This is the longest of all the miracle stories in the Gospels, and one of the best known. While there is no need to retell it here some details deserve a close look.
• The miracle takes place in Bethany, just outside of Jerusalem. Jesus had just been in Jerusalem for a feast, but he had to leave because, when he said to a group of people, “I and the Father are one,” they wanted to stone him. John says, “He escaped from their power.”
• When Lazarus is ill, his sisters ask Jesus to come and heal him…which meant a return to dangerous territory.
• By the time Jesus returns, Lazarus is dead. He has been in the tomb for four days. In that climate, his body would have been in a state of advanced decay. He is very dead.
• Jesus speaks to Martha with utter clarity: “I am the resurrection and the life…everyone who lives and believes in me will never die.” And Martha replies by speaking words very similar to the profession of faith that Peter makes in the other three Gospels: I have come to believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God.”
• Before calling Lazarus to come out of the tomb, Jesus prays aloud to the Father, showing that God is made known through the words and actions of Jesus.
• In John’s account, this is the miracle that sets in motion the decision to have Jesus killed. One might be tempted to say…Jesus will not get out of there alive. But to say that is to have a very limited view of “life”.
There is an easy-to-miss statement by Jesus toward the end of Mark’s Gospel.
Jesus, at the sight of the withered fig tree, says to the disciples that if they have faith, they can move mountains. That’s familiar enough. But then he says:
“When you stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance.”(Mark 11:25)
That’s an interesting way to start one’s prayer. (Standing, by the way, was the normal posture of prayer for the Jews.)
Note that Jesus isn’t talking about forgiving people who have a grievance against you. He says to begin the prayer by forgiving anyone “against whom you have a grievance.
The Easter Season is approaching the half-way mark. What would happen if, each day from now on, whatever the topic of prayer, this “prayer tip” of Jesus were followed by everyone using these posts?
“When you stand to pray, forgive anyone against whom you have a grievance.”
It might actually create a blip on the radar screen of world peace.