Graveyards
A ONE Church Devotional in Easter Season
Sebastiano del Plombo, “The Raising of Lazarus”
Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb. It was a cave with a stone laid across the entrance. “Take away the stone,” he said. “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?” So they took away the stone... [Then Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face. Jesus said to them, “Take off the grave clothes and let him go.” (John 11.38-44)
Graveyards strike different people differently. When I was a kid, I wanted nothing to do with them. Friends, on the other hand, liked to play tag and hide and seek there. I got the willies. At most, I would watch from a distance. These days, though, I like to wander through and read tombstones and imagine the lives they remember. When the dates of birth and death are too close together, I wonder what the young person might have become.
Do you like graveyards or do you stay away? Whether you and I feel the same way about graveyards, I bet we have one thing in common: either of us has ever stood in a graveyard and waited for a corpse to come out. That’s just one of the many ways we’re different than Jesus.
Once, one of Jesus’s friends got so sick that the doctors sounded the alert, “Get your affairs in order and gather the people who love you.” Jesus was on that list, but he got held up on the way. It happens. People get delayed. But when your friend’s really sick, who knows how long you’ve got?
Jesus couldn’t get to Bethany soon enough, and Lazarus died, and everyone cried. His sister Mary cried. Sister Martha cried. And, when he gets there, even Jesus famously wept. Their brother was dead. His friend was dead. So far, it is a story we all know well. A dearly beloved friend or family member dies, and we’re all sad.
But then suddenly a very familiar story took a strange and spectacular turn. They were standing in the graveyard grieving, when suddenly the visitor said a very inappropriate thing: “Take the stone away from the door!” Jesus said this to the cemetery guy. Imagine being that guy. He’d seen deep grief. He knew the desire to be with the dead one more time. So he tried to respond graciously. “Uh, sir, I realize you’re sad, but we don’t usually open tombs.” But Jesus strangely persisted. So the cemetery guy got some help and rolled the stone. “Anything for a customer, I guess,” he grumbled amid the exertion. But then the weird guy with the weirder request is suddenly shouting: “Lazarus, come out!” Not just the graveyard custodian but a whole lot of people nearby probably felt sorry for him by now. “Poor fellow. Must have been a pretty good friend.”
Then Jesus shouted again, louder: “Lazarus, come out!” This was starting to get morbid. “Is he crazy or joking?” And “If he’s joking, it’s not funny at all!” Maybe even Mary and Martha are began to have their doubts. But then something…moved.
We see a lot of miracles in our Gospels. Jesus healed people and calm storms and multiplied bread, and in a couple places he brought people back from death. But this one goes beyond helping a family or making a life better or even just demonstrating power. This one enacts resurrection -- anticipates Jesus’s own.
“I am the resurrection and the life!” Jesus said, once Lazarus was up and walking around. “You got that right!” said the grave keeper. Who, then, is this that even death can’t stop him?
Consider this One as you walk a marvelous Monday!
Prayer -- God, we want a life that death can’t stop. Connect us with this death busting power. Draw us to faith, in Jesus. Amen.