God Has Helped

Gospel: John 11: 1-45

The raising of Lazarus is a curious story and we wonder what to make of it.  Jesus raises the man from the dead, only to have him die again.  Imagine dying twice in a lifetime!  One wonders what the point of the miracle was to be.  Was it merely an antic of apologetic to demonstrate power and get people to believe in Jesus?  This seems unseemly and unbecoming of an authentic spirituality.  Lazarus merely becomes a pawn in a game and not a person as an end in himself with dignity.  

It is perhaps best to see ourselves in Lazarus, just as we are to do in the Samaritan woman at the well and the man born blind.  Jesus tells his disciples that Lazarus is asleep and we must go and wake him.  We too are asleep, dead in our tombs of self-interest and egoism.  Our spiritual death can only be cured by an appeal from the Lord: arise! Unbind him.  We hear this voice of the Lord and come out of the depths of our tomb and slumber.  

We are now awake, alive again.  The name Lazarus means 'God has helped.'  God has helped us to arise and break free from our self-interest and ego.  We have been given a second chance at life again.  How will we respond to this gift? We do not know how Lazarus spent that time, but that is not important.  What is important is our own life and how we will now spend it.  Will we spend it as we did before, or will we follow the Lord in a life of mercy and care for others?