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| The Raising of Lazarus |
Friday after Exaudi
Then Jesus, again groaning in
Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus
said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to
Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus
said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the
glory of God?” Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man
was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You
have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people
who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” Now
when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come
forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and
his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him
go” (John 11:38-44).
Jesus
told Martha that He was the resurrection and the life; now, everyone gathered
at Lazarus’ tomb can see the proof. Jesus, the Word made flesh, gives life through
the word. His word does the things He says. When God says over the formless
void of the earth, “Let there be light!” there is light.[1]
When Jesus, through whom and for whom all things were created,[2]
tells the dead Lazarus to come out of his grave, he comes out, and by
absolutely no effort of his own. God’s Word does what it says. It is creative.
It is successful in producing the desired result, that is, it is efficacious.
God’s
Word is no less efficacious now. When God’s Word comes to us connected to water
in Holy Baptism, promising to wash away our sins and to save us,[3] it
does. When we confess our sins, God tells us that He, who is faithful and just,
will forgive our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.[4] He
does so, through the man called to preach and administer the sacraments, our
faithful pastor, as well as informally through our brothers and sisters to whom
we confess our sins.[5]
When we hear the preaching of the Gospel, that while we were God’s enemies,
Christ died for the ungodly as the Lamb of God, the ransom for the sins of the
world, we know that it is efficacious;[6] it
is the power of God to the salvation of all who believe, the means by which the
Holy Spirit works faith in all men.[7]
When we receive the very body and blood of the Word made flesh for the forgiveness
of our sins, that is truly what He gives us - both His body and His blood to
eat and to drink, and the forgiveness of sins, life, and salvation He has won
for us by His death and resurrection.[8]
Lazarus’
resurrection is a foreshadowing of our own resurrection. One day, Jesus will
return and call us out of our graves:
For
the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of an
archangel, and with the trumpet of God. And the dead in Christ will rise first.[9]
Because
we have been baptized into Christ’s death and resurrection, His death and
resurrection belong to us.[10]
In our baptism we have put on Christ. It is God’s guarantee that we will not
all sleep, but we will all be raised and changed to have a glorious body, just
as Christ does.
For
since by man came death, by Man also came the resurrection of the dead. For as
in Adam all die, even so in Christ all shall be made alive. But each one in his
own order: Christ the firstfruits, afterward those who are Christ’s at His
coming.[11]
We
are made His through our baptism, being born again from above by the power of
the Holy Spirit, through water and the Word.
Here,
in this fallen world of sin and death, we must endure much that is difficult to
bear. Take heart! Christ died for our sins, according to the Scriptures; He was
buried, and He rose again the third day.[12]
That means that all who belong to Him have the forgiveness of sins, life, and
salvation. So, even if those troubles we experience in the world lead to our
physical death, which they all ultimately will if Jesus should delay His
coming, we can be certain that God the Father has saved us by what Jesus Christ
the Son has done for us on the cross. He who is faithful and true has promised
us. So, in Christ, God has turned death from a curse into something that
guarantees us life. That is not to say that death is our friend, or we should
welcome it, or we should not mourn those who pass from this veil of tears
before us. We should, however, recognize that when a Christian dies, he is
brought safely to the Lord in heaven, where Satan no longer has access to him,
to safely await the resurrection on the Last Day. God has worked all things,
including death, for our good, according to His purpose.[13]
Behold,
I tell you a mystery: We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed - in
a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will
sound, and the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall all be changed.[14]
[1]
Genesis 1:1-3
[2]
John 1:3,10
[3]
Acts 2:38; 22:16; 1 Peter 3:18-22
[4] 1
John 1:6-9
[5]
James 5:16
[6]
Romans 5:10; John 1:29; Mark 10:45
[7]
Romans 1:16; 10:17
[8] Matthew
26:26-27; 1 Corinthians 11:23-30
[9] 1
Thessalonians 4:16
[10]
Romans 6:3-5; Galatians 2:26-27
[11] 1
Corinthians 15:21-23
[12] 1
Corinthians 15:3-8
[13]
Romans 8:28
[14] 1
Corinthians 15:51-52
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