The gospel writer John is a fantastic narrator. His stories of Jesus are rich in detail and full of theological reflection on the scenes that he describes. This means, however, that a story that the gospel writer Mark could tell in 8 verses takes John 44 or more.
We are in the second week of our “Unbinding Grief” series based on the story of Lazarus and Jesus in John 11:1-44.
Often it is a challenge to include all of the details from a story from John in worship. Usually we end up skipping at least a part of the story in the interest of time. And it’s hard to decide which part to focus in on and which to skip because it’s all so meaningful.
That’s why I’m really glad that we have the whole month of July to savor this story from John commonly known as “The Raising of Lazarus.” As we spend more time than usual in this story, what we find is that while the presenting issue of the story is the illness and death of Lazarus, the bulk of the story focuses on conversations with other characters in preparation for the raising of Lazarus including the disciples, Martha, Mary, and the Jews (NIBC Volume IX, Luke John).
This week as we focus on vs. 7—16, we have the opportunity to think about the disciples and their perspective on the events around Lazarus’ illness and death.
They have a lot of questions about what is happening, some misunderstandings, surprise, and then finally resolve as they decide to go with Jesus to see Lazarus and his family. These are the experiences that often occur at the intersection of faith and grief. They are even more complicated because of who Jesus is and the challenges that he faces.
If we put ourselves in the disciple’s sandals or think of a situation when we have had to make hard choices and Jesus asks us to do things that we don’t fully understand, we suddenly realize that we might never fully understand and it might never be the perfect time and so we take the step of faith to
• Trust Jesus’ time vs. our own time
• Trust what is significant vs. what is safe
Following Jesus takes courage and hope in the midst of questions and doubts, but when we do, we have the opportunity to witness miracles!
I invite you to step out in faith and hope as you courageously follow Jesus this week.
Blessings!
Pastor Suzanne