![]() The story of Lazarus becomes a story of hope because Jesus, we are told, walked Lazarus out of the grave four days after Lazarus had been placed in his tomb! This new beginning is the resurrection hope that lies at the very heart of our Christian faith. From this end, we become aware that something new is beginning. So, we begin at the end – in darkness and grief and in Bethany, only a short distance from Jerusalem, where Jesus will face his own death.īut then the story shifts gears. And Jesus wept openly when he approached the tomb where Lazarus had been placed. Their friends and neighbors who came to be with the sisters must have felt helpless in their inability to console Mary and Martha in their grief. Martha and Mary were devasted when Jesus did not come in time to help save their brother. ![]() This story of Jesus raising Lazarus from the dead begins at the end, with feelings of helplessness and despair. And it’s because of Jesus’ response that Lazarus occupies a special place in the Bible. All we know is that Jesus considered Lazarus a friend, and when Lazarus died, Jesus responded in an incredible way. There are no records of Lazarus saying or doing anything, no clues to his personality or how he became a beloved friend of Jesus. But beyond that, there is not much more we can say. We know that Jesus loved him, and we know that Lazarus got sick and died in Bethany. Lazarus is someone we know little to nothing about. ![]() Most of us know that Lazarus was brought back to life four days after his death by Jesus – but what else does this story say to us about starting again from what we believe is the end? The story of Jesus and his friend Lazarus is a story of both an ending and a beginning. The end is where we start from” ( Four Quartets, 1942). And to make an end is to make a beginning. Eliot writes: “What we call the beginning is often the end.
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