Ezekiel 37:12-14; Romans 8:8-11; John 11:1-45
Death is not forever. Graves can be opened and the dead can be raised up.
In Ezekiel, we learn about graves being opened. However, the context shows that it is not about actual graves but rather about the graves of captivity that were holding the Israelites back.
A few verses earlier, it is mentioned that “when the people of Israel were living in their own land, they defiled it by their conduct and their actions. “
The loss of their land was part of the punishment that followed their actions. However, they receive another chance. God has mercy with them and raises them out of their graves of hopeless. Filled with the Spirit of God they will live again. After this “rebirth” they are able to return to the Promised Land.
In Paul’s letter to the Romans, Paul reiterates God showing mercy for those who are filled with the Spirit. The Spirit of God dwells in us. Paul even gets more specific when he points out that only when the Spirit of Christ is living in us, then we can be true followers of Christ. We then belong to Christ. Just as the law has authority over someone as long as that person lives, we are pleasing God as long as we are spiritual. Paul clearly differentiates between a living body and a living spirit that is dwelling in this body.
From the Spirit of God freeing the Israelites from their figurative graves of captivity to the Letter of Paul to the Romans reiterating the importance of being spiritual people if we want to please God and continue to live despite our mortal bodies, the Gospel of John describes the raising of a dead person to life. The person had not just died but had actually been dead for more than 3 days which signifies that there was no doubt that the person was dead.
In this account, Jesus learns about his good friend Lazarus being very ill. According to the Scriptures Jesus says: ‘This sickness will end not in death but in God’s glory, and through it the Son of God will be glorified.’ It is not clear to whom this is said, but it is a clear prediction for what follows.
Jesus ignores the concerns of his disciples. They are worried about Jesus’ safety and don’t understand why Jesus wants to see Lazarus. Jesus has to tell them bluntly that Lazarus is dead.
From this moment on, the story turns to Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha.
One sister after the other greets Jesus with a little rebuke that their brother might not have died if Jesus had come earlier.
When Jesus sees the sadness in the people’s eyes, he is filled with compassion and he starts to pray. This reminds us of the mercy God that had let to the Israelites receiving a second chance in Ezekiel.
Jesus asks to be led to the grave which is a cave closed by a big rock. Not long after this account, it will be Jesus’ grave from which a rock will be removed. Jesus is careful. He wants to avoid any misinterpretations of what is going to happen now. Jesus doesn’t enter the grave – and he makes sure that many people, including the Jews who were comforting Mary, are watching attentively.
This is when Jesus calls Lazarus to come out, and Lazarus is raised from the dead. It is visibly the person who died and he is still covered by linen cloths. Jesus has freed his spirit and has brought him back to life. Now he asks those around him to free Lazarus of the bandages.
When Jesus raises from the dead later, he doesn’t need anybody to free him of his bandages. Jesus would leave the bandages behind.
The last miracle before Jesus’ death is to reveal God’s Glory. Jesus first asks Martha, and later Mary to believe.
The crucial message is: ‘I am the resurrection and the life. If anyone believes in me, even though he dies he will live, and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?’
The question shows that this miracle is more important than any other miracle. It is not performed on the way from one place to another. Jesus actually goes to see Lazarus, he prays in big distress, asks for the cave to be opened and finally cries out to Lazarus as he cried out his last words at the Cross.
In the story of Jesus healing the man who was born blind, we were called to overcome spiritual blindness. In this miracle story we go beyond blindness. As Paul says, we are called to be spiritual people and when the Holy Spirit dwells in us, death has no power over us.
BM
