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Home , Book of Signs, John 20, John 21, Lazarus of Bethany, Nicodemus

LENT V SMALL GROUP

THE GATHERING

A candle may be lit to begin the group, a reminder that God is present in our midst.

Leader Create in me a clean heart, O God, People and put a new and right spirit within me. Leader Restore to me the joy of your salvation, People and sustain in me a willing spirit. Leader O Lord, open my lips, People and my mouth will declare your praise.

Leader O God of eternal life, whose glory is the human person fully alive, in the tears that shed for Lazarus his friend, we see the living incarnation of your tenderness and compassion. Call us forth from sin’s dark tomb. Break the bonds which hold us, that we may believe and proclaim , the cause of our freedom and the source of our life, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God for ever and ever. People Amen.

A WORD OF SCRIPTURE

Four members of the group will read the following passage. It’s best to just listen to the passage and not to read along, but considering the length of this passage you’ll need to read along. Be mindful of words and phrases that stand out for you as the passage is being read.

Reader I A reading from the of John :1-45 Reader I: Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of , the village of Mary and her sister . Mary was the one who anointed the Lord with perfume and wiped his feet with her hair; her brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent a message to Jesus, Reader II: “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” Reader III: “This illness does not lead to ; rather it is for God’s glory, so that the may be glorified through it.” Reader I: Accordingly, though Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus, after having heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was. Reader III: “Let us go to again.” Reader IV: “, the Jews were just now trying to stone you, and are you going there again?” Reader III: “Are there not twelve hours of daylight? Those who walk during the day do not stumble, because they see the light of this world. But those who walk at night stumble, because the light is not in them. Our friend Lazarus has fallen asleep, but going there to awaken him.” Reader IV: “Lord, if he has fallen asleep, he will be all right.” Reader I: Jesus, however, had been speaking about his death, but they thought that he was referring merely to sleep. Reader III: “Lazarus is dead. For your sake I am glad I was not there, so that you may believe. But let us go to him.” Reader II: Thomas, who was called the Twin, said to his fellow disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him.” Reader I: When Jesus arrived, he found that Lazarus had already been in the tomb four days. Now Bethany was near , some two miles away, and many of the Jews had come to Martha and Mary to console them about their brother. When Martha heard that Jesus was coming, she went and met him, while Mary stayed at home. Martha said to Jesus, Reader II: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died. But even now I know that God will give you whatever you ask of him.” Reader III: “Your brother will rise again.” Reader II: “I know that he will rise again in the on the last day.” Reader III: “I am the resurrection and the life. Those who believe in me, even though they die, will live, and everyone who lives and believes in me will never die. Do you believe this?” Reader II: “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world.” Reader I: When she had said this, she went back and called her sister Mary, and told her privately, “The Teacher is here and is calling for you.” And when she heard it, she got up quickly and went to him. Reader I: Now Jesus had not yet come to the village, but was still at the place where Martha had met him. The Jews who were with her in the house, consoling her, saw Mary get up quickly and go out. They followed her because they thought that she was going to the tomb to weep there. When Mary came where Jesus was and saw him, she knelt at his feet Reader II: “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” Reader I: When Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her also weeping, he was greatly disturbed in spirit and deeply moved. Reader III: “Where have you laid him?” Reader II: “Lord, come and see.” Reader I: Jesus began to weep. So the Jews said, “See how he loved him!” But some of them said, “Could not he who opened the eyes of the blind man have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, again greatly disturbed, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone was lying against it. Reader III: “Take away the stone.” Reader II: “Lord, already there is a stench because he has been dead four days.” Reader III: “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” Reader I: So they took away the stone. Reader III: “Father, I thank you for having heard me. I knew that you always hear me, but I have said this for the sake of the crowd standing here, so that they may believe that you sent me.” Reader I: When he had said this, he cried with a loud voice, Reader III: “Lazarus, come out!” Reader I: The dead man came out, his hands and feet bound with strips of cloth, and his face wrapped in a cloth. Reader III: “Unbind him, and let him go.” Reader I: Many of the Jews therefore, who had come with Mary and had seen what Jesus did, believed in him.

Reader I: The Word of the Lord. People Thanks be to God.

IMMEDIATE REACTION

Take a few moments to savor a word, a phrase, a question, or a feeling that rises up in you. If you remember hearing this passage before, did anything strike you differently?

Once everyone has had a chance to share his or her reactions to the passage. Another member of the small group reads the passage again.

SOUND BITES

• The things we mind about on earth can be rehearsals for heaven, destined for fulfillment not for abandonment. It is still more to the point to say that the best rehearsal of all for heaven is to learn to delight in each other. Helen Oppenheimer in The Hope of Heaven.

• Must Resurrection Life wait—or can it begin now, today? For Lazarus, it begins at the edge of the opened tomb. While the means of bringing Resurrection to the world had to wait for Jesus' acts to come, the expectation that Resurrection was within God's power had been expressed by the Prophet Ezekiel some five hundred years earlier in a vision of bones, parched and scattered, which yet could be given life. H. King Oehmig.

• I believe that God really has dived down into the bottom of creation, and has come up bringing the whole redeemed nature on His shoulders. C. S. Lewis.

• Death and resurrection, grief and God's glory, are parts of the life of faith. The fullness of God's glory is for God to reveal. In the meantime, we live for faith alone. It is a grace-filled moment when we know that for now this faith is enough. Frederick J. Streets.

• We tell stories because they fill the silence death imposes. We tell stories because they save us. James Carroll

DISCUSSION

✓ Lazarus was bound by the wrappings of the funeral cloth. What are some ways you are bound and need to be set free? What are some of the wrappings that have been put on you? What are some of the wrappings that you have put on yourself? ✓ In what ways do I overcome the everyday despair and hopelessness the world offers? ✓ How does having hope affect the way you live your life? What can you or your community do to help instill hope in someone who feels hopeless? ✓ Describe a time in your life when you were dead and came back to life? What or who was it that brought you back to life? How have you changed because of this experience? ✓ Jesus’ gift of life to Lazarus sets in motion the process of his own death. Lazarus’ restored life is also in danger. What does this suggest about our baptismal commitment? What does it mean to be committed to living the gospel? ✓ Why do you think Jesus told others to unbind Lazarus?

PRAYER

Leader Creator God, source of all life, you sent your Son to proclaim life, and in raising the dead your unbounded power is revealed. Rescue us from the tyranny of death, for we long for your new life. Free us from the slavery of sin and death. Through your Spirit fill us with faith, hope and charity so that we may bear witness to our new life in the risen Christ, for he lives and reigns for ever and ever. People Amen.

Silence may be kept on we reflect on the gift of new life.

People Lord Jesus, you commanded Lazarus to step forth from the tomb of death, unbind us from all that holds us back from being givers of life to the world. We believe that it is through your resurrection and the waters of our own that we have been freed from death. Do not let the power of death hold us back, for by our faith we will share in Christ’s resurrection, who lives and reigns for ever and ever. Amen.

WRAP UP

Thank you for your time and for your presence. Remember, what is said here remains here!

Spending a few moments in silence, let us pray for each other, for the person on your right and the person on your left.

Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy Name, thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those who trespass against us. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever and ever. Amen.

Leader Gracious and loving God, People from the flowing waters of our Baptism you have called us to be ministers among your people. In the bread and wine of the Eucharist you have called us to become one with all your people. As we gather around this table make us mindful of our mission and of our ministry here at the (Insert the name of your ). Make us deeply aware of the needs of those around us as well as the needs of our whole parish community. Send your Holy Spirit among us that we may be keen listeners of your voice and dedicated workers in your vineyard. We ask this through Christ our Lord, Amen.

Leader Let us bless the Lord. People And give God thanks.

BIBLICAL COMMENTARY

The figure of Lazarus stands at the summit of several converging trajectories in the . He is fourth in a line of crucial characters — , the Samaritan woman, the man born blind and Lazarus — through whom Jesus reveals himself in the first half of the gospel. Jesus’ engagement with each of these characters consumes the better part of a chapter and brings a distinct element of his personality into public light. With the “raising of Lazarus” (more on that title later), Jesus brings his message and his to the boundary of human existence, the very border between death and life. The reader has known from the beginning that “life” came into being through him (1:4), but now the point is made clear in both word (“I am the resurrection and the life”) and deed (“The dead man came out”). The challenge of the gospel is encapsulated in Jesus’ question to those standing outside the tomb: “Did I not tell you that if you believed, you would see the glory of God?” (11:40).

The account covers five distinct scenes: the report of Lazarus’ illness (vv. 1-5); the plan to go to Judea (vv. 6-16); the meeting with Martha (vv. 17-27); the meeting with Mary and the Jews (vv. 28-37); the at the tomb (vv. 38-44); with a final summary statement of the sign’s effect on the onlookers (v. 45). In the overall scope of John, chapter 11 acts as a bridge between the gospel’s two halves, often called the “” (chs. 1-12) and the “book of glory” (chs. 13-20). In some ways, it recapitulates what has come before. The raising of Lazarus is the last and most dramatic of seven “signs” around which John orients his narrative of Jesus’ public ministry. In its narration, it closely resembles the sign of healing the man born blind (ch. 9) but exceeds that one in majesty. It further continues the controversy with “the Jews” who are uncomfortable with Jesus’ power, though John paints them more favorably here than at other points in the gospel. It also develops the motif of “Johannine misunderstanding,” a consistent method of teaching (already used in chs. 3 and 4) in which Jesus’ interlocutors initially misunderstand his point. The confusion, however, opens them up to a more profound meaning than they had anticipated.

The bridge story also points forward toward the remainder of the gospel and Jesus’ final glorification. The death and raising of Lazarus obviously prefigures that of Jesus — though with significant differences. It also highlights an overarching theme of the “book of glory,” namely God’s power to glorify Jesus in his death, which leads to faith and life for his followers. The faith of the newly introduced Thomas, willing to follow Lazarus unto death (11:16), prepares for his later difficulty in accepting the with the same faith (20:25). Finally, the controversy among the Jerusalem elites about Jesus, which follows the miracle, catalyzes their antagonism and signals — however ironically (11:50) — his ultimate demise.

Lazarus, Martha and Mary each play distinctive roles in the narrative, though Martha emerges with the greatest stature among the three siblings. John is clear that all three are “loved” by Jesus (11:5). Indeed, the designation of Lazarus simply as “he whom you love” (11:3) has led many commentators to associate him with the “beloved ” who pops up in the rest of the gospel. The arguments, compiled succinctly by Neyrey, are tantalizing: The other “beloved disciple” appears only after the Lazarus account (13:23) and is otherwise unnamed; both “beloveds” are linked to Jerusalem and nearby surroundings (11:1; 18:15-17); and most interestingly, the question of whether the “beloved” disciple would die (21:20-23) makes sense if he is Lazarus, who had already died and was now alive again (see Jerome H. Neyrey, The Gospel of John [Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007], 202). Yet Lazarus says not a word here or elsewhere to conclusively link him with the other “beloved” disciple.

Of the three siblings, it is Martha who takes center stage. Upon hearing he has come near to Bethany, she goes out to meet Jesus and expresses her absolute faith in his power. Though she initially misunderstands Jesus’ promise about the raising of Lazarus, she responds with a solid confession after his clarification: “Yes, Lord, I believe that you are the Messiah, the Son of God, the one coming into the world” (11:27). Perhaps this ought to be called “Martha’s confession,” as it is a parallel version of “Peter’s confession” in the synoptic . Contrary to her background role in Luke’s portrayal of Mary and Martha (:38-42), here Martha’s private dialogue with Jesus is the theological core of the episode. Just as the exaltation of Peter’s faith was subsequently confirmed by the exaltation of Jesus on the Mount of Transfiguration, so is the raising of Martha’s faith confirmed by the raising of her brother.

Though the raising of Lazarus is almost always understood and preached as a foreshadowing of Jesus’ resurrection, one must be careful to distinguish the two events — especially as approaches. In this and other miracles where Jesus raises someone from the dead (Jairus’ daughter, Mark 5:21-43, and the widow’s son at Nain, :11- 17), the gospel authors imply what we might properly call resuscitation or simply “raising” of the dead. But Christian faith must preserve the uniqueness for the resurrection of Jesus, which the gospel authors emphasize by their narrative accounts. According to John, the resurrected Jesus was not like the resuscitated Lazarus, who was presumably hindered by his mundane human limitations, including the fact that he would die again. On the contrary, Jesus could enter into locked rooms without being noticed (:19). But he was not an apparition either, since he could be touched by human hands (John 20:27) and digest earthly food (:9-14). What John and the other gospel writers testify is that, by the resurrection of Jesus, God inaugurated a new form of existence, one which does not fit the categories of previous understanding but transcends them. Though the raising of Lazarus is a sign pointing forward toward resurrection and eternal life — and the most powerful sign indeed — it is not itself the resurrection promised by God in Christ. For that, we wait. www.homilecticsonline.com