Brief synopsis of the readings: In Ezekiel we read how the Lord will open graves and raise the dead. “I will put my spirit in you that you may live.” John’s Gospel describes the raising of Lazarus. Lazarus’ sisters Mary and Martha saw that Lazarus was ill and sent word to Jesus who was nearby. But Jesus said his illness will not “end in death” and remained where he was for two more days. When Jesus did say he was going to see Lazarus he told his followers that Lazarus was asleep and he (Jesus) would wake him. But then he said that Lazarus had died and he was grateful to not be there as his actions will allow others to see and believe. By the time Jesus got to the home of Lazarus, Mary and Martha, Lazarus had been in the tomb for four days. Enveloped in grief Martha told Jesus that if he had been there Lazarus would not have died. Jesus responded: “I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live.” When Jesus was taken to Lazarus’ tomb he wept. Jesus then ordered the stone to be rolled away and called for Lazarus to come out. When Lazarus stepped out of the tomb he was still bound in burial cloths and Jesus told his followers to untie Lazarus. When the crowds saw this many came to believe.

So what is the limit of Jesus’ power to heal? Last week we read of a man cured of blindness; we’ve also seen people healed of leprosy and be liberated from demons. He fed the masses with just a few loaves and fishes and, well you get the point. But what about death? This wasn’t the only time Jesus brought someone back from the dead (Mark and Luke both recount Jesus bringing back the 12 year old daughter of the synagogue official Jairus) but this was the most dramatic. Here Lazarus was dead for several days, dispelling the idea that he was just gravely ill.

Like several of our Gospel readings during Lent this is a long one, almost a novella, with several scenes. Lazarus’ rising from the dead is obviously the focal point but I think the verse “Jesus began to weep” at Lazarus’ tomb bears some attention. It’s famously known as the shortest Bible verse (the King James versions simply says: “Jesus wept”). On some level it appears contrived as earlier in the story, when Jesus was told that Lazarus was gravely ill, he stayed away an additional two days. It’s as if he was waiting for Lazarus to die so he could raise him from the dead.

I say this because if Jesus knew Lazarus was going to die and knew that he would raise Lazarus from the dead, does that make his tears ring just a little hollow? After all, part of our grief is not knowing the future: how will I go on when a loved one dies? How will I support my family now that I’ve lost my job? When my house caught fire I lost not only my childhood pictures but the memories that came with them.

Nevertheless we have to believe that Jesus’ grief was sincere. We all experience grief and those experiences normally frame the worst moments of our lives, those times when we fear not so much that we won’t survive but that our survival will be without joy or purpose. I have to confess a pet peeve from my days working with hospice. So often a conversation with a surviving friend or family member would go something like this: “I hope I don’t cry. I hope I’m strong enough.” I also remember talking with a recent widower who attended a service at his wife’s church in the hope of finding some strength. But several parishioners insisted that since his wife was in Heaven he should be “over it by now.” He wasn’t.

When Jesus wept at his friend’s tomb it wasn’t because he lacked faith or strength. He lost his friend and his friends Martha and Mary lost their brother. Their journeys moving forward would not be of their choosing, one without Lazarus. In an ironic twist, not grieving at the tomb really would have demeaned Lazarus and his place in their lives. We don’t grieve over events that don’t negatively impact our lives. If Jesus had simply strolled up to the tomb and ordered Lazarus out, well, it would have seemed like just another Jesus miracle.

And only because Jesus wept can we fully see the glory in Lazarus stumbling out of the tomb. As Christians we are promised eternal life, a place without pain or suffering. But our salvation isn’t just a “promotion” from this life. It isn’t simply the next chapter. It’s a deliverance from the worst of the experiences we’ve endured, a recognition that even in the depths of our worst suffering the best is yet to be.

Finally, it’s a reminder that whatever grief awaits us, there will be hope on the other side. In a few weeks we’ll celebrate Easter, where Jesus will return from the grave but in a way that leads us all into eternal life. But before that happens we will see betrayal by Judas, denial by Peter and abandonment by virtually all of Jesus’ male disciples. To be fair when they saw Jesus arrested and charged with blasphemy by the Jewish leaders and sedition by the Romans they knew where it would lead and it must have seemed to them to be a darkness that would never see light again.

But our faith tells us that there is no such thing as a darkness that will never see light again. Grief is the price we pay for love and even when we doubt we’ll be able to love again our faith promises us a sunrise. For the rest of their lives Martha and Mary lived with the recognition that death was not able to defeat their brother and they lived with the recognition that faith in Jesus enables us to live forever.

My prayer is that this reminds us that no Lent, no Good Friday, no tomb completes us. Only resurrection can do that.