Lent with Lazarus ~ Connecting with the Cast of Characters

 

Within the cast of characters we meet in the resurrection of Lazarus, the ensemble includes the disciples (who don’t get it and are a bit dense – which I resemble that remark) and the fierce faithfulness of Martha and Mary.  We also have Lazarus, who I will reflect on more next week and whether he was unwillingly casted into the role of “Dead dude Jesus could rise from the dead”.  I am struck by how the disciples really don’t get what Jesus is talking about.  Notice verse 8, the disciples don’t even want to go anywhere near Judea to visit the grieving family.  They essentially say, “Um last time we were there Jesus, people were examining rocks to throw at you!  Do you really think we should go back there?!”  Then, when Jesus says that Lazarus is sleeping, the disciples essentially look at Jesus like a deer in highlights.  If I hold the Bible close, I can hear the disciples thinking, “Do we look like an alarm clock, Jesus?  He can wake up on his own!”  I imagine Jesus rubbing his temples, mutter and mumble to himself about why he called these guys to follow him, then bluntly saying, “Lazarus is dead.”  Insert lightbulb over disciples’ heads.  Then, Thomas, the twin says, “Well, I guess we should go and die with Him.”  Is this said with certainty or confusion or fear?

 

I wonder, who is the “Him”?  Is it Lazarus?  Or does Thomas imagine like Daniel in the Lions’ den that there is a stone with his name on it waiting to be thrown when Jesus steps back into the Judean city limits?  Is there regret or resignation or apprehension or acceptance of what could happen in Thomas’ voice?  Or maybe all the above and more emotions sitting in that comment.

 

When have you echoed Thomas?  When have you this last week thrown up your hands in exhaustion or exasperation?  When have you tossed in the towel thinking, “I just can’t do it anymore,” where the “it” is stress or strain of life sitting on your shoulders?

 

Now compare the disciples to Martha who when she hears Jesus is near; she goes out to meet him.  Conjure that conversation in your heart.  Is Martha perturbed or perplexed by Jesus?  Do her words have some anger sprinkled in when she says, “If You had been here, Jesus, Lazarus would still be alive.”  Or is there a passionate pleading?  I love how fiercely faithful Martha is, she names and claims her pain rather than pushing it down.  She tells Jesus what is in her heart.

 

What do you need to say to the Sacred today?  Do you have Martha-like words you need to share with God?

 

Then, Martha names and claims a faithfulness that death and life have always mixed and mingled together.  Too often in our world we see death as an ending.  Yet, science tells us that there are the same number of atoms in the universe today as when all this first began.  Creation is always recycling and renewing and restoring and re-storying the world.  You are made up of the same soil and star dust as the dinosaurs and your great grandparents.  You have atoms from the beginning within you!  Sit with this holy truth today.

 

Finally, notice how Mary echoes Martha in her first words to him, “Lord, why weren’t you here?”  Those moments when we let someone we love down or disappointment hangs heavy in the air between us and someone we care about.  Do you connect with this part of the story today?  Step into the roles of disciple – that we see in a mirror dimly and that our point of view is a view from a point.  Step into Martha’s sandals with fierce faithfulness of God’s presence and promise.  Step into Mary’s sacred disappointment about where our souls sag and hearts lag.  These parts and pieces of the story connect to my story and I pray to yours as well today.

 

Prayer: Thank you, God, for narratives that open us to truths about the human condition that have been, are, and will be found in our lives.  Help us hear our moments of confusion, confession, and concerns that this narrative awakens this day.  In the name of the One who brings life to the atoms where we only see ashes, Jesus the Christ.  Amen.