5 LENT, YEAR A, JOHN 11: 1-45

NARRATION PREPARED BY THE REV. ANNE STANLEY

BASED ON THE NRSV, WITH A BIT OF HELP FROM THE MESSAGE BY EUGENE PETERSON…..9 March 2008

NARRATOR: Once upon a time, as the week of his own Passion and death was drawing  near, Jesus’ old friend, Lazarus, fell ill. Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha, lived in the village of Bethany. Jesus and this family were old, old friends. You’ll remember that it was one of these sisters, Mary, who anointed Jesus’ feet with oil and wiped them with her hair.  She got in trouble with the religious leaders for that.

When Lazarus got sick, the sisters sent an urgent message to Jesus, who was traveling around in another area.

SISTERS:  Lord, the one you love, our brother, is very, very ill.

NARRATOR: When Jesus got the message he said to those near him---

JESUS:  This sickness isn’t fatal. It will be a chance to show God’s glory by glorifying God’s Son.

NARRATOR:  Even though Jesus loved Martha and Mary and Lazarus, he stayed where he was…..We don’t really know why he didn’t rush to Bethany.  After all, he’d healed others; you’d think he would hurry to take care of his best friend. But he didn’t….  Sometimes, we know, it’s hard to face the illness of those we love the most. We’d rather not get involved; we’d rather not meet face to face with the family. It’s hard to know what to say, sometimes…. We have here the makings of a little real-life drama between Jesus and his friends.

But a couple of days later, Jesus decided to go to Bethany after all.  His disciples were worried, though, for they knew Jesus’ enemies would see him there.

DISCIPLES;  Rabbi, you can’t go!! The Jewish authorities are out to kill you. How can you go back there?

JESUS: Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Anyone who walks in daylight doesn’t stumble because there’s plenty of light from the sun. Walking at night, he might very well stumble because he can’t see where he’s going……Our friend, Lazarus has fallen asleep. I’m going to wake him up.

DISCIPLES: Master, if he’s gone to sleep, he’ll get a good rest and wake up feeling fine.

NARRATOR: But we know, don’t we, that Jesus was talking about death, while his disciples thought he was talking about taking a nap…….Still, Jesus saw they were confused. After all, they were upset, as he was, about their friend, Lazarus. And Jesus’ words seemed a bit strange.  Jesus’ words often sound strange to our ears………So Jesus got explicit.

JESUS: Look, Lazarus really did die. I’m glad for your sakes that I wasn’t there. I’m about to give you new grounds for believing….. Now let’s go to him.

NARRATOR: Suddenly Thomas, the disciple nicknamed the Twin, spoke up.

THOMAS: Let’s go along, too. We might as well die with him.

NARRATOR:  So they journeyed along, and when he got there, Jesus found Lazarus, and he had been dead for four days already. Bethany was near Jerusalem, only a couple of miles away, and many of Jews were visiting Martha and Mary, sympathizing with them over their brother’s death. Martha got word that Jesus was finally coming. She went out to meet him. Mary stayed back in the house.

MARTHA: Master, if you’d been here, my brother wouldn’t have died!!......But even now, though, I know that whatever you ask God for, he will give you.

JESUS: Your brother will be raised up.

NARRATOR: Martha knew that already. All good Jews were taught, from a very early age, about the general resurrection at the end of time. She was already upset with Jesus, and now he was telling her the obvious, as if she were a little child. He wasn’t being the least bit helpful!

MARTHA:  I already KNOW that he will be raised up in the resurrection at the end of time!

 NARRATOR: Jesus must have sensed Martha’s distress, for he suddenly unloaded a surprise.

JESUS: Martha, look, you don’t have to wait for the end of time. You don’t have to wait. You can have new life right now. I am, right now, Resurrection and Life. The one who believes in me, even though he or she dies, will live. And everyone who lives believing in me does not ultimately die forever. There’s Good News now AND after you die. Do you believe this?

NARRATOR: Martha sort of believed that. But she didn’t quite “get it.”  So she recited some more of what she’d learned as a faithful Jew.

MARTHA:  Yes, Master, all along I have believed that you are the Messiah, the Son of God who comes into the world.  That’s what I’ve been taught.

NARRATOR:  Martha was still conflicted with grief and confusion. She wanted her sister Mary to help her out, so even though she was making this up, she whispered in Mary’s ear….

MARTHA:  The Teacher is here. Come, he’s asking for you.

NARRATOR: The minute Mary heard that, she jumped up and ran out to Jesus. Jesus had not yet reached the town but was still at the place where Martha had met him. When her sympathizing Jewish friends saw Mary run off, they followed her, thinking she was on her way to the tomb to weep there. Mary came to where Jesus was waiting and she fell at his feet.

MARY: Master, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died!!!!

NARRATOR: Jesus saw Mary sobbing, and the Jews sobbing. He was greatly disturbed and he wanted to know where they had put the body.

JESUS: Where have you put him?

THE JEWS: Come and see.

NARRATOR: Jesus wept, too.

THE JEWS: See how much Jesus loved Lazarus!.......But if he loved him so much, why didn’t he do something to keep him from dying? After all, he opened the eyes of a blind man, remember?

NARRATOR: Jesus was really disturbed now. He approached the tomb. It was, as you can see, a simple cave in the hillside with a slab of stone laid against it.

JESUS: Remove the stone!

MARTHA: Jesus!  No, by now there will be a stench. Lazarus has been dead for four days!

NARRATOR: Jesus looked Martha in the eye.  He had to make her understand. This was still proving hard to do!

JESUS: Didn’t I tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?.........Remove the stone!

NARRATOR: The Jews took hold of the huge stone. Jesus raised his eyes to heaven and prayed.  

JESUS: Oh God, I’m grateful that you have listened to me. I know you always do listen, but on account of this crowd standing here I’ve spoken so that they might believe that you sent me……….

            …..LAZARUS, COME OUT!!!!!    (The Jews roll away the stone.

(Lazarus steps forward)

            …….Now unwrap him and let him loose.

                        (Martha and Mary remove the cloths.

 Lazarus and Mary walk quietly back to their pew)

NARRATOR:  The people came and they saw.  It wasn’t easy for them to understand or for Jesus to make his point. Jesus had a hard time, first with Martha and Mary and then with the crowd. In the end, some saw and were amazed: that the glory of God is present right now.

You can see for yourselves, Lazarus has now returned to his old life. He’s gotten back to things. Through the power of God working in him, Jesus has shown that through belief in him, new life and good news are possible even now when our situations are difficult and dire.  Some saw and were amazed that we don’t have to wait ‘til we die for the Good News of God-with-us. Some saw and were amazed that the power of God’s abiding love is available even on this side of the grave. Even in the midst of suffering and death, the new life of the gospel right here with us.  Lazarus came out of his tomb as a foretaste of things to come; Jesus would soon be going into his own tomb as part of the foretaste made real.

                        Thanks be to God. AMEN.