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Lazarus Dies (John 11:1-16)

 Lazarus was seriously sick, and his sisters Mary and Martha were obviously worried. Jesus knew them, and they may have been relatives. Jesus was informed by a message from the sisters that Lazarus was sick. The answer Jesus gives is strange, but they may have thought that Jesus knew Lazarus would survive.

Jesus does the strangest thing next, upon finding out that Lazarus is sick: he stays where he is, not going to Bethany, to help Lazarus. Then Jesus tells the disciples that it's time to go back to Judea. They respond like sensible people, reminding him that they left Judea so that the authorities would not stone Jesus to death. Jesus responds with a parable, or what seems like a parable, because he could be saying that the authorities could only try something underhanded under the cover of night. I think the Jesus is saying that if you walk by the Light, it doesn't matter what others try to do against you. Jesus is the Light of the world. If he is with us in and in us, we cannot stumble.

Then Jesus uses a metaphor for death, saying that Lazarus has "fallen asleep." The Church often speaks this way even today, because we believe in the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Therefore, death is not the end that it seems to be, even if it hurts, and even if restoration will be a long time in coming.

The disciples didn't get it, of course, and they figured that Lazarus would wake up and be normal, as nearly all of us do each day. St. John kindly tells us that "fallen asleep" meant that Lazarus had died. Then Jesus told them plainly that Lazarus had died. Jesus says he is glad he wasn't there, so that the disciples might believe what Jesus is about to do, and therefore believe in him. Thomas, one of the disciples, is being a bit dramatic, and perhaps he thinks that whatever got Lazarus will get them, too.

I don't want to speculate and say that none of the apostles had any faith whatsoever, especially since we are often surprised by how God works beyond what we could ask or imagine. We could probably think of a problem that just seems too big for anyone to solve. In the quietness of our hearts, we might even admit our own unbelief that God could or would do anything about it. In any case, there are very few problems in this world bigger than death itself.

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