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Death is a difficult thing to think or talk about, but we as Christians do not shy away from talking about death. It is the foundation of our faith. It is important that we are open and honest in talking about death, particularly in this time when we see the direct effect of disease in this world. People have died, are dying, and will continue to die.
What death is and how it affects us is different for everyone. What is most important for us in grasping the universal truth of death is to look at where God is in all of it.
All of our readings today cover death and God’s presence in it. Lent itself begins with the reminder of our mortality in this world. But the best place to go to in order to see where God is in all of this is in our reading from John 11.
In Lazarus’ death, Jesus, the Son of God, even God Himself in human form, also has emotions, as we all do. This death has an affect on Him as well. We are told that Jesus was “greatly disturbed.” Some scholars look at these words and see that they are the very same words used whenever Jesus gets angry. So whether we are confused, distraught, or even angry by the pain and affect of death upon us, we know that God feels those same things too.
Death often leads to sadness. Jesus feels that as well. The proof is famous as the shortest sentence in the Bible: “Jesus wept.”
Whatever we think or feel at the sight of death, God is there with us in those thoughts and emotions. We know that because we see it in Jesus, right here, right now.
Death is unavoidable. No amount of healing can permanently stave it off. Jesus shows us that here.
But Jesus also shows us that death does not have the final word. In the end, Lazarus, who was four days dead, is raised again by God through the life-giving power of Jesus.
In the Gospel according to John, this is the final sign Jesus performs before His death, and it is the very thing that pushes the Sanhedrin to seek His death. That is very fitting because in this miracle, Jesus is summing up His entire ministry. It sums up our faith.
Some scholars point to the references of Jesus’ love for Lazarus. They point out that Lazarus was beloved by Jesus, and they also point out that beloved is a term Scripture uses for another group of people: Us, Christians. Jesus’ love for Lazarus isn’t just about him, it’s about us as well. It’s about Jesus showing a sign of His love, and what that love will bring to each and every one of us.
Like me, many of you have seen death, and many of you have likely seen it come in many forms. There are those who pray for recovery, and it happens. There are those who pray for recovery and it doesn’t happen. There are those who die and are released from great pain as well as those who hold on for their loved ones through their great suffering. Why one of these things happen to some and not others, I cannot say.
What I can say is that God is there in the midst of all death, as we see through Jesus Christ and His raising of Lazarus. I can also say that we have our proof that death is not the end of things for us.
What the next life will bring, we do not know. We know there will be a physicality to it because that is what we hear in the Creeds and that is what we see in the Resurrected form of Jesus. From that same form, though, we know that life will be very different, transformed even. It might not make death less sad for us, for even Jesus weeps, but it does mean that in the end we do have hope.