This fourth step is one I initially missed during my first few readings of the text. As I looked over the middle section of the story of Lazarus the theme that stood out predominately was hope. As I look at it hope is crucial to every step of the journey to new life. You don't call on someone that you don't have hope in. You don't follow someone that you don't have hope it. The Bible says in 1 Corinthians 13, that among faith and love, hope also remains. Hope is crucial.
But along with hope, which is prominently seen in Martha, once Mary and the mourners who have gathered meet Jesus, we see another key step of the journey. John 11.32-34, "Therefore, when Mary came where Jesus was, she saw Him, and fell at His feet, saying to Him, 'Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.' When Jesus therefore saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, He was deeply moved in spirit and was troubled, 34 and said, 'Where have you laid him?' They said to Him, 'Lord, come and see.'"
Jesus must be invited to the tomb. If we never invite Jesus to come to the place of death, new life won't come. Hope is crucial, but it is not the final step of the journey. Hope does nothing by itself. We see in 1 Corinthians 13.13, that hope isn't even the greatest of the three things listed. Just as calling on Jesus is not the end of the journey, neither is hope. Hope is something we have that longs for the prize, that keeps us going until we get to the destination, but hope alone does not achieve that. Just as calling must turn into following, so hope must be accompanied by an invitation.
A cancer patient may have hope of healing, but if he never allows a doctor to administer Chemo, then the hope dies. Hope in Jesus does not good if we never invite Him to come to the place where new life is so desperately needed. Jesus will never force His way upon anyone. Jesus will never speak new life into someone who doesn't want it and ask for it. If we never invite Jesus to the place of death in us, there is nothing He can do.
It will be painful. For Mary and Martha going to the tomb of their brother would have been a painful reminder that He was gone, and that if Jesus had simply gotten there sooner this wouldn't have happened. For a cancer patient Chemo isn't fun. From what I've heard it feels like your bones are made of Napalm, and it comes with constant vomiting. But just has Chemo can destroy cancer and turn a cancer patient into a cancer survivor, giving them new life; inviting Jesus to the tombs in our lives, painful as it may be, is the only way to receive new life.
If Jesus is never invited to the tomb, the place of death, He cannot give new life. It doesn't matter how much we call on Him, where we follow Him, or how confident our hope in Him is; if He is never invited to the place of death, new life simply remains a distant hope.
That means that we must face it. We must come to the reality that there is death and that nothing we do in our power can fix it. It is difficult and painful. But here again we see that Jesus knows. We see that Jesus feels our pain. John 11.35 is the shortest verse in the Bible, but it is one of the most profound sentences ever written. "Jesus wept."
Jesus knew what was about to happen. He knew that dead Lazarus would soon join the world of the living again soon. He knew that soon the tears would turn into laughing, and the mourning would turn into a celebration. But He also knew the pain that Martha and Mary were feeling. He knew the pain and sorrow caused by death. Tradition tells us that Joseph, Jesus' earthly father, died when Jesus was in His teens. Jesus knew the pain and sorrow of death, he had experienced the loss of a loved one first hand. And even though He knew the glorious outcome that would take place in a few short minutes, He knows how difficult going to the tomb will be for the sisters. He meets them at their point of need and He weeps with them.
We see the heart of God so visibly on the journey to new life. He knows the uncertainty, the fear, and the pain that are involved with this journey. And since new life is something that we not only need, but is something He wants for us, He walks with us ever step of the way. We call, He answers. We follow, He leads. We hope, He affirms. We invite, He meets us where we are.
But the journey doesn't end with the invitation. We have not yet arrived at new life. But it is coming.
To God alone be the glory!
Peace be with you
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