The Kitchen Sink
An occasional piece of paper
April 10, 2011
Vol. 14 no. 15
John seems addicted to these feature-length stories, plenty of dialogue, a good bit of action and true to most situations when faith does something, a lot of people are unhappy with Jesus. Once again it proves that miracles usually come with strings attached.
Lazarus (Eliezer in Hebrew) is an unusual Biblical character, appearing twice in the Gospels of John and Luke. In John, Lazarus is identified as the brother of Mary and Martha of Bethany, whom we also know from Luke’s Gospel. He appears in Luke, however, as a rhetorical figure in a parable - a beggar who in death finds himself cradled in the bosom of Abraham. We are never told the occupation of the brother of Mary and Martha, but it seems he didn’t have to beg in their house.
The resurrection of Lazarus is not a ‘casual’ resurrection, performed merely to prove a point, for Lazarus was not a stranger, but someone whom Jesus knew and loved. Jesus was not neutral about Lazarus. It’s the same for us most of the time, for we are distressed and mourn the death of someone we know and love deeply. Our contemporary society is too often afflicted with apathy at the death of those we might call strangers. Body counts on TV and radio reports from wars, rebellions and natural disasters seldom awaken our compassion.
There was no apathy regarding Lazarus and after it was certain he was dead, Jesus commanded him to come out of death. Again, what Jesus did was too good to be legal and desirable for much of the religious establishment. We prefer for the dead to bury the dead.
Knox-Metropolitan United Church
Regina, Saskatchewan