December 17th, 2024
Lazarus in the Tomb by Amanda Cortes.
Today, towards the end of the Advent season, is the feast day of Saint Lazarus of Bethany. The Gospels tell us his story, placing the events near the end of Christ’s earthly ministry. The story deals with death, grief, and even frustration with God. This, seemingly in stark contrast to the season, I thought, amidst prophecies of the birth of the Messiah, and the genealogy found in today’s readings, all revealing the ways in which God was working in His people. This feast surprised me at first but the more I considered the story as found in the Gospel of John, the more my heart beat with love and I was nourished by the great miracle of St Lazarus’s life during this season of expectation.
The incarnation of Christ, which we honor every Advent, is revealed through every parable and every word of the Gospels. But the raising of Lazarus is different from the other miracles of Jesus. First, we are told that a letter is sent to Jesus; that Lazarus, “He whom thou lovest is sick.” But Jesus does not leave right away, he remains with his disciples.
I think about the time they all spent waiting. Mary and Martha seeing Lazarus grow sicker and frailer, of late nights in dim light attending to him, of seeing every remedy fail. In faith they sought Jesus who they believed could heal his body, who they believed would come to their aide if they asked. I think about the pain of seeing their beloved brother die before Jesus arrived. Preparing for his burial through tears and pangs of loss.
When Jesus does arrive in Bethany the emotional scene is like a tidal wave. His sisters weep and grieve even at the arrival of Jesus whom they believe to be the Messiah the Son of God. But…“If you had been here, my brother would not have died,” Martha says to him. Christ does not reprimand them. He does something else more astonishing, as he is brought to Lazarus’s place of burial;
“Jesus wept.”
Those around Jesus warned him of the rotting corpse, of the ugliness of a man dead four days…but Christ the Lord called Lazarus, as He calls us, amidst the more putrid and unseen decay of our sins to come out of the tomb.
The expectations I form as I wait for the Lord, the grief and calamity roused by life’s trials, I realized were not despised by God. But neither do they account for His greatness. His will may look like nothing I understand or could have envisioned. We are meant to prepare for the Messiah with hope and thanksgiving, but He can handle our sorrow, our frustrations and expectations because His Greatness surpasses all of them.
St. Lazarus of Bethany, pray for us!
