I spluttered once, and then twice. The dryness of
my throat was apparent, and then the stench. Stench? Stench of what? Where am I
as my eyes moistened and adjusted. I am dry. It is dark, as I feel for the
first time clothing bandaged around me. But what is it. I remember my sisters
wrapping me in linen when we children. But where I am I now? It stinks… and I
remember. Is this it? Darkness, but wait resonating I hear a voice. ‘Lazarus’.
Lazarus – that is me. I am being called. I see a chink of light. ‘Come out –
the voice calls. It is him – Jesus. I struggle to move; what are these things.
I hobble towards the light. Slowly, my legs are bandaged – and weak; they seem
like I have not used them for ages. ‘Lazarus, Come out!’ My ears seem to retune
to the call. I have been unwell. Is this dying? I struggle towards the light. A
hand touches my own and pulls me further into the light.
My eyes blink and blink again at the brightness,
and I find myself staring into his eyes. It is Jesus. His eyes look like they
are on fire. He smiles and laughs. ‘Untie him’ – he commands.
Untie me? I begin to remember. Mary and Martha fall
upon me. I am not as strong as I was, as the three of us tumble on to the floor
as if we were children. Jesus lifts me up. ‘Thank you’. He smiles back at me
with a smile that suggests that he had done something easy, as if a greater
battle lies ahead.
©
Kevin Ellis
Lazarus was the brother of Mary and Martha. He was
one of Jesus’ close friends. After an illness, he died, and Jesus raised him to
life. It was this miracle that secured Jesus’ fate. By tradition, Lazarus
became bishop of Kittim in Cyprus.
Lazarus
cannot though be separated from his sisters Mary and Martha. They are a family
group who together are friends of Jesus and his disciples. It is their home in Bethany that is the base
for Jesus during the final week of his life.
Lazarus’s
sisters, Mary and Martha, like their brother, are also attracted to Jesus.
Earlier in the Fourth Gospel, whilst Jesus is teaching, Mary sits and listens;
whilst Martha scurries about preparing food. She asks Jesus to rebuke her
sister for not helping, but is told firmly that Mary has chosen a better way.
Yet,
when Lazarus dies, it is Martha who comes to Jesus immediately when Jesus
arrives – and it is upon the lips of Martha that the great declaration of faith
is put
This is what I have come to believe: that you are
the Messiah, the son of God, the one who is to come into the world.
You
will remember that in the Synoptic Gospels, the great confession of faith is
put on the lips of Peter. In the Fourth Gospel, it is on the lips of Martha, a
woman.
Mary,
who had sat at the feet of Jesus, has to be invited to come and see Jesus. It
is Martha who guides Jesus to her brother’s tomb.
Before
Passover, Jesus was back at their house, and Mary pours expensive ointment over
Jesus, preparing him (he suggests) for burial.
This
is not at all to suggest that one woman’s faith was stronger than the others;
it is just that they, like us, were complex human beings.
How
many of us do not doubt the truth of Easter at certain times?
Biblical
Text – John 11
3 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.’
Questions
1.
One of the themes of this story is friendship. I wonder when the
last time was that you sat and prayed for your friends and that they would have
a closer relationship with Jesus.
2.
Why was it that Jesus waited to go to Lazarus? It is a question
asked by both of his sisters.
Reflection for Holy Saturday
Bitter
pain, searing loss
divine
abandonment, mother’s tears
mocking
soldiers, cruel crown
battered
body, beyond the lament
gathered
together; in one place
together
in silent defiant space
silence
demands its sacred pause
the
stillness does not wait
we
need not pretend it does
lest
all is forgotten as the breath comes again
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