Jesus Wept

The Resurrection of Lazarus
"Then Mary, when she came where Jesus was and saw him, fell at his feet, saying to him, "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died."When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was deeply moved in spirit and troubled; and he said, "Where have you laid him?" They said to him, "Lord, come and see."

Jesus wept.

So the Jews said, "See how he loved him!" But some of them said, "Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?" Then Jesus, deeply moved again, came to the tomb; it was a cave, and a stone lay upon it. Jesus said, "Take away the stone." Martha, the sister of the dead man, said to him, "Lord, by this time there will be an odor, for he has been dead four days." Jesus said to her, "Did I not tell you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?" So they took away the stone. And Jesus lifted up his eyes and said, "Father, I thank thee that thou hast heard me. I knew that thou hearest me always, but I have said this on account of the people standing by, that they may believe that thou didst send me." When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, "Laz'arus, come out." The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with bandages, and his face wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, "Unbind him, and let him go."

- Gospel According to St. John 11:32-44

Last Sunday afternoon I attended a memorial service for someone that I'd never met; the grandfather of a friend. Initially I had felt very awkward about being a relative stranger among grieving family and close friends. However, by the end of the service, I really felt as if I knew this man. The legacy that he'd left behind was firmly imprinted in the lives of his friends and family. Each person shared their memories and celebrated the riches of a life lived in community with him.

I've been to quite a few funerals and memorials in the past few years - and I've noticed that funerals for Christians are often very different. In all cases there is grief and mourning - but for Christians there is an element of "bright sadness."

IN CHRIST THERE IS NO DEATH

One of the speakers at the memorial, an Intensive Care nurse, spoke of observing the last moments of this man with his family, as he passed from life. She said that in a place where death was all around - she saw no fear of death in either the man or his family. His death was a transition and not an ending.

"In Christ shall all be made alive." - 1 Corinthians 15:22

When Jesus wept at the graveside of Lazarus, I don't believe His tears were for His friend , but rather, He wept with those who mourned.

THE RIGHT AND WRONG SIDE OF RESURRECTION

Lazarus was one of the last people to die on the wrong side of the resurrection. A short time after this event - Jesus would overcome death and end its eternal hold on humanity - after the resurrection, life would become eternal again - as it had originally been intended. Death would still be a part of our journey - but no longer our final destination.

"For this perishable nature must put on the imperishable, and this mortal nature must put on immortality. When the perishable puts on the imperishable, and the mortal puts on immortality, then shall come to pass the saying that is written: "Death is swallowed up in victory."

"O death, where is thy victory? O death, where is thy sting?"

- 1 Corinthians 15:53-55

The memorial service introduced me to someone I had never met before, but now I would recognize him when I saw him again. In Christ there is no need to fear death, for in Christ there is no death!

Mary (the sister of Lazarus) expressed faith in Jesus when she said "Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died." (see above). She knew that death has no power in the presence of the Creator of life.

Each Pascha (Easter), Eastern Orthodox Christians proclaim to the world that:

"Christ is risen from the dead,
trampling down death by death,
and on those in the tombs bestowing life.
Christ is risen from the dead."