THE RAISING OF LAZARUS: Cooparate with God!

John 11:1-45

As we continue our Lenten journey, today we are invited to reflect on the raising of Lazarus. This story comes from the context where the Jewish leaders are plotting to kill Jesus. We have on one side the threat of death against Jesus, and on the other Jesus who comes to conquer death! It is a context of conflict between life and death and this miracle presents the victory of life over death. Of all the miracles Jesus did, the raising of Lazarus ranks as the most astonishing to the people of his time. Traditionally Jewish believed that the soul of a dead person somehow remains with the body for three days. After three days the soul departs finally from the body and that is when corruption sets in. Bringing back to life a person who is already four days dead and decaying is unthinkable. That is what Martha expresses when she objects to the opening of the tomb and says, “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days”, she is expressing the common view that this is now a hopeless situation.

But as Jesus wants to manifest the power of his father and to illustrate victory of life over death, He insists on the opening of the tomb. What can we learn from this miracle? What is the message for our Lenten journey? We need to know that for a miracle to happen in our lives we must learn to cooperate with God. This miracle invites us to cooperate with God. How can we cooperate with God? Well, the first answer here will be faith; to believe in God. But that is not the point that John makes in this story. Rather the emphasis in the story on how we can cooperate with God is placed on practical obedience and doing God’s will. Let us understand the story. To effect the miracle, Jesus issues three commands and all of them are obeyed to the letter.

First, “Jesus said, ‘roll away the stone.’ Did the people understand why they should do this heavy work of rolling away the tombstone to expose a stinking corpse? They didn’t. But it was their faith in Jesus expressing itself through practical agreement with him, through obedience. And why didn’t Jesus command the stone to roll away all by itself, without bothering the people? He had the power to do so. The point here is that divine power seems always to be activated by human cooperation. God seems to do nothing of Himself and want our cooperation, our little effort. God will not do a miracle without our contribution. He is telling us now: Roll away the stone, uncover your corruptness, show him your weaknesses, reveal your sins and you will experience his miracle.

The second command Jesus gives is directed to the dead man: “Lazarus, come out!” We do not know the details of what happened in the tomb. All we know is that Jesus’ word of command is followed by immediate obedience. Lazarus finds his way out of the dark tomb even with his hands and feet are tied up in bandages, and his face all wrapped up. Even a man rotting away in the tomb can still do something to help himself. So what about you and me? I know we are not that far, we are still alive. As today we hear his command: come out; let us obey him.

The third command again is addressed to the people, “Unbind him, and let him go”. Even though Lazarus could stumble himself out of the tomb, there was no way he could unbind himself. He needed the community to do that for him. This act of unbinding Lazarus and setting him free tells us that miracles happen in the community. We need the community, we need the Church to help us experience God’s power. We need each other in our Christian life.

Many Christian individuals and communities today have fallen victim to the death of sin. Many are already in the tomb of hopelessness and decay, in the bondage of sinful habits and attitudes. Jesus is ready for the miracle. He himself said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly”. Are we ready to cooperate with him for the miracle? Are we ready to roll away the stone that stands between us and the light of Christ? Are we ready to take the first step to come out of our tomb, of our place of death as we hear his command? Are we ready to unbind, to help, to forgive one another and go free? As we approach Eater, let us ask the Lord to give us the grace we need for a radical change.