ODJ: the dead man
December 13, 2011
[Jesus] told them plainly, “Lazarus is dead” (v.14).
READ: John 11:1-44
Thomas Lynch is an acclaimed poet and nonfiction writer who has won the American Book Award. He’s also an undertaker. In The Undertaking: Life Studies from the Dismal Trade, Lynch shares stories from his decades of helping families say goodbye to their loved ones. The opening line of the book definitely catches your attention: “Every year I bury a couple of hundred people from my town.” Death is a grim but fascinating reality. Strange, isn’t it, that something so common can be so mysterious? We don’t know exactly what it’s like to be on the other side. There haven’t been many eyewitness accounts of what post-dead looks like. Everybody knows that when you’re dead, you normally stay dead. . . . Unless, of course, Jesus is around. John narrates the story of Lazarus’ death and his sisters’ accompanying grief. After receiving news of Lazarus’ illness, Jesus delayed His return to Bethany; and when He did arrive, He discovered that Lazarus had already “been in his grave for four days” (11:17). John goes to great lengths to emphasise that Lazarus is in every sense dead and beyond hope. Some rabbis of the day taught that one’s soul hovered near the body for up to three days after death. This, John says, was the fourth day (v.17). Further, Martha protested that Jesus not go to the burial site because “the smell [would] be terrible” (11:39). Twice, for emphasis, John refers to Lazarus simply as the “dead man” (vv.39,44).
Lazarus was dead, completely dead. This makes what follows all the more incredible. Jesus walked to the grave, told them to roll away the stone, and shouted, “Lazarus, come out!” (v.43).
Lazarus walked out. In that moment, all who saw him knew exactly who holds the power over death. —Winn Collier
Where do you see death in your heart, family, neighbourhood, and world? What would the infusion of Jesus’ life look like in these places?
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