1. The Death of Lazarus

During the celebration of Easter, we are reading the story about Lazarus in John 11, which reveals the miracle of Jesus raising him from death. It should be, indeed, a very perplexing matter for those who don’t believe in the Resurrection. For example it is reported that Spinoza, a Dutch philosopher, said: “only if someone could prove to me the facts of Lazarus’ case I would relinquish all my works, and become a Christian.”¹ So, how should we think and believe in the Resurrection? That is the theme of today’s lecture.

John commences the story in this way, “Now a man named Lazarus was sick. He was from Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. … So the sisters sent word to Jesus, “Lord, the one you love is sick” (John 11:1- 3). Jesus enjoyed a close relationship with this brother, and his sisters in Bethany because every time He went up to Jerusalem, He stayed several days in this little village. Though Jesus heard the message on the other side of the Jordan river, He stayed there for another two days. When Jesus arrived at Bethany, Lazarus had been dead already for 4 days. Martha was convinced that He came too late: “Lord,” Martha said to Jesus, “if you had been here, my brother would not have died” (John 11:21).

She was so sad and depressed that she could not stop from complaining. But, Jesus said to her, “Your brother will rise again” (John 11:23). Like many people of that time, Martha believed there was a after life, so she replied to Jesus, “I know that even now God will give you whatever you ask” (John 11:24). She was thinking about the revival of all the deceased on the last day of the world, whereas Jesus intended promise was that He would raise Lazarus from death. Jesus continued by saying, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-26).

With those verses Jesus asks if we will believe that God can bring the dead back from death whenever He will. Who can believe such a phenomenon, which was never heard of or even witnessed? However Martha, though astonished, answered, “Yes, Lord, “I believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, who was to come into the world” John 11:27).

2. Jesus Raises Lazarus to Life

Naturally we weep for the deceased at a funeral or burial, because, we think the dead are gone, far from us, beyond this world, and we cannot see them or meet with them anymore. But, Jesus says there was no need for sorrow. Even though He was told earlier about Lazarus’ critical condition, He did not respond quickly. And two days later He (Jesus) went on to tell them, “Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep; but I am going there to wake him up” (John 11:11).

To Jesus. death is coming home to the Father God. Consequently, death is not an event to grieve. However, Jesus was deeply moved by Martha’s sorrow, because He saw how much death was a dominating factor in the lives of humans. So, He came to the tomb and ordered: “Take away the stone” (John 11:39). “But, Lord,” said Martha, the sister of the dead man, “by this time there is a bad odor, for he has been there four days.” But Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” (John 11:39-40).

They took away the stone and, Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!” The dead man came out, his hands and feet wrapped with strips of linen, and a cloth around his face (John 11: 43-44). People in that era thought they entered into the next world after the death, where, filled with silence, all things would be forgotten. So families and relatives of the deceased wept and cried. Have we ever wondered what will happen to us after death? That is the very question to which nobody can give the answer. So much so, we prefer not to even think about it and divert our attention to other easy and earthly pleasures, according to human instincts and reasons. Paul once remarked, if the dead are not raised, “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die” (1 Corinthians 15:32).
However such an attitude does not help us to find solutions, because death will unquestionably catch-up with us someday. Therefore we must earnestly contemplate death, whether it is the absolute end of life as we know it, or a life beyond that.

Many people cannot accept the event which happened in Bethany as a historical fact. Even Bultman, a famous scholar in biblical study, quoted thus: “That the Resurrection is not a matter that can be proven, but a form of myth that can be used in accordance with faith”. And Endo Shusaku, a Japanese Catholic novelist wrote in his work, entitled, “Birth of Christ”. ‘We should consider the Resurrection to be an inner and spiritual experience of His disciples, rather than a historical fact’. ²

Jesus says, “He who believes in me will live, even though he dies”. The word ‘life’ does not mean here a physical state. Greek vocabulary contains two words which signify ‘life’, one is, ¦Æ¦Øή , and another is, ¦Â¦É¦Ï. The latter means biological life and the former means a humans’ spiritual life. If we consider the Resurrection as a matter of ¦Â¦É¦Ï, we should be perplexed. Furthermore, Lazarus’ biological recovery from death as a simple mortal, would not have been of such importance, because he must die again in the future. On the contrary the Resurrection is a matter of ¦Æ¦Øή, spiritual life. The very point of Lazarus’ story is not the fact that he came back from death, but that Martha met God, through that event.

Very often we think the earthly world is the place for the ones who live, and the next world is for the dead, which is a misconception. All humans are destined to die so the truth is, ‘this world is a place for the ones who are dying every day’. However, once we believe in Jesus, all that must change because God will raise the dead back to life, which is the faith portrayed by Martha and Mary, through the Lazarus’ experience. When we believe in Jesus, this ephemeral world transforms into a real place for the living, a world no longer ruled by death.

3. Love makes us alive again

Today’s invocation verses are Mark 9:23-24: “If you can?” said Jesus. “Everything is possible for him who believes.” Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” This is the conversation between Jesus and a father who came to Him in seeking his son’s physical healing. At that time the boy was taking convulsions, rolling around on the ground, foaming at the mouth. Jesus asked the boy’s father, “How long has he been like this?” “From childhood,” he answered. “It has often thrown him into fire or water to kill him. But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us” (Mark 9:21-22).

To Jesus’ answer the father reacted immediately with almost a shout, the action which led the son to recover. And through this healing, the father became a believer in Jesus, who said all who believe in me ( Jesus) will have eternal life. We are very similar to this father. We too would shout, even without the clear knowledge or confidence, “I do believe, help me overcome my unbelief ?” (Mark 9:24).

Relative to the story of Lazarus, I would like to talk about ‘Crime and Punishment’, one of Dostoevsky’s major works.³ As it is well known, Dostoevsky, a Russian novelist (1821 -1881), used the story of Lazarus being raised from death as the leading theme of the novel. I find in this writing, a very important message about the Resurrection.

The protagonist of the story is Raskolnikov, a student, but due to his abject poverty, had to leave the university. He commits a murder in the belief that he possesses enough intellectual and emotional fortitude to deal with murder. The victim is an old usurer woman, according to his judgement, she was worthless, with no future.

But after committing the crime he began to suffer the pang of a guilty conscience, and he found he could not even use the stolen money. While in this state of mind, he met Sonia, an innocent and pure-hearted girl, though she worked as a prostitute to support her poor family financially. She read aloud for Raskolnikov the passage of Lazarus’ resurrection from the Gospel according to John. Raskolnikov, was so moved by her reading, that he admitted his criminality and decided to surrender himself to the justice authorities.

He was condemned to a labour camp in Siberia, to where Sonia accompanied him. Siberia, was a place one could only describe as being the end of the world. One day, Raskolnikov and Sonia, pale and exhausted, were sitting on the river side, just after Easter Day. Suddenly, Raskolnikov burst out crying and embraced Sonia’s knees. He was totally overcome by her selfless, compassionate love.

This kind of relationship can be interpreted as an allegory of God’s love for fallen humanity. Dostoevsky describes the scene ”…tears stood in their eyes”. They ”…… bright with the dawn of a new future, of a full resurrection into a new life. They were renewed by love”.⁴

Mr. Itake Shadayoshi, Professor of literature of Waseda University, talks about the New Testament book which was read and consulted by Dostoevsky in order to write his works. ⁵ Mr. Itake says the passage from John 11:19-27, portions of scripture read by Sonia, are marked with ink, and verse 23 was emphasized with quotation marks. The following verse 25 was underlined: “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live.” Dostoevsky’s writings are still relevant for us here today, and particularly for those who no longer believe in God.

Love renewed the lives of Raskolnikov and Sonia. Jesus’ love pushed Martha and Mary to understand the real spiritual life, through the raising of lazarus from death. Jesus’ disciples scattered when He was arrested, and they were fearful of facing the Cross. But, they became born-again men. Sonia’s love too, through her spiritual faith and unselfishness, renewed the life of the remorseful murderer, Raskolnikov.

The Resurrection has a power which makes us ‘come alive’. Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies; and whoever lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” (John 11:25-27).

Perhaps it might be a easy for some people to think of the Resurrection as a stupid story, or a worthless tale hard to believe. But, we will gain nothing from that attitude. We as mortal humans must confess to not knowing everything. But, the ultimate truth is, we will meet God through the Resurrection.
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Notes:

¹ ) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baruch_Spinoza
[The Bible exegesis collection] Uchimura Kanzou , Kyo-bunkan, 1978, Tokyo (vol. 10] p.181)
Also. - Spinoza rejected the resurrection accounts in the Gospels. Concerning Christianity, he said that “the Apostles who came after Christ, preached it to all men as a universal religion solely in virtue of Christ’s Passion.” There was no resurrection.
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3817/is_199903/ai_n8837699

² ) http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/ftrials/jesus/jesusofhistory.html

³ )http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dostoevsky
Crime and Punishment - < §±§â§Ö§ã§ä§å§á§Ý§Ö§ß§Ú§Ö §Ú §ß§Ñ§Ü§Ñ§Ù§Ñ§ß§Ú§Ö > (1866)

⁴ ) translated by Constance Garnett
http://www.kiosek.com/dostoevsky/library/crimeandpunishment.txt

⁵ ) Actually in The Russian State Library (§²§à§ã§ã§Ú§Û§ã§Ü§Ñ§ñ §Ô§à§ã§å§Õ§Ñ§â§ã§ä§Ó§Ö§ß§ß§Ñ§ñ §Ò§Ú§Ò§Ý§Ú§à§ä§Ö§Ü§Ñ in Russian) is the national library of Russia, located in Moscow.