38 Yeshua, again deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying in front of the entrance. 39 Yeshua said, “Take the stone away!” Marta, the sister of the dead man, said to Yeshua, “By now his body must smell, for it has been four days since he died!” 40 Yeshua said to her, “Didn’t I tell you that if you keep trusting, you will see the glory of God?” 41 So they removed the stone. Yeshua looked upward and said, “Father, I thank you that you have heard me. 42 I myself know that you always hear me, but I say this because of the crowd standing around, so that they may believe that you have sent me.” 43 Having said this, he shouted, “El‘azar! Come out!” 44 The man who had been dead came out, his hands and feet wrapped in strips of linen and his face covered with a cloth. Yeshua said to them, “Unwrap him, and let him go!”[Complere Jewish Bible]
"Lord there is already a stench because he has been dead four days." Let's face it--we all tend to think there are some things that are too far gone even for Jesus. There are problems in this world that will never be resolved or done away with. Jesus himself said, "the poor will always be with you." And we think that there are problems from our past that can never be undone--or relationships that can never be repaired. Some things are so far gone they smell like death itself.
When things smell that bad our desire is to bind them up and seal them in a tomb. We lock away our broken dreams, our damaged past, and those hurtful relationships behind a stoic face and a vow of silence. We compartmentalize the poor in shelters on the other side of town or in categories like "lazy" or "addict." In this way we protect ourselves from the stench of our own decay as individuals and as a society.
Oddly, when The Resurrection comes, the first thing he does is insist that the tombs be opened and that the bindings be removed. Before there can be resurrection, we must face the stench of death and decay in our lives and in our culture--and trust that there is One who has the power to bring new life even in the face of death.
Lord what tombs would you have me open today in order to trust in the power of your resurrection? Amen.
Joe and Jill Doherty
New Promise Lutheran Church, St. George, Utah
Master of Divinity, 1998
John 11:32 When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet and said to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."
33 When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved.
34 He said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see."
35 Jesus began to weep.
36 So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!"
37 But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?"
38 Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it.
39 Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead for four days."
40 Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?"
41 So they took away the stone. And Jesus looked upwards and said, "Father, I thank you for having heard me.
42 I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me."
43 When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Lazarus, come out!"
44 The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go." [New Revised Standard Version]
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