Gospel for 31 March, 2007

When she had said this, she went and called her sister Mary, saying in a low voice, ‘The Master is here and wants to see you.' Hearing this, Mary got up quickly and went to him. Jesus had not yet come into the village; he was still at the place where Martha had met him. When the Jews who were in the house comforting Mary saw her get up so quickly and go out, they followed her, thinking that she was going to the tomb to weep there. Mary went to Jesus, and as soon as she saw him she threw herself at his feet, saying, ‘Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.' At the sight of her tears, and those of the Jews who had come with her, Jesus was greatly distressed, and with a profound sigh he said ‘Where have you put him?' They said, ‘Lord, come and see.' Jesus wept; and the Jews said, ‘See how much he loved him!' But there were some who remarked, ‘He opened the eyes of the blind man. Could he not have prevented this man's death?' Sighing again, Jesus reached the tomb: it was a cave with a stone to close the opening. Jesus said, ‘Take the stone away.' Martha, the dead man's sister, said to him, ‘Lord, by now he will smell; this is the fourth day since he died.' Jesus replied, ‘Have I not told you that if you believe you will see the glory of God?' So they took the stone away. Then Jesus lifted up his eyes and said: Father, I thank you for hearing my prayer. I myself knew that you hear me always, but I speak for the sake of all these who are standing around me, so that they may believe it was you who sent me. When he had said this, he cried in a loud voice, ‘Lazarus, come out!' The dead man came out, his feet and hands bound with strips of material, and a cloth over his face. Jesus said to them, ‘Unbind him, let him go free.' (John 11:28-44 NJB)

Today's Gospel lesson, the day the Orthodox celebrate as Lazarus Day, contains the answer to a popular Bible trivia answer, "what is the shortest verse in the Bible?" The answer is John 11:35, "Jesus wept." The funny thing is that though it may be the shortest, it may also be one of the most profound verses in the Bible.

These two little words tell us a lot about the person of Jesus. They say He was indeed like us. He knew about resurrection and new life. He knew the Father as no one else could. Hhe knew that there was more to life than just the transitory existence that we see around us. But He also knew the real human emotion of grief. He knew what it meant to lose a loved one. He understands how our human hearts ache and cry out against the injustice and lovelessness of death. He knows. He understands. He is one with us in every way.

I have always appreciated the real, often ignored truth, that today's Gospel also includes. As the King James Version records it, "it has been four days, and he stinketh." That's what happens to human bodies in hot climates, when they are not embalmed. The process of rot takes over and after a few days they stink of death and rot. Jesus knew that. And Jesus knew it was to be His legacy also. He, the Lord of life, would experience the horror, and the stench of death. Even enthroned back at the Father's right Hand, He through Whom all things were made, is never beyond the memory of dying and of rotting in the grave. The most sublime of truths is that even with that knowledge, even knowing that He would be so rejected by His own people, He willing came and endured it all so that we might be reconciled to God. He embraced what was completely antithetical to His Nature so that we might be empowered to embrace His Nature and become children of God.