motivations for their behavior. But if you have siblings, you know how difficult it can be to rise above long-rehearsed patterns of relating to one another. Even in an emotionally wracked situation such as the death of a family member, siblings will likely behave as they always have. Siblings who frown upon their brothers’ and sisters’ emotional displays may not allow room for them even in the most difficult times.

    And then Mary shows up, much more emotional than her sister. Again, we aren’t told this, but Mary just seems like the younger sister in this situation. Older siblings – especially firstborns – tend to be more controlling and dissatisfied with others in their family. Note that her first words to Jesus are the exact words Martha used. Is it possible Mary heard Martha angrily repeat this accusation over and over again after Lazarus died? “If only Jesus had been here …” Mary’s dominating sister might have influenced her own attitude. Regardless of the family dynamics involved, the Lord Jesus made room for both Martha’s intellectual assent and Mary’s emotional outburst. What He did not have room for, however, was the wailing of the “professional” mourners. Insincere emotionalism and true worship of Jesus don’t mix. The Lord told the Samaritan woman at Jacob’s well that a time was coming when all the truly faithful would worship Him in Spirit and in truth.

    Jesus is in the business of raising dead men to life. Lazarus had no say in the matter. His lifeless, putrid corpse reanimated at the spoken command of the God who formed him in his mother’s womb. Just as Paul wrote in Ephesians 2, we were all dead in our transgressions and sins in which we formerly walked. Dead people have no ability to dig themselves out of their graves or roll stones away from their tombs. Lazarus even needed help getting out of his grave wrappings. Imagine if Jesus had shouted, “Lazarus, you make the first move, and then I’ll help you the rest of the way!” This would not have been an accurate picture of one born again by the Spirit of God. Resurrection is a miracle, not a good work. It is utterly dependent on an all-powerful Lord who rescues us from death and grants us eternal life.