The raising of Lazarus

(March 25) On the way to Easter, we meet the story of the raising of Lazarus in John 11. An often passed over line in this story has caught my attention.

As Jesus, Mary, Martha and others have come to the cave of entombment and are about to open it, Martha blurts out, “But it will stink!” As John tells the stories of Jesus, he is known to rework them a bit more than the other Gospel writers. But here and there, he recounts details that have an eye-witness freshness. Martha’s comment about stinking is such a detail.

Of course it will stink. Death stinks. Failure stinks. Sin stinks. There is much that stinks!

Scholars sometimes debate whether John 11 is a true resurrection story because Lazarus is raised back to an earthly life, still needing to face death again. I believe it is indeed a resurrection story, for at the heart of the whole concept of resurrection is the conviction that with God anything is possible and life can be created again even where there is only death.

A generation ago, there was a popular American song, “Look for the Silver Lining.” It’s a lovely tune and a wonderful thought. But looking for the bright side is not what resurrection is about.

Resurrection is not optimism: the conviction that everything will somehow turn out for the best. Our experience defies such optimism.

Terrible things happen to the best of people. Lazarus, a friend of Jesus, dies. Jesus himself is executed. A terrible disease, a disfigurement, the loss of a loved one, getting fired from a job, being the victim of a crime: All of these have happened to good people in our midst. In such things, there is no silver lining, no bright side.

The Easter hope, the resurrection conviction, is to believe that even after the worst has happened, the God who created us is able to create anew!

To believe in Easter is not to assume that nothing terrible will ever happen to us. God never promises that it will not. The promise of Easter is that even when the worst happens, God is able to surprise us with new life thereafter.

Resurrection happens again and again in this earthly life, as we are surprised with new life after a terrible ordeal. And thus we also dare to believe that at the ending of our life on earth, new life will come even then. God offers surprising new life, new beginnings, new possibilities, even after the worst happens. God is able!