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| Image by Jonathan Shaw |
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A GREETING
O God, don’t be far from me!
My God, come quickly and help me!
(Psalm 71:12)
A READING
[Jesus] said to the disciples, “Our beloved Lazarus has fallen asleep. I am going to Judea to wake him.” The disciples objected, “But Rabbi, if he’s only asleep, he’ll be fine.” Jesus had been speaking about Lazarus’ death, but they thought he was talking about actual sleep. So he said very plainly, “Lazarus is dead! For your sakes I am glad that I wasn’t there, that you might come to believe. In any event, let us go to him.” Then Thomas, “the Twin,” said to the rest, “Let’s go with Jesus, so that we can die with him.”
(John 11:11-16)
MUSIC
A MEDITATIVE VERSE
There is no greater love
than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends.
(John 15:13)
A PRAYER
Dear Lord, please lift me up and heal me.
Cast out of my mind all the thoughts that are not of You.
Cast out of me all harsh and critical nature.
Cast out of me all violence and all anger.
Cast out of me all demons from my past.
For I would be made new.
I wish to walk so close to You that we might be as one.
I ask for new life, new mind, new body, new spirit.
Dear God, please come into me and release me from this pain.
from "Dear God", by Marianne Williamson,
found in The Flowering of the Soul: A Book of Prayers by Women, edited by Lucinda Vardey
VERSE OF THE DAY
Wait for God—stand tall
and let your heart take courage!
(Psalm 25:13)
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| "Silence," by Laura Makabresku. In these last works of art by Laura Makabresku, she casts herself as Lazarus, bound from head to toe. Both this image and the one below, however, convey the knowledge of new life that awaits in a spiritual form or, in the case of Lazarus, in an embodied one too. |
Much of the full story of the raising of Lazarus, as set out in John 11, foretells the events of Holy Week. From now until then, on one day in each remaining week, we will visit a section of this story. It is one of the most essential moments in the life of Jesus in that after hundreds of smaller miracles and healings in which Jesus transforms the bodies of others, it is the raising of Lazarus that marks the beginning of the end for Jesus in his own human incarnation. At the same time, in the unfolding narrative, the body of Jesus takes a back seat to the story of the body of Lazarus, his very dear friend, whom today's reading suggests Jesus allowed to die so that he could demonstrate God's power acting through him.
"There is no greater love," says Jesus on his last night with the disciples, "than to lay down one's life for one's friends." We know prophetically that this refers to Jesus himself, who will lay down his own life for us, his friends. But if we think of that line in this particular moment, it can also refer to Lazarus, who unknowingly gives of himself so that the divinity of Jesus can come into fuller view and understanding. It is all about what it means to have a body that lives and also dies. Lazarus will live and die and live again for a mortal time. Jesus will live and die and arise in a new form and in so doing, never stop living.
In today's reading, the disciples are at odds about what to do, and fail to fully understand what Jesus has in mind, just as they will be confused and disoriented during the night of his arrest. A discussion unfolds about sleep: if Lazarus is only asleep, the disciples say, then there is nothing to fear. Jesus clarifies that Lazarus has indeed died.
Weeks from now, Jesus himself will be in Gethsemane, not far from Bethany, begging the disciples not to fall asleep. They will be incapable themselves of staying awake to what Jesus needs. In this scene, however, he finally manages to convey his intention. Thomas here demonstrates the very opposite of a “doubter,” and expresses a profound loyalty to Jesus and to Lazarus. "Let us die with him," he says, encouraging the disciples to go even if it means they get killed.
Many of us have moments when a loved one announces they are about to do something that we privately believe is dangerous, foolish, or unlikely to bring success. How do we stop them from doing what we know might bring harm? We can't. But we can go with them, and be there when it all unfolds. Thomas, the disciple most associated with disbelief in the post-Resurrection appearance of Jesus, embodies what it means to have the deepest kind of loyalty. He is someone who would lay down his life for his friends.
While none of us likes to think about difficult times we have lived through, or that may lie ahead, how can we feel God’s love standing with us in it, saying to us "I'm with you, even til the moment of your death?" How can we offer that embracing love to others facing similar times?
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| "Lazarus, come out!," by Laura Makabresku. |
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Scripture passages are taken from The Inclusive Bible.
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LC† From Dust, Still Holy is a devotional series of Lutherans Connect, supported by the Eastern Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Canada and the Centre for Spirituality and Media at Martin Luther University College. To receive the devotions by email, write to lutheransconnect@gmail.com. The devotional pages are written and curated by Deacon Sherry Coman, with support and input from Pastor Steve Hoffard, Catherine Evenden and Henriette Thompson. Join us on Facebook. Lutherans Connect invites you to make a donation to the Ministry by going to this link on the website of the ELCIC Eastern Synod and selecting "Lutherans Connect Devotionals" under "Fund". Devotions are always freely offered, however your donations help support the ongoing work.
Thank you and peace be with you!