The air is becoming stale. The walls are closing in. We’re only one and a half weeks into our isolation, and I’ve run out of ways to entertain my kids.  Even my pets tire of me.  With social distancing becoming old news, and fear of the imminent unknown,  I love that this week’s lectionary text is the resuscitation of Lazarus.

“I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die” (John 11:25-26). We usually read John 11 at funerals. This scripture directly connects belief in Jesus as Messiah to hope in the death of death…the resurrection of the body.

But it does more than that.  It gives us so much more than hope in life after death.

Lord,If You’d Have Been Here…

Notice Mary’s complaint in 11:32: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.”  If you would have been here.  How often in our trials and suffering have we wondered where God was hiding? And there with Mary at his feet, Jesus filled with compassion and began to weep.

I think it’s fascinating that the text emphasizes that Jesus chose not to prevent Lazarus’ death. Instead, Jesus purposefully allows Lazarus to die, and only then comes to raise him from the dead. Jesus himself says this is so everyone can “see the glory of God” (11:40), the power of God at work in Jesus to bring the dead to life.

The text goes back and forth between the spiritual and physical realities of death and life. Lazarus is not just spiritually awakened, but physically so.  This is a unique experience, a sign of what is to come, both for Jesus himself, and for those who believe in him. Spirituality is embodied, and flesh is made spiritual. Our bodies are not something to escape, but gifts from God to enjoy and to weep over.

As you bravely explore life alone together, look for the power of Christ, the glory of God, resurrecting you here and now. Find joy in the small things of life.  Find life in the quiet stillness.  Hear the voice that calls you to rise and shine. And one day, we really will be able to come out of our homes and tombs to new life.