“Now a man was ill, Lazarus from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. Mary was the one who had anointed the Lord with perfumed oil and dried his feet with her hair; it was her brother Lazarus who was ill. So the sisters sent word to him, saying, ‘Master, the one you love is ill.’ When Jesus heard this he said, ‘This illness is not to end in death, but is for the glory of God, that the Son of God may be glorified through it.’ Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So when he heard that he was ill, he remained for two days in the place where he was. Then after this he said to his disciples, ‘Let us go back to Judea.’ The disciples said to him, ‘Rabbi, the Jews were just trying to stone you, and you want to go back there?’ Jesus answered, ‘Are there not twelve hours in a day? If one walks during the day, he does not stumble, because he sees the light of this world. But if one walks at night, he stumbles, because the light is not in him.’ He said this, and then told them, ‘Our friend Lazarus is asleep, but I am going to awaken him.’ So the disciples said to him, ‘Master, if he is asleep, he will be saved.’ But Jesus was talking about his death, while they thought that he meant ordinary sleep. So then Jesus said to them clearly, ‘Lazarus has died. And I am glad for you that I was not there, that you may believe. Let us go to him.’ So Thomas, called Didymus, said to his fellow disciples, ‘Let us also go to die with him.’
When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb for four days. Now Bethany was near Jerusalem, only about two miles away. And many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to comfort them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went to meet him; but Mary sat at home. Martha said to Jesus, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that whatever you ask of God, God will give you.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Your brother will rise.’ Martha said to him, ‘I know he will rise, in the resurrection on the last day.’ Jesus told her, ‘I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’ She said to him, ‘Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world.’
When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary secretly, saying, ‘The teacher is here and is asking for you.’ As soon as she heard this, she rose quickly and went to him. For Jesus had not yet come into the village, but was still where Martha had met him. So when the Jews who were with her in the house comforting her saw Mary get up quickly and go out, they followed her, presuming that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came to where Jesus was and saw him, she fell at his feet and said to him, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.’ When Jesus saw her weeping and the Jews who had come with her weeping, he became perturbed and deeply troubled, and said, ‘Where have you laid him?’ They said to him, ‘Sir, come and see.’ And Jesus wept. So the Jews said, ‘See how he loved him.’ But some of them said, ‘Could not the one who opened the eyes of the blind man have done something so that this man would not have died?’ So Jesus, perturbed again, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay across it. Jesus said, ‘Take away the stone.’ Martha, the dead man’s sister, said to him, ‘Lord, by now there will be a stench; he has been dead for four days.’ Jesus said to her, ‘Did I not tell you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?’ So they took away the stone. And Jesus raised his eyes and said, ‘Father, I thank you for hearing me. I know that you always hear me; but because of the crowd here I have said this, that they may believe that you sent me.’ And when he had said this, he cried out in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!’ The dead man came out, tied hand and foot with burial bands, and his face was wrapped in a cloth. So Jesus said to them, ‘Untie him and let him go.’ Now many of the Jews who had come to Mary and seen what he had done began to believe in him. But some of them went to the Pharisees and told them what Jesus had done. So the chief priests and the Pharisees convened the Sanhedrin and said, ‘What are we going to do? This man is performing many signs. If we leave him alone, all will believe in him, and the Romans will come and take away both our land and our nation.’ But one of them, Caiaphas, who was high priest that year, said to them, ‘You know nothing, nor do you consider that it is better for you that one man should die instead of the people, so that the whole nation may not perish.’ He did not say this on his own, but since he was high priest for that year, he prophesied that Jesus was going to die for the nation, and not only for the nation, but also to gather into one the dispersed children of God. So from that day on they planned to kill him.”
Now, I posted all of that so that we can now read in better context the Gospel reading for today that comes in the following chapter of John’s Gospel:
“Six days before Passover Jesus came to Bethany, where Lazarus was, whom Jesus had raised from the dead. They gave a dinner for him there, and Martha served, while Lazarus was one of those reclining at table with him. Mary took a liter of costly perfumed oil made from genuine aromatic nard and anointed the feet of Jesus and dried them with her hair; the house was filled with the fragrance of the oil. Then Judas the Iscariot, one of his disciples, and the one who would betray him, said, ‘Why was this oil not sold for three hundred days’ wages and given to the poor?’ He said this not because he cared about the poor but because he was a thief and held the money bag and used to steal the contributions. So Jesus said, ‘Leave her alone. Let her keep this for the day of my burial. You always have the poor with you, but you do not always have me.’ The large crowd of the Jews found out that he was there and came, not only because of Jesus, but also to see Lazarus, whom he had raised from the dead. And the chief priests plotted to kill Lazarus too, because many of the Jews were turning away and believing in Jesus because of him.”
In the raising of Lazarus, Martha shows amazing faith. She runs to meet Jesus, and says that if he had been there her brother would not have died. But even so, Jesus was not too late to work a miracle. She confesses: I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God who is coming into the world. We in the Church shoul maintain such unshakable faith. We also see the Jews, who look for a sign… who are always looking for a sign. So many of us are like this. We view Jesus as a miracle machine. We look to him as one looks to a magician. We want to be amazed and entertain. Yet many of these people come to believe when they see the love of Jesus manifested in its fullness. There are also the religious leaders who hear, and yet their hearts are hardened by their fear of losing their power, and they seek to kill Jesus. Therer is the response of Lazarus, who is… well… dead. He is DEAD; four-days and stinking in the grave dead. And he responds to Christ by….well… walking out of the grave ALIVE. Many are amazed by his being raised from th edead, and his new life in Christ inspires those around him to come to faith in Jesus, too.
And then there is Mary.
Mary, the sister who stayed behind when Matha ran out to meet Jesus. Mary, who when called to Jesus responds by telling Jesus that if he had come earlier her brother would still be alive…. and then nothing more but tears. No statement of faith. No statement of hope. And upon this response, Jesus weeps with her. Yet though her faith is failing, Jesus loves her. Jesus’ love breaks the chains of death that hold Lazarus in the grave and calls him from the darkness out into the light.
When Jesus is back in Bethany, they hold a feast for him. Martha is her typical self, serving her Lord faithfully as well as her brothers and sisters (how much we can learn from her example!). Lazarus is reclining at the table with Jesus. The Jews observe from a distance. The religious leaders look for a way to kill Jesus.
And then there is Mary.
Mary comes forward and annoints Jesus’ feet with expensive perfume and dries his feet with her hair. What an act of repentence! What an act of worship! What an act of love! She does not bother with words. She does not bother about anyone looking on. She does not worry about the cost. She takes her very best and offers it in love to her Lord. Scripture refers to a woman’s hair as her glory, and this she offers as well as she dries Jesus’ feet. How very beautiful!
And then there is Judas. Judas who holds the money bags and steals from it for his own use. Judas who will betray the Son of God for thirty pieces of silver. Judas who betrays his Lord with a kiss. Judas responds to this pure, beautiful worship by admonishing her with words of self-righteous indignation and empty religion.
And then there is Jesus. Jesus who is Love. And Love responds by defending Mary. Love who rebukes the devil and silences the dragons accusations against the Lady, his Bride. Jesus accepts the offering of his Beloved and shelters her beauty from the evil one. What grace! What beauty! What love!
What a picture of what our worship should look like. Hear the good news: Jesus Christ is risen! Jesus Christ is Love, and his love has brought us out of the clutches of the grave and death as well, uniting us with him forever! Amen.
